GEO4250 Reservoir Geology

Basic Well Log Analysis

Objectives

To give an insight in the basic well logging methods used to derive petrophysical properties for hydrocarbon exploration

Further Reading
Asquith, G. and Krygowski, D. 2004. Basic Well Log Analysis, 2nd edition. AAPG Methods in Exploration Series, 28, 244pp (incl CD) Schlumberger, 1989. Log Interpretation Principles/Applications (available through Classfronter) Krygowski, D. 2003. Guide to Petrophysical Interpretation. (available through Classfronter)

The borehole

During drilling a liquid mixture containing clays and other natural materials, called 'Mud' is pumped down the drill string forcing the rock cuttings up to the surface. These cuttings are analysed for indications of oil or gas.

Invasion
Hydrostatic pressure of the mud column is usually greater than the pore pressure of the formations This forces mud filtrate into the permeable formations and a mud cake on the borehole wall The mud cake reduces further infiltration Establishment of a
Flushed zone Transition zone or Annulus Noninvaded, virgin or uncontamineted zone

Open Hole Logs

Logs recorded in the uncased portion of the well bore Most frequently used in HC exploration Cased Hole:
The portion of the wellbore that has had metal casing placed and cemented to protect the openhole from fluids, pressures, wellbore stability problems or a combination of these

Logging

Logging
Three general types of logs:
Electrical e.g. Spontaneous Potential Resistivity Nuclear e.g. Gamma Ray Density Neutron Acoustic / Sonic e.g. Transit time

Importance of Geophysical Well Logging

Zone correlation Structure and Isopach mapping Defining physical rock characteristics:
Lithology Porosity Pore geometry Permeability

Identification of productive zones Determination of depth and thickness of zones Distinguish between oil, gas and water Estimation of hydrocarbon reserves Determination of facies relationships

Hydrocarbon Reserves

N p = e S o hAr
So = 1 - Sw

Np = Oil Reserves (stb) e = effective porosity (fraction) So = Oil saturation (fraction) h = productive interval thickness (m/ft) A = drainage area (acres) r = Recovery Factor

Logging
Rock properties that affect logging measurements: Porosity Lithology Mineralogy Permeability Water Saturation Resistivity

How to measure these properties?

Unfortunately, few of these petrophysical parameters can be directly measured! Derived or inferred from measurements of other physical parameters, such as: Resistivity Bulk density Interval transit time Spontaneous potential Natural radioactivity Hydrogen content of the rock

Wireline well logging

Porosity
Defined as the ratio of voids to the total volume of rock. Symbol , fraction or %

volumes of pores porosity , = total volume of rock

Total porosity: total amount of voids in the rock volume Effective porosity: the amount of void space that is interconnected, and thus able to transmit fluids Roughly: e = t (1 Vsh ) Primary porosity: The porosity preserved from deposition through lithification. Secondary porosity:The porosity created through alteration of rock, commonly by processes such as dolomitization, dissolution and fracturing

Lithology and Mineralogy

Lithology and Mineralogy used with some ambiquity Lithology is often used to desribe the solid matrix, primary mineralogy Advanced logging techniques make it possible to estimate mineralogy pairs or triads Nuclear measurements made on molecular-level interaction: Mineralogy Acoustic measurements made on bulk-level interactions: Lithology Shale and clay are also used with ambiquity

Permeability
Is the ability of a rock to transmit fluids Symbol: K Measured in darcys or millidarcys (1 darcy = 9.8697x10-13 m2) Related to porosity but not always dependent Controlled by the size of the connecting passages between the pores Formation waters, held by capillary pressure, may reduce the permeability

Water Saturation
The amount of pore volume in a rock that is occupied by formation water. Symbol Sw, fraction or %

formation water occupying pores water saturation , S w = total pore space in the rock
Hydrocarbon saturation can be determined by the difference between unity and water saturation

Sh = 1 Sw
Irreducible water saturation (Sw irr) is the term used to describe the water saturation at which all the water is adsorbed on the grains in a rock or is held in the capillaries by capillary pressure

