Do you know that rocks aren’t completely solid? All rocks contain tiny spaces between its grains called pores. Porosity is described as a measure of the capacity of reservoir rocks to store fluids. [1] High porosity is valued because it means a reservoir can hold much oil.
Factors influencing porosity[2]:
- The arrangement of the grains, also known as granular packing. A tidy arrangement will yield higher porosity.

- The sorting of the grains. A well-sorted sandstone has grains with similar sizes and tends to have greater porosity.[3]
- Ineffective porosity. Chemical reactions may cause grains to cement together and isolate the fluid inside them. In the oil field, we are only concerned with the effective porosity.

Source:
- Ezekwe, N. (2010). Petroleum Reservoir Engineering Practice. 1st ed. Prentice Hall, p.1.
- Stephan, B. (2016). Porosity Explained – Petro Prophet: Oilfield Education. [online] Petroprophet.com. Available at: https://www.petroprophet.com/porosity-explained/ [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
- Sorting. (2018). In: Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary. [online] Schlumberger. Available at: https://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Terms/s/sorting.aspx [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
Images:
Stephan, B. (2016). Porosity Explained – Petro Prophet: Oilfield Education. [online] Petroprophet.com. Available at: https://www.petroprophet.com/porosity-explained/ [Accessed 7 Oct. 2018].
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