SPE 111286
Advances in Measuring Porosity and Permeability From Drill Cuttings
R. Lenormand, IFP and Cydarex, and O. Fonta, Geopetrol S.A.
Copyright 2007, Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2007 SPE/EAGE Reservoir Characterization
and Simulation Conference held in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., 28–31 October 2007.
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Abstract
Drill cuttings can provide quick and useful information for
reservoir characterization, especially when cores are not
available. So far, several petrophysical properties can be
determined from cuttings: porosity, permeability and T2 NMR
distributions (directly related to the pore size distribution)
Several laboratories are working to improve the techniques of
measurements and also the drilling tools to minimize the
damage to the rock. In this paper, we present new results for
porosity and permeability measurements down to cuttings of
diameters around 0.5 mm and the application to a field test.
The methods for measuring the porosity on cuttings are the
same as for cores when the sizes are larger than 3mm. For
smaller cuttings (most of cases), the best results are obtained
using a centrifuge or a porous plate to remove the interstitial
liquid with a controlled capillary pressure. With this method,
porosities were measured within 1-2 PU (Porosity Units), even
for the flat cuttings with diameter around 1mm and thickness
around 0.5 mm collected during the field case.
For permeability, we used the technique developed by IFP
based on the diffusion of a pressure wave in a viscous liquid
saturating the cuttings. The results were improved by a better
choice of the viscosity of the liquid used to saturate the
cuttings. The suitable viscosity must satisfy two opposite
constrains: high viscosity for a relaxation time large enough to
be measured (larger than 0.2 second), and low viscosity to
allow spontaneous imbibition in a short time. The results of
the study are presented in a diagram, showing the viscosity to
be used as a function of cuttings sizes and permeability.
Porosity and permeability methods have been tested on
synthetic cuttings obtained by crushing cores of known
parameters.
Finally, the methods were tested on real cuttings sampled
especially for this study every 20 cm in a carbonate formation
(125 samples). The results are discussed and compared to
porosity logs obtained in the same well. The porosities
measured on cuttings agree with the log value for values larger
than 5 PU. The T2 NMR relaxation times (peaks) are also in
good correlation with the amount of clay given by the gamma
ray log. However, the porosities and the sizes of cuttings are
two small for permeability determination. Both porosities and
T2 relaxation times give a good depth matching prediction
with log less than 1 meter.
Introduction
The early determination of rock petrophysical properties is one
of the main concerns during the reservoir characterization
process because it impacts directly the reserves (porosity,
saturation) and also the well deliverability (permeability).
Logs generally provide a good estimate of porosity and
saturations along the well, but permeability is more difficult to
obtain because this parameter refers to conductance of the
reservoir rock to flow.
Cuttings are routinely used by mud loggers to build the
"master log", in which the geological description of the drilled
formation is reported. Hydrocarbon indices are also
determined from cuttings to identify the reservoir levels.
Although cuttings rock material is coming directly from the
reservoir, few applications of porosity and permeability
characterization are reported in the literature.
In this paper, we will review the methods used for porosity
and permeability determinations on cuttings and present our
results on crushed cores. The main result is the accurate
determination of porosities for 0.5 mm diameter cuttings for
permeability equal or less than the millidarcy. We will also
present the porosities and relaxation times T2 measured on
real cuttings from a well in Paris Basin, and compare the
results to the logs.
Porosity measurement on cuttings
Standard methods, similar to the methods used in routine core
analysis, have been described by Meazza et al.1 and Marsala et
al, 19972. More recently, Siddiqui et al, 20063 presented
results obtained using a medical based CT-scan. The main
conclusion of all these studies is a very poor accuracy for
porosity on cuttings with diameter below 2.5 mm.
Improved methods
In order to improve the accuracy for sizes down to 0.5 mm, we
have tested most of the existing methods. Our conclusions are
the following:
• The determination of the volume of solid VS from mass
and grain density determined by He expansion is accurate
when an apparatus designed for small volumes is used.
However, this measurement is not necessary, since the
grain density is generally known. Even if the mineralogy is
2 SPE 111286
unknown, using an average density does not introduce a
significant error on porosity.
• The determination of the bulk (or total) volume by mercury
porosimetry is not accurate enough due to large surface
effects leading to a difficult determination of the entry
pressure.
• The determination of the bulk volume using powder
compaction leads also to very large errors. The powder and
the cuttings form "vaults" that prevent the uniform
compaction of the powder.
• Consequently, the porosity must use the pore volume PV
determined by a saturation method. However for cuttings
with 1mm diameter or less, the amount of liquid trapped by
capillarity between the cuttings is very large. This
interstitial liquid must be either measured using a NMR
technique or removed in a controlled way without
removing the water inside the cuttings.
We have used several methods to improve the measurement of
the pore volumes of the cuttings that are described below.
Removing the interstitial liquid
The principle is to remove the interstitial liquid using a
reproducible technique based on the control of capillary
pressure.
Sponge: the saturated cuttings are placed on a wet sponge
tissue and a second wet sponge tissue is placed on the surface
of the cuttings and pressed with hand for a few seconds
(Figure 1). It is necessary to use a wet sponge, without excess
of liquid, in order to remove only the interstitial liquid. A dry
sponge would remove also the liquid inside the cuttings. This
is a quick method that gives good results down to 2 mm
cuttings. For smaller size, the method is more difficult to
operate since the cuttings enter into the sponge and are
difficult to separate.
Figure 1 – The sponge method for removing the liquid covering
the cuttings.
Centrifuge: The cuttings are placed in small tubes on a
porous sponge used as a footbath to reduce the capillary end
effect. The height of cuttings is around 1cm and the speed is
calculated to have an entry capillary pressure around 10 mbar
that corresponds to liquid meniscus with radius of curvature
around 10 microns. The efficiency of the removal was tested
using NMR T2 distribution. The process is slow and takes
near one week to reach equilibrium (controlled by NMR
measurements).
Porous plate It is the same principle as the sponge, but
with a more controlled capillary pressure. We use a high
permeability porous material, alumina Aerolith A10 around 10
Darcy with a Pc curve showing a plateau around 20 mbar (see
the Pc curves in Hamon and Vidal, 19864). The saturated
cuttings are placed in a tube on the A10 porous plate. Vacuum
is applied through the plate to remove the interstitial liquid and
partially desaturate the plate. Then we let the porous plate
suck the remaining interstitial liquid with a controlled
capillary pressure corresponding to the plateau of the Pc curve.
When the excess of water is removed, the cuttings no longer
stick together and move freely like dry samples. This porous
plate method has been tested on reference samples and using
NMR relaxometry, that can distinguish the water inside the
pores from the bulk water between the cuttings. The method is
accurate and faster than the centrifuge (a few hours). The same
method can also be used with less permeable porous plates to
desaturate the cuttings at a given capillary pressure and obtain
a Pc curve by measuring the saturation of the plate.
Saturation by NMR
The total intensity of the NMR signal is proportional to the
number of protons and a mass of liquid can be determined
after calibration with a known mass of liquid. The NMR
apparatus used is a Maran spectrometer with a frequency of 23
MHz and a probe of 18 mm. With this apparatus, the accuracy
is of the order of 1 mg.
c)
b)
a)
Figure 2 - Principle of the NMR porosity measurement on
cuttings: a) like in a vuggy carbonate, the T2 relaxation time of
water between the cuttings is larger than the relaxation inside the
pores, b) one drop of water has been added in the tube, c) two
drops added.
The liquid that remains between the cuttings presents a longer
relaxation time than inside the cuttings and can be quantified
like the liquid in the vugs of a vuggy carbonate (see for
instance fig. 2 in Fleury5). Figure 2a shows the T2 distribution
measured on saturated cuttings: the first peak, for low values
of T2, corresponds to the liquid into the cuttings and the
second to liquid between the cuttings. On the T2 distribution,
the areas under the two peaks are proportional to the volumes
SPE 111286 3

