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TERRY WALKER MEMBEFrAIME

WELEX, A DIV. OF f-lAILILWRTON SERVICES

Abstract
The tcchtrnlogy of Ihr oil intiusiry IIufuy i.v .M4ch that tnore rigid requirements are placed upon cement isolation in wellv. ltr uriditi(m, recent advancesin wcllevaltiaiiutr ottd cotnple(ian technology pertnit compaction.r to he made in zones tha[ wotdrf have been considered uneconomical u jew years ago. Wilh longer payoals, it is even more inzpt)rt[int 10 inrure rhe hcsI possible completion.Many cont. pletimn are made in jorntatirmf tha[ depend upan natural jractures, vugs, or indt~ccd jracrares jor co)ntnercial protfaclinn ro!cs. Muxinu{ tnproduction under these crmdi(itmv rcqnircs cemeni iroiation hcfrrre complctirm uttempts It) prevent damage rewlting jrom .sql{eezing cemcni, e.vpccial. [y aj[er any wel! Irealment. Acolt.r!ic ce)ttetlt hondloggingi.r[)nc oj the !oolsin WCI1. cwnpletion technology that can he u~ed to insure the besl p(n.sil~le cwtlpleli~m hy imwring i.ro[uliun c)j ull ztmr.) before a completion atteinpt is made. it ,shoW.rthe degree t}j ivolutiun. i]nder tnany conditions rhe C(I.SI (he log i.~(IJ .AIIIUI1n ctunparisnn wilh .sqtteezing, repcrjf)raling, rei ]racluring, ticcreaieti procl14ctirm. or even Io.w of a well. Field exatnple.s illi4s!rale u numbw oj case.v where clm.~idcrahle extra completion cxpett.w crt-me bccausc the in],)rma]itn~ jrwn the bond lag was nof uwd. Bmic h(md I(IR intwprctrrtion isincludetlin the Appendix.

a production test shows channeling from another zone, cement squeezing and reperforating will not greatly reduce productivity. However, there are many other situa. tions in which the economics are such that complete knowledge of the degree of cemefit isolation should be obtained before perforating. Acoustic Cement Bond Log Application

1
I I

Introduction Many conditions have placed more rigid requirements upon the effectiveness of cement isolation behind casing. Deeper drilling, with the accompanying higher pressure and temperature, has resulted in higher pressure differentials on the cemented interval. This has required more bonded interval for effective isolation. The increased application of high-volume, high-rate well treatments requires Ihe cemented interval to withstand high pressure differentials. Secondary recovery of all types also requires complete isolation behind easing, both from the standpoint of cost of injected fluids and efficiency of operation, Often, a production testis the most economical evaluation of cement isolation. When there are no other permeable -zones nca-r the completion interval; the odds ar&_that isola. tion is sufficient. In formations of high permeability, when . . ..~. --
(-klgirial manuscript rece!ved in SocleLy of Petrnleti Enjrtgegm oflice Feb. 29, 1967. Ravlsd manuscript rm?ived July & 1968. Paper (SPE 1761 ) was presented at SPE fkIDOSkW on Mecbanlcal Endn-rJnu .AiDects of Skllllng and Production held in Fort ,Worth. Tex., March 6-7, 1907. @ fkwyrkht 1968, American lnatltut@ of Mining, Metrdlui- ?Jc.al and Petroleum En@=m I ne.

~here are many variables that control the effectiveness of the cement in a well depth, temperature, hole size, additives, contamination. type of cement, type of cement flow, etc. Even with the best available cementing program, channels or some other type of unbondcd section cun exist in critical intervals. Because of these uncertainties, the usage of the acoustic cement bond log has increased greatly in the past few years. J-he acoustic vmve in a cased borehole consists of all arrivals along any coupled path between transmitter and receiver. A recording of this entire ricoustic wave, propcrl y ,interprctetf and used (see Appendix), can supply the information needed to design the most economic completion procedure. one possible presentation is the intensity-time recording where dark and light streaks repr~ent the positive and negative half cycles of the acoustic wave. Amplitude is shown by the darkness or lighusess of the streaks. The position of the streaks from .Ieft to right denotes increasing arrival time. Fig. 1 is an intensity-time recording presentation on a bond log rm in 4-in. liner. Only 5 ft of good acoustic bond is indicated above the interval to be perforated, The reservoir pressure at the time of completion had decreased to approximately 5,500 from 9,000 psi originally. Because of high pressure differentials. it was recommended that the liner be squeezed above. However, this was not done, and the well came in producing gas at the rate of 4 to 5 M Mcf/ D. After several months of production, the well sud denly died. During cleanout operations, sand, shale and cement were recovered from the well. Before the work over was completed, the liner collapsed, and the .vell had to be plugged. Above the main pay sand there were thin sand stringers at original reservoir pressure that were the probable cause of the liner collapse. In this case, a squeeze -- before @erforating-for production and ev&-another -bond log run would have be&t economical. Figs. 2 and 3 show this same acoustic intensity-time pre. .sents-tion on a bond log run k a well..that was intended as a tripk cornplqtion. The log-shows pipe arrivals ;over --the-~ entire wition with some forrnat~on arrivals; all- of . whibh indicatechanneling of the cement-acoustic bond on

