NOVEMBER 2011 / DEFINING TECHNOLOGY FOR EXPLORATION, DRILLING AND PRODUCTION / WorldOil.

com

ADVANCES IN
PRODUCTION
WEST AFRICA REPORT
Giant field developments
parallel frontier exploration

CARBONATE PETROPHYSICS
Evaluating presalt formations
in deepwater Brazil

2011 TUBING TABLES

Updated listing of production
tubing and connections

58th NOV RIG CENSUS

Utilization soars onshore
as marine fleet grows

World Oil

Originally appeared in

NOVEMBER 2011 issue, pgs 81-88.

Analyzing the petrophysics of

carbonates drilled with oil-based mud
Society of Petrophysicists
and Well Log Analysts
+1 (713) 947-8727
spwla.org
Well-established methodology
exists to evaluate carbonate
lithology, porosity, pore types,
permeability and saturation in
wells drilled with water-based
uids. These techniques can
be adapted for applications
where oil-based mud must be
used, such as Brazils presalt
formations.

VINICIUS MACHADO, PAULO FREDERICO

and PAULO NETTO, Petrobras; RODRIGO
BAGUEIRA, Fluminense Federal University,
Brazil; AUSTIN BOYD, ANDRE SOUZA, LUKASZ
ZIELINSKI and ELMAR JUNK, Schlumberger

Several classification schemes have

been developed to aid formation evaluation in carbonates, based on quantifying
carbonate rock texture by either by grain
size,12 pore-size35 or pore-throat size.67
These schemes were developed from visual inspection of cores and cuttings, thinsection microscopy or mercury porosimetry. Recent advances in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) log and core analysis,
complemented by more quantitative use
of borehole image logs, has led to the application of log-based porosity partitioning
based on some of these models. The foundation of this approach is the link between
NMR transverse relaxation time (T2)
distributions and pore-size distributions
obtained from special core analysis. Several case studies have now been presented
where this approach was successfully used
in carbonate formations drilled with waterbased mud (WBM), where the NMR response is well characterized and has been
validated by core analysis.
The recently discovered carbonate
reservoirs offshore Brazil are typically
drilled with oil-based mud (OBM) to
avoid problems in the 6,500 ft of salt
overlying the reservoir. NMR logs are
routinely run in the reservoir section, and
it has been demonstrated that the interpretation methods developed for carbonates drilled with WBM can be adapted
for OBM applications. The tendency of
these carbonates to be oil-wet to both the
2830API reservoir oil and the OBM filtrate ensures that surface relaxivity is the
dominant relaxation mechanism in the
NMR response, which enables the correlation of T2 distributions with the variety
of pore sizes in the reservoir zones. Interpreting NMR logs under such conditions
requires detailed knowledge of the OBM
filtrate properties, the reservoir oil properties and the wettability of the formation
at downhole conditions.

Comparison of downhole NMR log

data with lab measurements performed
on native-state, restored-state, brine-saturated and partially saturated cores shows
that many of these carbonate classification schemes can be applied in the presalt carbonates. This article examines the
common features of these schemes and
reviews the various models in terms of
their relevance for formation evaluation
in the presalt carbonates. Options for analyzing borehole image logs in carbonates
drilled with OBM are also presented as an
aid to porosity typing with NMR.
INTRODUCTION

Ever since the initial presalt discovery well drilled at Tupi (now Lula) field
in 2007, NMR logs have been run routinely in the presalt carbonate reservoirs
offshore Brazil. The NMR logs are used
for lithology (independent porosity), for
estimation of irreducible water saturation
and as an indication of reservoir quality based on the T2 distribution spectra.
When surface relaxivity dominates the
response, the T2 distributions are often
viewed as analogous to pore-size distributions. Several researchers have also highlighted the correlation of T2 distributions
to pore-throat histograms from mercury
porosimetry8 and grain-size histograms.9
Most petrophysical classification schemes
for carbonates are based on quantifying
grain size, pore size or pore-throat size.
When micro- and meso-porosity are
the dominant porosity types, surface relaxivity should dominate the NMR response and the well-established NMR
permeability equation, based on the log
mean of T2 distributions (T2lm, in s), and
porosity should be valid for estimating
permeability. In its modified form, more
appropriate for carbonates, we have:
B

K SDR = A C ( T2lm )

