WELL LOGGING AND INTERPRETATION

MODULE OUTLINE:
• OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS, CLASSIFICATION AND TYPES OF
SATURATION LOGS
• OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS, CLASSIFICATION AND TYPES OF
POROSITY LOGS
• IMPORTANCE AND PRINCIPLES OF OTHER TYPES OF LOGGING TOOLS,
PRINCIPLES AND METHOD OF MUD LOGGING
• PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATION OF MEASUREMENT WHILE DRILLING
• INTRODUCTION TO CASD HOLE EVALUATION
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
Determining hydrocarbon and water saturation behind casing play a significant role in
reservoir management. This is because saturation measurements over time are useful
for tracking reservoir depletion, planning work-overs and enhanced recovery strategies
as well as diagnosing production problems.

To effectively talk about the saturation log, we need to talk about the LOGGING
ENVIRONMENT. This dovetails into our main discuss for today.
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
During drilling operation, the mud pressure in the well annulus must be kept greater
than the hydrostatic pressure of the fluid in the formation pores in a bid to prevent well
blow-out.
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
The mud filtrate permeates into the formation and pushes back some of the reservoir
fluid, therefore causing an inverted zone to formed adjacent to the boreholes. As drilling
continues however, solid particles in the drilling mud gradually form mud cake on the
wall to prevent excessive loss of drilling mud into the formation.

Note that inversion is the replacement of formation fluid by drilling mud filtrate.
Excessive invasion is harmful for logging because it drives the formation fluid far beyond
the level that can easily be detected by logging tool.
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
Hydrocarbon saturation is the fraction of pore volume filled with hydrocarbon. The
volume of formation containing hydrocarbons is needed in order to ascertain the
commercial quantity of accumulation.
𝑆𝐻𝐶 + 𝑆𝑤 = 1
𝑆𝐻𝐶 = 1 − 𝑆𝑤

The formulae above is very important in determining the hydrocarbon saturation. But
the aim of this discuss is to see how logs can help in making this estimation.
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
Accurate values of water saturation and consequently hydrocarbon saturation can
generally be determined when various combination of resistivity and porosity logs are
selected to suit the geology environment and drilling conditions.

The table presented next is a general overview of different logs and the properties they
estimate.
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
GR SP Sonic Density Neutron Resistivity NMR PE WE Well Test Dip Borehol Core
meter e

Litholo
gy/Mi  .  . . . . . . .  .
neralo
gy
Porosit  .  .  .  .  .  .  .
y
Fluid  .  .  . .  .  .  .
type
Fluid  .  .  . .  .
satura
tion
Perme . . . . .  .  .  .  .
ability
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
Generally:

 Caliper log is used to measure borehole sizes

 Lithology logs are used to differentiate and discriminate sand beds from shale beds.

 Porosity logs are used to determine quantitatively the porosity and the fluid types

 Resistivity Logs are used to identify hydrocarbon zones and saturation.

 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
From the table, it is seen that we can use density, neutron and resistivity logs to
determine the saturation. So we pick them one by one.

RESISITIVITY LOGS

There are three (3) types of resistivity logs (Deep, Medium and Shallow). They refer to
how far into the formation the resistivity is reading. For better understanding, check out
the table below:
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
Types of Resistivity logs Values Application

Deep Resistivity High value Occurrence of hydrocarbon

Tight streaks (low porosity)

Shallow Resistivity Low Values Shale

Wet Sand
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
DISCUSSION ON IMPORTANT PARAMETERS

• Formation Factor: The formation factor F is a basic property of rock and is given by
the formula

𝑅𝑜
𝐹=
𝑅𝑤

𝑅𝑜 is the resistivity of brine saturated rock

𝑅𝑤 is the resistivity of brine filling the rock pores

 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
DISCUSSION ON IMPORTANT PARAMETERS

Example 1:

If a 4cm cube sand has a resistance of 200Ω between slivery plates fixed at opposite
ends, what is the formation factor is 𝑅𝑤 = 0.1 Ωm
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
BROADER DISCUSSION FOR DEEPER UNDERSTANDING

• Archies’s equation relate the resistivity of a formation to the resistivity of the fluids
saturating a formation, the porosity of the formation and the fractional degree of
saturation of each fluid present.

