.& ME!

HOD 1I'OR DE'l'ElOOlfINO FORMATION PERMEABILITY FROM WELL LOO DATA

Jar1 P. Johnson levan.. 011 Company
Odes., Texas
Tbe OpiniODs ezpressed in this paper are those o the author and are not
necs_rtl.7 the opinions 01 the Soc1ety ol Prolessional Well Log Analysts or 1ta
Il8IIberl.
Pub1icat10n Rights Reservad
!b1 .-per 18 to be presented at the First Annua1 Meeting 01 the Society 01
Profe.iS.Ona1 VeU Log Analysta, Hay 16-17, 1960, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and ie COD-
eidered. the property 01' the Soclety. Permission to pub11sh ls hereby restricted
to &t'l abetraot of no more than .300 words, with no illustrations, unleas the :aper
18 apeciticall7 releaaed to the Prese by the Secretar or the Editor ol the Soc-
1et7 ot Ptotaa:f.onal Vell Log Analystso
A METHOD FOR DETERMINING FORMATION PERMEABn.m FROM'WELL LOO DATA
Jarl P. Johnson Kewanee 011 Company
Odessa, Texas
AJf)TRACT
Data trom 10gs whicb are cCIMlOnly employed in salt mud 878tems ~ be usad
to determine lormation permeabilit,.. An empirica1 correlat1on ot apparent resid-
ual 011 aaturat10ns computed trom we11 log data and permeab111t1es trom -.,bole core
anal1'ees has been useful 1n evaluating San Amres tormatiOl1s 1n West TeD;l.
INTRODUCTIOH
A simple method for detemining formation penaeabil1t7 f'ram weU log data
1s ot cOnsiderable assistance in evaluating the producing potential 01 a ve11 or
in aking reaervoir &tui1es where In core data are ava1lable. In the ~ ~ U o w 1 n g
diSCU8110D a pemeabilit1' interpretation tecbnique il described which use. al 1te
data aouree logs which are cOllllllon1,. employed in 8&lt mud B18tems. 'lbey. are the
locuaed microdevices (Kicrolaterolog or F oRa) ,an independent poros1 t1' , _eur1Dg
dartce (Sonic or Neutron), and a device lor measuring Rt (taterolog r Guard).
BASIC CONCEPl'S
When the Microlaterolog was first introduced, 1t vas eJq>la:1ned that it val
,a dev1ce tor .asuring the resistivit,. 01 the fiushed zone around tbevell bore
(R.xo) am that the lollowing relationship between R
m
, Rmt, poroeit". and residual
oU eaturat10n in the flU8hed zona (ROO) exists:
2.11
0.62R
m
t
V::
. ..
(,)
,
Rxo
(2 )
(1- ROS)2
(1- ROS)
Where F =
0.62
Where
F :1
.-L
-
a.lls

'!'ha. equationl are based on the familiar Arcbiete Formula,!
s ~ FR ..
Rt
,
! L
1
!he1r appl1cation aaaUl\es that the microdevice la l118aaur.ingRxo and tbat
a11 the eormate water has been displaced by JIllD 11ltrate. In salt _ud qatems
where the re ai stivit y 01 the mud filtrate is s1m1l.ar to the .,..a1st1vity 01 thft
t.PJ.'U
t1bn
water, the second aSSllllpt10n 1a relativel,. UDiJIlportU'lt. 'plot 01
(2) vith value8 of ReS fran O to 90 per cent ia ahovn aa Fig1U'e l.
en
.0
a::
O
a.
Fig. 1 - R:m/l\at - Poro si ty Correlation
-

