Assessment of Mud-Filtrate-Invasion
Effects on Borehole Acoustic Logs and
Radial Profiling of Formation
Elastic Properties
Shihong Chi,* SPE, Carlos Torres-Verdín, SPE, Jianghui Wu,** SPE, and Faruk O. Alpak,† SPE,
U. of Texas at Austin
Summary
Despite continued improvements in acoustic-logging technology,
sonic logs processed with industry-standard methods often remain
affected by formation damage and mud-filtrate invasion. Quanti-
tative understanding of the process of mud-filtrate invasion is nec-
essary to identity and assess biases in the standard estimates of
in-situ compressional- and shear-wave (P- and S-wave) velocities.
We describe a systematic approach to quantify the effects of mud-
filtrate invasion on borehole acoustic logs and introduce a new
algorithm to estimate radial distributions of elastic properties away
from the borehole wall. Radial saturation distributions of mud
filtrate and connate formation fluids are obtained by simulating the
process of mud-filtrate invasion. Subsequently, we calculate radial
distributions of the elastic properties using the Biot-Gassmann
fluid-substitution model. The calculated radial distributions of for-
mation elastic properties are used to simulate array sonic wave-
forms. Finally, estimated P- and S-wave velocities for homoge-
neous, stepwise, and multilayered formation models are compared
to quantify mud-filtrate-invasion effects on sonic measurements.
We use a nonlinear Gauss-Newton inversion algorithm to es-
timate radial distributions of formation elastic parameters in the
presence of invaded zones using normalized spectral ratios of array
waveform data. Inversion examples using synthetic and field data
indicate that physically consistent distributions of formation elastic
properties can be reconstructed from array waveform data. In turn,
radial distributions of formation elastic properties can be used to
construct more-realistic near-wellbore petrophysical models for
applications in reservoir simulation and production.
Introduction
During and after drilling, the near-wellbore formation is often
altered by stress buildup and release, mud-filtrate invasion, chemi-
cal reactions, and many other factors. These alterations cause the
physical properties in the near-wellbore region to be different from
those of the virgin rock formation. Stress concentration around a
wellbore may cause near-wellbore damage and induce formation
anisotropy on P- and S-wave velocities. The stress-induced anisot-
ropy can be identified by dispersion analysis (Plona et al. 2002).
Positive radial velocity gradients focus the elastic waves propa-
gating away from the wellbore back toward the borehole wall.
Such a phenomenon can be identified easily from high-amplitude
acoustic arrivals. In this paper, we focus our attention on mud-
filtrate-invasion effects only.
It is well known that formation properties inferred from wire-
line logging measurements may not reflect true properties of virgin
formations. A realistic description of the invaded zone is important
* Currently with ConocoPhillips.
** Currently with Baker Atlas.
† Currently with Shell Intl. E&P.
Copyright © 2006 Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper (SPE 90159) was first presented at the 2004 SPE Annual Technical Conference
and Exhibition, Houston, 26–29 September, and revised for publication. Original manuscript
received for review 4 June 2004. Revised manuscript received 29 May 2006. Paper peer
approved 25 July 2006.
October 2006 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering
for the processing and interpretation of sonic logs. A common
model used in the open literature assumes that a sharp interface
exists between the altered zone and the undisturbed formation
(Baker 1984). The term “stepwise” is used to describe this type of
mud-filtrate-invasion model. Linear-gradient models have been
described for syntheses of acoustic waveforms as well (Stephen
et al. 1985). Actual radial distributions of elastic wave properties
resulting from invasion can be complex and are dependent on the
specific petrophysical properties of the rock as well as on the static
and dynamic properties of the fluids involved. We divide the in-
vaded zone into a set of concentric radial layers to represent an
actual invasion profile and call it a “multilayered” model. Subse-
quently, we describe a procedure for calculating the radial distri-
butions of formation elastic properties with the Biot-Gassmann
fluid-substitution model starting from numerically simulated radial
distributions of flow saturation.
Theoretical and experimental studies (Geertsma and Smit 1961;
Biot 1956a, 1956b; Toksöz et al. 1976; Domenico 1976; Dutta and
Ode 1979; Murphy 1982) have shown that rocks saturated with
hydrocarbons and water can be differentiated with acoustic veloc-
ity measurements. Using time-lapse acoustic logging, bypassed
zones can be identified, and fluid movement in rock formations
can be monitored in open and cased holes. If the invasion depth is
beyond the radial length of investigation of a logging tool, the
measured velocities will reflect those of the invaded zone, and log
corrections will be necessary to estimate virgin-formation velocities.
The current industry practice of acoustic-data processing makes
use of the slowness-time coherence (STC) method to estimate
in-situ velocities of rock formations. This type of processing yields
values of P- and S-wave velocities, both of which are intricate
functions of formation and borehole properties, frequency, and
number of time samples used in the time window of the STC
algorithm. When invasion into a formation is significant, the STC
method still gives one P-wave velocity and/or S-wave velocity at
each depth of measurement, which may reflect only properties of
the invaded zone. However, waveforms recorded by modern
acoustic tools may contain valuable information on the radial dis-
tribution of near-wellbore formation properties.
In an effort to estimate radial distributions of near-wellbore
formation properties, Hornby (1993) developed a tomographic re-
construction technique that yielded formation P-wave velocities
from sonic travel times. The estimation was performed with a
series of linear inversions followed by ray tracing. However,
travel-time tomography using ray tracing requires accurate picking
of the refracted arrivals of each wave train and the use of an
accurate high-frequency ray-trace approximation.
Few studies of seismic full-waveform inversion (Sen and Stoffa
1991; Zhou et al. 1997; Pratt 1999a, 1999b) show that the use of
amplitude data can improve the resolution of 1D vertical distribu-
tions of velocity and density. The amplitude and phase behavior of
