Archie's Saturation Exponent for Natural Gas Hydrate in Coarse-Grained Reservoirs

Cook, Ann E.; Waite, William F.

doi:10.1002/2017jb015138

Title: Archie's Saturation Exponent for Natural Gas Hydrate in Coarse-Grained Reservoirs

Journal Article · 17 February 2018 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/2017jb015138 · OSTI ID:1537315

^[1];

^[2]

The Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH (United States)
U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA (United States)

Abstract Accurately quantifying the amount of naturally occurring gas hydrate in marine and permafrost environments is important for assessing its resource potential and understanding the role of gas hydrate in the global carbon cycle. Electrical resistivity well logs are often used to calculate gas hydrate saturations, S _h , using Archie's equation. Archie's equation, in turn, relies on an empirical saturation parameter, n . Though n = 1.9 has been measured for ice‐bearing sands and is widely used within the hydrate community, it is highly questionable if this n value is appropriate for hydrate‐bearing sands. In this work, we calibrate n for hydrate‐bearing sands from the Canadian permafrost gas hydrate research well, Mallik 5L‐38, by establishing an independent downhole S _h profile based on compressional‐wave velocity log data. Using the independently determined S _h profile and colocated electrical resistivity and bulk density logs, Archie's saturation equation is solved for n, and uncertainty is tracked throughout the iterative process. In addition to the Mallik 5L‐38 well, we also apply this method to two marine, coarse‐grained reservoirs from the northern Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Joint Industry Project: Walker Ridge 313‐H and Green Canyon 955‐H. All locations yield similar results, each suggesting n ≈ 2.5 ± 0.5. Thus, for the coarse‐grained hydrate bearing ( S _h > 0.4) of greatest interest as potential energy resources, we suggest that n = 2.5 ± 0.5 should be applied in Archie's equation for either marine or permafrost gas hydrate settings if independent estimates of n are not available.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE); USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: FE0023919; DE‐FE0023919

OSTI ID:: 1537315

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1425505

Journal Information:: Journal of Geophysical Research. Solid Earth, Vol. 123, Issue 3; ISSN 2169-9313

Publisher:: American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 85 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (69)

