Theoretical and Laboratory Investigation of Dielectric Properties of Partially Saturated Carbonate Rocks

This thesis addresses the theoretical and laboratory studies of the dielectric properties of partially saturated carbonate rocks. Due to their larger textural variability, carbonates present a great challenge for reservoir evaluation and development. They contain over 60% of the world's remaining oil in place, and the giant carbonate oilfields of the Middle East are expected to play an important role in the world's oil production in the 21st century. It is, therefore, important to find...
More Description

This thesis addresses the theoretical and laboratory studies of the dielectric properties of partially saturated carbonate rocks. Due to their larger textural variability, carbonates present a great challenge for reservoir evaluation and development. They contain over 60% of the world's remaining oil in place, and the giant carbonate oilfields of the Middle East are expected to play an important role in the world's oil production in the 21st century. It is, therefore, important to find new methods for evaluating hydrocarbons in carbonate reservoirs more accurately than is possible at present. The relationship between dielectric properties and microgeometry of carbonate rocks was investigated with microscopy. Theoretical models incorporating microgeometrical parameters were developed and a variety of carbonate evaluation problems may be solved on the basis of this research. It was important, however, to investigate how the microgeometrical model parameters correspond to the real rock texture. The thin sections for each carbonate sample were prepared and investigated by means of optical and electronic microscopy. While the visual micrograph investigation qualitatively confirmed the model predictions, also a quantitative analysis was carried out.