full-waveform data are sensitive to the petrophysical properties of
formations supporting the propagation of elastic waves. Therefore,
full-waveform analysis has significant potential in acoustic log-
ging to estimate petrophysical properties of invaded zones and
virgin formations. The reconstruction of formation slowness away
553
from the borehole wall can provide valuable calibration factors for
measurements acquired with shallow-reading devices. Corrections
provided by full-waveform inversion may be of primary impor-
tance for the robust and accurate computation of synthetic seis-
mograms. There is, however, one major difficulty to overcome in
full-waveform inversion. In all field applications, the effective
source wavelet; the coupling among source, borehole, and forma-
tion; and the coupling between receivers and the formation depend
on the in-situ borehole conditions. The practical difficulty in esti-
mating the sonic-source signature is probably the reason why very
few attempts have been made to use the information borne by the
full waveform of acoustic-logging data.
Cheng (1989) described an indirect method for determining
S-wave velocities from full-waveform acoustic logs by means of
inversion. This method makes use of the spectral ratio of the Fig. 1—Schematic of the process of mud-filtrate invasion
P-wave trains at two source/receiver separations and simulta- in rock formations penetrated by a mud-filled and overbal-
neously inverts for both S-wave velocity and P-wave attenuation. anced borehole.
In that paper, Cheng’s approach based on spectral-ratio data was
extended to full-waveform arrays to overcome the practical diffi- that mud filtrate penetrates to a radial distance of 0.5 m after 4 days
culty of the unknown source-output spectrum. Lee and Kim (2003) of invasion.
estimated P-wave velocity distributions from synthetic seismic Because of relative permeability, in the example case consid-
data by use of a spectral-ratio method. Frazer et al. (1997) and ered here, oil-based mud invades the gas-bearing sandstone for-
Frazer and Sun (1998) described an inversion method for process- mation at a much slower rate than for the case of water-based
ing array full-waveform data. Their approach does not require an mud-filtrate invasion. Fig. 4 shows the time evolution of oil-based
exact source function, although it is a necessary part of the inver- mud-filtrate saturation in the radial direction of a low-porosity (15
sion. Because of this, the chosen source function can bias the p.u.) and low-permeability (30 md) formation. Oil-based mud fil-
inversion results. trate reaches a radial distance of approximately 0.2 m after 4 days
Our inversion approach first transforms array waveforms into of invasion. Fig. 5 shows that mud filtrate primarily concentrates
the frequency domain to construct a set of normalized array sonic within a distance of 0.1 m away from the borehole wall.
data. The normalized wavefield is independent of the spectrum of
the source; hence, the proposed inversion method allows one to Radial Distributions of Density and P- and S-Wave Velocities
make use of the full-waveform content of sonic data without re- in an Invaded Zone. Once radial profiles of invasion are obtained
quiring knowledge of the source signature. Previous studies of from numerical simulations, radial distributions of the elastic prop-
full-waveform borehole acoustic measurements assumed a homo- erties of a formation can be calculated using the Biot-Gassmann
geneous and isotropic formation and a model for borehole wave fluid-substitution equations. Following the tutorial presented by
propagation without surface irregularities. In this paper, we make Smith et al. (2003), a calculation is first performed for the basic
the assumptions of a radially multilayered formation model and a formation and fluid properties. Subsequently, for each point in the
cylindrical borehole. saturation profile we calculate (a) fluid properties, (b) saturated
Methodology bulk modulus of the rock, (c) bulk density of the rock, and (d) P-
and S-wave velocities.
Numerical Simulation of Mud-Filtrate Invasion. Mud-filtrate When computing fluid and formation properties after invasion,
invasion is regarded as a water- or oil-injection process into a gas a careful selection of homogeneous or patchy saturation models is
or oil reservoir wherein two-phase immiscible fluid flow is as- necessary. Over geologic time, fluids in the pores of the rocks
sumed in the simulations. To study the effects of different types of become homogeneously distributed. This is one of the important
mud filtration on gas or oil reservoirs, the following cases are
selected: (a) water-based mud invades oil and gas reservoirs pen-
etrated by open holes and (b) oil-based mud invades gas reservoirs
penetrated by open holes. In each of these cases, it is assumed that
a vertical well penetrates horizontally layered rock formations and
that the rock formation considered does not communicate hydrau-
lically with its upper and lower shoulder beds. To study the sen-
sitivity of mud-filtrate invasion to formation petrophysical prop-
erties, we consider a low-permeability (30 md) and low-porosity
(15 p.u.) reservoir and a high-permeability (300 md) and high-
porosity (30 p.u.) reservoir for Cases (a) and (b).
Details of the numerical simulation of the process of mud-
filtrate invasion in open holes can be found in Wu et al. (2004,
2005) and George et al. (2004). In the simulations, both the dy-
namic growth of the mudcake and the dynamic decrease of the
mudcake permeability are coupled to formation properties. This
results in a dynamic monotonic decrease of flow rate into the
formation. After a short initial spurt of mud-filtrate invasion, the
invasion process reaches a steady state. Cycles of mudcake ruboff
and buildup can also affect the process of mud-filtrate invasion.
Fig. 1 is a schematic of the process of mud filtrate invading a
permeable rock formation. The invasion front moves deeper into
the formation with time. Fig. 2 shows the time evolution of water-
Fig. 2—Time evolution of mud-filtrate invasion for the case of
based mud-filtrate saturation in the radial direction of a low- water-based mud invading a 15%-porosity, oil-bearing rock for-
porosity, low-permeability, and oil-bearing sandstone formation. mation. From left to right, the first curve is the water-saturation
The water-based mud filtrate reaches a radial distance of approxi- profile 1 day after the onset of mud-filtrate invasion. The time
mately 0.8 m after 4 days of invasion. Mud-filtrate invasion is increment is 1 day, and the rightmost curve describes water
shallower for the corresponding high-porosity case. Fig. 3 shows saturation at the 16th day.

