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Clay Minerals; March 2000; v. 35; no. 1; p. 151-162
© 2000 Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland
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Research Paper

Clay mineral distribution in the Devonian-Carboniferous sandstones of the Clair Field, west of Shetland, and its significance for reservoir quality

M. D. PAY*,{dagger}, T. R. ASTIN and A. PARKER

Postgraduate Research Institute for Sedimentology, University of Reading, PO Box 227, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AB, UK

* E-mail: mark.pay{at}london.entoil.com

(Received 15 May 1998; revised 8 February 1999)

The Devonian-Carboniferous reservoir of the Clair Field contains a complex and variably abundant clay mineral assemblage. An abrupt vertical change in clay mineralogy has been observed in both wells studied (UKCS 206/8-7 and 206/8-8) from being rich in Mg-chlorite, chlorite-smectite (including dioctahedral corrensite), illite, illite-smectite and Fe-chlorite, to being smectite-rich. This change broadly coincides with the unconformable boundary between the Lower Clair Group and Upper Clair Group of the reservoir which possibly defines the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary. The clay minerals present reflect interaction between: (1) tectonic stability and climate that controlled the detrital composition of the sediment; (2) the pore-waters that developed; and (3) the result of diagenetic modification.

Matrix porosity and permeability is severely restricted where the pore-lining clays are abundant (>15%) and where the clays bridge or fill pores. The type of clay mineral species appears to have a minor influence on reservoir quality, although they may be extremely important during production. The best reservoir quality occurs in mature aeolian sediments with a thin illite and illite-smectite clay coating.

KEYWORDS: clay minerals, Clair Field, Shetland, reservoir quality




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