Life of a well

Measurement

Notes

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© Schlumberger 1999-2001 1
 Life of a well The information requirements in a wells life depend on the stage. The first
stage of the well is short, a few months. Once the well is drilled the
question is “where is the hydrocarbon?” The logs are run for this purpose.
Life of a well-1 Once the well is cased and cemented, the question is “how good is the
cement”. Then the zone(s) are perforated.
Once cased it is difficult to make measurements, especially of the
important resistivity.

Notes

Drilled well Cased Well Perforated Well

Need to find:
Saturation casing integrity
Porosity cement quality
Zones

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 Life of a well This is the formula giving the amount of oil in place, vital for the
exploitation of the reservoir.

Objective of a well Logs give

porosity
The Objective of most wells is to find
saturation
hydrocarbons.
height (from the depth)
The volume of hydrocarbons in place is
This means they are vital to the operator.
given by:
Area comes from surface seismic and/or well testing

H=Constant x φ(1− Sw)hΑ

where
H = initial oil in place Notes

φ= effective porosity
Sw= initial water saturation
h = productive interval
A = drainage area

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 Life of a well The constant in the equation is used to put the result into the required
units, for example in oilfield units it is acre-ft.

Hydrocarbon in Place Logging measurements form a major part of the input to this equation,
hence their importance. Errors in reading or interpreting the logs is
reflected in the results of the hydrocarbon in place.
This is simple to visualise

A - area of the reservoir

h - the thickness of the reservoir
together the product gives the total volume of
rock

φ- percentage of pore space in that volume of

rock. i.e. the volume that contains fluids

Notes
Sw = percentage of the pore space containing
water so
(1-Sw) = percentage of pore space containing
hydrocarbons

Hence the equations for the hydrocarbons in

place

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 Life of a well The standard logging tools cover a wider range than LWD tools. the
latter are limited (at present) to the basic measurements. The advantage
of LWD is that it is real time (while drilling), this allows decisions to be
Open Hole Measurements made rapidly. This is especially important in the case of horizontal wells.
Highly deviated wells need to be logged using drillpipe because the tools
would not go down the hole by themselves. A special technique is used
in this case.
Open Hole Measurements are made by three
methods;

1) The traditional wireline logging

here the tools are lowered into the well on
the end of an electrical line. Measurement
is usually made pulling out of the hole.
2) Logging While Drilling
the tools are built into drill pipe. Logging
Notes
is made while drilling the hole and data is
stored in downhole memory as well as
being transmitted up hole.
3) Logging on drill pipe
here the standard wireline tools are
attached to drill pipe. A cable is still used
for data transmission. Logging is made
both down and up.

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 Life of a well All the porosity tool use linear scales. The scales are set to fit the most
common values met in the formations. The bulk density and neutron
porosity are usually run together and have “compatible scales”. This
Porosity Log Scales means that the log track covers the same amount of porosity. There are
variations on these scales to suit local conditions. For example the
neutron porosity is sometimes run on a scale of 0 - 60 p.u.
In all scales a “backup” curve is used to handle times when the main
curve goes out of the track. This curve only appears at these times.
45.0 Neutron Porosity (p.u.) -15.0
30 15 0

The porosity scale is linear in Porosity Units

(p.u.)
Bulk Density (g/cm 3)
1.95 2.95
2.20 2.45 2.70

Notes

The density scale is linear in grams/cm3

Sonic Slowness ( µsec/ft )

140 40
105 90 75

The sonic slowness is linear and displayed in

microseconds/ft
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 Life of a well All resistivity logs have the same scale whether they are deep, medium or
very shallow reading. The standard scale of four logarithmic decades is
shown. The scale could also cover only two decades, for example from
Resistivity Logs 0.2-20 ohmm.
The use of this type of scale facilitates the reading of the log curves.
At times the resistivity and porosity logs are displayed on the same log.
In this case they each are restricted to half the width, i.e one track each.

0.2 Resistivity (ohm-m) 2000

1 10 100 1000

All resistivity logs are displayed over 2 tracks.

