SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS OF ADfE E&~pE ~084

6200 North Central Expressway

Dallas, Texas

THIS IS A PREPR13TT--- SUBJECT TO CORRECTION

Geologic Properties that Affect Water flooding

in the Big Injun Sand of West Virginia

w
R~ ? Member AIME, and ~ K. Overbev. Jr., U. S. Bureau of Wines

@ Copyright 1970
American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

This paper was prepared for the 45th Annual Fall Meeting of the Society of Petroleum Engineers
of AIME. to be held in Houston, Tex., Oct. 4-7, 1970. Permission to copy is restricted to an
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Discussion of this paper is invited. Thee ~U7ie~ Of a~y discussion should be sent to the
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ABSTRACT porosity and permeabilityof many of the

This study was made to determine the
petrography,mineralogy, porosity, and perme-
ability of the sandstone, and their relationship
to waterflooding in Big Injun reservoirs.
Rotary cores, geophysicalwell logs, petro-
gr~Phi~ th2a sections, and results of chemical
analyses of sandstone samples from several Big
Injun oil reservoirswere used to determine
these parameters. The results show a great
range of reservoir characteristicswithin the
area of study.
The petrography of the sandstones ranges
from lithic graywackes (very shaly), to proto-
quartzites (clean),with varying mineral
constituents. Porosities and permeabilities
also vary greatly due to the petrography and
mineralogy of the sandstone. Interstitial
clay minerals constitute from less than 5 to
more than 25 percent of the reservoir rock.
Other important interstitial constituentsof
he Big Injun sand are secondary precipitated
carbonates and quartz. The framework of the
Pocono Big Injun sand is composed mainly of
quartz grains with minor amounts of rock frag-
ments, heavy minerals, and feldspar.
The interstitial clays and ceiiiefits
in the
Big Injun sand have greatly reduced the original
References and illustrationsat end of paper.
reservoirs studied, and will dictate water-
f~o~~in~ techniques that must be used for
successful operations. Laboratory resuits show
t,hatthe permeabilitiesof most Big Injun sands
are reduced more than 50 percent by flooding
with fresh water as compared with results after
flooding with saline water. Several Big Injun
sand pil~t ...+~-$1
wa.=..-.- nnd~ in-which fresh surfaCe
water was used have been unsuccessful,partly
due to low injection rates caused by reduced
permeability and pore plugging of the formation.
Any future Big Injun waterflood projects should
use saline formation water in a closed system
to reduce interactionbetween flood waters and
the interstitialconstituentsof the formation.
INTRODUCTION
Reserves of premium quality Pennsylvania
grade crude oils are steadily being depleted.
The refining capacity for Penn grade crudes is
--%-t- and will soon place additional
AL.e..
~m.y.aefng
demands on the supply. Much of this additional
crude must be produced by secondary-recovery
techniques such as waterflooding.
The Bradford area oilfields in Pennsylvania
and New York have been successfullywaterflooded
=+mce 1920.1
-------
—. Other areas of Penn grade crude
oil production--inwestern Pennsylvania,Oinio,
and West Virginia--havebeen waterflooded but

—
 GEOLOGIC PROPERTIES THAT AFFECT WATERFLOODING IN THE
2 BIG INJUN SAND OF WEST VIRGINIA
with very little success, although numerous
attempts have been made. Many of these failures
have been from lack of knowledge of reservoir
geology and characteristicscompatiblewith
proper waterflooding techniques. The Morgantown
Energy Research Center of the U.S. Bureau of
Mines is investigatingthe susceptibilityof low-
permeability oil reservoirs to secondary-
recovery techniques,such as waterflooding, to
recover additional oil from pressure-depleted
reservoirs. In order to understand more fully
the parameters that affect oil recovery by
waterflooding,a detailed reservoir study was
conducted on one of the largest oil-producing
zones in the Appalachian area.
A Bureau of Mines publication on selected
reservoirs amenable to waterflooding reports a
total of 53 reservoirs in West Virginia, 26 of
which are of Mississippian age and have poten-
tial waterflood resenes of more than 13 miiiion
barrels of oil. Many of these Mississippian
reservoirs are Big Injun sands. This study was
made to determine the petrography,mineralogy,
porosity, and permeability of this sandstone
and the relationship of these parameters to
waterflooding.
Results of previous Bureau of Mines inves-
tigations on individual Big Injun sand reser-
voirs have been reported. Tignor3 investigated
the clay minerals and permeabilitiesof Appala-
chian oil sands and included several Pocono Big
%s~eservoirs inhis study. Wertman and
used samples from several Pocono Big
Injun reservoirs for determination of minimum
water saturations. Waterfloodingresults in
three Big Injun sand reservoi s were also
reported by Nabors and others! in 1960.
The results of the present study add to
previous work and show great variations in the
Pocono Big Injun petrography and reservoir
characteristicsover a large area of Big Injun
sand oil production.
METHOD OF STUDY
Reservoir characteristicsof the Pocono Big
Injun sand, such as porosity, permeability,
petrography and mineralogy, were investigated
through detailed study of rotary cores and
geophysicalwell logs from Big Injun reservoirs
in most of the oil-producingarea, as shown in
Fig. 1.
The cores were analyzed in the laboratory
for porosity, air permeability, fluid satura-
tions, and apparent grain densities, and the
results were compared and correlated with those
from analyses of geophysicalwell logs of the
cored wells.
