Some Facts – Logging

Evolution
• Professor Forbes, Edinburgh Observatory -
The first person to make well log
measurements (1837-1842): Temperature
sensors
se so s into
to tthree
ee sshafts
a ts up to 24 feet
eet deep to
record temperature variations with depth and
time.

• The beginning
g g of commercial well logging
gg g is
entirely attributed to Conrad Schlumberger and
Marcel Schlumberger.
 Some Facts – Logging
Evolution (cont.)
• In 1921, Marcel Schlumberger tried for the first
time to make resistivityy measurements in a
borehole in the coal basin of Bessèges (France)
with the purpose of validating the surface
electrical
l t i l surveys. It showed
h d the
th layered
l d
nature of the subsurface and allowed easily
identifying the major geological formations
formations.
•
• In
I 1927,
1927 C Conrad d outlined
tli d th
the principle
i i l off
“electrical coring” as well logging was initially
called.
called
 Some Facts – Logging
Evolution (cont.)
• The discovery of the spontaneous potential (SP)
ocurred when a voltage observed on two of the
resistivity electrodes when no external current
was applied to the device.

• The two measurements combined were shown

to locate permeable hydrocarbon-bearing layers,
and well logging became an industry on its own,
far beyond the supportive role to surface
geophysics that it had been designed for.
 Some Facts – Logging
Evolution (cont.)
• In 1942, Gus Archie proposed empirical
relationships between porosity, fluid resistivity,
rock resistivity, and water saturation. It became
possible to determine fluid saturations from logs.

• Th
The original
i i l use off llogs - geological
l i l correlation
l ti
and location of hydrocarbon-bearing zones -
was thus
th slowly
l l b butt steadily
t dil supplanted
l t db
by
“formation evaluation”, or petrophysics.
 Some Facts – Logging
Evolution (cont.)
• With drilling going to greater depths, logging
cables,
bl d
datat ttransmission
i i rates,
t ttooll
specifications and tool reliability all had to be
adapted
d t d tto the
th changing
h i environments
i t and
d th
the
surface acquisition systems had to be able to
handle rapidly increasing data volumes.
 Some Facts – Logging
Evolution (cont.)
• 1980’
1980’s - Borehole
B h l imaging
i i technology
t h l based
b d
on micro-electrical imaging: A method of
recording an image of the borehole wall with
numerous small electrical sensors.

• The term “imaging” was soon applied to any

measurement with two independent variables
variables,
such as depth/radius, depth/azimuth, or
depth/time and it is applied to electrical
depth/time, electrical,
acoustic, and nuclear measurements.
 Some Facts – Logging
Evolution (cont.)
• Formation analysis can be done in real time with
advanced analytical
y techniques.
q Rock layering
y g
can be visualized on surface monitors, and fluid
as well as rock samples can be taken accurately
att locations
l ti off interest.
i t t

• Logging in all its modern forms thus contributes

greatly to improving the success rate of oil and
gas wells,
ll andd tto produce
d th
the reserves more
efficiently and more effectively.
 The history of well logging
• The conceptual phase (1921-1927): Well logs
were intended to support and complement
surface geophysical surveys.

• The acceptance phase (1927-1949): Well

logging were useful for layer correlation,
identification of hydrocarbon-bearing zones, well
surveying and perforating.
The history of well logging (cont.)
• The maturity phase (1949-1985): The golden
age of petrophysics. Well logging is primarily
used for quantifying oil and water saturations.
Additionally, numerous new non-petrophysical
logging methods are developed.
• The reinvention phase (since 1985):
technological breakthroughs such as LWD,
borehole imaging
imaging, and NMR redefine well
logging as an important aid for efficient reservoir
development and management
management.