(or mass) of liquid inside and outside the cuttings and is used Table 1 - Porosities obtained with the centrifuge methods for
various samples. The more permeable samples (GDV and
to determine the pore volume. In this example, we have added
Brauvillier) have been desaturated during centrifugation and
1 and 2 drops of water (Figure 2b and c) to demonstrate the porosities are underestimated.
accuracy of the equipment. In some cases, the two peaks are
sample core Z (0.5- A (1-2 B (2-3 C (3-5
difficult to separate, for instance for high permeable media 1mm) mm) mm) mm)
(large pores) or liquid with low bulk T2 (dodecan). GDV 0.22 0.05 0.07 0.09 0.13
The NMR method has been mainly used to control the (600 md)
efficiency of the other methods based on capillary desorption. Brauvillier 0.30 0.14 0.18 0.20 0.20
(68 md)
Results
lavoux 0.23 0.21 0.22 0.23 0.22
We used core samples with known porosities and (2 md)
permeabilities, that have been crushed and sieved in different chalk 0.42 0.42 0.41 0.41 0.41
size intervals to make artificial cuttings (from 0.5 to 5 mm). (1 md)
The dry cuttings (mass around 3 grams) are saturated with
brine using vacuum and 150 bar pressure for a few hours.
Sponge method
Figure 3 shows a reproducibility study with 2-3 mm cuttings
from LV2 sample, using the sponge method. The symbols
correspond to several measurements on cuttings and the
dashed line to the core porosity. The data interpreted either as
sandstone (d=2.64) or limestone (d = 2.71) are very close. This
result demonstrates that a precise grain density is not
necessary for a good accuracy in porosity measurement.
From all the measurements on crushed homogeneous cores,
the error is estimated to ± 1 PU in average for 2-3 mm cuttings
(and larger).
0.15