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one side and none on the other. There is no complete isolation indicated anywhere on the log. In spite of this, the well was perforated, each zone was individually acidized, and the well was completed. Each zone produced oil as expected, but it was soon found that the oil gravity, GOR and pressures were all the same-all the oil was coming from one zone. In addition to th~ cost of the workover, the cement squeeze of the completion zones would affect the existing natural fractures to the extent of decreased productivity after reperforation and retreatment.

For comparison purposes, a well-bonded interva! in this same section in another well in the field is sf?own in Fig, 4, Over this section there are no pipe arrivals, but strong formation arrivals throughout are evidence of the complete acoustic coupling of the cement to the pipe and formation, The possibility that treating fluid (acid, fracturing, etc) might channel behind the pipe makes it difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of various well treatments. In addition to yielding a smaller effective fracturing treatment, squeez-. ...-, -,..,.. . . . . . . ... . . . .-, .,. . ..

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ing can &mage already critical permeability. Any cementfilled vug, natural fracture or induced fracture can only reduce productivity. Fig. 5 illustrates the effect of pressure cycling to 3,000 psi on the acoustic cement bond. The log run before pressuring indicates onfy very small amplitude pipe arrivals in some of the shale, with excellent acoustic bond in the lime streaks at 6,400 and 6,520 ft, and the zone of interest at 6,430 to 6,470 ft. A pressure of 3,000 psi in this size and weight pipe is sufficient to expand unsupported pipe by 0.009 in. The log run after the 3,000 psi was released indicates that where the pipe was bonded to competent. fo.rma!ion (the !he str~ks .aq~. the zpne Of interest ) no changes occurred, However, m. the r shales where the caliper indicated hole washout, some expansion occurred. This reduced the acoustic coupling of cement to pipe and formation. Thus. strong pipe signals are now present in the shales. The zone of interest was perforated and fractured with 2,500 psi and the production was normal there were no extraneous ffuids, Although it might be. possible to circulate fluid between two perforations within the shale, the zone of interest is effectively isolated from any other permeable zone above or below the section of the well shown. The exact path of the cement cannot be predicted in squeeze cementing. The formation must break down somewhere to permit the cement to be put away. If the breakdown is in the right place, the squeeze is effective. However, many wells are squeezed and reperforated repeatedly before isolation is accomplished. The practice of block squeezing is evidence that cement must be put in the right spoIs. It is not going to flow long distances through a small channel unless the breakdown is at the end of the channel. In some cases of oil-water contacts within the sand, repeated squeezes and reperforations have failed to eliminate water production when the oil column is such that the well should produce water free for a considerable period. This, again. is a problem of the path of the cement.

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lntensily.time bond logs run before and after two cement squeezes are shown in Fig. 6. The intended zone of completion was the lower sand that contains oil. The first bond log showed insufficient isolation from the water sand above. The well was then squeezed at the points indicated just above the oil sand and in the middle of the water sand, The bond log run after the squeezes showed that the lower squeeze went down and the upper one went up, However, , the oil sand after perforation produced oil and water. The-upper: cement squeeze did not go in the right place . ..... The oil sand was not isolated from the water. The pro...

ducing perforations then were squeezed and reperforated, and the water was shut off. In one area of multi. pay wells a major oil producer, using bond logs, saved $5,000 per recompletion. The usual practice had been to block before perforating for production on recompletion because of the large percentage of incomplete isolations on primary cementing. Use of the bond log reduced the number of squeezes to one for every 10 recompletion. During this work, cementing techniques ,, were improv~ because, each well,could !e.,evalu?t~d corn-. . . pletcly, as cementing programs weri changeJ, to find the

