PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Volume 39, Issue 5, October 2012

Online English edition of the Chinese language journal

Cite this article as: PETROL. EXPLOR. DEVELOP., 2012, 39(5): 624–629. RESEARCH PAPER

Formation mechanism and distribution law of remaining oil

in fracture-cavity reservoir
WANG Jing1,*, LIU Huiqing1, XU Jie1, ZHANG Hongfang2
1. MOE Key Laboratory of Petroleum Engineering in China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China;
2. Petroleum Exploration and Production Institute, Sinopec, Beijing 100083, China

Abstract: Drilling and dewaxing methods are used to create the quantitative model and stochastic model for fracture-cavity reservoirs
respectively, which are used to investigate oil displacement in full diameter cores and to study the formation mechanism and distribution
law of remaining oil in fracture-cavity reservoirs. The density difference between displacing phase and displaced phase and the connec-
tion position between fractures and cavities determine the fluid distribution in the cave. After the first water flooding, the remaining oil is
composed of the following parts: the “attic oil” caused by the density difference between oil and water, the “occlusion oil” formed be-
cause the oil-to-water replacement is not instantaneous, the “corner oil” caused by the irregularity of the cave, the “blind cavity oil”
formed because of the complex connection or low connectivity of the fracture-cavity system, and the “oil film” caused by the wettability
of rocks. When the connection is higher, the amount of the “attic oil” is less. When the injecting velocity is lower and the viscosity of
crude oil is lower, the amount of “occlusion oil” is less. The content of “corner oil” will become less when the cave figure is more regular,
and the amount of corner is less. The amount of “blind cavity oil” is less when the connection is simple or the connectivity is high. In ad-
dition, on the water-wet rock surface, the content of “oil film” is less.

Key words: fracture-cavity reservoir; full diameter core; remaining oil; formation mechanism; distribution law

Introduction ferent types of remaining oil in the reservoir at different dis-

Numerous fractures and caves are developed in the Ordovi-
cian carbonate reservoir in the Tahe Oilfield, and fluids are
stored in both factures and caves. Matrix has no capability of
storage and permeability[13]. Carbonate fracture-cavity reser-
voirs are characterized by strong heterogeneity, complicated
space structure, random distribution of fractures and caves,
different sizes of caves and large dip angle of fractures. The
exploration and development of the carbonate fracture-cavity
reservoirs is still in its infancy all over the world[46]. In recent
years, many experts have done a lot of investigations on it by
scale modeling, but due to the limitation of coring, the space
structure of the physical models adopted by them are all regu-
lar and determinate, or approximated as sand-pack models[710].
These simplified models can not show the space distribution
of caves correctly, making it difficult to design and adjust
development scheme. In this paper, the quantitative model and
stochastic model of fracture-cavity reservoirs are built by the
drilling and dewaxing method respectively, which are used to
study the oil displacement of full diameter core. In the mean-
time, the formation mechanism and distribution rules of dif-
placement periods are analyzed, which contribute to the pro-
duction of fracture-cavity reservoirs.
1 Full diameter core model for fracture-cavity
reservoir
1.1 Preparation of the quantitative model
As the displacing process by the full diameter core model is
invisible, the distribution of oil and water in fractures and
caves can not be observed until the core is taken out at the end
of experiment, some man-made errors might exist in this
process. So a quantitative model in which the distribution and
structure dimensions of the fractures and caves are known is
firstly designed. Through the experiment results of water
flooding and gas injection, the oil and water distribution cha-
racteristics in different displacing periods are analyzed, which
can provide evidence for investigating oil and water distribu-
tion regularity in the stochastic model. The model is made
through the following steps: first, cut the core at 45q and 60q
angle with the cross section of the core respectively (length
300 mm, diameter 100 mm), as shown in Fig. 1; sec-

Received date: 07 July 2011; Revised date: 30 Mar. 2012.

