Integration of Dielectric Dispersion and 3D NMR Characterizes the Texture and Wettability of a Cretaceous Carbonate Reservoir

Abstract

Abstract Knowledge of rock texture and wettability are vital for the static and dynamic description of carbonate reservoirs. Conventional log measurements are limited in their applicability for the quantitative assessment of these attributes. Rapid variations of texture in carbonates diminishes the usefulness of core measurements on samples of limited size. Obtaining representative relative permeability by restoring core to native reservoir conditions, especially the original wettability state, is also very challenging. The dielectric response of clean carbonate rocks exhibit characteristic frequency dispersion patterns which depend on their texture and wettability. Dielectric measurements with multiple frequencies have become available enabling us to extract this information by inverting the tool data using a dispersive petrophysical model. The dielectric response is primarily sensitive to water, and provides a measure of the water phase tortuosity, which is a combination of texture and wettability, captured in the Archie’s exponents m and n. Previous work has demonstrated the estimation of m from pore size distribution obtained from NMR data using an effective medium model. Formation Resistivity Factor data from core is presented to validate the model-derived m. In this work we propose a way to combine the cementation exponent so derived with the textural answers from the dielectric measurement to make a wettability estimate. We also assess the wettability from 3D NMR stations, using the increase in relaxation of oil manifested as shortening of the oil T2 signal due to partial wetting of the oil phase. The methods are illustrated on a dataset from a Cretaceous carbonate, onshore Abu Dhabi. The interval surveyed in the subject well straddles an oil/water contact (OWC). The n exponent value derived by the method shows that the rock above the OWC is oil-wet in varying degrees. The inference on wettability state from the NMR data further supports the conclusions.