FORMATION EVALUATION

Lesson 2
_______

RESISTIVITY THEORY

Sep – Dec 2017

Notes modified from Dr. Jerry L. Jensen

 COURSE CALENDAR
Week Subject Date Quiz Reading
1 Introduction 22-23 Sept N/A Chap-
2 Saturation 6-7 Oct Q-1
3-4 Passive Measurement 13-14 Oct N/A
5 Acoustic 20-21 Oct Q-2
6 Density/ Neutron 27-28 Oct N/A
7-9 Porosity, Lithology 3-4 Nov Q-3
10 Resistivity 10-11 Nov N/A
11-12 Shaly sands 17-18 Nov Q-4
13-14 Core-Log Integration 24-25 Nov Q-5
OPENHOLE LOG EVALUATION
Most abundant data for formation evaluation and
determination of fluid saturations

Well Log
SP Resistivity

From NExT, 1999

 R=4

 = 0.30
R = 0.4

IDEALIZED R=8  = 0.07

LOG SET
Shale

Sand R = 0.3
 = 0.35
FOUR COMPONENTS OF SANDSTONE
Geologist’s Classification

1. Framework Note different use of “matrix”

2. Matrix Engineering
“matrix” by geologists and engineers
3. Cement
4. Pores

PORE
FRAMEWORK
CEMENT (QUARTZ) MATRIX

FRAMEWORK
(FELDSPAR)

Ayers, 2001 0.25 mm

 FLUID SATURATIONS

Grain Water Gas Oil

and matrix

• Initially, water fills pores and wets the rock surface

• Hydrocarbons migrate into the reservoir rock, displacing some water
• Hydrocarbon distribution determined by gravity and capillary forces,
and by wettability Modified from NExT, 1999
 RESISTIVITY
Resistivity

• The voltage required to cause one amp to

pass through a cube having a face area of
one square meter

• Units are ohm-m / m; usually ohm-m (.m)

2

1
Resistivity 
Conductivity
RESISTIVITY – DEFINITION OF THE
OHM-METER

From Halliburton (EL 1007)

RESISTIVITY OF EARTH MATERIALS

1
Resistivity 
Conductivity

Conductivity
Increasing
(1) Rock
(2) Gas
Increasing
Resistivity

(3) Oil
(4) Fresh Water
(5) Salt Water
FACTOR AFFECTING RESISTIVITY

• Resistivity of water
• Porosity of the formation,
• Pore geometry - tortuosity
• Lithology of the formation
• Degree of cementation, and
• Type and amount of clay in the rock

From J. Jensen, PETE 321 Lecture Notes

ELECTRICITY AND EARTH MATERIALS - 1

• Conduction is by ions in water

• Na+ and Cl- are very common
• Other monovalent ions K+ and OH-
• Common bivalent ions: Ca++, Mg++
Electricity and Earth Materials - 2

• Water resistivity
controlled by
– Ion
concentrations
– What type of
ions
– What
temperature
• Chart GEN-4 to
convert to NaCl
equiv
• Chart GEN-5 for
temperature/resi
st for NaCl
Resistivity
of NaCl
Solutions
____

GEN-5 H
or
GEN-9 S
 ARP’S FORMULA

• For constant solution

– R1(T1 + 7) = R2(T2 + 7) (T in deg F)
– R1(T1 + 21.5) = R2(T2 + 21.5) (T in deg C)

• Example
– Rm = 0.32 ohm-m @ surface (25deg C)
– What is Rm at 145 deg C?
– R2 = R1(T1 + 21.5)/(T2 + 21.5)
– R2 = 0.32(25+21.5)/(145+21.5) = 0.089 ohm-m
– Check this on the chart!
RESISTIVITY OF ROCKS CONTAINING FLUID
RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENT

• Resistivity
V
 
(ohms) * A m 2
Rohm  meters   I
Lm
 ARCHIE’S FIRST LAW

• As the salt water content increases, the formation

resistivity will decrease.
• A rock containing oil or gas will have a higher
resistivity than the same rock completely
saturated with salt water.
• As the shale content increases, the rock matrix
will become more conductive.
Ro = Resistivity of a rock that is 100%
saturated with formation water
Rw = Resistivity of formation water
Ro = F Rw
F = Formation factor (formation resistivity
factor)
 FORMATION FACTOR - 1

The formation factor (F) depends on:

– Porosity of the formation;
– Pore geometry;
– Lithology of the formation;
– Degree of cementation; and
– Type and amount of clay in the rock.
 FORMATION FACTOR - 2
• For a clean formation (no shale), the formation factor
can usually be empirically correlated with porosity.

