Abstract
Klinkenberg-corrected permeability (k∞) or water permeability (kw) is an important input parameter for hydrocarbon reservoir simulation studies. The theoretical concept that a core sample’s k∞ is comparable to its kw is flawed and has to be verified, since experimental evidence indicates that k∞ and kw are clearly different. Thus, a series of gas and water permeability measurements were conducted on eight carbonate core plug samples from Sarawak, Malaysia to develop a correlation between both permeability values. The new k∞ vs. kw correlation clearly proved the differences between both permeability values for all samples. The findings were in agreement with FESEM-EDX and total suspended solids (TSS) analysis, which proved the migration of fines and clay particles that blocked the pore throats, thus reducing kw values. The new k∞ vs. kw correlation was validated using four different samples from the PETRONS-2 well using its k∞ values and comparing them with the respective measured kw values. The new correlation will reduce the amount of time and cost needed to obtain absolute liquid permeability values but may be further improved by conducting permeability measurements on more samples from the PETRONS field, which will improve the accuracy of hydrocarbon reservoir simulation of the PETRONS field.
Highlights
Absolute liquid permeability value is an important parameter for conducting dynamic reservoir simulation for any oil and gas reservoir
Measured gas permeability is subjected to gas slippage effect, known as Klinkenberg effect, which can result in overestimation of gas permeability value
By developing a correlation between Klinkenberg-corrected permeability and water permeability for specific regions, the amount of time and cost spent on obtaining absolute liquid permeability values will be reduced by using the developed correlation
Summary
Absolute liquid permeability value is an important parameter for conducting dynamic reservoir simulation for any oil and gas reservoir. Since at infinite differential pore pressure, gas flows as a liquid-like fluid, theoretically Klinkenberg-corrected permeability of a core sample must be similar to its water permeability value. This observation is supported by [5,7,9,10], which state that the permeability of a sample should be independent of its pore fluid. This study is focused on producing a relationship between Klinkenberg-corrected permeability against water permeability and to discuss factors that cause the differences between the permeability values using carbonate core samples from PETRONS-1 and PETRONS-2 wells (PETRONAS, Sarawak, Malaysia). The brine was degassed to remove any gas present in the brine using the same step as (1)
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