Well Logs

There are many different types of

well logs. Some of the logs that are
used to interpret the rocks in a well
are discussed below. Other types of
logs measure temperatures, the
flow rate of oil and gas that is being
produced in the well, and the quality
of cement used to bond production
pipe (which is actually called
casing) to the surrounding rock.
Today, there are even cameras that
can be lowered into wells to make
videos of the inside of the casing
and determine what types of fluids
are flowing out of perforation holes
shot into the casing.
GR (gamma ray) logs measure
radioactivity to determine what
types of rocks are present in the
well. Because shales contain radioactive elements, they emit lots of
gamma rays. On the other hand, clean sandstones emit very few gamma
rays.
SP (spontaneous potential) logs indicate the permemabilities of rocks in
the well by measuring the amount of electrical current generated
between the drilling fluid and the formation water that is held in pore
spaces of the reservoir rock. Porous sandstones with high permeabilities
tend to generate more electricity than impermeable shales. Thus, SP logs
are often used to tell sandstones from shales.
Resistivity logs determine what types of fluids are present in the
reservoir rocks by measuring how effective these rocks are at conducting

electricity. Because fresh water and oil are poor conductors of electricity
they have high resistivities. By contrast, most formation waters are salty
enough that they conduct electricity with ease. Thus, formation waters
generally have low resistivities. There are many different types of
resistivity logs, which results in a confusing array of acronyms.
BHC (borehole compensated) logs, also called sonic logs, determine
porosity by measuring how fast sound waves travel through rocks in the
well. In general, sound waves travel faster through high-density shales
than through lower-density sandstones.
FDC (formation density compensated) logs, also called density logs,
determine porosity by measuring the density of the rocks. Because these
logs overestimate the porosity of rocks that contain gas they result in
"crossover" of the log curves when paired with Neutron logs (described
under CNL logs below).
CNL (compensated neutron) logs, also called neutron logs, determine
porosity by assuming that the reservoir pore spaces are filled with either
water or oil and then measuring the amount of hydrogen atoms (neutrons)
in the pores. Because these logs underestimate the porosity of rocks that
contain gas they result in "crossover" of the log curves when paired with
FDC logs (described above).
NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) logs may be the well logs of the
future. These logs measure the magnetic response of fluids present in
the pore spaces of the reservoir rocks. In so doing, these logs measure
both porosity and permeability, as well as the types of fluids present in
the pore spaces.
Dipmeter logs determine the orientations of sandstone and shale beds in
the well, as well as the orientations of faults and fractures in these
rocks. The original dipmeters did this by measuring the resisitivity of
rocks on at least four sides of the well hole. Modern dipmeters actually
make a detailed image of the rocks on all sides of the well hole. Borehole

scanners do this with sonic (sound) waves, whereas FMS (formation

microscanner) and FMI (formation micro-imager) logs do this by
measuring the resisitivity. These modern, essentially 3D logs are known
as image logs since they provide a 360ree; image of the bore hole that
can show bedding features, faults and fractures, and even sedimentary
structures, in addition to providng basic dipmeter data on the
orientations of bedding.

LWD and MWD versus Wireline Tools

Wireline refers to the logging technique in which after a well has finished
drilling and reached TD (total depth), the logging tool is lowered down the
hole the hole on a cable (i.e., the wireline). As the tool is brought to the
surface ,it measures data (gamma ray, resistivity, etc.) from which the log
for the well is constructed.
LWD and MWD are acronyms for "Logging While Drilling" and
"Measurement While Drilling" and refer to the technique of placing the
logging tool somewhere behind the drill bit so that it can record data
during the actual drilling. Depending on far the tool sits behind the bit,
the data can be measured, more or less, in real time to create Realtime
Logs at the surface. After the tool is pulled from the hole, data can then
be downloaded from the tool itself to create what are called Memory
Logs, which are higher resolution and more reliable than the Realitme
logs.

Acronyms of Resistivity Logs

There are many different types of resisitivity logs, which differ primarily in how
far into the rocks they measure the resisitivity. Because drilling fluids tend to
force their way into the surrounding rock, resisitivity logs with shallow depths
of investigation are unable to see beyond an "invasion zone" to determine the
true formation water resisitivy of permeable rocks. Instead, these logs
measure the lower resisitivity of the contaminated zone. Thus, by pairing logs
with deep and shallow depths of investigation, it is possible to measure
permeability by looking at the resisitivity diffences between the logs. The
acronyms of some of the more popular resisitivity logs are listed below.
AIT (Array Induction Tool) - the resistivity log of the future. It
measures five depths of investigation.
DIL (Dual Indiction Log) - a frequently used log with deep and
medium depths of investigation.
DLL (Dual Laterolog) - a frequently used log with deep and medium
depths of investigation.
LAT (Lateral Log)- an obsolete log with a deep depth of
investigation.
LN (Long Normal) - an obsolete log with a deep depth of
investigation.
RPCLM (Phased Resistivity) - an LWD/MWD log with a shallow
depth of investigation.
RACLM (Attenuated Resistivity) - an LWD/MWD log with a deep
depth of investigation.
SFL (Spherically Focused Log) - a frequently used log with a
shallow depth of investigation.
SGR (Shallow Guard Log) - a frequently used log with a shallow
depth of investigation.

SN (Short Normal) - an obsolete log with a shallow depth of

investigation.