Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Turbidites— Compaction Effects on Porosity and Permeability

Abstract

Summary The deepwater Gulf of Mexico is now a major area of activity for the U.S. oil industry. Compaction causes particular concern because most prospective deepwater reservoirs are highly geo-pressured and many have limited aquifer support; water injection may also be problematic. Thus, economic development may require significant drawdowns with ensuing compaction and its attendant problems. To address some of the issues associated with compaction, we initiated a special core-analysis program to study compaction effects on turbidite sand porosity and permeability specifically. This program also addressed a number of subsidiary but no less important issues, such as sample characterization and quality, sample preparation, and test procedures. These issues are particularly pertinent, because Gulf of Mexico turbidites are generally unconsolidated, loose sands, and are thus susceptible to a whole array of potentially serious core-disturbing processes. One key result of the special core analysis program is that turbidite compressibilities exhibit large variations in both magnitude and stress dependence. These variations correlate with creep response in the laboratory measurements. The data suggest creep may be important because observed creep relaxation rates, although slow on a laboratory time scale, are much faster than typical reservoir drawdown rates. The effects of compaction on permeability are significant. To eliminate complicating effects caused by fines movement, we made oil flow measurements at initial water saturation. The measurements indicate compaction reduces permeability four to five times more than porosity on a relative basis.