* Corresponding author. E-mail: wangjing8510@163.com
Foundation item: Supported by the National Key Basic Research and Development Plan (973) Project (2011CB201006) and the National Major S&T Project of
China (2011ZX05014-003-008HZ).
Copyright © 2012, Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina. Published by Elsevier BV. All rights reserved.
 WANG Jing et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2012, 39(5): 624–629

Fig. 1 Quantitative model of a fracture-cavity reservoir

ond, drilling holes (about 17 mm in diameter) on each section
with 16 bit; third, bonding each part of the core together
with copper sheet (the thickness is 0.2 mm) on each bonding
area; and at last, bundling the core with filter screen (613 m
in pore diameter). The model features simple distribution of
fractures and caves, simple connection type, and regular cave
structure.
1.2 Parameters of the quantitative model
The size of each cave is shown in Table 1. Both cave 3 (3')
and cave 8 (8') are connected to oblique section as well as
longitudinal section, and caves 11, 12, 13 are all perpendicular
to the longitudinal section and the total depths of cave 11,
cave 12 and cave 13 are 4.0 cm, 4.5 cm, 3.5 cm, respectively.
According to the above data, the volume of the caves in
each part of the core can be calculated. The total volumes of
the caves below and above the fracture are 23.61 cm3 and
26.11 cm3 respectively. The volume of the caves crossed by
fractures is 72.16 cm3, and the total volume of fractures is
11.42 cm3. So the total volume of caves and fractures is
133.30 cm3, and the porosity of the core is 5.14%.
1.3 Preparation of the stochastic model
The preparation of the stochastic model involves: first, mix
solid paraffin of different sizes and shapes with powder (mix-
ture of carbonate powder and cement, while the cement acts
as cementation) and shape them into cylinder, and waiting
until it concretes. Second, cut the cylinder according to the
standard of high angle fracture by core cutter. Third, put all
parts of the cylinder into the incubator of 85°C for 12h, melt-
ing the solid paraffin and making it flow out. At last, bond all
parts of the cylinder together. Then a stochastic model of full
diameter core is completed with a length of 330 mm and a
diameter of 100 mm. As shown in Fig. 2.

