Fluid Identification Derived from Formation Chlorine Measurements and Reservoir Characterization of Tight Carbonate in Sichuan Basin, China

Abstract

Natural gas production in the Sichuan Basin reached 30×109 m3 in 2020, but the shortfall between this and the production goal of 50×109 m3 in 2025 requires further exploration. The complex mineralogy and low porosity in tight carbonate reservoirs reduce the accuracy of formation water saturation calculations from Archie’s equation, which brings uncertainties to the reservoir characterization. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate other methods as supplements to methods based on resistivities. In this paper, we outline a method that incorporates wireline-induced gamma spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), array dielectric, and borehole images. Spectroscopy is not only used to estimate the mineralogy of the reservoir, but it also provides measurements, such as chlorine concentration and thermal neutron capture cross section (sigma). The amount of chlorine in the formation is proportional to the water volume in the reservoir, hence formation water saturation. Sigma is also an indicator of the formation water saturation. It enables formation water saturation calculation without resistivity measurements. Case studies are presented from carbonate reservoirs in the Sichuan Basin, China. A robust and comprehensive petrophysical description of mineralogy, porosity, pore geometry, free fluid volume, rock type, and formation water saturation is presented. Calculation of formation water saturation from chlorine and sigma proves to be successful in both water-based mud and oil-based mud (OBM) environments. The depth of investigation (DOI) of chlorine from spectroscopy is about 8 to 10 in. for 90% of the signal. The various DOIs of different measurements must be considered when performing the fluid identification. Bound fluid saturation can reach more than 50% in tight carbonate reservoirs. Formation water saturation is not the only factor that determines the fluid type. Free fluid saturation from NMR must also be incorporated. Finally, a robust methodology integrating formation water saturation derived from dielectric and spectroscopy, and free fluid saturation derived from NMR shows great advantage in fluid identification in tight carbonate reservoirs. In this paper, we discuss a novel combination of wireline logging tools for fluid identification in a tight carbonate reservoir in the Sichuan Basin. It reduces the uncertainty when estimating formation water saturation and when resistivity measurements are suppressed in OBM environments. The gas zones identified by the new method have promising predictions of gas production. This workflow can also be applied to other tight carbonate plays in China.