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Russian Geology and Geophysics 54 (2013) 1103–1107
www.elsevier.com/locate/rgg

A geosteering tool for horizontal well logging

M.I. Epov a,*, V.L. Mironov b,c, K.V. Muzalevskiy b,c, I.N. Eltsov a, U.P. Salomatov d
a
A.A. Trofimuk Institute of Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
pr. Koptyuga 3, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia
b
L.V. Kirensky Institute of Physics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademgorodok 50, bld. 38, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russia
c
M.F. Reshetnev Siberian State Aerospace University, pr. Krasnoyarskii Rabochii 31, Krasnoyarsk, 660014, Russia
d
Siberian Federal University, 79, pr. Svobodnyi, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia

Received 12 October 2011; accepted 14 August 2012

Abstract

A theoretical study has been performed to check the possibility of using ultrabroadband nanosecond electromagnetic pulses as a geosteering
tool for horizontal drilling to estimate the distance to the oil-water contact (OWC) in a floating oil accumulation. The voltage of a
microwave-bandwidth pulse at the dipole receiver of a downhole radar was modeled for the case of a horizontal borehole near OWC in a
formation saturated with oil and water. Numerical solutions to the boundary problem formulated on the basis of the Maxwell equations were
obtained with the Microwave Studio software (www.cst.com). The frequency-dependent dielectric constants of the layered saturated formation
and the drilling fluid were assumed according to experimentally tested models. The modeling has demonstrated that nanosecond electromagnetic
pulses arriving from a layered oil-water contact can in principle be acquired and the distance from the wellbore to the OWC median can be
inferred from the respective time delays recorded by a downhole radar. Additionally, the possible dynamic range and accuracy of sensing
have been estimated.
© 2013, V.S. Sobolev IGM, Siberian Branch of the RAS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: geosteering; downhole radar; saturated formation; oil-water contact; ultrabroadband nanosecond electromagnetic pulse

Introduction However, OWC in those models was simulated as a break

in the water content function at the oil-water interface while
Horizontal drilling (www.slb.com) has been increasingly the transition is actually smooth in the real subsurface. As a
used through recent decades as a way of enhanced oil development to the previous modeling (Epov et al., 2007,
recovery. However, it requires precise geosteering to avoid 2009, 2010, 2011), we now check the applicability of
abandonment risks if the borehole taps gas- or water-saturated
ultrabroadband electromagnetic pulses to geosteering in highly
zones of the reservoir. Currently geosteering is provided with
permeable reservoirs for the case of a smooth oil-water
the method of high-frequency (0.875 to 14 MHz) induction
transition, up to 1 m thick, with its petrophysics assumed
logging (Epov and Antonov, 2000) which allows estimating
the depth to interfaces to an accuracy defined by measured according to the respective parameters at the Fedorovskoe
resistivity errors. The resistivity of a typical oil-saturated oilfield (Epov et al., 2010). The calculations are made for a
formation measured at 0.4 to 1.1 m away from the borehole more realistic electrodynamic model of the logging tool (a
may bear an error from 24% to 50%, respectively, while errors downhole radar), with regard to the effects of the dielectric
in the width of the low-resistivity zone may reach 40%, as tool body and drilling mud.
one can see in Fig. 5.8 from (Epov and Antonov, 2000). To
improve the resolution of high-frequency induction logging,
earlier we (Epov et al., 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011) investigated Problem formulation
theoretically the possibility of using ultrabroadband nanosec-
ond electromagnetic pulses for precise borehole positioning. The downhole radar (Fig. 1) consists of spaced receiving
and transmitting dipole antennas mounted in a cylindrical
dielectric case, with its radius 0.045 m. The receiver and the
* Corresponding author. transmitter are joined cylindrical ideal conductors, 0.15 m long
E-mail address: EpovMI@ipgg.sbras.ru (M.I. Epov) each, of the radius 0.02 m, with a clearing of 5 mm between
1068-7971/$ - see front matter D 201 3, V.S. So bolev IGM, Siberian Branch of the RAS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rgg.201
+ 3.07.022
1104 M.I. Epov et al. / Russian Geology and Geophysics 54 (2013) 1103–1107

