Self-adapting extraction of matrix mineral bulk modulus and verification of fluid substitution

Gassmann＇s equations are commonly used for predicting seismic wave velocity in rock physics research.However the input matrix mineral bulk modulus parameters are not accurate,which greatly influences the prediction reliability.In this paper,combining the Russell fluid factor with the Gassman-Biot-Geertsma equation and introducing the dry-rock Poisson＇s ratio,we propose an effective matrix mineral bulk modulus extraction method.This method can adaptively invert the equivalent matrix mineral bulk modulus to apply the Gassmann equation to fluid substitution of complex carbonate reservoirs and increase the fluid prediction reliability.The verification of the actual material fluid substitution also shows that this method is reliable,efficient,and adaptable.

Gas reservoir identification by seismic AVO attributes on fluid substitution

Traditionally, fluid substitutions are often conducted on log data for calculating reservoir elastic properties with different pore fluids. Their corresponding seismic responses are computed by seismic forward modeling for direct gas reservoir identification. The workflow provides us with the information about reservoir and seismic but just at the well. For real reservoirs, the reservoir parameters such as porosity, clay content, and thickness vary with location. So the information from traditional fluid substitution just at the well is limited. By assuming a rock physics model linking the elastic properties to porosity and mineralogy, we conducted seismic forward modeling and AVO attributes computation on a three-layer earth model with varying porosity, clay content, and formation thickness. Then we analyzed the relations between AVO attributes at wet reservoirs and those at the same but gas reservoirs. We arrived at their linear relations within the assumption framework used in the forward modeling. Their linear relations make it possible to directly conduct fluid substitution on seismic AVO attributes. Finally, we applied these linear relations for fluid substitution on seismic data and identified gas reservoirs by the cross-plot between the AVO attributes from seismic data and those from seismic data after direct fluid substitution.

Velocity dispersion and fluid substitution in sandstone under partially saturated conditions

The elastic moduli of four sandstone samples are measured at seismic （2-2000 Hz） and ultrasonic （1 MHz） frequencies and water- and glycerin-saturated conditions. We observe that the high-permeability samples under partially water-saturated conditions and the low-permeability samples under partially glycerin-saturated conditions show little dispersion at low frequencies （2-2000 Hz）. However, the high-permeability samples under partially glycerin-saturated conditions and the low-permeability samples under partially water-saturated conditions produce strong dispersion in the same frequency range （2-2000 Hz）. This suggests that fluid mobility largely controls the pore-fluid movement and pore pressure in a porous medium. High fluid mobility facilitates pore-pressure equilibration either between pores or between heterogeneous regions, resulting in a low-frequency domain where the Gassmann equations are valid. In contrast, low fluid mobility produces pressure gradients even at seismic frequencies, and thus dispersion. The latter shows a systematic shift to lower frequencies with decreasing mobility. Sandstone samples showed variations in Vp as a function of fluid saturation. We explore the applicability of the Gassmann model on sandstone rocks. Two theoretical bounds for the P-velocity are known, the Gassmann-Wood and Gassmann-Hill limits. The observations confirm the effect of wave-induced flow on the transition from the Gassmann-Wood to the Gassmann-Hill limit. With decreasing fluid mobility, the P-velocity at 2-2000 Hz moves from the Gassmann-Wood boundary to the Gassmann-Hill boundary. In addition,, we investigate the mechanisms responsible for this transition.

Fluid substitution in a shaley sandstone reservoir at seismic scale

Shaley sandstone is heterogeneous at a seismic scale. Gassmann＇s equation is suited for fluid substitution in a homogeneous medium. To study the difference between shaley sandstone effective elastic moduli calculated by mean porosity as a homogeneous medium, and those calculated directly from the sub-volumes of the volume as a heterogeneous medium, computational experiments are conducted on Han＇s shaley sand model, the soft-sand model, the stiff-sand model, and their combination under the assumption that the shaley sandstone volume is made up of separate homogenous sub-volumes with independent porosity and clay content. Fluid substitutions are conducted by Gassmann＇s equation on rock volume and sub-volumes respectively. The computational data show that at seismic scale, there are minor differences between fluid substitution on rock volume and that on sub-volumes using Gassmann＇s equation. But fluid substitution on sub-volumes can take consideration of the effects of low porosity and low permeability sub-volumes, which can get more reasonable data, especially for low porosity reservoirs.

Characteristics of fluid substitution in porous rocks

Analysis of the effect of changes in fluid properties of rocks on the compressional-wave velocity VP and shear-wave velocity Vs is very important for understanding the rock physical properties, especially in oilfield exploration and development. The fluid substitution process was analyzed by using ultrasonic measurement and theoretical calculations. The results showed that the effect of fluid substitution on the rock elastic modulus was mainly controlled by fluid properties, saturation, and confining pressure. For a rock with specific properties and porosity, the result of theoretical prediction for fluid substitution accorded with the experimental result under high confining pressure （higher than 60 MPa for our experimental data）, but failed to describe the trend of experimental result under low confining pressure and VP predicted by Gassmann＇s equation was higher than that measured by experiment. A higher porosity resulted in stronger sensitivity of the bulk modulus of saturated rocks to the change of fluid properties.