Table 1 Size of each cave

Cave number Cave number
AC (cm) AD (cm)
beneath the fracture above the fracture
1 3.1 1' 2.5
2 2.7 2' 2.5
3 2.5 3' 0.5
4 2.9 4' 2.4
5 2.7 5' 2.2
6 3.1 6' 0.5
7 3.0 7' 0.6
8 3.0 8' 0.2
9 3.1 9' 0.6
10 3.4 10' 0.2 Fig. 2 Stochastic model of a fracture-cavity reservoir
 625 
 WANG Jing et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2012, 39(5): 624–629
1.4 Features of the stochastic model
The stochastic model made by dewaxing has the following
features: (1) Caves and fractures are distributed randomly in
the model. (2) Caves are diverse in size and shape, including
cubes of 1 cm3 and 8 cm3, 1 cm spheres, 1.5 cm cylinders,
and irregular polyhedron of 1 cm, 2 cm and 3 cm long. Lots of
the caves have complicated corners. (3) Fractures and caves
connect with each other in complex ways, including frac-
ture-cave, cave-cave, cave-fracture-cave, fracture-cave- frac-
ture. The coordination number of the caves ranges from 1 to 4,
and the types of contact between fracture and cave under the
same coordination number include point contact, line contact
and surface contact, etc. (4) Caves and fractures are embedded
inside the core, fluids are not able to converge or flow in the
matrix, and the core has a strong heterogeneity. Due to the
above four features, the stochastic model is more close to real
reservoirs than the quantitative model.
2 Oil displacement experiments of fracture-cavity
reservoirs
2.1 Experimental conditions and procedures
The experimental scheme is designed according to the
physical properties of the fluid and operating parameters of
Block 4 in Tahe Oilfield. The experiment conditions are as
follows: temperature 25 °C, confining pressure 1.2 MPa, back
pressure 0.5 MPa, oil viscosity 23.8 mPa·s (oil viscosity in the
field is 2–30 mPa·s), oil density 0.815 g/cm3, injection water
viscosity 1.2 mPa·s, salinity 500 mg/L.
The experiment unit mainly includes injection system, dis-
placement system and metering system, as shown in Fig. 3.
2.2 Experimental procedures
(1) Inject 2–3 PV into the core and calculate the porous
volume of the model on the basis of volumetric balance.
Fig. 3 The schematic diagram of oil displacement experiments
 626 
(2) After aging the core for 15h, inject water from the bot-
tom for the first time (primary water flooding) to displace oil
until the water ratio in the outlet rises up to 100%, then calcu-
late the total liquid production and oil production.
(3) Stop displacing and hold up for 15h, then repeat step 2.
(4) Stop water flooding, and inject gas from the top of the
core, until the mass of the fluids in the conical flask doesn’t
increase any more. Then measure the total liquid production
and oil production.
2.3 Results and analyses
2.3.1 Oil displacement experiments on the quantitative
model
Water is injected at the rate of 1 mL/min, and the waterline
advancing speed is about 2.5 cm/min, that is, 36.0 m/d, which
is within the limits of the normal advancing speed (30–150
m/d) in the field[11].
The experiment results are shown in Fig. 4. From Fig.4 we
can see at the beginning is the water free production period,
which is long and has a high oil producing rate. After water
breakthrough, the water cut rises fast and the oil producing
rate decreases rapidly, showing sharp fluctuation. These phe-
nomena are similar to the typical water/oil displacement cha-
racteristics in the field[12]. After primary water flooding, the
oil production is 96.8 mL, with an oil recovery of 72.6%, and
a water free recovery of 31.8%. In secondary water flooding,
the oil production is 5.5 mL, with an oil recovery of 4.1%. The
total oil production by water flooding is 102.3 mL, which is
close to 107.19 cm3, i.e. the total volume of the caves beneath
the fracture, the caves crossed by the fractures and the
fractures. In the gas injection period, the total liquid produc-
tion is 105.8 mL, which is close to 109.69 cm3, i.e. the total
volume of the caves above the fracture, the caves crossed by
fractures and the fractures. And in this period the oil produc-
tion is 23.0 mL, which is close to 26.11 cm3, the volume of the
caves above the fracture. At the end of the gas injection, the
total oil production is 125.3 mL, and the ultimate recovery 94%.
Observation of the core upon taking-out shows that the re-
maining liquid is mainly water and most of which is in the
Fig. 4 Results of primary water flooding on the quantitative
model
 WANG Jing et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2012, 39(5): 624–629
caves beneath the fracture (Fig. 5a, 5b), and all the other space
has no liquid (Fig. 5c, 5d). This may be explained by the dif-
ference in oil and water density. Water injected from the bot-
tom of the core flows into the bottom of the caves from point
B, and displaces the oil out. When the oil/water level rises to
point A, the injected water flows out from point A. Therefore,
in the water flooding period (primary water flooding and sec-
ondary water flooding), the oil recovery is mainly from the
caves under point A and from the fractures, and the oil above
point A can not be recovered, which is the so called “attic oil”.
But as the oil viscosity is much larger than water viscosity, the
