What do we need to find out?

• Rock type?
– Sandstone? Shale? • Engineering
Limestone? Mineralogy? – Well trajectory (coord)
• Rock Properties – Shape of hole
– Porosity – Casing Joints
– Permeability – Quality of cement
– Bedding Orientation – etc

Well Logs –
–
–
Fractures?
Temperature
TOC
• Fluids
– Type (water, oil, gas)
– Saturation
– Salinity
– Pressure

Geol373
Reading in Selley Ch. 3

What for? (Log applications) What can we measure?

• Stratigraphic correlation • Electrical Properties
• Formation Tops • Natural radioactivity
• Quantitative Oil, Gas , Water saturations • Induced radioactivity
• Porosity • Acoustic Properties (sonic velocity)
• Correlation with seismic data • Shape of hole
• Sedimentological studies • Noise
• Reservoir modeling • Temperature
• Structural studies • Depth
• Economics • Tilt of hole
• etc • …

The Logging Operation

 100 to 200 feet repeat section measured at
the bottom
 Then tool is raised through the entire well
 Casing may prevent some logs from
working
 Logging speed: 1800 to 3600 ft/hour
 Information pertinent to both the logging
run and the well is recorded on the header.
 Logs recorded digitally.

6
 Title
Services Associated
With Data on Log
Basic Information
Company, Well Name
Location
API Number
Permit Number
Other Services
Wellbore Environment During Same Trip
Depth, Diameter, Detailed Location &
Temperature, Elevation Information
Mud Parameters KB Kelly Bushing
DF Derrick Floor
GL Ground Level
Equipment & Personnel
Logging Engineer & 8
Witnesses

Log Types Spontaneous Potential (SP)

• Lithologic Logs
• Other
– Spontaneous Potential (SP)
– Dipmeter • One of the Oldest Logging Measurements
– Gamma Ray (GR)
– Caliper – Used Commercially in 1931
– Temperature
• Porosity Logs – Acoustic
• Discovered as Noise in Resistivity
– Neutron – FMI • Found to be Related to Presence of Sandstone
– Density – Many more …
– Sonic

• Resistivity Logs (Fluid Type)

– Resistivity
– Induction

The well works like

a battery

E = -K log (aw/amf)

E is in millivolts

Surface aw= water salinity

aw= mud salinity

Ion flow is easier in

permeable
sandstones
Down hole
 Typical SP log SP has Poor
Limestone
Response

Gamma Ray Log

Spontaneous • Lithology log
Potential (SP) • Measures natural radioactivity
Drift • Uses a scintilometer (Geiger counter)
• Potassium (K), Uranium (U), Thorium (Th),
Phosphorous (P)
• K → abundant in clay → shales
• Unaffected by fluids
• High U → abundant organic matter
• “API units”, relative to a standard

SP and
Gamma Ray

•Gamma Ray in API

Units
•Plotted on the left of
the well
•Shales swing right
 Spectral Gamma Ray
Distinguishes the different sources of gamma rays Resistivity Log Applications

• Determination of Hydrocarbon-Bearing vs.

Clay
content Water-Bearing Zones
• Water Saturation Sw
Organic
content • Geopressure Detection
• Depth of Invasion
• Stratigraphic Correlation

The Borehole Environment Resistivity

R= resistivity Resistivity of Water - Rw
(ohms)

Increasing Resistivity
Resistivity of Water and Formation

Resistivity of Water, Hydrocarbons,

and Formation

Resistivity of Tight Formation

Normal Resistivity Tool

Resistivity Tool Background Spacing of electrodes determines penetration

• Three Classes
– Electrode Logs
– Laterologs
• Focused Electrodes
– Induction
• Measure Resistivity in Ohms
 Guard or Laterolog Tool Induction (Conductivity) Tool
Receiver coil measures the induced electrical field
The guard electrodes focus the current in a narrow created in the rocks by the transmitter coil
disk

Log Presentation and Scales

Log Scale
Resistivity logs :
Ohms
spherically-
focussed (SFL),
ID, IM, LL8 measure
resistivity at different medium
distances form the induction (ILM),
borehole. and
ID= deep induction deep induction
(ILD)
IM= medium induction
LL8= shallow induction

