Marine and Petroleum Geology 67 (2015) 249e261

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Marine and Petroleum Geology

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Research paper

Calculation of water saturation in low resistivity gas reservoirs and

pay-zones of the Cretaceous Grudja Formation, onshore Mozambique
basin
Vincent Mashaba a, b, Wladyslaw Altermann b, *
a
Sasol Petroleum International, 6 Sturdee Ave., Rosebank, Johannesburg 2096, South Africa
b
University of Pretoria, Department of Geology, South Africa

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The water saturation of a hydrocarbon bearing formation is usually calculated via the conductivity of the
Received 22 February 2015 formation water, as defined by Archie, 1942. However, in some formations such conventionally calculated
Received in revised form water saturation contradicts values calculated from the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) tool and
12 May 2015
from the Drill Stem Test (DST). Here we discuss such a case of low resistivity pay zones in the J- and K-
Accepted 14 May 2015
Available online 21 May 2015
Reservoirs, of the Lower Grudja Formation of Maastrichtian age, onshore Mozambique basin, in which
conventional log analysis contradicts water saturation calculated from the NMR and by the Drill Stem
Test.
Keywords:
Mozambique basin
For both, the J-Reservoir and K-Reservoir, the water saturation (Sw) was calculated using the Archie
Lower Grudja Formation equation and the Simandoux equation, that accounts for clay bound water but not for silt, and the results
Low resistivity pay zones were compared to NMR-calculated water saturation. A new algorithm that improves the accuracy of
Water saturation calculations water saturation calculation was introduced. This new algorithm takes into account the clay- and silt-
bound water within the overall reservoir resistivity. It is demonstrated that the clay- and silt-bound
water must be included in water saturation calculations, where the formations are rich in silt and
clay. The Simandoux equation and the new algorithm yield significant improvement in water saturation
results for the J- and K-Reservoirs, when compared to water saturation calculated using the Archie's
equation.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Mozambique (Fig. 1) has entered its post-war recovery period
and the country is on the brink of industrial revolution. The eco-
nomic growth is largely dependent on the development of the
energy sector, such as building of gas-to-electricity power stations.
The overall local demand for gas in Mozambique is projected to
grow from 3.5 Petra Joules per annum (PJ/a) to approximately 35 PJ/
a by 2025 (IESE, 2012). To meet the growing energy demand of local
industry and that of the neighbouring countries such as South Af-
rica, hydrocarbon production from the Mozambique basin must be
significantly increased in the next decade. Technical and geological
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: vincent.mashaba1@sasol.com (V. Mashaba),
altermann@up.ac.za (W. Altermann).
difficulties however, cause problems that need fast and successful
solutions.
Most hydrocarbon (gas) bearing clastic reservoir formations in
sedimentary basins are characterised by an increase in electric re-
sistivity contrast between the hydrocarbon-bearing part of the
reservoir and the water-bearing zone. The resistivity of oil and gas
is generally higher than that of formation water, since dissolved
solutes in the formation water provide an effective pathway for
electrical current to flow. However, in many basins including the
Mozambique basin, gas-bearing reservoir formations may display
low-resistivity response and as a result, conventional wire-line log
analyses give inaccurate water saturation (Sw) results. This might
often be the cause of overlooking potentially productive hydro-
carbon accumulations.
The calculated water saturation using conventional log analysis
for the J- and K-Reservoirs of the Maastrichtian Lower Grudja For-
mation discussed herein, contradicts water saturation calculated
wlady.
using the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) tool, which gives

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.05.016
0264-8172/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
250 V. Mashaba, W. Altermann / Marine and Petroleum Geology 67 (2015) 249e261

Fig. 1. Schematic outlines and location of the major onshore sedimentary basins of Mozambique. The approximate location of the fields A and B, with the discussed boreholes is
shown in the rectangle marked as “Study Area”.

