GEOHORIZONS

AUTHORS

Flow unit modeling

and fine-scale predicted
permeability validation
in Atokan sandstones:
Norcan East field, Kansas
Saibal Bhattacharya, Alan P. Byrnes,
W. Lynn Watney, and John H. Doveton

ABSTRACT
Characterizing the reservoir interval into flow units is an effective way to subdivide the net-pay zone into layers for reservoir simulation. Commonly used flow unit identification
techniques require a reliable estimate of permeability in the
net pay on a foot-by-foot basis. Most of the wells do not have
cores, and the literature is replete with different kinds of correlations, transforms, and prediction methods for profiling permeability in pay. However, for robust flow unit determination,
predicted permeability at noncored wells requires validation
and, if necessary, refinement.
This study outlines the use of a spreadsheet-based permeability validation technique to characterize flow units in wells from
the Norcan East field, Clark County, Kansas, that produce from
Atokan aged fine- to very fine-grained quartzarenite sandstones
interpreted to have been deposited in brackish-water, tidally dominated restricted tidal-flat, tidal-channel, tidal-bar, and estuary
bay environments within a small incised-valley-fill system. The
methodology outlined enables the identification of fieldwide
free-water level and validates and refines predicted permeability at 0.5-ft (0.15-m) intervals by iteratively reconciling differences in water saturation calculated from wire-line log and a
capillary-pressure formulation that models fine- to very finegrained sandstone with diagenetic clay and silt or shale laminae.

Copyright #2008. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
Manuscript received July 18, 2007; provisional acceptance September 6, 2007; revised manuscript
received December 18, 2007; final acceptance January 14, 2008.
DOI:10.1306/01140807081

AAPG Bulletin, v. 92, no. 6 (June 2008), pp. 709 732

709

Saibal Bhattacharya
Kansas Geological

Survey, University of Kansas, 1930 Constant
Avenue, Lawrence, Kansas 66447;
Saibal@ku.edu
Saibal Bhattacharya holds a B.Tech. degree in
petroleum engineering from the Indian School
of Mines (India), M.S. degrees in petroleum
engineering and environmental engineering,
and an M.B.A. degree from the University of
Kansas. He has 15 years of experience as a
reservoir engineer in the industry and at a state
survey. His current work focuses on reservoir
simulation, integration of log and core data,
coal bed methane/enhanced coal bed methane,
CO2 sequestration, risk analysis and Monte
Carlo simulation, low-Btu gas upgradation,
and advanced transient well test and decline
analysis. He has also managed several field
demonstration projects and is a member of the
Society of Petroleum Engineers and AAPG.
Alan P. Byrnes
Chesapeake Energy Corporation, 6100 N. Western Avenue, Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma 73118; alan.byrnes@chk.com
As a research geologist, Alan Byrnes studies
carbonate and clastic lithologic controls on petrophysical properties, CO2 enhanced oil recovery,
low-permeability rocks, and reservoir characterization and modeling. Over the last 30 years,
he has worked in industry, service, survey, and
consulting positions and has published on subjects ranging from basin analysis to petrophysics.
W. Lynn Watney
Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, 1930 Constant
Avenue, Lawrence, Kansas 66447;
lwatney@kgs.ku.edu
Lynn Watney is a Senior Scientific Fellow with
the Kansas Geological Survey and is an alumnus
of Chevron-Texaco (Chevron-CALCO, New
Orleans, 1972 1976). He received his Ph.D.
from Kansas University in 1985 and his B.S.
and M.S. (1970 and 1972, respectively) degrees
from Iowa State University. His current activities include synthesis of late Paleozoic stratigraphy and sedimentation and evaluating the
role of basement reactivation. Other interests
include multidisciplinary reservoir characterization and play analysis and assessing the impact of evaporite karst through time.

John H. Doveton
Kansas Geological

Survey, University of Kansas, 1930 Constant
Avenue, Lawrence, Kansas 66447;
doveton@kgs.ku.edu
John Doveton received his M.A. degree from
Oxford University in 1966 and a Ph.D. from the
University of Edinburgh in 1969, both in geology. He started his career as an exploration
geologist for Mobil in Calgary. He is a Senior
Scientific Fellow at the Kansas Geological Survey, with research interests in petrophysics,
petroleum geology, and mathematical geology.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank the Kansas Geological Survey for providing the support for this study,
and the Computer Modeling Group Ltd. (CMG)
for allowing the use of their reservoir simulator IMEX. The U.S. Department of Energy also
supported parts of this study through a grant.
We also thank the Murfin Drilling Company,
Wichita, for providing data from the Norcan
East field and financial support for part of
this study.

710

Geohorizons

The effectiveness of this methodology was confirmed by

successfully matching primary and secondary production histories using a flow unit-based reservoir model of the Norcan
East field without permeability modifications. The methodologies discussed should prove useful for robust flow unit characterization of different kinds of reservoirs.

INTRODUCTION
Flow units, which do not always coincide with geologic lithofacies, subdivide reservoirs into zones (layers) based on hydraulic flow properties and are best suited to determine reservoir
layering for flow-simulation studies. Prevalent techniques for
flow unit zonation include application of Lorenz plots and use
of flow zone indicators (FZI). Both these techniques require
knowledge of porosity and permeability distribution on a footby-foot basis. Wire-line logs can provide good estimates of porosity and help define net pay; however, permeability profiles
ultimately can only be generated from core measurements.
Estimation of permeability from wire-line logs in uncored wells
commonly consists primarily of the use of (1) log porosity and
a single permeability-porosity transform, (2) log porosity and a
series of lithofacies- or log-facies-specific permeability-porosity
transforms possibly incorporating other log-measured properties (e.g., irreducible water saturation), (3) multivariate prediction of permeability from various log response curves, or
(4) nonlinear permeability prediction methods (e.g., neural
network analysis). The robustness of the permeability estimation is generally determined by blind-test correlation of estimated and measured permeability over specific cored interval(s). Petrophysical properties, like geologic parameters, vary
spatially, and thus, acceptable performance in blind test(s) is
not a guarantee that the estimated permeabilities are accurate
in wells located significant distances from the cored wells in
the field. Thus, flow unit zonation in most of the wells in a field
is commonly based on nonvalidated permeability values.
This case study in the Norcan East field (Clark County,
Kansas), which produces from an upper Atokan fine- to very
fine-grained sandstone, does not investigate the best permeability estimation method at uncored wells. Instead, it examines
and illustrates a methodology for validation and refinement of
the estimated permeability once a particular method has been
applied. The proposed validation process is an iterative technique that minimizes the difference between log-derived water
saturation (Swlog) and saturation determined from capillary
pressure (SwPc) at every 0.5-ft (0.15-m) interval in net pay at

each well. Such validated permeability distribution

served as the basis for flow unit delineation in the
Norcan East reservoir using the stratigraphic modified Lorenz (SML) method, which plots the ratio of
percent flow capacity and percent storage capacity
in stratigraphic sequence. Upon simulation, primary
and secondary field performances were matched
without any permeability modifications, thus confirming the robustness of the flow unit model developed using validated permeability at uncored
but logged wells.

