Oil and Gas

Digital Rock Physics (DRP) has emerged, from more than 20 years research, as a step-changing technology for complementing traditional petrophysical analysis at core plug and wellbore scales. DRP involves: 1) imaging rock samples; 2) image-based rock characterisation and; 3) rock model reconstruction; 4) numerical simulation of physical processes; and 5) predication of effective rock properties. With the increasing capability of tomographic imaging and high-fidelity numerical modelling, DRP has been widely recognised and gradually adopted by oil and gas industry.

DRP offers possibilities to answer a much wider range of ‘what-if’ questions concerning any specific types of formations. Exemplar questions are those concerning the impacts of geological heterogeneity of formations, in terms of structures and lithological compositions and fluid in places, on hydrocarbon storage and transmission. Such questions cannot be addressed fully by examining measurements taken at in-situ and/or laboratory-controlled conditions alone but in complementation of simulating appropriate physicochemical processes on adjustable rock models in DRP. However, DRP faces great challenges in dealing with formations, such as shale, tight sandstone and carbonates, where geological heterogeneity is complex and gives rise to high-level uncertainty in digital rock characterization and in measurements.

In this presentation, the author highlights some recent progress that has been made by the author and his associates in characterizing geological heterogeneity and quantifying their uncertainty on fluid flow in DRP. Examples include mineral characterization of clastic rocks, characterization of cross-lamination in sandstones, multiscale DRP for shale gas flow, and wettability modeling on a heterogenous mineral surface.