The scale is always logarithmic to cover the wide
range of possible values. Notes

Most scales start at 0.2 ohm-m and go to 2000

ohm-m

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 Life of a well These logs have much more variable scales. The caliper scale is chosen
to fit the bit size and is often presented with a constant companion curve
shwoing the nominal value of the bit size. Differences indicate the
Other Log Scales condition of the hole more clearly.
The scale of the GR depends on the natural radioactivity of the formation
being studied. It is good policy to have the majority of the log inside the
track without the need for back-ups.
Gamma Ray (G API)
0 150 Tracks 2/3 The same philosophy applies to the SP curve, although this is ofetn more
difficult to predict. It is adjusted during the repeat section to fit inside the
track. Its scale is usually a number of millivolts per division. An absolute
scale is impossible for this sort of measurement.
Gamma is on a linear scale. The value
depends on the well.
Spontaneous Potential (mV)
Tracks 2/3
->10mV< +

Notes
SP is on a linear scale with a given number
of millivolts per division, negative to the left.

6 Caliper (inches) 16 Tracks 2/3

Caliper is on a linear scale depending on the

bit size.
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 Life of a well In addition to these basic formation parameters a number of other data
can be found. These include,
- lithology, not only the major component but also the minor constituents
Use of Open Hole logs as well. These is important as they may affect the wells production.
- shale content and type. This gives the total pay zones as well as the
production properties.
- fracture indications, which affect the wells production
- permeability
The basic parameters needed are: - fluid type, especially in gas zones.

Thickness - measured by the tool depths

Porosity - measured by porosity tools

Notes

Saturation - computed from a combination

of porosity and resistivity

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 Life of a well In the second “half” of a wells life the questions are different. Here the
emphasis is on production , fluids and pressures. Different techniques are
employed. Well testing and reservoir monitoring tools are used to answer
Life of a well-2 most of the questions. Some specialist devices such as corrosion
monitoring tools may be required. The phase of the wells life lasts for a
much longer time, often years; hence there will be a number of surveys
during this time.

Notes

Well Produced Workover activity Recompleted

Need to know:
Production Perforation efficiency Flow rates
fluid mix new zones Zone Production
Pressures Flow rates Pressures

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 Life of a well Vertical wells are most common in exploration situations. The well is
drilled to its target without the complications of deviation.
Vertical Wells

Wells can be split into three categories

1) Vertical
• drilled to a specific target
• measured depth = true depth

Notes

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 Life of a well Deviated wells are very common in a lot of situations. The well track can
be almost anything; starting vertical and then deviating, starting vertical,
deviating and then vertical again, starting deviated and then going vertical.
Deviated well The change in direction is called a dog-leg. Severe doglegs can cause
problems for logging as it makes it difficult for the tool to go down and
sometimes to come out. The deviation angle is measured with respect to
the vertical. The true depth has to be computed, knowing this angle and
how it has changed.

possible well tracks

Notes

Target formation

2) Deviated
• usually from a platform or
• from land to near offshore
• measured depth has to be
converted to true vertical depth 12
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 Life of a well The ultimate deviated well is a horizontal well. Here the well is drilled in
three sections, the vertical section, the curved section and finally the
ramp. The curved section is typically a couple of hundred metres but can
Horizontal well be less for specific cases. The ramp is as long as required, several
kilometres is common. Guiding the well is done from surface using
sensors mounted near the drill bit. These give information on direction
and deviation as well as logging data such as gamma ray which helps in
guiding the well paths.

Vertical section

Notes

Curvature

Ramp
3) Horizontal
• drilled to maximise production or
minimise problems such as coning
• well is precisely guided along a
predetermined track
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 Life of a well Measurements are made in the borehole using tools based on a set of
physical principles. The standards for the measurements are fixed at
nominal values, for example an 8” borehole. The borehole environment
Measurements in Open Hole is different from the standard hence there are deviations from the
“perfect” measurement. These deviations are known and can ( in most
cases) be corrected. It is important to recognise the differences and have
a good knowledge of the environment.

The measurements made in the borehole are

affected by the environment.

