Origin and Prediction of Abnormal Formation Pressures

391 Pages·2002·18.02 MB·English

by  G.V. Chilingar

ORIGIN AND PREDICTIONO F
ABNORMALF ORMATION
PRESSURES
Volumes 1-5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23-27, 29, 31 are out of print.
6 Fundamentals of Numerical Reservoir Simulation
8 Fundamentals of Reservoir Engineering
9 Compaction and Fluid Migration
12 Fundamentals of Fractured Reservoir Engineering
15a Fundamentals of Well-log Interpretation, 1. The acquisition of logging data
15b Fundamentals of Well-log Interpretation, 2. The interpretation of logging data
18a Production and Transport of Oil and Gas, A. Flow mechanics and production
18b Production and Transport of Oil and Gas, B. Gathering and Transport
19a Surface Operations in Petroleum Production, I
19b Surface Operations in Petroleum Production, II
20 Geology in Petroleum Production
28 Well Cementing
30 Carbonate Reservoir Characterization: A Geologic-Engineering Analysis, Part I
32 Fluid Mechanics for Petroleum Engineers
33 Petroleum Related Rock Mechanics
34 A Practical Companion to Reservoir Stimulation
35 Hydrocarbon Migration Systems Analysis
36 The Practice of Reservoir Engineering
37 Thermal Properties and Temperature related Behavior of Rock/fluid Systems
38 Studies in Abnormal Pressures
39 Microbial Enhancement of Oil Recovery- Recent Advances
- Proceedings of the 1992 International Conference on Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery
40a Asphaltenes and Asphalts, I
40b Asphaltenes and Asphalts, II
41 Subsidence due to Fluid Withdrawal
42 Casing Design - Theory and Practice
43 Tracers in the Oil Field
44 Carbonate Reservoir Characterization: A Geologic-Engineering Analysis, Part II
45 Thermal Modeling of Petroleum Generation: Theory and Applications
46 Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production
47 PVT and Phase Behaviour of Petroleum Reservoir Fluids
48 Applied Geothermics for Petroleum Engineers
49 Integrated Flow Modeling
50 Origin and Prediction of Abnormal Formation Pressures
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ORIGINA ND PREDICTIONO F
ABNORMALF ORMATION
PRESSURES
G.V. CHILINGAR
Professor of Civil and Petroleum Engineering,
University of Southern California,
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2531, USA
V.A. SEREBRYAKOV
DCD, Inc.,
Coulter Lane,
Gillette, WY 82 716, USA
J.O. ROBERTSON, Jr.
Earth Engineering, Inc.,
4244 Live Oak Street,
Cudahy, CA 90201, USA
~ ~ 2002
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First edition 2002
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record from the British Library has been applied for.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chilingar, George V., 1929-
Origin and prediction of abnormal formation pressures / George V. Chilingar.- 1st ed.
p. cm. - (Developments in petroleum science, ISSN 0376-7361 ; 50)
ISBN 0-444-51001-X (alk. paper)
1. Reservoir oil pressure. 2. Oil well drilling. 3. Gas well drilling. I. Title. I1. Series.
TN871 .C52 2002
622'.3382-dc21
2002016357
ISBN: 0 444 51001 X
ISSN: 0376 7361
Q The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of ANSl/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
Printed in The Netherlands.
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Crown
Prince and Deputy Prime Minister, and Head of The National Guard of Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia for his relentless support of all branches of engineering and sciences in
order to improve the well-being of mankind.
This Page Intentionally Left Blank
Vll
PREFACE
This book's 1 goal is to provide the geologists and engineers working in the
petroleum industry with the latest knowledge on subsurface abnormally-pressured
systems associated with hydrocarbon accumulations. Abnormally high- or low-pressured
zones are succinctly defined as having a pore pressure gradient trend deviating from the
normal hydrostatic pressure gradient over a given depth range.
Drs. G.V. Chilingar, V. Serebryakov and J.O, Robertson have brought together a
team of experts who have methodically scrutinized recent scientific and engineering
developments concerning the global distribution, origins and predictions of abnormally-
pressured environments. The contributors have many years of collective experience as
geologists, geochemists, geophysicists and petroleum engineers in studying, strategiz-
ing, detecting and coping with different kinds of pressure environments and subsurface
mass transport-pressure phenomena. Their findings are based upon critical inquiry into
the scientific details behind the proposed ideas and concepts of this phenomenon. They
present an account of the nature of mass transport processes associated with such
pressure systems and their accompanying patterns of geochemical and mineralogical