FLOW UNIT MODELING REVIEW

Ebanks (1987) defined the fundamental concepts
of flow units as a volume of the total reservoir rock
within which geological and petrophysical properties affecting fluid flow are internally consistent
and (predictably) different from properties of other
rock volumes or flow units. Flow units subdivide
the reservoir volume into geobodies (layers) appropriate for flow-simulation studies.
Different techniques and methods have been
used to define flow units. Hearn et al. (1984), Slatt
and Hopkins (1990), Ahr (1991), and Stoudt et al.
(1992) used qualitative techniques, whereas others
used depositional and diagenetic overprint (Major
and Holtz, 1997), outcrop data (Kara and Kasap,
1993; Kerans et al., 1994), and core data (Johnson
and Budd, 1994; Watts et al., 1994; Ti et al., 1995;
Martin et al., 1997) to define flow units. For flow
unit definition in uncored wells, Holtz and Hamilton
(1996) proposed that flow units have interdependent petrophysical parameters and log signatures
correlative over distance. Various methods have
been used to characterize flow units at uncored wells
such as rank correlations on wire-line logs (Abbaszadeh et al., 1996); saturation and depth profiles
(Martin et al., 1997); stochastic modeling of shale
fraction (V shale) and effective porosity (Moon et al.,
1998); algorithms predicting rock types from wireline logs (Davies and Vessell, 1996; Davies et al.,
1999); Leverett J function (Hampton and Singh,
2000), a dimensionless capillary-pressure function;
classification tree analysis on wire-line logs (Perez
et al., 2005); and Carman-Kozeny equations based

on hydraulic flow zone unit designation (Biniwale,

2005). Lawal and Onyekonwu (2005) defined flow
unit delineators for sandstones and carbonates by
geometrically averaging all characterizing parameters from five existing models. Amaefule et al. (1993)
correlated FZI to a combination of wire-line-log
curves to identify flow units at uncored wells.
Amabeoku et al. (2005, 2006) used a permeabilityindependent method to compute saturation-height
models to calculate FZI for flow units definition.
Svirsky et al. (2004) identified different flow units
in the same well using different methods to compute FZI.
Flow units have been defined using Lorenz plots,
a petrophysically based graphical tool, and have
been reported by Gunter et al. (1997a, b). MaglioJohnson (2000), Alper (2000), Ali-Nandalal and
Gunter (2003), and Balossino et al. (2006) used
different methods to estimate permeability at uncored wells to identify flow units with SML plots.
Comparative studies of different methods of flow
unit determination have also been reported by Porras
et al. (1999), Amaefule et al. (1993), and Stolz and
Graves (2003).

GEOLOGIC SETTING
Regional Geology
During the late Mississippian through Early Permian, the Hugoton embayment structural extension
of the Anadarko Basin, located in southwestern
Kansas in the central mid-continent United States,
was a marine seaway (Rascoe and Adler, 1983;
Sonnenberg et al., 1990). The Norcan East field
(Figure 1, base map) lies along the eastern margin
of this embayment at a structurally high position
where early and middle Pennsylvanian strata onlapped onto the basal Pennsylvanian unconformity
during a long-term rise in global sea level (Ross and
Ross, 1987). The Norcan East field and other fields
along the eastern margin of the Hugoton embayment produce from a series of incised-valley-fill deposits developed on the basal Pennsylvanian unconformity. The Central Kansas uplift, lying to the east,
was uplifted and emergent during the early to
Bhattacharya et al.

711

Figure 1. Map showing the location of the Norcan East field (modified from Youle et al., 1994). The Norcan East field lies on the
eastern flank of the Hugoton embayment and produces from the Atoka reservoir.

middle Pennsylvanian. With rising sea level, the

valleys were progressively filled because the shelf
was inundated, with the Central Kansas uplift probably serving as the source of runoff and providing
some of the sediment that eventually filled the val712

Geohorizons

leys. The incised-valley-fill sandstone at Norcan

East is of late Atokan age and resides in a fourthorder (0.11-m.y.) depositional sequence, consisting
of several meter- to decimeter-thick successions
of siliciclastic-dominated lithofacies bounded by

subaerial unconformities (Youle, 1992; Youle et

al., 1994).
Four cores and wire-line logs from 21 wells were
used to correlate three fourth-order depositional
sequences that filled the incised valley at Norcan
East, informally named S1, S2, and S3 sequences,
from top to bottom. These three sequences are
believed to correlate to the previously identified regional transgressive sequences, i, j, and k, respectively, of Youle et al. (1994). The regional correlation of these late Atokan sequences suggests that
the producing sandstone at Norcan East is similar
in age to the reservoirs in Lexington field (40 km;
25 mi) southeast of Norcan East in Clark County,
and Stewart field located (75 km; 47 mi) northwest
of Norcan East in Finney County (Montgomery,
1996). These incised valleys are believed to reside
along depositional strike (Youle et al., 1994). A
series of northwest-southeastoriented barrier bars
described by Clark (1987, 1995) cross the shelf in
the Norcan East field area at locations that lie basinward from the maximum onlap of the individual
marine sequences described by Youle (1992). These
elongated sandstone trends may reflect sea level stillstands that provided additional time for relatively
stable local base-level conditions, encouraging sediment accumulation within the incised-valley system.
Norcan East Field Geology
Two cores from the Norcan East field, along with
two others from outside the field, were examined.
The basal S3 sequence is the most variable in thickness and fills the lower parts of the incised valley
(Figure 2, cross section). The lenticular, shaly sandstones encased in shale in the S3 sequence exhibit
low porosity and permeability and are not considered as reservoir rock. The overlying S2 sequence
contains the lenticular, relatively clean sandstone
that serves as the oil and gas reservoir. The upper
S1 sequence is a dense marine lime wackestone that
caps the incised valley, filling and overstepping the
valley wall. The S1 sequence probably also serves as
the hydrocarbon seal for this incised-valley-fill system at the Norcan East field. The sequence boundaries are abrupt and are recognized in core and
wire-line logs (Figure 3, type well log) as sharp-