Sinee no direct method was given for determining ROO, it 1a neceskrr to
make a judicious estimate of thls value in order to cOIIPute poroe1t,. frCa data
obtained. fran the aicrodevices.
It is olten ditficult to estimate the residual 011 saturation in the high-
17 atratit1ed carbonate rocks of West '!'exas with suf'f1c1ent accuracy to allII the
UH al tbC!lse toola lar poroait,. evaluation. Net only does the vart coruti4et--
abl1 the producing zonea but ita ind1cated value 1. JIluch highe1" m tU l.ov
peraeab111t7 Iones than the actual ROS 1a generall,. considerad te be.
U an accurate parasit,. value can be obtained trom the Sonic 01.' Neutron
10gs and. Rm 18 available from one of the microdev ice s , a value tor can be
ccaputed frOll ecuation (1) or equation (2) depend.1ng upon tba tonaation taor
vhich 1s appl1cable. aecurate va1uea of por081t,. me! .. ara not
alva,.a obtainable in stratified rocks becauH al variationa 1n the petropqa1cal
eharaC'teristics of the roeks as affected by variations in pore geometZ7 and the
limitations of logging devices in detecting these cand1tions. The complexitr bt
the problem, of computing an actual value for ROO has prompted the use of a.n
pareht RCS factor for the purpose of this d1sCU8Sion. The apparent!lCS lactbr
-7 1J.80 be considerad as a correction factor for equating Rxo/Bmt to r, tbe folo.
_tibn factor. Tbis factor 1s to be obtained traro Figure 1.
PERMEABILITY DETERMINATION
,
In an oil reservoir, the degree of ot the Rm sone by the .ud li1-
trat and therefore the residual oil saturation in that zone 1s largelT'dependefrt
uJ?On tbe permeability of the reservoir rock. It is expected that as the pemel-
bUlt.,. decre&ses tbe amount of residual oil remaining in the Rm zone ,in,crea
Th1I,trend cc:btinues in a water wet reservoir mtU the p8l'1leability va1:aes beco$e
... 11, then the residual oil saturat10ns will be 8111&11 because ot th8; eltect .t
caPillirit,.. However, the apparent ROO tactor as determined lran J'ijlre 1 .,
continue to mcrease. This phenomenon usually occure in resistiva au1tiple poJ-
oeitt type rocks and can be consi(iered to be the result 01 the 11m1tect reepon6e
ot the m:l.crodevices to porosity which is not aS80ciated with pemeabilit,. rr
e.lCM11l1e, in la zeme with small non"1nterconnected vugs and which perhapJ"has s.
1dtrgranular porosity, the microdevice will detect only the conditiOns in the
poroeity while the Nutron or Sonic logs will be total
pO"otii,.. It is clear then that a calculat10n trcm Figm-e 1 would indieate high
RaS .ven tbough the vugs may be completely filled with water. 'l'he apparent in
t.h1a wstance may be considerad to be related to the tortuosit,. ot th'; rock and
8l1b\ld. theretore, be correctly indicative of the pemeabi11ty
. .
II.-
' ,

"-
.....
1000"".

""'"
...............
"'-
lO .' . .. -
. --_ ......
-
"""" . . .
.. .. -- ..
----" 1)-' --_--00- _ . ..
. - .
.-