Eq. 1

World Oil/NOVEMBER 201181

INDUSTRY REPORT / SPWLA

where KSDR is permeability (in mD), A is a

pre-multiplier, is the porosity fraction (in
porosity units, or pu), C is the porosity exponent (usually between 2 and 4), is the
surface relaxivity (in microns/s) and B is
the exponent for T2lm (usually 2). The premultiplier A is traditionally set to 4 in sandstones and 0.4 in carbonates, to account for
the difference in surface relaxivity. In the
high-porosity carbonates of the Middle
East where porosity varies little, changing
the porosity exponent C from 4 to 2 can
improve the result by lowering the dynamic range due to porosity variation and, thus,
putting more weight on T2lm for estimating
permeability. In carbonates where porosity varies considerably, though, it is usually
best to keep the exponent at 4. The value
for typically varies from 1 to 3 microns/s
in most carbonates, and can actually be influenced by the type of fluid that is saturating and wetting the formation, as discussed
below. Traditionally, this value was incorporated into A, but introducing surface relaxivity as a separate term allows an option
for accounting for changes in surface relaxivity without changing the pre-multiplier.
The exponent B for the term T2lm is normally set to 2, as this term is considered the
equivalent of the pore radius and permeability is expected to vary with the square
of the pore radius.
When macro-porosity is significant,
typically 2 pu or more, T2lm loses sensitivity to the size of macro-pores but not the
volume of macro-porosity. To account for
this change, a new equation is used that
incorporates the ratio of macro-porosity
to micro- and meso-porosity:
B

MACRO

V
K MACRO = A MACRO
V
C

Eq. 2

where KMACRO is the permeability (in

mD), VMACRO is the macro-porosity as determined from NMR partitioning, and B
is the exponent for the porosity ratio.
The parameters are usually adjusted
to align KMACRO with KSDR when vuggy
porosity is less than 2 pu. One of the
most sensitive parameters is the T2 cutoff used to partition the macro-porosity,
discussed below.
CARBONATE POROSITY
PARTIONING

Figure 1 illustrates the use of NMR

T2 distributions and image log analysis
for porosity partitioning in carbonates10

into micro-, meso- and macro-porosity by

applying cutoffs. This approach assumes
that the T2 distribution will have a reasonable correspondence with the pore size
distributions, and that no hydrocarbon
effects are distorting the T2 distribution.
In carbonates drilled with OBM, this assumption requires investigation.
For image logs, deriving the vuggy or
macro-porosity from histograms of the
electrical image is a long-established procedure in wells drilled with WBM. Recent
tool design advances have enabled the use
of electrical image logs in OBM as well, and
this methodology is being tested in the presalt carbonates. Preliminary results indicate that this approach can be used provided that formation resistivity is higher than
mud resistivity. In the reservoir sections of
the presalt wells, this is usually the case. A
similar approach is also being evaluated for
extracting vuggy porosity from amplitude
histograms of acoustic image logs. Acoustic amplitude is lower in vugular intervals,
and efforts are underway to validate this
approach through comparison to core.
The methodology shown in Fig. 1
assumes four conditions with regard to
extracting the three porosity types from
NMR T2 distributions:
1. There is minimal diffusive coupling
between the three porosity types.
2. There is no significant diffusion effect
shortening the bulk T2 components.
3. The bulk T2 is at least 1 s or longer.
4. Surface relaxivity is the dominant
mechanism over the micro- to mesoporosity range.
Examining these conditions for carbonates drilled with OBM, where the
reservoir oil is typically less than 2 cP at
downhole conditions, it is observed that
using OBM can actually be advantageous
compared with WBM for porosity typing
using NMR T2 distributions. Analysis of
carbonate micro-porosity suggests that it
contains irreducible water, and only contains oil when located more than 1,100 ft
above the oil-water contact.7 When this is
the case, no diffusive coupling is expected between the oil in meso- and macropores and the water in micro-pores. Likewise, if the OBM filtrate is only invading
the meso- and macro-pores, no diffusive
coupling is expected between the microporosity and the meso- and macro-pores.
Diffusive coupling between the microporosity and meso- and macro-porosity
in carbonates drilled with WBM12,13 can

Fig. 1. Pore space partitioning6 as

implemented on borehole log data.11

Total porosity
Micro-porosity

Meso-porosity

~0.5
microns

Macro-porosity

~0.5
microns

NMR response
 < short
T2 cutoff

 < long
T2 cutoff

All pores
> 50100
microns have
the same T2

Vug
porosity

Blind to pores
much smaller
than a button

Image response
Non-vug porosity

affect NMR interpretation in carbonates.