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Corldutiions

Whether to run bond logs is an economic question that can be answered by considering a number of other ques. tions: 1, What are the chances of a completely effective pri mary cement job? Are the zones in most of the wells in the area effectively isolated ,withth~ cementing echnique -* .. - W<...!.-.,. :.. = :A t. . .. ., =.... t + . . . . .. .. .. Twenty Four Hours After Cementing . used? 2. How critical is zone isolation? How far is it to other permeable zones? Is there a fluid contact in the section? Amplitude - Time 3. What happens to productivity if you have to squeeze? .- -Uvvvv-v Is permeability in the critical range? Are there vugs and v-v, fractures that could be filled by cement when squeezing to shut off extmneous fluids? Is a fracturing treatment necessary for commercial production, and if so, what hap. pens if a squeeze is necessary? 4. What are the costs of squeezing, reperforating, and another well treatment? 5. Are cementing and other completion procedures be. ing evaluated to optimize techniques? 4150 The answers to these questions should determine whe. ther one or even two bond logs should be run before perforating for production.
References 1. Blcakley. W. B.: What It Takes to Make A Good WC]] Completion, Oil md Gas J, (June 11, 1962). 2. Pickett, G. R.: Acoustic Character Logs and Their Application in Formation Evaluation, ./. pet. Tech. (June, 1$63) 659-667. 3. Carter, L. G. and Evans, G. W.: A Study of Cement.Pipe Bonding, 1, Pet, Tech, (Feb., 1964) 157-160. 4. Flournoy, R. M. and Feaster, J. H,: ~ield Observations on the Use of the Cement Bond Log and Its Application to the Evaluation: ofCementin~ Problems, pa&r SPE 632 presented at SPE 38th Annual Fall Meeting, New Orleans, Oct. 6-9, 1963. 5. Walker, Terry: Case Histories of Bond Logging, Oil and Gas J. (May 7, 1962). 6. Walker, Te~ry: Progress Report on Acoustic Amplitude Logging for Formation Evaluation, paper SPE 45 I pre. .wnted at SPE 37th Annual Falf Mec[ing, Los Angeles, Oct. 7-10, 1962. 7. Harcourt, Geor$e, Walker, Terry and Anderson, Terry: Use of the Mlcro&ismogram and the Acoustic Cement Bond Log to Evaluate Cementing Techniques, paper SPE 798 presented at SPE Symposium on Mechanical Engineering Aspects of Drilling and Production, Fort Worth, Tex., March 23-24, 1964.

because mud in between results in poor coupling of the cement and formation (Fig. 7c). Fig. 7d shows a channel (caused by the casing resting against the side of the hole) that did not permit the cement to completely surround the pipe. As shown, both pipe signal and formation signal are present the pipe is free on one side and the formation is partially coupled on the other side. In further testing, it was found that the thickness and compressive strength of the cement sheath had an effect on the amplitude of the pipe vibration. The sheath. thick.~~, .

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APPENDIX
In bond logging, a crystal transmitter puts out a vibration pulse that is picked up by the receiver. If the pipe is free and not held firmly by cement, it will vibrate and carry a large signal to the receiver (Fig. 7), The series of pictures in Fig. 7a through d are the actual photographed signals at the receiver in a series of shallow, cased test wells with variouri deliberately L@t-ig sgrnenting conditions.. ,When the - tirnent is f@ly - bonded to th; pipe. and to the fofiatiort; the signal is as-shown in Fig, 7b with no pipe vibration, but the- received signal is characteristic-of the ~ formation be@nd the pipe,. . i j--, Wenthk cement is- bonded to thepipe.but not ~to the formation, very little.%ignrd is rc+ceived.from the. forniation..
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ness data are shown in Fig, 8 and were obtained with water surrounding the cement. These data, howswer, cannot be used directly because a thin sheath bonded to both pipe and formation would produce a vibrational amplitude that appears to reflect an irdlnhely thick sheath.

Presentation of Acoustic Signal

In the early days of bond logging, the log comist~ of one or more amplitude curves that were the amplitudes of a portion of the acoustic arrivals, either of the first arrival or of those during a fixed time interval, &cause of the . wide variation in formation. velocities, ,thes6 amplitudes led to some degree of ambiguity in the interpretation of the log. Tbett methods were developed to record the full information from the acoustic wave train, rather thatt only a small portion of it.

