Measuring and modeling wettability of the Montney/Doig resource play and investigating its functional dependence on other petrophysical properties

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Recent advances in horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing have unlocked unconventional hydrocarbon resources for oil and gas recovery in Canada and the United States. The successful and sustainable development of such resources requires correct characterization of the reservoir properties. Knowing the properties such as permeability, porosity, and wettability is critical for reserve estimation, production forecasting, and designing optimum fracturing and treatment fluids. Specifically, the wettability of reservoir rock is a critical parameter for estimating the recoverable hydrocarbon in place and for understanding the interactions between reservoir rock and fracturing fluids. However, measuring wettability and other petrophysical properties of unconventional rocks is challenging since their permeability (flow conductance) is very low, and they commonly contain clay minerals and organic materials. An example of enormous unconventional resource is the Montney Formation located in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. The objective of the proposed research is to determine the wettability of the Montney Formation, and its functional dependence on other petrophysical and petrographic properties. The research will be conducted in five phases. Phase 1 will interpret the properties of the Montney core samples, measured in the laboratory including mineralogy, total organic carbon, and pore structure, and also the parameters measured by downhole logging tools. Phase 2 and 3 will evaluate wettability of the samples by conducting contact angle and imbibition experiments. Phase 4 will investigate the existence of possible correlations between the wettability and other petrophysical data. Finally, in Phase 5 a scaling analysis will be performed to upscale the measured imbibition data to estimate field-scale oil recovery as a result of counter-current imbibition during the shut-in periods after fracturing operations. The results of this research will help the industry to estimate the initial recoverable hydrocarbon in the Montney Formation, and to optimize the formulation of fracturing water for minimizing water consumption and for maximizing hydrocarbon recovery.