The presentation “Halite Cement” will be given by Richard Bootle from Aker BP.
Abstract
The presence of halite cement is a little appreciated problem in petrophysical interpretation. Yet halite is common as a late diagenetic cementing phase associated with high salinity formation water and occurs in many of the world’s major petroleum basins. Undetected it leads to a significant overestimation of porosity and permeability during petrophysical interpretation. However, halite cement does not have a unique signature on electric logs and is often not represented in core samples. Furthermore, any halite cement actually found in core and cuttings is often dismissed as non-authigenic “warehouse halite”. Thus halite cement is under-recognized and under-studied in the geological record. Halite cement is usually found best developed in the cleanest and thickest parts of the reservoir. It most commonly occurs in terrigenous clastic sediments. Proximity to bedded salt is the critical factor. Case studies from the North Sea, the Berkine Basin, the West African PreSalt and East Siberia will be presented.
Biography
Richard Bootle was a consultant petrophysicist at the time of writing this paper, but now works for Aker BP. He has a degree in Earth Sciences from Oxford University and began his career in the oil industry as a field engineer with Atlas Wireline Services. He has over 30 years’ experience and has previously worked for Total, BG Group, Maersk Oil and Lukoil. His main professional areas of interest are nuclear magnetic resonance, thin bed interpretation and exploration geology.
Co-authors
And shout out to co-authors Adam Moss and Jenny Omma.