based flooding or transgressive lithofacies overlying

an apparent erosion surface, which may represent
a ravinement surface similar to those observed in
Neogene estuaries (Thomas and Anderson, 1994;
Posamentier and Allen, 1999).
S2 Reservoir Rock Lithology
The lower part of the S2 sequence consists of soft
and dark-gray to black carbonaceous shale, interpreted to represent marine bay-fill mud. The overlying S2 reservoir sandstone comprises an upward
succession of three lithofacies that are laterally extensive and correlative across the field from west to
east. The lower sandstone unit is a fine-grained,
rounded to subrounded, quartzarenite sandstone
with low-angle planar cross-bedding (Figures 3, right
side; 4A). The base is bioturbated with centimeterscale smooth vertical and horizontal burrows and
contains small bivalves. This lower sandstone has
patchy calcspar cement and is interpreted to have been
deposited in a marine to tidal-estuarine environment.
The thin (13-ft [0.30.91-m]-thick) middle
unit is heterolithic, with equal fractions of very fineto fine-grained lenticular or flaser-bedded sandstone and dark shale with marine bioclasts (Figure 3,
right side). These sediments are interpreted to have
been deposited in a distal tidal-estuarine to a marinedominated bay environment. Although thin (12 ft
[0.30.61 m] thick), this lithofacies is laterally extensive and acts as a relatively lower permeability
flow zone.
The upper sandstone unit ranges in thickness
from 2 to 6 ft (0.6 to 1.8 m) and consists of very
fine-grained sandstone exhibiting flaser bedding,
bidirectional ripple cross-laminations, and reactivation surfaces (Figure 4B, C, D), strongly suggesting
tidal rhythmites (Archer et al., 1994). Cementation
is primarily quartz overgrowth, with lesser carbonate cement and minor clay. The upper surface of this
sandstone exhibits a sharp contact with the overlying marine lime wackestone, interpreted as a marine transgression overlying a ravinement surface.
Although no subaerial exposure is recognized on the
upper sandstone surface, thin sections reveal probable in-situ caliche nodules and dispersed pyrite
within the sandstone, suggestive of subaerial exposure prior to the marine transgression (Figure 4D).
Bhattacharya et al.

713

714
Geohorizons
Figure 2. Wire-line-log cross section showing flow unit distribution. Three depositional sequences (S1 S3) are delineated by flooding surfaces (wavy lines). The left track of logs
includes a gamma-ray curve that is color enhanced. The middle track is neutron and density porosity, and the right track (black curve filled with red) is flow unit speed (ratio of
cumulative permeability-feet percent and cumulative porosity-feet percent). Datum is top of sequence S1. S3 is predominantly shale and siltstone within the valley, S2 has extensive
sandstone accumulation, and S1 is primarily marine limestone that oversteps the incised valley. The flow units identified in S2 are demarked in green, blue, and purple. Relative depths
are in feet.

Figure 3. Type log from Murfin Drilling Company 1-3 Patton well located in Sec. 3, T30S, R25W, Clark County, Kansas, illustrated
with colored gamma ray (GR) in the left track, neutron (NPHI) and density porosity (DPHI) and photoelectric (PEF) curve in the
middle track, and flow unit speed (FUS, i.e., ratio of cumulative permeability-feet percent and cumulative porosity-feet percent) in the
right track. Core description of the S2 interval is shown. Selected photographs of core slabs illustrate major lithofacies in flow units
including (A) 5321.3 ft (1621.93 m), upper flow unit (bidirectional ripple cross-lamination, reactivation surfaces, rhythmic shale
laminations, and flaser bedding); (B) 5322.5 ft (1622.29 m), middle flow unit (flaser bedded and lenticular sandstone in shale); and
(C) 5327.5 ft (1623.82 m), lower flow unit (highly bioturbated sandstone). Core widths = 3.95 in. (10.0 cm).

This correlative division of the S2 interval suggests that these were deposited in response to a
higher frequency (fifth-order) relative sea level rise
and fall. These three divisions, with contrasting rock
petrophysical properties, partition the S2 pay interval into distinct flow units. The sandstones of
the S2 sequence form lobate subunits with geometries suggesting tidal bars with sediments that may
have been locally derived from smaller tributaries
located along the flanks of the main incised valley
(Watney et al., in press). Secondary sources of sediments from tributaries appear to be important in an

underfilled valley setting like this and have been

noted in the upper Pennsylvanian Tonganoxie Sandstone Member deposit in eastern Kansas (Archer
et al., 1994).
Field History
At the peak of production, the Norcan East field
had 22 producing wells, of which 15 were located
in the unitized western section. The Ladd Petroleum 1-8 Norton discovery well, completed in September 1980, tested 157 BOPD and 120 MCFPD.
Bhattacharya et al.

715

Figure 4. Thin-section photomicrographs of lower and upper flow units of S2 in Murfin Drilling Company 1-3 Patton well. (A) Patton
5327.3 ft (1623.76 m) (lower flow unit): bivalve in quartz sandstone. (B) Fine-grained sandstone with millimeter-shaly laminations
(Patton 5320.1 ft [1621.56 m], upper flow unit). Blue epoxy impregnated under cross nicols. The scale bar (1 mm; 0.03 in.) is in the
lower left. (C) Patton 5321.8 ft (1622.08 m): quartose sandstone (lower upper flow unit). (D) Patton 5321.8 ft (1622.08 m) (lower
upper flow unit): caliche nodule (microcrystalline calcite) containing displaced sand grains suggesting in-situ formation. Blue epoxy
impregnation under cross nicols. Porosity developed on the right and bottom of the photomicrograph. Scale bar shown is 1.0 mm
(0.03 in.) long.