Thin-section slides were impregnatedwith
dyed epoxy at 1,600 psi to show the pore
SPE 3084
geometry and to cement the sample. Analyses
were made to determine the grain type, size,
shape, and kind of mineral. The different clay
mineials cculd only be partially identified.
Cementing materials were identified and inter-
preted as to possible source and mineralogy.
The relative percentage of mineral constituents
was determined with 300-point counts per slide.
Clay mineral identificationby X-ray analysis
was available on several cores. Chemical
analyses of the acid soluble constituentswas
performed on three cores for iron, calcium,
magnesium, and manganese, and the results were
used to determine and confirm mineral constit-
uents of secondary carbo~ate cements. Previous
work reported by Tignor,J using ciifferent%al
thermal analysis (DTA) for clay identification,
involved flowing different solutions through
cores to study the sensitivity of the clays to
swelling and the reduction of permeability.
Geophysicalwell logs were used along with
core lithology descriptionsto study the Big
Injun sand correlationsand to construct from
gamma-ray logs cross sections of the Big Injun
horizon across the oil-productiveregion of
the central Appalachian synclinorium.
STRATIGRAPHY
The Pocono Big Injun sand is the uppermost
member of the Pocono Formation of Lower Missis-
sippian age. Fig. 2 is a generalized geologic
column of the area showing Mississippian rock
units. The uppermost Pocono Sandstone in the
area studied is believed to be the stratigraphil
equivalent of the Logan Sandstone of Ohio, the
Burgeon Sandstone of Pennsylvania,and the
Broadford Sandstone of Virginia. This Pocono
interval may include the drillers’ Keener, Big
Injun, and Squaw sands of some areas. In many
areas of West Virginia, the basal member of
the Greenbrier Limestone may contain an oil-
or gas-productiveinte val which is also called
Big Injun by drillers.E This interval is
different lithologicallyfrom the Pocono Big
Injun sand. The Greenbrier Big Injun is mainly
a sandy dolomite or limestone while the Pocono
Big Injun is always a sandstone, possibly with
varying amounts of car onates as precipitated
cements in some areas.9
The cross sections constructed from gamma-
ray logs show the changes the Pocono Big Injun
undergoes within the area (Figs. 3, 4, and 5).
Cross sectiofiA-A’, Fig. 3, NE to SW through
the center of this productive area, shows the
correlationof this unit. The sandstone”is
missing in some areas due to an unconformity
on top of the Pocono Formation.8 The Big Injun
is also missing southward and eastward as shown
by the cross sections A-A’ and B-B’, Figs. 3
and 4. The Greenbrier Limestone is underlain
by the McCrady red beds in soiithernWsst
Virginia and other Pocono shales in the eastern
Znw 2(-)QJ. ROYAL J. WATTS and WILLIAM K. OVERBEY, JR.
area. The gamma-ray curves on these cross
..= -b~m-~s in Iithology Of
sections 1Lmstrat2 the ...-..a-
Big Injun sand within the area of study. A
gamma-ray log in Wayne County also shcnisa
section of Big Injun sand below the McCrady
Formation. In this core the sandstone is very
fine grained with good porosity.
PETROGRAPHY
The petrography of the Big Injun sand is
highly variable. Most of the sandstone types
are present within the area of study and range
from graywacke to protoquartzite. In general,
the common type is a light gray subgraywacke
with subangular to subrounded,medium-sized
quartz grains. Often the Big Injun composition,
grain size, and sorting vary within the same
well. The degree of cementation, clay content,
and type of interstitialcements are also highly
variable. These geological reservoir character-
istics control, to a great extent, hydrocarbon
production from the Big Injun sand. Porosity
and permeability also have been influencedby a
wide range of geologic factors, such as grain
sorting, size, shape, packing, cementation and
interstitial clay content.
The Pocono Big Injun sand can be separated
into two main types in most areas. In general,
from Ritchie County, W. Vs., northward, based or
core analysis of six reservoirs, the Pocono Big
Injun is a medium- to coarse-grained,subangulax
to well-rounded protoquartzite. Southward, the
Pocono Big Injun oil-producing zones are gener-
ally fine- to medium-grained,angular to sur-
rounded, graywacke to subgraywacke sandstones.
The type of cementation is also different; the
-.
-+-Iv ser.ondary
northern Big lnjun cements are m-....= _.
silica occurring as grain overgrowthswtth minox
amounts of calcite as pore fillings. The
southern Big Injun contains only minor amounts
.a. i= DUSnV./cases contains
of quartz cemer~tk,+
large amounts of pore-filling carbonate cements Ritchie County, ii.Va. Frcm Xitchie Co~ntY and
which often severely reduce or eliminate the
original porosity and permeability of the
sandstone.
The southern area contains sections of
Pocono Big Injun, up to 20 feet or more in
thickness, which are usually tightly cemented
and nonporous, medium- to coarse-grained,with
subsngular to rounded grains. These sections
are ,,S~2SIIy
. cemented with quartz overgrowths
andlor calcite as pore fillings. These zones
are very similar petrographicallyto the
northern type Big Injun. With a possible
exception of the Tariff field, the porosities
of these zones are usually 8 percent or less an< reservoirs. Ankerite is identified in thin
production is considered uneconomical.
