Reservoir Pore Characteristics Based on Depositional Microfacies Control in the Neogene Guantao Formation, Bohai Bay Basin, China

Abstract

The Neogene Guantao Formation Reservoir in the PLOilfield is a unconsolidated sandstone with high porosity and high permeability. The reservoir diagenesis is weak and dominated by compaction diagenesis. At present, insufficient research into the relationship between the pore characteristics and sedimentary microfacies of shallow delta sandstone reservoirs restricts the prediction of favorable reservoir distribution. This article takes the unconsolidated sandstone reservoir of the Guantao Formation as the research object and analyzes the potential coupling relationship between pore characteristics and sedimentary microfacies. In this study, seven typical sedimentary microfacies were identified and the microscopic characteristics of different sedimentary microfacies reservoirs are described. The results show that the pore structure of various sedimentary microfacies is comprehensively influenced by the sedimentary rock texture, siliceous minerals, and clay mineral distribution. Characterized by more abundant hard quartz and feldspar minerals, positive skewness, and lower pore sorting coefficients, the arenaceous microfacies possess larger pore throat radius and lower pore fractal dimensions than argillaceous microfacies. Finally, due to the difficulty of coring in offshore oilfields and the lack of data on mercury injection experiments, empirical formulas for the porosity, permeability, and pore throat radius of conventional core tests were established, and the pore radius that corresponded to 35% mercury saturation (r35) was used as the characteristic pore structure parameter. The grey correlation method was used to analyze the influence of sedimentary structure factors and mineral content differences on r35 and to determine the main controlling factors.

Keywords

• sandstone reservoir
• pore throat characteristics
• fractal dimension
• depositional microfacies
• r₃₅