554 October 2006 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering


Fig. 3—Time evolution of mud-filtrate invasion for the case of
water-based mud invading a 30%-porosity, oil-bearing reser-
voir. From left to right, the first curve is the water-saturation
profile 1 day after the onset of mud-filtrate invasion. The time
increment is 1 day, and the rightmost curve describes water
saturation at the 16th day.
assumptions of the Biot-Gassmann fluid-substitution model. How-
ever, mud-filtrate invasion in the near-wellbore region changes the
connate-fluid distribution. From the numerical-simulation results
described in this paper, it is clear that the equilibrium of fluid
phases in the near-wellbore region is not established within a few
days after the onset of the mud-filtrate-invasion process. There-
fore, it is more appropriate to use a patchy saturation model to
compute the corresponding bulk modulus (Hill 1963).
Numerical Simulation of Time-Lapse Borehole Acoustic Mea-
surements. On the basis of saturation-profile and fluid-
substitution calculations, we obtain a discretized and concentric
multilayered rock model. The radial discretization is sufficient to
ensure accurate representation of the continuous radial distribu-
tions in the calculation of elastic properties. A corresponding step-
wise-invaded-zone model also is used for the numerical simula-
tion. The waveforms simulated for the multilayered and stepwise
models are compared, with the objective of determining when the
stepwise models are adequate to represent the invaded zone.
Fig. 4—Time evolution of mud-filtrate invasion for the case of
oil-based mud invading a 15%-porosity, gas-bearing reservoir.
From left to right, the first curve is the water saturation profile 1
day after the onset of mud-filtrate invasion. The time increment
is 1 day, and the rightmost curve describes oil saturation at the
16th day.
October 2006 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering
Fig. 5—Time evolution of mud-filtrate invasion for the case of
oil-based mud invading a 30%-porosity, gas-bearing reservoir.
From left to right, the first curve is the water saturation profile 1
day after the onset of mud-filtrate invasion. The time increment
is 1 day, and the rightmost curve describes oil saturation at the
16th day.
In the synthesis of array waveforms, we assume a representa-
tive source/receiver configuration. For monopole logging, the cen-
tral frequency of the source is 10 kHz. The minimum source/
receiver distance is 9 ft, with the receiver array consisting of eight
receivers spaced at 6-in. intervals. Dipole logging makes use of a
1.5-kHz source and a minimum source/receiver separation of 11.5
ft. In the lower dipole mode, the eight source/receiver offsets vary
from 3.51 m (11.5 ft) to 4.57 m (15 ft) with a receiver spacing of
0.15 m (6 in.). We simulate sonic array waveforms for a homo-
geneous virgin formation as well as for a saturated formation after
4 days of mud-filtrate invasion.
Processing and Interpretation of Monopole and Dipole Log-
ging Data. The sensitivity of acoustic measurements to different
invasion models and radial saturation profiles can be assessed by
comparing the synthetic waveforms for homogeneous, stepwise,
and multilayered radial formation models. Arrival times and am-
plitudes of P- and S- wave modes are the main waveform features
used to assess the effect of mud-filtrate invasion on borehole
acoustic logging measurements.
We use an industry standard STC method (Kimball and
Marzetta 1984) to determine the P- and S-wave velocities of array
sonic waveforms. Radial depths of investigation for sonic tools
depend on formation elastic properties, transmitter-to-receiver
spacing, wavelength and wave mode considered, and frequency,
among other factors. Because we chose a typical sonic-tool con-
figuration and source frequencies used by the logging industry, we
can focus our study of invasion effects on velocity measurements.
After P- and S-wave velocities are determined, the depth of inves-
tigation can be ascertained from the inspection of radial velo-
city profiles.
When correlating seismic data with acoustic logs, it is often
found that synthetic seismograms do not match the measured seis-
mograms. As a result, corrections to the acoustic logs by means of
Biot-Gassmann fluid substitution are common in the seismic in-
dustry to eliminate mud-filtrate-invasion effects from sonic logs.
In this correction procedure, it is assumed that the measured ve-
locities are those of the invaded zone saturated with mud filtrate.
For the case of oil-based mud, filtrate mixing with gas may have
to be considered before fluid substitution. By displacing the satu-
ration fluid in the invaded zone with the connate formation fluid
and by applying the Biot-Gassmann fluid-substitution equation,
new velocities are obtained and taken as virgin-formation veloci-
ties. We investigate the validity of this practice through several
case studies.
555
Full-Waveform Inversion. In our inversion of radial elastic prop-
erties, we assume a cylindrical borehole surrounded by concentric
multilayered formations. We first transform array sonic waveforms
into the frequency domain to construct a set of normalized array
sonic spectra. The normalized wavefield is independent of the
spectrum of the source; hence, the proposed inversion method
allows one to make use of the full-waveform content of sonic data
without requiring knowledge of the source signature. The normal-
ized wavefield (or spectrum) of full waveforms constitutes the
measurement data input to the full-waveform inversion algorithm.
For estimation of the radial distributions of elastic properties, den-
sity and P- and S-wave velocities are assigned to each concentric
layer in the near-wellbore region. Subsequently, we simulate the
measured wavefields with the assumed properties. A cost function
that enforces the quadratic difference between the simulated and
measured normalized wavefields is used for inversion. We make
use of a Gauss-Newton fixed-point iteration search to determine a