The Acoustic Ma-My-lirne Recmlhg

Au acoustic wave train in a borehole is complex, and it exhibits amplitudes and arrival times of wide variation. A continuous record of these variations will allow identification of the travel path of all portions of the signal. To make these data practical and usable, a suitable system of

routine recordiitg is necessary. The intensity -tjme presentation is such a record. Fig. 9 illustrates the conversion of the acoustic signal. The lower picture of Fig. 9 is a scope picture of a 4-ft single receiver signal with time increasing to the right (200 to 1,200 microsec) and amplitude increasing positively above and negatively below zero amplitude. The next picture above is the prepara. tion of the acoustic signal for the intensity-tjme record. ing. All positive half cycles appear and will be recorded as dark streaks, and all negative half cycles that have been cut off wifl be recorded as light streaks. Zero ampli. tude will appear gray. T4ext above is the intenskytime recording. The top picture is the same, but ,with the film. and tool movement coordhsated on a 5 in. equals 100 ft depth scale. The full wave train of the acoustic signal+ with ail changes of time and amplitude, is recorded. The position of the bars from left to right displays the time of arrival. The variations in darknem and lightness of the bars display the relative amplitude of the half cycles. Fig. 10 is a comparison of logs run before and after setting and cementing the production casing. This well was drilled with salt mud; and 4M-in., 9Yz-lb casing was set to 3,248 ft in a 7%-in. hole. The pipe was cemented with 185 sacks of special oilwell cement, containing 42

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sacks of salt with M lb. of cellophane flakes per sack of cement. The eased hole run was made 48 hours after the pipe was cemented. In the open and cased hole the formation arrival times correlate qtiite well, and no pipe signal is seen in Run 2. Where there is no pipe signal, but there is a strong formation arrival (Fig, 7b), it can be said that the pipe is transparent to the acoustic signal as it is se. curely held by the cement. A firmly coupled path for signal to and from the formation is present. Therefore. there must be a good cement bond to both the pipe and the formation in all of the section shown in Fig, 10. ; -*_&l,,.. ., ..;,,< .;:. .-i .;.: . .,, :-. .:+F . . .. Acoustic

Amplitude-Time -Reeo;d;;g

Another method of presenting the acoustic information is the amplitude-time form. Since each of the 20 pulses

per second from the transmitter gives one wave train at the receiver, provision is made to select the number to be recorded. This usually is two to four per 10 ft of hole, in the depth scale in which 5 in. equals 100 ft. In the illustration of this type of presentation in Fig, 11, some of the recorded wave trains have been left out for clarity, Once the selection has been made, the pictures are recorded automatically on 70 mm film at the desired interval. In this example the high amplitude pipe signal in the upper s~tion clearly shows on the recorded signal and on the pipe amplitude curve. This curve is a fixed gate amplitude sample. The formation amplitude curve is also a fixed gate curve, but is open longer to sample the for. mation arrivals that generally arrive later than the pipe signal. In the lower section of the log the formation signal is reflected by the later low amplitude arrivals. This later