MINERALOGY OF THE BIG INJLJNSAND
Rotary cores were available from 12 Big Injun
reservoirs in West Virginia and Ohio, repre-
a
~en~ing the whole range of sandstone types,
porosities, and permeabilitiesthat can be
expected to occur within t’heI%ccno Big Izjtiz
sands unit.
Petrographic thin sections were made from
specific intervals of Big Injun cores. These
specimens were selected to study the wide range
of mineralogy, porosity, and permeability that
might affect waterflooding in the Big Injun
sand.
The mineral constituentsof the Pocono Big
Injun reservoirs are summarized in table 1.
Detrital quartz comprises, by far, the
largest percentage of this sandstone, and the
clay minerals make up a large part of the
remaining constituents. Most of the clay
minerals could not be identified with the petro-
graphic microscope because they occurred as
particles too small to measure and usually in a
mixture with two or more minerals. In some thin
sections, pure kaolinite and illite could be
identified. Kaolinite often occurs in large
grain-size masses. Mica--usually muscovite--
makes up a small percentage of the sandstones.
Only in one well did the amount exceed 4
percent.
Calcite is a constituent of the Big Injun
sand in all cores except one. It occurs mainly
as a cementing material in pores and pore
channels. Many slides show that the calcite
has also replaced and corroded much of the
quartz. In all cores, the calcite occurred as
a secondary mineral and had precipitated in the
pores after deposition of the detrital constit-
uents.
Other carbonates (dolomite,ankerite, and
possibly siderite) occur as major mineral
constituentsof the Big Injun sand south of
northward, they occur only as trace minerals;
however, the core from the Blue Creek field,
Kanawha County, shows only traces of dolomite
and ankerite by thin-sectionanalysis. These
minerals occur in the sandstone as a secondary
cementing mineral, filling pores and pore
channels and replacing the original quartz in
many of the thin sections. lmkerite and
calcite occur together in many samples. Evi-
dence indicates that the calcite was precipi-
..a ~a~ then partially replaced by
tated fi~~t -,.-
the dolomite-ankeriteminerals. Table 5 shows
the results of chemical analyses of the acid-
soluble fraction of samples from three of these
sections by iron staining due to the formation
of hydrous iron oxides when the mineral comes
into contact with fresh oxygen-bearingwater,
which occurs when the thin sections are being
ground.
 GEOLOGIC PROPERTIES THAT AFFECT WATERFLOODING IN THE
4 BIG INJUN SAND OF WEST VIRGINIA
The metamorphic rock fragments are of two
main kinds with some differencesnoted between
the two types of the Big Injun sand. Quartzite
fragments are dominant in the northern type of
sandstonewhile micaceous fragmentswith minor
phyllite fragments are dominant in the southern
type.
Secondary quartz occurs in amounts of 10
percent or more of the sandstone in some
samples. Northern type sandstones contain
considerablymore secondary quartz than those
of the southern type, with the secondary quartz
occurring mainiy as overgrowciisorrdetrital
quartz grains. These overgrowthshave reduced
the original porosity and permeabilityby
filling pores and pore channels. In most thin
sections that contain quartz overgrowths,many
quartz grains show sutured contacts with other
grains due to pressure solution at grain
contacts, perhaps the source of most of the
secondary quartz. Sutured contacts and inter-
locking grains due to quartz overgrowths are
the main cementing agent of the sandstone in
the northernmost area of the Big Injun.
Most of the heavy minerals of the Pocono
Big Injun are two iron oxides (limoniteand
hematite) and an iron sulfide, pyrite. The
others are ilmenite, leucoxene, tourmaline,
and zircon, with only trace amounts of other
minerals. The iron oxides and pyrite occur
frequently,usually as cementing minerals.
The iron oxides may have resulted from alter-
ation of pyrite. The Blue Creek and East Lynn
cores, especially, contain intervals with good
development of pyrite as a cementing material.
Several varieties of feldspar--including
orthoclase,microcline, perthite, and plagio-
clase--are present in minor amounts as detrital
-.-a - d +k-e. ~i~awal~ ~f~en show
COIISL~K~~~lLS9 ~~u L..=== u------
some degree of alteration. Chert fragments,
often rounded, were found in minor amounts in
most of the slides. Glauconite was the only
other important mineral noted. It averaged
less than 1 percent in Pocono Big Injun sand
cores from Roane and Kanawha Counties.
CLASSIFICATIONOF THE POCONO BIG
INJUN SAND
The mineral constituentsof the northern
and southern types of Big Injun sand are
summarized in table 2.
Based on its detrital mineral constituents
determined by thin-sectionanalyses, the Pocono
Big Injun sand can be classified into t o sand-
stone types using Pettijohn’s criteria.Y
Generally, northern area sandstoneswill fall
into the protoquartzite type, where quartz is
greater than 75 percent and clay matrix aver-
ages less than 15 percent of the rock. Fig. 6
SPE 3084
is a photomicrographof the protoquartzitetype
in a thin section. In two of the reservoirs,
clay matrix exceeds the 15-percent limit
slightly and would fall on the borderline
between protoquartziteand subgraywacke.
The sandstones in the southern area are on
the borderline between subgraywacke and gray-
wacke. The quartz content is less than 75
percent of the rock and detrital clay matrix is
greater than 15 percent. Fig. 7 is a photo-
micrograph of this sandstone type in a thin
section. All of these reservoirs also have manj
-L---..--~.+~.~of ~vubgrapackes$such as
L1iaJ.aLLG.Aa.A----
chemical cements, voids or porosity which are
often partially or completely filled with
chemical cements, and fair to good sorting.
