Low Resistivity Pay Carbonates: A Practical Approach to Quantify Water Saturation Using a Modified Archie's Model

Abstract

A detailed description of a modified Archie's equation is proposed to accurately quantify water saturation within low resistivity/low contrast pay carbonates. The majority of previous work on low resistivity/low contrast reservoirs focused on clastics, namely, thin beds and/or clay effects on resistivity measurements. Recent publications have highlighted a "non-Archie" behavior in carbonates with complex pore structures. Several theoretical models were introduced, but new practical applications were not derived to solve this issue. Built upon previous theoretical research in a holistic approach, new models and workflows have been developed. Specifically, utilizing a combination of machine learning algorithms, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), core and geological data, field specific calibrated equations to compute water saturation (Sw) in complex carbonate formations are presented. Essentially, these new models partition the porosity into pore spaces and calculate their relative contribution to water saturation in each pore space. These calibrated equations robustly produce results that have proven invaluable in pay identification, well placement, and have greatly enhanced the ability to manage these types of reservoirs. This paper initially explains the theory behind the development of the analysis illustrating workflows and validation techniques used to qualify this methodology. A key benefit performing this research is the utilization of machine-learning algorithms to predict NMR derived values in wells that do not have NMR data. Several examples explore where results of this analysis are compared to dynamic testing, formation testing and laboratory measured samples to validate and demonstrate the utility of this new analysis.