Oil & Gas Geology ›› 2008, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (6): 721-725.doi: 10.11743/ogg20080603

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A study on hydrocarbon pooling conditions in tight sandstones through simulated experiments

Xiao Zhihua, Zhong Ningning, Huang Zhilong, Jiang Zhenxue, Liu Yan   

  1. State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resource and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
  • Received:2008-04-22 Online:2008-12-24 Published:2012-01-16

Abstract:

A study on critical geological conditions for oil pooling in inversed oil/water distribution in tight sands is carried out through various serial physical simulated experiments. The result shows that,for crude with density of about 0.8g/cm3,a stable inversed oiL/water distribution may occur when the pore throat radius of different capillarity glass tubes made of the same material are 1.8 mm or the grain diameters in sand-column are smaller than 0.35-0.40mm. The phenomenon is thought to be related with the equilibrium between buoyancy (flota-tion) and capillary force and oil density plays a more important role than that of the interfacial tension in the formation of this inversed oil/water distribution. Therefore, it is suggested that the formation of oil pools with inversed water/oil distribution in tight sandstone is subject to the pore radius of reservoir sands and its relationship wish the density of crude oil.

Key words: oil/water inversion, pore throat radius, pooling condition, simulated experiment, tight sand reservoir

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