Experimental study of the Biot coefficient of Bakken cores

We have performed a series of exhaustive experiments to measure the Biot coefficient (α) of the tight cores from the Bakken shale oil play. Five distinct, bedding-normal cores from a vertical well were tested, covering the sequences of Three Forks, Lower, Middle, and Upper Bakken, and Lodgepole. The scope of this laboratory study is two-fold: (1) to obtain realistic Biot coefficient for modeling reservoir stress changes due to depletion and injection; (2) to characterize the poromechanical properties in relation to rock's mineral composition and microstructure. The experiments were carried out as follows: Argon-saturated specimen (1-inch length, 1-inch diameter) was subjected to hydrostatic confining pressure under drained conditions. Pore pressure was regulated as Argon was injected into both ends of the specimen. We drilled multiple non-through-going boreholes (1-mm diameter) in the specimen to facilitate pressure equilibrium, without compromising its integrity. The specimen was put through a loading path to experience confining pressure and pore pressure up to 70 and 60 MPa, respectively. Axial and lateral strains were recorded and used to calculate the rock's bulk stiffness, and subsequently the static Biot coefficient, which is related to reservoir deformation and associated stress changes. Results of all five cores unanimously show that α is less than unity and is a function of both confining and pore pressure. α generally varies between 0.3 and 0.9 for the pressure levels we applied. This implies that models of reservoir deformation and its stress change using Terzaghi's simple effective stress law (α = 1) or a constant α less than 1 may be erroneous. Typically, α rises significantly with pore pressure, but declines with confining pressure to the degree that is dependent on rock's bulk stiffness. We found the stiffness of these rocks does not correlate well with the content of compliant components (e.g., clay and kerogen), and the drastic difference in microstructures appears responsible of disrupting this correlation. The unique mineral composition and microstructure of each core affects the interplay of confining and pore pressure and the dependencies of α on them.