It complicates the use of NMR logs for
determining irreducible water saturation
and estimating permeability. Analysis of
the presalt carbonates indicates that diffusive coupling is not a significant issue and
Condition 1 is satisfied.
Condition 2, regarding diffusion effects on the long T2 components, is satisfied by ensuring that the NMR logs are
acquired at a short enough echo spacing
(typically 200 ms) to prevent diffusion
from shortening the long T2 components.
A short echo spacing also ensures more
accurate micro-porosity and total NMR
porosity. Condition 3, regarding a bulk
T2 of 1 s or more, is satisfied because both
the OBM filtrate and the presalt reservoir
oil have bulk T2 at downhole conditions
ranging 13 s. Condition 4, that surface
relaxivity is the dominant mechanism for
the micro- and meso-pores, is satisfied
because there is strong evidence that both
the reservoir oil and the OBM filtrate are
wetting the formation meso- and macropores. The micro-pores are assumed to be
water-filled and water-wet.
Most carbonate formations have
surface relaxivities in the range of 13
microns/s.14 Assuming a surface relaxivity of 3 microns/s, no significant shift in
T2 due to diffusion, and that the saturating fluid is fully wetting the formation,
we can correlate T2 to pore size using the
equation:15
1
c
1
=
+
T2 T2B
r

Eq. 3

where T2B is the bulk T2 of wetting fluid

(in s), c is the constant for pore shape (3
for spherical pores, 2 for cylindrical pores
World Oil/NOVEMBER 201183

INDUSTRY REPORT / SPWLA

T2 , s

Bulk T2 = 1
Bulk T2 = 2
Bulk T2 = 3

0.1
0.01
0.01

0.01

1
10
Pore radius, microns

100

1,000

Incr. porosity, %

and 1 for planar pores, based on the surface-to-volume ratio), and r is the pore
radius (in microns). Assuming cylindrical
pores and varying T2B between 1 s and 3
s, the micro- and meso-pores can be seen
to have a direct relationship to T2 when
plotted on a log-log scale, whereas the
macro-pores have lost sensitivity to T2,
Fig. 2. The volume of macro-porosity is
still valid as the integration of T2 relates
to porosity, but the relation between pore
radius and T2 is no longer valid.
This is the fundamental reason that
estimating permeability in carbonates
based only on T2 and porosity (KSDR)
has limited dynamic range and why the
method shown in Fig. 1 is more appropriate in zones where macro-porosity is
significant. To compensate for the lack of
sensitivity between pore size and T2 for
macro-pores, the KMACRO permeability
transform is used when macro-porosity
exceeds a threshold, typically 2 pu. Past
this threshold, the relationship between
KMACRO and the ratio of macro-porosity
to total porosity shows a log-linear trend
with permeability until macro-porosity
exceeds 80% of total porosity. It must be
emphasized that both permeability transforms assume connectivity of the pores.
This approach is not intended for use in
cases where the macro- or vuggy porosity
is significantly isolated.
0.04
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
0.1

Special core analysis (SCAL) is the industry standard for determining formation
wettability. Core-flooding experiments are
underway for selected presalt cores, but no
results are available to date. However, there
are indications that the presalt carbonates
are oil-wet, based on high Archie saturation exponent (n) measurements, high
resistivity log profiles in the reservoir section, and comparisons between the bulk
T2 and NMR T2 distributions acquired
with wireline logs. The amount of shift to
faster relaxation times when comparing T2
distributions of partial saturated initial water saturation (Swi) cores with the bulk oil
response of the saturating oil is an excellent indicator of wettability, and compares
well with SCAL results.15
In Fig. 3, the black dotted line shows
the lab NMR T2 distribution for an OBM
filtrate sample measured at 172F. The
sample was obtained by centrifuging 1 L
of OBM for 24 hr and then skimming the
lighter fluid from the top of the sample.
Conventional mud press filters are not
practical for obtaining sufficient volume of
filtrate for core partial-saturation studies.
The OBM filtrate was then centrifuged into a brine-saturated presalt carbonate core sample. The blue dotted and
red lines in Fig. 3 show the lab NMR results for the core at 100% brine saturation
(Sw = 1), and for the core when it is partially brine saturated (Swi) and partially
saturated by OBM filtrate, respectively.
All core measurements were taken at reservoir temperature of 178F, with similar
lab NMR acquisition parameters. The
pronounced shift to shorter relaxation
time between the bulk T2 response and
the Swi response is typical in carbonates
and is a strong indication that the OBM
filtrate is wetting the grains in the mesoand macro-pores. The general overlay of
the T2 distributions in the micro-porosity
indicates that the micro-pores have remained water-saturated and, thus, are still