accurate water saturation (Sw) results in low-resistivity pay reser-
voirs. The conventionally calculated water saturation values also
contradict the Drill Stem Test (DST) to determine the flow of hy-
drocarbons and water before the reservoirs can be set to a full field
gas development and production.
The basis of Archie's equation (Archie, 1942), conventionally
used to calculate the water saturation of a formation, is that the
conductivity of the formation is a function of the conductivity of the
fluid content in its pore space and therefore the equation can be
written in terms of conductivity as:
ð1=nÞ
Sw ¼ ½ða*Rw Þ=ð4m Rt Þ
where: Sw equals water saturation; Rt equals total resistivity as
measured by the resistivity logs; 4m equals total porosity and Cw,
the conductivity of the formation water is defined from 1/Rw with
m ¼ Cementation factor and; n ¼ Saturation exponent.
This equation is applicable to clean, non-shaly sandstones,
however for formations with extra source of conductivity such as
shale, the Simandoux equation applies (Simandoux, 1963):

 m  
4e  ðSw Þn ½a$Rw $ð1  Vsh Þ þ ½ðVsh $Sw Þ=Rsh   1=Rt ¼ 0
(2)
(1)
 V. Mashaba, W. Altermann / Marine and Petroleum Geology 67 (2015) 249e261 251

where: 4e ¼ Effective porosity; Vsh ¼ Volume of shale;

Rsh ¼ resistivity of shale.
Equation (2) basically introduces another conductivity source
arising from shale (or clay) bound water, which is common in the
sandstones of the Mozambique basin, especially in the J- and K-
Reservoirs.

2. Geology of the Grudja Formation, Mozambique basin

The onshore Mozambique basin, the subject of this study, covers

an area of 275,000 km2 (Matthews et al., 2001), the remaining
offshore part covers 105,000 km2 (Coster et al., 1989). The onshore
lower Zambezi, the Inner-Graben and the offshore Zambezi delta
form part of the Mozambique basin (Fig. 1). The basin is defined by
an asymmetric depression bound to the south- west by the Leb-
ombo monocline, where Karoo basalts dip eastwards, below the
Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of the basin. To the north-west, the
basin is bound by the Nuanetsi-Sabi monocline and the western
margin of the basin is formed by outcropping igneous rocks of the
Karoo Supergroup (Gwavava et al., 1992).
Precambrian crystalline and metamorphic rocks form the
common basement for the various compartments of the
Mozambique basins (Salman and Abdula, 1995). The basement is
overlain by the Early Jurassic Karoo volcanic and sedimentary rocks,
followed by the Late Jurassic continental red-beds of the Lupata
Formation (Fig. 2). The transition to marine sedimentation follows
upward in the form of the Early Cretaceous marine deposits of the
Maputo Formation (Coster et al., 1989). The following Early Creta-
ceous Domo Formation is overlain by the Late Cretaceous, marine
Lower Grudja Formation which hosts the J- and the K-Reservoirs
discussed herein. The Lower Grudja Formation is overlain by the
Upper Grudja Formation of Palaeocene age and by the Eocene
Cheringoma Formation of carbonate and deltaic facies. Miocene Fig. 2. Generalised stratigraphic column (modified from Walford et al., 2005). Most oil
shallow marine deposits and the Pliocene Dunes Formation follow and gas discoveries are found in the late Cretaceous, Lower Grudja Formation.
uncomformably on the Eocene deposits.
While the Mesozoic to Cenozoic sedimentary rocks are pre-
dominantly deltaic and marine in origin (Salman and Abdula, 1995)
and consist of reworked, clastic detritus (Walford et al., 2005), but Rovuma basin also has a great hydrocarbon reservoir potential and
also of the Cheringoma limestone of Eocene age (Flores, 1973), the similar stratigraphic and lithological units as in the Mozambique
Late Cretaceous Lower Grudja Formation is of shallow shelf facies basin are found there and in the northern continuation of the east
and contains clayey sand deposits and siltstones which in places African coastal basins, into Tanzania (Boote and Matchette-Downes,
contain abundant glauconite. It can attain up to 1200 m thickness in 2009). Therefore, these two coastal basins represent significant
the central parts of the basin, it pinches out however significantly hydrocarbon potential for Mozambique and the entire southern
towards the basin margins, to only few metres thickness (La €chelt, Africa.
2004). These sedimentary rocks, but especially the J- and K-reser-
voirs at the top of the Lower Grudja Formation represent the most 3. Petrology of the J- and K-Reservoirs
important reservoir rocks in Mozambique. The main conduits for
transportation of sediments forming these rocks were the river Petrological analyses were based on samples from well A15 and
systems of the paleo-Zambezi river, the largest eastward draining B12 for the J-Reservoir and the K-Reservoir, respectively and
river in Africa (Wellington, 1955). comprise thin sections, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Laser Grain
The basins of Mozambique can be generally subdivided into two Size Analysis (LGSA), that were conducted by OMNI Laboratories in
genetic classes: the marginal and the interior rift basins (Coster 2005.
et al., 1989). The former includes the coastal Mozambique and the
Rovuma basins (Salman and Abdula, 1995) and the latter includes 3.1. The J-Reservoir (well A15)
the Maniamba, Lake Niassa and the Middle Zambezi basins (Fig. 1).
According to Matthews et al. (2001), the basins formed almost The typical J-Reservoir sandstones are structurally immature
entirely on the proto-oceanic crust but Gwavava et al. (1992), but compositionally moderately sorted. Fig. 3a shows a thin section
argued based on gravity modelling, that the basins could be un- (depth of 1157.30 m) from well A15 of the J-Reservoir. The grains are
derlain by a highly stretched continental crust, overlain by the Early moderate to well sorted, but angular to very angular and compose
Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary sedimentary deposits, reaching in an immature lithic arkose, cemented by calcite (2%) and analcime
thickness up to 12,000 m in the Zambezi delta depression (comp. (3%). The analcime cements generally occur in larger patches that
also Coster et al., 1989). encompass several grains. The calcite cement was stained by
The lithology and reservoir quality of the Mozambique basin is alizarin-red and it occurs in very small patches within isolated
not correlated in detail with the Rovuma basin, where a different pores. The very low rounding degree of the vast majority of the
stratigraphic nomenclature is used (Key et al., 2008). However, the clasts indicates that the grains are little reworked and possibly of a
252 V. Mashaba, W. Altermann / Marine and Petroleum Geology 67 (2015) 249e261

