Petrophysical Analysis of the Mpera Well in the Exploration Block 7, Offshore Tanzania: Implication on Hydrocarbon Reservoir Rock Potential

Abstract

The present study provides evaluation and estimation of petrophysical parameters and assessment of lithology and their thicknesses in order to characterize present reservoir rocks at Mpera well located in Exploration Block 7, deep offshore Tanzania. To achieve the objectives the wire-line logs, Techlog program was used for assessment, analysis, computation and interpretations of petrophysical parameters and results were integrated through interpretation of well logs. The results from wire-line logs reveal three (3) non hydrocarbon- bearing reservoir rocks i.e. , Mpera splay (sandstone), Mpera deep sand 1 (sandstone and limestone) and Mpera deep sand 2 (sandstone and limestone) with gross thickness of 94.335 m, 28.905 m and 12.967 m respectively. The average permeability values of the reservoir rocks were 9.47 mD, 6.45 mD and 4.67 mD, while average porosity values were 14.57%, 17.4% and 16.75%, with average volume of shale 25.7%, 23.5% and 9.7% at Mpera splay, Mpera deep sand 1 and Mpera deep sand 2 respectively. These results signify poor permeability; good porosity and good quality reservoir in terms of volume of shale. Fluid type defined in the reservoirs was basically water. High water saturation (90.6% - 97.7%) in the reservoir zones of the Mpera well indicates that the proportion of void spaces occupied by water is high, thus, indicating less than 10% hydrocarbon saturation. The findings indicate that Mpera well reservoir rocks are of low quality with non-hydrocarbon bearing such that it is not potential for hydrocarbon production.