Swi (left axis)

Sw = 1 (left axis)
OBM ltrate (right axis)

1.0

10

T2 , ms

100

1,000

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
10,000

Fig. 3. Lab NMR T2

distribution of OBM
ltrate, 100% brinesaturated core and
core saturated by
both brine (Swi) and
OBM ltrate.

water-wet. This is an important result, as

it validates the use of micro-porosity as an
indication of Swi on the log and, thus, Sw in
the reservoir section, where the extremely
high resistivity values and uncertainty
about the saturation exponent (n) add
uncertainty to any Sw calculations based
on resistivity logs.
Another important observation is the
shift of the T2 peak for the meso-porosity
where it increases from about 100 ms at
Sw = 1 to 300 ms at Swi. This shift by about
a factor of 3 is typical behavior for oil-wet
cores at Swi conditions, as the surface relaxivity for the oil-wet case (Swi) is less
than the surface relaxivity for the waterwet case (Sw = 1).15 The implication is
that the surface relaxivity for the oil-wet
case is one-third the surface relaxivity for
the water-wet case. This effect may necessitate an increase in the cutoff between
meso- and macro-porosity for the oil-wet
case compared with the water-wet case.
However, in most circumstances this
cutoff is more dependent on the bulk T2
of the wetting and saturating fluid than on
the surface relaxivity. Figure 4 shows the
response for T2 vs. pore size for cylindrical
pores at = 3 (water-wet) and = 1 (oilwet). When the pore size trends toward
macro-porosity (30 microns), the effect
of surface relaxivity diminishes as the bulk
T2 effect dominates. This implies that the
T2 cutoff for macro-porosity can be similar for the oil-wet case and the water-wet
case if each fluid has a similar bulk T2. In
most cases, though, the oil and water will
have different bulk T2 values and the T2
cutoff for macro-porosity will be different.
Further building on the relationship
between bulk T2 and , it is possible to
simulate what to expect at Swi conditions
where OBM filtrate is saturating and wetting the macro- and meso-pores while the
micro-pores remain brine-saturated and
Fig. 4. Simulation of T2 and cylindrical pore
radius for brine-saturated and oil-saturated
cases at bulk T2 = 2 s.

10
1

=3
=1

T2 , s

10

WETTABILITY AND NMR

RESPONSE

Normalized amplitude

Fig. 2. Effect of bulk T2 on the relationship

between T2 and pore size, assuming of
3 microns/s, cylindrical pores and that the
saturating uid is wetting the formation.

0.1
0.01
0.01

0.01

1
10
Pore radius, microns

100

1,000

World Oil/NOVEMBER 201185

INDUSTRY REPORT / SPWLA

Fig. 5. Simulation of T2 and cylindrical pore

radius for a brine-saturated, water-wet
case and an oil-brine (Swi), mixed-wet case.

10
Sw = 1
Swi

T2 , s

1
0.1

Incr. porosity, %

0.01
0.01

0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
0.1

0.01

1
10
Pore radius, microns

100

1,000

pend on the degree of oil-wettability of

the meso-pores and the resulting effect on
surface relaxivity. For the meso- to macroporosity cutoff, it will depend more on
the contrast in bulk surface relaxivity of
the brine and either the reservoir oil or
the invading OBM filtrate.
Additional confirmation that the formation is oil-wet is obtained by comparing the NMR log data with the lab NMR
data, acquired at downhole temperature.
The comparison shows close agreement
between the core sample at Swi conditions
(with brine and OBM filtrate) and the
T2 distribution from the NMR log at the
same depth, Fig. 6.
It is difficult to say whether the log is
responding to the OBM filtrate invading
the formation or to the reservoir oil, or
to a combination of both. It does appear,
though, that whichever fluid the NMR log
is responding to is wetting the formation;
thus, the T2 response is an indication of
pore size distribution.
POROSITY TYPING FROM IMAGE
LOGS

Vug porosity is routinely extracted

from borehole images in WBM by converting the resistivity image into a porosity image and creating a porosity histogram over a short interval around the
borehole. Vugs, being conductive, will
generate high-porosity events on the
histogram, and a porosity threshold is
applied to quantify the vug porosity. In
terms of carbonate porosity partitioning,
vugs represent macro-porosity, as has
been verified experimentally.16
In OBM, newly modified electrical
borehole image logging tools can acquire
images that clearly indicate vugs, fractures
and bedding. When formation resistivity
is higher than the mud resistivity, vuggy
porosity can be estimated by applying
a cutoff to a histogram of conductivity
from the electrical image log. For acoustic
image logs, the amplitude of the images
will vary inversely with porosity, and low