Primary production without any pressure support

commenced in November 1982. By 1994, the field
had produced 0.72 MMBO and 2.6 bcf, and the
daily rate had dropped to slightly greater than 20
BOPD. The field was unitized in 1994, and a
water-injection program was initiated in January
1995 at two producing wells to slow production
decline in the western section of the field. Welllevel fluid production histories show that no water
was produced pre-1995, and breakthrough of injected water occurred at different times during the
post-1995 period.
716

Geohorizons

Pay Identification
Wells in the Norcan East field were drilled between 1983 and 1985 and, thus, have similar vintage wire-line logs that were analyzed using Archie
parameters tabulated in Table 1. The field boundary is delineated by a series of dry and abandoned
(D and A) wells that are interpreted from log responses to be dry due the absence of the productive
S2 sandstone interval. Petrophysical cutoff parameters (porosity cutoff = 0.1, water saturation cutoff =
0.5, and gamma-ray index [GRI] cutoff = 0.3)

Table 1. Parameters Used as Inputs to the Reservoir Simulator

along with Archie Constants Used in Analyzing Well Logs

ROCK PETROPHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Initial pressure, psi

Reservoir drive
Bubble point, psi

1700 (from drillstem test)

Solution gas
1600 (estimated)

Archie parameters
m
n
a
R w, ohm m

1.74 (from core plugs)

2
1.08
0.04

As noted above, the Atokan sandstones at Norcan

East principally represent lithofacies associated with
brackish-water, tidally dominated restricted tidalflat, tidal-channel, and tidal-bar and estuary bay environments. Byrnes et al. (2001) and Castle and
Byrnes (2005) discussed the rock petrophysical property differences among the wide range of lithofacies
characteristic of the entire assemblage of lithofacies present in the estuarine model and exhibited
by Morrow Formation sandstones. Unlike for the
Morrow Formation, few studies have specifically
addressed the petrophysical properties of the more
limited range of lithologies present in the Atokan
sandstones (Montgomery, 1996). The limited range
of lithofacies at Norcan East provides a window into
how subtle lithologic variations influence petrophysical properties and how to identify these variations for petrophysical prediction.
Routine and advanced petrophysical properties
were measured on two cores from the Norcan East
field, i.e., Murfin Drilling Company 1-3 Patton
and Murfin Drilling Company 2-12 Statton. Fulldiameter core analysis data were available for four
wells within and on the perimeter of the Norcan
East field: Murfin Drilling Company 2-12 Statton,
Murfin Drilling Company 1-3 Patton, Ladd Petroleum 1-17 Widner, and Ladd Petroleum 1-16 Fager.

discriminating the 22 productive wells from the

12 D and A wells, located in and around the field,
were used to determine net pay in producing wells.
As expected, plots of cumulative oil and gas production against hydrocarbon-porosity-feet (i.e.,
net pay  porosity  [1  Swlog]) in net pay at
each well showed a positive correlation (Figure 5).
The correlations are significant at 95%, based on a
t-test; however, the R 2 values do not fully explain
the variability in cumulative production. Other dependencies include drainage area permeability, gas
saturation and pressure around the well at the time
of drilling, and the quality of well completion. The
distribution of S2 pay isopach is shown in Figure 6.
Based on the cutoff parameters, the S1 and S3 sequences that bound S2 do not contain pay intervals.

Figure 5. Positive correlation between

hydrocarbon production and hydrocarbonporosity-feet (pay thickness  porosity 
[1  water saturation]) in net pay identified in the Norcan East field wells is
evident from respective R 2 values. The
filled triangles represent the cumulative
oil produced, whereas the unfilled circles
represent the cumulative gas estimated
to have been produced at each of the
wells in the Norcan East field.

Bhattacharya et al.

717

Figure 6. S2 net-pay isopach map of the Norcan East field. The thickness is expressed in feet, and the square grid is 1 mi (1.61 km)
on a side. The S2 sandstone is limited to confines of the incised valley, and two discrete sandstone accumulations (an eastern and a
western lobe) are visible.

Petrophysical properties measured included routine

helium porosity and pore-volume compressibility,
routine and in-situ Klinkenberg permeability (liquid equivalent), irreducible brine saturation, drainage capillary pressure, in-situ formation resistivity
factor and cementation exponent analysis, and oilwater imbibition relative permeability.

dicates that confining pressure exerts less influence

on porosity as the total porosity of the rock increases.
Pore-volume compressibility at reservoir conditions averages 6 2  10  6 psi  1 (4.1 1.3 
10  8 MPa) for sandstones with f = 16 4%.

Grain Density and Porosity

In-situ Klinkenberg permeabilities (k i) range from

0.04 to 210 md in the sandstones analyzed in this
investigation. Permeability in the sandstones is a
function of several variables, including porosity, porethroat size, grain size (which controls pore size), bed
architecture, and clay content. The most readily measured variable for prediction of permeability is porosity (Figure 7). Full-diameter and corresponding
plug permeabilities are statistically similar.

The average grain density, measured on available

cores, is 2.65 0.02 g/cm3 (at 1 standard deviation)
consistent with the quartzarenite composition. Routine (unconfined) helium porosity (fHe) values range
from 5.8 to 23.2% among the samples studied. Insitu porosity values (finsitu) can be estimated using
finsitu = (0.67fHe + 0.85)fHe. This relationship in718

Geohorizons

Permeability

Figure 7. Crossplot of in-situ Klinkenberg

permeability (k i) versus in-situ porosity
(finsitu) for Atokan sandstones of various
lithofacies and clay content from the Norcan
East field. Values are shown parametrically
with general wire-line-log gamma-ray index
(GRI) class, GRI = 1020 (black-filled square),
2030 (unfilled square), 3040 (diamond),
and 40 50 (black-filled triangle). Trend lines
were constructed using log10k i = 14.6finsitu
 0.052GRI + 0.73 for GRI values of 15,
25, 35, and 45, corresponding to the midpoint
of each GRI class range.

Within the estuarine and tidal lithofacies, grain

size is relatively consistent, whereas fine-scale bedding architecture is a principal control on permeability. The permeability decreases at any given porosity
with increasing silt or shale laminae, which are present in architectures that create series-flow baffles
or barriers to flow (e.g., progressing from massive
bedded to planar to cross-bedded to ripple). Thus,
permeability increases with increasing porosity and
decreasing shaliness. Because details of lithofacies
are not available for most (noncored) wells in the
field, a proxy for shaliness using gamma ray was developed. A high degree of correlation between observed core shaliness and GRI indicated that GRI
is representative of the shaliness of the core samples
and could therefore be used in permeability prediction. Interestingly, note that mean porosity tends to
decrease slightly with decreasing shaliness. This may
be caused by greater quartz cementation or better
sorting and packing. Permeability was predicted

using the following relation, determined through

multivariate linear regression analysis (Figure 7):
log10 ki 14:6finsitu  0:052 GRI 0:73

where k i is the in-situ Klinkenberg permeability

(md), and finsitu is the in-situ porosity (fraction).
The standard error of prediction for this equation
is a factor of 3.4 (e.g., a predicted permeability of 1
md might be 3.4 or 0.3 md).
Water Saturation and Capillary Pressure
Fluid saturations in the Norcan East field can be
determined from both electrical wire-line-log interpretation and from capillary-pressure data. Both
methods were employed. Air-mercury and air-brine
capillary-pressure analysis was performed on a select set of samples of variable porosity, permeability, and shaliness. Laboratory capillary pressures
Bhattacharya et al.

