Introduction of Petroleum

Engineering
1. Origin of Petroleum;
2. Reservoir Rock
3. Properties and Fluid Distribution;
4. Volumetric Calculations of Oil In Place;
5. Natural Forces in Oil and gas Reservoirs;
6. Oil Exploration;
7. Rotary Drilling;
8. Rig Components;
9. Casing,
10.Cementing and Well Completion;
11. Well Logging;
12.Surface Equipment;
13.Iraqi Oil Fields.
Introduction of Petroleum Engineering
1ST STAGE
1.Origin of Petroleum;
1-1 THE ORIGIN OF PETROLEUM
During certain geologic ages, when the climate was suitable,
petroleum began as organic material derived from plants and
animals which grew in abundance.
As these organisms went through their cycles of growing and
dying, buried organic material slowly decayed and became our
present-day fossil fuels: oil, gas, coal and bitumen. Oil, gas and
bitumen were dispersed in the sediments (usually clay-rich shales).
Over millions of years, these organic-laden shale expelled their oil
and gas under tremendous pressures from the overburden.
It’s interesting to note that the word “petroleum” is derived
from the Latin words for “rock” (petra) and “oil” (oleum), indicating
that its origins lie within the rocks that make up the earth’s crust.
 Then organic matter will
be chemically processed to
transform it into source rocks
and this process is called the
“cooking process.” Three
phases of maturation of
organic matter
are diagenesis, catagenesis a
nd metagenesis.
OIL AND GAS TRAPS 1-2
Oil and gas traps, sometimes referred to as petroleum traps are
below ground traps where a permeable reservoirrock is covered
by some low permeability cap rock. This combination of rock can
take several forms, but they all prevent the upward migration of
oil and natural gas up through the reservoir rock. Once oil and
natural gas are in the reservoir rock, they continue to migrate
upwards through the pore spaces of the rock until blocked by
some sort of seal with a cap rock.[1] The low permeability cap rocks
are generally shale or low permeability sandstones and carbonate
rocks.
There are two major categories of traps, and are classified
based on how the petroleum accumulates. The two main groups
are structural traps and stratigraphic traps.[2] For a more in-depth
description of the overall structure of oil and gas deposits, see
oil and gas reservoir.
A- Structural Traps
These traps are types that form as a result of some structural
deformation - a bend or dip - of rock. These traps take on several
forms and shapes as a result of different types of deformation. This
deformation tends to take place over tens or hundreds of millions of
years after sediment that creates the seals and rocks themselves
have been deposited. In these traps, the pores of the reservoir rock
contain oil, gas, or water. Gas moves up in the trap as it is the
lightest, with oil below it and water at the bottom. The cap rock
prevents upward migration of these fluids.
1- Anticline Traps
2- Fault Traps
3- Salt Domes
1- Anticline Traps
These types of traps are formed by a folding of rock. Specifically, a
sandstone bed covered with low permeability shale is folded into a
trap that contains petroleum products. Hydrocarbons are trapped in
the peak of this fold.[2] An anticline trap is shown in the upper-left of
Figure below . Most anticline traps are created as a result of sideways
pressure, folding the layers of rock, but can also occur from sediments
being compacted. For more information on anticline traps.
2- Fault Traps
These types of traps are formed when reservoir rock is split along a fault
line. Between the walls of the split reservoir, clay traps oil and prevents it
from leaving the trap.[4] Other times there exists a pressure differential
across the two sides of the fault that prevents the fluids from migrating. [2]
A fault trap is shown in the upper-right of Figure 1. Although faulting is
common in many petroleum fields, traps that result from faulting alone
are not very common. Generally speaking, faulting creates some other
type of structure that creates the main trap.[2]
3- Salt Domes
Salt dome traps are formed as a result of below ground salt - which is
less dense than the rock above it - moving upwards slowly. This upward
migration of the salt can deform and break up rock along the way. [4] The
process of this salt deforming rock is known as salt tectonics, and take
place over hundreds of millions of years. [2] Oil and gas that flows through
the reservoir rock will come to rest when it reaches the salt dome and is