Fig. 3. (a) Micrograph of a plane polarised thin section from well A15, sample taken towards the top of the reservoir, at depth of 1157.30. The scale bar is 0.5 mm (b) Micrograph of a
plane polarised thin section from well B12 sample taken towards the top of the reservoir at depth of 1291 m. The scale bar is 0.5 mm. Quartz cement overgrowth on angular quartz
grains and its later partial dissolution at the resorption embayments and holes are visible. Porosity is stained in blue. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

first depositional cycle, just downstream of a deltaic system. Po-
tassium feldspars were stained with sodium cobaltinitrite, a yellow
crystalline salt often used as a selective staining of K-feldspar and
plagioclase in thin sections (Bailey and Stevens, 1960). The abun-
dance of K-feldspar indicates, alike the lack of rounding, low
maturity and short transportation. The grain density and average
porosity are 2.65 g/cc and 28.7% respectively.
3.2. Mineral and clay composition
The framework grain type consists mainly of mono-crystalline
quartz with plagioclase and potassium feldspar grains as the sec-
ond most common minerals. Modal analysis indicates that the
quartz content ranges from 59% to 78% and K-feldspar content
ranges from 14% to 19%. The lithic fragments contents range from
 V. Mashaba, W. Altermann / Marine and Petroleum Geology 67 (2015) 249e261
6% to 10%, metamorphic rock fragments are the most common
(1e5%), followed by the plutonic rock fragments (1e3%). Volcanic
and sedimentary rock fragments are also present. The analysis is
based on 14 thin sections from well A15 core samples.
The total cement volumes range from 6% to 9% by weight. The
low weight percentage volume of total cement is indicative of
reservoir sandstone that is not well lithified. The most common
cements are quartz overgrowth which occurs in weight percentage
of between 1% and 8% and calcite cement, which is present in
isolated patches that appear to been partially dissolved (decalcifi-
cation). The increase in these two cements in the reservoir reduces
the reservoirs porosity and permeability and thus the reservoir
quality.
The clay minerals consist of chlorite (2%e3%), illite (2%e3%),
mixed-layer illite/smectite (trace to 3%) and kaolinite at trace level.
The smectites occur as pure smectites and as a stratified mix layer
of smectites and illites. Carbonate minerals such as calcite and
siderite were found in average concentrations of 1e8 weight % and
0% to trace level, respectively.
Pyrite is found in small quantities, between trace level and 1
weight % on average, dependent on the oxygenation during
diagenesis, the content of organic matter in the sediments and on
water circulation. Glauconite, a possible contributor to the re-
sistivity of the reservoirs, was not revealed by X-Ray Diffraction
(XRD) analysis from the core data and not detected in thin sections
in any significant quantity, although it has been described from
several levels and localities of this formation (L€
achelt, 2004).
3.3. The K-Reservoir (well B12)
The sandstones within the cored interval of the K-reservoir in
well B12 vary from friable to well-cemented. Fig. 3b shows a thin
sectioned sample from well B12 of the K-Reservoir (at depth
1291 m). Poorly to moderately sorted, angular grains consist mainly
of quartz and feldspars. Small volumes of <1% of analcime and
calcite cements that replace grains and fill inter-granular pores are
present in the sandstones. Quartz overgrowth cements are present
and sometimes well developed. They may be partially dissolved
showing resorption embayments. Post quartz, poikilotopic calcite
cements were also observed.
Other, minor cements include zeolite which appears to be
partially dissolved and exhibits a “sponge-like” texture. Potassium
feldspar grains were stained with sodium cobaltinitrite for better
identification and are present in moderate amounts. All grains are
