Key controlling factors of permeability estimated from micro-CT images of Brazilian analogous pre-salt carbonate rock

In Brazil, large reserves of oil and gas were discovered in the pre-salt succession of the Campos and Santos Basins, located on the southeast coast of Brazil. Worldwide, carbonate reservoirs account for approximately 60% of hydrocarbon volumes and understanding their petrophysical parameters and flow properties are fundamental for exploitation of these hydrocarbon reserves. However, the prediction of those properties remains a challenge due to the variability in depositional environment and different post-depositional process that influence pore structure, porosity, elastic properties and reservoir quality (Eberli et al., 2003). Moreover, by its great complexity, models and equations developed for sandstone rocks mostly fail when applied to these types of rocks (Xu & Payne, 2009; Garing et al., 2014).