SPE 69400
Permeability Calculations From Clustering Electrofacies Technique for the Petrophysical
Evaluation in La Pea and Tundy Oil Fields
Roberto Antelo, Andina S.A.(Repsol YPF), Omar Aguirre, Andina S.A. (Repsol YPF)
Copyright 2001, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.
analysis for each of the Facies. Finally some examples of the
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Latin American and Caribbean petrophysical evaluation and the calculated Electrofacies will
Petroleum Engineering Conference held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2528 March 2001.
also be visualized graphically and discussed here.
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Abstract
A relatively new technique has been applied for the purpose
of providing more accurate Permeability information and
identify rocks types with good fluid flow characteristics from
wireline logs data.
The study for which this technique was applied included wells
drilled over the last 30 years up to present. When you have a
wide range of logging tools and differences in logs scales or
presentations it becomes really difficult to identify the
existing facies on a depositional cycle just by following the
shape of the log curves. Even when you count with a
consistent or homogeneous log set of curves, the task of
identifying the different facies is often difficult.
The technique used applies the clustering K-Means 2
algorithm based on wireline logs characteristics to identify
the different Electrofacies. The Electrofacies found were very
useful to determine rock types with identifiable fluid flow
characteristics. Porosity/Permeabilty relationships were then
assigned to the various Electrofacies and used to calculate
permeabilties during the log analysis.
The method was applied for 79 wells from La Pea Field and
for the 9 wells from the Tundy field and proved to be very
successful in dealing with a wide heterogeneous range of
wireline log types when working on a multiwell field
petrophysical analysis. The application of this technique is
very simple if we look at the existing pattern recognition
software designed to identify facies that include the
complicated stochastic algorithms which usually requires the
operation of skilled users in order to obtain impressive results.
This paper presents a description of the clustering K-Means 2
algorithm used for the Electrofacies calculations and also
shows the permeabilities results obtained in the petrophysical
Introduction
The La Pea oilfield was discovered by the Bolivian Gulf Oil
Company in the sixties decade (1965) and the structure is
about 8 Km. long from north to south and 2 Km wide from
east to west. The La pea field has been producing oil for 35
years and the Oil Cummulative Production is 35.5 MMBBLS.
from La Pea and Bolivar sandstones. The related but
hydraulically isolated Tundy oilfield was discovered in 1992
for the State Bolivian Oil Company Y.P.F.B. and is located to
the north of La Pea field. To the present the Oil
Cummulative Production is over 2 MMBLS. only from the La
Pea sandstone. A total number of 82 wells in the La Pea
field and 11 wells in the Tundy field were drilled but only 13
wells are producers, 10 from the La pea sand and 1 from the
Bolivar sandstone.
The La Pea and Tundy oilfields are located east of Santa
Cruz de la Sierra Boliva and are on the eastern side of the
Andes orogenic influence (Fig. 1). The producing horizons
mainly belong to the Carboniferous San Telmo (La Pea
sandstone) and Escarpment (Bolivar sandstone) formations
(Fig 2). This sedimentary deposits are lithologically complex
and considered to have been deposited mainly in fluvial
environments.
Permeability data is not often an available data for each well
and in continuous depth intervals. The main objective of this
study was to obtain permeability data as accurate as possible
to have the most reasonable idea of the flow characteristics
around the entire fields to be used later in simulation study.
Clustering Analysis
Electrofacies analysis is a system for identifying rocks types
with similar properties out from wireline logs and then define
the reservoir rocks from the non reservoir rocks. Clustering is
the technique of grouping data with similar values and can
use any number of variables. The computer program used in
the cluster analysis for the electrofacies is an iterative statistic
software which uses the K-means method (see appendix for
details). In the analysis for the La Pea and Tundy fields the
electrofacies were determined in two phases:
Phase 1. Primarily as a first approach and to have an idea of
the best number of facies to be used in the software the
wireline logs data for only four wells (two of them with core
data available) were included. The edited and
2 ROBERO ANTELO, OMAR AGUIRRE
environmentally corrected log data (GR-RT-RXO) for wells
LP-2, LP-22, LP-67 and LP-70 through the La Pea Permeability Calculations
and Bolivar sandstones were loaded into the statistic software.
The K-means iterative technique was runned with different
number of clusters until the most stable and representative
value for the data set was found. Ten clusters with the
representative values for each cluster was the best fit to the
reservoirs analized (Table 1). From the total number of
clusters found five of which are sands (three probably at
irreducible water) and five non productive rock types (see
color GR vrs. RT and RXO cross plots in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4)
The others logs available such as Spontaneous Potential or
Porosity were not included in the iterations runs due to
specials log quality conditions:
The SP was reversing in most of the wells, and the GR
was available in the 90% of the wells, since radioactive
components were not observed this curve could work
properly as a shale indicator. The Induction logs were
available for the 97% of the wells and in statistics the
more quantity of data the better the adjustment will be.
The Porosity logs were badly affected by wash outs,
especially in the shalier zones and the sonic was only
available for a few wells.
Phase two. After the standard log evaluation was performed
the normalized log data for all the wells with core data (LP-
2, LP-9, LP-17, LP-22, LP-31, LP-39, LP-41, LP- using log data to distinguish rock types with different flow
57, LP-67, LP-70, LP-73, LP-74, TDY-5 and TDY-8) characteristics.
GR-RT-RXO but also the Water Saturation, Effective Porosity
and the Shale Volume were loaded into the software and again
several runs with different number of clusters were performed
and the results showed the same stable number of groups, but
different representative values for each cluster (Table 2). Six
productive facies and 4 non productive rocks types were found
(see color GR vrs. RT cross plot in Fig. 5)
Electrofacies Computations
The Electrofacies computations for each depth of a log
include two main steps. The first one iterates over each of the
defined electrofacies and the second one iterates over each of
the input curves. The models are set up to determine the
difference between the ideal value (the value most
characteristic of each curve in each facies as determined from
the facies computations) of a curve in each of the 10 possible
facies (Table 2) and its actual value at a given depth. The
differences for each curve are added and then the total is
divided by the number of curves used by the model. This
difference represents the error function of each facies defined
as:
Error X Wn Cn Ci Errorx =total deviation from the ideal facies,
Where: Errorx is the total deviation from the ideal facies x,
Wn is the normalization for curve n, Cn is the value of curve
n, and Ci is the ideal value of curve n in facies x.
The model then finds which facies has the smallest error
function and selects that facies for the depth being computed.
The facies chosen is recorded in the curve named FACIES for
use in later permeability calculations and for displaying the
electrofacies in cross sections.
SPE 69400
All the porosity and permeability data from basic core
analysis were loaded into the petrophysical interpretation
software. The LP-78 core data was used to calibrate the
ambient conditions porosity and permeability (available for
the rest of the wells) to the reservoirs conditions. Depth Shifts
respect the wire line logs data were applied to the core data .
The porosity and permeability data taken from basic core
analysis were plotted for each of the calculated electrofacies.
The trends for each electrofacies were calculated by
regression therefore the slope A and offset B were determined.
This slope A and offset B values were only assigned to the
productive facies hence the permeability was not calculated
for the non productive facies (Fig. 6). Then the permeability
for each depth was obtained applying the equation:
PERM Log 10
( A PHIE B )
to the Effective Porosity calculated from standard log
analysis. The permeability equation chosen at each depth was
determined by the electrofacies at that depth.
Conclusions
1.The technique applied to this study is very useful when
2. The permeability results using this technique shows a
better match to core data than using the usual regressing the
best fit of porosity and permeability.
3. Six productive (five of them probably at irreducible water)
and 4 non productive rock types were clearly determined from
the analysis when Shale Volume, Sw and Effective Porosity
were included in the clusters.
4. The technique performed a good job in dealing with a wide
range of logs type and tool technology (Scaling and Tool
Calibrations problems).
5. The technique is easy to apply if we look at the complicated
stochastic methods which usually require skilled and well
trained users.
6. Lithologic descriptions of the electrofacies are not
presented since the main objective of this study was to obtain
accurate permeability data and to distinguish the reservoirs
from the non reservoirs rocks types for the Petrophysical
Analysis. Later on in the further steps core facies descriptions
will be matched with the electrofacies to improve the
geological model.
Nomenclature
dimensionless
Wn =normalization for curve n, dimensionless
Cn =value of the curve n, dimensionless
Ci =ideal value of curve n in facies x, dimensionless
PERM =Permeability, md
A =slope value for each regressed facie,
dimensionless
B =offset value for each regressed facie,
dimensionless
PHIE =Effective Porosity, v/v
SPE 69400 PERMEABILITY CALCULATIONS FROM CLUSTERING ELECTROFACIES TECHNIQUE FOR THE PETROPHYSICAL EVALUATION IN
LA PEA AND TUNDY OIL FIELDS 3