sub-angular to angular, which indicates that they have not been
reworked extensively and suggest a first depositional cycle in a
shallow-marine depositional system. Very low amount of pyrite is
present as particle replacement mineral. The grain density and
average porosity are 2.64 g/cc and 26.7%, respectively. The majority
of the porosity is inter-granular with some fraction of it due to the
leaching of the inter-granular analcime cements.
3.4. Mineral and clay composition
The dominant grain constituent of the K-Reservoir is quartz
(12e79%), but there is a wide range of other constituents such as
volcanic rock fragments (trace to 9%) and plutonic and meta-
morphic rock fragments (trace to 3%). The sandstones within the
cored interval exhibit cement volumes of between 3 and 18% (both
authigenic and detrital clays). Authigenic clay comprises about 2%
of the sample volume versus detrital clay, which comprises about
3%. Sparsely distributed calcite, due to partial dissolution of the
mineral, and pyrite are the most common cements present. Pyrite is
present as particle replacement and as cement from trace level to
253
2% (weight). Overgrowth of quartz mineral exists in variable
amounts from trace to 2% in all the analyzed samples.
The clay minerals present with the K-Reservoir of well B12 are
chlorite (trace to 4%), kaolinite (trace to 1%), illite (trace to 5%) and
mixed-layer illite/smectite (1e15%) for a total average content of
approximately 9% by weight. Calcite (1e68%) and siderite (trace-
0%) are also present. Similar mineral compositions were observed
in core samples from other wells in the K-reservoir (OMNI, 2005).
4. Petrophysical calculations
4.1. Low-resistivity pay
Low-resistivity pay zones display a low-resistivity contrast be-
tween a brine-water-bearing section of the reservoir and a
hydrocarbon-bearing (oil or gas) part of the reservoir
(Worthington, 2000). Hamada et al. (2000), subdivided the cause of
low-resistivity pay zones into two main categories:
I. The first category refers to reservoirs where due to micro-
porosity, the actual water saturation is high but water-free hy-
drocarbons are produced.
II. The second category refers to cases where the calculated water
saturation is higher than the water that is produced during
hydrocarbon production. This is often caused by the presence of
conductive minerals such as pyrite, other metal sulphides and
graphite in the reservoir.
Analysis of conventional resistivity logs fails to accurately
determine the amount of hydrocarbons in a low-resistivity pay
zone and as a result, such zones may be classified as sub-
economical or even mistaken for water-bearing zones. The causes
of low-resistivity are directed at specific reservoirs or particular
depositional environments and may not be directly applicable to
other reservoirs, where conditions initially appear to be similar
(Worthington, 2000). It is therefore necessary to study and un-
derstand the specific causes of the low-resistivity pay in the J- and
K-Reservoirs of the Mozambique basin and to recommend an al-
gorithm and a workflow that can improve the accuracy of calcu-
lation of water saturation in these reservoirs.
Data available for the study included well logs with standard
logging suite such as density (RHOB), sonic, gamma ray (GR) and
neutron logs. Some wells had nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
logs available next to conventional well logs and core data.
4.2. Well log normalization
The well log response within a stratigraphic unit may vary from
well to well especially if the data were acquired in different drilling
campaigns, using different brands or generation of logging tools
and instrument calibration errors, different borehole environment,
tool design and tool malfunction. In order to obtain standardised
and comparable reservoir evaluation results, it is necessary to
normalize the log response across different wells. In so doing,