mixing dielectric model (GRMDM) reported in (Epov et al.,

2009):
εs = ε′s + i ε″s ,
ε′s = n2s − κ2s , ε″s = 2ns κs,
(1)
ns = nd + (nw − 1) Ww + (no − 1) Wo,
κs = κd + κw Ww + κo Wo,
where i = √  is an imaginary unit, ε′s, ε″s , are the real and
−1
imaginary parts of the complex dielectric constant, ns, nd, nw,
no are the refraction coefficients, κs, κd, κw, κo are the loss
factors, and Ww and Wo are, respectively, the volumetric
Fig. 1. An oil and gas reservoir with an oil-water contact, including a borehole percentages of water and oil. The subscripts s, d, w, and o
and a logging tool (T and R are, respectively, transmitter and receiver antennas). refer to fluid-saturated rock, dry rock, water, and oil, respec-
tively. The refraction and attenuation coefficients are related
with the complex dielectric constant as
them. The clearing centers of the dipole antennas are spaced
1/2
np = √ε′2 + ε″p2 + ε′p

at zr = 0.5 m. The radar is placed in a borehole (radius rb=
/√
2 ,
0.05 m) filled with drilling mud (saline water with 5 g/l NaCl  p  (2)
and 3% clay content). The dielectric tool body is 0.9 m long 1/2

κp = √  
ε′ + ε″p − ε′p
2 2
/√
2 ,
and has a relative permittivity of 14.
 p 
In the Cartesian coordinates (Fig. 1), with the origin at the
receiver center, the ox axis is directed downward, while the where p stands for the subscripts s, d, w, and o. The
centers of the receiver and transmitter antennas lie on the oz frequency-dependent complex dielectric constants of water,
axis which coincides with the axis of the hole. oil, and drilling mud (assuming that the minor clay content of
The radar is placed in the oil-saturated zone of the reservoir. 3% causes no significant effect on the mud permittivity) were
The distances to the top and bottom of the oil-water transition found using the Debye equation
from the hole axis are, respectively, x1 and x2 (Fig. 1). ε0p − ε∞p σp
The parameters of the nanosecond pulse correspond to a εp = ε∞p + +i , (3)
1 − i 2π f τp 2π ε0 f
FID-Tekhnika GIN-2-02 pulse power source (St. Petersburg).
The power is connected to the transmitter with a 50 Ohm where f is the EM field frequency; σp, τp, ε0p, and ε∞p are
coaxial cable plugged at the break between the dipole legs. the parameters of the Debye relaxation model (conductivity,
Figure 2 shows the pulse, with its waveform, envelope, and relaxation time, and static and high-frequency dielectric
spectrum at the source output. The voltage envelope peaks at
tg = 2.2 ns. The peak frequency and the pulse width are, constants, respectively); ε0 = 8.854 × 10−12 F/m is the vacuum
respectively, 0.210 GHz and 0.554 GHz. dielectric constant; p stands for the respective subscripts (w
The dielectric spectra (relative complex permittivity or for water, o for oil, d for drilling mud). Hereafter the following
dielectric constant) of the reservoir saturated with oil and parameters are used: nd = 1.63, κd = 0.012, σw = 2.75 S/m,
saline water were calculated using the generalized refractive τw = 8.8 ns, ε0w = 74.3, ε∞w = 4.9, σo = 0.0001 S/m, τo =

Fig. 2. Waveform (1), envelope (2), and spectrum (3) of the pulse at the source output.
 M.I. Epov et al. / Russian Geology and Geophysics 54 (2013) 1103–1107 1105

where Ww,os and Ww,ws are the water contents in the oil- and
water-saturated zones of the reservoir, respectively, xow =
(x1 + x2)/2 is the coordinate of the OWC median plane
corresponding to the maximum gradient of the Ww(x) and
Wo(x) functions, and ∆ow is the OWC effective thickness, with
the top at x1 = xow – dow/2 and the bottom at x2 = xow + dow/2.
The thickness dow = 2 ∆ow ln 9 equals to that of a layer
between the levels (Wo,ws + Wo,os) / 2 ± 0.4 (Wo,ws − Wo,os) and
(Ww,ws + Ww,os) / 2 ± 0.4 (Ww,ws − Ww,os) for the oil and water
contents, respectively. The oil and water profiles in the OWC
layer calculated with (4) at dow = 0.64 m are shown in Fig. 3.
In further numerical analysis, the OWC zone is divided into
20 thin layers with constant oil and water contents found as
Fig. 3. Profiles of water (Ww) and oil (Wo) contents (curves 1 and 2, respec-
tively) in the OWC zone. the means over each layer.

