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MX

Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

Reservoir or not reservoir?

That’s the question.

Material de apoyo.

NOVAOIL WWW.NOVAOIL.MX

Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

This diagram will tell the difference between gross, net rock, net reservoir and net pay.

1. Resistivity Logging

Water bearing rock conducts electricity, the more porosity the easier for electron flow and the
lower the resistivity.
Oil (non conductor) bearing rock restricts the current flow and so resistivity is high.
Tight, low porosity rock is also more resistive so need to know porosity accurately.
Gas bearing rock offers lower density, slower sonic and less neutron porosity.
 

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Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

Why it works:
High Resistivity in HC, low resistivity in water.

When will it not work:

1.Low resistivity, low contrast formation.
2.Fresh water formation.
3.Tight reservoirs / Unconventional reservoirs.
4. Severe mud invasion.
 
2. Density-neutron crossover

When you plot density log and neutron log on a limestone compatible scale on the same log
track, you will see significant separation between neutron and density log in a gas bearing zone,
especially when you are in a limestone reservoir.  (A limestone compatible scale is when you plot
density log on a scale from 1.95 gm/cc to 2.95 gm/cc and neutron log on a scale of 0.45 to -0.15
porosity unit).

 
 

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Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

When you plot both logs together on the same plot, you will see “butterfly” like feature. Yes, “The
Butterfly Effect” is the gas crossover on the neutron-density logs. It looks like a butterfly. Hence,
the name “The Butterfly Effect”.
The density log will tend to deflect to the left showing lower density since gas has lower density
than oil or water. The neutron will deflect to the right showing lower porosity. This happens
since in gas, the neutron porosity, which reads the H+ concentration is lower than in liquid,
giving lower porosity.
In the log below, we can clearly see the neutron and density log curve crossover each other. This
indicates the butterfly effect where the gas bearing zone is.

So, whenever you see the gas crossover (density left, neutron right), it’s the indication of gas
bearing formation. You might also see the effect in light hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs.

But beware, you might not see this effect at all if:

1. You have significant mud invasion,

2. You are in a non-limestone reservoir,
3. You plotted the density-neutron logs on different scales.
4. Some other borehole and formation anomalies like badhole etc.

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Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

Why it works:

Density-neutron log overlay each other on the same log track plotted on compatible scale. In a
gas bearing zone, density and neutron curves separate. Density increases and neutron decreases
with presence of lighter hydrocarbon. We call this effect  “gas cross-over” or the “butterfly
effect“. Density of gas is lower compared to water resulting in lower formation density. Neutron
reads lower hydrogen index. For oil bearing zone, the separation between density-neutron be in
between gas and water responses.
 
When it won’t work:

A. Severe water based mud invasion in a gas or an oil bearing zone causes no
separation between density-neutron.
B. Low porosity formation in extreme reservoirs (like tight gas and low porosity
hydrocarbon bearing reservoir) may mask the hydrocarbon effect of the density-
neutron responses
C. Gas or light oil? You need to see trends from offset wells to compare.

 




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Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

3. Pressure Measurements
Why it works:
When we plot series of formation pressures against depth, we see distinct pressure (fluid)
gradients. At intersections between each pressure gradient lines are the fluid contacts (Gas-Oil-
Contact, Free Water Level etc.)
 
When it won’t work:
A. In thin reservoirs, we may not be able to construct distinct gradients. We need at least 3
points per fluid phase per reservoir. For instance, if we have 3 phase fluids, we need at
least 9 pressure points.

B. Tight formation might be dominated by super charged or tight points. No gradient can be
constructed.

C. Matured/depleted reservoir where pressures are not evenly distributed due to production.
May or may not get gradient. Even if we do get a gradient, we might not see the fluid
contacts.

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Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

4. Fluid samples
Why it works:
We can directly obtain formation fluid samples using formation tester. During sampling, we can use optical, density
and resistivity sensors to identify fluid types in real time.

When it won’t work:

A. f we have excessive mud invasion, we have to wait longer for sufficient fluid clean up before we take the sample.
B. If we don’t have sufficient clean up time due to tight formation or high invasion, we could end up with less reservoir
fluids, but more mud filtrate.
C. If we use too high drawdown during sampling, we might not retain the fluid in single phase.
D. In tight formation and low permeability zones, we may not get any samples at all.
E. Across washout/badhole zones, if do not get good seal between the probe and the formation face, we will not get
good samples.
 

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Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

5. Fluid Typing Mode From Nuclear Magnetric Resonance (NMR)

Why it works:
Different fluid will have different diffusions and relaxation times. 
 