stationary point at which the cost function attains a minimum. The
stationary point yields the radial distribution of elastic properties.
Details of the full-waveform inversion are given in the Appendix.
Case Studies
Sandstone Oil Reservoir Invaded With a Water-Based Mud. In
onshore drilling activities, water-based mud is still widely used
because of its efficiency to balance formation pressure without
substantially increasing costs. Elastic properties of oil in rock for-
mations are much closer to those of mud filtrate derived from a
water-based mud. Compared to the case of mud filtrate invading a
gas reservoir, it may be more difficult to distinguish mud-filtrate-
invasion effects on the measured velocities. Moreover, fluid-flow
properties of oil and gas are very different from each other. To
study the sensitivity of the measured velocities to porosity and
permeability, this section first considers a low-porosity (15 p.u.)
and low-permeability (30 md) reservoir. Table 1 summarizes the
petrophysical and fluid properties used in the simulation of water-
based mud-filtrate invasion. Subsequently, we focus our attention
to the case of a high-porosity (30 p.u.) and high-permeability (300
md) reservoir. Saturation profiles of mud filtrate and oil in forma-
556
tions are simulated for 4 days of invasion. The latter profiles are
used to calculate radial distributions of elastic properties using the
Biot-Gassmann fluid-substitution model.
Fig. 2 shows the time evolution of mud-filtrate invasion for the
case of water-based mud invading the oil-bearing sandstone res-
ervoir of 15% porosity. Fig. 6 shows the corresponding radial
distributions of density and P- and S-wave velocities calculated
with the fluid-substitution parameters described in Table 2. As
shown in Fig. 6, in the invaded zones the P-wave velocity is higher
than that of the virgin formation, while the S-wave velocity be-
comes lower than the original velocity. P-wave velocities esti-
mated from the array waveforms (Fig. 7a) simulated for stepwise
and multilayered models are approximately 1% lower than those of
the virgin formation. STC processing can introduce 1% uncertainty
in the estimation of P-wave velocity. Therefore, the 1% lower
P-wave velocity may result from STC processing. This implies
that the P-wave is not sensitive to the invaded zone, which exhibits
a higher P-wave velocity. On the other hand, S-wave velocities
obtained from STC processing of monopole and dipole waveforms
are 2% lower than those of the virgin formation. This behavior
agrees with the velocity decrease described in Fig. 6 and indicates
that S-wave propagation is sensitive to the invaded zone.
Fig. 8 shows the radial distributions of density and P- and
S-wave velocities for the high-porosity and high-permeability case
after 4 days of invasion. The corresponding STC results show that
the P-wave velocity is the same as that of the virgin formation
within the processing error bound of 1%. This behavior indicates
that P-wave propagation is sensitive to the radial region beyond
the invaded zone. The S-wave velocity obtained for this invaded
model is approximately 2.6% lower than that of the virgin zone.
This relatively larger reduction in S-wave velocity compared to the
low-porosity case is expected because more oil is replaced by
water-based-mud filtrate.
In summary, P-wave propagation is sensitive to the virgin zone,
whereas S-wave propagation is sensitive to the invaded zone when
the radial length of mud-filtrate invasion is approximately 0.5 to
0.8 m for the two sandstone reservoirs considered in this section.
Sandstone Gas Reservoir Invaded With an Oil-Based Mud.
Our study indicates that, in general, oil-based mud causes shal-
lower invasion than water-based mud and, hence, less formation
damage. Because oil-based mud is also chemically less active
compared to water-based mud, it is more effective in inhibiting
shale swelling. This is one of the reasons why oil-based mud is
widely used to drill expensive offshore wells.
Fig. 6—Radial distributions of density and P- and S-wave veloc-
ities for the case of water-based mud invading a 15%-porosity,
oil-bearing reservoir after 4 days of invasion.
October 2006 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering
 We selected two synthetic cases to study mud-filtrate effects on
the measured velocities of sandstone formations exhibiting low
and high porosities and permeabilities.
Fig. 9 shows the radial distributions of density and P- and
S-wave velocities for the case of a gas-bearing sandstone reservoir
of 15% porosity invaded with an oil-based mud.
P-wave velocities estimated from array waveforms simulated
for a stepwise and a multilayered model are approximately 1.0%
higher than that of the true formation P-wave velocity, but ap-
proximately 3.0% lower than that of an invaded zone saturated
with 90% mud filtrate. Estimated S-wave velocities are approxi-
mately 0.2% lower than that of the true formation S-wave velocity,
while the S-wave velocity for the invaded zone is 1.2% lower than
that of the true formation. Therefore, P- and S-wave velocities are
slightly influenced by mud-filtrate invasion and remain primarily
sensitive to the radial region beyond the invaded zone.
For the 30%-porosity case, Fig. 10 shows the radial distribu-
tions of density and P- and S-wave velocities. It is observed from
the monopole waveforms (Fig. 11) that the presence of invaded
zones does not affect the P-wave arrival time, but it does delay the
S-wave arrival time. On the other hand, P-wave amplitudes do not
change appreciably, whereas S-wave amplitudes increase. In the
dipole waveforms, the change in S-wave arrival is negligible. Di- Fig. 7—Simulated (a) monopole and (b) dipole waveforms for
pole waveforms for the stepwise model are significantly different the homogeneous, stepwise, and multilayered formation mod-
from those simulated for the multilayered formation model. els shown in Fig. 6.
P-wave velocities estimated from data for homogeneous, mul-
tilayered, and stepwise models are the same. This behavior indi-