systematic logging errors can be identified and removed from the
actual log data (Shier, 2004). The normalization workflow was done
according to the following algorithm by Shier (2004):
 .
Vnorm ¼ Rmin þ ðRmax  Rmin Þ Vlog  Wmin ðWmax  Wmin Þ
(3)
where Vnorm are the normalized values of the curve; Rmin and Rmax
are regional best estimates for two lithologies; Vlog is a non-
normalized log curve; Wmin is the value of specific lithology in
254 V. Mashaba, W. Altermann / Marine and Petroleum Geology 67 (2015) 249e261
each well; Wmax, is the value of a different lithology in each well.
Figs. 4 and 5 show the distribution of gamma ray for the J- and the
K-Reservoirs respectively.
4.3. Porosity calculations
One of the input parameters in water saturation calculation is
porosity (see equations (1) and (2) above). Porosity can be derived
from density logs as follows:
. 
FT ¼ ðrma  rb Þ rma  rf
where: FT ¼ Total porosity; rma ¼ is the density of the
matrix ¼ 2.65 g/cc (from core data); rb ¼ is the bulk density
(measured from the density log); rf ¼ is the fluid density (g/cc).
Densities of water ¼ 1, oil ¼ 0.8 and gas ¼ 0.2.
Fig. 6 shows porosity calculated using equation (4) and com-
pares the results from core derived porosity. There is a good cor-
relation between the core derived porosity and porosity calculated
using the Simandoux equation (2).
Effective porosity, which is defined by the connected pore space
in the reservoir, was calculated by subtracting the volume of shale
(Vshale) from the calculated total porosity (FT) as shown in equation
(5) below.
Effective porosity ðFe Þ ¼ FT *ð1  Vsh Þ
4.4. Shale (Vsh) and silt volume (Vsilt) calculation and conductivity
of the shale and silt-bound water
One of the input parameters in Simandoux water saturation
calculation is the volume of shale (Vsh) in the reservoir, see equa-
tion (2). “Shale” in this instance is not necessarily a shale sensu
Fig. 4. Multi-well histogram of gamma ray (GR) values for J-Reservoir. The histogram represents values for all 14 wells used to generate the regional statistical log distribution.
strictu, i.e. a metamorphosed claystone but any very fine-grained,
clastic sedimentary rock composed of a mix of flakes of clay min-
erals and silt-sized particles of other minerals, especially quartz. It
is characterized by fissility or parting along lamina and could also
be termed “mudstone”. The grain size refers to a spectrum of
0.001e0.04 mm (Williams et al., 2011). Such rock is the most
prevalent form of “shale” in Mozambique basin and the presence of
clay minerals in the reservoir formation is the primary cause of
low-resistivity phenomena. As most clay minerals are rich in po-
tassium, leading to an enhanced gamma ray (GR) response, the GR
response corresponds to the volume of clay in the formation which
(4)
was estimated using the Thomas and Stieber (1975), equation:
Vclay ¼ 0:5*IGR =ð1  1:5*IGR Þ (6)
where, IGR is the Gamma Ray Index which indicates the amount of
shale in the formation calculated as:
IGR ¼ GR  GRmin =ðGRmax  GRmin Þ (7)
With GRmin of API reading of 0% volume of clay (Vclay) in the
formation and GRmax of API reading of 100% volume of clay in the
formation. The volume results for Vclay for well A15 and B12 are
shown in Fig. 7a and b. These results were compared to XRD results
on core samples and display a good match between the two
methods. For simplicity reasons and practicality of calculations, the
(5) “volume of shale” in this study is considered to be the sum of the
volume of silt (Vsilt) and the volume of clay (Vclay) as defined by:
Vsh ¼ Vclay þ Vsilt (8)
According to Williams et al. (2011), silt has grain size range of
0.004e0.0063 mm. The volume of silt and porosity were measured
in well A15 and B12 cores. The relationship between porosity and
volume of silt was investigated by cross-plotting silt volume versus
 V. Mashaba, W. Altermann / Marine and Petroleum Geology 67 (2015) 249e261 255

