Evaluation of Flow Units and Capillary Pressures of the Giant Chicontepec Tight Oil Paleochannel in Mexico and a Fresh Look at Drilling and Completions

Abstract

The Chicontepec Paleochannel in Mexico is a giant shaly sandstone reservoir with volumes of original oil in place (OOIP) ranging between 137 and 59 billion STB (Guzmán 2022). However, the oil recoveries are very small, ranging between 0.32% and 0.75% of the OOIP. Under these conditions, consistent interpretation of flow units and mercury injection capillary pressures up to 55,000 psi provide useful information that helps in deciphering the rock quality and pore sizes at levels that might not be reached by thin-section petrography. This is important because the Chicontepec Paleochannel (Misantla-Tampico Basin) has been recently equated to the Permian Basin in the United States and has been termed by Guzman (2022) “a premier super basin in waiting.”

The current cumulative oil production of Chicontepec is 440 million STB. Although it is a significant volume, it represents a very small percentage of recovery from the reservoir (0.32–0.75% of the OOIP). To help improve recovery, a method is developed for characterizing the tight Chicontepec Paleochannel using flow units and capillary pressures. Like in the case of many tight unconventional reservoirs, the capillary pressures can go to very high values, reaching 55,000 psi in the Chicontepec case. Therefore, a special procedure is developed to generate a consistent interpretation of all the available capillary pressure curves for the entire range of pressures.

The results highlight the important oil recovery potential. The assessment is supported by quantitative formation evaluation work performed by Gutierrez Oseguera and Aguilera (2023). Although natural fractures are present, most wells must be hydraulically fractured to achieve commercial success.

Process or delivery speed (the ratio of permeability and porosity) for the Chicontepec samples used in the capillary pressure experimental work range between 159.1 md and 0.17 md (porosity in the denominator is a fraction). Flow units show pore throat radii (r_p35) range from less than 0.1 µm to about 4.5 µm. These values and flow units compare well with data available for prolific unconventional reservoirs such as the Cardium sandstone in Canada and the giant Permian Basin in the United States. The radius r_p35 refers to the pore throat radius at 35% cumulative pore volume (PV) of injected mercury. This is different from r_p also discussed in this paper, which is the pore throat radius at any water saturation (for example, at 40% water saturation). Thus, in the case where water saturation is 65%, r_p is equal to r_p35.

The novelty of this study is the development of a consistent procedure for interpreting the entire range of pressures measured during mercury injection capillary pressures. Such pressures go up to 55,000 psi for the core samples considered in this study. The integration with flow units and formation evaluation suggests that the potential of the Chicontepec unconventional reservoirs can rival successful results obtained in the Cardium sandstone and the Permian Basin. The key ideas discussed in this paper for improving Chicontepec oil recovery include specialized petrophysical evaluation, determination of flow units and capillary pressures, improved drilling and completion methods, and geological support.