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Spe 108415 MS PDF
Spe 108415 MS PDF
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2008 SPE Western Regional and Pacific Section AAPG Joint Meeting held in Bakersfield, California, U.S.A., 31 March2 April 2008.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.
Abstract
Because of increasing rig rates, the costs associated with the cement bond evaluation are now subject to scrutiny.
Traditionally, the cost of the service and interpretation were linked to the value of the information provided, i.e. the quality of
data gathered was directly related to the necessity of zonal isolation. The daily rig cost must now be considered, specifically
costs directly related to the operating time required to acquire the cement evaluation data. The cost of operating rig time is
often an order of magnitude higher than that of the cement bond logging service and should be a critical factor in the
determination of the service provider and type of equipment run.
The correct logging tool and evaluation method provides the best process for evaluating the cement sheath. Several
wellbore factors should be considered when selecting the proper tool for optimal results, including casing size, well
deviation, fluid type, and fluid weight during the logging operations. However, the reservoir and the chosen completion
should also influence the selection of the cement evaluation tool. Reservoir properties to consider include water contacts in or
near zone of interest, drive mechanisms and isolation between production zones. The completion design, including
perforation strategies, stimulation method, and sand control, should also influence the cement sheath evaluation process.
The challenges of a cost efficient and complete cement sheath evaluation required the development of a new cement
evaluation tool. The FASTCAST tool expands the capabilities of CAST-V and existing analysis software. The new
ultrasonic tools increase the logging speed up to five times, significantly reducing logging time, rig time, and costs. The tool
provides cement evaluation and casing evaluation during the same logging pass. The existing software packages for cement
and casing evaluation were updated to provide a complete analysis package for the new tool. The paper presents case
histories to provide details about the economic advantage from using this new technology and processed logs showing both
casing and cement evaluation.
Cement Evaluation
Since the FASTCAST is an upgrade to existing tools, it was possible to upgrade the existing software to provide a detailed
analysis of the cement sheath. The Advanced Cement Evaluation (ACE) software, which has been described in previous
publications, allows evaluation of both complex and standard cement slurries. Since ACE was designed for the CAST-V,
only slight modifications were necessary to allow ACE to process the data from the FASTCAST toolstring. ACE highlights
the subtle changes in the impedance in order to distinguish solid and liquid phases, especially in lightweight or foam cements.
This sped the development time for post-processing programs, and increased the customer confidence in both the raw data
and processed results.
Casing Inspection
It was decided that with the new casing inspection tool an improved analysis product was required to allow easier
understanding of the casing inspection data. The FASTCASE software provides detailed description of the casing damage
including interior and external wear, 3 dimensional images, along with spreadsheets listing both depth by depth damage
along with joint damages. These outputs allow easy monitoring of casing damage over time, and evaluation of riser wear with
minimal effort.
Normal/Max/Acquired
Wellbore Maximum Feet Total Time Total Cost
Casing Size Logging Speed
Fluid Deviation Logged Savings Savings
(ft/min)
7 5/8, 29.7
11.9 WBM 33 30/150/102 9850 3.9 Hours $36,500
lb/ft
SPE 108415 3
GR
0 100
ECCE TT
0 1 260 160 AMPLITUDE
OVAL 0 100
0 .2 AMPLIFIED AVERAGE
MFTT AMPLITUDE WMSG IMPEDANCE IMPEDANCE
220 170 0 10 -2500 2500 10 0 0 6.15
Mainly
Free pipe
X100
Transition
Zone
X200
Pipe to pipe
contact
Apparent top
of cement
Figure 1: This is the raw cement evaluation log for the 7 5/8 inch casing for case history #1. Both the CBL and FASTCAST data
indicate the cement top is at approximately X250. Above this depth the amplitude and average impedance both indicate a transition
to free pipe. This transition zone extends up to X150 and probably contains a mixture of mud, spacers, and lead cement. On most
cement evaluation logs this phenomenon is recognizable but with the ACE processing it is more enhanced. At approximately X100
the log indicates free pipe. The tools are well centralized as indicated by both the eccentricity curve and the tt curve. The knothole
affects visible in the lower section indicate pipe to pipe contact but also indicates a thin cement sheath.
4 SPE 108415
AMPLITUDE
0 100
AMPLIFIED
GR AMPLITUDE
0 100 0 10
FASTCAST
ECCE BOND IND.
0 1 1 0
CEMENT
AVG Z BOND IND.