then trapped. A salt dome trap is shown on the lower left of Figure 1.
B- Stratigraphic Traps
These traps are formed as a result of the deposition in
sedimentary rocks. When the sediment that creates the reservoir
rock is deposited in a discontinuous layer, the seals are created
beside and on top of the reservoir. In some cases, these seals are
made of impermeable or low permeability shale deposited around
the reservoir, blocking the oil and gas inside. The seals themselves
may also be source rocks.[1] A stratiographic trap is shown on the
bottom right of Figure.
 There are two main types of stratigraphic traps that are classified
by when changes occur relative to the sedimentation process.
 Primary stratigraphic traps result from changes that develop
during the sedimentation process. These are generally structural
changes that arise as a result of discontinuous deposition of
sediment.
Secondary stratigraphic traps result from changes that develop
after sedimentation has occurred. These changes can involve
changes in porosity of the rock that lead to formation of a cap-like
rock.[1]
EXPLORING FOR PETROLEUM
Locating petroleum: Knowing that petroleum traps exist is one
thing, but pinpointing traps far below the earth’s surface is quite
another.
Then determining the likelihood of oil and gas in the trapped region
is yet another concern. Many methods have been used to locate
petroleum traps, but the most important methods are :-
1- aerial surveying,
2-geological exploration,
Certainty 80%
3- geophysical (seismic) exploration . Probability 60%
4- exploratory drilling.
Drilling
Probability 40% Reservoir
studies
seismic
Probability 20% Results
chemical
soil analysis
Probability 10%
Geologic
al
1- Aerial and satellite. Surveys from
high altitudes give a broad picture of
a geographic area of interest. Major
surface structures such as anticlines
and faulted regions can be clearly
observed by these methods. This
information helps locate areas where
more detailed study is warranted. In
the early years of petroleum
exploration, visualization from an
aircraft or mapping river and creek
drainage patterns were successful
surveying techniques. Modern aerial
and satellite surveying is more
sophisticated allowing a number of
features to be evaluated, including
thermal anomalies, density variations,
mineral composition, oil seepage and
many others.
2- Surface geological exploration.
Observations by trained geologists of rock outcrops
(where subsurface layers reach the surface), road cuts
and canyon walls can identify lithology and assess the
potential for hydrocarbon source rocks, reservoir-
quality rocks and trapping mechanisms in an area
under study. Much has been learned about ancient
deposits from studying modern river deltas, for
example.
Detailed geologic maps, made from these
observations, show the position and shape of the
geologic features and provide descriptions of the
physical characteristics and fossil content of the
strata.
3- Geophysical exploration.
Through the use of sensitive equipment and analytical
techniques, geophysicists learn a great deal about the subsurface.
Chief among these techniques is seismic exploration in which shock
waves, generated at the surface and aimed downwards, are reflected
back to the surface as echoes off the strata below.
Because rocks of varying density and hardness reflect the shock
waves at different rates of speed, the seismologist can determine
depth, thickness and type of rock by precisely recording the variances
in the time it takes the waves to arrive back at the surface. Modern
3-D seismic has improved the success rate of the exploration process,
especially in areas beneath salt, as discussed above. Continual
improvements in seismic measurement and the mathematical
methods (algorithms) used to interpret the signals can now give a
clearer “picture” of subsurface formations. Other geophysical
methods use variations in the earth’s gravity and magnetic properties
to detect gross features of subsurface formations.
2D , 3D , 4D Seismic
4- Exploratory drilling.
2- Oil Reservoir
 3- Properties and Fluid Distribution;
- Properties
A. Porosity .
B. Permeability .
C. Fluid Saturation .
D. Wettability
E. Surface And Interfacial Tension
F. Capillary pressure
G. Compressibility
A- Porosity
- The percentage of space (pore space ) in a rock .
The first type of porosity is termed original porosity and the latter, -
secondary or induced porosity. This is illustrated in figure