The major effects are:

Borehole size and shape

Notes

Borehole Fluids

Borehole Temperature

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 Life of a well The tool contains a sensor package and the electronics for processing the
data and communication with the surface. The formation to be measured
id “separated” from the tool by the borehole and its constituents, mud
Measuring in the borehole and mudcake. Thus the borehole is a filter through which the formation is
seen. Borehole corrections are the method used to eliminate this
environmental effect.
The formation to be
measured is masked
by the borehole.
The borehole
contains fluids and is
Sensors
of an irregular shape.
+
Electronics
The sensor has to be
Formation
to be
Measured
able to measure the
formation property
accurately and send Notes

the information to
Borehole
surface.

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 Life of a well The first problem for measurement is the borehole shape. This depends
on the formation being drilled, regional stresses and the drilling practice
used.
Borehole -Size and Shape The best case is the perfectly circular hole. This will only cause problems
if it is very large. Ovalised boreholes are often caused by local tectonic
stress imbalance. A lot of tools will lie along the long axis and the caliper
Perfect shape no problems measuring a large hole size. This may cause too much correction to be
except if very large. applied hence two caliper measurements at 90Þ to each other is preferred
as it gives an indication of the borehole shape.
Irregular or rugous borehole causes problems for most tools but
especially when the sensor is carried on a pad applied to the borehole
wall. In this case correction may be impossible.

Ovalised hole; will give

problems for some tools.
Best to run two calipers.

Notes

Irregular borehole, gives

problems for most tools.

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 Life of a well The position, of the tool in the hole depends on the type of measurement.
All tools need either a specific position or at least their position to be
known for the relevant correction to be applied. Centralising a tool
Tool Positioning - 1 involves putting a set of centralisers at specific points on the tool. These
devices have symmetrical spring arms which adjust to changes in the
borehole size keeping the tool in the centre of the borehole.
Some tools are run
centralised in the
borehole in order to
measure properly.
These include laterolog
Centralised
and sonic devices.
Tool
Special centralisers are
put on the tool.
Formation
to be
Measured
Notes

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 Life of a well The opposite of the centralisation / eccentralisation pushes the tool
against the borehole wall. This is accomplished with either a spring
eccentraliser or, in the case of most pad tools, with a powered back up
Tool Positionning - 2 arm. The objective here is to keep the sensor in as close a contact as
possible with the wall minimising interference by the mud.

Some tools are run

eccentred, pushed,
against the borehole
wall.
In some cases this is
Eccentralised
Tool
done with an
eccentraliser.
Formation In other cases a caliper
to be Notes
Measured arm does this job.

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 Life of a well Stand offs are physical devices placed on the tool to keep it a fixed
distance from the wall. Their use is to keep the tool away from the wall
but still in a known position. In some cases (the induction family) this is
Tool Positionning - 3 done to optimise the tools functioning.
In a long combination tool strings, some tools may have stand-offs while
others are eccentralised. This conflicting requirement is possible using
Some tools are run “knuckle-joints” which act as a crossover between the two systems.
with “stand-offs” to
position them at a
fixed distance from
the wall.

Tool with
The induction family
Stand-offs are usually run in this
manner.
Formation Stand-Offs
to be
Measured Notes

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 Life of a well The fluid in the borehole can have as enormous effect on the tool and
hence its type, properties and additives must be known. The different
fluids are used to drill different rock types. Oil based mud is often
Borehole - Fluids employed to drill shales which would swell on contact with water. Air
and foam drilling are used in cases where there is a weak formation
which will crack if mud is used.
The borehole fluid can be
- water based mud
fresh or
salt saturated
Sensors
+
- oil based mud
Electronics
Formation
to be
varying quantities
Measured
of water
- air Notes

Borehole
Fluid
- foam

In addition there are a

number of additives to
increase weight, viscosity
and so on.

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 Life of a well The variations in mud type are large. Salinity is measured (usually by the
logging engineer) on samples of mud, mud filtrate and mudcake. The
additives are obtained from the mud engineer and should be known
Borehole fluids 2 accurately even in small quantities, will render the Pe curve useless
although some modern tools may be able to make sufficient correction.
Oil based mud will not allow current to pass so
electrical logs will not work.

Foam and air muds will not transmit sonics

signals. Neutron tools are also affected.

Mud salinity affects electrical and induction tools

in different manners.

Additives such as barite affect density, gamma Notes

ray and photoelectric effect measurements.

