Carbonate Reservoir Rocks

Most of the world’s energy still comes from fossil fuels, and there are still many strides being made in the efficiency and cost effectiveness of extracting these important and increasingly more elusive natural resources. This is only possible if the nature of the emergence, evolution, and parameter estimation of high grade reservoir rocks at great depths is known and a theory of their forecast is developed. Over 60 percent of world oil production is currently associated with carbonate reservoir rocks. The exploration, appraisal and development of these fields are significantly complicated by a number of factors. These factors include the structural complexity of the carbonate complexes, variability of the reservoir rock types and properties within a particular deposit, many unknowns in the evaluation of fracturing and its spatial variability, and the preservation of the reservoir rock qualities with depth. The main objective of most studies is discovering patterns in the reservoir rock property changes of carbonate deposits of different genesis, composition and age. A short list of the unsolved issues includes: the role of facies environment in the carbonate formation; the major geologic factors affecting the formation of high-capacity reservoir rocks and preservation of their properties; recommendations as to the use of the new techniques in studies of the structural parameters; and establishing a correlation between the major evaluation parameters. The focus of this volume is to show the scientific and engineering community a revolutionary process. The author perfected an earlier developed methodology in studies of the void space structure (Bagrintseva’s method, 1982). This methodology is based on carbonate rock saturation with luminophore and on special techniques in processing of photographs made under UV light. The luminophore technique was combined with the raster electron microscopy and its variation, the studies under the cathode luminescence regime. This combination enabled a more detailed study of the reservoir void space, the nonuniformity in the open fracture evolution, their morphology, length and variability of openness. Over recent years these techniques have found wide application. Useful for the veteran engineer or scientist and the student alike, this book is a must-have for any geologist, engineer, or student working in the field of upstream petroleum engineering.