Formation Evaluation

In the exploration process, the HC

bearing rock structure is defined by
geological & geophysical surveys and
then a well is drilled.

To ascertain the potential of the well, it is

required to Log the well (keeping
Record of the “Rocks and their Fluids” in
the well).
Well Logging – The Eye of Oil Industry
Well Logging is the technique to determine the
petro physical properties of rocks and the
fluids they contain through the drilled hole.

Also known as “Formation Evaluation”.

Although many sub-surface data are obtained

from “drill cuttings” and also from
“drill coring”, (method which is highly
expensive and has limitations).

Thus, Formation Evaluation or Electro Logging

method has become very popular.
 Logging is mostly made by service
company at the well site.

1. Schlumberger
2. Alpha Oil Field Services
3. Baker Hughes
4. Camco Logging Service
5. Geologging Industries Ltd.
6. Jindal Drilling & Industries Ltd. (JDIL)
7. Geoservices (Division of Schlumberger)
Logging or Formation Evaluation is
carried out by :

1. Mud Logging
2. Coring
3. Electro Logging
Mud Log
 Mud logging is the creation of a detailed
record (well log) of a borehole by
examining the cuttings of rock brought
to the surface by the circulating drilling
fluid/ mud for finding traces of
subsurface oil & gas as the well is being
drilled.
 Mud logging is can also be performed
by a third-party mud logging company.
The rock cuttings are:
 Caught on the shale shaker screen.
 The rock cuttings are sampled at
regular intervals (at every 3m. (10 ft.) of
depth) by the well site geologists,
(remain @ drilling rig 24 hrs. a day).
 Samples are examined megascopically
and also under microscope / ultraviolet
light (oil with different density will
fluoresce with different colors).
Coring
 Coring is performed in
between drilling
operations.
 Once the formation for
which a core is
required is identified,
the drilling assembly is
pulled out of hole.
 A special assembly is
run on drill pipe
comprising a core bit ,
a core barrel and a
core cathcher.
Coring (cont…..)
 Unlike a normal drill bit
which breaks down the
formation into small
cuttings, a core bit has
a hollow cylinder which
has cutters on the
outside.

 The cutters cut a

circular groove into the
formation and thus,
cylindrical shaped core
is cut.
Coring (cont…..)
 Core diameters vary
typically from 4½ to 13½
cm and can be upto 120m
long. But , it is commonly
6 to 27½ m long
 After the core is taken, the
normal drill bit is then
reattached, the drill string
is run into the well and
drilling is resumed.
 Coring is expensive
because of extra rig time
involved.
Coring (cont…..)

Core analysis determines:

 Porosity
 Permeability
 Fluid saturation etc.
Electro Logging or Wire Line Logging
Electro logging is a
technique used in
the O&G industry for
recording rock and
fluid properties to
find HC zones in the
formations within
the earth’s crust.
A logging procedure consists
of lowering a “logging tool” on
the end of a wireline into the
well to measure the rock and
fluid properties of the
formation.
To make a wireline well log
after the well is drilled, the hole
is first cleaned by circulating
drilling mud and then the
drilling equipment is pulled
from the well.
Then the interpretation of
these measurements is made
to locate and quantify potential
depth zones containing oil and
gas.
 Logging activities can represent
between 5 and 15% of total well
cost.
Logging is usually carried out
when drilling is stopped and drill
string is removed from the
borehole.
But, now-a-days, Well Logging can
also be performed during the
drilling process to provide real –
time information (MWD) about the
formation.
This data is recorded to a printed
record called “ Well Log”.
Logging is usually performed as the
logging tools are pulled out of the
hole.
 The sensor measures “the
rock and fluid properties of
the formation” like
electrical and radioactive
property.
 The measured data are
transmitted through the
cable and are recorded
and processed in a logging
unit at the surface.
 An interpretation of these
measurements is then
made to locate potential
depth zones containing oil
and gas.
 Well Logging Measurements are carried out in
both open hole or a cased hole.

 Logs run in a hole which has just been drilled

and before it is cased, are called “Open –
Hole” Logs. This is the most common type of
logging method because the measurements
are not obstructed and it is done during or
after the well has been drilled.
 Logs run after the well is cased are called
“Cased – Hole” Logs.
 They are rare but help to obtain additional
information from a well/ reservoir.
 Eg. The well may have already started
production and a cased hole log could help
determine what has hampered flow.

 Both Gamma ray and Neutron Porosity Log

can be run through the casing of a well.
Basic Equipments for Wire Line Logging
 Logging Unit
 A specialized truck installed with a full computer system for data
acquisition & processing.
 Logging Cable or the Wireline
 An electro mechanical cable reel mounted on the truck and operated
by the truck hydraulics.
 Logging Tool or Sonde
 An electronic instrument containing sensors and processing circuit
for data acquisition & transmission.
 To make a wireline well log after the well is drilled, the hole is first
cleaned by circulating drilling mud and then the drilling equipment is
pulled from the well.
 The logging tool is lowered into the wellbore by means of the
logging cable or wireline. The wireline also connects the logging tool
to the surface computer system.
 Data acquired by the tool are transmitted to the surface system i.e.
the surface computer that records, processes and plots these data
and produces what is called a “log” or “Well Log”
 Onshore, a motorized
logging truck is used
which carries:
 Sensors/ Sonde
 Surface recorders,
 Computers,
 A logging drum &
cable to drill site.
 Offshore, the same
equipment is installed
in a small cabin left
permanently on the rig.
HISTORY:
In 1912 : Conrad Schlumberger gave the
idea of using electrical measurements to
map subsurface rock bodies.