The mud type, salinity and additives must be

known so that the appropriate corrections can be
made.

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 Life of a well Temperature measurement is made with maximum reading thermometers
attached to the logging head during each run. These are normally
employed for redundancy. There are some tools which measure
Borehole - Temperature temperature on a continuous basis .These are extremely useful when
looking at profiles. Most logging tools are rated at 350ÞF. They usually
have “high temperature” versions where the electronics are put in a
Dewar flask.

Increasing temperature affects the measurements

in some tools. The most affected is the thermal
neutron devices.

High temperature also affect the performance of

the electronics in the tools.

Temperature affects the mud resistivity (it Notes

decreases with increasing temperature).

Temperature is measured during each logging

run.

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 Life of a well Tools are constructed to measure a certain volume of formation. This
volume depends on the physics of the measurement being made and the
type of sensor.
Volume of Investigation The first type of measurement is omni-directional, i.e.. all directions at
once. The tool reads a circular volume which includes some of the
borehole and some formation. The depth of investigation, how much of
the formation is actually measured, depends on the specific tool. Most
Formation
to be read a few inches in the invaded zone.
Measured

Virgin
Zone Virgin
Zone

Volume investigated
by the tool

Invaded Zone Notes

The tool shown here measures all around the

borehole. It is omni-directional.
An example of this type of tool is the Gamma
Ray.
Some of the “signal” is in the borehole. Most
comes from the invaded zone.

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 Life of a well The pattern here is similar to the last slide, being, once again omni
directional. However these tools (deep resistivity) are different in that
they are “focused” to and as much as possible beyond the invaded zone.
Volume of Investigation 2 They are still affected by both borehole and the invaded zone, hence
need corrections.
These tools see a few feet into the formation.

Formation
to be
Measured

Virgin Virgin
Zone Zone

Volume investigated
by the tool

Invaded Zone
Notes

This type of investigation is also omni-directional

but it reads mainly in the virgin zone.
This pattern is that of the deep resistivity tools.

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 Life of a well This pattern is in a single direction. hence the tool sees a volume of the
formation just in front of its sensor. This type of tool is eccentered as any
other borehole position would make it read too much of the borehole.
Volume of Investigation 3 These tools see a few inches into the formation, again measuring the
invaded zone.
If the formation is very heterogeneous it may be difficult to reconcile the
readings from the three different volumes. This situation is often seen in
Formation highly deviated or horizontal wells.
to be
Measured

Virgin
Zone Virgin
Zone

Volume investigated
by the tool

Notes
Invaded Zone

This type of measurement has the sensor facing

in one direction only.
Examples of this are the neutron porosity and
bulk density measurements.

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 Life of a well The tools are built to read correctly in an infinite homogeneous
formation. This situation applies reasonably well with vertical wells. In
the horizontal case the focusing of the deep resistivity tools may make
Vertical Wells them read beyond the layer seen by the shallower tools. This causes
confusion when trying to use combinations of both types of
measurement.
Despite the problems involved, valuable information can be obtained
In vertical wells, with homogeneous layers all from the data on the geometry of the bedding.
types of tool are reading in the same formation.

In horizontal (or highly deviated) wells the deep

reading resistivity tools may read a different
layer to the shallow reading tools.

In addition the omni-directional tools (e.g. GR) Notes

may read different layers from the single
direction devices.

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 Life of a well The three categories of well have different objectives and hence different
logging problems. Exploration wells, in unknown conditions, pose the
greatest questions while development wells are usually the simplest to
Drilling Objective log and evaluate.
Appraisal wells often allow excellent data acquisition as the early drilling
problems are solved and the evaluation questions known, hence can be
answered with a well planned survey.

A well is drilled to a pre-determined objective:

An exploration well targets a suspected reservoir.

An appraisal well evaluates a discovery.

Notes
A development well is used for production.

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 Life of a well The exploration well is often in very unknown territory. Th surface
seismic will give structure, outcrops will give some idea of the geology.
Pre-Drilling Knowledge Depths, fluids porosity, saturation etc. are all unknowns. The logging
suite has to cover all eventualities, a switch in mud type or higher than
Exploration expected resistivities may require a change of resistivity tool.
In addition the hole condition may be bad leading to poor data
Structural information obtained from surface acquisition.
seismic data.
Rough geological information can be provided by
nearby wells or outcrops.
Approximate depths estimated from surface
seismic data.

