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Collaborating Authors
Results
Enhanced Dispersion Analysis of Borehole Array Sonic Measurements With Amplitude and Phase Estimation Method
Li, Wei (China University of Petroleum-Beijing) | Guo, Rui (China University of Petroleum-Beijing) | Tao, Guo (China University of Petroleum-Beijing) | Wang, Hua (China University of Petroleum-Beijing) | Torres-Verdín, Carlos (The University of Texas at Austin) | Ma, Jun (The University of Texas at Austin) | Xu, Chicheng (The University of Texas at Austin)
Summary We introduce a new non-parametric matched-filterbank spectral estimator, referred as Amplitude and Phase Estimation (APES), to perform dispersion analysis of borehole array sonic measurements. This method extracts the dispersion characteristics of all wave modes by applying an APES filter to array sonic spectral data and converting the estimated wavenumber to slowness. The implemented adaptive filter in APES ensures that the output signal be sufficiently close to a sinusoid with a designated wavenumber in space domain, which constrains the interference from other wavenumber components and suppresses the noise gain. Consequently, the resolution and signal-noise-ratio of dispersion analysis is significantly enhanced. Dispersion fitness functions processed with APES indicate clearer and narrower ridges with minimum presence of alias. At each frequency, dispersions of all modes can be identified without knowledge a priori of the exact number of modes. More importantly, the new method is not computationally intensive compared to existing dispersion analysis methods. Processing examples with synthetic and field data are presented and compared with the weighted spectral semblance (WSS) method to demonstrate the applicability and advantages of this method.
ABSTRACT Nonmiscible fluid displacement without salt exchange takes place when oil-base mud (OBM) invades connate water-saturated rocks. This is a favorable condition for the estimation of dynamic petrophysical properties, including saturation-dependent capillary pressure. We developed and successfully tested a new method to estimate porosity, fluid saturation, permeability, capillary pressure, and relative permeability of water-bearing sands invaded with OBM from multiple borehole geophysical measurements. The estimation method simulates the process of mud-filtrate invasion to calculate the corresponding radial distribution of water saturation. Porosity, permeability, capillary pressure, and relative permeability are iteratively adjusted in the simulation of invasion until density, photoelectric factor, neutron porosity, and apparent resistivity logs are accurately reproduced with numerical simulations that honor the postinvasion radial distribution of water saturation. Examples of application include oil- and gas-bearing reservoirs that exhibit a complete capillary fluid transition between water at the bottom and hydrocarbon at irreducible water saturation at the top. We show that the estimated dynamic petrophysical properties in the water-bearing portion of the reservoir are in agreement with vertical variations of water saturation above the free water-hydrocarbon contact, thereby validating our estimation method. Additionally, it is shown that the radial distribution of water saturation inferred from apparent resistivity and nuclear logs can be used for fluid-substitution analysis of acoustic compressional and shear logs.
- Europe (1.00)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.93)
- Geology > Geological Subdiscipline (1.00)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock > Sandstone (0.69)
- Geology > Mineral > Silicate (0.68)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock > Mudrock > Shale (0.33)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea > North Sea > Northern North Sea > South Viking Graben > Block 16/28 > Andrew Field (0.99)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea > North Sea > Northern North Sea > South Viking Graben > Block 16/27a > Andrew Field (0.99)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea > Central North Sea > Northern North Sea > South Viking Graben > Block 16/28 > Andrew Field (0.99)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea > Central North Sea > Northern North Sea > South Viking Graben > Block 16/27a > Andrew Field (0.99)
- Well Drilling > Drilling Fluids and Materials > Drilling fluid selection and formulation (chemistry, properties) (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Fluid Dynamics > Flow in porous media (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Reservoir Characterization > Seismic processing and interpretation (1.00)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Formation Evaluation & Management > Open hole/cased hole log analysis (1.00)
