Sequence of Events in Petroleum Engineering

Exploration
Land: Acquiring rights;
Access
Drilling
Wireline logging

Install Casing and/or Liner

Well Completion (prepare it

Well testing
for production)
Production
(Stimulation)
(Enhanced Recovery)

Refining, processing, transportation,

petrochemical uses, etc.. } “Downstream”
 1.8 WIRELINE LOGGING

A summary brief summary was given earlier.

Following are a few more details.

Note: You should print the slide notes for

these slides with the light coloured
background.
 Downhole Logs
• Continuous record

Depth (m)
• Defines geological contacts
• Unbiased record
• Reproducible
• Operator independent
• No depth limit
• Inexpensive
• Basis for sampling
• Basis for correlation
 Geophysical Logs
The principal methods include:
• Caliper Logs
• hole diameter; used for tool compensation, casing design
• Electrical Logs
• SP, resistivity, EM, etc
• Nuclear Logs
• natural gamma, neutron porosity, density porosity, etc.
• Acoustic Logs
• velocity, porosity, modulus, etc.
• Borehole Image Logs
• Optical, ultrasonic, or electrical resistivity-based
 Logging Configuration
Logging Components
RECORDER
WINCH • mud column
• sonde (tool)
• cable (wireline)
MUD • winch
• recorder
CABLE
Tool records as it
is raised from the
SONDE
bottom of the hole.
Caliper Tool

• 3-arm tool measures

average hole diameter
• 4 & 6-arm tools provide
more detailed data wrt hole
shape
• Detects
• mudcake build-up
• washouts and collapses
• Borehole breakouts
• shear zones (?)
• Used to compensate many
logs for hole diameter
 Caliper Logs

• Log records hole

diameter
• Mudcake narrows
hole on porous sands
(1010-1015 and 1060-
1065)
• Washouts lead to
enlarged diameters in
shale (~1020) and
coals (1070-1075)
 SP Logs
• Differentiates between
tight conductive beds
(shales) and permeable
resistive beds (sands).
• Permeable beds typically
deflect the SP curve to the
left (more negative SP).
• Baseline shifts in SP result
from changes in formation
salinity.
• SP is sensitive to bed
thickness, attenuated in
thin beds (1080-1085).
 Resistivity Logs
• Many types of R logs;
different depths of invest-
igation.
• Low clay-content rocks:
mineral grains have high R;
most of the current flows
through pore fluid.
• porosity usu. means R.
•  salinity usu. means  R.
• Shales usu. have lower R.
• Independent info on porosity
& lithology needed for
interpretation.
 Nuclear Logs
• There are many types of nuclear well logs.
The more common of these are:
• Conventional Natural Gamma Ray (GR)
• Spectral Gamma Ray (SGR)
• Formation Density Compensated (FDC)
• Photoelectric Effect or Litholog (PE)
• Compensated Neutron (CNL)
• Sidewall Neutron Porosity (SNP)
• Only natural gamma ray (GR), compensated
density (FDC) and neutron (CNL) logs will be
discussed.
 Natural Gamma
• Natural radiation is due to disintegration of K, Th and U
nucleii in the subsurface.
• In the gamma sonde, a scintillation counter detects total
disintegrations from all sources in a radial region close
to the hole (150-250 mm).
• K, Th, U tend to be concentrated in clays and shales
and are low or absent in clean sands or sandstones
and carbonates. The gamma response is similar to the
typical SP log (i.e., permeable beds deflect to the left).
• Openhole and cased-hole gamma logs can be
correlated.
Gamma-ray Log
• Detects “shaliness”
• Useful in both open
and cased holes
• Similar in response
to typical SP log
• Gamma much less
sensitive to bed
thickness
• Gamma independent
of mud filtrate and
formation fluid
composition.
 Density Log
• A gamma source is used to bombard the formation
and the scattered gamma energy returning to the
wellbore is measured.
• The source is pressed onto the borehole wall by a
pad. Two detectors are used at different distances
from the source so that a correction for the effect of
mud cake can be made.
• The intensity of the diffused energy that “bounces”
back to the borehole after collisions with electrons
can be interpreted to yield the bulk density of the rock
(i.e., the mass per unit volume of mineral grains plus
pore fluids).
 Bulk Density Log
Density correction: good data quality
indicator, esp. in enlarged holes

Schlumberger (1989) Schlumberger (1989)

Porosity Calculation from FDC Logs

• If the grain density and the density of the mud

filtrate are known, density logs give direct
estimates of porosity (n). Mud filtrate usually
has a density from 1000 to 1100 kg/m3.
n = (g - b) / (g - f)
• It is usual to calculate two porosities, one
using the grain density of quartz (2650 kg/m3)
and another using the density of calcite (2710
kg/m3). Shale grain densities are in the range
2400 to 2600 kg/m3.
 Neutron Log (CNL)
• Fast neutrons are emitted by a source in
the sonde and travel through the formation
where they are slowed mainly by collision
with hydrogen atoms. A gamma ray is
emitted when a slow neutron is captured
by an atom.

