Theme 4
Influence of Abnormal Fluid Pressure
on Reservoir Quality
Reservoir quality in deeply buried sandstones is the cumulative product of depositional, compaction, shallow diagenetic, and deep diagenetic processes.
Lithological attributes developed at each stage influence subsequent pore-system evolution and hence reservoir quality. For example, porosity preservation at depth may be critically dependent on early clay or microquartz grain coats. Because almost all quartz cement nucleates syntaxially on a quartz-grain substrate, clay grain coatings can inhibit later quartz cementation.