Porosity-reducing and porosity-enhancing diagenetic factors for some carbonate microfacies: a guide for petrophysical facies discrimination

The present study deals with the petrographical and petrophysical properties of the Aptian–Albian Risan Aneiza Formation in north Sinai, Egypt. Cementation and aggrading neomorphism are the main porosity-reducing factors for Risan Aneiza Formation, whereas dissolution and leaching out are the main porosity-enhancing factors. Dolomitization, on the other hand, played a multistage role as a porosity-reducing factor in the initial invasion stage by Mg-bearing solutions and in the final pervasive stage, while it played an enhancing role in the selective dolomitization midway stage. Mostly, the mentioned pore types were later reduced by cementation with sparite and dolosparite as well as by aggrading neomorphism. Based on the governing effect of diagenetic factors on the petrophysical behavior and their enhancing or reducing effect on the pore volume, the Risan Aneiza Formation has to be classified into seven petrophysical facies; each one has its characteristic petrophysical features and behavior. The petrophysical behavior of the studied facies has been examined by measuring porosity, density, permeability, and electrical resistivity. The reservoir quality index reveals that the petrophysical features of the studied facies can be explained based on their petrographical features, indicating bad reservoir properties for the Risan Aneiza samples. Studying the petrophysical facies behavior indicates that the permeability and formation resistivity factors are mostly dependent on the effective porosity and, to some extent, on the electric tortuosity. Precautions must be taken into consideration in extrapolating the present conclusion to the subsurface extensions, e.g., similarity of the mineralogical composition, the diagenetic history stage, as well as the geopressure.