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Estimation of total porosity in shale formations from element capture logging and conventional logging data

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Abstract

The Herron model does not consider the effect of organic matter and gas on total porosity. In this paper, the shale rock is equivalent to three parts: skeleton, organic matter, and pore. According to the volume model, a new total porosity model is established. The new model is applied to estimate the total porosity of a shale gas well in South Sichuan area from element capture logging and conventional logging data. The results show that in the formations with high gas content and organic matter, the total porosity calculated by the new model is smaller than that calculated by the Herron model. To verify the accuracy of the new model in evaluating the total porosity of shale, the advantages and disadvantages of Gas Research Institute (GRI) measurement method and helium injection measurement method for determining porosity are discussed in terms of theoretical analysis and experimental measurement. It is considered that the GRI porosity is closer to the total porosity of shale and it can be used to test the total porosity of logging evaluation. The total porosity of the ten shale samples calculated by the new model and the Herron model is compared with the GRI porosity. Results show that the average relative errors calculated by the Herron model and the new model are 61 and 10%, respectively. It indicates that the accuracy of the total porosity calculated by the new model is higher.

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Acknowledgements

We sincerely acknowledge the anonymous reviewers whose correlations and comments have greatly improved the manuscript.

Funding

This research work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41404084), National Science and Technology major projects of China (2017ZX05032-003-005), and Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Exploration Technologies for Oil and Gas Resources (Yangtze University), Ministry of Education (No.K2017-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Exploration Technologies for Oil and Gas Resources, Ministry of Education, Yangtze University, Wuhan, China

    Chong Zhang, Xiu Wang & Linqi Zhu

  2. Hubei Cooperative Innovation Center of Unconventional Oil and Gas, Yangtze University, Wuhan, China

    Chong Zhang, Xiu Wang & Linqi Zhu

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  1. Chong Zhang
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  2. Xiu Wang
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  3. Linqi Zhu
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Correspondence to Chong Zhang.

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Zhang, C., Wang, X. & Zhu, L. Estimation of total porosity in shale formations from element capture logging and conventional logging data. Arab J Geosci 11, 264 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-018-3617-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-018-3617-0

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