Abstract This paper introduces a rock typing method for application in hydrocarbon-bearing shale (specifically source rock) reservoirs using conventional well logs and core data. Source rock reservoirs are known to be highly heterogeneous and often require new or specialized petrophysical techniques for accurate reservoir evaluation. In the past, petrophysical description of source rock reservoirs with well logs has been focused to quantifying rock composition and organic-matter concentration. These solutions often require many assumptions and ad-hoc correlations where the interpretation becomes a core matching exercise. Scale effects on measurements are typically neglected in core matching. Rock typing in hydrocarbon-bearing shale provides an alternative description by segmenting the reservoir into petrophysically-similar groups with k-means cluster analysis, which can then be used for ranking and detailed analysis of depth zones favorable for production. A synthetic example illustrates the rock typing method for an idealized sequence of beds penetrated by a vertical well. Results and analysis from the synthetic example show that rock types from inverted log properties correctly identify the most organic-rich sections better than rock types detected from well logs in thin beds. Also, estimated kerogen concentration is shown to be the most reliable property in an under-determined inversion solution. Field cases in the Barnett and Haynesville shale gas plays show the importance of core data for supplementing well logs and identifying correlations for desirable reservoir properties (kerogen/TOC concentration, fluid saturations, and porosity). Qualitative rock classes are formed and verified using inverted estimates of kerogen concentration as a rock-quality metric. Inverted log properties identify 40% more of a high-kerogen rock type over well-log based rock types in the Barnett formation. A case in the Haynesville formation suggests the possibility of identifying depositional environments as a result of rock attributes that produce distinct groupings from k-means cluster analysis with well logs. Core data and inversion results indicate homogeneity in the Haynesville formation case. However, the distributions of rock types show a 50% occurrence between two rock types over 90 ft vertical-extent of reservoir. Rock types suggest vertical distributions that exhibit similar rock attributes with characteristic properties (porosity, organic concentration and maturity, and gas saturation). The interpretation method considered in this paper does not directly quantify reservoir parameters and would not serve the purpose of quantifying gas-in-place. Rock typing in hydrocarbon-bearing shale with conventional well logs forms qualitative rock classes which can be used to calculate net-to-gross, validate conventional interpretation methods, perform well-to-well correlations, and establish facies distributions for integrated reservoir modeling in hydrocarbon-bearing shale.
- North America > United States > Texas > Fort Worth Basin > Barnett Shale Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > East Texas Salt Basin > Cotton Valley Group Formation > Bossier Shale Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Ardmore - Marieta Basin > Newark East Field > Barnett Shale Formation (0.99)
- (6 more...)
Petrophysical Properties of Unconventional Low-Mobility Reservoirs (Shale Gas and Heavy Oil) by Using Newly Developed Adaptive Testing Approach
Hadibeik, Hamid (The University of Texas at Austin) | Chen, Dingding (Halliburton Energy Services) | Proett, Mark (Halliburton Energy Services) | Eyuboglu, Sami (Halliburton Energy Services) | Torres-Verdín, Carlos (The University of Texas at Austin)
Abstract Pressure testing in very low-mobility reservoirs is challenging with conventional formation-testing methods. The primary difficulty is the over-extended build-up times required to overcome wellbore and formation storage effects. Possible wellbore overbalance or supercharge are additional complicating factors in determining reservoir pressure. This paper addresses the above technical complications and estimates petrophysical properties of low-mobility formations using a newly developed adaptive-testing approach. The adaptive-testing approach employs an automated pulse-testing method for very low-mobility reservoirs and uses short drawdowns and injections followed by short pressure stabilization periods. Measured pressure transients are used in an optimized feedback loop to automatically adjust subsequent drawdown and injection pulses to reach a stabilized pressure as quickly as possible. The automated pulse data is used to determine supercharge effects, formation pressure, and mobility via analytical models by analyzing the entire pressure sequence. A genetic algorithm estimates additional reservoir parameters, such as porosity and viscosity, and confirms results obtained with analytical models (reservoir pressure and permeability). The modeled formation pressure exhibits less than 1% difference with respect to true formation pressure, while the accuracy of other parameters depends on the number of unknown properties. As a quicker method to estimate reservoir properties, a direct neural-network regression of pulse-testing data was also investigated. Synthetic reservoir models for low-mobility formations (M < 1 μD/cp), which included the dynamics of water- and oil- based mud-filtrate invasion that produce wellbore supercharging were developed. These reservoir models simulated the pulse-testing methods, including an automated feedback-optimization algorithm that reduces the testing times in a wide range of downhole conditions. The reservoir models included both simulations of underbalanced and overbalanced drilling conditions and enabled the development of new field-testing strategies based on a priori reservoir knowledge. The synthetic modeling demonstrates the viability of the new pulse-testing method and confirms that difficult properties, such as supercharging, can be estimated more accurately when coupled with the new inversion techniques.