In all of the cores the percentage of rock
fragments exceeds feldspar. This indicates the
lithic nature of these sandstones. The prove-
nance, or source, of the detrital minerals of
the Big Injun sand is apparently mixed--the
northern Big Injun sand may have a different
source than that of the southern type. In the
northern type, the quartz is often subrounded
to well-rounded with occasional worn over-
growths, suggesting a second-cycleorigin from
preexisting sedimentary rocks with possible
minor igneous and metamorphic sources. The
detrital quartz grains of the southern area are
mainly angular to subangularwith more micaceou:
metamorphic rock fragments. This may possibly
indicate a primary metamorphic source with
minor preexisting sedimentary and igneous
sources.
~~N~?=(LSEDIMENTATION
The high clay content of the southern Big
Injun sand cores indicates that the sandstones
underwent little reworking or winnowing after
deposition. The sandstoneswere probably
deposited below wave base or in other protected
environmentswith only current sorting when
deposited. The Big Injun sand in the southern
area was deposited in a general reducing
~~~i~~~~~=t as i=di~~t~d by the presence of
pyrite and the generally reduced state of iron
in these sediments.
The northern type of Pocono Big Injun show:
more reworking of sediments. The core sample
from the Sistersvillefield especially indicate!
considerablereworking, sorting, and rounding o:
grains, and the winnowing out of clay minerals
to form a more porous reservoir with higher
permeability. Deposition also was in a general
reducing environment in this area, as indicated
by associated gray-black interbedded shales and
the presence of authigenic pyrite.
PE 3084 ROYAL J. WATTS and W LIAM K. WERBEY, JK. 3

RESERVOIR CHARACTERISTICSAFFECTING detrital quartz. T5&eGrEpAp.yCreek c~re% the

WATERFLOODING lower section of the Big Injun only, (drillers’
Squaw sand) has low permeability due to very fine
Each of the reservoirs studied has one or sized grains and a very high clay matrix content.
more of the characteristicsthat will affect or I’heEast Lynn core from Wayne County, W. Vs., is
preclude waterflooding operations. An exami- also fine grained and has a high clay content.
nation of table 1 shows that only five of the This core contains considerablecementing
thirteen cores studied should be considered for material, including calcite, ankerite, and
possible waterflooding. The others are excluded pyrite, which reduces porosity and permeability.
because the porosity andlor permeability is too
low. Generally, production has not been econom- ~o cores were available from the Clover
ical from Pocono Big Injun reservoirs with field, one from the better-developedcenter of
porosities less than 10 percent and low perme- the field and the other from the eastern edge.
abilities. The eastern-edgewell contains slightly more
clay matrix material resulting in a lower
These low porosities and permeabilitiesare average permeability than for the center-field
due to one or more of the geologic factors that well. The well in the center of the field,
affected the sandstone--grainsize and shape, however, contains a more porous and permeable
and sorting and reworking of the sediments-- section than is present in the eastern-edge
which would have taken place before and during well. Most of the cores in this southern area
deposition of the sediments. Diagenetic changes contain intervalswhere addition of chemical
affecting the rock after deposition have been cements is much higher than average.
pressure solution at grain contacts, and quartz
precipitationas secondary quartz overgrowths The remaining three cores are porous and
which formed interlocking grains and reduced permeable enough for waterflood considerations.
porosity and permeability of the rocks. Fig. 8 All three contain fairly large amounts of
is a thin-sectionphotomicrographshowing detrital clay minerals. These clay minerals
secondary quartz overgrowthswith reduction of are distributed throughout the intersticesof
porosity and permeability. In addition, the the sandstone, part%ally or wholly filling pores
precipitation of the carbonates calcite, dolo- and pore channels as a very thin film on grains,
mite, and ankerite into pores and pore channels and lining the pores. This distribution provides
between detrital grains also reduced porosity a large surface area of clay minerals which WOUIC
and permeability. In many of the samples, the contact flood waters.
carbonates have partially or wholly replaced
some of the quartz grains and thus reduced the Most of the clay minerals are intermixed,
quartz content of the sandstone. In a few of making positive identificationwith the petro-
the thin sections, this replacementwas so great graphic microscope difficult. Large areas or
that it destroyed the original sand-grain frame- “patches” of kaolinite do occur in a relatively
work. pllu~e
state: probably due to the alteration of
feldspar in place after deposition. Several
Two of the six cores of the northern-type feldspar grains show partial alteration to
sandstone exhibited porosities and permeabil- kaolinite, indicating the authigenic origin of
ities generally suitable for waterflooding. The much of this mineral.
other four cores have low porosities and perme-
abilities due to a combination of poor sorting X-ray and DTA analyses show that most of
and lack of removal of clay matrix with the clay minerals in the Big Injun sand are
reworking by currents and by addition of the kaolinite and illite with the remaining
void-filling chemical cements, calcite and consist ng of montmorilloniteand chlorite.