719

were converted to reservoir capillary pressures

(Purcell, 1949; Berg, 1975) and to hydrocarboncolumn heights (Hubbert, 1953; Berg, 1975). The
capillary-pressure curves show a standard relationship of increasing threshold entry pressure with
decreasing permeability that is consistent with decreasing pore-throat size with decreasing permeability. Irreducible wetting phase saturations increase with decreasing permeability. The more
permeable cores exhibit transition zones of only
several feet, whereas the least permeable cores exhibit transition zones of 2030 ft (6.19.1 m).
To provide capillary-pressure curves for the reservoir simulation, it was necessary to develop a model that could construct a unique capillary-pressure
curve for any permeability. Equations to construct
generalized capillary-pressure curves were formulated using relationships evident from the entry pressures in the air-mercury capillary-pressure curves
and the air-mercury capillary-pressure curve shapes,
and from the saturations evident in the air-brine
capillary-pressure analysis. Entry pressure, or the
first pressure at which wetting phase desaturation
begins, exhibits a strong correlation with permeability and can be predicted using
Pcowentry 1:311 log10 ki 3:364

where Pcowentry is the oil-water entry pressure

(psi), and k i is the in-situ Klinkenberg permeability (md).
To model the changing capillary curve shape
with decreasing permeability, an empirical function
was developed that predicted curve shape from k i:
Pcow Pcowentry ePcaPcb Sw

where Sw is percent water saturation, and Pca and

Pcb are empirical terms used to model capillary
pressure (Pc) and are calculated as follows:
Pca 1:363 log10 ki 9:64
Pcb  0:29 log10 k3i 0:85 log10 k2i
 0:644 log10 ki  0:852
720

Geohorizons

Figure 8. Drainage capillary pressure curves for the Norcan

East field Atokan sandstones of various permeability constructed
using equations 2 5 in the text. Curves exhibit commonly
observed trends of increasing threshold entry pressure, increasing transition interval height, and increasing irreducible
water saturation with decreasing permeability. Conversion of
capillary pressure to equivalent approximate oil column height
above free-water level assumed a water-specific gravity of 1.08
and oil-specific gravity of 0.704 as measured from field fluid
samples.

This modeling approach represents a modification of the Brooks-Corey power-law equation,

where the log10Pc-versus-log10Sw relationship is
represented by a straight line (Brooks and Corey,
1966). The curvature evident in this capillarypressure model reflects the sharp increase in capillary pressure associated with diagenetic clay and
silt or shale laminae that exhibit different capillarypressure properties than the adjacent or contained
fine- to very fine-grained sandstone. This heterogeneity effectively requires that the model handle
a shift from one capillary-pressure curve to another
as water saturation decreases. Using the above equations, capillary-pressure curves (Figure 8) were constructed for each 0.5-ft (0.15-m) interval within
net pay using the permeability calculated from the
log porosity and GRI.

Relative Permeability
Relative permeabilities (kro and krw) are critical
inputs for reservoir-simulation studies. A previous
study of Atokan sandstone cores provided oil-water
imbibition relative permeability curves for six cores.
Relative permeability curves were approximately
modeled using the following modified Corey (1954)
equations:

vides a tool for testing the predicted fine-scale

permeability. However, two limitations exist for
this methodology: SwPc requires that the correct
FWL be provided, and the predicted permeability
may be in error because of the variance in the
permeability-prediction relationship(s). These limitations can be minimized by the iterative solution
that both test the model and refine the final predicted permeability.

kro kroSwi 1  SwD p

Estimation of Free-Water Level

krw krwSorw SwD q

SwD Sw  Swc=1  Sorw  Swc

A key input in estimating water saturation using a

capillary-pressure formulation is the depth of the
FWL, which is normally determined both by integrating log-calculated water saturations with capillarypressure information and by the structural position
and depth of dry (i.e., water-saturated) wells. In
many fields like Norcan East, no water was recovered in drillstem tests (DSTs), and no water production was reported during the primary production.
Also, an identifiable water-saturated S2 interval is
not evident on logs, indicating that the reservoir is
above or near the top of the capillary transition
zone where the Swlog is near irreducible water
saturation and, thus, less sensitive to height above
the FWL. In addition, the dry and abandoned wells
surrounding the field are unproductive because of
the absence of S2 sand and not because of being
below the FWL. Figure 9 plots the water saturation (Swlog) versus the subsea depth from the top
of S2 to the bottom of the logged interval in each
well. It shows that the Swlog values at different
wells approach or equal 1 at varying subsea depths
ranging between 2735 and 2760 ft (834 and
841 m) (subsea), and that, in some wells, the
wire-line logs stopped recording before reaching
the FWL depth range. The height above the FWL
where the Swlog values approach or equal 1 is dependent on the capillary entry pressure, i.e., on the
pore-size character of the rock. Because Figure 9
plots data from the S2 zone and below, it is difficult to determine the location of the fieldwide FWL
within the above depth range without knowing the
capillary character of the rock.
An estimate of the possible depth range of the
FWL was performed using saturation-height

where all saturations are expressed in fractional

units: Sw = water saturation; Swc = critical water
saturation where water flow is negligible; Sorw =
residual oil saturation to waterflood; kroSwi = effective permeability to oil at Swi (md); krwSorw = the
effective permeability to water at residual oil saturation, p = oil relative permeability exponent, and
q = water relative permeability exponent. Average
values for key variables were Swc = Sw at 75 ft (23 m)
oil-column height, Sorw = 0.05log10k i + 0.32,
kroSwi = 1, krwSorw = 0.22, p = 1.5, and q = 2.