Fig. 8—Radial distributions of density and P- and S-wave veloc- Fig. 9—Radial distributions of density and P- and S-wave veloc-
ities for the case of water-based mud invading a 30%-porosity, ities for the case of oil-based mud invading a 15%-porosity,
oil-bearing rock formation after 4 days of invasion. gas-bearing rock formation after 4 days of invasion.

October 2006 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 557

Fig. 10—Radial distributions of density and P- and S-wave ve-
locities for the case of oil-based mud invading a 30%-porosity,
gas-bearing rock formation after 4 days of invasion.

cates that P-wave propagation is sensitive to the radial region past

the invaded zone. S-wave velocities estimated for the stepwise and
the multilayered models are approximately 1% lower than that of
the virgin formation. According to the Biot-Gassmann fluid-
substitution model, a rock formation saturated with 90% mud fil-
trate should exhibit a 4.3% S-wave velocity decrease compared to
that of the virgin formation. This indicates that the measured
S-wave velocities are primarily sensitive to the virgin formation
but remain influenced by mud filtrate in the near-wellbore re-
gion. In all the cases studied in this section, both P- and S-waves
are not sensitive to the invaded zone when the oil-based mud-
filtrate invasion reaches a radial length of approximately 0.3 m in Fig. 11—Simulated (a) monopole and (b) dipole waveforms for
sandstone reservoirs. the case of homogeneous, stepwise, and multilayered forma-
tion models invaded with oil-based mud after 4 days of invasion
Elastic Radial Profiles of a Fast Rock Formation. This inversion in a 30%-porosity gas reservoir.
case makes use of realistic elastic properties for a fast-formation
model (Schmitt 1988), which consists of six radial layers, includ- Inversions performed with no assumption of an increasing
ing a fluid layer in the borehole. Table 3 describes the actual fluid value of elastic properties away from the borehole wall converge
and formation properties and the radial discretization grid used for to local minima without exception. Fig. 13 shows the radial dis-
the inversion. Amplitude spectra of the simulated waveforms are tributions and crossplots of actual and inverted elastic properties
used in the estimation to accelerate the convergence of the inver- after 20 iterations for a slow formation under the assumption of
sion algorithm. monotonically increasing values of elastic properties. The inver-
Fig. 12 shows radial distributions and crossplots of actual and sion stops at a local minimum, as can be observed from the evo-
inverted elastic properties after 26 iterations of the inversion al- lution of the data misfit and cost functions shown in Figs. 13a and
gorithm. The inverted radial distributions of elastic properties 13b, respectively. Global correlation coefficients for the inverted
show a good agreement with the actual properties. Global corre- and actual velocities are relatively high (0.83 and 0.83 for P- and
lation coefficients calculated between the inverted and the actual S-wave velocities, respectively). However, for bulk density, the
values of elastic properties indicate that all the inverted elastic correlation coefficient is −0.45. This indicates the relatively low
properties exhibit high global similarity with the original model sensitivity of the measurements to radial variations of density in
properties (0.932, 1, and 1 for P- and S-wave velocities and den-
sity, respectively).

Elastic Radial Profiles of a Slow Rock Formation. This example

is an extension of the slow formation model in the simple borehole
cases described by Cheng (1989) within the context of marine
sediments. Table 4 describes the model, which consists of six
radial layers, including one fluid layer in the borehole. The tool
and source configurations are the same as those discussed previ-
ously for simple borehole cases. Given that the low-frequency
content of the full waveforms is more important in soft formations
than in fast formations, data from the frequency band 2–5 kHz are
used for inversion. Inversion results from this example not only
estimate the virgin-formation elastic properties but also give a
description of near-wellbore damage.

558 October 2006 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Fig. 12—Simultaneous inversion of radial distributions of elastic properties for a six-layer fast formation using noise-free normal-
ized spectra of array waveform data. Panel (a) shows the array waveform in the time domain, and Panel (b) shows the data residuals
yielded by the inversion. In Panel (c), the inverted radial distributions of elastic properties are identified with solid lines and open
circles; additional lines identify original model properties. Panel (d) shows that the correlation coefficient, r2, is the correlation
coefficient between the inverted and actual elastic properties.

the 2- to 5-kHz frequency band. Overall, the inversion algorithm
provides a reliable way to estimate radial distributions of elastic
properties in soft rock formations. This is a valuable tool for de-
tailed analysis of acoustic-logging data in offshore wells.
Elastic Radial Profiles From Field Data. This example assesses
the feasibility and performance of the inversion algorithm when
applied to field data. Full-waveform acoustic data were acquired
with the Dipole Sonic Imager (DSI)* tool in the depth interval
from 13,000 to 13,050 ft within a well penetrating a tight-
sandstone gas reservoir (Anderson Well No. 2). Core data and log
measurements indicate that the porosity of the fine-grained sand-
stone formation is below 9%. Gas saturation ranges from 80% to
95%. Fig. 14a displays the array waveform data acquired at the
depth of 13,030 ft. The bottom four traces show very similar
characteristics in the number of wave modes and in the amplitudes
of each wave mode. The top four traces, however, exhibit a com-
pletely different character. Fig. 14b displays the amplitude spectra
of the array waveform data. The main energy of the waveforms is
contained in the frequency band from 9 to 14 kHz. Input data to the
inversion algorithm are chosen to be the normalized frequency
data in the band of 11–14 kHz, given that previous examples show
that data from a narrower frequency-data band improve the con-
vergence of the algorithm. The STC processing method yields
formation P- and S-wave slowness values of 66.33 and 108.01
␮s/ft, respectively, which are used as the initial properties for the
inversion. Likewise, the density log reads a value of 2.504 g/cm3
for bulk formation density. The mud density at this depth in the

* Mark of Schlumberger.

