Fluid Saturations

Introduction

Fluid Saturations
Definition - The fluid saturation for a particular fluid is the
fraction of pore volume occupied by that fluid
Saturation is an intensive property
Equation Form: So=Vo/Vp, Sw=Vw/Vp, Sg=Vg/Vp
These fluid volumes are measured under specific conditions of pressure and
temperature (e.g. reservoir, or laboratory)
reservoir conditions are often noted as in situ

Fluid Saturations
Fundamental Relationships
Pore volume is occupied by fluids (water, oil, and/or gas)

Vp Vw Vo Vg
1

Vw Vo Vg
V

S w So Sg

p case, only one of the two saturations is independent, the other

for the two phase
must make the sum of the saturations equal to unity (1)

similarly, for the three phase case, only two saturations are independent

Fluid Saturations
Fundamental Relationships (continued)
Mass of fluids in the pore volume is comprised of: water, oil,
and/or gas

fluid mass m w m o m g
w Vw o Vo g Vg

Vp w Sw oSo gSg

at laboratory conditions it is often assumed that gas density is negligible

Initial Fluid Saturations in Reservoir

Concepts: typical petroleum accumulation scenario
pores are initially saturated with water (S w=1)
hydrocarbons migrate up dip into traps due to having density less than water density
(gravity force)
hydrocarbons (oil and/or gas) is distributed such that gravity and capillary forces are
in equilibrium
minimum interstitial water saturation remains in hydrocarbon zone, even after accumulation occurs
water wet, drainage accumulation process
irreducible wetting phase saturation
oil wet, imbibition accumulation process
residual non-wetting phase saturation

Initial Fluid Saturations in Reservoir

Methods for determination of reservoir fluid saturations
Direct Measurement
Core Analysis (current topic)

Indirect Measurement
Capillary Pressure Measurement (previous topic)
Well Log Analysis (future topic)
electrical conductivity depends primarily on water saturation

Fluid Saturations - Core Analysis

Factors affecting fluid saturations in cores
flushing of core by filtrate from drilling fluids (especially for overbalanced drilling)
water filtrate
water based mud
oil emulsion mud

oil filtrate
oil based mud
inverted oil emulsion mud

gas filtrate
air drilling
foam drilling

Fluid Saturations - Core Analysis

Factors affecting fluid saturations in cores (continued)
Changes in pressure and temperature as core sample is
brought from bottomhole conditions to surface conditions
Example: Oil zone at minimum interstitial water saturation,
water based drilling mud
Flushing
During
Drilling

Saturation at Surface
Compared to Reservoir

Trip to
Surface

Sw

? probably

So

Sg

Fluid Saturations - Core Analysis

Factors affecting fluid saturations in cores (continued)
Example: Oil zone at minimum interstitial water saturation, oil based drilling mud

Flushing
During
Drilling

Trip to
Surface

Saturation at Surface
Compared to
Reservoir

Sw

So

Self Study: other examples in Lecture_21.pdf

Sg

Application of Core Saturations

Application of Core Saturations: Water Based Mud
presence of oil zone
original oil/gas contact
original oil/water contact

Application of Core Saturations: Oil Based Mud

fairly accurate minimum interstitial water saturation
original oil/water contact

Other Applications of Core Saturations

correlation of indirect methods

Estimating Fluid Contact Depths

from Core Saturations
0

So

50

Gas
Depth
Oil

Water

So 0 in gas zone
So > 0.15 in oil production
zone
0 < So < 0.15 in water
production zone

Maximum Water Saturation

for Oil and Gas Production

The trend shown here

continues for even lower
permeability, with productive
reservoirs existing with
Sw>0.60 for k<0.01 md

Commentary on Core Saturations

Qualitative Value, ABW (page 109, brackets added): The
saturation values obtained directly from rock samples [cores] are usually not
reliable for determining the quantity of each fluid in the rock [reservoirs].
Other uses exist for fluid-saturation determinations from core samples.

Overall Value, ABW (page 110): Thus, in summary, it is seen that

although fluid-saturation determinations made on core samples at the surface
may not give a direct indication of the saturations within the reservoir, they
are of value and do yield very useful and necessary information