3
quartz overgrowths. In the northern-typesand- Tignor, in his study of clay minerals and
stone, secondary quartz cementing is consider- permeabilitiesof Appalachian oil sands, found
ably greater in most cases than calcite that illite was the predominantmineral with
cementing, and little or no dolomite or ankeritc kaolinite next in importance. In his analysis
cements is present. of samples from six Big Injun reservoirs, he
found that illite is the dominant clay except
In the southern study area, three of the in the Sistersvillefield where the amounts of
seven cores analyzed showed sufficient porosity illite and kaolinite are about the same.
and permeability for waterflooding operations.
Four other cores had sufficient porosity but X-ray determinationof clay minerals in the
very low permeability. The original porosity Big Injun sandstone of the Walton oilfield,
and permeability of the core from the Triplett Roane County, W. Vs., shows that kaolinite
field in Roane County, W. Vs., had been lowered occurs in about equal amounts with illite.
greatly by the addition of large amounts of X-ray analyses of samples from a well in the
carbonate cements that filled pores and pore Clover oilfield, also in Roane County, W. Vs.,
channels, and even replaced much of the original showed approximately54 percent kaolinite,
 GEOLOGIC PROPERTIES THAT AFFECT WATERFLOODING IN THE
5 BIG INJUN SAN OF WEST VIRGINIA
40 percent illite, and 5 percent montmorillonite
for the clays in a 12-foot section of Big Injun.
This section contained 19.3-percentclay
minerals by petrographic analysis. An X-ray
analysis of a Big Injun sample from the Bonds
Creek field containing 16 percent clays shows
that illite is the predominant clay mineral.
Generally, montmorilloniteand chlorite are not
present, and when they are, it is usually only
in small percentages or trace amounts.
Water sensitivity,or the swelling of clays reduction in permeabilityusing distilled water
when in contact with water, has been the object as compared with sodium chloride solutions, as
of considerableresearch. The absorption”or
addition of water within or between the crystal samples had a clay content of approximately20
lattice of clay minerals causes them to swell
or expand, thus reducing the permeability of
the enclosing rock--the greater the swelling,
the greater the reduction. Water sensitivities the sodium chloride brine permeability.
of the three main types of clays range from the
high sensitivity of montmorilloniteto the low
sensitivity of kaolinite, with illite approxi-
mately in the middle. Clay swelling also causes
movement and dispersion of the clay mineral
particles within the pore structure of the rock,
blocking permeable channels and thus reducing
permeability.
The five Big Injun reservoirs that contain
suitable porosity and permeability for possible
waterflooding have clay-mineral contents
ranging from 10.9 to 22.4 percent, amounts
large enough to present problems with injection
water. The clay minerals are distributed
throughout the sandstone and present a large
surface area for reaction with flood waters.
Tignor3 ran several water-sensitivitytests
using several different fluids and concentra-
tions; among test samples were a few of Pocono
Big Injun sand (table 3). Most test results
showed marked reduction of permeability by
flooding with distilled water as compared with
several other fluids (table 3). Possibly some
of these changes in apparent permeabilitymay
be due to changes in rock nettability caused
by extraction and cleaning of the core samples.
Two of these samples were thin-sectionedand
were studied petrographicallywith the flow
test results and clay percentages shown in
table 4.
As an approximate average, the reduction
in permeabilityby sodium chloride solutions
compared with distilled water is 30 to 40
percent. The di~t~ib~tic)~ Of CkY yithin the
pore system is very important--sample2 (table
4) had only 6 percent clay, but a very great
reduction in permeability resulted using
distilled water. In this sample, the clay was
distributed throughout the sandstone and around
all grains as “dust rings,” thus giving the
.
largest surface a~== FOSSihle. An analysis of
this sample showed the clay to be mostly illite.
SPE 3084
The samples tested by Tignor3 contain relatively
the same amounts of clay minerals as most Big
Injun reservoirs. These studies indicate the
problems with reduced permeability and pore
plugging by clay swelling and particle movement
that might be expected in waterflooding the
Pocono Big Injun where the sand contains large
amounts of clay minerals.
Water-sensitivitytests on two samples from the
Clover well No. 1 core also showed a large
shown by the following tabulation. These
percent and a porosity of 16 percent. A perme-
ability reduction greater than 75 percent
occurred for distilled water as compared with
Permeability,md.
Sample NaCl brine, Distilled
number
— Air
. 52,000 ppm water
1 1.2 0.90 0.20
2 1.5 .98 .20
Another mineral that may be troublesomeis
the ankerite-sideritetype of carbonate found in
the southern type of the Pocono Big Injun sand.
This mineral occurs in large amounts in several
of the reservoirs. The reaction of oxygen-
bearing water with this iron-containingmineral
forms hydrous iron oxides as indicated by heavy
iron staining which coats grains and plugs pores
and interconnectingpore channels of the rock.
Oxidation of iron carbonates is thought to
have been a problem in at least one pilot water-
flood project. Oxygen-rich flood waters have
ether deleterious effects on secondary-recovery
operations,but these are beyond the scope of
this paper.
Chemical analyses of the acid-soluble
portion from selected samples of the sandstone
from these reservoirswere made to determine
calcium, magnesium, manganese, and iron content.
The results, given in table 5, show that iron
is an important ~li~~l?d ir. these cores and care
~hau~d be taken not to oxidize the carbonates
and other iron-bearingminerals to iron oxides.
Samples of core, when water wet, show iron
staining in just a few days.