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The interpretation of the logs can be ilhsstrated best by examples showing changes between log runs. Since all of the arrivals of the acoustic signal are presented, the continuity is such that the path of the arrival can be identi. tied whether it is signal from casing, formation, or a combination of both. The pipe signkd resirlta in straight vertical lines because of the fsxed velocity of the acoustic travel through pipe, with onfy the W pattern distortions at collars. The.formation signal, in addition to having ,a different charagter, is usually variable in arrival time. The well in Fig. 12 was drilled with an 8V4 in bit, and 7:in., 23-lb. casing was set. After the primary cement job the ftrst log (not illustrated) was run and indicated the top of the cement to be 5,390 ft. Six days prior to logging, the well was cement squeezed at 5,161 ft with 500 sacks of regular cement. The top of the cement moved to 5,060 ft as shown on Run 2, which was indicated in Fig. 12 as the log before squeeze. From 5,060 to 5,056 ft a typical collar distortion can be observed on both the intensity.time recording and on the pipe amplitude curve. This distortion is attributed to the discontinuity of metal at the collars. The distortion will appear for a vertical distance equal to the spacing between the transmitter and receiver (4 ft in this case). The interval 5,060 to 5,100 ft shows good pipe bond but no formation bond since only very low amplitude formation arrivals are present. The second cement squeeze then was initiated at a depth of 5,054 ft. just above the top of the cement, and was per. formed using 140 sacks of special oilwell cement ard 215 sacks of regular cement containing 0.75 percent of cement f#fction-reducing agent. The log run 9 hours after squeeze shows the extent of cement travel behind the pipe. In the zone 5,060 to 5,090 ft particularly, where the pipe 2CX7 was bonded and the formation was not, a strong forma. tion signal is now being received, indicating that the acous$& -see tic coupling has greatly increased and is now firm, Cement - from the squeeze at 5,054. ft had to..tsavel down betweqr -the qernent ,and thg. for,rnatiori, produ-cing a good bond to .. both the pipe and formation, which verifies the interriretation that no formation bond existed before squeeze. Above the point of squeeze there is some occasional pipe signal with fairly strong formation signals, which would indicate a minor amount of channeling above 5,054 ft. 13g. 13 is another example of before and after cement squeeze of a well in Colorado County, Tex. Seveninch, 23.lb. casing in a 9%-in. hole was set to 9,215 ft. The production string was cemented with 580 sacks of special oilwell cement containing 0.75 percent friction-reducing agent. The actual top of cement travel on Run 1 (made 52 hours after cementing) is 7,520 ft, and areas of good bond are shown from that point to total depth. It could be concluded from Run 1 that the bonding is incomplete over the interval shown in Fig. 13 because of strong pipe signal with tyf-:cal collar distortions as shown at 9,018 ft. However, formation signal is also present. Whenever both pipe and formation signal are present, it is high]y probable that the pipe and formation are partially bonded, but that a channel down one side of the hole also ..exists .(Fig..7d)..Thg. pDssjbility .of ..a. shan_ngl is _fur~er substantiated by the fact that the top of the cement travel ,. is at .7,520 ft, well above. the section shown. The well. was ... first tiement squtized in the-interval-9,067 to 9,068 ft with ...78 sacks. of. retarded, cement_ at a~maximu.rn<pr.essur~ of - 5,200 psi, A. second squeeze was. mitiaterf m th6 interval .- ?,015 ;to 9,016.ft,. Durjng.this ~ue?ze . .a. breakdowt. Pres: - . . .-- . . .: ~ F;% 14-lrtconsistent .. . .
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sure of 5.300 psi was measured, and 75 sacks of retarded cement was pumped in at 5,o00 psi. Subsequent to the second squeeze, another log was run 46 hours later. The log shows good pipe and formation bond from 8,950 to 9,075 ft indicated by strong formation signal and no pipe signal. Therefore, the squeeze cement must have traveled through a previously existing channel, since the entire section now shows good acoustic bond to pipe and formation. This verifies the interpretation that a channel existed before squeeze. The. acoustic tool must be centralized while recording a bond log, Fig. 14 is a log run with a 21/s-in. OD tool (deliberately without centralizers) in 5%-in. casing. The wavy.%ppearanie is very: evident in the early portion of the signal because of apparent arrival time changes. The amplitude changes considerably as the tool moves from one side to the other. Maximum amplitude occurs when the tool is in the center of the hole. At this point all 360 of acoustic arrivals are in phase, but when the tool is off center, some arrivals are out of phase and create the wavy appearance. Another problcm in bond logging is how long to wait after cementing before running the log. Most cements build up sufficient strength to dampen completely the pipe signal in 8 to 18 hours, depending upon the exact composition and additives. However, these strength measurements in the laboratory are not always applicable to downhole conditions. Many of the mud-treating chemicals act as retarders, and the gel reduces the strength. Therefore, it is gen. erally recommended to wait 24 hours after cementing. For modified or highly retarded cements, the time is hrcreased to 36 hours. Fig. 15 shows a comparison of amplitude-time bond logs run 11 and 24 hours after cementing. Laboratory tests on samples of the cement gave the following data:

. ..

..

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cemafizaliors. -

Lead cement Tail cement

Compressive Strength (psi) 12 hours 24 hours 1,500 1,380 5,100 1,65Ll

The top of the tail cement is at 6,675 ft and no changes occurred above this depth on the logs run after 11 and 24 hours. However, below 6,675 ft there was considerable change, indicating that the tail cement did not have sufilcient compressive strength to completely dampen the pipe . Eleven ll~urs After Cern&nting

simal in 11 hours. According to lab tests, the reverse should have been true less-indication of early bonding on the lead cement. Some unknown variable downhole delayed the strength buildup from that indicated in lab tests. Since all these factors cannot be completely controlled, a safety factor24 to 36 hours--must be used. ***
Editors Note: A picture and biographical Terry Wulker uppear on Page 861. sketch

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