A self‐similar model for sedimentary rocks with application to the dielectric constant of fused glass beads Sen, P. N.; Scala, C.; Cohen, M. H. GEOPHYSICS, Vol. 46, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1190/1.1441215	journal	May 1981
Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Joint Industry Project Leg II logging-while-drilling data acquisition and analysis Collett, Timothy S.; Lee, Myung W.; Zyrianova, Margarita V. Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 34, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2011.08.003	journal	June 2012
Solvent Structure, Dynamics, and Ion Mobility in Aqueous Solutions at 25 °C Koneshan, S.; Rasaiah, Jayendran C.; Lynden-Bell, R. M. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol. 102, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1021/jp980642x	journal	May 1998
Gas hydrate resource potential in the Terrebonne Basin, Northern Gulf of Mexico Frye, Matthew; Shedd, William; Boswell, Ray Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 34, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2011.08.001	journal	June 2012
Methane hydrate formation in partially water-saturated Ottawa sand Waite *, W. F.; Winters, W. J.; Mason, D. H. American Mineralogist, Vol. 89, Issue 8-9 https://doi.org/10.2138/am-2004-8-906	journal	August 2004
Low temperature dependence of electrical resistivity: Implications for near surface geophysical monitoring Hayley, Kevin; Bentley, L. R.; Gharibi, M. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 34, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1029/2007GL031124	journal	January 2007
Mechanical properties of sand, silt, and clay containing tetrahydrofuran hydrate: MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF HYDRATE-BEARING SEDIMENTS Yun, T. S.; Santamarina, J. C.; Ruppel, C. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 112, Issue B4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JB004484	journal	April 2007
Laboratory formation of noncementing hydrates in sandy sediments Choi, Jeong-Hoon; Dai, Sheng; Cha, Jong-Ho Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol. 15, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GC005287	journal	April 2014
Effect of methane hydrate morphology on compressional wave velocity of sandy sediments: Analysis of pressure cores obtained in the Eastern Nankai Trough Konno, Yoshihiro; Jin, Yusuke; Yoneda, Jun Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 66 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.02.021	journal	September 2015
Influence of gas hydrate morphology on the seismic velocities of sands: VELOCITY OF HYDRATE-BEARING SANDS Priest, Jeffrey A.; Rees, Emily V. L.; Clayton, Christopher R. I. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 114, Issue B11 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JB006284	journal	November 2009
Elasticity of high‐porosity sandstones: Theory for two North Sea data sets Dvorkin, Jack; Nur, Amos GEOPHYSICS, Vol. 61, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1190/1.1444059	journal	September 1996
Resistivity‐porosity‐particle shape relationships for marine sands Jackson, P. D.; Smith, D. Taylor; Stanford, P. N. GEOPHYSICS, Vol. 43, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1190/1.1440891	journal	October 1978
Electrical Conductivities in Oil-Bearing Shaly Sands Waxman, M. H.; Smits, L. J. M. Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal, Vol. 8, Issue 02 https://doi.org/10.2118/1863-A	journal	June 1968
Wettability Literature Survey-Part 3: The Effects of Wettability on the Electrical Properties of Porous Media Anderson, William G. Journal of Petroleum Technology, Vol. 38, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.2118/13934-PA	journal	December 1986
Gulf of Mexico Gas Hydrate Joint Industry Project Leg II: Initial Results from the Green Canyon 955 Site McConnell, Daniel Russell; Collett, Timothy Scott; Boswell, Ray Offshore Technology Conference https://doi.org/10.4043/20801-MS	conference	April 2013
Scientific results of the Second Gas Hydrate Drilling Expedition in the Ulleung Basin (UBGH2) Ryu, Byong-Jae; Collett, Timothy S.; Riedel, Michael Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 47 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.07.007	journal	November 2013
The Elastic Behaviour of a Crystalline Aggregate Hill, R. Proceedings of the Physical Society. Section A, Vol. 65, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1088/0370-1298/65/5/307	journal	May 1952
The interaction of climate change and methane hydrates: Climate-Hydrates Interactions Ruppel, Carolyn D.; Kessler, John D. Reviews of Geophysics, Vol. 55, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016RG000534	journal	February 2017
The Global Inventory of Methane Hydrate in Marine Sediments: A Theoretical Approach Wallmann, Klaus; Pinero, Elena; Burwicz, Ewa Energies, Vol. 5, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.3390/en5072449	journal	July 2012
Imaging methane hydrates growth dynamics in porous media using synchrotron X-ray computed microtomography Kerkar, Prasad B.; Horvat, Kristine; Jones, Keith W. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol. 15, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GC005373	journal	December 2014
Effective conductivity and permittivity of unsaturated porous materials in the frequency range 1 mHz-1GHz: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF POROUS MATERIALS Revil, A. Water Resources Research, Vol. 49, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1029/2012WR012700	journal	January 2013
Ionic Double-Layer Conductivity in Reservoir Rock Winsauer, W. O.; McCardell, W. M. Journal of Petroleum Technology, Vol. 5, Issue 05 https://doi.org/10.2118/953129-G	journal	May 1953
Hydro-bio-geomechanical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments from Nankai Trough Santamarina, J. C.; Dai, S.; Terzariol, M. Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 66 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.02.033	journal	September 2015