209 ns, ε0o = 2.2, ε∞o = 2.1, σb = 0.9 S/m, τb = 8.9 ns, ε0b = Numerical modeling
79.6, εb = 5.2, which correspond to water and drilling fluid
Peak voltage at the receiver output was modeled using the
salinities of 17 and 5 g/l, respectively at the formation
Microwave Studio software (www.cst.com). Figure 4 shows
temperature 62 ºC. The model dielectric parameters of water
and drilling fluid are calculated using regression equations the pulse waveform, its envelope, and spectrum for a radar
from (Stogryn, 1971), applicable also to the temperature placed in a uniform oil reservoir. The pulse width (Fig. 4),
62 ºC, as shown in (Epov et al., 2009). The reservoir porosity estimated at 0.1 of the envelope peak amplitude is 6.3 ns.
is assumed to be 23%. The contents of oil and water in the The spectrum of the pulse propagating in a uniform
respective reservoir zones (x ≤ x1 for oil and x ≥ x2 water oil-saturated formation has a width about 0.25 GHz (Fig. 4),
saturation) are assumed to be Ww = 7 vol.% and Wo = and the central frequency is equal to 0.33 GHz. The delay td,
16 vol.%; Ww = 23 vol.% and Wo = 0, respectively. The rock found from the shift of the envelope peak in Fig. 4 relative
physics corresponds to that at the Fedorovskoe oilfield in West to its position at the source output (Fig. 2) is 5.2 ns. In the
Siberia (Epov et al., 2010). approximation of a lateral wave pulse (see Fig. 25, in
The smooth change of complex permittivity at the oil-water (Daev D.C., 1974)), the lateral wave pulse velocity alonge the
interface is simulated using the Fermi distribution of water hole axis (Vp = [zr + 2rb]/td) is equal to 0.386⋅c, where c is the
Ww(x) and oil Wo(x) contents from (Schwank et al., 2004): vacuum light velocity. The apparent refraction coefficient of
the oil-saturated formation is then na = 2.6, which is close to
Ww (x) = Ww,os + (Ww,ws − Ww,os) ⋅
that for a 0.33 GHz pulse (no = 2.4) calculated using the
1 − 1 / (1 + exp [(xow − x) / ∆ ow ]),

 (4) complex permittivity model. Therefore, the wavefield along

the tool axis localizes mainly in the oil-saturated zone rather
Wo (x) = 0.23 − Ww (x), than in the dielectric tool body, which has the refraction

Fig. 4. Output pulse voltage (1), its envelope (2), and spectrum (3) in a uniform oil reservoir.
1106 M.I. Epov et al. / Russian Geology and Geophysics 54 (2013) 1103–1107

Fig. 5. Output pulse voltage (a) and its envelope (b), for different OWC thicknesses (curve codes in meters).

coefficient nc = 3.7 or in the drilling mud between the tool OWC, and its time intervals of 14–16 ns, 16–22 ns, and
and the borehole wall with nc = 9.3. It means that the complex 24–30 ns correspond to the distances 1.1, 1.4, and 1.9 m to
permittivity model (1) is applicable to infer oil and water the OWC median. The amplitudes of the refracted pulse were
contents from the measured delay of the pulse propagating enlarged in the 13–50 ns window ×79.5 (38.0 dB),
along the hole, the formation porosity being known. 285.9 (49.1 dB), and 753.6 (57.5 dB) against that of the pulse
Then we calculated the voltage at the receiver output for propagating along the borehole, respectively, for the three
a borehole with its axis at a distance of 1 m from the median distances (1.1, 1.4, and 1.9 m).
plane of OWC varying in thickness as 0.08 m ≤ dow ≤ 0.64 m. As the calculations predict, a 60 dB signal can penetrate
In this case, there appears another pulse in the interval from to a distance of 1.9 m to the median of a smooth OWC, which
15 to 30 ns, with an additional delay (Fig. 5a), besides that is quite realistic for the modern radars with the dynamic range
propagating along the borehole within the same time span up to 120 dB.
between 3 and 15 ns as the pulse in the oil zone (Fig. 4). This Below we estimate the accuracy of the estimated distances
additional peak may appear as the ray path becomes longer to OWC assuming that the refracted pulse propagates at the
because of refraction at OWC. same velocity as the one along the borehole. The source-re-
The voltage is × 60.6 times enlarged in the 15–30 ns ceiver offset being known, this velocity can be found from
window (Fig. 5a) in order to highlight the waveform details the delay of the pulse that arrives the first at the receiver
of the refracted pulse. As the OWC thickness increases from output. Another assumption is that the refracted pulse propa-
0.08 to 0.64 m, the amplitude of the refracted pulse attenuates gates along the intercepts of a straight line corresponding to
notably (by a factor of ~4.7 or by 13.4 dB), while its delay the transmitted plane wave and the one reflected from the
does not change much (compare the envelopes of the refracted median. Then, the distance from the borehole axis to the OWC
pulses in Fig. 5b). The envelope of the refracted pulse, at the median is
OWC thicknesses dow = 0.08 m and 0.64 m, peaks at tp =
20.0 ns and 19.2 ns, respectively. If OWC is thin, the sense xow,0 = √