Fig. 5. Multi-well histogram of gamma ray (GR) values for the K-Reservoir showing a slightly skewed distribution of values for all the 18 wells.

Fig. 6. Correlation of density log calculated and measured porosity. Core-measured porosity correlates well with porosity calculated from log data.

porosity and a linear fit between the two parameters was defined as
shown in Fig. 8 a and b for the J- and K-Reservoirs, respectively. The
relationship is given by:
Silt Volume ðJ  ReservoirÞ ¼ 3:0662*Porosity þ 1:1073 (9)
Silt Volume ðK  ReservoirÞ ¼ 2:3:996*Porosity þ 0:9197
(10)
Equations (9) and (10) were used to calculate the volume of silt
in all the wells with porosity information in the J- and K-Reservoirs
respectively. Fig. 9a shows the silt volume results for one of the
wells, the A21.
The conductivity of the silt-bound water is one of the additional
factors in the new water saturation equation applied in this
contribution (Mashaba, 2014). It was estimated from the resistivity
curves. Hereby, the average resistivity corresponding to the high
volume of silt is assumed to represent the resistivity of the silt-
256 V. Mashaba, W. Altermann / Marine and Petroleum Geology 67 (2015) 249e261
Fig. 7. The volume of clay for wells A15 and B12. In (a), the log calculated volume of clay increases towards the lower part of the reservoir (base reservoir is at 1190 m), which is
consistent with the volume of clay measured from XRD and LGSA. (b) The log calculated volume of clay for B12 increases towards the lower part of the reservoir (base reservoir is at
1298 m), which is consistent with the volume of clay measured from XRD and LGSA.
bound water (Fig. 9b). The resistivity of the shale, an input in
Simandoux equation, was (0.9e5 Ohm-m) and that of the silt-
bound water (0.9e1 Ohm-m).
4.5. Water saturation (Sw) in Archie and Simandoux equations
Archie's equation is the most conventional approach to calculate
water saturation (Sw) in clean, non-shaly reservoirs, using the pa-
rameters (a, m, n, Rw) as single value saturation input parameters
into Equation (1). These parameters were calculated using the
Pickett Plot shown in Fig. 10, in the previous section as m ¼ 1.46,
n ¼ 2, a ¼ 1 and Rw ¼ 0.0947 Ohm-m. The Simandoux equation is
used in shale reservoirs and input parameters (m, n, Rw), used in
Equation (2), were the same as in Archie's equation. However, the
volume of shale (Vsh) (or Vclay as it pertains to J- and K-Reservoirs)
and the resistivity of shale Rsh were also added.
Due to the high silt content of the Grudja reservoirs, a new
approach was developed to calculate the water saturation (Sw), in
the low resistivity pay zones of the J- and K-Reservoirs of the
Mozambique basin, Grudja Formation. The new equation was
derived from Archie and Simandoux principles as follows:
Archie's equation can be written in terms of conductivity to
linearize it as:
Ct ¼ 4T Snw Cw
where Ct equals Total conductivity; 4T ¼ total porosity and Cw equals
conductivity of the formation water. The Simandoux equation can
also be expressed in terms of conductivity instead of resistivity, to
linearize it as follows:
n
Ct ¼ 4m
e Sw Cw þ Sw Vsh Csh (12)
where 4e ¼ effective porosity; Vsh ¼ volume of shale and
Csh ¼ conductivity of shale.
Equation (12), basically introduces another conductivity term
arising from shale but since clay is the most prevalent constitute of
shale in the Mozambique basin (see above) we argue (Mashaba,
2014) that in order for the equation to be more relevant to the J-
and K-Reservoirs, the equation should be re-written as:
n
Ct ¼ 4m
e Sw Cw þ Sw Vcl Ccl (13)
where Vcl is the volume of clay and Ccl is the conductivity of clay.
However, because silt is also present in the shale (see Equation (8)
above) it is suggested herein that the conductivity arising from silt-
bound water should be incorporated into these calculations and
thus the Equation (13) should be re-written as:
Ct ¼ Cw *ðSw Þn  4m
e þ Vcl *Ccl *Sw þ Vsilt *Csilt Sw (14)
(11)
 V. Mashaba, W. Altermann / Marine and Petroleum Geology 67 (2015) 249e261 257