Abstract Rock typing in carbonate reservoirs is challenging due to high spatial heterogeneity and complex pore structure. In extreme cases, conventional rock typing methods such as Leverett's J-function, Winland's R35, and flow zone indicator are inadequate to capture the heterogeneity and complexity of carbonate petrofacies. Furthermore, these methods are based on core measurements, hence are not applicable to uncored reservoir zones. This paper introduces a new method for petrophysical rock classification in carbonate reservoirs that honors multiple well logs and emphasizes the signature of mud-filtrate invasion. The method classifies rocks based on both static and dynamic petrophysical properties. An inversion-based algorithm is implemented to simultaneously estimate mineralogy, porosity, and water saturation from well logs. We numerically simulate the process of mud-filtrate invasion in each rock type and quantify the corresponding effects on nuclear and resistivity measurements to derive invasion-induced well-log attributes, which are subsequently integrated into the rock classification. Under favorable conditions, the interpretation method advanced in this paper can distinguish bimodal from uni-modal behavior in saturation-dependent capillary pressure otherwise only possible with special core analysis. We successfully apply the new method to a mixed clastic-carbonate sequence in the Hugoton gas field, Kansas. Rock types derived with the new method are in good agreement with lithofacies described from core samples. The distribution of permeability and saturation estimated from well-log-derived rock types agrees with routine core measurements, with the corresponding uncertainty significantly reduced when compared to results obtained with conventional porosity-permeability correlations.
- North America > United States > Texas (1.00)
- North America > United States > Kansas > Finney County (0.49)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock (1.00)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate Rock (1.00)
- North America > United States > California > Sacramento Basin > 2 Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Kansas > Panoma Field (0.94)
Improved Estimation Of Pore Connectivity And Permeability In Deepwater Carbonates With The Construction Of Multi-Layer Static And Dynamic Petrophysical Models
Diniz-Ferreira, Elton Luiz (Schlumberger) | Torres-Verdín, Carlos (PETROBRAS – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. and The University of Texas at Austin)
Due to sea-level variations, cycles of sedimentation can often be recognized from well logs. It is possible to differentiate rock types based on such geological cyclicity; for petrophysical purposes we will refer to those rock types as fluid flow units. In the presence of thin layers, flow units can only be detected with core data. The cause of sea-level variation in this field is not well understood and remains a subject of study by geologists. Wells were drilled with both oil-base mud (OBM) and water-base mud (WBM). The oil bearing-zone of wells drilled with WBM gave rise to a conspicuous invasion profile on resistivity logs. It is possible to simulate this invasion profile in different layers and estimate their permeability. Conversely, wells drilled with OBM did not show a conclusive invasion profile in the oilbearing zone because of the lack of electrical resistivity contrast between oil and mud filtrate. Due to the complexity of the pore space and the spatial heterogeneity of the reservoir under consideration, conventional well-log evaluation seldom reproduces petrophysical properties consistent with core data. It is necessary to construct multi-layer petrophysical models based on geological information to improve the interpretation. A model that combined well logs and geological properties was key to select bed boundaries and to construct an earth model. The latter model was used to perform static and dynamic simulations - matching simulated resistivity, nuclear, and NMR logs with field measurements. Petrophysical properties estimated with those simulations were in agreement with core laboratory measurements. Interpretation was performed in the oil-bearing zone of three wells: two of them-Wells Η and Γ – were drilled with OBM, the remaining well-Well Χ – drilled with WBM (Table 1). It is not possible to perform a correlation between the evaluated wells using well-logs.