Secondary porosity in limestone beds occurred as a result of

fracturing, jointing, dissolution, recrystallisation or a combination of
these processes.
Absolute porosity (Total Porosity):
The absolute porosity is defined as the ratio of the total pore
space in the rock to that of the bulk volume. A rock may have
considerable absolute porosity and yet have no conductivity to fluid
for lack of pore
 Effective porosity is defined as the ratio of the interconnected
pore volume of a material. If the grains are represented by spheres
stacked together , then the pore space can be seen between the solid
grains.

One important application of

the effective porosity is its use
in determining the original
hydrocarbon volume in
place(OOIP).
The impact of isolated pore
space clearly cannot contribute
to recoverable reserves of fluid
nor contribute to permeable
pore space as illustrated in
figure
Average Porosity
The reservoir rock may generally show large variations in porosity
vertically but does not show very great variations in porosity parallel
to the bedding planes. In this case, the arithmetic average porosity
or the thickness-weighted average porosity is used to describe the
average reservoir porosity.
A change in sedimentation or depositional conditions, however,
can cause the porosity in one portion of the reservoir to be greatly
different from that in another area. In such cases, the areal weighted
average or the volume-weighted average porosity is used to
characterize the average rock porosity. These averaging techniques
are expressed mathematically in the following forms:
 Calculate the Average porosity for the following samples ? Discuss
the results ?
 n 6
n

 i 1  2  3  4
a  i 1 
n n

 * h i
a  i 1
n

h
i 1

  * A (1 * A1  2 * A2  3 * A3  4 * A4  5 * A5  6 * A6 )
i i
a  i 1
n

A A1  A2  A3  A4  A5  A6
i
i 1

  * A * h (1 * h1 * A1  2 * h2 * A2  3 * h3 * A3  4 * h4 * A4  5 * h5 * A5  6 * h6 * A6 )
i i i
a  i 1
n
 A *h i
(h1 * A1  h2 * A2  h3 * A3  h4 * A4  h5 * A5  h6 * A6 )
i
i 1
Range Of Values:-
The maximum porosity of porous media can be considered in
relation to an assembly of spheres arranged as a cubic packing of
spheres. If the sides of a cube are assumed to be formed by the lines
drawn from the centre of each sphere to the adjacent spheres, the
cube in figure below would be produced.
The length of each side would be 2x
radius, giving the bulk volume as:

The grain volume would be the equivalent

of the volume of one sphere

and the porosity (given the symbol φ) :would be

 If the spheres fit in the cusps generated by the lower layer then a
porosity of 26% occurs. For a size distribution of spheres the ultimate
minimum porosity would be zero which would be the case if
sufficient grains were available to completely fill the pore spaces as
shown in figure 6 for part filling of the void.

Several factors may combine to affect

the porosity of a rock, but the main
distinction to be made is as follows
based on the amount of connected
pore volume, and whether the pore
space has been altered by dissolution
or by fracturing after deposition and
lithification.
 * Factors Which Affect Porosity
The porosity (and permeability) of sandstone depend upon many
factors, among which are the packing, size and shape of the grains,
variations in size of grains, arrangement in which grains were laid
down and compacted, and amount of clay and other materials
which cement the sand grains together.
1- Packing And Size Of Grains
The absolute sizes of the grains which make up a rock do not
influence the amount of porosity occurring in the rock. However
variations in the range of grains sizes do influence considerably the
porosity.
?HW1 : Porosity is independent to grains Size. Prove that

48% 48% 48%

Porosity Porosity Porosity

.Each container has an equal volume of sediment and equal pore space
? HW2 : Prove that the Porosity depends on Packing

2- Particle Size Distribution

If spheres of varying sizes are packed together, porosity may be
any amount from 48 percent to a very small amount approaching 0
per cent as shown in figure.

3- Particle Shape
If the sand grains are elongated or flat and are packed with their
flat surfaces together, porosity and permeability may both be low we
will discuss further in the context of permeability.
4- Cement Material
Sandstones are compacted and
usually cemented together with clays
and minerals. The porosity and
permeability of a sandstone are both
influenced to a marked degree by the
amount of cementing material
present in the pore space and the way
this material occupies the pore space
between the sand grains.

The cementing material may be uniformly located along the pore

channels to reduce both porosity and permeability. or the
cementing material may be located at the pore throats which
reduces the ability of fluid to enter the pore, but may not reduce
the overall porosity of the rock by a significant amount.
 Porosity may range from 50% to 1.5% and actual average values
are listed below:
Recent sands (loosely packed) 35 - 45%
Sandstones (more consolidated) 20 - 35%
Tight/well cemented sandstones 15 - 20%
Limestones (e.g. Middle East) 5 - 20%
Dolomites (e.g. Middle East) 10 - 30%
Chalk (e.g. North Sea) 5 - 40%
In summary, the amount of porosity is principally determined
by shape and arrangement of grains and the amount of cementing
material present.
Class Room Activity (Quiz)/
How To Measure Porosity ( Total , Effective , Isolate Pore Volume) ?
Q1/ Compute the porosity of a packing of spheres with radius r
arranged on a regular lattice of width L. Compute the value for the
limiting case L = 2r ( spheres touching each other; see left figure
below).
B- Permeability
Permeability is a property of the porous medium that
measures the capacity and ability of the formation to transmit
fluids. The rock permeability , k, is a very important rock property
because it controls the directional movement and the flow rate of
the reservoir fluids in the formation. This rock characterization
was first defined mathematically by Henry Darcy in 1856. In fact,
the equation that defines permeability in terms of measurable
quantities is called Darcy’s Law.
Darcy developed a fluid flow equation that has since become
one of the standard mathematical tools of the petroleum
engineer. If a horizontal linear flow of an incompressible fluid is
established through a core sample of length L and a cross-section
of area A, then the governing fluid flow equation is defined as
Darcy’s law : Fluid flow through a given rock .
p
q Flow Rate varies directly with the pressure gradient applied
L
q A Flow Rate varies directly the area open to flow .