.,
K
....
.... _- .............
----
.....
.-........
1 ...
",

"
,
I.n
"
.....
"
,
\.
\
\ \
"-
,
0.1
\ \
O
10 20 30 50 E.Q
70 80 SIO lelO
APPARENT ROS (%)
2 - RaSa -Pe:nneabUi ty Correlation - San Andres
3
The solid line in Figure 2 ia a curve resulting trom a plot 01 tbe appar-
ent ROS va permeability lrom a limited number o data points from tbe San ADdree
tomat1on in West Texas. 'fhe apparent Rre values vere determinad trQm figure 1
using R.m values trom the Microlaterolog and porosit)" values trom wholecore .. 17-
ses. '1'he permeabilit)" values. are averages o t12 maximum and 900 air pe1'lJe&b1li-
ties recorded in the core analysis reporte
Contormance 01 the data to the curve in Figure 2 :1s good betveen:the ranges
ot permeability trom ,0 lid to .3 md and ranges ot ROO
a
traa .10 to .80 Where the
connate vater saturation is less than 2, per cent and vhere permeable Iones are ot
sutt1cient thicmess to aUow proper resolut.ion ot the logs. "
EFFECT OF CONNATE WATER SATURATION
The above relationship neceasaril1' applies onl.y to zmes o rl,ftivelT low
, connate water saturation. Obviousl1', in a predaninate1y _ter til1ea>lcne, the
relddual oil aaturation wiU be low regardless o the permeability.::. In tact,
near the oil-water contact, zones ot low penneabilit1' can be e:xpectecr"to have lo\t'
residal 011 saturations due to capillary forces. Zones ot high
can usuall1' be detectad by calculating the water saturat10n using tor-
llUl.a and data rOll the Laterolog or Guard log. Permeab1lity in theee
sones, hovever, are not important to the evaluat10n ot a veU's ae
iba,. are usually vater prodootive. Although conformance 18 not gooclj:'tbe dotW
line in Figure 2 representa an average curve tor water saturat10he lreater tban
2S par cant. No deinite deviation trend vas noted for variat10ns 1Pvater aat ..
urat10n vhere the value s o water eaturation vere low because ot th eftect ot
+be p.trophy'sical characteristics o the rock on theae va1uas. .
APPLlCATION
The applicat:1.on o this techn1que can be 1llustrated .. :the UN ot
eD1llples. 'fhe examples used will represent vella ot three typest(l) a ... 11
which produced with a high 011 rata and 10w water rate aftel' (2) a
ve11 which prodmed water trom one zone alter stimulat10n and 81&11
aaounis ot oi1 and water rom another zone alter f'racturing and (3) 1.".U which
produced 100 par cent water w1 thout stimulat1on.
?!!!p1e 1
Data trom this vell are tabulated in Table l. Th1s ve11 fiOWd'. alter tiac-
turing at the rateot 36.6 barrels ot 011 per hour with no water. No. 7
01 th1s ve1l i8 ot particular interest in tbat a RelSa ot. O per cent li;
'1'h1s value 11&)" be indicative ot two reservoir conditionst (1) . ;';tracture or
large vug wh1ch ia comp1etely tluahed or (2) a thin vhich dl4 nOto aUow CClll-
plete reso1ut10n ot the poros1ty measuring dertce. E1ther candition also, be
responsible or the h1gh water saturat10n val\8 indioated. Tbere 18 to be.
lieve that such val\8s ot RC6
a
ma1' al80 hint 01 poor _ter-011 ret4:tive perile-
abi1i ty condi t10ns in the part1cular zona. .
IDiaple II
Data troJll this we11 are shown in Tab1e 11. 'l'he zonea in thia vel1 bAve
bean divided into tour groups. Group III vas the t1rst group to b. tested. As
4
e:xpected trom the ca1culated water saturation and permeabi1itr, this group pro-
duced 100 per cent water atter an acid treatment ot 3,000 gallons. The dotted
curve trom Figure 2 was used in estimating K for this group.
Group 1 was then testad. This group no tluid prior to stimulation
and, produced a total ol 1,329 barre1s of oi1 and approximatel1' 7,000 barrels of
in 15 months following a fracture treatment. It 1e pointed out that field
. has ehown that i t is extremell rara that aigniticant production is ob-
tained trom zones where some permeability is not indicated by this method, even
thoUgh these zones are subsequent1.y fracturad.
. Due to operationa1 difficulties and the marginal possibilities of Group 11,
it nI not testad. This group would probabll have produced some oil with a water
cut att.r fracturing but would not have justified the cost of recompletion.
EJimPle 111
Data tran th1s vell are shown in Table 111. This weU was clasaified as a
wiUQ't. Calculations of connate water saturations 1ndicated tbat the well would
pOllibl1 011 with a large water-cut. Good pemeabilitles vere indicated
trbJI the veU log data. The ve1l testad at arate ot 9 barrels of water per hour
w1ihout a trace ot oil. As mentioned betore, values ot ROOa of the order indicat-