Influence of methane hydrate content on electrical sediment properties Spangenberg, Erik; Kulenkampff, Johannes Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 33, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL028188	journal	January 2006
Pressure-core-based reservoir characterization for geomechanics: Insights from gas hydrate drilling during 2012–2013 at the eastern Nankai Trough Yoneda, Jun; Masui, Akira; Konno, Yoshihiro Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 86 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2017.05.024	journal	September 2017
Well Logging for Earth Scientists Ellis, Darwin V.; Singer, Julian M. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4602-5	book	January 2007
Electrical conductivity, induced polarization, and permeability of the Fontainebleau sandstone Revil, André; Kessouri, Pauline; Torres-Verdín, Carlos GEOPHYSICS, Vol. 79, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1190/geo2014-0036.1	journal	September 2014
Physical properties of hydrate-bearing sediments Waite, W. F.; Santamarina, J. C.; Cortes, D. D. Reviews of Geophysics, Vol. 47, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008RG000279	journal	January 2009
A laboratory investigation into the seismic velocities of methane gas hydrate-bearing sand: SEISMIC VELOCITY OF HYDRATE-BEARING SAND Priest, Jeffrey A.; Best, Angus I.; Clayton, Christopher R. I. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 110, Issue B4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JB003259	journal	April 2005
Modeling of the influence of gas hydrate content on the electrical properties of porous sediments Spangenberg, Erik Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 106, Issue B4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000JB900434	journal	April 2001
Electrical conductivity in shaly sands with geophysical applications Revil, A.; Cathles, L. M.; Losh, S. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 103, Issue B10 https://doi.org/10.1029/98JB02125	journal	October 1998
Pressure core based study of gas hydrates in the Ulleung Basin and implication for geomechanical controls on gas hydrate occurrence Lee, J. Y.; Jung, J. W.; Lee, M. H. Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 47 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2013.05.021	journal	November 2013
Electrical anisotropy of gas hydrate-bearing sand reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico Cook, Ann E.; Anderson, Barbara I.; Rasmus, John Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 34, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2011.09.003	journal	June 2012
Gas hydrate occurrence from pore water chlorinity and downhole logs in a transect across the northern Cascadia margin (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 311): GAS HYDRATE ACROSS THE CASCADIA MARGIN Malinverno, A.; Kastner, M.; Torres, M. E. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 113, Issue B8 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JB005702	journal	August 2008
Electrical properties of polycrystalline methane hydrate: ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF METHANE HYDRATE Du Frane, Wyatt L.; Stern, Laura A.; Weitemeyer, Karen A. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 38, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL047243	journal	May 2011
Porosity/formation-factor relationships for high-porosity siliciclastic sediments from Amazon Fan Erickson, Stephanie N.; Jarrard, Richard D. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 25, Issue 13 https://doi.org/10.1029/98GL01777	journal	July 1998
Formation history and physical properties of sediments from the Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope Dai, Sheng; Lee, Changho; Carlos Santamarina, J. Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 28, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2010.03.005	journal	February 2011
Methane hydrate stability and anthropogenic climate change Archer, D. Biogeosciences, Vol. 4, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-4-521-2007	journal	January 2007
Elasticity of marine sediments: Rock physics modeling Dvorkin, Jack; Prasad, Manika; Sakai, Akio Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 26, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1029/1999GL900332	journal	June 1999
Images of the Base of Gas Hydrate Stability, Northwest Walker Ridge, Gulf of Mexico McConnell, Daniel R.; Kendall, Beth A. Offshore Technology Conference https://doi.org/10.4043/14103-MS	conference	April 2013
In-situ gas hydrate hydrate saturation estimated from various well logs at the Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope Lee, M. W.; Collett, T. S. Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 28, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2009.06.007	journal	February 2011
Effect of Wettability on the Electrical Resistivity of Carbonate rock from a Petroleum Reservoir Sweeney, S. A.; Jennings, H. Y. The Journal of Physical Chemistry, Vol. 64, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1021/j100834a009	journal	May 1960
A marine electromagnetic survey to detect gas hydrate at Hydrate Ridge, Oregon: EM at Hydrate Ridge Weitemeyer, K. A.; Constable, S.; Tréhu, A. M. Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 187, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-246X.2011.05105.x	journal	August 2011
The dielectric constant of sandstones, 60 kHz to 4 MHz Knight, Rosemary J.; Nur, Amos GEOPHYSICS, Vol. 52, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1190/1.1442332	journal	May 1987
Operational overview of the first offshore production test of methane hydrates in the Eastern Nankai Trough Yamamoto, Koji; Terao, Yoshihiro; Fujii, Tesuya Offshore Technology Conference https://doi.org/10.4043/25243-MS	conference	May 2014
Sublacustrine mud volcanoes and methane seeps caused by dissociation of gas hydrates in Lake Baikal Rensbergen, P. Van; De Batist, M.; Klerkx, J. Geology, Vol. 30, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0631:SMVAMS>2.0.CO;2	journal	January 2002
