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Petroleum Geoscience

Shaly Sand and Complex Reservoir Petrophysics

Archie's equation assumes clean rock, and in laminated, clay rich, low resistivity or mixed lithology reservoirs it can understate hydrocarbon saturation badly enough to condemn a commercial zone. Delegates start with clay mineralogy and the distinction between laminated, dispersed and structural shale, then compare the Simandoux, Indonesia, Waxman Smits and dual water models. Thin bed analysis, resistivity anisotropy and low contrast pay are treated next. Complex lithology follows: volcanics, tight sands and mixed carbonate clastic sequences, solved with multimineral probabilistic methods. Integration with core, capillary pressure and saturation height functions completes the work. Delegates leave able to choose and calibrate the right saturation model, quantify uncertainty and build a petrophysical model fit for reserves and simulation.

5 day course

Course objectives

  • Distinguish laminated, dispersed and structural clay and their effect on logs
  • Compare Simandoux, Indonesia, Waxman Smits and dual water saturation models
  • Evaluate thin beds and low resistivity pay using anisotropy and high resolution data
  • Solve mixed lithology problems with multimineral probabilistic analysis
  • Calibrate log models to core porosity, grain density and cation exchange capacity
  • Derive saturation height functions from capillary pressure data
  • Quantify uncertainty in net pay, porosity and saturation

Who should attend

  • Experienced petrophysicists
  • Formation evaluation specialists
  • Reservoir geologists working difficult reservoirs
  • Core analysis specialists
  • Reservoir engineers responsible for in place volumes

Course outline

  1. 01Limits of the Archie approach
  2. 02Clay minerals and shale distribution
  3. 03Shaly sand saturation models
  4. 04Thin beds and anisotropy
  5. 05Low resistivity and low contrast pay
  6. 06Complex and mixed lithology
  7. 07Multimineral probabilistic analysis
  8. 08Core calibration and saturation height
  9. 09Uncertainty in petrophysical outputs

Scheduled sessions

Scheduled sessions for Shaly Sand and Complex Reservoir Petrophysics
DatesVenueFormatPriceRegister
12 to 16 October 2026Accra, GhanaClassroomUSD 1,325 per delegate
15 to 19 February 2027OnlineOnlineR8,500 per delegate
1 to 5 March 2027Gaborone, BotswanaClassroomR19,950 per delegate
15 to 19 March 2027Durban, South AfricaClassroomR19,950 per delegate

Shaly Sand and Complex Reservoir Petrophysics

From R8,500

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