Rock-Fabric/Petrophysical
Relationships
Petrophysics
of Interparticle Pore Space
Global Interparticle-porosity
Permeability Transform
Although fabrics
are divided into three petrophysical classes, in nature there is
no boundary between the classes. Instead, there is a continuum from
mudstone to grainstone and from 5
to over 500
mud-dominated dolostones (Fig. 14b,c). Therefore, there is also
a complete continuum of rock-fabric specific porosity-permeability
transforms.
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Figure
14. Continuum of rock fabrics and associated porosity-permeability
transforms. (A) Rock-fabric numbers ranging from 0.5 - 4 defined
by class-average and class-boundary porosity-permeability transforms.
(B) Fabric continuum in nonvuggy limestone. (C) Fabric continuum
in nonvuggy dolostone. |
To model such
a continuum the boundaries of each petrophysical class are assigned
a value (0.5, 1.5, 2.5, and 4) (Fig. 14a)
and porosity-permeability transforms generated. These transforms
were added to the class 1, 2, and 3, transforms and an equation
relating permeability to a continuum of class values and interparticle
porosity is developed using multiple linear regressions. To avoid
confusion, the class values generated by this equation are termed
rock-fabric numbers. The resulting global transform is given below.
This equation is useful in calculating permeability from wireline
logs but is too detailed to be useful for routine classification
of visual descriptions.

Mud-dominated
limestones and fine crystalline mud-dominated dolostones occupy
rock fabric numbers from 4 to 2.5 (Fig. 14b,c).
The class number decreases with increasing dolomite crystal size
from 5
to 20
in mud-dominated dolostones, and with increasing grain volume in
mud-dominated limestones. Grain-dominated packstones, fine-to-medium
crystalline grain-dominated dolopackstones, and medium crystalline
mud-dominated dolostones occupy the rock fabric numbers from 2.5
to 1.5 (Fig. 14b,c). The class value decreases
with increasing dolomite crystal size from 20 to 100
in mud-dominated dolostones and with decreasing amounts of intergrain
micrite as well as increasing grain size in grain-dominated pack-stones
and fine to medium crystalline grain-dominated dolopackstones. Grain-stones,
dolograinstones, and large crystalline dolomites occupy rock fabric
numbers 1.5 to 0.5 (Fig. 14b,c). The class
value decreases with increasing grain size and dolomite crystal
size from 100 to 500 .
Unusual Types
of Interparticle Porosity
Diagenesis can
produce unique types of interparticle porosity. Collapse of separate-vug
fabrics due to overburden pressure can produce fragments that are
properly considered "diagenetic particles". Large dolomite
crystals with their centers dissolved can collapse to form pockets
of dolomite rims. Leached grain-stones can collapse to form intergrain
fabrics composed of fragments of dissolved grains. These unusual
pore types typically do not cover an extensive area. However, the
collapse of extensive cavern systems can produce bodies of collapse
breccia that are extensive. Interbreccia-block pores produced by
cavern collapse are included in the touching-vug category because
they result from the karsting process (Kerans 1989).
Petrophysics
of Separate-Vug Pore Space
The addition
of separate-vug porosity to interparticle porosity alters the petrophysical
characteristics by altering the manner in which the pore space is
connected, all pore space being connected in some fashion. Examples
of separate-vug pore space are illustrated in figure 15.
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Class
1 moldic searate-vug ooid grainstone
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Class
1 intragrain microporous separate-vug ooid grainstone
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Class
2 intrafossil seeparate-vug med xl grain-dominated dolopackstone
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Class
3 grain mold seprate-vug fossil wackestone
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Microporosity
in an ooid (see arrow)
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Class
1 intragrain microporous separate-vug ooid grainstone
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Figure
15. Examples of separate-vug porosity
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Separate vugs
are not connected to each other. They are connected only through
the interparticle pore space and, although the addition of separate
vugs increases total porosity, it does not significantly increase
permeability (Lucia 1983). Figure 16a illustrates this principle.
Permeability of a moldic grainstone is less than would be expected
if all the total porosity were interparticle and, at constant porosity,
permeability increases with decreasing separate-vug porosity (Lucia
and Conti 1987). The same is true for a large crystalline dolowackestone
in that the data are plotted to the left of the class 1 field in
proportion to the separate-vug porosity (Lucia 1983).
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Figure
16. Cross plot illustrating the effect of separate-vug porosity
on air permeability. (A) Grainstones with separate-vug porosity
in the form of grain molds plot to the right of the grainstone
field in proportion to the volume of separate-vug porosity.
(B) Ooid grainstone with separate vugs in the form of intragranular
microporosity plot to the right of the grainstone field. |
This principle
is also true for intragrain microporosity. Fig. 16b shows data from
a Cretaceous ooid grainstone from offshore Brazil with intragrain
microporosity and intergrain pore space (Cruz, 1997). The plot shows
that the permeability of the grainstone is less than would be expected
if all the porosity were interparticle.
Petrophysics
of Touching-Vug Pore Space
Examples of
touching-vug pore types are illustrated in Fig. 17. Touching vugs
can increase permeability well above what would be expected from
the interparticle pore system and are usually considered to be filled
with oil in reservoirs.
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Cavernous
touching-vug Niagarian (Silurian) Reef
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Solution-enlarged
fracture collapse breccia Ellenburger (Ordovician)
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Crackle
mosaic fracture Collapse breccia Ellenburger (Ordovician)
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Collapse
Breccia
Ellenburger (Ordovician)
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Dissolved
anhydrite
Grayburg (Permian)
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Class
3 mud-dominated packstone with touching vugs of grain molds
connected by microfractures
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Figure
17. Examples of touching-vug pore types
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Lucia (1983)
illustrated this fact by comparing a plot of fracture permeability
versus fracture porosity to the three permeability fields for interparticle
porosity (Fig. 18).
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Figure
18. Theoretical fracture air permeability-porosity relationship
compared to the rock-fabric/petrophysical porosity, permeability
fields (Lucia, 1983). W = fracture width, Z = fracture spacing. |
This graph shows
that permeability in touching-vug pore systems has little relationship
to porosity. Typical porosity-permeability cross plots from touching
vugs have low (less than 6 percent) porosity and display unorganized
scatter. An example is illustrated from a Pennsylvanian reservoir
in West Texas (fig. 19).
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Figure
19. Touching vug pore space from Sacroc field (Pennsylvanian),
West Texas. (A) Photo of core slab and (B) porosity-permeability
cross plot.
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