Applications of fluid substitution effect analysis on seismic interpretation

The root mean square(RMS) difference of time-lapse seismic amplitudes is routinely used to identify the substituted fluid type in a reservoir during oil field production and recovery. By a time-lapse seismic method, we study the effects of fluid substitution in a physical model, which is an analogy of the three-dimensional inhomogeneous reservoir. For a weak inhomogeneous medium, gas/oil substitution results in positive anomalies in the reservoir layers, and negative anomalies below the bottom of the reservoir layers; while water/oil substitution causes only weak variations in the reservoir layers, but positive anomalies below the bottom of the reservoir layers. For the strong inhomogeneous medium, no matter what kind of fluid substitution(gas/oil or water/oil), there are significant anomalies in seismic amplitude difference attributes both in and below the reservoir layers. Therefore, for weak inhomogeneous media, such as tight sandstone or thin interbedded layers, the RMS amplitude difference attributes can be used to monitor fluid changes and predict the drilling direction; for inhomogeneous medium with karst carves or fractures, it is difficult to accurately determine the distribution of fluids with the RMS amplitude difference attributes.

Reservoir Fluid Substitution Effect in Heterogeneous Seismic Model

Based on the difference of wave impedance between sand layer and surrounding rock, the seismic wave numerical simulation software, Tesseral-2D is used to establish the sandstone formation model containing water, oil and gas respectively, and the three models are treated by post-stack time offset under the conditions of defined channel spacing, wavelet frequency and wave velocity of different rock mass, and the root means square amplitude difference attribute profile under the condition of water-filled oil-filled and gas-filled oil-filled is obtained. From this, it can be obtained that after oil-gas substitution occurs in weak non-mean reservoirs, the root-mean-square amplitude difference from the reservoir to the lower part of the reservoir experiences a mutation process from a positive maximum to a negative maximum, while after oil-water substitution, the root-mean-square amplitude difference from the reservoir to the lower part of the reservoir experiences a mutation process from zero to a positive maximum. For a strong heterogeneous reservoir. Therefore, for Weak inhomogeneous media similar to tight sandstone, the root-mean-square amplitude difference attribute can be used to detect the distribution of fluid in the actual gas drive or water drive oil recovery process.

Fluid substitution in NMR T_(2)distribution and resistivity independent saturation computation using synthetic capillary pressure data

Petrophysicists and reservoir engineers utilise the capillary pressure and saturation-height function for calculating the water saturation of any reservoir,at a given height above the free water level.The results have a big impact on reserve estimation.The majority of capillary pressure studies are carried out in labs with core data.Cores,on the other hand,are usually altered from their original state before being delivered to laboratories.Moreover,the accuracy of discrete sets of core data in describing entire reservoir parameters,is still up for debate.Prediction of the capillary pressure curve in reservoir condition is an important subject that is challenging to perform.The use of nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)logs for oil and gas exploration has grown in popularity over the last few decades.However,most of the time the utilization of the data is limited for evaluating porosity-permeability,distributions and computation of irreducible water saturation.After the advent of fluid substitution methods,NMR T_(2)distributions may now be used to synthesize core equivalent capillary pressure curves.Using fluid substitution workflow,our study introduces a better approach for obtaining capillary pressure curves from the NMR T_(2)distribution.The available core data has been used to calculate calibration parameters for better saturation height modelling.The workflow introduces a novel approach in resistivity independent saturation computation.In the exploratory wells of our study area,computed water saturation derived from the saturation height function exhibits encouraging agreement with resistivity based water saturation from multi-mineral model.The NMR based saturation height modelling approach has been included in study area for the first time so far.

Calculations of rock matrix modulus based on a linear regression relation

The rock matrix bulk modulus or its inverse, the compressive coefficient, is an important input parameter for fluid substitution by the Biot-Gassmann equation in reservoir prediction. However, it is not easy to accurately estimate the bulk modulus by using conventional methods. In this paper, we present a new linear regression equation for calculating the parameter. In order to get this equation, we first derive a simplified Gassmann equation by using a reasonable assumption in which the compressive coefficient of the saturated pore fluid is much greater than the rock matrix, and, second, we use the Eshelby- Walsh relation to replace the equivalent modulus of a dry rock in the Gassmann equation. Results from the rock physics analysis of rock sample from a carbonate area show that rock matrix compressive coefficients calculated with water-saturated and dry rock samples using the linear regression method are very close （their error is less than 1%）. This means the new method is accurate and reliable.

A rock-physical modeling method for carbonate reservoirs at seismic scale

Strong heterogeneity and complex pore systems of carbonate reservoir rock make its rock physics model building and fluid substitution difficult and complex. However, rock physics models connect reservoir parameters with seismic parameters and fluid substitution is the most effective tool for reservoir prediction and quantitative characterization. On the basis of analyzing complex carbonate reservoir pore structures and heterogeneity at seismic scale, we use the gridding method to divide carbonate rock into homogeneous blocks with independent rock parameters and calculate the elastic moduli of dry rock units step by step using different rock physics models based on pore origin and structural feature. Then, the elastic moduli of rocks saturated with different fluids are obtained using fluid substitution based on different pore connectivity. Based on the calculated elastic moduli of rock units, the Hashin-Shtrikman-Walpole elastic boundary theory is adopted to calculate the carbonate elastic parameters at seismic scale. The calculation and analysis of carbonate models with different combinations of pore types demonstrate the effects of pore type on rock elastic parameters. The simulated result is consistent with our knowledge of real data.

On the Fluid Dependence of Seismic Anisotropy:Beyond Biot-Gassmann

This work addresses the question of the fluid dependence of the non-dimensional parameters of seismic anisotropy. It extends the classic theory of the fluid-dependence of elasticity, and applies the approximation of weak seismic anisotropy. The analysis shows that reliance upon the classic theory leads to oversimplified conclusions. Extending the classic theory introduces new parameters（which must be experimentally determined） into the conclusions, making their application in the field context highly problematic.