1 Flow Rate varies inversely with the viscosity of the fluid

q
 flowing .
 In terms of equating the parameters,
A p
q
 L
the constant of proportionality in the equation is termed the
permeability.
KA p KA ( P2  P1 )
q 
 L  L
But , P2 < P1  (P2 - P1 ) negative ,so :
 - KA ( P2  P1 )
q
 L

The unit of permeability is the Darcy which is defined as the

permeability which will permit a fluid of one cent-ipoise viscosity
(viscosity of water at 68°F) to flow at a linear velocity of one
centimeter per second under a pressure gradient of one
atmosphere per centimeter. Permeability has the units Darcys.
Figure 8 illustrates the concept and the units of permeability
The dimensions of permeability can be determined by substituting
for the appropriate cgs units
 Darcy’s Law experiment : consisted of a sandpack through which
water flowed at a constant rate :The simple Darcy Law, as used to
determine permeability, only applies when the following conditions
exist:
1. Steady state flow
2. Laminar flow.
3. One phase present
at 100% pore space
saturation.
4. No reaction between
fluid and rock.
5. Rock is homogenous.
where :
Q is the flow rate,
A is the area of the end of the core,
 h1 and h2 are the static heads of water at the inlet and outlet of
the core (the equivalent of the static pressure),
 L is the length of the core.
 K is the constant of proportionality.
It is constant for a particular sand pack. When other workers
replicated the experiment, the results were different to those of
Darcy. This was accounted for by inclusion of the viscosity of the
flowing fluid and the equation becomes:

where the original terms have the same meaning and μ is the
viscosity of the fluid in centipoises.
Example :
A brine is used to measure the absolute permeability of a core
plug. The rock sample is 4 cm long and 3 cm2 in cross section. The
brine has a viscosity of 1.0 cp and is flowing a constant rate of 0.5
cm3/sec under a 2.0 atm pressure differential. Calculate the absolute
permeability.

HW.
Rework the above example assuming that an oil of 2.0 cp is used to
measure the permeability. Under the same differential pressure, the
flow rate is 0.25 cm3/sec.
Applications of Darcy’s Law
To examine the applicability of this simple relationship,
approximations to the type of flow encountered in a reservoir can
be made: linear flow along a reservoir section and radial flow into
a wellbore. More complex geometries cannot be analyzed using
this simple analytical equation and forms of approximating the
geometry and flow are required.
In the following expressions, the nomenclature is identical to
that used above.
Fluid movement is due to the difference in potential energy.
The two components of the potential energy are :
1- Fluid pressure (dynamic ).
2- Elevation or gravity (static ) .
By defining a relationship between hydraulic head and pressure,
it is possible to determine pressure at any point in the flow path.
The total potential function per unit mass can be written as,
  Dynamic E nergy  Static Energy
 p
 gz
 Point A
Basic equation is : - KA
q (  ) L
 L Z
  potential energy
Point B
Final general Darcy’s equation for liner flow become :

- kA  p Z 
q  g
  L L 
- kA  p 
q   g  sin ()
  L 
1- Horizontal, linear, incompressible liquid system .
L
- kA  p  Point A Point B
q
  L 
Z  zero
 zero
1- Vertical , linear, incompressible liquid system .
a- Upward Flow:- Point B

- kA  p  Z L
q  g  (1)
  L 
 90 L

- kA  p 
q   g  sin () Point A
  L  Z

L

b- Downward Flow :- Z

Point A L
- kA  p Z 
q   g Z L
  L L 
  90 L

- kA  p 
q  g  sin ( )
  L  Point B
1- Dipping, linear, incompressible liquid system .
a- Up dip Flow
Point B
- kA  p Z  L
q  g   90
  L L  Z