Fig. 8. (a) The volume of silt from Laser Grain Size Analysis (LGSA) plotted against core measured porosity for well A15. The linear fit to the data was used to define the relationship
between porosity and the volume of silt and then used to model the volume of silt for the entire section of the J-Reservoir. (b) Volume of silt from Laser Grain Size Analysis (LGSA)
plotted against core measured porosity for well B12. The linear fit to the data was used to define the relationship between porosity and the volume of silt.

where Vsilt is the volume of silt and the Csilt is the conductivity of silt
 
bound water. To solve for Sw in Equation (14), one has to assume Sw ¼  ðVcl *Ccl þ Vsilt *Csilt Þ± ðVcl *Ccl þ Vsilt *Csilt Þ2
that the saturation factor (n) equals 2 and re-write the equation as
follows:   1=2   

 4* Cw *4me *ð  Ct Þ 2*Cw  4m e (18)
 
ðSw Þ2 *ðCw Þ* 4m
e þ Sw *ðVcl Þ*ðCcl Þ þ ðSw Þ*ðVsilt Þ*ðCsilt Þ* Equation (18) is the new, complete water saturation equation as
(15)
 Ctotal ¼ 0 applied to the J- and K-Reservoirs of the Mozambique basin.

Equation (15) is now a quadratic equation, similar to equation

(16) below: 4.6. Water saturation (Sw) calculation results

0 ¼ ax2 þ bx þ c (16) Figs. 11 and 12 demonstrate the results of the calculated water
saturation (Sw) using three different methods, Archie's equation,
where a ¼ (Cw)*(4m e ), b ¼ Vcl*Ccl þ Vsilt*Csilt; c ¼ Ctotal. The solution Simandoux equation and the new equation developed herein
to equation (15) is given by the quadratic equation: (Mashaba, 2014), for the J- and K-Reservoirs, respectively. All the
results were compared to NMR-calculated water saturation. In
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi Fig. 11a, all three methods slightly under-estimate the water satu-
b± b2  4ac
x¼ (17) ration at the top of the reservoir (approx. 1145 m) compared to
2a NMR-calculated water saturation. Towards the bottom of the
Substituting a, b and c in Equation (17), the solution (x) for water reservoir, both Archie and Simandoux equation over-estimate the
saturation is given by equation (18): water saturation compared to NMR, whereas the newly developed
258 V. Mashaba, W. Altermann / Marine and Petroleum Geology 67 (2015) 249e261
Fig. 9. The volume of silt versus depth (a) and the resistivity profile (b) in well A21 of the J-Reservoir.
equation matches the NMR-calculated water saturation. In well A23
of Fig. 11b, all three methods slightly underestimate the water
saturation towards the top of the reservoir (at approximately
1157 m depth) and overestimate the water saturation towards the
base of the reservoir (at approximately 1180 m depth).
The water saturation results for the K-Reservoir are shown in
Fig. 12a and b. In well B12, all three methods underestimate the
water saturation towards the top of the reservoir and overestimate
the water saturation towards the base of the reservoir compared to
NMR-calculated water saturation. However, the curve for new
equation shows a slight improvement in the calculated water
saturation towards the base of the reservoir (at depth of 1300 m),
compared to Archie and Simandoux' equations. Similar results are
shown in Fig. 12b.
5. Conclusions
As shown above, the resistivity of the clay- and silt-bound water
is one of the contributing factors to the inconsistencies in the water
saturation calculation using the conventional resistivity logs. Based
on XRD and LGSA analyses, the amount of clay and silt increases
towards the bottom of the J- and K-Reservoirs, which causes an
increase in the amount of bound water towards the bottom of the
reservoir. The novel approach introduced in this contribution uti-
lises a newly developed algorithm to account for the silt-bound
water in addition to the clay-bound water as reflected in the
Simandoux equation (Mashaba, 2014). This approach generally
resulted in improved water saturation values, when compared to
Archie and Simandoux approaches in most wells. In well A21, the
water saturation calculated using the new equation was very close
to the NMR-calculated water saturation. NMR-derived water satu-
ration (Sw) is considered to be more accurate since it is not affected
by the resistivity of the formation water and by the hydrocarbons
within the reservoir.
The causes for low-resistivity in the J- and K-Reservoirs can be
summarized as follows:
 The reservoir texture and grain size, as well as its mineral
composition, control the amount of bound water in the reser-
voir. The relationship between decreasing grain size and an
 V. Mashaba, W. Altermann / Marine and Petroleum Geology 67 (2015) 249e261 259