~
Nabors and others, reporting Gilthliee
pilot waterflood projects in the Clover and
Walton fields of Roane County, W. Vs., stated
that injection rates declined with time, even
with an increase in injection pressure. The
injection water source was surface water and
fresh water wells; the water was usually
filtered, treated with a bactericide and a
-- .--, ------- . ------
FE 3U64 KUIAL J . wl’us
corrosion inhibitor, and treated for pH adjust-
ment. Sodium chloride or calcium chloride was
not added, and the water was not deaerated.
All of these water-sensitivityflow tests
indicate clearly that to preserve most of the
permeabilitywithin the sandstone, it is
necessary to use a calcium chloride, sodium
chloride, or natural brine as a source of flood REFERENCES
water. In reservoirs where considerableiron is
present, in the form of ankerite for instance,
the water should also be deaerated to prevent
oxidation of iron.
In much of the area of Pocono Big Injun
oil production, there are several Lower Pennsyl- 2. Staff, Office of Mineral Resources, USBM:
vanian Sandstones called “Salt sands” by
drillers because of the large amounts of salt
water produced from these intervals. These
sands overlie the Big Injun by only a few
hundred feet. This usually abundant connate
water source could be used for flooding, using
a closed system so that no deaerationwould be
necessary.
It is interesting to note that the only
successful waterflood in West Virginia thus far
has used this method in waterflood ~~ :2 Berea
Sandstone in the Cabin Creek field,
apparently experienced few problems with
swelling and dispersed clays or reduced perme-
ability. This field has approximatelythe same
average porosities and permeabilitiesas the
best Big Injun reservoirs studied in this
report. Formation water from the “Salt sands”
as a water su
19.4~by Heck~~ly source ‘as urged as ear~Y as
CONCLUSIONS
The Pocono Big Injun oil-producingzone
contains several reservoirs that should be
~~itab~e for secondary recovery of oil on the
basis of their reservoir characteristics.
Most of these reservoirs contain suffi-
cient clay minerals to react with the flood
waters by swelling and particle movement and to
reduce the permeability of the sandstone
considerably. Also, the southern type of Big
Injun sand contains enough iron in various
iron-bearingminerals to present problems with
oxidation of the iron to hydrous iron oxides
and reduction of permeabilityby pore plugging.
To reduce clay swelling, clay particle
dispersion, and iron oxidation, it is recom-
mended that a compatible saline water source
with a closed system be used in designing water-
f~ocd mrn+ects
=.-J-- in similar Big Injun sand
reservoirs.
.- - - .. . .. --------- ..
ana w LJAM K. UVEKBEY, JK. I
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors especiallywish to acknowledge
the producers and operators who made cores and
well logs available for this study, and Arlen E.
Hunt, chemist,“MorgantownEnergy Research Center,
for conducting the chemical aiia~yses.
1. F=~~~e , ~ha~~~~ R: : “Waterfloodingin New
York and Pennsylvania”,Secondary Recovery
of Oil in the United States, Am. Petrol.
Inst., New York [1942] 76-89.
“PotentialOil Recovery by Waterflooding
Reservoirs Being Produced by Primary
Methods”, USBM ~nf. Circ. 8~55 [1970].
3. Tignor, E. M.: “Clay Minerals and Perme-
abilities of Appalachian Oil Sands”, USBM
Rept. of Inv. 5379 [1957].
4. Wertman, W. T., T. E. Sterner, and W. M.
Smith: “Minimum Water-Saturationand Other
Core Tests on Appalachian Gil-Rese~vcir
Sandstones”,USBMRept. of Inv. 5438 [1959].
5. Nabors, W. M., N. A. Caspero, Joseph Pasini
III, and C. E. Whieldon, Jr.: “Secondary
Recovery of Oil by Waterflooding in Big
Injun Sand, Roane County, W. Vs.”, USBM
Re~t. of Inv. 5601 [1960].
6. Martens, James H. C., and Homer A. Hoskins:
“Dolomitic Zone at Base of Greenbrier Lime-
stone (Big Lime)”, W. Va. Geol. and Econ.
Survey, R~pt. of Inv. No. 4 [1948].
7. Overbey, W. K., Jr.: “Lithologies,Environ-
ments and Reservoirs of the Middle Missis-
sippian Greenbrier Group in West Virginia”,
Prod. Monthiy [Feb., 1967] 31, NO. 2, 25-31.
8. Rittenhouse,Gordon: “Petrology and Paleo-
geography of Greenbrier Formation”,-Bull
if ~he-l&. Assoc. of Petrol. Geol. [Oct.,
1949] 33, No. 10, 1704-1730.
9. Pettijohn, F. J.: “SedimentaryRocks”,
Second Ed., Harper and Bros., New York
[1957] 229-339.
10. Heck, E. T.: “Secondary Recovery in West
Virginia”, Secondary Recovery of Oil in the
United States, Am. Petrol. Inst., New York
[1942] 109-123.
11. Heck. E. T.: “Some Theoretical Asvects of
the Use of Connate Eater ifiFlo~di=g”,
Proc. 10th PennsylvaniaMiner. Ind. Conf.,
Petrol. and Nat. Gas Section, Pennsylvania
State Coil., Miner. Ind. Exp. Sta., Bull 33
[1941] 1-5.