WMSG WMSGT IMPEDANCE VARIANCE CEMENT
10 0 1 0 -2500 2500 0 2500 0 6.15 0 1.2 0 1
Chevron
indicate
Free pipe
X100
Transition
Zone
X200
Apparent top
of cement
Chevron
indicate
Bonded pipe
Figure 2: This is processed ACE log for Well #1. The FASTCAST Bond Index and Cement Bond Index are calculated from the
Impedance and Cement images shown. Above X100 there is about 50% bonding to the casing and in the lower section the bond is
closer to 90% as indicated by the Cement Bond Index. The change in the WMSGT chevron signature indicates the lower section has
more cement than the upper section. ACE processing can help determine the presence of a cement sheath in the annular space and
help determine both the cement bond to casing and formation.
SPE 108415 5
GR
0 100
ECCE TT
0 1 260 160 AMPLITUDE
OVAL 0 100
0 .2 AMPLIFIED AVERAGE
MFTT AMPLITUDE WMSG IMPEDANCE IMPEDANCE
220 170 0 10 -2500 2500 10 0 0 6.15
Good
Bond
Liner Top
Very High
Eccentricity
X200
Figure 3: This is the cement evaluation log for the 9 7/8 production tie-back. The CBL data shows a consistent good bond over the
entire interval from above the liner top to X220. while the there is a noticeable change in the impedance map.
6 SPE 108415
One benefit with this tool string is the ability to capture both cement and casing information in the same logging pass.
This may allow unusual log readings to be evaluated with the other evaluation. In this case changes in the casing sizes and/or
types can account for some of the changes in the cement log response seen in Figure 3. Figure 4 shows the casing evaluation
presentation over the same depths as Figure 3.
Figure 4: This is the FASTCASE output presentation is designed to provide a total description of casing condition over the zone in
question which shows different casing sizes in the tieback area. The casing above X154 and below consists of the standard 9 7/8
inch casing, while the casing in between consists of pipe joints featuring several different weights and IDs. The pipe thickness is
about 40% less than expected which results in apparent damage as shown in both the pipe thickness and pipe damage images. The
liner top region shows a larger radius than expected thus showing interior damage of 100 %. These calculations are based on the
known radius and thickness of the 9 7/8 62.8 lb casing. It appears that there are at least four different casing sizes over this zone
based on the measured pipe radius and thickness. A complete description of the log tracks are found in the appendix.
It was decided to make an imaging pass over the zone to try to determine the cause of the response. The image log was
recorded at 120 shots in the horizontal plane with a .2-inch vertical (60 samples per foot). With the FASTCAST it is not
necessary to pull out of the hole to change transducer to allow imaging so approximately 4 hours of rig time were saved.
Processing the high resolution imaging pass showed that the liner did not seat properly as shown in figures 5. Due to the
changes in ID, different scales are shown to provide the detail needed for visual inspection of the tie-back region. It was
determined that in this area fluid was leaking from the casing due to improper sealing.
SPE 108415 7
GR AVE. RADIUS
0 100 4 6
ECCENTRICITY MIN. RADIUS
0 1.0 PIPE CORRECTED 4 6 PIPE CORRECTED
OVALITY AMPLITUDE TRAVEL TIME MAX. RADIUS AMPLITUDE TRAVEL TIME
0 .2 1000 1200 53 63 4 6 300 1050 84 89
RESCALE SHOWING
LINER OVERLAP
Liner Top
X200
Figure 5: Both the pipe amplitude and corrected travel time images are the same image with different scaling used to detail the
interior portion of the casing. The calculated radiuses are shown to be about 1 inch higher in the liner top region than expected. The
pipe amplitude images allow detailed examination of the interior portion of the casing. Here the collars, pipe scratches and other
casing abnormalities are easily seen.
7 inch Riser
Figure 6 shows the cement evaluation log for the 7-inch riser. The blue channel that occurs from the top of the liner to Y450
appears to be casing to formation contact, not a true channel that will be easily squeezed. Below Y450, the cement appears to
have good bond to both the formation and casing except for a couple slight vugs around Y550 and Y600. In this case, ACE
was run but did not substantially change the interpretation.
8 SPE 108415
GR
0 100
ECCE TT
0 1 260 160 AMPLITUDE
OVAL 0 100
0 .2 AMPLIFIED AVERAGE
MFTT AMPLITUDE WMSG IMPEDANCE IMPEDANCE
220 170 0 10 -2500 2500 10 0 0 6.15
Y200
7 inch
Liner Top
Y400
Y500
Y600
Good
Bond
Figure 6: This is the basic cement evaluation display for the combination tool string. The apparent channel appears to be pipe to
formation contact and remedial operations over this section are probably not necessary.