increase in the amount of irreducible (bound) water saturation

Fig. 10. Pickett Plot results for well A21, J-Reservoir, 77 points plotted out of 77. The red
line represents 100% water line, with every point that falls to the right of it repre-
senting hydrocarbons (gas). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
has been demonstrated for the J- and K-Reservoirs of the
Mozambique basin in this study. Figs. 7e9 show an increase in
clay and silt content towards the base of the reservoir and hence
an associated decrease in resistivity.
 The clay minerals present in both, the J- and the K-Reservoirs
include mixed layers of smectites and illites, which are known to
expand to about 95% of their original volume, which contributes
to an increase in clay-bound water within these reservoirs.
 Conductive minerals such as pyrite were present only in small
quantities in both reservoirs and do not have any measurable
effect on the conductivity of the reservoir.
 The presence of soluble cements such as calcite and the alter-
ation of feldspar grains to clay increase the microporosity and
thus, the amount of bound water in the reservoir, further
influencing the conductivity through increased amount of irre-
ducible water.
 Small quantities of chlorite may contribute to moderate increase
in surface area of clay minerals and thus to the amount of bound
water. The Simandoux equation, which takes into account the
resistivity of the shale, gives better water saturation results than
Archie's equation, which is more suitable for clean, non-shaley
sands.

Fig. 11. (a) Water Saturation (Sw) calculated using the new method (algorithm) developed herein (Mashaba, 2014), compared to Archie, Simandoux and NMR-calculated water
saturations for well A21 (Field A). (b) Water Saturation (Sw) calculated using the new method (algorithm) compared to other Archie, Simandoux and NMR-calculated water sat-
urations for well A23 (Field A).
260 V. Mashaba, W. Altermann / Marine and Petroleum Geology 67 (2015) 249e261
Fig. 12. (a) Water Saturation (Sw) calculated using the new method (algorithm, Mashaba, 2014), compared to Archie, Simandoux and NMR-calculated water saturations for well B12
(Field B) and for well B18 (Field B), (b).
 The equation introduced herein (Mashaba, 2014), which sepa-
rates the contribution of the clay-bound and the silt-bound
water to the overall resistivity of the reservoir, delivers signifi-
cantly improved water saturation results to the Archie's equation
and also somewhat improved results when compared to the
Simandoux equation, because of the high amounts of clay min-
erals in the J- and K-Reservoirs of the Mozambique basin, and can
be most probably also applied to other reservoir rocks of similar
lithology. In some wells of the Mozambique basin however, that
probably penetrated cleaner sandstone reservoirs, the results
from the two methods are comparable. The calculated water
saturation using all three different methods mostly reflects the
bound, irreducible water saturation. This water cannot be pro-
duced during gas production as demonstrated by the production
data and drill stem test (DST) in the J- and K-Reservoirs.
Acknowledgements
V. Mashaba is grateful to Sasol Petroleum International for the
access and the allowance to publish this work, which is a part of his
PhD thesis at the Department of Geology, University of Pretoria,
submitted and defended in 2014, and to Dr Adegboyega Elegbede
for his guidance and valuable advice. Both authors are grateful the
Instituto Nacional de Petroleo (INP) for giving permission to use the
data for these studies and to Kumba and Exxaro for continuously
supporting the Kumba-Exxaro Chair in Geodynamics of Ore
Deposits.
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