In 1919 : Conrad Schlumberger and his

brother Marcel began work on well logs.

In 1927 : The first electrical resistivity

well log was taken.

In 1929 : The electrical resistivity logs

were introduced on commercial scale in
Venezuela, USA.

In 1941 : The Gamma Ray and Neutron

Log were began.
MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES
Measurement techniques are used from three
broad disciplines:

 Electrical
 Nuclear
 Acoustic

Usually a measurement is sensitive either to

the properties of the rock or to the pore – filling
fluid (Formation Fluid)
Natural Gamma Ray Log
 A “Gamma Ray log”
measures or records the
natural radioactivity of
the formation rocks.

 The sensor measures

the natural radioactivity
from the formation rock.

 Three most common

elements in rocks which
emit gamma rays are
uranium, thorium and
potassium.
Of the 3 most common
sedimentary rocks, only shale
is radioactive.
The gamma ray log is plotted
with low radioactivity to the
left and high radioactivity to
the right.
Shales kick to the right while
sandstones and limestones
kick to the left.
A Spectral gamma ray log is a
type of gamma ray log that
identifies the source of
radiation (potassium,
thorium and uranium), which
Natural Gamma Ray Log
cannot.
Neutron Porosity Log/Hydrogen Index
Log
 The “neutron log” is used for
finding the “porosity” of a
formation.

 It is sensitive to the amount of

hydrogen atoms in a formation.

 First a “radiation source” is

lowered which emits high speed
neutrons into the downhole
environment.

 Then, the response of these

neutrons is measured as they
interact with the “concentration
of hydrogen atoms” in the
formation, or the fluids within the
formation.
• When the neutrons collide with hydrogen
atoms, there occurs loss of energy.

• The rate at which the neutrons slow-

down depends largely on the amount of
hydrogen atom in the formation.

• With each collision, the neutrons slow

down, until the neutrons reach low
(thermal) energy state.
• At this low thermal energy state, the
neutrons will eventually be captured by a
nucleus of H atom in the formation.

• When a nucleus of H captures a thermal

neutron, gamma ray is emitted within
the atom.
 The more hydrogen atoms in the rock
formation, the more slow moving neutrons and
more production of gamma rays.

 Hydrogen atoms occur in water, gas or oil in

the pores of a subsurface formation.

 The more porous a rock, the more H

atoms, the more slow neutrons and also
more gamma rays will be emitted and
counted.
SP Logging
 The SP ( self – potentials) log is a
measurement of the “natural
potential differences” between :

1.A reference electrode at the surface

and
2. An electrode in the borehole

 No artificial currents are applied.

 The unit of SP is ‘millivolts’

 When two fluids of different salinities are in
contact, a potential electrical current is
created.

 When drilling is carried out using mud and

if there is a porous & permeable reservoir
rock, it has an invade zone flushed with mud
filtrate adjacent to well bore.

 The mud filtrate has a different salinity (less

salinity) than the formation water (more
saline) and this creates a potential electrical
current.
 Consider a porous & permeable
sandstone is penetrated by a borehole.
 To be remembered The mud
-
filtrate is “less saline” than the
formation waters which is more
saline.
 In the sandstone bed which is
porous & permeable, - more mud
filtrate solution is invaded – So, less
saline solution is more than formation
water (more saline) - so less value
(negatively charged).
 But above the sandstone, is the
presence of shale (less permeable),
less mud filtrate (the less saline
solution ), - more formation water
( which is more saline) - more saline --
----so, more value ( “positively
charged”.)
RESISTIVITY & CONDUCTIVITY LOGS

 Conductivity Logs measure a

formation’s conductivity or its
ability to conduct an electric current
but this value is generally converted
directly to resistivity.
 Most rocks are essentially insulators
(Less conductors - So, high resistive ).
……… while their
 Enclosed fluids are High conductors –
So, Less resistive .

 HCs are the exception to fluid

conductivity……..

 HCs are not conductive. So, HCs are

Highly Resistive.
 When a formation is porous, and
contains saline water (highly
conductive), the overall resistivity
will be low.

 When the same formation contains

HCs, (not conductive), so, its
resistivity will be very high
 HCs are not
conductive. So, HCs
are highly resistive.

 This character ( if HCs

present ----, high
resistivity) is exploited
by the resistivity logs
i.e.
………… High Resistivity
(i.e. Not Conductive)
values may indicate a
Porous HC bearing
formation.
 Dense rocks like Granite, quartzite,
limestone, chert, gypsum, etc. have
poor pore spaces and low
permeability, hence have high
resistivity.