• The Compensated Neutron Log (CNL) tool

measures returning gamma-rays, which
provides information on the density of
hydrogen atoms, which can be processed
to indicate porosity.

• CNL logs can be run in liquid-filled

openholes and cased-holes.
Gas Detection with Porosity Logs
• Both CNL and FDC logs provide estimates of
porosity.
• Neutron logs respond to hydrogen ion content
and hence to the fluids occupying porosity.
• Because both oil and water have roughly the
same hydrogen ion content per unit volume,
calibrations for oil and water saturation are
very similar.
• Air Gases have a much lower hydrogen ion
content per unit volume and neutron porosity
logs underestimate unsaturated porosity.
CNL – FDC
crossover
indicates gas
 Porosity Logs – An Example
• FDC and CNL porosity
logs calibrated for
sandstone. SP log
indicates lithology.
• At 1015 m, FDC por-
osity is overestimated
at the shale "wash out".
• Density and neutron
logs show separation
as shaliness increases
(1040-1058 m).
• Note very low density
coal at 1070-1075 m.
 Geophysical Logs
The principal methods include:
• Caliper Logs
• hole diameter; used for tool compensation, casing design
• Electrical Logs
• SP, resistivity, EM, etc
• Nuclear Logs
• natural gamma, neutron porosity, density porosity, etc.
• Acoustic Logs
• velocity, porosity, modulus, etc.
• Borehole Image Logs
• Optical, ultrasonic, or electrical resistivity-based
 Sonic Logs
Measures travel time of sound-
waves versus depth.
The tool emits a sound wave that
travels from the source to the
formation and back to a receiver.

Conventional sonic log:

Compressional waves ONLY.

• Compensated for hole size and

eccentric tool position effects.
• Porosity indicator
• Over-pressured intervals
• Rock mechanical properties.
Schlumberger (1989)
P-wave S-wave

S-wave P-wave
 Full-Wave Sonic Logs
• Both compression AND shear waves.
• Good for mechanical properties.
• Data quality issues in slow formations.

Schlumberger (1989)

Schlumberger (1989) Schlumberger (1989)

Borehole Image Logs

• Identify the
presence,
characteristics
and orientation of
bedding or
fracture planes.
• Borehole breakout
& tensile fracture
analysis
• Based on
resistivity or
ultrasonic
measurements.
Resistivity-based Image Logs
Examples of Resistivity-based Image Logs (in vertical wells)

N E S W N N E S W N
Note that there are gaps in the images, These beds dip to the north
where the electrode pads were not in
contact with the borehole wall.
 Ultrasonic Borehole Image Logs
Rotating transducer, which spins at 12 rps and scans the borehole
wall 250 times per revolution with ultrasonic pulses.
Amplitude of the reflected echo and the arrival time are measured
and recorded by the sensor.
Normal sampling rate is 36 samples per foot at a logging speed of
20 ft/min
Source: Baker Hughes Website (re: STAR Imager)
 Example Ultrasonic Image Log
Note that there are no gaps in the imagery...
the tool does not need to make contact with
the borehole wall
A
A
km
+1 Kbh Jk

Sea Jni
Level
Study Jf
Interval
-1 Tr
Tr
Jf
Tr
-2 Tr
Tr

Tr
-3

Geological Cross-section
Ultrasonic Borehole Image Log Shell Boulder Field, NE BC
of fractured Fernie shale (courtesy of Advanced Geotechnology Inc.)
CH’s summary of Wireline Logs
• Resistivity/Conductivity: Good for fluid
saturations.
• Spontaneous Potential (SP): Differentiate high
and low permeability formations.
• Gamma-ray: Lithology (shale) indicator.
• Sonic: Good for porosity, mechanical
properties.
• Bulk Density: Good for porosity, gas detection,
mechanical properties.
• Photoelectric Factor (PE): Lithology indicator.
• Neutron Porosity: Good for porosity, gas
detection.
• Borehole Image Logs: To identify the
presence, characteristics and orientation of
bedding or fracture planes; Also good for
borehole breakout analysis.
• Caliper Logs: Cement volume analysis; hole
quality indicator; borehole breakout analysis.
Schlumberger (1989)
 Some additional reference material.
(optional reading, but recommended if you are
interested in logs)
Resistivity log:
A log of the resistivity of the formation, expressed in ohm-m. The resistivity can
take a wide range of values, and, therefore, for convenience is usually
presented on a logarithmic scale from, for example, 0.2 to 2000 ohm-m. The
resistivity log is fundamental in formation evaluation because hydrocarbons do
not conduct electricity while all formation waters do. Therefore a large
difference exists between the resistivity of rocks filled with hydrocarbons and
those filled with formation water. Clay minerals and a few other minerals, such
as pyrite, also conduct electricity, and reduce the difference. Some
measurement devices, such as induction and propagation resistivity logs, may
respond more directly to conductivity, but are presented in resistivity.