• Ohm’s law in our elementary physics is the basis of this discuss, so let us recall that
Ohm’s law mathematically is 𝑉 = 𝐼𝑅
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
BROADER DISCUSSION FOR DEEPER UNDERSTANDING

A cylindrical rock sample as shown below have two flat faces A and B, then, set a potential
difference between its end faces. Current will through the rock from one face to the other.
The amount of current flowing through the rock if measured as well as the magnitude of
the potential difference in the rock, then, the resistance of the rock can be calculated.
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
BROADER DISCUSSION FOR DEEPER UNDERSTANDING

There are fundamental and cogent deductions we can make from our fundamental Ohm’s
law, the relationship between resistance and the resistivity of the rock and the
relationship between resistivity and conductivity of the rock. These deductions are
important for our understanding and accurate calculations. Have it at the back of your
mind that estimation of fluid saturation is important in estimation of STOIIP
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
BROADER DISCUSSION FOR DEEPER UNDERSTANDING
RESISTIVITY OF ROCK VALUES

MATRIX MATERIAL HIGH RESISTIVITY

FORMATION WATERS LOW RESISTIVITY

OIL HIGH RESISTIVITY

GAS HIGH RESISTIVITY

WATER BASED MUD FILTRATE LOW RESISTIVITY

OIL BASED MUD FILTRATE HIGH RESISTIVITY

 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
UNINVADED FORMATIONS

For uninvaded formation, the measured bulk resistivity of rock depends only upon the
amount of aqueous formation fluids present in the rock, and the resistivity of the aqueous
fluids.

• Note that the amount of formation fluids depend on both porosity and water
saturation, then, we can intuitively say that resistivity of a formation depends on
porosity and water saturation

• The resistivity measured in the uninvaded formation is called the true resistivity and
denoted as Rt ranging from 0.2 to 2000Ω𝑚
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
UNINVADED FORMATIONS

• The uninvaded zone of formations is commonly measured directly by the most deeply
penetrating electrical logging tools. The shallower electrical logging tool is used for the
INVADED ZONES
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
INVADED FORMATIONS

• In most cases, there is an invaded zone, where the formation fluid have been
distributed by the drilling fluid.

• The resistivity of the formation in this zone depends on the resistivity of the mud
filtrate 𝑅𝑚𝑓 , the resistivity of any remaining formation water 𝑅𝑤 , Saturation of mud
filtrate 𝑆𝑥𝑜 , saturation of the remaining formation water 𝑆𝑤 and porosity of the rock.
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
INVADED FORMATIONS

• In most cases, there is an invaded zone, where the formation fluid have been
distributed by the drilling fluid.

• The resistivity of the formation in this zone depends on the resistivity of the mud
filtrate 𝑅𝑚𝑓 , the resistivity of any remaining formation water 𝑅𝑤 , Saturation of mud
filtrate 𝑆𝑥𝑜 , saturation of the remaining formation water 𝑆𝑤 and porosity of the rock.
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE

• The resistivity of formation fluids and water based drilling muds varies greatly with
temperature but little with pressure. The temperature in a borehole can be found
directly from the modern Horner corrected temperature logs or more conventionally
from the geothermal gradient obtained from Horner corrected Bottom Hole
Temperature (BHT) measurements.

• The geothermal gradient obtained from Horner’s corrected BHT measurement allows
calculation of mean geothermal gradient for borehole
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
SALT COMPOSITION

Resistivity of formation fluids depends on the concentration and type of salts dissolved in
it. The resistivity of this solution at given temperature and pressure can be obtained by
making up a synthetic brine the recipe indicated by chemical analysis of RFT.
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
SALT COMPOSITION
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
SALT COMPOSITION EXAMPLE

A fluid contains 20,000 ppm NaCl, 10,000 ppm KCl and 1000 ppm MgSO4. Find the total
NaCl equivalent.
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
VARIATION OF FORMATION FLUID RESISTIVITY WITH TEMPERATURE

• It has been established that the fluid resistivity varies significantly with temperature.
This follows that increase in formation fluid resistivity is approximately 4% per degree
centigrade.

• Measurement of resistivity is therefore desired to be estimated at constant formation

temperature.

• To account for the continuous increase in temperature as formation fluid resistivity is

measured, Hilchie’s formula is used
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
VARIATION OF FORMATION FLUID RESISTIVITY WITH TEMPERATURE

Hilchie’s formula or equation relates the resistivity of NaCl solution at specified

temperature to other

𝑇1 + 𝑋
𝑅𝑤𝑇2 = 𝑅𝑤𝑇1
𝑇2 + 𝑋

𝑋 = 10−(0.340396×log10 𝑅𝑊𝑇1−0.641427)

Where: 𝑅𝑤𝑇1 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑇1

𝑅𝑤𝑇2 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑇2
OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
VARIATION OF RESISTIVITIES OF MUD CAKE AND MUD FILTRATE WITH TEMPERATURE
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
ARCHIE’S FIRST LAW

In the early 20th century, Archie developed an empirical (mainly relations from
experimental analysis and results) relation to estimate one important parameter of
discuss which is our formation factor. This has earlier been mentioned in the note but an
in depth discussion is hereby presented.