Resistivity
Rock property on which the entire science of logging first developed Is the inherent property of all materials, regardless of their size and shape, to resist the flow of an electric current Resistance depends on size and shape Resistivity is the reciprocal of conductivity Hydrocabons, rock and fresh water are highly resistive Salt water is highly conductive

Resistivity
Symbol R, measured in m (ohmm2/m)

rA R= L
With r = resistance; A = area of substance being measured; L = length of substance Resistivity is a basic measurement of a reservoirs fluid saturation and is a function of porosity, type of fluid, amount of fluid and type of rock

Archies Principle
Experiments (Archie, 1942) show:
Sw = Water saturation F = Formation Resistivity Factor (a/m): Porosity () Tortuosity factor (a), 0.62-2.45 Cementation factor (m), 1.0-2.15

R0 = F Rw
F= a

Rw = Resistivity of the formation water Rt = Resistivity of a rock with HC, i.e. true resistivity Ro = Resistivity of the 100% water-saturated rock Where there is no knowledge of local parameters the following values can be used: n = m = 2.0; a = 1.0

m
1 n

a Rw F Rw R0 Sw = = R m R = R t t t
Archie Equation for Water Saturation

1 n

1 n

Borehole Environment
Rock-fluid system is disturbed and altered during drilling Borehole Diameter (dh), c. 712 inch
Determined by the bit size, but May be larger due to wash out May be smaller due to build up of mud cake

Borehole Environment
Drilling mud: Remove cuttings Lubricate and coll drill bit Maintain excess borehole pressure over formation pressure
Mud filtrate into formation Build up of mud cake on borehole walls

Drilling mud (Rm), mud cake (Rmc) and mud filtrate (Rmf) resistivities are recorded and used in interpretations

Borehole Environment
Invaded Zone
Zone around the borehole where the original fluid content has completely or partly been replaced by drilling mud. Invaded Zone = Flushed Zone + Transition Zone (Annulus) Depth of invasion depends on mud cake. Mud cake formation more efficient in porous rocks, causing less deep penetration of mud filtrate in porous rocks Flushed Zone Resistivity; Rxo Residual oil in flushed zone. Usually 70-95% is flushed out. Sro = 1 - Sxo

Borehole Environment
Uninvaded Zone
Pores uncontaminated by the mud filtrate Pores contain formation waters, oil and/or gas HC bearing reservoir always have some fomation water on grain contacts Uninvaded zone resistivity; Rt Ratio of Sw to Sxo is an index of HC moveability

Invasion and Resistivity Profiles

Rxo Resistivity

Rt = Ro a hmc di dj Distance from borehole

a) b) c)

Step Profile Transition Profile Annulus Profile

Borehole wall Rxo Ri Rt

Ri Resistivity Rt = Ro b hmc di dj Distance from borehole

NB: Resistivity profiles for water reservoirs and fresh water muds

Resistivity

Rxo

Ro c hmc di dj Distance from borehole

Invasion and Resistivity Profiles

Borehole wall
Flushed Zone
Rm

Invaded Zone

Uninvaded Zone

Mudcake

Rmf

Rxo

Ri

Rt Rw

Freshwater vs. Saltwater muds in water bearing formations Freshwater:

Rxo > Ri > Ro

Saltwater
Rxo Ri Ro

Freshwater muds Rmf >> Rw

Resistivity

Rxo

Ri

NB These examples assume Sw to be more than 60%

Ro

Saltwater muds Rmf Rw

Resistivity

Rxo

Ri

Ro

Distance from borehole

Invasion and Resistivity Profiles

Annulus

Borehole wall

Flushed Zone
Rm

Invaded Zone

Uninvaded Zone

Mudcake

Rmf

Rxo

Ri

Rt Rw

Freshwater vs. Saltwater muds in hydrocarbon bearing formations Freshwater:

Rxo > Ri > Rt or Rxo > Ri < Rt Rt > Ri > Rxo

Rxo Ri Ran Rt

Saltwater

Freshwater muds Rmf >> Rw

Resistivity

NB These examples assume Sw to be much less than 60%

Saltwater muds Rmf Rw

Resistivity

Ran Ri Rxo
Distance from borehole

Rt

Examples
Water bearing zone with Freshwater muds
High resistivity in the flushed zone, a lesser resistivity in the invaded zone and a low resistivity in the uninvaded zone

Examples
Water bearing zone with Saltwater muds
Low resistivity in the flushed, invaded and uninvaded zones

Examples
Hydrocarbon bearing zone and Freshwater muds
High resistivity in the flushed, invaded and uninvaded zone Normally, the flushed zone has a slightly higher resistivity than the uninvaded zone

Examples
Hydrocarbon bearing zone with Saltwater muds
Low resistivity in the flushed zone, intermediate resistivity in the invaded zone and high resistivity in the uninvaded zone

Lithology
Proper choice of tortuosity and cementation factors depends on the lithology, therefore an estimate of lithology is important
a: Tortuosity factor 1.0 0.81 0.62 1.45 1.65 1.45 0.85 2.45 1.97 1.0 m: Cementation factor 2.0 2.0 2.15 1.54 1.33 1.70 2.14 1.08 1.29 Carbonates1 Consolidated sandstones Unconsolidated sands (Humble formula) Average sands (after Carothers, 1968) Shaly sands (after Carothers, 1968) Calcareous sands (after Carothers, 1968) Carbonates (after Carothers, 1968) Pliocene sands, southern California (after Carothers and Porter, 1970) Miocene sands, Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast (after Carothers and Porter, 1970) Clean, granular formations (after Sethi, 1979) Comments

(2.05-)

Formation Temperature
Formation temperature is an important factor to know, since the resistivities of the drilling mud (Rm), the mud filtrate (Rmf) and the formation water (Rw) vary with temperature Can be calculated by knowing Formation depth c Temperature 0,0
Bottom hole temperature Total depth of the well Surface temperature

dT
Depth

Calculation of Formation Temperature:

With x = depth y = temperature m = slope (?) geothermal gradient (dT/dy) c = constant (?) mean annual surface temperature

y = mx + c

dy

Formation Temperature
Temperature Gradient Calculation
Assume: y = BHT (bottom hole temperature) = 120 C x = TD (total depth) = 4575m c = Mean ann. surface temperature = 20 C

Formation Temperature Calculation

Assume: M = Geothermal gradient = 0.022 C/m X = Formation depth = 2440m C = Mean ann. Surface temperature = 20 C

dT 120 20 = = 0.022 C / m dy 4575

y = (0.022 2440 ) + 20 74C

Formation Temperature
By Chart
Example Given: Bottomhole depth = 11,000 ft and bottomhole temperature = 200F (annual mean surface temperature = 80F). Temperature at 8,000 ft. The intersection of 11,000 ft on the yaxis and 200F on the x-axis is a geothermal gradient of approximately 1.1F/100 ft (Point A on the chart). Move upward along an imaginary line parallel to the constructed gradient lines until the depth line for 8,000 ft is intersected. This is Point B, for which the temperature on the x-axis is approximately 167F.

Find: Answer:

Correction of Rm, Rmf and Rw for Formation Temperature

Ex. 1: [NaCl] given Given: NaCl equivalent concentration = 20,000 ppm. Temperature of concentration = 75F. Find: Resistivity of the solution. Answer: Enter the ppm concentration on the y-axis and the temperature on the x-axis to locate their point of intersection on the chart. The value of this point on the left y-axis is 0.3 ohm-m at 75F. Ex. 2: Resistivity given Given: Solution resistivity = 0.3 ohm-m at 75F. Find: Solution resistivity at 200F [93C]. Answer 1: Enter 0.3 ohm-m and 75F and find their intersection on the 20,000-ppm concentration line. Follow the line to the right to intersect the 200F vertical line (interpolate between existing lines if necessary). The resistivity value for this point on the left y-axis is 0.115 ohm-m.