Pre-Salt Carbonate Reservoir Analog Selection for Stimulation Optimization
Authors: Pepin Alexandre Henri Angelo , Bize-Forest NadÃ¨ge , Montoya Padilla Sandra Janette , Abad Carlos , Schlicht Peter , de Castro Machado Alessandra , Lima InayÃ¡ , de Paiva Teles Atila , Tadeu Lopes Ricardo 
Published: March 2015

Hydrocarbon production optimization in Pre-Salt carbonate reservoirs is a main focus for oil and gas research in Brazil. Stimulation treatment design optimization requires good knowledge of the reservoir properties and excellent understanding of the interaction between rock formation and treating fluid. This paper investigates these interactions through laboratory tests determining the compatibility of fluids used in matrix stimulation with different Pre-Salt carbonate rock types. The objective of this work is to relate the geology, petrophysics, and geomechanics of the Pre-Salt reservoirs to their expected stimulation response.

Because of the difficulty in obtaining downhole cores and the destructive nature of most tests, the study focused on samples collected from a Pre-Salt carbonate analog: the Coquinas formation (Schafer 1973) from the Sao Miguel quarry, northeast Brazil (Chagas de Azambuja Filho et al. 1998). A thorough geology-based study of the Coquinas formation, including routine core analysis (FZI) microtomography, and thin section study was conducted. Usually these grain-supported carbonates show different amounts and types of primary porosity, closed and reopened by multiple diagenetic phases.

Throughout the 25-m thick Coquinas reservoir, five rock types in 13 layers with permeability ranging from microdarcy to almost 1 darcy were identified. All rock types were subjected to routine mineralogy evaluation and various petrophysical, geomechanical, and spectroscopic measurements. Six of the thirteen layers were selected to perform core flow tests with a viscoelastic surfactant technology based diverting acid fluid (Al-Mutawa et al. 2005; Chang et al. 2001; Samuel et al. 1997). This is the first extensive study reporting the efficiency of a viscoelastic diverting acid system in the Pre-Salt analogue Coquinas carbonate formation outcrop cores. Spectroscopic measurement showed wormhole creation and, in some cases, rock texture alteration or fine migration. Through the study we identified the flow units and characterized the rock behavior when chemically stimulated. The conclusions from this study will enable us to tailor and optimize stimulation treatments of Pre-Salt carbonate reservoirs.

Introduction

The offshore Pre-Salt in Brazil comprises a group of recently discovered fields with promising oil reserves in the Coquinas formation or the above the microbialites section. For example, Lula (ex-Tupi) field, the lead field of the Santos cluster, is believed to hold between 5 to 8 billions barrels of oil equivalent (Beltrao et al. 2009). The Pre-Salt reservoirs are currently the focus of research in Brazil; however, the scarceness of downhole samples collected makes destructive tests very difficult to perform, and so analysis must be performed on analogues. The onshore Coquinas formation from northeast Brazil is taken here as analogue of the Pre-Salt carbonates.