—— —
 TABLE 1. - Summary of petrographic analyses of the Pocono Big Injun sand

ANKERITE :TAMORPHI SECONOARY

and TOTAL ROCK QUARTZ HEAVY
CALCITE, DOLOMITE, ARBONATE! W@4ENTS CEMENT , lNERALS ELOSPAR ;HERT .AUCON ITE ,
percent percent percent percent percent percent percent wcen percent
.—
_—
OILFIELD WI”*.2 AverageRange Average
I
Range Average Range Average FWge Averaga Average Average Ring. Averagf Averaae Average Average
!==
Fairview 12.7 -18.6
1“1’”’-’”” ‘41’’”-’” “01’”-’” 12.0 0.6 .0- 3.0 1.3 .0- 0.0 0.0 1.3 4.0 .3- 6.0 4.3 0.8 1.4 0,4 0.0

Sistersville 10.9 -20.3 16.1 7.9-199,0 70,2 73.7 -85.0 78.0 4.0-18.0 10.9 .2 ,0- 4.6 .7 .0- ,3 .0 .7 4.2 .3- 6.0 2.6 .2 .7 1.8 .0

kli ngett Run 8.6-19.4 12.1 .2- 6.3 1.1 68.3 -76.7 71.9 1.3.7 -26.7 18.1 1.5 .0- 3.0 .6 .0- 1.3 .3 .9 2.1 .0- 8.7 3.2 1.1 .8 .5 .0

Blonds Creek 0.2- 8.6 8.4 .1- ,3 .2 72.7 -73.0 72.8 14.3-17.3 15.8 1,8 .0- .0 .0 .0- .0 .0 .0 2.3 .7- 7.0 3.8 1.7 .5 1.2 .0

Greenwood 5.9- 7.2 6.3 .’2- .4 .3 72.0-80.7 77.0 5.3- 9.3 8.1 .5 .0- 1.0 ,6 .0- .3 .1 .1 2,3 .0-11.7 8.1 .6 2.1 .5 .0

Cairo 1.6- 6.6 4,2 ..1- .1 .1 70.0-75.3 72.1 6.0-16,7 10,7 4.1 .0-16.7 5,2 .0- .0 .0 5.2 3.3 .7- 4.7 2.3 .9 1.4 1.8 .0

Tripiett 2.0-22.9 7.1 ..1- .3 ..I 39.3 -67.3 54.3 11.7 -16.3 15.7 .7 .7-19.7 10.1 .7-20.7 12.1 22.2 3.3 .0- 3.3 1.4 1.6 .6 1.1 .3

f:lover
Uell ml 15.1 -16,8 16.0 .2- 1.0 .6 56.3 -66.5 62. o 16.0-23.7 19,3 1.2 ‘.3- 6.7 4.9 .3- !3.3 5.7 10.5 3.1 .0- 3.0 1.8 .9 .8 ,4 .4

L
U211 M2 15.4 .7 .0-10.3 3.9 ,0-1S.6 6.5 10.4 2.9 .0- 2.7 .6 1.6 1.4 1.2 .1

:3SZ
Iual ton 17.7 1.2 .0-10.3 1.9 .3-18.7 7.4 9.2 4.7 .0- 1.0 .2 .3 1.1 1.3 ,4

Blue Creek 22..4 1.4 .0-23.3 3.2 .0- .3 .0 3.2 3.9 .0- 2.3 ,3 1.1 .9 1.2 .1

GVZ&A/ 26.6 1.7 .0- 1.3 1.2 .3- 2.3 1.3 2.4 2.8 .0- .7 .4 .8 1.4 2.1 ,0

East Lynn 18.6 1.0 .0- 5.1 2.3 .0-16.3 3.4 5.7 2.6 .0- .7 .3 2.1 .5 1.0 .0
—
~/ Low?, S4 i.. of the 8ig Inj.n e..d only (drillers’ Squaw sand).
TABLE 2. - Average mineral constituentsand characteristics
of the northern and southern types
of Big Injun sand

Sandston type
Northern Southern
Mineral constituents,percent ~
Detrital quartz 74.5
I-1 . . . .n4”#aw?.llQ 12.6 19.4
uJ.ay ul*AL -----
1.5 1.1
Mica 3.9
1.4
Calcite 5.2
. . ---- .-A A,.1,....4+,a .1
Anlcerlrearm UUXIIU... 9.1
Total carbonates 1.5
3.0 3.3
Metamorphic rock fragments .7
Secondary quartz 4.1
.9 1.2
Heavy minerals
1.2 1.0
Feldspar ~.~ 1,2
Chert .3
Glauconite .0
Core characteristics 15.0
Porosity, percent 10.5
20.2 7.3
permeability,md.

3
TABLE 3. - Average results of liquid-permeabilitytests,
Pocono Big Injun sand samples

Test liquid I permeability,md.

Average of 12 samples
I*--+ ——_—.
~.~.. Iiatiidzet deaerated and no bactericide
41.9 added)
Kerosine 30.5
Brine, CaC12 (19,000pPm) 19.4
Brine, NaCl (19,000 PPm) 11.5
Distilled water
Average of 4 samples
(test liquid deaerated and bactericide4;d;ed)
.
Simulated oilfield brine 46.7
Brine, CaC12 (32,000 PPm) 40.1
Brine, NaCl (80,000PPm)
39.9
Brine, KC1 (50,000ppm)
27.8
Distilled water
 3
TABLE 4. - Liquid permeability, porosity, and clay content of
Injun sand ~afi-~e~
two Pocono Big

Porosity, Clay-mineral
Sample percent content, percent
1 17.1 10.3
2 14.9 6.0

Permeability,md.