0.1
porosity

d = 2.71

d = 2.64
0.05
core

Figure 4 – T2 distributions for the four samples before crushing

and after centrifugation of the cuttings. The more permeable
0 samples (GDV and Brauvillier) have been desaturated during
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 centrifugation and the T2 are much lower than for the core (liquid
sample # in lower pores). For the two other samples, the T2 for the different
sizes of cuttings are close to the T2 of the cores and that confirm
Figure 3 - LV2 sample (0.05 md). Reproducibility study with the that there was no desaturation during centrifugation.
sponge method and cuttings of 2-3 mm. The symbols correspond
to several measurements on cuttings interpreted either as Porous Plate method (A10)
sandstone (d=2.64) or limestone (d = 2.71). The dashed line
corresponds to the core porosity (0.13). For low permeability samples, porosities obtained with the
A10 porous plate method are reproducible and in agreement
Centrifugation with core porosities (Table 2 and Table 3). For higher
Results obtained with the centrifuge method at 1500 rpm are permeabilities, (GDV and Brauvillier), the porosities are also
shown in Table 1 for 4 samples and 4 different sizes of lower than expected, due to partial desaturation.
cuttings. Figure 4 shows the corresponding T2 distributions Table 2- LV2 sample (core porosity 0.13; 0.05 md): comparison
obtained for the cores before crushing and the cuttings of between NMR and porous plate porosities.
different sizes after centrifugation. NMR A10
Obviously, the two more permeable samples, GDV (600 md)
LV2 A 0.11 0.11
and Brauvillier (68 md with double porosity), were partially
LV2 A 0.12 0.11
desaturated during centrifugation at 1500 rpm.
LV2 B 0.12 0.12
For the two samples with permeabilities around 1 md, the
agreement is very good, even for the Z cuttings with sizes in LV2 B 0.12 0.12
the range 0.5-1 mm. On these two low permeability samples, LV2 C 0.12 0.12
the T2 distributions measured on the cores with a 2 MHz LV2 C 0.12 0.12
instrument are very close to the T2 measured on a small
volume of cuttings with the 23 MHz instrument. We also tested a non-porous material (crushed glass) using the
same procedure and the same duration as for other samples
4 SPE 111286

