Introduction

Although surface properties of reservoir rock and interfacial characteristics of rock, crude oil,
and water systems have been discussed for many years, the full significance of these
properties to the production of oil is still in the process of evaluation. The recent
investigations emphasize that the true wettability of a reservoir must be known before the
performance of water flood or water-drive reservoirs can be accurately evaluated. When
reservoir wettability is to be determined by core analysis, precautions must be taken to
maintain the original wettability which can be altered readily during coring and testing. In the
coring operation the core may be partially or completely penetrated by the drilling fluid
which, if it contains surface active materials, may drastically change the wettability of the
core. Also, improper core handling during storage and testing may change its wettability
because of evaporation of fluids or exposure to oxygen or surface active contaminants.
Reservoir wettability is determined by complex interface boundary conditions acting within
the pore space of sedimentary rocks. These conditions have dominant effect on interface
movement and associated oil displacement. Wettability is a significant issue in multiphase
flow problems ranging from oil migration from source rocks to such enhanced recovery
processes as alkaline flooding or alternate injection of CO2 and water.

Capillary pressure
Capillary pressure concepts can be used to evaluate reservoir rock quality, expected reservoir
fluid saturations and depths of fluid contacts, thickness of transition zone, seal capacity, and
pay versus non-pay, and to approximate recovery efficiency. Mercury-injection capillary
pressure is typically favored for geological applications, such as inferring the size and sorting
of pore throats. The differences between mercury injection and withdrawal curves can
provide information on recovery efficiency.

Importance of wettability
The importance of wettability in oil production can be illustrated by practical examples. Two
sets of engineering calculations were made of the water flood oil recovery behavior of three
reservoirs. Both sets accounted for such things as areal pattern efficiency and reservoir
stratification. They differed only in that one set of calculations assumed the reservoirs as oil-
wet, while the other assumed them water-wet. Calculation of the oil-wet recovery behaviors
was based on core analyses of aged, oil wet cores, while calculation of water wet oil recovery
behaviors was based on' tests of cores which had been cleaned by heating at 400°C to render
them strongly water wet.