Notes

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 Life of a well In the appraisal well the initial information has been obtained from the
exploration well. The evaluation problem(s) is now known and a survey
Pre-Drilling Knowledge can be tailored to maximise the information. The data from this type of
well is often the best and most complete in the field.
Appraisal

Notes

Detailed structure from logs taken in previous

wells.

Time-to-depth conversion for surface seismic

from logs taken in previous wells.
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 Life of a well

Appraisal Wells - Continued

Geological data from cuttings, cores and logs

from previous wells.

Notes

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 Life of a well Development well logging is concerned with completion, where to
perforate. The rest of the information about the reservoir should be
Pre-Drilling Knowledge known but there can be surprises, for example unexpected faults.

Development

Notes

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 Life of a well Tools and acquisition systems have continued to be developed since the
first log was recorded in 1927 by the Schlumberger brothers Marcel and
Tool History Conrad. Some development has improved existing measurements, the
simple electrical log has become the Azimuthal Resistivity Imaging
Tool. Other are new measurements added to the battery of existing
1927 - First electrical log recorded. techniques such as nuclear magnetic imaging.
Recent advances have used the explosion in computing power to increase
1930s - SP, Short Normal, Long Normal and Long Lateral the density of data recorded and hence create images of the borehole and
combined, Core Sample Taker. formation properties. At the same time these tools have become more
and more reliable. Surface systems have become more sophisticated
1940s - Gamma Ray and Neutron, 3-arm Dipmeter using SP, then while becoming easier for the user (both the engineer and customer).
electrical measurements, Induction tool.

1950s - Microlog tool, Laterolog tool, Sonic tool, Formation

Tester.

1960s - Formation Density tool.

1970s - Dual Spacing Neutrons, Advanced Dipmeters, Notes

Computerised Surface Systems, Repeat Tester tools,
Electromagnetic Propagation tool.

1980s - Resistivity Imaging tool, Advanced Sonic tools

1990s - Advanced testing tools, Induction imaging tools,

Azimuthal Laterolog tools, Ultrasonic imaging tools,
Epithermal porosity tools, Magnetic resonance tools

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 Life of a well The early interpretation used a combination of resistivity and the SP to
pick zones. The SP was labelled as a “porosity” curve.

Early Interpretation
Early resistivity logs were used to find
possible producing zones.

high resistivity = hydrocarbon

SP was used to define permeable beds,

compute Rw and determine shaliness.

Resistivity was also used to determine Notes

"porosity".

Archie developed the relationship between

resistivity, porosity and saturation.

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 Life of a well This is a fast quicklook technique to recognise hydrocarbon zones. In a
water zone the porosity and resistivity will track each other, as the
porosity decreases there is less water hence the resistivity increases and
Interpretation Procedure 2 vice versa. In shale the resistivity usually reads low and the porosity
reads high.
In hydrocarbon the resistivity increases while the porosity is the same or
Gamma Ray Resistivity Porosity increases.

Hydrocarbon

Water

Shale

Notes

Water

The simplest evaluation technique consists of

recognising the hydrocarbon zone using the
porosity and resistivity curves

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 Life of a well This interpretation procedure follows some simple guidelines to arrive at
a final answer. The input is the environmentally corrected and quality
checked log data. This is an important step which cannot be avoided if a
Interpretation Procedure proper answer is required. Additional information such as core data may
also be used. This information is zoned, broken into sections of interest
(the reservoir) and other (such as shale and bad hole).

Lithology selection takes the flowchart into two paths. In carbonates the
problem is porosity and porosity type before computing saturation. In
clastics it is the shale, shale type and possible other minerals that have to
be evaluated first.

Notes

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 Life of a well The objective of zoning is to eliminate (or put aside for later study) zones
which are not of prime interest, i.e. non reservoir or poor data quality.
The best tools to use are the simple ones, the SP and GR which react to
Zoning simple phenomena. The caliper is good as it often shows shale as bad
hole and clean zones as having mud cake, in addition to showing bad
hole where the log response is poor.
Zoning is the first step in any interpretation The neutron-density-Pef are good but the first two also react to the fluid
procedure. During zoning, the logs are split type and the Pef may be affected by barite.

into intervals of: The resistivity is the last tool to use as it is affected mainly by fluids.

