POROSITY

MATERI II
INTRODUCE

• POROSITY IS THE RATIO OF VOID VOLUME IN A POROUS MEDIUM TO THE TOTAL

VOLUME OF THAT MEDIUM
• BASICALLY, POROSITY MEANS STORAGE CAPACITY THAT CAN INDICATE THE
AMOUNT OF FLUID THAT THE POROUS MEDIUM CAN STORE. POROSITY CAN BE
CALCULATED USING THE FOLLOWING EQUATION

WHERE Ф IS THE POROSITY [DIMENSIONLESS SINCE WE ARE DIVIDING TWO

VOLUMES], VP IS THE PORE VOLUME [CM3], AND VT IS THE TOTAL VOLUME [CM3]
• THE MATRIX VOLUME FROM THE TOTAL VOLUME AND DIVIDE IT BY
THE TOTAL VOLUME TO OBTAIN THE POROSITY, AS SHOWN IN THE
FOLLOWING EQUATION :

WHERE VM IS THE MATRIX VOLUME [CM3]

=
TYPICAL POROSITY VALUES IN RESERVOIR
ROCKS
 CLASSIFICATION OF POROSITY

• GEOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION OF POROSITY

1. PRIMARY POROSITY IS THE ORIGINAL POROSITY THAT DEVELOPS DURING

THE DEPOSITION OF THE MATERIAL.

PRIMARY POROSITY CAN BE EITHER INTERGRANULAR OR

INTRAGRANULAR

2. SECONDARY (INDUCED) POROSITY IS DEVELOPED AFTER DEPOSITION BY

GEOLOGICAL PROCESSES WHICH RESULT IN VUGS AND FRACTURES.
 CLASSIFICATION OF POROSITY

INTERGRANULAR POROSITY IS THE POROSITY

BETWEEN GRAINS, WHILE INTRAGRANULAR
POROSITY IS THE POROSITY WITHIN THE
GRAIN ITSELF.

INTERGRANULAR POROSITY FORMS THE

MAJORITY OF THE POROSITY OF THE ROCK.

SCHEMATIC SHOWING THE DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN INTERGRANULAR AND
INTRAGRANULAR POROSITIES (FIGURE)
 CLASSIFICATION OF POROSITY

• ENGINEERING CLASSIFICATION OF POROSITY

TOTAL POROSITY (ФT) IS THE TOTAL PORE VOLUME OF THE ROCK DIVIDED BY
THE BULK VOLUME.

1. EFFECTIVE POROSITY (ФE) IS THE INTERCONNECTED PORE VOLUME DIVIDED

BY THE BULK VOLUME.

2. INEFFECTIVE POROSITY IS THE ISOLATED PORE VOLUME DIVIDED BY THE

BULK VOLUME.
 CLASSIFICATION OF POROSITY

USUALLY IN SANDSTONES, ФT = ФE AS THEY

ARE RELATIVELY HOMOGENEOUS ROCKS.
CARBONATE AND DOLOMITE ROCKS, ON THE
OTHER HAND, USUALLY HAVE ФT > ФE SINCE
CARBONATES ARE TYPICALLY
HETEROGENEOUS.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EFFECTIVE AND

INEFFECTIVE POROSITY.
 FACTORS AFFECTING POROSITY

POROSITY CAN BE AFFECTED BY EITHER

PRIMARY OR SECONDARY FACTORS.

1. PRIMARY FACTOR

a. PARTICLE PACKING ;

DIFFERENT PACKING
ARRANGEMENTS LEAD TO
DIFFERENT POROSITIES.
 FACTORS AFFECTING POROSITY

b. SORTING ;

PARTICLES ARE REFERRED TO AS “WELL

SORTED” WHEN THEY ARE ALL OF THE
SAME SIZE WHILE THEY ARE POORLY
SORTED WHEN THEY ARE OF DIFFERENT
SIZES WELL-SORTED PARTICLES RESULT
IN A HIGHER POROSITY COMPARED TO
POORLY SORTED PARTICLES.
 FACTORS AFFECTING POROSITY