SP =Spontaneous Potential, mv
GR =Gamma Ray, API units
RT =True Resistivity, Ohm-mt
RXO =Shallow Resistivity, Ohm-mt

Acknowledgments
We thank Robert Elphick and Ray Moore of Schlumberger-
Denver-CO for their support, orientation and expertise
provided to the realization of this study ; Hugo Araujo of
Repsol YPF-Argentina for his valuable comments and
discussions; Andina S.A. for supplying data and support.

References
1.Robert Elphick, David Carr, Ronald Johns and David Lancaster
A Deterministic Method for Calculting Facies from Wireline
Logs The Log Analyst, March-April 1996.
2. Robert Elphick and William Ray Moore Permeability
Calculations from Clustered Electrofacies, A Case Study in
Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela SPWLA 1999.
3.GR Internacional: Estudio Petrofsico Bsico Pozo LP-78,
(Abril 1999).
4.Core-Lab-CTP Estudios Petrofisicos varios pozos: LP-2, 22, 67,
70, 9, 17, 31, 39, 41, 57, 73, 74, TDY-5 y TDY-8 Archivos de
Andina S.A.

Appendix K Means Clustering

This is an iterative follow the leader strategy. First the user

must specify the number of clusters, K. Then a search
algorithm goes out and find K points in the data, called seeds,
that are not close to each other. Each seed is treated as a
cluster center. The routine then goes through the points and
assigns each point to the cluster that it is closest to. For each
cluster, a new center is formed as the means (centroid) of the
points currently in the cluster. This process continues as an
alternation between assigning points to clusters, and
recalculating clusters centers until the system becomes stable.