Porosity of Avanah Formation and its Stratigraphical Distribution in Selected Wells of Kirkuk Oil Field

Abstract

The dolomitic and recrystallized carbonates of Avanah Formation (Middle - Late Eocene) successions are characterized by relative high porosity and permeability. These successions, in the selected wells (K-432,K-117,K-149,K-319,K-339), start with brown-white, fractured, rigid and porous at lower dolomitic unit, overlain by dense-fractured, high porous, relatively rigid and brown dolomitic limestone; and finally ending by low-fractured, moderately rigid and porous white limestone. The rocks of the formation are rich in sieve mosaic dolomitic texture with lesser suture, spotted, fogged and poikilotopic textures, in addition to another diagenetic features, which are formed due to recrystallization, cementation, dissolution, physical compaction, dedolomitization and micritization. It is obvious that the dolomitization and dissolution have played a positive role in improving the porosity of specified rock units. On the contrary of the upper unit, both lower and middle units are characterized by their high porosity (vuggy, intercrystalline, fractured and moldic), whereas the porosity of the upper unit is restricted to fracture and intergranular types. By merging density and neutron logs for calculating the total and effective porosity of the successions, it is revealed that they are of high porosity (2-30%) which is coincident with the results of the plotted density - neutron log values on (b-ØN) chart. It is believed that the relative domination of diagenetic porosity diagnosed in the rocks of lower and middle successions of the formation, and its observed association with fractured porosity (Hybrid-2) on the other hand have improved the porosity and permeability of these rocks making them efficient to store and produce hydrocarbons.