Core Analysis: Combining Expertise for Insight into the Reservoir
Managing an asset to optimize oil or gas production
requires knowing reservoir rock and uid properties. For
example, planning well locations relies on predictions of
porosity and other rock properties from seismic surveys.
Stimulation and completion designs depend on knowledge
of geomechanical strength and permeability from logging
and core measurements. Reservoir simulation demands
data on a wide range of properties of the formation rocks
and uids on many scales to engineer eld production.
Evaluation of the rocks and the uids within them is vital
for reservoir development and management throughout the
life of a eld.
While many reservoir properties can be evaluated
remotely with seismic or logging studies, the most detailed
and accurate measurements of rocks and uids come
from laboratory evaluations of core samples. The new
Schlumberger Reservoir Laboratories organization focuses
on the interrelationships of rock and uid properties to
help operators understand oil and gas assets.
This organization comprises more than 25 laboratories
globally and employs standardized procedures and equip-
ment to support analysis of core data. This comprehensive
integration of rock and uid analysis services helps cus-
tomers reduce risk in making reservoir development deci-
sions. Combining both services in one organization
expands the expertise at hand for execution of the experi-
ments and interpretation of the results.
One of the most obvious areas of rock-uid interaction
is in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) studies. To forecast
improvements from miscible gas and chemical displace-
ments, engineers require rock and uid properties at res-
ervoir conditions. EOR laboratory core oods use live
reservoir uids under reservoir conditions.
Schlumberger has offered advanced uids expertise,
geomechanics and unconventional resource evaluation for
years. In 2012, the company added several commercial
conventional core analysis laboratories and established a
laboratory hub in Houston. These laboratories provide
routine and special core analysis capabilities, with a
special emphasis on EOR evaluations for miscible gas
and chemical ooding.
Throughout its history, Schlumberger has used its
breadth and depth of knowledge of the subsurface to
develop logging tools, logging-while-drilling techniques,
fracturing techniques and other services that require
understanding of rock-uid interactions. The new commer-
cial core analysis capabilities build on this long history of
rock studies.
As a company, we have always answered questions about
reservoirs through petrophysical analysis. Now, we extend
this tradition to routine core analysis, answering basic
questions about a formation: Does the formation contain
uids? Are hydrocarbons present? Can they ow through
the formation? (See Core Truth in Formation Evaluation,
page 16). The answers come from measurements of poros-
ity, saturation and permeability.
These properties are a part of any petrophysical study
of a reservoir. In addition, core measurements provide a
means to calibrate log interpretations of electrical proper-
ties and nuclear magnetic resonance responses to obtain
downhole estimates of porosity and saturations. The
petrography and sedimentology of the reservoir core can
also be evaluated in detail.
Reservoir engineering relies on dynamic ow simulations,
and core analysis is fundamental to this activity. Multiphase
propertiesrelative permeability and capillary pressure
come from measurements made in a special core analysis
laboratory. Other ow studies conducted in these laborato-
ries are designed to evaluate EOR processes and assess for-
mation damage caused by a variety of sources.
Core analysis is often referred to as the ground truth of
rock properties. In the laboratory, we can measure proper-
ties more precisely and accurately than through remote
sensing. But it is also necessary to understand that labora-
tory measurements may not be reective of eld condi-
tions. Field conditions can be simulated to a greater or
lesser degree, but some alterations to the rock caused by
drilling and retrieval are difcult to reverse. To get the full
picture, it is necessary to integrate the information from
all sourceslaboratory and eld. With the wide range of
expertise found in Schlumberger, we can provide the nec-
essary perspective.
The future of core analysis is bright. We are commer-
cializing our digital core analysis effort with services
ranging from whole core to nanoscale imaging and ow
simulation. Additional innovative services will be intro-
duced in coming years.
Mark A. Andersen
Core Physics Domain Head
Schlumberger Reservoir Laboratories
Houston, Texas, USA
Mark A. Andersen, Schlumberger Domain Head for Core Physics in Houston,
joined the company in 2000. He spent 11 years as an Oilfield Review editor
and executive editor before returning to his roots in core analysis to help build
a new business for Schlumberger. He began his career in 1981 as a research-
er in rock properties at Amoco Research Center in Tulsa. He subsequently
spent several years in Stavanger, where he managed the Amoco Norway
external research program and wrote Petroleum Research in North Sea Chalk.
Mark is the author of many technical papers, including 23 articles for Oilfield
Review. He earned a BS degree in engineering physics from the University
of Oklahoma at Norman, USA, and MS and PhD degrees in physics from The
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.