and the result is an apparent porosity of 7% (Table 3). Carman-Kozeny type laws 17. More recently, Mock et al,
Interstitial water has not been removed since there is no 200718 derived petrophysical properties of cuttings from 3D
capillary continuity though the cuttings toward the porous reconstruction of the pore space.
plate. However, by looking at the sample, it was obvious that
Direct permeability evaluation methods from cuttings
the interstitial water has not been removed, the grains were
Few methods exist to measure directly permeability from
still sticking together. With the sponge, the same sample leads cuttings (i.e. from a flow measurement). Santarelli et al.19
to a porosity of around 3%. proposed imbedding cuttings into thin disks of acrylic resin
Table 3- Porous plate porosities for various samples (size B, 2-3 and then measuring permeability by flowing a gas through this
mm).
disk. They interpreted the measurement like with a real core
core core A10 sample. However, the thickness of the disk must be smaller
permeability porosity porosity than the size of the cuttings to have a permeable medium.
(md) Another method, which is based on gas pressure diffusion,
GDV 600 0.22 0.18 was proposed by Luffel20. The principle is similar to well
Brauvillier 68 0.32 0.23 testing, using gas instead of liquids. However, due to the low
Lavoux 2 0.23 0.24 viscosity of gases, this method can only be used on
Chalk 1 0.42 0.42 "impermeable" rocks (permeability below the microDarcy).
Brabant 0.005 0.07 0.07 The liquid pressure pulse method
Moliere 0.004 0.14 0.15 The originality of the method developed by IFP21,22 is to
Glass 0 0 0.07 achieve an effective flow inside the cuttings by compression
of residual gas that they contain. A viscous liquid is used as
Further studies will be performed with porous plates with displacing fluid in order to slow down the pressure decrease
lower capillary pressures to avoid the desaturation of the more into the rock. This method is suitable for permeability values
permeable samples. corresponding to reservoir rocks, which are not accessible
Permeability from gas pressure test.
The experimental apparatus shown in Figure 5 consists in a
Literature survey "cuttings cell" containing a few cm3 of cuttings and a pressure
The published works on permeability determination on cell containing a bellow coupled to a spring and a pressure
cuttings can be divided into two categories: direct and indirect sensor. All the apparatus is filled with the liquid that is
evaluations. injected under pressure with a pump.
Initially, the dried cuttings are saturated with the viscous
Indirect permeability evaluation methods from cuttings liquid (oil or glycerol solution) by spontaneous imbibition in a
The permeability is derived using empirical correlations with beaker. At the end of the spontaneous imbibition, some air
properties related to pore size distribution, pore connectivity, remains trapped inside the cuttings as disconnected gas
or the spatial correlation between the pores. These parameters (around 10%). The cuttings are then poured into the cuttings
are evaluated from capillary properties (mercury porosimetry), cell that is then connected to the "pressure cell" (around 10
by NMR or image analysis. bars). The liquid enters into the cuttings and the trapped air is
Several approaches have been proposed to derive permeability compressed. During the displacement, the pressure is recorded
from mercury porosimetry curves 6,7,8,9,10. Kamath11 performed and the volume of oil entering into the cuttings is derived from
a comparison between these methods and concluded that the the calibration of the spring/bellow system. The rate of
best result is obtained with new correlations based on the invasion depends on the fluid viscosity and the rock
Swanson characteristic length. Kamath and Swanson also permeability.
reported separately a possible use of mercury porosimetry
curves obtained from cuttings. bellow and spring

Many papers have been published on the permeability

evaluation from NMR measurements, but very few refer to
application on cuttings. A major effort was conducted by
Chevron which resulted in a prototype equipment fitted for rig
conditions (Nigh and Taylor, 1985)12. The cuttings are first
prepared (cleaning, drying) and placed in a portable NMR entrance valve V1
cuttings cell
pressure valve V2 outlet valve V3
tool. The porosity is derived from the measured volume of
water, and permeability is evaluated from the whole T2 pressure
relaxation signal using the Timur law (Timur 1968)13. sensor

