Application of the BISQ model to clay squirt flow in reservoir sandstones

Abstract

An understanding of the variations of compressional wave velocity and attenuation in sandstones as a function of pore‐fluid properties is important for the identification and monitoring of hydrocarbon reservoirs. In order for seismic inversion to be well constrained a rock physics model that describes accurately the observed behavior is required; a number of such models have been proposed but have not been extensively tested against laboratory data. The unified Biot and squirt flow model was applied to data obtained from ultrasonic experiments conducted on a wide range of sandstone types when saturated with different pore fluids with viscosities ranging from 0.3 to 1000 cP. This model was seen to match well all the observed velocity and attenuation values as opposed to the Biot model, which was only successful for clean sandstones saturated with low viscosity fluids. This has led to the conclusion that a squirt flow mechanism is important at the grain scale. In addition, an increase in the dynamic uniaxial strain modulus of the dry frame with increasing pore‐fluid viscosity was observed. In the absence of free gas or grain contact microcracks (the laboratory data were collected at 60 MPa effective pressure), this can be linked to decreasing local flow and decreasing relaxation in the soft pore space of the sandstone, the extent of which is in turn connected to the clay content and pore structure of the sandstone. These results imply that at ultrasonic frequencies the squirt‐flow is due to the presence of clay.