Geologic implications of gas hydrates in the offshore of India: Results of the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 01 Collett, Timothy S.; Boswell, Ray; Cochran, James R. Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 58 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2014.07.021	journal	December 2014
Direct measurement of in situ methane quantities in a large gas-hydrate reservoir Dickens, Gerald R.; Paull, Charles K.; Wallace, Paul Nature, Vol. 385, Issue 6615 https://doi.org/10.1038/385426a0	journal	January 1997
Evaluation of gas hydrate deposits in an active seep area using marine controlled source electromagnetics: Results from Opouawe Bank, Hikurangi Margin, New Zealand Schwalenberg, Katrin; Haeckel, Matthias; Poort, Jeffrey Marine Geology, Vol. 272, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2009.07.006	journal	July 2010
Comparison of methane mass balance and X-ray computed tomographic methods for calculation of gas hydrate content of pressure cores Holland, Melanie; Schultheiss, Peter Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 58 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2014.07.016	journal	December 2014
Visual observation of gas-hydrate formation and dissociation in synthetic porous media by means of glass micromodels Tohidi, Bahman; Anderson, Ross; Clennell, M. Ben Geology, Vol. 29, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0867:VOOGHF>2.0.CO;2	journal	January 2001
Dielectric-Independent 2-MHz Propagation Resistivities Wu, Peter T.; Lovell, John R.; Clark, Brian SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition https://doi.org/10.2118/56448-MS	conference	April 2013
On the relationship between microstructure and electrical and hydraulic properties of sand-clay mixtures Wildenschild, Dorthe; Roberts, Jeffery J.; Carlberg, Eric D. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 27, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GL011553	journal	October 2000
Seismic properties of pore fluids Batzle, Michael; Wang, Zhijing GEOPHYSICS, Vol. 57, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1190/1.1443207	journal	November 1992
Natural gas hydrate deposits: a review of in situ properties Pearson, C. F.; Halleck, P. M.; McGuire, P. L. The Journal of Physical Chemistry, Vol. 87, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1021/j100244a041	journal	October 1983
Parametric study of the physical properties of hydrate-bearing sand, silt, and clay sediments: 2. Small-strain mechanical properties Lee, J. Y.; Francisca, F. M.; Santamarina, J. C. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 115, Issue B11 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JB006670	journal	January 2010
Subsurface gas hydrates in the northern Gulf of Mexico Boswell, Ray; Collett, Timothy S.; Frye, Matthew Marine and Petroleum Geology, Vol. 34, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2011.10.003	journal	June 2012
Compressional and shear wave velocities in uncemented sediment containing gas hydrate Yun, T. S. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 32, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2005GL022607	journal	January 2005
Microstructural evolution of gas hydrates in sedimentary matrices observed with synchrotron X-ray computed tomographic microscopy: MICROSTRUCTRE OF GAS HYDRATES Chaouachi, Marwen; Falenty, Andrzej; Sell, Kathleen Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol. 16, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GC005811	journal	June 2015
Rising Arctic Ocean temperatures cause gas hydrate destabilization and ocean acidification: ARCTIC OCEAN GAS HYDRATES Biastoch, A.; Treude, T.; Rüpke, L. H. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 38, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1029/2011GL047222	journal	April 2011
Critical porosity: A key to relating physical properties to porosity in rocks Nur, Amos; Mavko, Gary; Dvorkin, Jack The Leading Edge, Vol. 17, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1190/1.1437977	journal	March 1998
A blast of gas in the latest Paleocene: Simulating first-order effects of massive dissociation of oceanic methane hydrate Dickens, Gerald R.; Castillo, Maria M.; Walker, James C. G. Geology, Vol. 25, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1997)025<0259:ABOGIT>2.3.CO;2	journal	January 1997
Elastic wave speeds and moduli in polycrystalline ice Ih, sI methane hydrate, and sII methane-ethane hydrate Helgerud, M. B.; Waite, W. F.; Kirby, S. H. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 114, Issue B2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JB006132	journal	January 2009
Compliance of Elastic Bodies in Contact Mindlin, R. D. Journal of Applied Mechanics, Vol. 16, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4009973	journal	September 1949
Unveiling Tatun volcanic plumbing structure induced by post-collisional extension of Taiwan mountain belt Huang, Hsin-Hua; Wu, E. -S.; Lin, C. -H. Scientific Reports, Vol. 11, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84763-z	journal	March 2021
Electrical anisotropy of gas hydrate-bearing sand reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico Cook, Ann E.; Anderson, Barbara I.; Rasmus, John Columbia University https://doi.org/10.7916/d8rf64h0	text	January 2011
Well logging for earth scientists Donaldson, E. C. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Vol. 2, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0920-4105(89)90013-2	journal	July 1989
Geologic implications of gas hydrates in the offshore of India: Results of the National Gas Hydrate Program Expedition 01 Collett, Timothy; Boswell, Ray; Cochran, James R. Columbia University https://doi.org/10.7916/d8-txp1-mk42	text	January 2014
Methane hydrate stability and anthropogenic climate change Archer, D. Biogeosciences Discussions, Vol. 4, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.5194/bgd-4-993-2007	journal	January 2007

Cited By (1)

Detection of Gas Hydrates in Faults Using Azimuthal Seismic Velocity Analysis, Vestnesa Ridge, W‐Svalbard Margin Singhroha, Sunny; Bünz, Stefan; Plaza‐Faverola, Andreia Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, Vol. 125, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019jb017949	journal	February 2020