New Approach to Quantitative Pore Architecture in Microporous Lime Mud-rich Carbonate Rocks – Implications for Fluid Flow

T.D. Jobe¹, J.F. Sarg², T. Steuber³, and H. Shebl⁴

Abstract

Carbonate reservoir heterogeneity is complex, due to ternary porosity distributions composed of matrix, vugs, and fractures. Recently, matrix related microporosity has been recognized as an important control on transmissivity and storage capacity of hydrocarbons. Advances in completion technologies for low-permeability reservoirs make quantifying the matrix-related micro-porosity and understanding pore size and pore throat distributions as well as tortuosity increasingly important. Traditional methodologies are often inadequate for low permeability, microporous reservoirs. Within carbonate reservoirs, the matrix porosity contribution is often overshadowed by the relative contribution from vugs and fractures, yet it is the matrix pore network that effectively feeds the vugs and fractures through diffusive transport.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90188 ©GEO-2014, 11th Middle East Geosciences Conference and Exhibition, 10-12 March 2014, Manama, Bahrain