- kA  p Point A
 Z
q  g  sin ( ) sin  
  L  L

b- Down Dip Flow :-

α
Point A
- kA  p Z  L
q   g
  L L 

α-
Z

- kA  p Point B
 Z
q  g  sin ( ) sin  
  L  L
 The unit for permeability in the cgs system is 0.987 x 10-8 cm2.
From a practical standpoint this measure is too small; therefore we
define 1 darcy = 0.987 x 10-12 m2 (m)2. That is, a permeability of 1.0
Darcy is defined such that a single-phase fluid of 1.0 cp flows at a rate
of 1.0 cc/sec/cm2 under a pressure of 1 atm/cm. In Darcy units :-

Example 3.2
Consider fresh water with a viscosity of 1.0 cp and density of 1.0
gm/cc, injected at a rate of 10 cc/sec through a sandpack with
dimensions illustrated below. After steady state is achieved the
pressure readings are recorded. Determine the permeability for this
sandpack? Note: Barometric pressure = 14.7 psi.
Solution
Since the core is horizontal the elevation term is zero
Averaging Absolute Permeabilities
There are three simple permeability-averaging techniques that
are commonly used to determine an appropriate average
permeability to represent an equivalent homogeneous system. These
are:
1. Weighted-average permeability
2. Harmonic-average permeability
3. Geometric-average permeability
1- Weighted-Average Permeability:-
This averaging method is used to determine the average
permeability of layered-parallel beds with different permeabilities.
Consider the case where the flow system is comprised of three
parallel layers that are separated from one another by thin
impermeable barriers, i.e., no cross flow, All the layers have the
same width w with a cross-sectional area of A.
 if w : constant
n n
w *  ki * hi k *h i i
ka  i 1
n
 i 1
n
w *  hi h i
i 1 i 1

( k1 * h1  k2 * h2  k3 * h3 )

( h1  h2  h3 )

if h : constant
n n n

k * A i i h *  ki * wi k *w i i
ka  i 1 n ka  i 1
n
 i 1 n
A
i 1
i h *  wi
i 1
w
i 1
i

but A w * h (k1 * w1  k2 * w2  k3 * w3 )

( w1  w2  w3 )
 Example
Given the following permeability data from a core analysis report,
calculate the average permeability of the reservoir.
2- Harmonic-Average Permeability
Permeability variations can occur laterally in a reservoir as well
as in the vicinity of a well bore. Consider Figure below which shows
an illustration of fluid flow through a series combination of beds
with different permeabilities.
For a steady-state flow, the flow rate is constant and the total
pressure drop Δp is equal to the sum of the pressure drops across
each bed, or
Δp = Δp1 + Δp2 + Δp3
Substituting for the pressure drop by applying Darcy’s equation,,
gives:
:Canceling the identical terms and simplifying gives

The above equation can be expressed in a more generalized form to

:give

where Li = length of each bed

ki = absolute permeability of each bed
3-Geometric-Average Permeability
Warren and Price (1961) illustrated experimentally that the most
probable behavior of a heterogeneous formation approaches that of
a uniform system having a permeability that is equal to the geometric
average. The geometric average is defined mathematically by the
following relationship:

-: where
ki = permeability of core sample i
hi = thickness of core sample i
n = total number of samples
If the thicknesses (hi) of all core samples are the same, can be
simplified as follows:
Example 4-13
Given the following core data,
calculate the geometric average
permeability:
Relative Permeability:-
In the previous discussion of Darcy’s Law , it was assumed that the
entire porous medium is fully saturated with a single phase, (100%
saturation).
In hydrocarbon reservoir, however, the rocks are usually
saturated with two or more fluids .
Therefore, the concept of absolute permeability must be modified
to describe the fluid flowing behavior when more than one fluid is
present.
The measured permeability is referred to as the effective
permeability and is a relative measure of the conductance of the
porous medium for one fluid when the medium is saturated with
more than one fluid. This implies that the effective permeability is
an associated property with each reservoir fluid, i.e., gas, oil, and
water. These effective permeabilities for the three reservoir fluids
are represented by:
 One of the phenomena of multiphase effective permeabilities is
that the sum of the effective permeabilities is always less than or
equal to the absolute permeability, i.e.,