injected water can not easily displace the oil in the cave in-
stantly, so after holding up for a period of time, there is still a
certain amount of oil recovered in the process of secondary
water flooding. Since the gas density is much lower than liq-
uid density, the gas injected from the top of core flows in
point A, displacing out the “attic oil” generated in the period
of water flooding. When the oil/water level drops down to
point B, the gas flows out of the core, so liquid under point B
can not be recovered. As a result, in the gas injection period,
liquids recovered are from caves above point B and fractures,
liquids under point B (almost water) can not be driven out,
which is commonly called “occlusion water”. So the density
difference between displacing phase and displaced phase and
the position of the junctions of fractures and caves can shed
Fig. 5 Fluids distribution in the core after gas injection
 627 
light on the magnitude of residual oil saturation and connate
water saturation after water flooding or gas injection. Fig. 5
also shows that there is still minor oil absorbing on the surface
of fractures and caves in the form of "oil film" after gas injec-
tion.
2.3.2 Oil displacement experiments on the stochastic
model
Water is injected at the rate of 1 mL/min, and the waterline
advancing speed is about 2.5 cm/min, that is, 36.0 m/d. And
the volume of pore calculated by volumetric balance is 310
cm3, and porosity is 11.96%.
The experiment results are shown in Fig. 6. It is found that
the oil producing rate, water cut and recovery of this model
are all similar to quantitative model, only with weaker fluc-
tuation. It is because that there are more caves in the stochas-
tic model, thus making it more similar to continuous medium.
After primary water flooding, the oil production is 206.2 mL,
and the oil recovery is 66.5%, while the water free recovery is
26.3%. In the period of secondary water flooding, the oil pro-
duction is 11.5 mL and the oil recovery is 3.7%. The total oil
production is 217.7 mL after the water flooding period. In the
process of gas injection, the oil production is 48.1 mL, and the
total oil production after gas injection is 265.8 mL, the ulti-
mate recovery is 85.7%.
 WANG Jing et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2012, 39(5): 624–629
Fig. 6 Results of primary water flooding in the stochastic model
Fig. 7 Recovery comparison between two models
Compared the results of the two models, as the quantitative
model has simple connection and regular cave structure, the
water free recovery, its water free recovery, water-drive re-
covery and the ultimate recovery are all higher than those of
the stochastic model (Fig. 7).
To discuss the influence of oil physical properties and in-
jection rate on water free recovery, recovery of primary and
secondary water-flooding, oil displacement experiments are
performed at different injection rates and different oil viscos-
ity (Fig. 7). At an injection rate of 1 mL/min and oil viscosity
of 23.8 mPa·s, water free recovery is 26.3%, primary wa-
ter-flooding recovery 66.5% and secondary water-flooding
recovery 3.7%. At an injection rate of 2 mL/min and oil vis-
cosity of 23.8 mPa·s, the above three kinds of oil recovery are
21.2%, 62.5% and 5.2%, respectively. At the same injection
rate of 2 mL/min but much higher oil viscosity of 39.5 mPa·s,
the results are 17.9%, 51.5% and 6.2%. So if the oil viscosity
is constant, the lower the injection rate is, the higher the water
free recovery and the primary water-drive recovery, and the
lower the secondary water-drive recovery. And if the injection
rate is constant, the higher the oil viscosity, the lower the wa-
ter free recovery and the primary water-drive recovery, and
the greater the secondary water-drive recovery. Reasons are as
follows: When injection rate is low, water figuring is slow and
oil/water contact advances steadily, also the injected water
spends more time flowing in one cave thus more efficiently
 628 
displaces the oil in the bottom of it. At high oil viscosity,
greater viscous force and serious microscopic fingering lead
to quick water channeling. In the meantime, since higher re-
sistance exists in the oil displacement based on gravity, the
displacing efficiency is low and a certain amount of oil re-
mains in the bottom of the caves, which is mostly replaced by
water injected from above in the process of setting and recov-
ered in the period of secondary water flooding period.
According to the above analysis, at the end of primary wa-
ter flooding, there is still large amount of oil remaining in the
core, including (1) “Occlusion oil”, retains because the
oil-to-water replacement is not instantaneous. The amount of
this kind of oil depends on injection rate and oil-water viscos-
ity discrepancy. The lower the injection rate and oil viscosity
are, the less the “occlusion oil” there is. And the “occlusion
oil” can be recovered by secondary water flooding. (2) “Attic
oil” stored on the top of caves, which is caused by the density
difference between oil and water. The amount of this kind of
oil is dependent on the position of the highest junction be-