• THE PRESENCE OF MORE CEMENTING MATERIALS

POROSITY CAN BE AFFECTED BY EITHER
MEANS LESS POROSITY AS THERE IS LESS VOID SPACE
PRIMARY OR SECONDARY FACTORS. AVAILABLE FOR THE STORAGE OF HYDROCARBONS.
• OVERBURDEN PRESSURE WILL LOWER THE PORE
1. SECONDARY FACTOR
VOLUME OF THE ROCK, LEADING TO LOWER
POROSITY.
a. CEMENTING MATERIALS
• THESE ARE FORMED AFTER DEPOSITION AND WILL
b. OVERBURDEN PRESSURE INCREASE THE POROSITY OF ROCKS. DISSOLUTION IS
WHEN THE MINERALS DISSOLVE OVER TIME. SOME
(COMPACTION)
MINERALS WILL DISSOLVE IN WATER. VUGS ARE
LARGE PORES FORMED BY DISSOLUTION. FRACTURE
c. VUGS, DISSOLUTION, AND FRACTURES
IS A BREAK OR SEPARATION IN A ROCK FORMATION.
 WIRELINE LOGGING
• WIRELINE LOGGING IS THE ACQUISITION AND
ANALYSIS OF PETROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES AS A
FUNCTION OF DEPTH
• WIRELINE LOGGING IS USUALLY REFERRED TO AS
TAKING IN SITU MEASUREMENTS INSIDE THE
WELL.
• DIFFERENT WIRELINE TOOLS ARE USED TO
ACQUIRE THREE MAIN PROPERTIES:
• For lithology, gamma rays from
formation rocks as a result of the decay of
radioactive elements are recorded; shales
have more radioactive components than
reservoir rocks.

• For fluid saturation, we use resistivity

logs, which are based on the concept that
hydrocarbons have higher resistivity
(lower conductivity) than water.
 POROSITY LOGS CAN BE DIVIDED INTO THREE TYPES:

• BULK DENSITY LOG (DENSITY LOG).

• NEUTRON LOG.

• ACOUSTIC (SONIC) LOG

 POROSITY LOGS DO NOT MEASURE POROSITY DIRECTLY; POROSITY IS INSTEAD

OBTAINED BY PERFORMING SOME CALCULATIONS ON THE LOG DATA.

MOREOVER, POROSITY LOGS MEASURE THE TOTAL POROSITY WHEN

COMPARED TO LABORATORY MEASUREMENTS, BECAUSE LOGGING TOOLS

CAN ACCESS BOTH THE ISOLATED AND CONNECTED PORES.

BULK DENSITY LOG (LOG DENSITY)
 A DENSITY LOG RECORDS THE BULK DENSITY OF THE POROUS MEDIA NEAR THE
WELL AGAINST THE DEPTH.

 THE BULK DENSITY IS DEPENDENT ON :

• DENSITY OF THE LITHOLOGY

• POROSITY

• DENSITY AND SATURATION OF THE FLUIDS IN THE PORES

Fluids in the
Matrix
pore spaces
ACOUSTIC (SONIC) LOG
 THE SONIC TOOL USUALLY CONSISTS OF SOUND TRANSMITTERS AND
RECEIVERS.

 SOUND TRAVELS FASTER IN SOLIDS THAN IN LIQUIDS.

Matrix Fluids in the

pore spaces

 IS A CONSTANT THAT IS BASED ON THE LITHOLOGY

LITHOLOGY [μs/ft]
SANDSTONE 55.5
CARBONATE 47.5
DOLOMITE 43.5
NEUTRON LOG
 THE RESULTING LOW ENERGY NEUTRONS ARE DETECTED AND THEIR COUNT RATE IS
RELATED TO THE NUMBER OF HYDROGEN ATOMS IN THE FORMATION.

 THE HIGHER THE COUNT RATE AND THE LOWER THE POROSITY

 SOMETIMES CORRECTIONS HAVE TO BE MADE TO THE READINGS BASED ON THE

LITHOLOGY
RESPONSES OF POROSITY LOGS
THE THREE POROSITY LOGS RESPOND DIFFERENTLY TO DIFFERENT
MATRIX COMPOSITIONS AND TO THE PRESENCE OF GAS AND OIL.

THE COMBINATION OF THESE LOGS ALONG WITH THE RESISTIVITY

AND LITHOLOGY LOGS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THE
FULL PICTURE OF THE RESERVOIR.
GRAIN/MATRIX DENSITY

• GRAIN/MATRIX DENSITY [G/CM3] IS Typical matrix densities for different rock types
LITHOLOGY [gr/]
ALSO CONSIDERED A PART OF THE
SANDSTONE 2.65
RCAL. IN ORDER TO MEASURE IT, WE
LIMESTONE 2.71
NEED TO KNOW THE BULK VOLUME, DOLOMITE 2.87
THE WEIGHT OF THE ROCK SAMPLE,
AND THE PORE VOLUME.
1. Using the density log from Figure 2.15, calculate the porosity
of a sandstone formation at a depth of 10,860 ft. Assume that
the formation is saturated with water having a density ρ = 1
g/cm3.

2. Using a neutron log, calculate the porosity at a depth of

10,720 ft.

3. Using an acoustic log (Figure 2.15), calculate the porosity of

a sandstone formation at a depth of 10,820 ft. Assume that the
formation is saturated with water having a ∆Tf = 195 µs/ft.