PERMEABILITY AND FREE-WATER

LEVEL ESTIMATION
The rock petrophysical relations provided the tools
for predicting permeability, capillary pressure, and
consequent capillary-pressurepredicted water saturation (SwPc) at every 0.5-ft (0.15-m) interval in
the net pay from well-log porosity and GRI with an
input of a free-water level (FWL; the level at which
the capillary pressure is zero). Two independent
sources of predicted water saturation exist: the rockproperty-based SwPc and a wire-line-electric-log
calculated water saturation (Swlog ). If the predicted
permeability and corresponding capillary-pressure
relations are correct and the correct FWL is input,
then SwPc should equal Swlog (with appropriate
resolution of scale). Where reliable Swlog values are
available, the correlation of Swlog and SwPc pro-

Bhattacharya et al.

721

Figure 9. Plot of wire-line-log derived

water saturation with subsea depth starting from the top of the S2 pay and until
the bottom of the logged interval at each
well in the Norcan East field. Colors represent saturation profiles of different
wells. In some wells, the logs stop before
saturation gets to or near 1, whereas at
others, the saturation reaches or is close
to 1 at different subsea depths.

methodologies reviewed by Worthington (2002)

and described by others (e.g., Alger et al., 1989;
Ding and Pham, 2003). At every 0.5 ft (0.15 m)
in the net pay at each well, the height above
FWL (H AFWL) was estimated from the capillarypressure formulation corresponding to the initial
permeability estimate (at 0.5-ft [0.15-m] intervals
using equation 1) and the wire-line-logmeasured
Swlog. This resulted in an FWL estimate for every

Figure 10. Histogram (black-filled

triangles) of estimated subsea freewater level depths calculated using the
capillary-pressure formulation and
inputs of initial permeability estimates
and the wire-line-log derived water
saturation values at 0.5-ft (0.15-m)
intervals. The cumulative frequency
plot of the same data is shown by
squares connected by a broken line.

722

Geohorizons

0.5-ft (0.15-m) interval. A histogram (with bin

sizes of 10 ft [3 m]) of these FWLs showed that the
fieldwide FWL was located (most probably) between 2730 and 2760 ft (832 and 841 m)
subsea (Figure 10). The spread of the depth range
for the estimated FWL is caused by (1) limited
water saturation sensitivity caused by significant
changes in H AFWL for reservoir intervals near or
above the transition zone, (2) variance in predicted

Figure 11. Flowchart

showing the sequence of
steps for permeability
validation and refinement
by iteratively reconciling
the water saturation calculated from the wire-line
log with that estimated
from the capillary-pressure
formulation. The writing
in italics represents the
equations and assumptions specific to this study,
whereas the normal font
represents actions that
are generic to the validation and refinement process and applicable
universally. FWL = freewater level; FU = flow
unit; DST = drillstem test;
SD = standard deviation.

permeability-porosity relationships, and (3) scale

of investigation issues related to Swlog and the
0.5-ft (0.15-m) scale SwPc predicted using capillary
pressure. Records indicate that wells with perforations as deep as 2753 ft (839 m) (subsea)

lacked water production, which narrowed the FWL

depth range to 2754 to 2760 ft ( 839 to
841 m) (subsea). Figure 10 shows that the estimated FWLs exhibit a normal distribution confirming that probable FWL depth range honors
Bhattacharya et al.

723

Figure 12. Crossplot of average (black-filled squares) and

standard deviation (gray-filled circles) of absolute saturation
errors versus assumed free-water level (subsea). Absolute saturation errors were calculated as the absolute difference between
wire-line-log calculated water saturation (Swlog) and capillary
model-calculated saturation (SwPc). Average represents averaging values calculated at 0.5-ft (0.15-m) intervals in net pay at all
wells. Minimum in average absolute error occurs between  2756
and  2758 ft (  840 and  841 m), and minimum standard
deviation occurs near 2758 ft (841 m). Based on both minima,
free-water level was estimated to be near 2758 ft (841 m).

the constraints of the stratigraphy and structure

of the trap and is consistent with hydrocarboncolumn heights frequently exhibited by reservoirs
in the region.
Permeability Validation and Refinement by Iterative
Swlog-SwPc Reconciliation
Permeability estimation using equation 1 is constrained to a standard error of a factor of 3.4. To
improve this estimation, additional independent
information has to be added. Equations developed
by Timur (1968), Coates and Dumanoir (1974),
Coates and Denoo (1981), and Yao and Holditch
(1993) recognize and use electric-log-measured water saturation for this purpose. The Timur (1968),
Coates and Dumanoir (1974), and Coates and
724

Geohorizons

Denoo (1981) equations use irreducible water saturation, Swi, and the relationship between permeability and Swi but, because they use Swi, are limited
to the region of the reservoir above the transition
zone. The Yao and Holditch (1993) equation uses
porosity, GRI, and deep and shallow electric log
response, potentially improving on information provided only by deep resistivity, but implicitly requiring that the reservoir be near fixed saturation,
which frequently would be Swi. The methodology
employed here (Figure 11) uses the variable saturation information including Swi and Sw down to
the FWL by implicitly requiring a capillary-pressure
relationship.
For each 0.5-ft (0.15-m) interval within net
pay at each well, starting with an estimated permeability (equation 1), estimated capillary-pressure
curve (equations 2 and 3), and an FWL, the resulting
SwPc was compared with the corresponding Swlog.
Assuming that the difference between SwPc and
Swlog (DSwPc-log) is caused by an error in the predicted permeability, then DSwPc-log can be reduced
by simply adjusting the predicted permeability.
Unconstrained, this approach could theoretically
provide a perfect match between SwPc and Swlog
(DSwPc-log = 0) simply by selecting a potentially
unrealistic permeability that exhibited the necessary capillary-pressure curve. However, assuming
that the variance for equation 1, which is constrained to a standard error of a factor of 3.4, is representative of the population, then the allowable
permeability adjustment should reflect the statistical distribution associated with equation 1. Under
this constraint, for example, approximately 66%
of the samples could be adjusted between 0 and
1 standard deviation (i.e., k/3.4 to 3.4k), and no
more than approximately 33% of all samples should
be adjusted by greater than 1 and less than 2 standard deviations. Using this methodology, permeability is adjusted to obtain DSwPc-log < X (where
X = 0 or X = selected maximum acceptable difference, i.e., 2.5% in this study). Where DSwPc-log
< X cannot be achieved, permeability is set to the
minimum or maximum value statistically allowed,
which would provide the minimum achievable
value for DSwPc-log. This methodology provides
optimum reconciliation of SwPc and Swlog by

