Effects of clay minerals on reservoir quality: a case study of western South Caspian Basin

Abstract

Clay minerals like kaolinite, smectite, illite, chlorite are widespread in oil and gas targeted rocks. The mineralogical composition is significant, especially when it comes to clay, which has many components that are particularly appealing to petroleum engineers. Clay minerals are believed to be damaging to the quality of sandstone reservoirs because they can block pore throats by creating films, plates, and bridges on the grain surface, and some clay minerals increase chemical compaction. Porosity and permeability are the two most important parameters of reservoir quality. The influence of clay minerals on reservoir quality is thoroughly summarized in this work. Despite the fact that there have been several reports concerning the use of clay minerals in oil and gas exploration. So far, only a small amount of research has been done on the description of clay minerals from the perspective of reservoir performance. There are some studies done before concerning the distribution, classification, and origin of clay minerals in the South Caspian Basin. The goal of the study is to identify the effect of the detrital clay mineral on porosity and permeability in Lower Pliocene Productive Series sediments from the western South Caspian Basin. The Shah-Deniz gas field that is located in the South Caspian Sea, is the subject of our research. The Shah Deniz gas field is Azerbaijan's greatest natural gas field. Shah Deniz's field was studied by composing mineralogical composition of clay minerals and petrophysical data from the Fasila and Balakhany VIII.