- South America (0.93)
- North America > United States > Texas (0.29)
Formation-Tester Pulse Testing in Tight Formations (Shales and Heavy Oil): Where Wellbore Storage Effects Favor the Determination of Reservoir Pressure
Hadibeik, Hamid (The University of Texas at Austin) | Proett, Mark (Halliburton Energy Services) | Chen, Dingding (Halliburton Energy Services) | Eyuboglu, Sami (Halliburton Energy Services) | Torres-Verdín, Carlos (The University of Texas at Austin) | Pour, Rooholah A. (The University of Texas at Austin)
Abstract Tight formation testing when mobilities are lower than 0.01 mD/cP poses significant challenges because the conventional pressure transient buildup testing becomes impractical as a result of the large buildup stabilization time. This paper introduces a new automated pulse test method for testing in tight formations that significantly reduces testing time and makes the determination of formation pressure and permeability possible. A pulse test is defined as a drawdown followed by an injection test, and the source is shut in to record the pressure transient. Based on pressure data during the shut-in period, the next drawdown or injection test is designed, such that the flow rate is a fraction of the initial pulse rate, followed by another shut-in test. This procedure continues until the difference in pressure at the beginning and at the end of the shut-in period is reduced to within a specified limit of pressure change; then, an extended transient is recorded to a stabilized shut-in pressure. The overall advantage is to reduce the pressure stabilization time by implementing an adaptive pressure feedback loop in the system. The method can be applied to a straddle packer test using conventional drillstem testing tools or formation testers, using either straddle packers or probes. The effects of wellbore storage and fluid compressibility are found to reduce the pressure drop and positive pressure pulse in the drawdown and injection tests, respectively; they also affect the decay rate to the asymptote of the shut-in pressure response. Consequently, the combined pulse test method with the pressure feedback system and wellbore storage effect reduces the reservoir pressure testing time in tight formations. The automated pulse-test method has been successfully validated with consideration of the effects of wellbore storage and overbalance pressure in tight gas and heavy oil formations. In addition, the effects of invasion with water- and oil-based mud filtrate were considered in the modeling. The method uses successive pressure feedbacks and automated pulses to yield a pressure to within 0.5% range of the initial reservoir pressure while decreasing the wait time by a factor of 10 for a packer type formation tester. To account for various tool options and storage effects, the packer-type, oval probe, and standard probe-type formation testers have been simulated in various tight formation conditions. The method enables a rapid appraisal of pressure measurements in comparison to conventional testing. Simulations also indicate that the analytical spherical model can be used to analyze a pulse test, even when encountering multi-phase compositional fluid effects.
- Geology > Petroleum Play Type > Unconventional Play > Heavy Oil Play (0.72)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock > Mudrock > Shale (0.41)
- North America > United States > Wyoming > DJ (Denver-Julesburg) Basin > Niobrara Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Nebraska > DJ (Denver-Julesburg) Basin > Niobrara Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Kansas > DJ (Denver-Julesburg) Basin > Niobrara Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Colorado > DJ (Denver-Julesburg) Basin > Niobrara Formation (0.99)
ABSTRACT Calculation of mineral and fluid volumetric concentrations from well logs is one of the most important outcomes of formation evaluation. Conventional estimation methods assume linear or quasi-linear relationships between volumetric concentrations of solid/fluid constituents and well logs. Experience shows, however, that the relationship between neutron porosity logs and mineral concentrations is generally nonlinear. More importantly, linear estimation methods do not explicitly account for shoulder-bed and/or invasion effects on well logs, nor do they account for differences in the volume of investigation of the measurements involved in the estimation. The latter deficiencies of linear estimation methods can cause appreciable errors in the calculation of porosity and hydrocarbon pore volume. We investigated three nonlinear inversion methods for assessment of volumetric concentrations of mineral and fluid constituents of rocks from multiple well logs. All three of these methods accounted for the general nonlinear relationship between well logs, mineral concentrations, and fluid saturations. The first method accounted for the combined effects of invasion and shoulder beds on well logs. The second method also accounted for shoulder-bed effects but was intended for cases where mud-filtrate invasion is negligible or radially deep. Finally, the third method was designed specifically for analysis of thick beds where mud-filtrate invasion is either negligible or radially deep. Numerical synthetic examples of application indicated that nonlinear inversion of multiple well logs is a reliable method to quantify complex mineral and fluid compositions in the presence of thin beds and invasion. Comparison of results against those obtained with conventional multimineral estimation methods confirmed the advantage of nonlinear inversion of multiple well logs in quantifying thinly bedded invaded formations with variable and complex lithology, such as those often encountered in carbonate formations.
- Geology > Mineral (1.00)
- Geology > Rock Type > Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Rock > Mudrock > Shale (0.32)