Recently, this approach has been subject to further Figure 5 - Principle of the liquid pressure pulse apparatus
developments and a commercial apparatus is proposed
The permeability is then calculated using a numerical model
(Mirotchnik et al, 2004)14.
based on the equations describing the flow of a viscous liquid
A thin section can also be obtained from cuttings to evaluate
into a compressible medium of spherical geometry. The model
the porosity and the permeability using image analysis. The
is similar to a well test, except that the oil and reservoir
porosity corresponds to the fraction of voids whereas the
compressibilities are replaced by the trapped gas
permeability is derived from an empirical law15,16 or from
SPE 111286 5

compressibility, with spherical instead of cylindrical 80

volume volume

geometry. 70
50

60
Figure 6 shows an example of volume of oil entering into the 40

volume mm3

volume mm3
50

cuttings cell as a function of time for a chalk sample (porosity 40

30

0.35) with oil. The permeability is adjusted at 0.3 mDarcy to 30 20

20
fit the beginning of the curve (since the largest pores control 10
10

the permeability). Figure 7 shows a similar result with a 0

10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00
0
0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00

carbonate sample and pure glycerol (around 1200 cp). time s time s

volume volume

35
Figure 9 - Example of a double porosity sample (Brauvillier), with
35

30 30
70 md core permeability and interpreted as 50 md using the first
25 part of the relaxation.
volume mm3

volume mm3

25

20 20

15 15 Procedure for interpretation

10 10

5 5 Even when the sample does not present double porosity, the fit
0
0.00 20.00 40.00 60.00 80.00 100.00
0
2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00
between the simulation and the experiment is never perfect
time s time s and there is always a slow relaxation at the long times, that is
Figure 6 - Volume entering into the cuttings cell as a function of due to air trapped in small pores of the cuttings and also to the
time on a chalk sample a) total record of the experiment, b) zoom dissolution of air (Figure 7a). Like in any gas transient
on the short times interpreted with K = 0.3 mDarcy (phi = 0.35). method, the response investigates the different classes of
The blue symbols correspond to the experiment and the red pores. The very beginning of the curve corresponds to the
crosses to the simulations.
largest pores connected to the surface of the cuttings and they
The response of the cell without any cuttings is always are not always connected everywhere inside the grains. The
between 6 and 8 mm3 (compressibility of the o-rings in the response curve must be interpreted in a way similar to a pore
cell and valves). size distribution in a mercury injection. The permeability is
volume volume volume
70

60 60 60
not controlled by the largest or the smallest pores but by a
50 50 50
class of pores of intermediate size connected through the
volume mm3
volume mm3

volume mm3

40 40 40

30

20
30

20
30

20
entire sample (notion of percolation cluster, Katz and
10

0
10

0
10

0
Thomson10). The main uncertainty for the interpretation is to
define this interval of pores, corresponding to an interval in
10.00 20.00 30.00 40.00 50.00 60.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 0.01 0.10 1.00 10.00

time s time s time s

Figure 7 – Pulse response for a carbonate sample (Lavoux) with the volume of liquid entering into the cuttings.
no double porosity (phi 0.23; core permeability 2 md) with In order to determine an interval of confidence for the
interpretation at 5 md: experimental result over 60 seconds, close permeability we used two determinations:
up at the early times in linear scale, same in log scale for the time.
• "K max": using the beginning of the curve, starting always
at the cell response (7 or 8 mm3, depending of the viscosity
Double porosity
of the liquid), and spreading at least over 1/3 of the
In a rock with double porosity, air is trapped in both "large"
amplitude. This determination assumes that there is no air
and "small" pores. On a Brauvillier limestone (T2 distribution
trapped outside the cuttings. This value, based on the
in Figure 8) the injected volume (Figure 9) shows a fast
largest pores, gives a high limit for K.
relaxation between 8 and 40 mm3 followed by a slow
relaxation. The interpretation of the fast response is in • "standard K" The duration of the interpretation is roughly
agreement with the permeability measured on the core, around the relaxation time of the curve. Using the logarithmic
60 md. scale, the amount of air trapped outside the cuttings (and
35 cell relaxation) is fitted in order to have a good match at t =
30
0.1 second (minimum useful response time of the
25
apparatus). An automatic history matching on K and initial
ampllitude T2