eel here iaIq be s1gniticant in predicting the behavior o the va11 wi th regard te
tha wat.er-oil ratio.
aI'HER CONSIDERATIONS
!.nere are factora othar than tbose discussed which Should ba considered in
mald.b, iD evaluat.ion o this type. One factor ia the etfect ot 'f/ery thin perme-
abUit,4evelopaentl or fractures in non-conductiva rocka on 'falusa read frem the
lO,.. !he microdevice. wUl have a tendency to investigate deepar tban the Rxo
Ion. reading Ri or perhaPI Rt. At the same time the porolltt maasurlng devices
ViU a.eraga the porosity over the zone. Fortunate13, the tvo cmditiOlls tend t.o
ott .. t .ach other in their effect on calculatlons 1n an oU lone lDd. wiU accent
the ):)te8ence of vater in a vater zoneo
As ls trua in other quantitative uses of weU log data, the importance of
obtaiJ1ing an acourate poroslty measurement cannot be ovar amphaailed. Not only ls
thil the Dloat iJIlportant measurement to be made but perhape tbe most dUficulto
'l'h. Srdc log se81llS te ba tlle baBt approach to thia problem il ibe San Andres tor-
matioD at the present time.
Sitlce the curves used in th1s diacWllion are empirica1 in nature and deriv-
ee! from data obtained from the San Andres fomation in Weet Texaa, thet should be
.. ritied by a largar study betore their appllcat10n 11 extended to other forma-
t1
5
SUMMARY
The use o calculated values o' the residual 011 saturation in the lluSh-
ed lone around the we11 bore as a key to pemeabU1ty determination in an.011 pro-
duoing zone 1s simple and can provide quantitative valuea o rook pemeability
which are he1pt'ul in predicting we11 pert'ormance. Curves such a8 the one shown
in Figure 2 should prove he1plul in making rapid evaluat10D8 ot re .. rvoir perme-
ability from well log data. Care should be taken to proper],y eval18te coJlditions
which limit the accuracy o' the measuring dartce. or natural oondi tion 8 in the
reservoir which mAy attect the calculations.
ACKNONLEDOEMEN'l'
The aut.hor wishes to thank Mr. D. E. Hockaday tor his helptul
in pre:arat1on 01 this apere
REFERENCES
lo Doll, H. O., The Microlaterolog, .Petroleum Transactiona AIME", Vol.
198, 19S3, po 27.
2. Pirson, S.J., Formation Eva1uation by Log Interpretation, "World Oi1" ,
AprU, 19S7.
3. 'Winsauer, Shearin, Masl!IOn and WUJ.iams, Resiativity 01 Brine-8aturated
Sands in Relation to Pore GeOll8tl'1, "BuUetin 01 'lhe American Associa-
t10n o Petroleum Geologists", Vol. 36, No. 2, Feb., 19S2.
6
TABLE 1
ELDER NO. 7
~
Bm
Interva1
Rt Sw
th
Km
J;t
B(S
K lb
- - - - -
No. Ft.
-
1 5 125 24.0 9 45 17 5S0 S2 S.8 29.0
2 4 115 14.h 15 60 11 3S6 6S 2.9 11.6
3
10 11S 18.8 12 120 11 3% S2 S.8 S8.0
4 4 192 17.7 10 40 18 S80 59 4.0 16.0
,
3 40.4 20.0 19 ,7 6 19, 62 3.S lOS
6 4 115 20.5 11 4h 10 325 50 6.4 25.6
7 2 29.4 55.5
8 16 4 129 O SO.O 100.0
8 8 66.2 21.2 14 112
7
226
51 5.8 46.4
9
2 99.6 24.2 10 20 21 680 62 3.5
7.0
10 4 66.2 29.7 10 40 21 680 62 3.5 14.0
11 8 116 28.0 8 64 18 580 50 6.4 51.2
12
4 u6 22.4 10 40 25 810 65
22
11.6
Total 58 658 380.9
Rw = .058
On potentia1 atter fracture, vel1
floVed 100.66 BO aD4 no vater 111
Rmr = .031
2 h ~ l . 45 mina. through 28/64"
choke.
Average 11.3%
Average K 6.6 md.
Average S. 23.1%
TABLE 11
UNlVERS!TY "O" NO. 1
Interva1
lit Sw
(JI
Rxo
Rxo
Bit
ROO 1 Kh
- - - -
No. rt.
1 6 210 50.0 4.2 ::>50 .1*
.6
2
.3
286 43.2 4.2 >50 .1 .3
l. .3
2 828 24.8 4.3 45
1250 32 2.0 4.0
4 4 550 31.0 4.2 >50 .1* .4
5 4 550 29.2 4.5 >50 .1* .4
6
4 148 49.0 5.0 38
lOSO 48 .7 2.6
,7
4 165 23.7 10.5 3S 97S 70 2.1 8.4
8
3 165 23.7 10.$ 2S 695 61 3.7 U.1
9
6 148 23.8 10.$ 27 7SO 6S 2.8 16.8
II. 10 4 92 32.0 10.$ 1$ 417 $2 .h 1.6
11 6 92 42.11 7.$ 18 $00 40 1.2 7.2
12
3 70 30 .3 12.0 10 278 SO .S 1.S
13 3 50 43.0 10.0 12
333 46 .7 2.1
14 4 32 SS.o 9.8 6 167 20 3.0 12.0
nI.
15 4 65 38.4 9.8 14 389 48 eS 2.0
16 4 16.7 71.0 10.5
3 83 O S.O* 20.0
IV.
17 6 18.4 59.0 12.0 4 III 20 3.0 18.0
18 6 25.1 52.6 11.5 6 167
30 2.3 13.8
Total 76 123.0
Bw 0.092
Bmt : 0.036
AV8rae t = 8.6
A.verage K
11 1.6 md.
Average 8v 11 41.5%
* Eatimated
Interval
No.
!1:.
1 2
2
3
3
6
4 8
5 4
6 10
7 4
Rv 0.06
Rtat. .Oh
Rt
46.2
46.0
16.7
20.0
33.3
10.0
13.3
TABLE III
mnVERSI'I'Y nsn NO. 1
s"
e
Rxo
36.1 10 8
36.2 10
141
50.0 12 2
52.1 lo! 3
29.1,
14i 3
48.4 16 11
46.4
lb!
2
Rxo
B;t ROO
K
- - -
200 30 2
5ao 60 .2
50
o
*
75
o
*
75
20 3
38 o
*
So o
*
*hile tl'B H 10De. oannot be alligned a pe:nneab111ty value, 1t 18 cl.r that the
permeabill'ty ie euf1'ic1entq hi,h to prod\ee nuid.