changes. As petroleum engineer and geologist, I am convinced that their approach is
definitely a worthwhile effort, even if many of the relationships that have been formu-
lated and presented in the technical literature about the framework of these pressure
systems are still of an observational and empirical nature.
Exploration for large oil and gas accumulations is taking the industry into the offshore
deep-water environments on the outer continental shelf. Abnormally-high formation
pressures are ubiquitous in 'geologically' recent pelitic sedimentary environments, and
their overpressure magnitude must be by necessity identified prior to drilling and
completing a well. The subsurface pressure regime is hostile. Seismic detection and
prior knowledge on subsurface pressure conditions are prerequisites in promoting safe
drilling and development operations. Certainly, caution mitigates the risk of having
costly pressure surges and blowouts, disruption of the company's unrealized cash
stream, and occurrence of potential injury and loss of life to those individuals who are
involved in well construction. Pressure prediction is the main technology focus in the
majority of the book's chapters.
Though the topic of abnormally-pressured zones is rooted in the preceding century,
the application of thermodynamics to the physicochemical problem is just now being
explored. Recent publications are helping to recast our opinions on the origin and main-
tenance of abnormal pressure zones and the resulting physical and chemical artifacts.
1This book is contribution No. 15 of the Rudolf W. Gunnerman Energy and Environment laboratory,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
viii
The patterns of fluid flow powered by compaction disequilibrium or tectonic stress
conditions, presence of salt beds and higher than normal geothermal temperatures create
changes in the salinity of the pore water and its content of dissolved gases that flow out
of and through the sediment/rock pore space. These processes determine the subsurface
pressure regime, its integrity and stratigraphic distribution, and diagenetic/catagenetic
alteration. The nature of abnormal pressure zones fluctuates over geologic time, and
diagenetic/catagenetic history is manifested in the aqueous geochemistry and corre-
sponding changes in the associated mineralogy especially clay mineralogy. Discussion
on the lack of smectite to illite transformation in the Caspian Basin is enlightening.
The book is offered in the hope that our knowledge will provide a new foundation
for bringing about improved field performance, initiating innovative field and laboratory
research, and nurturing analytical dialogue among the geoscientists and engineers.
In addition to the customary topics discussed, there are two chapters that address
other associated issues. One important ancillary topic is production-induced surface
subsidence. Subsidence is the result of abnormally-low formation pressures owing to the
production of fluids. The influx of shale water into the depleting hydrocarbon-producing
zones results in shale compaction. The other chapter explores the use of analytical
model studies, which complete the abnormal pressure picture by adding insight into
likely pressure prediction strategies.
In conclusion, this book is a welcome addition to the petroleum literature.
H.H. Rieke
Lafayette, LA, USA
1x
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
E AMINZADEH President dGB- USA & FACT, 14019 SW FWY, Suite 301-230,
Sugarland, TX 77478, USA
L.A. BURYAKOVS KY 5001 Woodway Dr., Apt. No. 702, Houston, TX 77056-1718, USA
G.V. CHILINGAR University of Southern California, 101 So. Windsor Blvd., Los Ange-
les, CA 90004, USA
R.D. DJEVANSHIR Institute of Deep Oil and Gas Deposits, Azerbaijan Academy of
Sciences, Baku, Azerbaijan
E.C. DONALDSON Consultant, Rt2, EO. Box 53, Wynnewood, OK 73098, USA
W.H. FERTL Deceased
M.V. GORFUNKEL Consultant, 676 Rain Tree Circle, Coppell, TX 75019, USA
A.E. GUREVICH Consultant, 119 Avonlea Dr., The Woodlands, TX 77382-1058, USA
R. ISLAM Professor and Killam Chair in Oil and Gas, Faculty of Engineering,
Dalhousie University, E O. Box 1000, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
B3J2X4
S.A. KATZ Consultant, 12250 S. Kirkwood Road, No. 1625, Stafford, TX 77477,
USA
L. KHILYUK Consultant, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, U.S.A. Branch,
101 So. Windsor Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004, USA
H.H. RIEKE Chairman, Petroleum Engineering Dept., USL, EO. Box 44683,
Lafayette, LA 70504-4691, USA
J.0. ROBERTSON JR. President Earth Engineering, Inc., 4244 Live Oak St., Cudahy, CA
90201, USA
V.A. SEREBRYAKOV Consultant, 118 Mesa Dr., Gillette, WY 82716, USA
V.I. ZILBERMAN Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, U.S.A. Branch, 101 So.
Windsor Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004, USA