20

15
trapped gas Sg0 is then performed.
10

5
0
0.1
Figure 8 – T2 distribution of the Brauvillier limestone
The rule that we have derived from a lot of measurements on
crushed samples of known permeability is to use the beginning
of the curve, corresponding roughly to more than1/3 of the
total amplitude of the relaxation. This part of the curve
corresponds to the liquid flowing in the largest pores
"connected" in the porous structure.
Choice of the viscosity of the liquid
When the permeability is unknown, a first test is performed
1 10 100 1000 10000
time (s) with a viscosity around 200 cp. If the relaxation is below 0.2
second, a more viscous liquid is chosen to repeat the
experiment (1200 cp with glycerol or 3000 cp with oil). On the
contrary, if the response is too slow, a less viscous liquid is
used around 50 or 10 cp, depending of the response. When a
permeability is determined, we must check that the viscosity is
in the valid domain using the abacus shown in Figure 10
For a given size of cuttings (2-3 mm in our example), the
choice of the viscosity is governed by several physical
constrains that are shown as boundaries of the useful zones in
Figure 10:
 6 SPE 111286
the relaxation time must be larger than 1 second (zone 1).
However, measurements can be performed down to 0.2 s, but
with less accuracy (zone 2),
the relaxation must be less than 10 seconds. Longer
experiments are biased by air dissolution in the liquid,
the spontaneous imbibition must be finished in around 30
minutes. In some cases, we have used a liquid at 70 °C to
accelerate the spontaneous imbibition. This constrain is
calculated by using standard results in the literature and is
confirmed by the observation of the bubble production during
the imbibition. This constrain (red line on the graph), limits
the use of large cuttings. When measurements are performed
on small cores or ruble cores, it is necessary to crush them to
reduce the imbibition duration.
the upper limit for viscosity, around 4000 cp. More viscous
fluids can be found but they are difficult to manipulated with
cuttings and the air bubbles produced during imbibition
remain trapped into the liquid.
a lower limit (blue line) is related to the fast dissolution or air
in the liquid. In the small pores, the capillary pressure in the
gas bubbles is high and since the viscosity of the liquid is low
(low molecular diffusion), the dissolution is very fast. As a
consequence, the amplitude of the signal is too low to be
interpreted. For this reason, fluids with viscosities less than 10
cp can not be used in general, and this dissolution mechanism
prevents the method to be used for permeabilities below 10
microDarcy.
The various constrains determine the zone 1, where the
interpretation is good and zone 2, where the interpretation is
acceptable.
10000
1000
viscosity (cp)
I 2
100 ne ne
Zo Z o
10
2-3 mm
1 sampling corresponds to the transition between the marly
1E-3 1E-2 1E-1 1E+0 1E+1 1E+2
permeability (md)
Figure 10 – Abacus for controlling the choice of the viscosity of
the liquid for the measurement of permeability.
Results on crushed cores
Figure 11 shows the good agreement between the core
permeability, measured by liquid displacement, and the
cuttings permeability obtained after crushing the core samples
(size 1-2 mm, 2-3 mm and 3-5 mm), using the standard
interpretation. The values cover a very wide range of
permeabilities, from around 10 microDarcy to the Darcy (for
2-3 mm, the upper limit is around 100 md).
For each measurement, a mass of around 3 grams of dry
cuttings is necessary and porosity must be larger than 4-5% in
order to have enough amplitude in the signal.
Field test
We have seen that we were able to determine the porosity and
permeability on crushed cores with a good accuracy. For real
field applications, the representativity of the cuttings with
respect to the reservoir can be lost for several reasons:
• shear and thermal effects during drilling (Cerri et al.,
2006)23,
• invasion by drilling mud,
• mixing and settling when cuttings travel from the reservoir
to the surface (Zeidler, 1972)24.
1000
100
10
K core (md)
1
0.1
0.01
0.001
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000
K cuttings (md)
Figure 11 - Comparison between core and cuttings permeabilities
In order to quantify the mixing of cuttings when traveling in
the well, we collected cutting every 20 cm and compared the
properties of the cuttings to the logs:
• porosities measured on cuttings to the porosities derived
from density and neutron logs,
• the amount of clay by comparing the T2 peak measured on
cuttings to the Gamma ray (GN) log.
The well is located in the South East of Paris Basin and the
cuttings were collected in the Dogger formation (lower
Callovien/Bathonien). This formation is not the main reservoir
and cuttings do not present any oil impregnation. The
1E+3
limestone of the Callovien to the pure limestone of the
Bathonien.
The well was drilled with a PDC drilling bit and with a
synthetic oil based mud.
Collecting the cuttings
Three people where on the shakers to collect the cuttings every
2 minutes, corresponding roughly to intervals of 20 cm
between depth of 1865 and 1905 m. The cuttings with the
remaining mud were collected in 250 cc plastic containers
(around 125 samples).
Cuttings and mud where put in cotton bags with a mesh
around 0.5 mm, and cleaned with successive solvents: white
spirit (thinner) to remove the maximum of the mud,
isopropanol alcohol and water and surfactant. After this first
cleaning the cuttings were dried and sieved. The fraction
SPE 111286 7