The effective permeability is used mathematically in Darcy’s Law

in place of the absolute permeability. For example, the expression
for flow through the linear system under a partial saturation of oil is
written
 Effective permeabilities are normally measured directly in the
laboratory on small core samples. Owing to the many possible
combinations of saturation for a single medium, however, laboratory
data are usually summarized and reported as relative permeability.
Relative permeability is defined as the ratio of the effective
permeability to a given fluid at a definite saturation to the
permeability at 100% saturation. The terminology.
most widely used is simply kg/k, k0/k, kw/k, meaning the
relative permeability to gas, oil, and water, respectively. Since k is a
constant for a given porous material, the relative permeability
varies with the fluid saturation in the same fashion as does the
effective permeability. The relative permeability to a fluid will vary
from a value of zero at some low saturation of that fluid to a value
of 1.0 at 100% saturation of that fluid.
Thus, the relative permeability can be expressed symbolically as :-
 For example, if the absolute permeability k of a rock is 200 md and
the effective permeability ko of the rock at an oil saturation of 80% is
60 md, the relative permeability kro is 0.30 at So = 0.80.
Since the effective permeabilities may range from zero to k, the
relative permeabilities may have any value between zero and one, or:

It should be pointed out that when three phases are present the
sum of the relative permeabilities (kro + krg + krw) is both variable
and always less than or equal to unity. An appreciation of this
observation and of its physical causes is a prerequisite to a more
detailed discussion of two and three-phase relative permeability
relationships.
It has become a common practice to refer to the relative
permeability curve for the non-wetting phase as knw and the relative
permeability for the wetting phase as kw.
C-Fluid Saturation .
Saturation is defined as that fraction, or percent, of the pore volume
occupied by a particular fluid (oil, gas, or water). This property is
expressed mathematically by the following relationship:

Applying the above mathematical concept of saturation to each

reservoir fluid gives:-
 Thus, all saturation values are based on pore volume and not on
the gross reservoir volume.
The saturation of each individual phase ranges between zero to
100%. By definition, the sum of the saturations is 100%, therefore

The fluids in most reservoirs are believed to have reached a state

of equilibrium and, therefore, will have become separated according
to their density, i.e., oil overlain by gas and underlain by water. In
.
addition to the bottom (or edge) water, there will be connate water
distributed throughout the oil and gas zones. The water in these
zones will have been reduced to some irreducible minimum. The
forces retaining the water in the oil and gas zones are referred to as
capillary forces because they are important only in pore spaces of
capillary size
Connate (interstitial) water saturation Swc is important primarily
because it reduces the amount of space available between oil and
gas. It is generally not uniformly distributed throughout the reservoir
but varies with permeability, lithology, and height above the free
water table.
Another particular phase saturation of interest is called the critical
saturation and it is associated with each reservoir fluid. The definition
and the significance of the critical saturation for each phase is
described below.
Average Saturation
Proper averaging of saturation data requires that the saturation
values be weighted by both the interval thickness hi and interval
porosity φ. The average saturation of each reservoir fluid is
calculated from the following equations:
where the subscript i refers to any individual measurement and hi
represents the depth interval to which φi , Soi, Sgi, and Swi apply.

Example
Calculate average oil and connate water saturation from the
following measurements:

Solution
Construct the following table and calculate the average saturation
for the oil and water phase:
Calculate average oil saturation by applying
D- Wettability
Wettability is defined as the tendency of one fluid to spread on or
adhere to a solid surface in the presence of other immiscible fluids
Small drops of three liquids—mercury, oil, and water—are
placed on a clean glass plate. The three droplets are then
observed from one side as illustrated in It is noted that the
mercury retains a spherical shape, the oil droplet develops an
approximately hemispherical shape, but the water tends to spread
over the glass surface.
The tendency of a liquid to spread over the surface of a solid is
an indication of the wetting characteristics of the liquid for the
solid. This spreading tendency can be expressed more conveniently
by measuring the angle of contact at the liquid-solid surface. This
angle, which is always measured through the liquid to the solid, is
called the contact angle θ.
 The contact angle θ has achieved significance as a measure of
wettability. As shown in Figure below , as the contact angle
decreases, the wetting characteristics of the liquid increase.
Complete wettability : zero contact angle,
Complete nonwetting : contact angle of 180°.
There have been various definitions of intermediate wettability
The wettability of reservoir rocks to the fluids is important in
that the distribution of the fluids in the porous media is a function of
wettability. Because of the attractive forces, the wetting phase tends
to occupy the smaller pores of the rock and the nonwetting phase
occupies the more open channels.
 𝝈 𝒘𝒔 − 𝝈
𝝈 𝒘𝒔 − 𝝈 𝒐𝒔 =𝝈 𝒘𝒐 ∗ 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽 =
𝝈 𝒘𝒐