Test liquid Sample 1 I Sample 2
Test liquid not deaerated and n05~a~tericide5;d:ed
.
Keroa.ine 23;8
Brine, CaC12 (19,000 ppm) 70.9
43.0 6.6
Brine, NaCl (19,000PPm) 1.7
Distilled water 36.8
Test liquid deaerated and bactericide added36.8
85.4
Simulated oilfield brine 22.4
Brine, CaC12 (32,000 PPm) 122.0
nn
YU.L
~ 7fi
e“.-
1
Brine, ‘acl $~~’~~~ ~~~ 25.3
103.0
nrme, fi~~ ,J”,””.-rr---r
% ..-. — - I?,-1
22.8
Distilled water 63.9

and manganese composition of the acid-soluble fraction

TABLE 5. - Iron, calcium, magnesium,
of Pocono Big Injun sand samples

Acid Apparent
volubility, grain
~emea~~~~ty , ~ercefi~@ density, Iron Calcium Magnesium Manganese
~ilfield~l PO::::;’ weight gin/cc percent by weight
md.
4.38 1.13 0.42 0.00
3.90 16.9 2.72
Clover 16.9
4.63 .37 .17 .77
12.12 11.8 2.69
Walton 19.0

Blue 4.50 .47 .14 trace

11.30 9.4 2.67
Creek 19.5

three samples from each field.

—11 Average results for
 ,@ ““/’-
RI TC” IC

FJ - L“’’””* ~ u’” I
,/,/

‘/

, .,,,,, . ,0,,,,0. OF SIG 1!4,”. cORCS

OIL PRODUCTION

Scalf, moles

FIGURE 1. - Approximate area of Pocono Big Injun sand oil production

and location of cored wells.

GROUP DRILLERS’ TERMS

SYSTEM OR FORMATION

MONONGAHELA i CARROLL ]

I
$ lJl#i&L

MOUNDSVILLE
CQNEMAUGH nn,., m,, N I
buvv nun.
LITTLE DUNKARD
, “,”c nilr4u.4nn
❑
w “!.!----- ,
I
PENNSYLVANIAN
BURNING SPRINGS

ALLEGHENY GAS AND LOWER GAS

I -------- -n, , I
HUK>t Ntbn

PGTTSVILLE I 2nd COW RUN

SALT SANDS

MIsSISSIPPIAN

FIGURE 2.
‘OcONOm
- Generalized stratigraphic column of Pennsylvanian and
Mississippian rock units.
 , BooNE COUNT” ‘x
BLUE CREEK
SYCAI$ORE. CLOVER
MILLSTONE \ /
/ ‘i?
w
SMITHFIELD GREENWOOD (CR /
A M.DONALO BURTON ,,

3
?

,- _,, ,

-J t

G:iwyU;RIER
41,

—?!,

,,,
——

OATUMPLANE MACCRADY <

: oF GREENBRIERGROUp fORMAllON
1––-––––

-_———-7–
POCONO /
BIG INJUN
SAND

FIGURE 3. - Cross section of gamma ray logs from northeast to

southwest showing lithology and correlation of pocono
Big Injun sands.
 d’
FREEMANS CREEK VANDALIA
PORTO RICO

B BONDS CREEK GREENWOOD</

wINGETT RUN
~J

;REENBRIER
GROUP

ASE OF GREENBRIER GROUP

DPOF POCONO GROUP
<
+
POCONO <
PENNSYLVANIA
BIG INJUN c
SAND
1

.. 3

?’
VIRGINIA

o 25 50 15 1)

Honrontal Scale mlle~

CRoSS SECTIONAL INOEX MAP

FIGURE 4. - Cross section of gannuaray logs from west to east

showing lithology and correlation of Pocono Big Injun
sands.
 c
GRANNY CREEK
cWINGETT RUN
VOLCANO CAIRO BEAR RUN CRESTON TRIIPLETT CLOVER
I
<11
)

~ _— 7—
.
‘> —
-w

GREENBRIER
+ GROUP 7

([ \c
>
BASE
TOP
OF GREEN
OF POCONO
BRIER
GROUP
GROUP .
3
%
-0

1
NIA

-..

KEN

OE#cal:#O

5 CROSS. SECTIONAL INOEX M$,p

ray logs from northwest to

FIGURE 5. - Cross section of gamma
southeast showing lithology and correlation of Polcono
Big Injun sands.

I
 the northern type of
Fig. 6 - Photomicrograph of
Pocono Big Injun reservoir rock, plain light
- 0.34 mm.
scale: 1 div.

Fig. 7 - Photomicrograph of the southern type of

Pocono Big Injun reservoir rock, plain light
scale: 1 div. - 0.34 mm.
FIGURS 8. -
mOt~cr08raPh of quartz-caenced, northerntYPeof
POCOUO reservoir rock shwing secondav
nig IIIjUn
wergrmths m detrit~ grains,radtici~POrOsitYand
p=wbility, pIaitI light,scale: 1 div. - 0034‘.,
Q . detritalq~rtzs S‘q.- ‘ecO*V ‘U=tz ‘er-
grouths,p - =PO= filledpar=.