Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Limitatio~~s
of Electrical Logging t
ABSTRACT
The method of electrical logging is con~paratively
new, and nlany of its users did not have opportunity
to make a more thorough study of the technique of
interpretation of a n ' electrical log. As a result there
exists now in many instances a tendency to expect from
the method a simple and definite answer to many complex and difficult questions. Such a trend niay lead to
costly mistakes, and is unfair to the method itself.
Because the profile of an electrical log may be
INTRODUCTION
In the brief period of a few years, since its introduction to the oil industry of this country, the method
of electrical logging h a s nlet with general acceptance
and is now one of the routine operations in oil-field
esploitatioa. This acceptance was so rapid and so un1versa1 t h a t many of the present users of t,he method did
not have the opportunity fully to learn the tecl~nique
and the difficulties of interpretation. As a result of
this fact there now exists in many instances a tendency
to expect to'find in a n electric log a simple, definite,
and coinplete answer to a number of conlples and difficult questions. Such a tendency must lead inevitably to
costly mistakes and is unfair to the method, a s mistakes
nearly always mill be charged not against the wrong
interpretation, but against the method itself.
The basic value of electrical logging lies in the fact
t h a t certain formational characteristics, of great importance in oil-field exploitation, a r e indicated in a n
electric log a s easily recognizable electrical patterns.
The basic limitation of the method, on the other hand,
lies in the fact t h a t the electrical log also measures
and records a nulnber of other factors which usually
have no direct relation to those formational characteristics which a r e of primary interest in surveying a
prospective oil well. Some of these factors a r e quite
obvious, and their effect may be esplained easily by
proper analysis of conditions of the survey. Other factors, however, a r e not interpreted so easily, and they
represent the inherent limitations of the method in its
present stage of development. Even some of these factors quite often may be recognized and isolated, if study
of a n electrical log is combined with analysis of data
furnished through other methods of investigating the
formational characteristics.
Among the engineers and geologists affiliated with
oil-producing companies o r conducting their ow11 consulting practice there a r e many who, having access to
Bravo 011 C o . I 3 ~ ~ 1 1 s t oTusns
n.
f Presr~~ted
a t spring meeting. Sor~thmesteru District, Divla~orla~f l'roduct~un, l-iouston, Texns, h l i ~ r .1940.
* Rio
ElectEical Resistivity
The electrical resistivity of fornlatioils is generally a
function of the amount and characteristics of fluids
contained within the formations. Saline waters a r e
Self-potential
When a n electrolyte is caused to flow through a solid
porous dielectric, a n electromotive force is generated
which is proportional to the pressure and electrical
resistivity of the liquid, and inversely proportional to
its viscosity. The direction of the current is t h e same
a s the direction of the filtration. The filtration of the
water into the porous formations penetrated by a drill
results In the occurrence of a n electromotive force,
which is one of the components recorded 011 t h e selfpotential diagram of a n electrical log. The other component 1s a n electromotive force resulting from electrochemical action. When two electrolytes come in contact,
a n electron~otiveforce is generated. I11 the case of a
well the contact of drilling-mud water with saline water
of formations results in occurrence of a spontaneous
electromotive force.*
The electromotive force recorded by the self-potential
curve of a n electrical log is a n algebraic sum of the
two aforementioned electron~otiveforces. Inasmuch a s
the phenomena of electrofiltration and electrochen~ical
action occur in front of porous formations, the selfpotentla1 diagram often is referred to a s "porosity
diagram."
Salinity of Mud
Under ordinary conditions the concentration of salts
in fol-;national waters is higher than in the drilling
mud. The electric current, therefore, enters the formation, and the self-potential diagram shows the wellknown negative anomaly with respect to the shale-base
line. Quite often, however, the inud is saltier than the
formational watel--either
due to the penetration of a
salt mass by a bore hole, o r due to the flow of salt water
FIG. 1
FIG. 2
~ormationalCllaracteristics
Hardness and compactness, cleanliness and t h e type
of cementation of the sand, all will have a n effect on
the pattern of the curves indicating the sand.
Fig. 4 sho\vs a section of a n electrical log of a deep
test in the Garwood area of Colorado County. The
Electrode Spacing
When the multi-electrode method of electrical logging
is used, the spacing of the electrodes is a n important
factor affecting t h e pattern of the resistivity curve,
because the spacing of the electrodes determines the
depth of investigation. There is no need to illustrate
this factor with any specific case, a s a glance a t a n y
log havlng resistivity curves with different radii of
lateral investigation, resulting from different electrode
spacing, will show how different these curves may be.