larger than 1mm that will be uses for measurements received
additional cleaning with cyclohexan to remove the remaining
drilling fluid and the white spirit. For reservoir cuttings, this
final cleaning would also remove the oil. For heavy oil, a more
efficient solvent like toluene could be necessary at room
temperature or using Soxhlet extraction.
There was some problems with identification of the samples
during cleaning. A few references written on a cotton tag with
a "waterproof" pencil, were difficult to read after cleaning.
All the cuttings have an elongated shape (like flakes) with
maximum diameters between 1 and 2 mm and thickness
around 0.5 mm. In Figure 12, some cuttings are shown with 1
mm diameter glass beads and for most of the cuttings their
thickness is less than the beads diameter.
Cuttings of size below 1 mm has never been measured for
porosity and permeability before this study and it was a
challenge to obtain data on such cuttings. We have been able
to obtain porosities by improving the existing methods but not
for permeabilities.
For a better fit between cuttings and logs at the transition
between the facies, we have shifted the "cuttings" depth by 2
meters upward, a value given at 1872 meters from the lag time
is plotted at 1870 in Figure 13b.
A few points may be at the wrong depth due to error in
reading the tag during the cleaning (for instance the point at
1895 m), but we have kept all the results on the graph. From
Figure 13b, we draw the following conclusions:
• the cuttings porosities catch the decrease of porosity when
entering the pure limestone between 1875 and 1880 m,
• the cuttings catch the two peaks of higher porosities at 1887
and 1903 m.
• however, cuttings see an increase of porosity at 1892 m that
is not seen on logs, may be an error of 1m in the location of
the reaming, and cuttings coming from the peak at 1887.
There was also a stop in drilling for operating constrains
and mud circulation at this depth.
• the agreement between logs and cuttings porosities is good
when the porosity is >10% (especially at the top of the
studied zone, in the clay facies)
• for porosity logs lower than 5%, the cuttings overestimate
the porosities. It may be just a problem of accuracy in the
two methods. However, samples with zero porosity on logs
show a significant porosity in NMR. Some further studies
will be performed to evaluate the accuracy of the porosity
measurements on cuttings for low porosities.
0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00
1865 1865

density
1870 1870

neutron
1875 1875
Figure 12 - Cuttings and 1mm diameter glass beads
1880 1880
Porosity measurements
The cuttings were saturated with brine (20 g/l NaCl) under 1885 1885
vacuum and a pressure of 150 bars were applied during two
hours. We used the centrifuge method to remove the 1890 1890

interstitial water as described previously and the pore volume

was derived from the difference before and after drying. The 1895 1895

volume of solid was calculated using a grain density of 2.71.