Oil

Water
Water
Water
Water
ws
os os
Rock ws

𝝈 𝒘𝒔 <𝝈 𝒐𝒔 𝝈 𝒘𝒔 <𝝈 𝒐𝒔 𝝈 𝒘𝒔 = 𝝈 𝒐𝒔
𝜽 ≫ 𝟗𝟎 ° 𝜽>𝟗𝟎 ° 𝜽=𝟗𝟎 °

water -wet
oil-wet
E- Surface And Interfacial Tension
In dealing with multiphase systems,
it is necessary to consider the effect of
the forces at the interface when two
immiscible fluids are in contact. When
these two fluids are liquid and gas, the
term surface tension is used to describe
the forces acting on the interface. When
the interface is between two liquids, the
acting forces are called interfacial
tension.
Surfaces of liquids are usually blanketed with what acts as a thin
film. Although this apparent film possesses little strength, it
nevertheless acts like a thin membrane and resists being broken.
This is believed to be caused by attraction between molecules within
a given system. All molecules are attracted one to the other in
proportion to the product of their masses and inversely as the
squares of the distance between them.
 If a glass capillary tube is placed in a
large open vessel containing water, the
combination of surface tension and
wettability of tube to water will cause
water to rise in the tube above the water
level in the container outside the tube as
shown in Figure .
The water will rise in the tube until the
total force acting to pull the liquid upward
is balanced by the weight of the column of
liquid being supported in the tube .
Assuming the radius of the capillary tube is r, the total upward
force Fup, which holds the liquid up, is equal to the force per unit
length of surface times the total length of surface, or
Fup Fdown
 The upward force is counteracted by the weight of the water,
which is equivalent to a downward force of mass times acceleration,
Capillary Pressure
F. Capillary Pressure
The capillary forces in a petroleum reservoir are the result of the
combined effect of the surface and interfacial tensions of the rock
and fluids, the pore size and geometry, and the wetting
characteristics of the system.
Any curved surface between two immiscible fluids has the
tendency to contract into the smallest possible area per unit volume.
This is true whether the fluids are oil and water, water and gas (even
air), or oil and gas. When two immiscible fluids are in contact, a
discontinuity in pressure exists between the two fluids, which
depends upon the curvature of the interface separating the fluids.
We call this pressure difference the capillary pressure and it is
referred to by pc.
The displacement of one fluid by another in the pores of a porous
medium is either aided or opposed by the surface forces of capillary
pressure.
 In order to maintain a porous medium partially saturated with
nonwetting fluid and while the medium is also exposed to wetting
fluid, it is necessary to maintain the pressure of the nonwetting fluid
at a value greater than that in the wetting fluid.
Denoting the pressure in the wetting fluid by pw and that in the
nonwetting fluid by pnw, the capillary pressure can be expressed as:

That is, the pressure excess in the nonwetting fluid is the capillary
pressure, and this quantity is a function of saturation. This is the
defining equation for capillary pressure in a porous medium. There
are three types of capillary pressure:
Applying the mathematical definition of the capillary pressure as
expressed by Equation, the three types of the capillary pressure can
be written as:

where pg, po, and pw represent the pressure of gas, oil, and water,
respectively. If all the three phases are continuous, then

The pressure difference across the interface between Points 1

and 2 is essentially the capillary pressure, i.e.:

The pressure of the water phase at Point 2 is equal to the pressure at

point 4 minus the head of the water, or:
The pressure just above the interface at Point 1 represents the
pressure of the air and is given by:

It should be noted that the pressure at Point 4 within the capillary

tube is the same as that at Point 3 outside the tube .

where Δρ is the density difference between the wetting and

nonwetting phase. The density of the air (gas) is negligible in
comparison with the water density.
In practical units, can be expressed as:
In the case of an oil-water system, can be written as:

The capillary pressure equation can be expressed in terms of the

surface and interfacial tension :
Gas-liquid system •
Oil-water system •

where σwo is the water-oil interfacial tension.

Initial Saturation Distribution in a Reservoir