1) Porous and non-porous rock.

2) Permeable and non-permeable rock.
3) Shaly and clean rock.

Notes

Zoning Tools:
SP.
GR.
Caliper.
Neutron Density-Pef.
Resistivity.

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 Life of a well

Zoning Continued

In addition the logged is examined for:

1) Good hole conditions and bad hole

conditions.
2) Good logs and bad logs.

The first condition will adversely affect a lot of Notes

measurements.
The second, bad logs are often caused by
environmental conditions, e.g. barite in the
mud affected the Pe curve.

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 Life of a well The Gamma ray is a unique measurement in that it passive. The
formation is not altered in any way either by a measurement method (for
example neutron bombardment) or by invasion.
Gamma Ray Principles The level of gamma ray emission is very small.
The log has to be corrected for borehole effects, specifically hole size
and mud weight. The more material in the mud (heavy muds) the more
The Gamma Ray log is a measurement of the gamma rays are absorbed before the reach the detector leading to a
formation's natural radioactivity. lower than expected reading.
Barite, a very heavy material, has a considerable effect on the
Gamma ray emission is produced by three measurement.
radioactive series found in the Earth's crust.

Potassium (K40) series.

Uranium series.
Notes
Thorium series.

Gamma rays passing through rocks are slowed

and absorbed at a rate which depends on the
formation density.

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 Life of a well The commonest uses for the measurement is for zoning , picking clean
beds from shaly ones. the GR has a reasonable vertical resolution and
hence it is a good tool to identify the bedding.
Basic Gamma Ray Uses The use of the gamma ray for shale volume is very common. It is perhaps
the tool most used for this application. Care has to be taken when there is
Bed definition: radioactive material in the cleans zones. A typical example would be
feldspar in a sandstone.
The tool reacts if the shale
is radioactive (usually
the case), hence show
the sands and shales, the
permeable zones and the
non-permeable zones.

Computation of the
amount of shale:
Notes

The minimum value gives

the clean (100%) shale
free zone, the maximum
100% shale zone. All
other points can then be
calibrated in the
amount of shale.

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 Life of a well The total GR is made up of these three series in varying proportions. The
actual amounts of each depends on many geological factors such as
depositional environment. As this leads to a greater understanding of the
Gamma Ray Spectroscopy reservoir the measurement brings a lot more information than the simple
Gamma Ray.

The tool measures a spectrum that is the result of

the three naturally occurring radioactive
series.

Notes

The Potassium has a sharper shape than the other4040

two as it decays through a single reaction to a
 Life of a well The sharp peaks of the previous slide are the ideal case. In practice the
spectrum of the gamma rays is smoothed to give the picture in this slide.
The typical tool puts a number of windows around the energy levels
Spectroscopy Principle where each element is expected. Extra windows help with the statistical
precision of the measurement.
The measurement outputs are always filtered using a special type of
algorithm which keeps the real information while eliminating the “noise”
associated with such a type of operation.

Notes

The measurement in the standard tool is made by

a measurement in a number of fixed energy
windows. Three of these at the highest levels
are set over a characteristic peak of each of the
elements.
The statistical nature of the measurement is
partly improved by using another two
windows set at a lower energy which has a 41
higher rate. 41
 Life of a well The outputs are in the relative proportion of their abundance, Uranium
and Thorium in ppm and Potassium in percentage.
Example Log The CGR curve is especially important in shale volume calculations. The
mineral Uranium has nothing to do with the shaliness of the rock and can
be present in both clean and shaly formations. This can lead to a situation
where a clean uranium-bearing formation is seen by the total gamma ray
as a shaly formation.
If available the CGR curve is always used to compute the amount of
shale.