October 2006 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 559

Fig. 13—Radial distributions and crossplots of the actual and inverted elastic properties for a six-layer slow formation. The
evolution of the data misfit and cost function with iteration number is shown in Panels (a) and (b), respectively. In Plot (c), the
inverted radial distributions of elastic properties are identified with open circles. Additional lines identify original model properties.
Panel (d) shows the correlation coefficient, r2, between the inverted and actual elastic properties.

borehole is 14 lbm/gal (1678 kg/m3), whereas the acoustic velocity
of the mud is approximately 1186 m/s. Mud-filtrate-invasion stud-
ies (Salazar et al. 2005) indicate that mud filtrate reaches a radial
distance of approximately 1.5 ft in the flow unit of interest after 24
hours of drilling. Thus, we use a concentric five-radial-layer model
to describe the near-wellbore invasion zone. The inner radii of the
radial formation layers are 0.07, 0.15, 0.30, 0.40, and 0.45 m,
respectively, and the outmost layer is assumed to be unbounded in
the radial direction. Within each radial zone, formation elastic
properties are assumed constant.
First, normalized frequency data from Traces 1 through 4 in the
band from 11 to 14 kHz are used as input data for the inversion.
The data misfit decreases to 4% after 20 iterations. Fig. 14c indi-
cates that the formation P- and S-wave velocities increase and bulk
density decreases in the radial direction. It is known that formation
damage caused by drilling decreases the formation velocities and
that mud-filtrate invasion in the near-wellbore region increases the
bulk density. The inverted radial distributions indicate that a dam-
aged zone exists in the near-wellbore region even though the bore-
hole is in excellent condition. Such a result also agrees with the
high-amplitude P-wave components that are observed from Traces
1 through 4 of the array sonic waveforms. A radial profile of
monotonically increasing P-wave velocity focuses the elastic
waves propagating away from the wellbore back toward the bore-
hole wall and increases the P-wave amplitude (Winkler 1997;
Chen et al. 1996). The radial distribution of density shows a de-
creasing trend from the borehole wall into the formation. Such a
behavior can be interpreted as due to mud-filtrate displacing gas in
the near-wellbore region. This exercise confirms that the inversion
algorithm is reliable to estimate radial distributions of formation
elastic properties in the near-wellbore region.
Conclusions
In the cases of water-based mud invading oil-bearing sandstone
reservoirs, P-wave propagation remains sensitive to virgin zones,
whereas S-wave propagation is affected by invaded zones when
the radial length of invasion of mud filtrate is approximately 0.5 to
0.8 m. In this latter situation, log corrections are not necessary for
P-wave velocities, whereas detailed saturation-profile calculations
are needed to correct the measured S-wave velocities for mud-
filtrate-invasion effects. For the cases of oil-based mud invading
sandstone reservoirs, both P- and S-wave propagations are insen-
sitive to the presence of mud filtrate in the invaded zones.
We developed a new full-waveform inversion algorithm that
makes use of the normalized frequency spectra of sonic wave-
forms. The reliability of the inversion algorithm was tested suc-
cessfully with radially multilayered 1D synthetic models. In addi-
tion, we obtained petrophysically consistent results when the in-

560 October 2006 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering

Fig. 14—Simultaneous inversion of radial distributions of elastic properties using array waveform data acquired in the Anderson
Well No. 2 and penetrating a tight gas reservoir. Panel (a) shows the array waveforms in the time domain, and Panel (b) shows the
corresponding amplitude spectra. Panel (c) shows the homogeneous-formation model used to initialize the inversion and the
inverted radial distributions of formation elastic properties.

version algorithm was applied to field data acquired in a tight M ⳱ number of frequency-domain measurements
gas reservoir. N ⳱ number of radial layers
Inversion exercises performed on synthetic data indicate that NFREQ ⳱ number of frequencies used for each trace
the low-frequency content of full-waveform data is sensitive to NREC ⳱ number of receivers
formation elastic properties radially away from the borehole wall. r1 ⳱ radius of the first radial formation layer
Thus, high-frequency components of array sonic data may be pref-
R ⳱ borehole radius
erable for estimating the radial distribution of elastic properties in
the near-wellbore region. +− ⳱ reflectivity between the fluid and the first radial
R̂(1)
layer of the formation
Re ⳱ real
Nomenclature Sj ⳱ spectra of normalized waveforms
C(m) ⳱ cost function S(␻) ⳱ effective-source-output spectrum
d(m) ⳱ measurement vector numerically simulated for T ⳱ transpose
specific values of m T12 ⳱ transfer function between the two receivers
dobs ⳱ measurement vector ui ⳱ upper bound
i ⳱ index or imaginary unit Vf ⳱ fluid acoustic velocity
Im ⳱ imaginary Vp ⳱ P-wave velocity
j, k ⳱ indices Vs ⳱ S-wave velocity
J(m) ⳱ Jacobian matrix Wd·WTd ⳱ inverse of the measurement covariance matrix
li ⳱ lower bound Wm·WTm ⳱ inverse of the model covariance matrix
kf ⳱ fluid wave number z1, z2 ⳱ receiver locations
kp ⳱ radial wave number of fluid ␹ ⳱ prescribed value of enforced data misfit
f
m ⳱ size-N vector of unknown parameters ␭ ⳱ Lagrange multiplier or regularization parameter
mR ⳱ size-N reference vector ␳ ⳱ density

