Automatic discrimination of sedimentary facies and lithologies in reef-bank reservoirs using borehole image logs

Reef-bank reservoirs are an important target for petroleum exploration in marine carbonates and also an essential supplemental area for oil and gas production in China. Due to the diversity of reservoirs and the extreme heterogeneity of reef-banks, it is very difficult to discriminate the sedimentary facies and lithologies in reef-bank reservoirs using conventional well logs. The borehole image log provides clear identification of sedimentary structures and textures and is an ideal tool for discriminating sedimentary facies and lithologies. After examining a large number of borehole images and cores, we propose nine typical patterns for borehole image interpretation and a method that uses these patterns to discriminate sedimentary facies and lithologies in reeI^bank reservoirs automatically. We also develop software with user-friendly interface. The results of applications in reef-bank reservoirs in the middle Tarim Basin and northeast Sichuan have proved that the proposed method and the corresponding software are quite effective.

Integrated Geological and Geophysical Mapping for Groundwater Potential Studies at Ekwegbe-Agu and Environs, Enugu State, Nigeria

The study integrates both the geological and geophysical mapping techniques for groundwater potential studies at Ekwegbe-Agu and the environs, Enugu state, Nigeria for optimal citing of borehole. Located in the Anambra Basin between latitudes 6˚43'N and 6˚47'N and longitudes 7˚28'E and 7˚32'E, it is stratigraphycally underlain by, from bottom to top, the Enugu/Nkporo, Mamu and Ajali Formation respectively, a complex geology that make citing of productive borehole in the area problematic leading to borehole failure and dry holes due to inadequate sampling. The study adopted a field and analytic sampling approach, integrating field geological, electrical resistivity and self-potential methods. The software, SedLog v3.1, InterpexIx1Dv.3, and Surfer v10 were employed for the data integration and interpretation. The result of the geological field and borehole data shows 11 sedimentary facies consisting of sandstone, shales and heterolith of sandstone/shale, with the aquifer zone mostly prevalent in the more porous sand-dominated horizons. Mostly the AK and HK were the dominant curve types. An average of 6 geo-electric layers were delineated across all transects with resistivity values ranging from 25.42 - 105.85 Ωm, 186.38 - 3383.3 Ωm, and 2992 - 6286.4 Ωm in the Enugu, Mamu and Ajali Formations respectively. The resistivity of the main aquifer layer ranges from 1 to 500 Ωm. The aquifer thickness within the study area varies between 95 and 140 m. The western and northwestern part of the study area which is underlain mainly by the Ajali Formation showed the highest groundwater potential in the area and suitable for citing productive boreholes.

2.5D boundary element simulation of wave propagation in a vertical fluid-filled borehole with irregular shape

In this paper, a boundary element formulation in the wave-number space domain for solving the wave equation for a borehole with arbitrary shape in acoustic logging problems is presented. The problem is treated as a two-dimensional medium with the discrete wave- number method in the vertical direction. The method is validated by comparing the results obtained by this method with those obtained by the finite-difference method. The method is used to study the effect on wave propagation in a vertical borehole of a vertical fracture. For a monopole source, the dispersion curves for Stoneley waves yield three branches. For dipole and quadrupole sources, different orientations of the source yield different results. When the dipole source is orthogonal to the fracture, the dispersion curve is similar to that of the open hole, while the curves are quite different when the source is parallel to the fracture. These characteristics enable us to determine the orientation of the vertical fracture.

Processing of array sonic logging data with nulti-scale STC technique

It is desirable to develop new signal processing techniques for effectively extracting reflected waves under the strong interferences of borehole guided waves. We presented a multi-scale semblance method for the separation and velocity （slowness） analysis of the reflected waves and guided waves in borehole acoustic logging. It was specially designed for the newly developed tools with ultra-long source- receiver spacing for acoustic reflection survey. This new method was a combination of the dual tree com- plex wavelets transform （DT-CWT） and the slowness travel time coherence （STC） method. Applications to the 3D finite difference （FD） modeling simulated data and to the field array sonic waveform signals have demonstrated the ability of this method to appropriately extract the reflected waves under severe interference from the guided waves and to suppress noise in the time-frequency domain.

Experimental studies of linear phased-array transmitter acoustic logging in cased wells with scaled borehole models

Laboratory cased-hole acoustic logging simulations are developed with the linear phased-array transmitter in scaled cased well models for evaluating the feasibility of extracting formation acoustic parameters through casing.The full waveforms are measured with different cement bonding models.By analyzing the measured wavetrains and the time-slowness correlation graphs,it is showed that when the generation conditions of the refracted compressional wave and the refracted shear wave are reached successively by regulating the direction of acoustic beam radiated from the linear phased-array transmitter,steered angle of the main radiation lobe with both good bonding interfaces.The refracted compressional wave and the refracted shear wave can be stimulated obviously and the casing wave can be suppressed effectively,even when the casing and cement（or the cement and formation） is not bonded.Based on these observations, it is worthwhile to apply the linear phased-array transmitter to determine formation velocities,particularly in poorly bonded cased well.The works establish the experimental and theoretical foundation for new generation cased-hole acoustic logging tool development.