Swi (left axis)

Sw = 1 (left axis)
OBM ltrate (right axis)

1.0

10

T2 , ms

86NOVEMBER 2011/WorldOil.com

100

1,000

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
10,000

Normalized amplitude

-wetted. At reservoir conditions, the brine

has a bulk T2 value of 1.2 s and the surface
relaxivity of the micro-pores is assumed
to be 3 microns/s. Since the meso- and
macro-pores are wetted by and saturated
with OBM filtrate, their effective surface
relaxivity is 1 micron/s and the bulk T2 of
the OBM filtrate is 2 s.
Figure 5 shows the response of T2
vs. pore size for cylindrical pores for
= 3 microns/s and = 1 micron/s. The
micro-pores are water-wet and water-saturated for both cases. The meso-porosity
response changes significantly due to the
change in effective as the meso-pores
change from water-saturated and waterwet to oil-saturated and oil-wet. This
increase in T2 is due to the change in effective rather than the change in bulk
T2. For the macro-pores, the change between the water-saturated, water-wet case
and the oil-saturated, oil-wet case is more
strongly related to the change in bulk T2
than to the change in effective .
The key point of this analysis is that
surface relaxivity dominates the NMR
response for micro- and meso-pores for
both water-wet and oil-wet cases, and
bulk relaxivity dominates the response
for the macro-porosity for both cases.
This implies different T2 cutoff values for
porosity partitioning between the oil-wet
and the water-wet scenarios. For the micro- to meso-porosity cutoff, it will de-

Fig. 6. Comparison
of log NMR T2
distribution with the
distribution for a
core sample at Swi
conditions.

amplitudes generally correlate with vuggy

zones. Electrical image logs have higher
vertical resolution (0.2 in.) than acoustic image logs (0.4 in.), but acoustic images have 100% borehole coverage.17 The
availability of electrical borehole images
in wells drilled with OBM should lead to
a combined electrical-acoustic image interpretation methodology for evaluating
vuggy porosity.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This article was prepared from Paper B presented at
the SPWLA 52nd Annual Logging Symposium held in
Colorado Springs, Colorado, May 1418, 2011.
WEB EXCLUSIVE: For the complete literature
cited, see this article at WorldOil.com.

VINICIUS MACHADO is the Manager of Core

Analysis at Petrobras Cenpes R&D center in Rio
de Janeiro. He holds a joint MSc degree from
the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and
the University of Texas at Austin, and joined
Petrobras in 2002.
PAULO FREDERICO is an NMR Scientist for
Petrobras Cenpes R&D center. He holds an MSc
degree from Fluminense Federal University
(UFF), Brazil, and joined Petrobras in 2004.
PAULO NETTO is a Geologist/Petrophysicist for
Petrobras, based in Rio de Janeiro. He joined
the company in 2004 after receiving a BSc
in geology from the State University of Rio
de Janeiro. Mr. Netto served as President of
SPWLA Brazil in 20092010.
RODRIGO BAGUEIRA is a chemistry professor
at UFF. He holds MSc and PhD degrees in
analytical chemistry from the University of Sao
Paulo, and worked at Cenpes from 2002 to
2004.
AUSTIN BOYD is the Petrophysics Program
Manager at Schlumbergers Brazil Research
and Geoengineering Center in Rio de Janeiro.
He previously served as Program Manager for
Petrophysics at Schlumberger-Doll Research.
Mr. Boyd joined Schlumberger in 1981 as a
eld engineer after receiving a BSc degree in
electrical engineering from Dalhousie University
in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
ANDRE SOUZA is a Research Associate
at Schlumbergers Brazil Research and
Geoengineering Center. He holds an MSc
degree in materials science and engineering
from the University of Sao Paulo, where he
is studying for his PhD. Mr. Souza joined
Schlumberger in 2010 as an intern at
Schlumberger-Doll Research.
LUKASZ ZIELINSKI is a Senior Research
Scientist at Schlumberger-Doll Research
in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He joined
Schlumberger in 2003 after receiving his PhD in
physics from Harvard University.
ELMAR JUNK is Schlumbergers Wireline
Petrophysics Domain Champion for Brazil,
based in Macae. He has held a variety of
positions in operations and interpretation in
the US, Latin America and Europe. Mr. Junk
joined Schlumberger in 1988 as a eld engineer
after receiving his MSc degree in geology from
Phillips University in Marburg, Germany.