October 2006 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering 561

Acknowledgments
The work reported in this paper was funded by the U. of Texas at
Austin’s Research Consortium on Formation Evaluation, jointly
sponsored by Aramco, Baker Atlas, BP, British Gas, ConocoPhil-
lips, Chevron, Eni E&P, ExxonMobil, Halliburton Energy Ser-
vices, Marathon, the Mexican Inst. for Petroleum, Norsk-Hydro,
Occidental Petroleum Corp., Petrobras, Schlumberger, Shell Intl.
E&P, Statoil, Total, and Weatherford.
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Appendix—Methodology for
Full-Waveform Inversion
The model of wave propagation in a borehole considered in this
paper assumes an isotropic, radially multilayered formation with
no geometrical irregularities along the borehole wall. As with any
inversion procedure, the accuracy and reliability of the results will
depend on how accurately the forward model describes actual
in-situ conditions. In practical field studies, irregularities on the
borehole wall can be quantified with caliper measurements. Con-
sequently, vertical formation intervals can be identified that are
consistent with the assumption of a smooth borehole wall. Along
the length of the receiver spacing (6 in.), the formation can be
regarded as homogeneous in the axial direction.
In practice, the effect of borehole/receiver coupling can be
assumed negligibly small in comparison to source coupling. The
spectral ratio of the pressure responses at two receiver locations, z1
and z2, from a common source can be written as
冋兰 册
⬁
R̂共+1−兲 eikpf r1 eikf z2
S共␻兲 i eikz2dk +
1− R̂共+1−兲 eikpf r1 z2
冋兰 册
−⬁
T12 = ⬁
, . . . . . . . . . (A-1)
R̂共+1−兲 eikpf r1 eikf z1
S共␻兲 i eikz1
dk +
−⬁
1 − R̂共+1−兲 eikpf r1 z1
where S(␻) is an effective-source-output spectrum, kf is the
(1)
fluid wave number, kp is the radial wave number of fluid, R̂+−
f
is related to the reflectivity between the fluid and the first ra-
October 2006 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering
dial layer of formation, and r1 is the radius of the first layer. The
ratio of the two source terms in Eq. A-1 is equal to unity, resulting
in a final frequency representation independent of the source spec-
trum. This procedure indicates that, in principle, knowledge of the
source spectrum is not necessary for full-waveform inversion
when spectral ratios are used as input data. We note that the term
T12 in Eq. A-1 is the transfer function between the two receivers.
For practical applications, the source functions are never fully
known because of the variability of mechanical coupling caused by
vertical variation of formation properties. The source-independent
formulation described by Eq. A-1 summarizes the conceptual basis
for a robust and efficient algorithm that can be used as the forward
computational model for full-waveform inversion. The transfer
function T12 depends on both the formation and borehole proper-
ties. Specifically, factors that affect the transfer function include:
(a) elastic properties of the formation, (b) borehole radius R, (c)
acoustic velocity Vf, (d) density ␳f, and (e) quality factors for
formation and borehole fluid. Toksöz et al. (1985), Cheng et al.
(1986), and Cheng (1989) have quantified some of these factors
using forward-modeling techniques. Because the primary goal of
this paper is to simultaneously invert radial distributions of density
and P- and S-wave velocities, quality factors will not be subject to
quantitative consideration. The normalized wavefield (or the nor-
malized spectrum) of full waveforms constitutes the measurements
entered into the full-waveform inversion algorithm. A cost func-
tion that enforces the quadratic difference between the simulated
and measured normalized wavefields is used for inversion. To
appraise the robustness of the inversion algorithm, this paper also
considers a sensitivity study that quantifies the influence of noise,
normalization trace, and regularization parameters.
For the estimation of the radial distribution of elastic properties,
density and P- and S-wave velocities are assigned a constant value
within each radial layer in the near-wellbore region. Let m be the
size-N vector of unknown parameters that fully describes the radial
distribution of elastic properties, and let mR be a reference vector
of the same size as m that has been determined from some a priori
information. The estimation (inversion) of m is undertaken by
minimizing a quadratic cost function, C(m), defined as (Torres-
Verdín and Habashy 1994)
2C共m兲 = 兵 㛳Wd关d共m兲 − dobs兴 㛳2 − ␹2其 + ␭ 㛳Wm ⭈ 共m − mR兲 㛳2,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (A-2)
obs
where d is a size-M vector that contains the noisy measure-
ments, and Wd·WTd is the inverse of the data covariance matrix.
This data-weighting matrix describes the estimated variance for
each particular measurement and the estimated correlation be-
tween measurements. The parameter ␹ denotes the prescribed
value of the enforced quadratic data misfit. A priori estimates of
the noise in the measurements are used to determine the magnitude
of ␹. In Eq. A-2, d(m) is the measurement vector numerically
simulated for specific values of m; Wm·Wm T
is the inverse of the
model covariance matrix, used to enforce both a quantitative
degree of confidence in the reference model, mR, and a priori
information about m; and ␭ is a Lagrange multiplier or regular-
ization parameter.
The first additive term on the right side of Eq. A-2 drives the
inversion toward fitting the measurements within the desired ␹2
value. The sole presence of such a term in the cost function C(m)
will yield multivalued solutions of the inverse problem as a result
of both noisy measurements and insufficient and imperfect data
sampling. Enforcing an extremely small data misfit may result in
estimated models with exceedingly large norms (Torres-Verdín
and Habashy 1994). The second additive term on the right side of
Eq. A-2 is used to reduce nonuniqueness and to stabilize the in-
version in the presence of noisy and sparse measurements. In this
context, the Lagrange multiplier, ␭, controls the relative weight of
the two additive terms in the cost function. The developments
considered in this paper make use of a relatively large regulariza-