3DFD Simulation of Asymmetric Wave Field by Side-wall Acoustic Tool in Open and Cased Wells

We developed a parallelized scheme of 3D finite difference （3DFD）with non-oniform staggered grid to simulate the eccentric borehole acoustic field with side-wall acoustic logging tools in open and cased wells. Higher accuracy and lower computation cost were achieved with this scheme for modeling such an asymmetric wave field generated by a high frequency source near or on the borehole wall. We also modeled the cases with and without considering the effects of the tool body. The simulation results demonstrated that the logging tool body would attenuate the direct waves but have only little influence on the interface waves in such a borehole condition. The effects of the tool body on the wave field were significant only when the contrast of the elastic properties between tool body and borehole fluid was large.

An exact algorithmic method based on trigonometrical relations to predict the rock quality designation

In core logging, each joint set intersects borehole into some segments. In this research, it has been shown that length of the borehole segments created by each joint set could be computed by trigonometrical relations. By realizing the lengths associated with joint sets, an algorithm has been designed to compute the length of borehole pieces (created by all joint sets) and to calculate RQD. Effect of some factors have been analyzed and applied to the abstract model of the rock mass to have the most similarity to a real rock mass. The program proposed in this study, is a robust platform to calculate the RQD in all directions inside a rock mass without having to deal with the labor of core logging and wrestling with difficulties and inaccuracies of the traditional processes. This is the first algorithmic method for estimating the rock quality which could be employed to develop a new and far more reliable measurement for the degree of jointing inside a rock mass.

Comment on “A numerical investigation of the acoustic mode waves in a deviated borehole penetrating a transversely isotropic formation”

In the paper"A numerical investigation of the acoustic mode waves in a deviated borehole penetrating a transversely isotropic formation"by Liu et al.[1]numerical experiments are reported for a dipole sonic logging scenario with a deviated borehole penetrating a VTI anisotropic medium.In such a situation it is important to clearly define the meaning of group and phase velocities as this has led to much confusion in the literature as discussed by Miller,Horne and Walsh[2].

Assessing Leak Paths in the Cement Sheath of a Cased Borehole by Analysis of Monopole Wavefield Modes

Evaluation of possible leakage pathways of CO_(2) injected into geological formations for storage is essential for successful Carbon Capture and Storage(CCS).A channel in the borehole cement,which secures the borehole casing to the formation,may allow CO_(2) to escape.Risk assessment and remediation decisions about the pres-ence of such channels depend on channel parameters:radial position r from the center of the borehole;channel thickness d;azimuthal positionφof the channel;and az-imuthal extentθof the channel.Current state-of-the-art cement-bond logging technology,which uses only the first arrival at a centralized borehole receiver,can diagnose limited details about CO_(2) leak channels.To accurately characterize the possible leak paths in the cement,we use a 3-dimensional finite-difference method to investigate the use of the abundant data collected by a modernized monopole sonic tool that contains an array of azimuthally distributed receivers.We also investigate how to improve the tool design to acquire even more useful information.For cases where borehole fluid is either water or supercritical CO_(2),we investigate various receiver geometries,multi-modal analyses of multi-frequency data to discover the type of logging tool that provides the best information for CCS management.We find that an appropriate choice of wave modes,source frequencies,source polarities,and receiver locations and off-sets provides sensitivity to d,φ,θ.The amplitude of the first arrival from a monopole source is sensitive toθ.Amplitudes at receivers at different azimuths are sensitive toφ.The slow Stoneley mode(ST2)velocity is sensitive to d,but ST2 is not easy to pick whenθand d are small.Further improvement is necessary to provide comprehensive information about possible flow channels in casing cement.

Reply to “Comment on ‘A numerical investigation of the acoustic mode waves in a deviated borehole penetrating a transversely isotropic formation' ”

We appreciate the comment from Horne,Miller and Wang on the paper‘A numerical investigation of the acoustic mode waves in a deviated borehole penetrating a transversely isotropic formation’by Liu et al.（2015）[1],for the opportunity to consider and clarify the group and phase velocity issue in sonic logging with a deviated borehole penetrating a VTI formation.We re-read the paper by Liu et al.[1]and did some numerical tests and analyses.