SPE 108415 9
Total Savings
The following chart provides details about the total logging program and associated savings to the customer by using the
FASTCAST compared to the previous generation of ultrasonic tools.
Casing Size Wellbore Maximum Normal/Max/Aquired Feet Total Time Total Cost
Fluid Deviation Logging Speed Logged Savings Savings
(ft/min)
7, 32 lb/ft 30 / 150 / 60 1245 0.4 Hours $2,600
14.0 ppg
9 7/8, 62.8 lb/ft 56 30 / 150 / 61 5820 1.6 Hours $10,400
CaCl2/CaBr2
9 5/8, lb/ft 10 / 10 / 10 300 4.0 Hours $26,000
References
1. Frisch, G., Fox, P., Hunt, D., Kaspereit, D., Advances in Cement Evaluation Tools and Processing Methods Allow Improved
Interpretation of Complex Cements paper SPE 97186 presented at the 2005 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition
held in Dallas, Texas, U.S.A., 9 12 October.
2. Frisch, G., Graham, L., and Wyatt, D.: Economic Evaluation of the Use of Well Logs for Diagnosing Conformance Problems,
paper SPE 40036 presented at the 1998 SPE Gas Technology Symposium, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 1518 March.
3. Harness, P.E., Sabins, F.L., and Griffith, J.E.: New Technique Provides Better Low-Density-Cement Evaluation, paper SPE
24050 presented at the 1992 SPE Western Regional Meeting, Bakersfield, California, 30 March to 1 April.
4. Frisch, G., Graham, L., Griffith, J: A Novel And Economical Processing Technique Using Conventional Bond Logs and
Ultrasonic Tools For Enhanced Cement Evaluation, paper EE presented at the 2000 SPWLA 41st Annual Logging Symposium,
Dallas, Texas June 4 7.
5. Frisch, G., Graham, L., and Griffith, J.: Assessment of Foamed - Cement Slurries Using Conventional Cement Evaluation Logs
and Improved Interpretation Methods, paper SPE 55649 presented at the 1999 SPE Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting, Gillette,
Wyoming, 1518 May.
6. Graham, W.L., Silva, C.I., Leimkuhler, J.M., de Kock, A.J. Cement Evaluation and Casing Inspection With Advanced
Ultrasonic Scanning Methods paper SPE 38651 presented at the 1997 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in
San Antonio, Texas, 58 October 1997.
Appendix
Track 1 contains the gamma ray (GR), eccentricity (ECCE), ovality (OVAL), average thickness (AVTHIK), and average
radius (AVRAD). The AVRAD and AVTHIK are both in inches, which will allow different casing sizes/weights to be
recognized on the log. The pipe amplitude image is in Track 2, which provides a detailed representation of the internal
wear/corrosion/damage of the interior wall of the casing. Damage may be revealed on the amplitude images that are not
present on the travel time and/or other logs. The total pipe damage is broken into internal damage (blue) and external damage
(magenta) measured in percent as shown in track 3.
For casing evaluation images, red normally indicates a decrease in the nominal casing thickness, either due to an increase
in the internal diameter or reduction in casing thickness. Blue is an indication of an increase in the nominal casing thickness,
due to a decrease in the internal diameter or increase in casing thickness. Normalization of the data is based on both the
measured and expected values. The difference between the expected pipe measurement and the actual measurement will
provide an accurate representation of either pipe erosion or scale. Pipe without any damage will have a normalized value of 0
while damage will have a decrease in thickness and an increase in radius. Track 4 contains the normalized average, maximum
10 SPE 108415
and minimum radius curves, (AVRADN, MAXRADN, and MINRADN) where the center of the track shows no damage.
Track 5 is the normalized pipe radius and track 7 contains the normalized pipe thickness which both uses the color-coding
described. Track 6 is the normalized average, maximum and minimum thickness curves (AVTHIKN, MXTHIKN, and
MNTHIKN) which, when the curves are in the center indicate no casing damage. Track 7 contains the damage image which
consists of the percent of pipe remaining, which is color-coded into internal and external damage, and grades based on total
damage. The following table explains the color-coding. Total damage is the summation of the interior and exterior damage.