When it won’t work:

A. If we have too much invasion, the tools will read the mud. NMR only read 1-2in in the
formation.
B. If we have super tight formation, we may not have measure the sufficient  polarization and
relaxation times.
C. Significant magnetic materials in formation like pyrite and siderite  causes error in NMR
reading as they have magnetic properties.
D. High salinity mud might mess up NMR signals.

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Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

6. Sonic with compressional and shear waves

Why it works:

The significant contrast in fluid mobility and compressibility in a gas zone also generates a
measurable Stoneley-wave reflection. The presence of these reflections, together with an
increase in compressional slowness or a decrease in the  Vp/Vs  ratio, identifies a gas-bearing
zone. When you plot them, they will lay on south-west of the plot from the normal 45 degree
line.   When Δts is plotted against theVp/Vs ratio, water-bearing sands and shales show a linear
relationship and points falling below matrix lines result from the slowing effect of Δtp  in light
hydrocarbons.

Acoustic coupling between solid and gas or fluid and gas is poor, resulting in a high loss of
energy. A sudden loss of energy (amplitude) in the measured acoustic signal, primarily in the
compressional wave and only secondarily in the shear wave: (e.g., the cycle skipping or high
slowness values) may indicate gas-filled pore space (gas effect). In the cased of gas-filled
porosity, the acoustic-neutron crossplot can be useful for this purpose because neutron porosity
is lower than acoustic porosity in gas zones. 

NOVAOIL WWW.NOVAOIL.MX

Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

In the presence of gas, Stoneley-derived permeability is overestimated because of increased

pore-fluid mobility (decreased viscosity) and compressibility, and NMR permeability may be
underestimated because of a decreased hydrogen index. If first calibrated in a nongas-bearing
interval, separation of the two permeability curves indicates the presence of gas.

When it won’t work:

In Complex reservoirs.

7. Pulsed Neutron Logs (Sigma and C/O Mode)

Why it works:
In sigma mode, sigma values for oil, gas, and water are inherently different. Gas has very low
sigma. Water has high sigma depending on water salinity. Sigma oil is in between. Used in water
saturation calculation as inputs  . In C/O mode, the C/O ratio in hydrocarbon and water are
different. C/O ratio is higher in hydrocarbon due to presence of Carbon but lower in water due
to higher hydrogen content in water.
 

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Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

 When it won’t work:
C/O can’t distinguish between gas or oil. C/O mode is sensitive to hydrocarbon or liquid.
Sigma won’t work if formation water salinity is too low. Sigma water is low. In low salinity
environment, sigma can’t distinguish between oil or water.
If we perform acidizing job. The acid used contains chlorine. Chlorine is a neutron absorbers,
resulting in high sigma.

8. Hold Up Sensors

Why it works:
When we have multi phase fluids in the borehole, multi phase holdup sensors can distinguish
the fluid types. However, the holdup sensors only read the percentage of each phase in the
borehole and may not reflect the actual fluids in the formation.
 
When it will not work:
When we have one fluid phase dominating other fluid phases (i.e. water holdup value is bigger
than oil and gas hold up.
If we have circulating water in the borehole. Fluid in borehole may not be the same as fluids in
formation.

NOVAOIL WWW.NOVAOIL.MX

Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

9. PLT sensors

Why it works:
Multi spinners combined with holdup sensors and other PLT sensors like temperature, density
etc. We will see which fluid coming in the formation.
 
When it will not work:
When you have hostile borehole environment like rugose hole, scale etc.
When you have limited borehole accessibility, you may have doubtful interpretations.

10. Mudlogs

Why it works:
We can see hydrocarbon shows, fluorescence from the cuttings.
 
When it will not work:
1.If we have really slow lag time, then the cuttings may not be representative with depth.
2. Shale shaker not working
3. False fluorescence due to pipe grease etc.

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Ing. Luis Ahindel Castellanos Bassoult

11. Any separations between your neutron and density curves means any of the
following:
• Gas effect
• Light hydrocarbon effect
• Shale
• Dolomitic limestone
• Insufficient salinity correction on neutron log

12. PEF reads near 5 B/E in limestone and near 3 B/E in dolomite. The fluids normally
reduce the PEF reading by about 1 B/E. Barite, and other minerals usually increases
PEF readings quite significantly.

13. Sonic reads primary porosity. Subtract primary porosity (calculated from sonic log)
from total porosity (calculated from density-neutron) and you will get secondary
porosity.