Source: Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary

SP (Spontaneous Potential) Log:
A log of the natural difference in electrical potential, in millivolts, between an
electrode in the borehole and a fixed reference electrode on the surface. The
most useful component of this difference is the electrochemical potential since
it can cause a significant deflection opposite permeable beds. The magnitude
of the deflection depends mainly on the salinity contrast between drilling mud
and formation water, and the clay content of the permeable bed. The
spontaneous potential (SP) log is therefore used to detect permeable beds and
to estimate formation water salinity and formation clay content. The SP log
cannot be recorded in nonconductive mud.
The SP can be affected by several factors that make interpretation difficult.
First, there are other possible sources of electrical potential not related to the
electrochemical effect, for example, the electrokinetic potential and bimetallism.
Many of these are small and constant throughout the log, and can be lumped
together in the shale baseline. Second, the SP can measure only the potential
drop in the borehole, and not the full electrochemical potential. The ideal SP
opposite a clean bed is known as the static spontaneous potential (SSP), and
opposite a shaly bed as the pseudostatic spontaneous potential (PSP). The SP
is always less than the SSP or the PSP and more rounded at the boundaries
between shales and permeable beds.
Source: Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary
Gamma-ray Log:
A log of the total natural radioactivity of rock, measured in API units. The
measurement can be made in both open-hole conditions and through casing.
The depth of investigation is a few inches, so that the log normally measures
the flushed zone.

Shales and clays are responsible for most natural radioactivity, so the gamma
ray log often is a good indicator of such rocks. However, other rocks are also
radioactive, notably some carbonates and feldspar-rich rocks. The log is also
used for correlation between wells, for depth correlation between open and
cased hole, and for depth correlation between logging runs. The gamma ray log
was the first nuclear well log and was introduced in the late 1930s.
Source: Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary
Photo-electric (PE) Log:
A log of photoelectric absorption properties. The log measures the photoelectric
absorption factor, Pe, which is defined as (Z/10) 3.6 where Z is the average atomic
number of the formation. Pe is unitless, but since it is proportional to the
photoelectric cross section per electron, it is sometimes quoted in barns/electron.
Since fluids have very low atomic numbers, they have very little influence, so that
Pe is a measure of the rock matrix properties. Sandstones have low Pe, while
dolomites and limestones have high Pe. Clays, heavy minerals and iron-bearing
minerals have high Pe. Thus, the log is very useful for determining mineralogy. In
interpretation, PEF is normally converted to the simpler volumetric cross section, U
in barns/cm3, by taking the product of PEF and density.

The log is recorded as part of the density measurement. The depth of investigation
is of the order of one inch, which is normally in the flushed zone. PEF can be
affected by heavy minerals such as barite in the mudcake or mud filtrate. PEF logs
were introduced in the late 1970s.
Source: Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary
Neutron Porosity Log:
A log of porosity based on the effect of the formation on fast neutrons emitted by a
source. Hydrogen has by far the biggest effect in slowing down and capturing
neutrons. Since hydrogen is found mainly in the pore fluids, the neutron porosity
log responds principally to porosity. However, the matrix and the type of fluid also
have an effect. The log is calibrated to read the correct porosity assuming that the
pores are filled with fresh water and for a given matrix (limestone, sandstone or
dolomite). It is presented in units of porosity (vol/vol or p.u.) for the matrix chosen.
Older logs were presented in counts per second or API units. The depth of
investigation is several inches, so that the log reads mainly in the flushed zone.
The neutron porosity log is strongly affected by clay and gas. Hydrogen occurs in
clays and hydrated minerals as well as pore fluids. Gas has a low hydrogen
density, so that gas zones have a very low apparent porosity. The measurement is
based on either thermal or epithermal neutron detection. Thermal neutrons have
about the same energy as the surrounding matter, typically less than 0.4 eV, while
epithermal neutrons have higher energy, between about 0.4 and 10 eV. Being a
statistical measurement, the precision is greatest at high count rates, which in this
case occurs at low porosity.
Source: Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary
 Caliper Logs
Mechanical measurement of hole diameter(s).
• Cement volume analysis.
• Hole quality indicator.
• Four (or more) arms are good for diagnosing
the character and origin of hole enlargement.
• Borehole breakout analysis, esp. when the
calipers are oriented.

Gidley et al. (1989)