FRACTURED RESERVOIR

Lecture 3
By: Zuhoor Jawad Younis
 porosity
• Porosity determines reservoir storage capacity. It is defined as
the ratio of void space, commonly called pore volume, to bulk
volume and is reported either as a fraction or a percentage.
Almost all hydrocarbon reservoirs are composed of
sedimentary rocks in which porosity values generally vary
from 10 to 40% in sandstones and from 5 to 25% in
carbonates.
 Porosity Classification (Origins of Porosity in Clastics
and Carbonates)
1) Primary (Original) porosity
2) Secondary porosity
• Primary (Original) porosity of the rock that formed at the time of its
deposition.
• Primary porosity decrease due compaction and packing of grains
• Developed during the deposition of the rock material (e.g.,
intergranular porosity of sandstone and intercrystalline porosity of
limestone).
Secondary (Induced) porosity develops after deposition of the rock by
some geologic processes after deposition of the rock (diagenetic
processes) Examples:
• Grain dissolution in sandstones or carbonates
• Vugs and solution cavities in carbonate rocks created by the chemical
process of leaching
• Fracture development in some sandstones, shales, and carbonates by
the tectonic or overburden stresses)
 Definition of double porosity
The total porosity( t) is the result of the simple addition of the primary
and secondary porosities,
 t=  l+  2
From a large number of laboratory measurements on various types of rocks,
the fracture porosity
was considerably less than the matrix porosity.
The two porosities are expressed by the conventional definitions,
 l= matrix void volume/total bulk volume
1 = Vpore,m / Vb

 2= fracture void volume/total bulk volume

2 = (Vfrac + Vvugs)/ Vb

there are two types of pore, one in the matrix and another in the
fracture
 In the correlation of the matrix porosity( m) and the fracture porosity, the
matrix porosity refers only to the matrix bulk may be taken into consideration'

In this case the primary porosity, as a function of matrix porosity, is expressed by

 Porosity of fractured media
• Fracture porosity ranges:
– Macrofracture networks ……..0.01-0.5 %
– Isolated fissures …………….. 0.001-0.01%
– Fissure networks ……………. 0.01-2%
– Vugs ………………………….. 0.1-3%

• Therefore:
– for fluid storage frac porosity is usually not
important
– Most of the reserves are usually in the matrix
 Permeability
• The permeability of a porous rock is a measure of the ability to
transmit fluids.
• A reservoir can have primary and secondary permeability. The
primary permeability is referred to as matrix permeability, the
secondary permeability can be either called fracture permeability
or solution vugs permeability.
• Solution vug permeability refers to an increased permeability in
matrix rocks(especially in carbonate reservoirs) where the
natural permeability of the matrix is increased by percolation of
acid waters that dissolve the matrix rock.
The permeability in these flow channels can be calculated by combining Darcy’s
law for fluid flow and Poiseuille’s law for capillary flow and valid for laminar flow.
The flow rate through a narrow cleavage can be calculated by Poiseulle equation :
where the cross-sectional area is lw, cm2,the length of the fracture is l, cm; W is
the effective fracture aperture (fracture width).

The flow in the fractures is represented by the Darcy law:

From equations (Poiseulle) and (Darcy), the relationship between fracture

permeability and fracture width can be obtained:

where kf is fracture permeability, cm2; fs is fracture density,the total length of

fractures in the unit percolation area,fs = l/A, cm/cm2; l is fracture length on section,
cm; w is fracture width, cm; L is core length, cm; A is core cross sectional area, cm2
 Compressibility
The stress on the reservoir rock is determined by the confining and the
pore pressures. The confining (or overburden) pressure, caused by the
weight of overlying rock is partially compensated by the pressure of the
fluids in the pores. The net confining pressure, pe, is the difference of
the two pressures:

The change in volume due to the variation of effective net pressure Pe is

the result of a change, either in overburden stress σ (while the pore
pressure P remains constant) or a change in pore pressure P (while the
overburden pressure σ remains constant). The usual case during reservoir
production history is given by a change in pore pressure
The compressibility of rock in a conventional reservoir refers to
bulk, rock and pore volume
The isothermal compressibility factor, in general, is defined as the
specific volume change caused by change of pressure:

The solid phase of an intergranular porous medium can be expanded

towards the voids (pores) only, therefore, the apparent pore
compressibility factor has to be defined as:

where cs is the compressibility factor of the solid phase. The matrix

block, tight or porous, surrounded by fractures will expand towards the
fractures, therefore the compressibility of the fracture porosity is
determined by the compressibility of the matrix bulk volume:
The volume V may refer to the bulk volume (Vb), the solid volume (Vs)
or the fluid, e.g. the oil volume (Vo).
The fracture porosity has a considerably greater compressibility than the
intergranular one. Moreover, the fracture compressibility factor cannot
be regarded as a constant over the entire range of the reservoir pressure
decline. Jones suggested to use the following relation:

where pe is the net confining (overburden) pressure and ph is the

apparent healing pressure. The last one is the pressure at which the
fractures would be closed. The behavior of fractures in limestone,
dolomite and marble is sufficient similar to be represented by the same
expression, all having an apparent healing pressure of approximately
40,000 psia (2700 bara).
Figure shows a typical stress-strain curve manifesting three
regions. The linear region of elastic deformation exists up to a
stress called yield stress. Beyond that, the material shows plastic
behavior. Increase in stress causes a non-linear increase of strain
and if the strain is relaxed, the response curve does not retrace the
original load path but rather follows an elastic path typical of a
more consolidated rock. Ultimately, if enough stress is applied,
the rock becomes fully compacted and the stress/strain relation
regains linearity. For consolidated sandstone the yield point may
exceed 1380 bara (20,000 psia), while for soft chalk it can be as
low as 60-70 bara (800 to 1,000 psia).
 Wettability
• In dealing with dual-porosity fractured reservoirs, wettability is one
of the most decisive factors. Wettability plays an important role in
the production of oil and gas as it not only determines the initial
fluid distributions but also is a major factor in the flow processes
taking place within the reservoir rock.
• The degree of wetting of solids by liquids is usually measured by the
contact angle that a liquid-liquid interface makes with a solid.
• The contact angle, θ, is used as a measure of wettability. In the case
of a wetting fluid, the contact angle is smaller than 90°. If the
contact angle is larger than 90°, then the fluid is referred to as non-
wetting.
• At room temperature, the interfacial tension σ between water and air
is 0.073 N/m and between oil and water about 0.03 N/m.
The wettability of a reservoir rock system depends on many factors:
• reservoir rock material
• pore geometry
• geological mechanisms
• composition and amount of oil and brine
• pressure and temperature
• changes in saturation, pressure and composition during production
 Capillary Pressure
• Figure shows regular capillary functions for primary drainage,
imbibition and secondary drainage. They are applicable to the inter-
and intra-granular matrix. Two of these functions are used to
determine the wettability by the USBM (U.S. Bureau of Mines)
method developed by Donaldson.
• The imbibition curve: Displacement of the oil by brine starting at
the irreducible water saturation and end up with the residual oil
saturation. The secondary drainage curve: Displacement of oil in the
reverse direction.
• Regarding the multiphase flow the matrix and fracture behave
fundamentally different. It is commonly accepted that fracture
capillary pressure is zero or negligible. It should also be mentioned
that the fracture capillary pressure cannot be measured on a natural
rock sample.
The USBM method uses the ratio of areas under the two capillary
pressure curves to calculate a wettability index:

where A1 and A2 are the areas under the oil- and brine-drive curves,
respectively.
The capillary pressure can be calculated from the Laplace equation in
which one of the main curvature radii is infinite:

where d is the fracture width, and the wetting angel. In such an ideal
case, a fracture aperture (distance between the two plates) of 0.1 mm
(10-4 m) would produce a water oil capillary pressure ( =0.03 N/m and
=0°) not more than
Pc = 0.03/10-4 = 300 Pa = 0.003 bara.