POROSITY DETERMINATION

FROM LOGS
Sonic Porosity
From the Sonic log, a sonic derived porosity log (SPHI) maybe
derived:
Wyllie Time-average

Raymer-Hunt-Gardner

For unconsolidated formations

This requires a formation matrix transit time to be known

SPHI Units: percent, fraction
Cp = compaction factor
C = constant, normally 1.0
Hydrocarbon effects:
The Δt is increased due to HC therefore:
φ= φsx 0.7 (gas)
φ= φsx 0.9 (oil)

Example: Consolidated Formation
Given: Δt = 76 μs/ft in a consolidated formation
with vma = 18,000 ft/s.
Find: Porosity and the formation lithology
(sandstone, dolomite, or limestone).
Answer: 15% porosity and consolidated sandstone.
Example: Unconsolidated Formation
Given: Unconsolidated formation with
Δt = 100 μs/ft in a nearby water sand
with a porosity of 28%.
Find: Porosity of the formation for Δt
= 110 μs/ft.
Answer: The porosity of an
unconsolidated formation with Δt = 110
μs/ft is 34%.
Sonic Porosity
Sonic Porosity
Environmental effects:
– Enlarged borehole, formation fractures, gas in the borehole or formation, or
improper centralization can produce signal attenuation resulting in ”cycles
kipping”or DT spikes to higher values
– Improper centralization, lack of standoff, or excessive logging speed can result
in ”road noise”, or DT spikes to either higher or lower values
Interpretation effects:
– Lithology: porosity calculated from sonic depends on the choice of matrix transit
time, which varies with lithology
– Porosity calculations for uncompacted formations may yield porosity values
higher than the actual values when using the Wyllie equation. Use instead the
Raymer-Hunt-Gardner equation or correct for decompaction
–Porosity calculated in gas bearing zones will be slightly higher than the actual
values because the travel time in gas is higher than in water
Density Porosity
Bulk Density:
– Units: g/cm3, kg/m3
– Mnemonics: RHOB, DEN, (ZDEN)

Density porosity is defined as:

Density Porosity

Example
Given: ρb = 2.31g/cm3 (log reading corrected for borehole effect), ρma = 2.71g/cm3
(calcite mineral), and ρ= = 1.1 g/cm3 (salt mud).
Find: Density porosity.
Answer: φD = 25%.
Density Porosity
Environmental effects:
– Enlarged bore hole: RHOB < Fm. Bulk Density(DPHI > PHI actual)
– Rough bore hole: RHOB < Fm. Bulk Density(DPHI > PHI actual). This is due to the
sensor pad losing contact with the bore hole wall. Other indications for a rough bore hole
will be highly variable
Caliper curve, and a high-valued density correction(DRHO)
– Barite muds: RHOB > Fm. Bulk Density(DPHI < PHI actual)
Interpretation effects:
– Lithology: porosity calculated from density depends on the choice of matrix density,
which varies with lithology (DPHI might be negative)
– Fluid content: porosity calculated from density depends on the choice of fluid density,
which varies with fluid type and salinity. In routine calculations, zone of investigations is
assumed to be 100% filled with mud filtrate–Hydrocarbons: Presence of gas (light HC) in
the pore space causes DPHI to be more than the actual porosity. In Density-Neutron
combinations, this causes a ”cross-over”, where the NPHI values are less than the DPHI
values
– In all three cases above, the RHOB value from the tool is correct, but the calculated DPHI
is erroneous
Neutron Porosity
Environmental effects:
– Enlarged bore hole: NPHI > PHI actual
– Mud cake: NPHI < PHI actual
– Bore hole salinity: NPHI < PHI actual
– Formation salinity: NPHI > PHI actual
– Mud weight: NPHI < PHI actual
– Pressure: NPHI > PHI actual
– Temperature: NPHI < PHI actual
Pressure and temperature have the greatest effect. Neutron less affected by rough
borehole
Interpretation effects:
– Shaliness: NPHI > PHI actual in shaly zones
– Gas: NPHI < PHI actual in gassy zones.
– Lithology: In genera, for logs recorded in limestone porosity units, if the actual
lithology is sandstone, the log porosity is less than the actual porosity. If the actual
lithology is dolomite, the log porosity is greater than the actual porosity
Neutron Porosity NPHI Thermal neutron porosity
(ratio method)

NPOR Neutron porosity

(environmentally corrected and
enhanced vertical resolution
processed)

TNPH Thermal neutron porosity

(environmentally corrected)