lef2 −z2r / 2, (5)
of a refracted ray experiences a reversal relative to the ox axis
in a small vicinity of the OWC median (1 m – 0.04 m < x < where lef is the effective distance travelled by the refracted
1 m + 0.04 m). The reversal near the median plane of OWC wave being approximately lef = trVp, where tr is the refraction
may be expected to be independent of its thickness since the time delay and Vp is the velocity along the borehole.
delay of the refracted pulse in an 8 times thicker OWC is only The distances to the OWC median estimated with (5) are
2% greater. Therefore, the distance from the borehole to the 0.82 m, 1.08 m, and 1.53 m, while the true values assumed
OWC median can be inferred from the measured refraction in the model are 1.1 m, 1.4 m, and 1.9 m. Therefore, the
delay. errors in the distances estimated with the above assumptions
Now we consider modeling results for a 0.64 m thick OWC about the refraction velocity and raypaths are, respectively,
and a borehole at 1.1, 1.4, and 1.9 m away from its median 25%, 23%, and 19%. Note that these distances are in all cases
(Fig. 6). shorter than the true ones. According to the reported calcula-
The left-hand pulse (Fig. 6) propagating along the borehole tions, the resolution of the microwave radar at the penetrations
is stable within the 2–13 ns interval at any distance to the 1.1, 1.4, and 1.9 m is 2, 2.2, and 2.6 times better than that
OWC median plane, while the right-hand one is refracted at provided by high-frequency induction logging tools.
 M.I. Epov et al. / Russian Geology and Geophysics 54 (2013) 1103–1107 1107

Fig. 6. Output pulse voltage (a) and its envelopes (b) at different distances to OWC median (curve codes in meters).

Conclusions Daev, D. C, High-Frequency Electromagnetic Logging Method [in Russian],

Nedra, Moscow, 1974.
Numerical modeling at broad and ultrabroad bandwidths Epov, M.I., Antonov, Yu.N., 2000. Technology for High-Frequency Induction
Logging of Petroleum Wells (VIKIZ). Method Guide [in Russian]. Izd.
has shown that reflections from smooth OWC between an oil-
SO RAN, NIC OIGGM, Novosibirsk.
and water-saturated zones of the reservoir can, in principle, Epov, M.I., Mironov, V.L., Komarov, S.A., Muzalevsky, K.V., 2007.
be acquired at distances to 1.9 m by a microwave radar system Nanosecond electromagnetic sounding of a fluid-saturated layered forma-
with a dynamic range 60 dB, if the OWC thickness is 0.64 m. tion. Russian Geology and Geophysics (Geologiya i Geofizika) 48 (12),
It is suggested to estimate the distance to the OWC median 1054–1060 (1357–1365).
plane from time delay of waves that arrive at the receiver Epov, M.I., Mironov, V.L., Bobrov, P.P., Savin, I.V., Repin, A.V., 2009.
output after travelling along the borehole and refracting at Dielectric spectroscopy of oil-bearing rocks at 0.05–16 GHz. Russian
OWC. At distances longer than 1.1 m, the ultrabroadband Geology and Geophysics (Geologiya i Geofizika) 50 (5), 470–474
(613–618).
nanosecond electromagnetic geosteering tool provides more Epov, M.I., Mironov, V.L., Muzalevskiy, K.V., Yeltsov, I.N., 2010. UWB
accurate data than high-frequency induction logging. The Electromagnetic Borehole Logging Tool, in: Proc. IGARSS, Honolulu,
apparent refraction coefficient in an oil-saturated zone of the USA, pp. 3565–3567.
reservoir, estimated from Vp velocity along the borehole Epov, M.I., Mironov, V.L., Muzalevskiy, K.V., 2011. Ultrabroadband Elec-
differs from the true one for no more than 8.3%. This allows tromagnetic Sensing of Hydrocarbon Reservoirs [in Russian]. Izd. SO
using ultrabroadband nanosecond electromagnetic geosteering RAN, Novosibirsk.
Epov, M.I., Savin, I.V., Mironov, V.L., 2012. A temperature-dependent
tool sensing to estimate the oil and water contents, if the
dielectric model for water- and oil-containing rocks in the frequency range
reservoir porosity is known. from 0.5 to 15 GHz. Russian Geology and Geophysics (Geologiya i
Geofizika) 53 (7), 698–703 (912–919).
Schwank, M., Stähli, M., Wydler, H., Leuenberger, J., Mätzler, C., 2004.
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Editorial resposibility: A.E. Kontorovich