Existing approaches to tight rock laboratory petrophysics: a critical review

A review of the existing methods for tight rock porosity, saturation, and permeability determination was performed taking into account that these methods should be applicable for Bazhenov formation evaluation. The following methods were considered: Archimedes mercury immersion; mercury displacement; caliper; helium pycnometry on crushed samples; nuclear magnetic resonance; modified retort method; modified Dean-Stark extraction; pulse decay method; and pressure decay test on crushed samples. The applicability of the pressure decay test on a crushed sample for Bazhenov formation evaluation is checked experimentally with the SMP-200 commercial permeameter. All the above listed methods were combined into five protocols for tight rock petrophysical evaluation. These protocols were analyzed and compared according to the following criteria: accuracy of the results; usage experience; time of measurements; easiness of interpretation; reliability and safety; price. The obtained results revealed that the most effective protocol is the one that includes pressure pulse on a core plug for permeability determination, He pycnometry and modified retort analysis on crushed samples for porosity and saturation determination. As there were cases when the proposed protocol was less effective vs. other protocols, a special scheme was suggested in order to choose the most effective protocol for tight rock petrophysical properties evaluation in definite conditions.