Comparison with porosity logs
We used the lag times provided in the mud logging report.
However, the cuttings obtained during the change of stems
every 10 m. have not been used since they correspond to the
reaming of the well.
We used the raw data for porosity logs since the interpretation
in term of effective porosity is misleading for cuttings (or
core) comparison (the effective porosity is taken equal to zero
in a marly formation). The density porosity was derived from
density using the densities of pure limestone and water as
references: phi_D = (2.71- rho) / (2.71 -1). The neutron and
density logs are shown in Figure 13a. and gamma ray in
Figure 14a. To compare to the cuttings porosities, we have
used the average between the neutron and density logs (Figure
13b).
This section of the well corresponds to the transition around
1877 meters between the marly limestone of the Callovien to
the pure limestone of the Bathonien. In the pure limestone
facies, the neutron and density logs are very close.
1900 1900
b
a
1905 1905
Figure 13 – a) neutron and density porosity logs; b) comparison
between the porosity measured on cuttings and the average
between porosities derived from neutron and density. The arrows
correspond to the reaming when adding a stem, and the
corresponding points have been removed
Based on the comparison between the cuttings porosity and
logs, we can conclude that the mixing of the cuttings when
arriving at the shakers is less than 1 meter.
NMR data
The Gamma Ray log (Figure 14a) also shows the transition
between the facies with clay towards the pure limestone. Some
peaks, for instance at 1990 are not seen on the porosity logs
and are due to the presence of uranium (seen on the spectral
GR).
We have performed the T2 measurements on cuttings after
removing the interstitial water by centrifugation and the results
8 SPE 111286
are presented as a "NMR log" in Figure 14b. The T2
relaxation time is directly related to the pore size distribution
(small pores corresponding to lower T2). We observe an
increase of the T2 peak from 0.1 ms in the marly limestone to
around 1 ms in the limestone. This result is easily explained by
the presence of clay that reduce the size of pores.
In Figure 14a, we have also plotted 1/T2peak, in an arbitrary
unit to compare to the Gamma Ray log (the value is 100/T2,
T2 being in ms). The main conclusion is that the transition is
also seen by the T2 measured on cuttings with an accuracy in
depth matching around 1 meter.
Permeability
The cuttings are below the specifications required for the
Darcylog method: too small sizes (thickness below 1mm) and
low porosity (around 5% from the cuttings but less from the
logs). A few points are measurable at the bottom of the studied
zone (peak of porosity around 1904 m) with values around
0.05 md.
0 50 100 150
1865
1870
1875
1880
1885
1890
1895
1900
a) b)
1905
Figure 14 _ a) Gamma Ray log (solid line in black in API unit) and
cuttings 1/T2 peak in arbitrary units (red triangles); b) cuttings T2
distributions corresponding to the same depths
Conclusions
In this paper, we have first recalled the method used for
porosity and permeability measurements on drill cuttings.
Removing the interstitial liquid with centrifuge or porous plate
leads to accurate porosity measurements for sizes of cuttings
down to 0.5 mm, when the permeability is of the order or
below 1 md.
For permeability, we have detailed the interpretation with the
liquid pressure test method, and discussed the choice of the
viscosity of the liquid to perform accurate measurements.
The objective of the field test was to evaluate the accuracy of
the depth matching of the cuttings with logs that can be
estimate to less than 1 meter based on porosities and NMR T2
measurement. Based on the comparison between the cuttings
porosity and logs, we can conclude that the mixing of the
cuttings when arriving at the shakers is less than 1 meter. This
result is very promising for the use of cuttings in reservoir
characterization, since the porosities measured on cuttings can
be use for a better positioning .
However, there is a discrepancy between cuttings and logs
porosity for values lower than 5%. This point will be studied
using low porosity crushed cores.
We have also demonstrated the utility of NMR measurements
on cuttings for comparison with Gamma Ray logs. However
this measurement can not be performed with standard core
NMR apparatus (not enough resolution for small volumes).
Finally, we want to emphasis on the need to account for the
drilling process, especially the reaming that is often performed
when adding the drill pipes, and any change in mud
circulation. All the cuttings obtained during these operation
must be discarded for the study.
Acknowledgements
Many people have been involved in the field test. We thank
Jerome Bouillot, René Tabary and Nicolas Blin for sampling
on the rig, Philippe Poulain and Julie Ginatta for performing
the porosity and permeability measurements; Françoise
Norrant for helping with the NMR equipment, Bernard
Michaut to explain the calculation of the lag times and Jacques
Delalex for the interpretation of the logs. We also thank the
Geoservices’ crew for their support and for providing usefull
mud logging data.
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