provided satisfactory SwPc  Swlog reconciliation within DSwPc-log < 2.5%. This also allowed
the calculations to be performed in a spreadsheet
environment.
The above procedure provided an improvement
in permeability estimation at the 0.5-ft (0.15-m) scale
for a given FWL. Thereafter, the average, and standard deviations in saturation errors were calculated
for net pay in all the wells. Following Figure 11, this
process was repeated by varying the FWL in 1-ft
(0.30-m) increments within the previously predicted depth range (2754 to 2760 ft [839 to
841 m] subsea), and reconciling DSwPc-log < 2.5% by
permeability adjustment. A plot (Figure 12) of
the average and standard deviation of DSwPc-log
against the corresponding FWL shows that a fieldwide FWL of 2758 ft (841 m) (subsea) results in
the least saturation errors, i.e., 76% of the saturation errors were less than 4%. Figure 13A illustrates a histogram of DSwPc-log values calculated
at 0.5-ft (0.15-m) intervals for all wells, whereas
Figure 13B illustrates the correlation between SwPc
and Swlog values in the net pay at each well using
an FWL of 2758 ft (841 m) (subsea). The above
procedure validated and refined the permeability distribution in the net pay for flow unit modeling and also helped determine the fieldwide FWL
depth.

FLOW UNIT MODELING USING SML METHOD

Figure 13. (A) Histogram of the water saturation error as calculated by the difference between wire-line-logcalculated water
saturation (Swlog) and capillary model-calculated water saturations (SwPc; assuming a free-water level of  2758 ft [ 841 m]).
More than 76% of water saturation errors are less than 0.04
(i.e., 4%). (B) Crossplot of wire-line-logcalculated water saturation (Swlog) versus capillary model-calculated water saturation
(SwPc) for all 0.5-ft (0.15-m) intervals in the net pay intervals of
all wells after validation and refinement of permeability for an
estimated free-water level depth of  2758 ft (  841 m).

adjusting and/or refining the permeability value.

In practice, at Norcan East, simple selection from
a low, medium, and high permeability value based
on 1 standard deviation (i.e., k/3.4, k, and 3.4k)

Flow units are considered to be continuous intervals with similar reservoir process speed or flow
rates (Gunter et al., 1997a) and are arranged according to stratigraphic sequence. Ideally, flow units
are confined to a sequence-stratigraphic unit and
within the structural framework (Pranter and Hurley,
2004). Judicious choice of flow units may reduce
or eliminate the necessity to upscale geological models for reservoir simulation. As summarized earlier,
many methods for flow unit determination exist. In
this study, the SML plot was used to delineate flow
units. In this procedure, cumulative percent flow
capacity is plotted against cumulative percent storage capacity over the net pay interval. On this plot,
flow units are differentiated by slope inflections.
Bhattacharya et al.

725

Figure 14. (A) Plot of cumulative

permeability-feet percent versus cumulative porosity-feet percent for Murfin
Drilling Company 4-10 Tedford well located in Sec. 10, T30S, R25W, Clark
County, Kansas. Inflection points are indicative of the different flow units (speed
zones) present in the net pay interval
of this well. (B) Depth plot of flow unit
speed (FUS), i.e., ratio of cumulative
permeability-feet percent and cumulative
porosity-feet percent, shows that FUS =
0.6 corresponds to the inflection points
separating the high-speed zones from
the slower zones (as seen in A).

Such a plot was constructed for every well to reveal

a vertical variation in flow capacity with unit storage, with flow units characterized by unique slope
lines or process speeds. The slope-of-flowversus
storage-capacity plot determines whether the flow
unit is a reservoir, baffle, or seal (Rushing and
Newsham, 2001).
To construct an SML plot for each well, the
following steps were performed:
1. Tabulated porosity-feet and permeability-feet

for each 0.5-ft (0.15-m) interval were expressed

as percentage of the total porosity-feet and
permeability-feet, summed over the entire net
pay zone.
726

Geohorizons

2. Cumulative porosity-feet percent and cumula-

tive permeability-feet percent were calculated

for every 0.5 ft (0.15 m) of pay.
3. A log of flow unit speed (FUS) was generated by
plotting the ratio of cumulative permeability-feet
percent and cumulative porosity-feet percent
against subsea depth.
This process normalized the absolute porosityfeet and permeability-feet values, estimated at every
0.5-ft (0.15-m) interval, as a percentage of total
porosity-feet and permeability-feet summed over the
net pay interval at every well. Thus, for each 0.5 ft
(0.15 m), the calculated porosity- and permeabilitypercent value is indicative of its relative contribution

Figure 15. History match of fluid production from the western segment of the Norcan East field. The green circles and line represent
the historic oil rate and that calculated by the simulator, whereas the red diamonds and line represent the historic gas production and that
calculated by the simulator. The blue triangles and line represent the historic water production rates and that calculated by the simulator.

to the total storage and flow capacity of the whole

pay interval. Figure 14A shows a plot of cumulative permeability-feet percent versus cumulative
porosity-feet percent for the Murfin Drilling Company 4-10 Tedford well. The inflection points on
the curve indicate that the pay zone contains three

flow units. The slope of the line segment for each

flow unit correlates with the flow performance of
the pay zone (Cortez and Corbett, 2005). A segment with relatively steep slope, such as the flow
unit in the middle (Figure 14A), represents a reservoir layer that has greater flow capacity per unit

Figure 16. History match between

simulator-calculated water injection volumes (black line) and the historic volumes
of injected water (black circles) at injection wells in the western segment of the
Norcan East field. The broken black line
and the black-filled squares represent
the simulator-calculated field pressure history and that recorded from drillstem test
(DST) shut-in pressures at six wells in the
field.

Bhattacharya et al.

727

storage, i.e., has a higher process speed, than segments below and above it that are characterized by
relatively flatter slopes. Segments with steeper
slopes can be considered as high-speed (fast) zones,
whereas those with less steep slopes are considered
baffles (low-speed zones). Segments with horizontal slopes have zero process speeds and act as barriers because their storage volumes contribute negligibly to flow. High-flow (fast) and baffle zones
were identified within the pay zone in the western
part of the Norcan East field.
Figure 14B is a plot of the FUS log in Murfin
Drilling Company 4-10 Tedford well. The thickness
of the high-speed zone on the SML plot (5307
5311 ft; 16181619 m) is shown by the doubleheaded arrow (FUS > 0.6). This zone is bounded
vertically by two low-speed zones with an FUS <
0.6. Similar SML plots and FUS logs were created
for all the wells in the study area to subdivide the
pay into flow units. Water injection and breakthrough histories, especially of injection-production
pairs, were considered while tracing the lateral
continuity of each flow unit. An east-west cross
section across the model area showing the various
flow units (shown in different colors, i.e., green,
blue, and purple) is nested within the S2 sand is
shown in Figure 2.