tion parameter at the outset, which monotonically decreases ac-
cording to the number of iterations and the observed reduction of
the cost function from iteration to iteration.
October 2006 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering
Measurement and Model Vectors. In the cost function (Eq. A-2),
the measurement vector dobs is constructed from the real and
imaginary parts of the normalized spectra, Re(S) and Im(S), in the
following organized fashion:
dobs = 关Re共S1兲, Im共S1兲, . . . Re共Sj兲, Im共Sj兲, . . . Re共SM兲, Im共SM兲兴T,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (A-3)
where j⳱2, 3, . . . M.
In Eq. A-3, M is the number of actual frequency domain mea-
surements, and the superscript T indicates transpose. The ampli-
tude of the spectra also can be used as the measurement vector at
the expense of losing phase information. The ordering procedure
that assigns an index, j, to a given measurement is a function of
frequency for the spectrum of each trace and receiver location.
Real and imaginary parts of one measurement are arranged next to
each other. If the sonic tool consists of NREC receivers, the nor-
malized wavefield has NREC–1 traces because one trace is used to
eliminate the source effect. If the number of frequencies used for
each trace is NFREQ, the actual number of measurements used for
the inversion is 2M⳱2*NFREQ*(NREC–1).
Similarly, the model vector is assembled as
m = 关Vp,1, Vp,2, . . . , Vp,N, Vs,1, Vs,2, . . . , Vs,N, ␳1, . . . , ␳N兴T
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (A-4)
for the simultaneous inversion of P- and S-wave velocities and
density for each radial layer, where Vp, Vs, and ␳ denote P-wave
velocity, S-wave velocity, and density, respectively, in the radial
layers numbered from 1 to N. By denoting the model parameters as
mi, where i⳱1, 2, . . . , 3N, Eq. A-4 can be written as
m = 关m1, m2, . . . , m3N兴T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (A-5)
Gauss-Newton Fixed-Point Iteration Search. A Gauss-Newton
fixed-point iteration search (Gill et al. 1981) is used to determine
a stationary point, m, at which the cost function attains a mini-
mum. This method considers only first-order variations of the cost
function in the neighborhood of a local iteration point. The corre-
sponding iterated formula can be written as
mk+1 = 关JT共mk兲 ⭈ WTd ⭈ Wd ⭈ J共mk兲 + ␭WmT ⭈ Wm兴−1
⭈ 兵JT共mk兲 ⭈ WTd ⭈ Wd ⭈ 关d共mk兲 − dobs + J共mk兲 ⭈ mk兴
+ ␭WmT ⭈ Wm ⭈ mR其 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (A-6)
subject to
li ⱕ mik+1 ⱕ ui, where i = 1, 2, . . . N. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (A-7)
In these expressions, the superscript k is used as an iteration count,
and J(m) is the Jacobian matrix of C(m). Upper and lower bounds
enforced on mk+1 are intended to have the iterated solution yield
only physically consistent results. The fixed-point iteration search
for a minimum of C(m) is concluded when the measured data have
been fit within the prescribed tolerance, ␹2.
Relative data misfits computed with the formula
㛳Wd ⭈ 关d共mk兲 − dobs兴 㛳2
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (A-8)
㛳Wd ⭈ dobs 㛳2
are used in this paper to enforce a convergence criterion for
the inversion.
SI Metric Conversion Factors
cp × 1.0* E−03 ⳱ Pa⭈s
cycles/sec × 1.0* E+00 ⳱ Hz
ft × 3.048* E−01 ⳱ m
ft3 × 2.831 685 E−02 ⳱ m3
in. × 2.54* E+00 ⳱ cm
in.3 × 1.638 706 E+01 ⳱ cm3
psi × 6.894 757 E+00 ⳱ kPa
*Conversion factor is exact.
563
Shihong Chi joined ConocoPhillips in June 2006 as a staff petro-
physicist, working on petrophysical analysis and quantitative
interpretation of 4D seismic data with rock physics models. e-
mail: Shihong.chi@ConocoPhillips.com. He is interested in the
modeling and interpretation of logging data in deviated wells,
particularly for acoustic and resistivity anisotropy applications,
as well as the integration of rock physics, seismic, and reservoir
engineering in time-lapse seismic inversion and applications.
Previously, Chi interned with Schlumberger in 2000 and Baker
Atlas/Inteq in 2001. He also worked on borehole acoustics, seis-
moelectrics, and seismic modeling for fracture characteriza-
tion and nuclear explosion monitoring as a post-doctoral fel-
low at the Earth Resources Laboratory, Massachusetts Inst. of
Technology from 2004 to 2006. Chi holds a BS degree in geo-
physics from the U. of Science and Technology of China, an MS
degree in exploration geophysics from the U. of Petroleum,
East China, and MS and PhD degrees in petroleum engineer-
ing from the U. of Texas at Austin. Carlos Torres-Verdín has
been an associate professor in the Dept. of Petroleum and
Geosystems Engineering at the U. of Texas at Austin since 1999.
He conducts research on borehole geophysics, formation
evaluation, and integrated reservoir characterization. From
564
1991 to 1997, Torres-Verdín held the position of Research Sci-
entist with Schlumberger-Doll Research; from 1997 to 1999, he
was Reservoir Specialist and Technology Champion with YPF
(Buenos Aires). Torres-Verdín holds a PhD degree in engineer-
ing geoscience from the U. of California, Berkeley. He serves as
a Review Chair for SPEJ. Jianghui Wu is a scientist with Baker
Atlas in Houston. His main research areas are analysis of wire-
line formation tests and formation fluid sampling and the de-
velopment of a near-wellbore simulator. Previously, he was a
reservoir engineer with the Research Inst. of Petroleum Explo-
ration and Development, CNPC, from 1996 to 1999. Wu holds
BS and MS degrees from the China U. of Petroleum and a PhD
degree from the U. of Texas at Austin, all in petroleum engi-
neering. Faruk O. Alpak is a reservoir engineer with Shell Intl.
E&P in Houston. His research interests include parallel reservoir-
simulation techniques, numerical methods, uncertainty-based
dynamic modeling, inverse problems, numerical optimization,
and computational electromagnetics. Alpak is an author or
coauthor of more than 20 journal and conference publica-
tions. He holds a BS degree in petroleum and natural gas en-
gineering from the Middle East Technical U. and MS and PhD
degrees in petroleum engineering from the U. of Texas at Austin.
October 2006 SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering