The importance of facies, grain size, and clay content in controlling fluvial reservoir quality – An example from the Triassic Skagerrak Formation, Central North Sea, UK
Oluwafemi E. Aro, S. Jones, N. Meadows, J. Gluyas, Dimitrios Charlaftis
{"title":"The importance of facies, grain size, and clay content in controlling fluvial reservoir quality – An example from the Triassic Skagerrak Formation, Central North Sea, UK","authors":"Oluwafemi E. Aro, S. Jones, N. Meadows, J. Gluyas, Dimitrios Charlaftis","doi":"10.1144/petgeo2022-043","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Clay-coated grains play an important role in preserving reservoir quality in high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) sandstone reservoirs. Previous studies have shown that the completeness of coverage of clay coats effectively inhibits quartz cementation. However, the main factors controlling the extent of coverage remain controversial. This research sheds light on the influence of different depositional processes and hydrodynamics on clay coat coverage and reservoir quality evolution. Detailed petrographic analysis of core samples from the Triassic fluvial Skagerrak Formation, Central North Sea, identified that channel facies offer the best reservoir quality; however, this varies as a function of depositional energy, grain size and clay content. Due to their coarser grain size and lower clay content, high energy channel sandstones have higher permeabilities (100-1150 mD) than low energy channel sandstones (<100 mD). Porosity is preserved due to grain-coating clays, with clay coat coverage correlating with grain size, clay coat volume and quartz cement. Higher coverage (70-98%) occurs in finer-grained, low energy channel sandstones. In contrast, lower coverage (<50%) occurs in coarser-grained, high energy channel sandstones. Quartz cement modelling showed a clear correlation between available quartz surface area and quartz cement volume. Although high energy channel sandstones have better reservoir quality, they present moderate quartz overgrowths due to lesser coat coverage, thus prone to allowing further quartz cementation and porosity loss in ultra-deep HPHT settings. Conversely, low energy channel sandstones containing moderate amounts of clay occurring as clay coats are more likely to preserve porosity in ultra-deep HPHT settings and form viable reservoirs for exploration.\n \n Supplementary material:\n of data and technique used in this study are available at\n https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6438450.v1\n","PeriodicalId":49704,"journal":{"name":"Petroleum Geoscience","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2023-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Petroleum Geoscience","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1144/petgeo2022-043","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Clay-coated grains play an important role in preserving reservoir quality in high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) sandstone reservoirs. Previous studies have shown that the completeness of coverage of clay coats effectively inhibits quartz cementation. However, the main factors controlling the extent of coverage remain controversial. This research sheds light on the influence of different depositional processes and hydrodynamics on clay coat coverage and reservoir quality evolution. Detailed petrographic analysis of core samples from the Triassic fluvial Skagerrak Formation, Central North Sea, identified that channel facies offer the best reservoir quality; however, this varies as a function of depositional energy, grain size and clay content. Due to their coarser grain size and lower clay content, high energy channel sandstones have higher permeabilities (100-1150 mD) than low energy channel sandstones (<100 mD). Porosity is preserved due to grain-coating clays, with clay coat coverage correlating with grain size, clay coat volume and quartz cement. Higher coverage (70-98%) occurs in finer-grained, low energy channel sandstones. In contrast, lower coverage (<50%) occurs in coarser-grained, high energy channel sandstones. Quartz cement modelling showed a clear correlation between available quartz surface area and quartz cement volume. Although high energy channel sandstones have better reservoir quality, they present moderate quartz overgrowths due to lesser coat coverage, thus prone to allowing further quartz cementation and porosity loss in ultra-deep HPHT settings. Conversely, low energy channel sandstones containing moderate amounts of clay occurring as clay coats are more likely to preserve porosity in ultra-deep HPHT settings and form viable reservoirs for exploration.
Supplementary material:
of data and technique used in this study are available at
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.6438450.v1
期刊介绍:
Petroleum Geoscience is the international journal of geoenergy and applied earth science, and is co-owned by the Geological Society of London and the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE).
Petroleum Geoscience transcends disciplinary boundaries and publishes a balanced mix of articles covering exploration, exploitation, appraisal, development and enhancement of sub-surface hydrocarbon resources and carbon repositories. The integration of disciplines in an applied context, whether for fluid production, carbon storage or related geoenergy applications, is a particular strength of the journal. Articles on enhancing exploration efficiency, lowering technological and environmental risk, and improving hydrocarbon recovery communicate the latest developments in sub-surface geoscience to a wide readership.
Petroleum Geoscience provides a multidisciplinary forum for those engaged in the science and technology of the rock-related sub-surface disciplines. The journal reaches some 8000 individual subscribers, and a further 1100 institutional subscriptions provide global access to readers including geologists, geophysicists, petroleum and reservoir engineers, petrophysicists and geochemists in both academia and industry. The journal aims to share knowledge of reservoir geoscience and to reflect the international nature of its development.