tween caves and fractures. The higher the position is, the less
“attic oil” there is. And “attic oil” can be recovered by gas
injection.
After the gas injection, the remaining oil includes (1) “Oil
film” absorbed on the surface of caves and fractures (Fig. 8a).
The amount of “oil film” depends on wettability of rocks.
There is less “oil film” on the surface of water wet rocks. (2)
“Corner oil” left in the corners of irregular caves (Fig. 8b), its
quantity depends on the shape of caves. There is less “corner
oil” in relatively regular caves. (3) “Blind cavity oil” formed
because of the complex connection or low connectivity of the
fracture-cavity (Fig. 8c, 8d). There is less “blind cavity oil” if
the connection of the fracture-cavity is simpler and the con-
nectivity of the fracture-cavity is higher.
Secondary water flooding and gas injection can recover
“occlusion oil” and “attic oil” remaining after primary water
flooding, enhancing oil recovery significantly. But there is
still some oil remaining in the core, which can be recovered
by means of chemical flooding or fracturing.
3 Conclusions
Drilling and dewaxing are used to make the quantitative
model and stochastic model for fracture-cavity reservoirs re-
spectively, and the stochastic model is more close to real res-
ervoirs.
The density difference between displacing phase and dis-
placed phase and the positions of junctions of fractures and
caves determine the fluid distribution in caves, which provide
evidence for calculating the saturation of residual oil and
connate water.
The remaining oil after primary water flooding includes
“attic oil”, “occlusion oil”, “oil film”, “corner oil” and “blind
cavity oil”. “Attic oil” is caused by the density difference be-
tween oil and water. The amount of it is dependent on the
position of the highest junction between caves and fractures.
 WANG Jing et al. / Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2012, 39(5): 624–629
Fig. 8 The distribution of remaining oil after gas injection
“Occlusion oil” forms because of non-instantaneous oil-to-
water replacement. And the amount of it is determined by
injection rate and oil-water viscosity difference. “Corner oil”
is left due to irregular shapes of the caves. The amount of “oil
film” depends on wettability of rocks and less “oil film” exists
on the surface of water wet rocks. “Blind cavity oil” is caused
by the complex connection or low connectivity of the frac-
ture-cavity. The simpler the connection of the fracture-cavity
and the higher the connectivity of the fracture-cavity, the less
“blind cavity oil” exists. By means of secondary water flooding,
gas injection, chemical flooding, fracturing and other stimula-
tion measures, various kinds of remaining oil mentioned above
can be recovered, thus enhancing oil recovery considerably.
References
[1] Zheng Songqing, Li Yang, Zhang Hongfang. Fracture-cavity
network model for fracture cavity carbonate reservoir. Journal
of China University of Petroleum: Edition of Natural Science,
2010, 34(3): 72–75, 79.
[2] Du Jinhu, Zhou Xinyuan, Li Qiming, et al. Characteristics and
controlling factors of the large carbonate petroleum province
in the Tarim Basin, NW China. Petroleum Exploration and
Development, 2011, 38(6): 652–661.
[3] Xu Ting, Lun Zengmin, Zhang Xuehong, et al. Gravity drain-
age in oil-wet carbonate matrix rock system. Petroleum Ex-
ploration and Development, 2010, 37(3): 358–362.
[4] Popov P, Bi Linfeng, Efendiev Y, et al. Multiphysics and mul-
tiscale methods for modeling fluid flow through naturally frac-
 629 
tured vuggy carbonate reservoirs. SPE105378, 2007.
[5] lu Minghui, zhang Cai, xu Jixiang, et al. Inverse-scattering
imaging of cavern models. Petroleum Exploration and Devel-
opment, 2010, 37(3): 330–337.
[6] Chen Zhijun, Liu Luofu, Wang Weili, et al. Characteristics and
controlling factors of the Upper Ordovician petroleum reser-
voirs in the Tazhong No.1 fault belt, Tarim Basin. Petroleum
Exploration and Development, 2010, 37(4): 409–415, 429.
[7] Cruz-Hernández J, Islas-Juárez R, Pérez-Rosales C, et al. Oil
displacement by water in vuggy fractured porous media. SPE
69637, 2001.
[8] Wang Lei, Dou Zhilin, Lin Tao, et al. Study on the visual
modeling of water flooding in carbonate fracture-cavity res-
ervoir. Journal of Southwest Petroleum University: Science &
Technology Edition, 2011, 33(2): 121–124.
[9] Li Jun, Peng Caizhen, Wang Lei, et al. Simulation experiment
of water-displacing-oil mechanism in fractured-cavity carbon-
ate oil reservoirs. Natural Gas Exploration & Development,
2008, 31(4): 41–44.
[10] Li Junjian, Jiang Hanqiao, Xu Hui, et al. Experiment on pro-
duction laws for single well in vuggy carbonate reservoir.
Journal of China University of Petroleum: Edition of Natural
Science, 2009, 33(2): 85–89.
[11] Zheng Xiaomin, Sun Lei, Wang Lei, et al. Physical simulation
of water displacing oil mechanism for vuggy fractured car-
bonate rock reservoir. Journal of Southwest Petroleum Uni-
versity: Science & Technology Edition, 2010, 32(2): 89–92.
[12] Jiang Yu. The water-drive characteristic research of frac-
tured-vuggy carbonate reservoir: Tahe 4 area oilfield as exam-
ple. Chengdu: Chengdu University of Technology, 2009.