Calculating Fluid Saturation

Header

(Rxo/Rt)5/8 Wellbore Environment

Sw = Depth, Diameter,
(Rmf/Rw) Temperature,
Mud Parameters

Rxo= Resistivity of flushed zone

Rw= Resistivity of formation water
Rmf= Resistivity of mud filtrate
Rt= Resistivity of uninvaded zone
 Resistivity Imaging Logs Sonic (Acoustic) Logs
Measures of acoustic travel time in formation
∆t = 1/V

• ∆t is related to Density which depends on:

Lithology, Porosity, and Fluid Content

• Used to generate Synthetic Seismic traces

to link wells logs to seismic data

31

Rock matrix Fast Slow

Log meas. Sonic Log
Example

Which unit is the

best reservoir
Porosity Pore fluid (low shale and
high porosity)?

Well KGS Brungardt #1

33 Ellis Co., Kansas
Glover

Creating synthetic seismic data:

Sonic Log
Convolution

Wavelet

Acoustic impedance Seismic Synthetic

from Sonic log Reflectivity Seismic

GEOL 553 Lecture 3; Subsurface Analysis
 Density Log
Density Log
• Measures of Density - ρ DPHI= % Porosity
• Tied to Lithology, Porosity, and Fluid Content
• Tool emits gamma rays RHOB= Bulk Density
• Detects returning scattered gamma rays g/cm3

• Gamma ray absorption is proportional to rock

density

Porosity Calculation Neutron Log (CNL)

• Tool has a neutron source
• H absorbs neutrons and emits gamma rays
• Tool detects the emitted gamma rays
• H is mostly in formation fluids (water and
hydrocarbons)
• Can be run through casing
• Reads low in gas zones
• Cannot distinguish oil from water

Porosity
calibration
Density
Porosity
• If lithology is
known,
neutron and Neutron
density logs
can be
calibrated for Cross over
porosity indicates gas
 Resolution vs. Investigation
Applications of logs
• Stratigraphic studies
– Sedimentary facies
• Well correlation
• Reservoir models
• Structural interpretation
– Fault recognition

43

Gamma Ray Response to Grain Size Relating log character to sedimentary facies

45

3. Predict facies in wells

Building a reservoir without core, but with good logs
model model Log Datum Terminology
1. Define 2. Relate
facies in core facies to log

1600 wells • KB - Kelly Bushing elevation.

• MD - Measured Depth along the wellbore
from the Kelly bushing (usually)
• SS – Subsea Depth (Relative to Sealevel)
4. Fill the gaps between wells
• TVD – True Vertical Depth, (important for
non-vertical wells)
• SSTVD - Sub-Sea True Vertical Depth

108 Million Cells

28 cores
 DIRECTIONAL DRILLING
Correlation
Example

Major Sands
on SP

Correlation of directional wells MWD (or LoggingWD)

Directional Well Vertical Well Measurement While Drilling
 Tools are part of bottom hole assembly (BHA).
 Gamma ray, directional survey, tool face,
borehole pressure, temperature, vibration, shock,
torque etc.
 Telemetry for steering well
 Results transmitted digitally
mud pulser telemetry

52

Logging While Drilling Geosteering

Data Transmission

Mud Pulse Telemetry (Pressure pulses)

Electromagnetic Telemetry (Using conductivity of
drill pipe)

Wired Drill Pipe (The future. Faster and better, but

delicate)
 Full Logs in Horizontal wells FMI and Dipmeter Logs
 How do you move the logging tools through the FMI= Formation Micro Imager
horizontal well? Resistivity tools Dipmeter
•

Dipmeter Interpretation Take Home Ideas

Older, simpler • Well logs provide key data for understanding the
version of FMI subsurface
• Lithology, porosity and fluids are 3 important
log families
Vertical dip
• Usually you can’t measure these properties
variation is
directly, so you must use proxies or indirect
characteristic of the
measurements
structure
• Multiple logs used in combination are most
powerful