A
F m

A = constant  1.0 for most formations
m = cementation factor  2 for most formations
• Common values
– F = 0.8/2 (Tixier) or 0.62/2.15 (Humble) for sandstones

– F = 0.8/2 for carbonates

Formation
Resistivity
Factor
Versus
Porosity
 RELATION
OF
FORMATION
FACTOR
TO
VOLUMETRI
C
POROSITY
 RESISTIVITY FACTOR TO SHALINESS
• The formation factor (F) is constant for a clean
sand; F decreases for shaly sand as value of Rw
increases.
 ARCHIE’S SECOND LAW
• If Rt = R0, then the formation is 100% saturated
with formation water. If Rt > Ro, then the formation
contains oil or gas.

• General formula:

Ro F * R w A * R w
n
Sw    m
Rt Rt  Rt

• For clean sands, n = 2 is common.

• Like A and m, n is measured in the lab.
LAB EVALUATION OF N
 DRILLING DISTURBS FORMATION
• Drilling and rock crushing
– Damage zone
• Mud systems and invasion
– OBM
Mudcake
Damaged zone • Small conductivity mud
• Shallow invasion
• Thin cake
– WBM
Invading filtrate
• Moderate to very
conductive mud
• Shallow to deep invasion
• Thin to thick cake
EFFECTS OF DRILLING AND
MUD FILTRATE INVASION
 MUD FILTRATE INVASION

Uninvaded
Zone
(Rt)
Invaded
Zone (Rxo)

Wellbore
Mud
(Rm)

Uninvaded Mud Cake

Zone (Rmc)
(Rt)

Modified from J. Jensen, PETE 321 Lecture Notes

 Mud
Rm SYMBOLS USED
Adjacent bed

Rs
IN LOG
INTERPRETATION
Uninvaded
Flushed zone
hmc
zone Zone of
Rmc R1
transition
(Bed dh or
Rw
thickness) annulus
Mudcake Rxd Resistivity of zone
Sw Resistivity of the water in the zone
h Rm1 Water saturation in the zone

Sxo
Rs
di
dj
Adjacent bed

(Invasion diameters)

rj

dh
Hole
diameter
From NExT, 1999, after Schlumberger
 COMMON TERMINOLOGY

Borehole
Rm : Borehole mud resistivity
Rmc : Mudcake resistivity
Invaded zone
Rmf : Mud filtrate resistivity
Rxo : Invaded zone resistivity
Sxo : Invaded zone water saturation
Uninvaded zone
Rw : Interstitial water resistivity
Rt : Uninvaded zone resistivity
Sw : Uninvaded zone water saturation
 SUMMARY - RESISTIVITY

• Resistivity important property

• Depends on ions in water
• Water resistivity depends on
– Concentration
– Temperature
– Species
• Archie’s First Law relates rock resistivity
to Rw
• Archie’s Second Law relates Sw to Rt
WHY 3 DIFFERENT RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENTS?
Uninvaded Zone resistivity,Rt measurement is affected by:
•Mud resistivity, Rm
•Mudcake resistivity, Rmc
•Flushed zone resistivity, Rxo
Three resistivity measurements are made to get an accurate
resistivity, Rt, since no tool can read uninvaded zone (as far
as 5-7 ft from borehole) resistivities without compromising
vertical resolution or being affected by flushed zone
resistivity, mud resistivity and mudcake resistivity. Typical
depths of investigation:
Resistivity Tool Depth of Investigation
• Deep resistivity 5-7 feet.
• Shallow resistivity 2-3 feet.
• Micro resistivity A few inches ( 2~3 inches)
 LOG
EXAMPLE
 CORRECTION CHARTS

• To obtain a value for Rt, we use of correction charts

• The three resistivity measurements are corrected for
the presence of mud, mudcake and invasion effects
and also for other environmental factors like borehole
size and tool position in the borehole.

