Investigation of Reservoir Rock Properties Measurement Methods for Sandstone and Shale Samples

* Honorable Mention *

PROJECT NUMBER: 83

AUTHOR: Erik Villar, Petroleum Engineering |AUTHOR: Chiang Cheng Siew, Petroleum Engineering

MENTOR: Tadesse Teklu, Petroleum Engineering

ABSTRACT

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Porosity and permeability are the two most important rock properties in reservoir simulation models that impact the behavior of fluids within the rock. The study of many oil-field developments, production forecasts, and economics of the reservoir are dependent on these rock property estimations. Of importance is the void space within the rock that a fluid can inhabit and the ease that the fluid may travel through the reservoir rock, called porosity and permeability respectively. Rocks are permeable since they are porous, but they may be porous without being permeable. In this study, non-destructive core analysis performed under stress representative of reservoir conditions of 118 sandstone samples from different depositional environments in northeastern Colorado and 10 shale samples from the Bakken formation. Methodologies utilized were derived from the applications of Boyle’s law and Darcy’s law. However, measuring these properties can be difficult depending on the composition of the reservoir rock. This is especially true for unconventional shales which are much tighter and difficult to measure. In the past, many of the low-permeability reservoirs were sandstone, but significant quantities of oil and gas from low-permeability unconventional shale reservoirs have been developed in recent years.

VISUAL PRESENTATION

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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

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A junior studying petroleum engineering, Erik enjoys learning about the role that the production of natural resources plays in our lives. His objective is to study and develop methods in the oil and gas industry that developing communities can utilize to increase their quality of life. In the short-term, Erik would like to learn more about the litigious nature of the petroleum field.

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Siew Chiang is currently a junior at Mines, studying petroleum engineering (major) and economics (minor). She conducted the research under the Petroleum Engineering Department together with Erik Villar under the supervision of Dr. Tadesse Teklu. Siew had the objective to explore the main rock properties that are essential in the production of oil and gas from both sandstone and shale reservoirs, and experiment with the technical equipment used in the petroleum industry. After graduating from Mines in 2021, Siew plans to apply her research experience and knowledge gained to graduate school.

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