From Archie’s experiment mainly on sandstones and carbonates filled with different
aqueous solution in a bid to measure the responses of the various resistivities, He found
out that:
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
ARCHIE’S FIRST LAW

The resistivity of the rock filled with an aqueous solution (say brine for instance) is directly
proportional to the resistivity of the formation fluid.
𝑅𝑜 𝛼 𝑅𝑤

The constant of proportionality is called the formation factor. Which is given

mathematically as

𝑅𝑜
𝐹=
𝑅𝑤

F is 1 for a rock matrix with 100% porosity.

 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
ARCHIE’S FIRST LAW

Formation factor can thus be described as the factor that shows the extent to which an
electrically insulating grain dilute conducting fluid thereby increasing the resistivity of the
matrix than the fluid only. This implies that formation factor is a function of the following:

1. Porosity of the rock

2. Nature of the rock (the mineralogy of the rock which can then be transposed to the
cementation factor)

It was observed from Archie’s experiment that the formation factor of rocks varies from
rock to rock with the formula 𝐹 = 𝜑−𝑚 . This is Archie’s first law mathematically
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
ARCHIE’S FIRST LAW
𝑅𝑜 = 𝑅𝑤 𝜑−𝑚

The cementation factor is the index that describes the increase in resistivity which results
from the insulating mineral grains forcing the current to take the tortuous pathways
through the conducting fluid.
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
ARCHIE’S FIRST LAW
Values of cementation factor according to the types of rocks
Igneous and Metamorphic rock 1.0 – 1.4
Sandstones 1.4 – 2.0
Carbonates 2.0 – 2.6

Values of cementation factor according to Lithology and consolidation

Highly Consolidated (Limestone, dolomite 2.0 – 2.2
and Quartzite)
Fairly Consolidated 1.8 – 2.0
Slightly Consolidated 1.4 – 1.7
Unconsolidated 1.3
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
GRAPHICAL DETERMINATION OF CEMENTATION FACTOR
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
GRAPHICAL DETERMINATION OF CEMENTATION FACTOR
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
THE HUMBLE’S FORMULA

The Humble equation is applied to soft formation and to clean sandstones with a sucrosic
texture. The formula is given as
𝐹 = 0.62𝜑2.15

For soft formation, the formula becomes

𝐹 = 0.81𝜑−2

For Low porosity carbonate and clean carbonates without fracturing

𝐹 = 𝜑 −𝑚
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
THE HUMBLE’S FORMULA
𝐹 = 𝜑 −𝑚

0.019
Here, m = 1.87 +
𝜑

PARTIAL WATER SATURATION (ARCHIE’S SECOND LAW)

Archie also examined the work of other investigators who worked on resistivity of partially
saturated sandstones and it is given as
𝑅𝑡 = 𝐼𝑅𝑜
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
I is the resistivity index and it is a parameter that describes the effect of partial
desaturation of rock . If rock is fully saturated, I is equal to 1 while it tends to infinity when
the rock is full of dry air.

Generally,
𝐼 = 𝑆𝑤 −𝑛

n is the saturation exponent.

 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
𝑅𝑡 = 𝑅𝑜 𝑆𝑤 −𝑛

Combining all the equation discussed so far, we have:

−𝑛
𝑅𝑡 = 𝑅𝑤 𝜑−𝑚 𝑆𝑤

Therefore:

𝑚 𝑅𝑤 𝜑−𝑚
𝑆𝑤 =
𝑅𝑡

𝑅𝑤 𝐹
𝑆𝑤 = 𝑛
𝑅𝑡

𝑅𝑜
𝑆𝑤 = 𝑛
𝑅𝑡
 OVERVIEW OF SATURATION LOGS
DETERMINATION OF SATURATION FOR MOVEABLE HYDROCARBON
𝑅𝑥𝑜𝑜𝑟 = 𝑅𝑥𝑜𝑚𝑓 𝑆𝑥𝑜 −𝑛

𝑛 𝑅𝑥𝑜𝑚𝑓
𝑆𝑥𝑜 =
𝑅𝑥𝑜𝑜𝑟

𝑅𝑥𝑜𝑜𝑟 = Resistivty of flushed zone containing residual oil

𝑅𝑥𝑜𝑚𝑓 = Resistivity of formation flushed zone containing 100% mud filtrate

𝑆𝑥𝑜 = 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑢𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑙𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑒
𝑂𝑖𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝑆𝑥𝑜 − 𝑆𝑤
 SHORT QUIZ
An oil reservoir exhibits the following petrophysical properties: porosity (ϕ), true
resistivity (Rt), and formation factor (F).
Porosity (%) True Resistivity Formation factor
5 150 20
10 100 10
15 60 6
20 40 4
25 30 2
30 20 2.5
35 15 2
40 12 1.8
 SHORT QUIZ
1. Plot the formation factor against the porosity and hence determine the cementation
factor