Notes

Outputs are the relative amounts of Thorium,

Uranium and Potassium in the formation.
With:
Thorium in ppm.
Uranium in ppm.
Potassium in %.
Additional curves are the total gamma ray (SGR)
and a Uranium-corrected gamma ray
42
(CGR). 42
 Life of a well The tool has a number of important uses in formation evaluation. The
corrected gamma ray curve (CGR) is essential to correctly compute shale
volumes. In addition, minerals such as mica which contain potassium
Spectroscopy GR uses also confuse the standard gamma ray. The three outputs of this tool can
identify this type of lithology and the appropriate corrections made.
Depositional environments and the rocks diagenesis are studied by
looking at the relationships between the various elements.

This tool has many applications:

Lithology identification.
Study of depositional environments.
Investigation of shale types.
Correction of the GR for clay content
evaluation. Notes

Identification of organic material and

source rocks.
Fracture identification.
Geochemical logging.
Study of a rock's diagenetic history.

A major application was to solve North Sea log

interpretation problems in micaceous sands.
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 Life of a well The distribution of the 3 elements in a carbonate formation helps in
analysing these complex lithologies, especially identifying some of the
additional minerals associated with these rocks.
Spectroscopy GR uses The radioactive evaporite is Sylvite, KCl, a very radioactive rock.

The three radioactive elements measured by the

tool occur in different parts of the reservoir. If
we know the lithology, we can obtain further
information.

In Carbonates:
Notes
U - indicates phosphates, organic matter
and stylolites.

Th - indicates clay content.

K - indicates clay content, radioactive

evaporites.

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 Life of a well Clastic rocks range from sandstones to shales and always contain a
number of additional minor minerals. These frequently affect log
readings and sometimes formation characteristics. Thus it is useful to
Spectroscopy GR in Clastics identify them if possible. The gamma ray spectroscopy tools gives
considerable information of use in this situiation.
The most useful curve form the tool in shale quantification is Thorium as
it is unaffected by other secondary minerals.

In Sandstones:

Th - indicates clay content, heavy

minerals.

K - indicates micas, micaceous clays and

feldspars. Notes

In Shales:

U - in shale, suggest a source rock.

Th - indicates the amount of detrital

material or degree of shaliness.
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K - indicates clay type and mica.
 Life of a well The three plots increase in complexity from simple Th v K to Pe v Th/K
ratio. The first plot can be difficult to use as slightly different variations
in the Th or K content have large effects on where the data fall on the
Spectroscopy GR Crossplots plot.
The second of the plots Pe v K is useful but superceded by the final plot
The data is interpreted using three in practicality.
major crossplots. In order of
complexity:
Thorium versus Potassium:
Gives clay type

Photoelectric factor, Pe, versus

Potassium: Notes
Gives clay type and micas.

Pe versus Thorium/Potassium
ratio:
Gives clay type and micas.

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 Life of a well These are some typical values for the gamma ray tools in a variety of
formations. Anhydrite and salt are normally very clean, and have low
values.
GR parameters

Vertical resolution 18"

Depth of investigation 6"-8"

Readings in: API units

Limestone <20 Notes

Dolomite <30
Sandstone <30
Shale 80-300
Salt <10
Anhydrite <10

No formation is perfectly clean, hence the GR

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readings will vary. Limestone is usually cleaner47
than the other two reservoir rocks and
 Life of a well The simple gamma ray records a total of all the radioactivity in the
formation, hence it is confused by the presence of organic materials or
any other radioactive materials such as micas.
GR Limits The NGT tool has no problem in identifying the components of the total
gamma ray. However this tool does have to record parts of the total
spectrum hence the signal level is low and statistical. Errors will be
increased by the presence of anything likely to reduce the total signal
such as barite in the mud or large borehole.
Modern tools have less effect than older versions.
GR

- Organic materials (see the uranium as

"shale").
- Micas (sees micaceous sands as shaly).

Spectroscopy Tools Notes

- Barite in the mud (reduces the count rate

but can be partially corrected for).
- KCI mud (Potassium in the mud masks
the formation response but can be
partially corrected for).
- Large boreholes decrease the count rate
hence increase the statistics.
- Statistical errors. 48
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 Life of a well

GR Correction 1

Notes

GR logs require correction for the effects of the

mud.

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 Life of a well

GR Correction 2

Notes

An additional correction is needed if there is

barite in the borehole.

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