NOTE :
When doing a ‘Quicklook’ analysis on the wellsite, it is
common practice to use the deep measurement as an
approximate value for Rt and the shallow measurement an
approximation of Rxo.
 RESISTIVITY TOOLS

There are two kinds of ‘Resistivity’ tools :

Resistivity tools - Measure resistivity, eg.
Dual Laterolog
Conductivity tools - Measure conductivity,
eg. Array Induction
Tool
RESISTIVITY TOOL: THE DUAL LATEROLOG
• Deep and shallow measurement systems work
simultaneously - this is the ‘dual’ aspect of the tool
• Deep and shallow measurement systems operation at
different frequencies of and have different depths of
investigation
• Both measurements maintain the same vertical
resolution of 2 feet
• All currents (deep and shallow) are emitted
circumferentially from the tool in a disc pattern
LLD-LLS
CURRENT
PATTERNS
 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

RLL  J m Rm  J xo Rxo  J t Rt
Where Jm, Jxo, Jt are geometric factors giving the
contribution of each zone to the resistivity read by the tool.
In the laterolog tool, the zones add up in series. The tool
responds therefore to the most resistive zone and hence the
DLL is used where:
•Mud is saline or WBM (low resistivity); or
•Formation is highly resistive.
A rule of thumb is to use the DLL when Rw/Rt>2.5.
CONDUCTIVITY TOOLS: INDUCTION TOOLS

• These tools provide conductivity measurements

• They provide both deep and a shallow measurements
• A transmitter coil with an alternating current passing
through it sets up an alternating magnetic field through the
borehole and formation. ‘Faraday’s Law’ predicts that this
time varying field will establish an EMF in the formation
that causes current flow through the formation in circular
paths. Magnitude of these currents is proportional to the
formation conductivity.
• Current loops produce their own magnetic fields that cut
through the receiver coil and induce an alternating voltage
at the receiver that is proportional to the strength of the
secondary magnetic field and, hence, the formation
conductivity.
INDUCTION
TOOL
OPERATION
• There are current loops in the mud, in the mudcake, in the
invaded zone and in the uninvaded zone
• Therefore, apparent conductivity read by the induction tool,
Ca is:

Ca  GmCm  GxoCxo  Gt Ct
• Measurements are corrected for the effects of the borehole
and other environmental effects
• Tool responds to the most conductive medium surrounding
it, so we use an induction tool where we have:
• Low salinity muds or OBM (low conductivity);
• Low resistivity formations; or
• Where Rw/Rmf > 2.5
SELECTING THE RESISTIVITY TOOL
 RESISTIVITY TOOL SUMMARY

• Micro-resistivity has a very shallow depth of

investigation - approximately 2-3 inches.
• Micro-resistivity is measured with tools like the micro-
spherically Focused Tool.
• All three types of resistivity tools help determine Rt,
with the use of correction charts. This exercise will be
covered in the lab assignments.
Rock containing pores saturated
with water and hydrocarbons

Non-shaly rock, 100% saturated

with water having resistivity,
Rw

Rt Cube of water
= 20% having resistivity,
Sw = 20% Rw
Ro
= 20%
Sw = 100%

Rw
= 100%
Sw = 100%
(1) Rock
Conductivity
Increasing
Increasing
Resistivity

(2) Gas
(3) Oil
a
(4) Fresh Water F  Ro 
(5) Salt Water Rw  m
 Archie’s Law

ARw
S  m
n
Uninvaded Zone water
w
 Rt saturation

ARmf
S  m
n
Invaded/Flushed zone water
xo
 Rxo saturation
VARIABLES DETERMINED
FROM WIRELINE LOGS

1/ n
 a Rw 
Sw   m 
  Rt 

From NExT, 1999

 ARCHIE’S EQUATION

Empirical constant
(usually near unity) Resistivity of

a Rww formation water,

Sw  n
-m


Water
saturation,
m Cementation
exponent
fraction
Saturation
exponent
Rtt (usually near 2)

(also usually Resistivity of

near 2) Porosity, uninvaded
fraction formation, -m

From NExT, 1999

 HOW ARCHIE’S EQUATION WORKS

• Archie’s equation is based on the following

relationships
1000
Rock type 1

100
FR

10 Rock type 2

1
.01 .1 1.0
When water saturation is 100%  From NExT, 1999
 HOW ARCHIE’S EQUATION WORKS
1000

Rock type 1
100
R0
Rt
IR =

Rock type 2
10

1
.01 .1 1.0
Sw
• When  is constant From NExT, 1999
 SOLVING FOR RO

Ro a
 m when Sw = 100%
Rw 

Rt 1
 when  = constant
R o Sw n
From NExT, 1999