2. Explain the significance of cementation factor

3. Assuming a = 1 and Rw = 0.1, n = 2 at porosity is 20% determine the water saturation

 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
OUTLINES
• Overview of porosity logs
• Classification and types of porosity logs
• The Neutron log
• The Density log
• The Sonic log
• Calculation and examples on the discussed porosity logs
 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF POROSITY
The porosity of a rock is the fraction of the volume of space between the
solid particles of the rock to the total rock volume. The space includes all
pores, cracks, vugs, inter- and intra-crystalline spaces. The porosity is
conventionally given the symbol φ, and is expressed either as a fraction
varying between 0 and 1, or a percentage varying between 0% and 100%.
Sometimes porosity is expressed in ‘porosity units’, which are the same as
percent (i.e., 100 porosity units (pu) = 100%).
 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF POROSITY
Mathematically;

𝑃𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 − 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒

𝜑= =
𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒

𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑘

𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 − ( 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙)
=
𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
It should be noted that the porosity does not give any information concerning pore
sizes, their distribution, and their degree of connectivity. Thus, rocks of the same
porosity can have widely different physical properties
 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
GENERAL OVERVIEW OF POROSITY
It is important to also discuss types of porosity before we delve into the
estimation or determination of porosity using different types of logs.

Porosity can be classified based on the following categories:

1. According to the mode of origin

2. According to the deposition of sediments

3. According to pore size.

 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
ACCORDING TO THE MODE OF ORIGIN
According to mode of origin, we have primary (original) porosity and induced
(secondary) porosity.
• Primary porosity is the porosity developed during the deposition of the
material. Examples include inter-granular porosity of sandstones, inter-
crystalline and oolitic porosity of limestones or carbonates.
• Secondary porosity on the other hand are developed due to geologic
processes that occur after deposition of the rock. Example include fracture
development in shales and limestones
 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
ACCORDING TO THE DEPOSITION OF SEDIMENTS
According to mode of origin, we have three (3) main types of porosity, they are:
Interconnected porosity, connected porosity and isolated porosity
• Interconnected porosity: When the pores in the rock is connected with other pores
thereby forming a network. These are catenary pores
• Connected porosity: When the pores of the rock is connected to other pores but
forming a cul-de-sac
• Isolated porosity: When the pores of the reservoir rock is completely closed or
disconnected from other pores. This can be caused by cementation of the reservoir
rocks
OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝜑 = × 100
𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒

𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠

𝐼𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝜑 = × 100
𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒

𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑑 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝜑 = × 100
𝐵𝑢𝑙𝑘 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
ACCORDING TO PORE SIZES
According to pore sizes, there are two (2) porosity. They are
macroporosity and microporosity.

Microporosity is when the pore sizes of the rock grain is less than 0.5
microns in size while Macroporosity is when the pores sizes of the pore
sizes is more than 0.5 microns.
 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
THE SONIC LOG
The sonic or acoustic log measures the travel time of an elastic wave
through the formation. This information can also be used to derive the
velocity of elastic waves through the formation.

Its main use is to provide information to support and calibrate seismic

data and to derive the porosity of a formation.
 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
THE SONIC LOG
The tool measures the time it takes for a pulse of “sound” (i.e., and elastic
wave) to travel from a transmitter to a receiver, which are both mounted
on the tool. The transmitted pulse is very short and of high amplitude.
This travels through the rock in various different forms while undergoing
dispersion (spreading of the wave energy in time and space) and
attenuation (loss of energy through absorption of energy by the
formations).
 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
THE SONIC LOG
When the sound energy arrives at the receiver, having passed through the
rock, it does so at different times in the form of different types of wave.
This is because the different types of wave travel with different velocities
in the rock or take different pathways to the receiver. Figure 16.1 shows a
typical received train of waves. The transmitter fires at t = 0. It is not
shown in the figure because it is masked from the received information by
switching the receiver off for the short duration during which the pulse is
transmitted.
 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
THE SONIC LOG
 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
THE SONIC LOG
106
∆𝑡 =
𝑉
where the slowness, ∆t is in microseconds per foot, and the velocity, V is in feet per second.

The velocity of the compressional wave depends upon the elastic properties of the rock
(matrix plus fluid), so the measured slowness varies depending upon the composition and
microstructure of the matrix, the type and distribution of the pore fluid and the porosity of
the rock. The velocity of a Pwave in a material is directly proportional to the strength of the
material and inversely proportional to the density of the material. Hence, the slowness of a P-
wave in a material is inversely proportional to the strength of the material and directly
proportional to the density of the material, i.e.;
 OVERVIEW OF POROSITY LOGS
THE SONIC LOG
𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ
𝑉𝛼
𝜌

𝜌
∆𝑡 𝛼
𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