Example
Given: Quartz sandstone formation, TNPH = 18 p.u (apparent limestone neutron porosity), and formation
salinity = 250,000 ppm.
Find: Porosity in sandstone.
Answer: From the TNPH porosity reading of 18 p.u. on the x-axis, project a vertical line to intersect the
quartz sandstone dashed red curve. From the y-axis, the porosity of the sandstone is 24 p.u.
Porosity Combinations
Given Δtlog, ρlog or φlog, correct total porosities can be calculated
from the appropriate logs, in water-filled formation sand with no
secondary porosity* present
But
• Matrix lithology often unknown
• Complex mineral logical composition
• Presence of other pore fluids than water
• Even geometry of pore structures affect the tools
So, we need additional in formation
•Fortunately, sonic, density and neutron logs respond different on
– Matrix minerals
– Pore fluids
– Geometry of pore structure
• Combination of logs may unravel complex matrix and fluid mixtures and there
by provide a more accurate determination of porosity
• A.o. crossplots area convenient way to demonstrate how various combinations of
logs respond to lithology and porosity
Porosity Combinations
When using a single porosity measurement, lithology must be specified, through
the choice of a matrix value, for the correct porosity to be calculated
•When using two or more measurements, lithology maybe predicted (along with
porosity), but with some ambiguity
•Measurement preferences (in order of choice):
– Two measurements:
• Neutron and Density
– Quick Quick-look Lithology and Porosity
• Neutron and Sonic
• Spectral density (bulk density)
• Density and Sonic
–Three measurements:
• Neutron and spectral density
• Neutron; Density; and Sonic
– MID (Matrix Identifications) Plots
– M-N Plots
Quick-look (φN& φD)
Neutron-Density: Special Case
Gas detection:
– Density porosity is too high
– Neutron porosity is too low
– Neutron porosity < Density
porosity
– Cross-over
– Be aware, cross-overs may also
be caused by lithological
differences as an affect of the
scaling
Neutron-Density crossplot
Advantage:
– Given two possible lithology
pair solutions, the porosity
remains relatively invariant
between the solutions
– The combination of neutron and
density is the most common of all
porosity tool pairs
•Disadvantage:
–In rough holes or in heavy
drilling muds, the density data
might be invalid
Neutron-Density crossplot

Given: Corrected apparent neutron limestone porosity = 16.5 p.u. and bulk density = 2.38 g/cm3.
Find: Crossplot porosity and lithology.
Answer: Crossplot porosity = 22 p.u. The lithology is approximately 55% quartz and 45%
limestone.
Sonic-Density crossplot
Advantage:
– Potential reservoirs plot along the closely
spaced lithology lines, while shale tend to
fall toward the lower right of the plot–
Quite useful for determining some
evaporate minerals
Disadvantage:
– The choice of the lithology pair has a
significant effect on the estimation of the
porosity
– The lithology lines are closely spaced, so
any uncertainty in the measurements
produces large changes in lithology and
porosity estimates

Example
Given: Bulk density = 2.3 g /cm3 and sonic
slowness time = 82 μs/ft.
Find: Crossplot porosity and lithology.
Answer: Limestone with a crossplot porosity =
24 p.u.
Sonic-Neutron crossplot
Advantage:
– Given two possible lithology pair
solutions, the porosity remains relatively
invariant between the solutions
– The sonic is less sensitive to rough holes
than the density
Disadvantage:
– The combination of sonic and neutron
data is not common

Example
Given: Thermal neutron apparent limestone porosity =
20 p.u. and sonic slowness time = 89 μs/ft in freshwater
drilling fluid.
Find: Crossplot porosity and lithology.
Answer: Enter the neutron porosity on the x-axis and the
sonic slowness time on the y-axis. The intersection point
is at about 25 p.u. on the field observation line and 24.5
p.u. on the time-average line. The matrix is quartz
sandstone.
MID (Matrix Identifications) Plots
these parameters the identification of
rock mineralogy or lithology through a
comparison of neutron, density, and
sonic measurements is possible.

Given: Apparent crossplot

porosity from density-neutron
= 20%, ρb = 2.4 g/cm3,
apparent crossplot porosity
from neutron-sonic = 30%,
and t = 82 μs/ft.
Find: ρmaa and tmaa.
Answer: ρmaa = 2.75 g/cm3
and tmaa = 46 μs/ft.
MID (Matrix Identifications) Plots
Given: ρmaa = 2.75 g/cm3,
tmaa = 46 μs/ft and ρf = 1.0
g/cm3.
Find: The predominant mineral
Answer: The formation
consists of both dolomite and
calcite, which indicates a
dolomitized limestone. The
formation used in this example
is from northwest Florida in
the Jay field. The vugs
(secondary porosity) created
by the dolomitization process
displace the data point parallel
to the dolomite and calcite
points.
M-N Lithology plots
• Three-measurement lithology
technique
• Combination of the three porosity
measurements
• Single mineralogy
• Binary mixtures
• Ternary mixtures

Given: M = 0.79 and N = 0.51.

Find: Mineral composition of the formation.
Answer: The intersection of the M and N
values indicates dolomite in group 2, which
has a porosity between 0 to 12 p.u.
Example
Depth Dt Sphi Sphi Sphi Sphi
(Willey) (Willey) (RHG) (RHG)
Lime Dolo Lime Dolo

11510

11522

11545

11560

11596

11616

11634
11644
11656
11666
11696
Example
Dphi Dphi
Depth RHOB
Lime Dolo

11510

11522

11545

11560

11596

11616

11634
11644
11656
11666
11696
Example
Nphi Nphi
Depth Nphi
Lime Dolo

11510

11522

11545

11560

11596

11616

11634
11644
11656
11666
11696
Example
Depth Zone range RHOB DPHI NPHI N_D crossplot N_S crossplot M-N Plot MID Plot

11510 11490-11518

11522 11518-11528

11544 11543-11546

11560 11546-11580

11596 11580-11598

11616 11598-11625

11634 11625-11641
11644 11641-11649
11656 11649-11659
11666 11659-11680
11696 >11680