RESERVOIR SIMULATION
Isopach (Figure 6) and structure maps of Norcan
East reveal that the unitized western section is
physically separate from the eastern section. For
this reason, and because of the availability of primary and secondary production data, flow unit modeling and simulation were confined to the western
section. A three-dimensional flow unitbased geomodel was constructed using mean log-measured
porosities, arithmetically upscaled refined permeabilities as discussed above, and upscaled water
saturations. Relative permeability relations followed
equations 46. Table 1 lists other important inputs
to the simulator model. To test the interwell and
field-scale validity of the predicted permeabilities,
flow simulation was performed for the reservoir
geomodel to determine whether performance his728

Geohorizons

tory matches of primary and secondary production

could be obtained without permeability modifications. Success in such an attempt would demonstrate the robustness of both the iterative permeability validation technique and also the practical
applicability of a geomodel based on flow units defined using the predicted permeability profiles.
Primary production from the Norcan East field
was by solution gas drive beginning above bubble
point with no significant water production. The
field underwent rapid decline in reservoir pressure
because of production without any external pressure support. Based on available data, the best estimated value for initial pressure was 1700 psi
(11.7 MPa) with a bubble point of approximately
1600 psi (11.03 MPa). Typical of solution-gas
driven reservoirs, gas production rose rapidly with
the onset of oil production decline and then declined during the later years of primary production.
The thickness, porosity, water saturation, and permeability of each flow unit at each well were input
into the reservoir simulator (IMEX of Computer
Modeling Group Ltd.), and results were mapped.
Producing wells were set on rate-control mode to
match known monthly oil production rates, requiring the flow simulator to calculate bottom-hole
flowing pressure, gas production, and water production. Consistent with the transition from primary
to secondary, the Ladd Petroleum 1-4 Goeller and
Murfin Drilling Company 1-3 Patton wells were
set as producers prior to January 1995 and converted to injectors in January 1995. After 1995,
these wells were set to inject the recorded volumes
of water monthly.
Production data up to August 1999 were available for this study. The field performance history
was successfully matched (Figure 15) without any
permeability adjustments in the flow simulator.
Changes to the relative permeability exponents, p
and q, were required to balance gas-oil-water production ratios. These changes are anticipated because the laboratory-measured relative permeability
curves do not necessarily represent the influence
of heterogeneity introduced by large-scale bedding
architecture. Simulator-calculated oil rates match
the historic oil volumes for most of the life of the
field until near the very end of the life of the field

in 1997. The gas production rates calculated by the

simulator are slightly higher than those recorded
immediately after 1985. One of the reasons for this
may be the underreporting of gas production during
the first few years of production because gas was
flared because of the absence of a pipeline infrastructure. As recorded in field production records,
simulator output also shows little to no water production before the onset of water injection. The
simulator results match the water breakthrough
and the monthly production rates thereafter reasonably well.
Like in many mid-continent fields, reservoir
pressure was not surveyed on a regular basis, and
therefore, it is difficult to develop an accurate pressure decline profile over the life of the field. Lacking
regular fieldwide pressure surveys, DSTs were the
only source for reservoir pressure decline information. The simulator-calculated reservoir pressure
was close to the available DST shut-in pressures.
The perfect match between simulator-calculated
and historically recorded water-injection volumes
reaffirmed the porosity and permeability distributions of the flow units in the drainage area of the
injector wells (Figure 16). The ability of the simulator to produce and inject historic rates of oil, gas,
and water while undergoing a pressure decline close
to that recorded by DSTs supports the interpretation that the storage and flow capacity distribution in the flow unit model is representative of the
reservoir.

channel, tidal-bar, and estuary bay environments.

This more limited range in lithofacies provided
data that illustrate the important influences of finescale bedding architecture on petrophysical properties, including permeability and capillary pressure.
The following are the major conclusions from
this study:
1. The utility of using GRI as a proxy for increasing

2.

3.

4.

CONCLUSIONS
5.

The Norcan East field offers a good case study that

explores how predicted permeability at logged but
uncored wells can be validated on a foot-by-foot
basis by reconciling log and core data. Such validated permeability profiles form the basis of a robust flow unitbased geomodel critical to simulating field performance. Lithofacies within this
Atokan-aged field do not represent the complete
tripartite assemblage that characterizes the more
sediment-rich Morrow Formation sandstones, but
are interpreted to have been deposited in brackishwater tidally dominated restricted tidal-flat, tidal-

shaly bedding was demonstrated by developing

an equation involving porosity and GRI to predict permeability at 0.5-ft (0.15-m) intervals.
The generalized capillary-pressure equation,
constructed for the bimodal pore systems, provided an accurate prediction of foot-by-foot
water saturation, and the permeability-capillary
pressure relationship was sufficiently accurate
to allow the refinement of permeability based
on observed log-measured water saturations.
Given the log-derived saturation (Swlog) and
predicted permeability at every 0.5 ft (0.15 m),
the capillary-pressure formulation was able to
predict the estimated depth range for the fieldwide FWL, which correlated with depths at which
Swlog approached 1.
A spreadsheet-based technique was demonstrated to successfully test and refine predicted
permeability at the 0.5-ft (0.15-m) scale by the
iterative resolution of the differences between
Swlog and capillary-pressure-derived saturation
(SwPc) at different depths within the FWL range.
This methodology provides a tool to generate
a validated permeability profile at logged but
uncored wells and also confirm fieldwide FWL.
Using the refined permeability profiles, flow
units were delineated within the net pay at all
wells in the Norcan East field. Simulation studies
on this flow unit-based geomodel resulted in
history matching both primary- and secondaryfield performances without permeability modifications. This efficient history matching would
not have occurred without the validation and
fine-tuning of the permeability distribution.

This study of the unitized section of the Norcan

East field outlines a procedure to validate and refine
the permeability distribution in the pay interval
Bhattacharya et al.

729

at all logged wells irrespective of core availability

and demonstrated that a robust flow unit model
developed using these permeability profiles is efficient in history matching primary- and secondaryfield performances. The methodologies discussed
should prove useful in other reservoirs.

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