I t is true t h a t now the spacing of the electrodes
is more or less standardized and uniform, but such was
not the case in the past; and when old logs a r e used,
due consideration should be given to the possible influence of thls factor. I n general i t is a good practice
to note the spacing of the electrodes during a survey.
For~llationalPressure
Formational pressures abnormally high f o r t h e given
depth ]nay obliterate, through reversal of filtration, the
normal effect of a porous formation on the self-potentlal curve. An example of such a case is shown in
F1g. 3.
The well in question, drllled in Jefferson County,
Tesas, showed a very h ~ g hpressure a t a depth of
7,900 ft. The u~eightof mud had to be increased considerably above the figure which would be normally
sufficient to hold the pressure a t this depth. A mechanical core showed sand with some saturation. Casing
was set, and the well-first
on the drill-stem test and
later on the open-hole flow test-made considerable g a s
and flowed some distillate w ~ t ha large amount of salt
water.
The case is, of course, a r e r y unusual one, a s neither
the self-potential nor t h e resistivity curve gave indication of the porous body. There esists possibility of
mechanical error in the instrument, or of faulty routine
of the survey. But even if the foregoing example is
only the one isolated case of such a type, i t supports
the statenlent made in the introduction, which pointed
out the value of combining t h e study of a n electrical
FIG. 3
'
LOGGING
LIMITATIONS
OF ELECTRICAL
drilled in F o r t Bend County, Texas. I n order to determine the salt-water level, the casing was perforated
from 5,400 f t to 5,403 f t with 9 holes. On a 3-hour test
25
5550
5400
lime streaks will be shown very definitely. If this precaution (the a m p l ~ f y ~ nofg the self-potential curve) is
not taken, and if no mechanical core is available,
serious errors may result if-for the purpose, for instance, of estimation of reserves-the sand is cons~dered
a s a solid sand body.
Connate Water
The presence of connate water even in these oil-bearing strata, which are potential sources of production of
clean 011, has a very decided effect on the resistivity
curve of an electrical log, and, therefore, should be
~ i r s t qead,kg
8/45'
Electrical Log of a Well in Jefferson County, Texas.
FIG. 6
fields. The purpose of this paper is to focus the attention of the users of the method on two facts: 1, that
electrical logging is not a "cure-all" and is not meant
to replace other esploitation methods; 2, that a casual
glance a t an-electrical log is not sufficient for intelligent interpretation. Considerable thought and study
are required if serious errors of analysis are to be
avoided.
This paper, of necessity most general in its nature,
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
DISCUSSION
Ralph J. Schilthuis (Humble Oil and Refining Company, IIouston, Texas) (written) : There is no question
that electrical l o g g ~ n gis one of t h e most important
advances yet made in the science of petroleum development. The application of the method was so immediately obvious, so important, and so successful t h a t i t s
development and almost universal acceptance came
about very rapidly. The electrical log h a s established
itself a s a most useful tool f o r general correlation, and
a s a reliable 111eans for mapping formations when
sufficient information has been developed to establish
a knowledge of the character of the logs with respect
to the formations being studied.
The successful use and ordinary interpretation of a n
electrical log is a fairly simple matter i n many instances; yet, as Mr. Zaba very properly points out, a n
electrical log is affected by a number of highly complicated factors, w h ~ c hmay alter its character materially
k = a constant
C1 and Cz= the "concentrations" of the two fluids in
contact.
Gillingham2 h a s shown good correlation between
measured potential and permeability of sands, but his
a
material whose th~cknessis nluch greater than the distance penetrated by the drilling fluid, this apparent
resistivity will be close t o the resistivity of t h a t e a r t h
material, provided t h a t a sufficiently wide "spread of
electrodes" is used. However, when the spread is increased, we do not simply increase the "lateral ~nvestigation," but t h e vertical investigation a s well. Inasmuch a s the earth is seldom homogeneous, i n practice
we measure a n average resistivity of a large volunie
made up of various earth materials. This average h a s
no simple relation to the resistivit~esof the colnponent
parts, and there is no single point of reference within
the electrode spread f o r depth measurements. A s is
illustrated i n the Humme1 article,' when a three-electrode resistivity tneasuring system passes a n interface-such a s a shale-sand contact-three
distinct deflections a r e recorded, each corresponding to the passage
POlLNllPll
QOTLNTIAL
LRCNCC FOR
CUURLNT
I
I
Relohvr
L-.
Rer,Jhr,Iy
ACTUAL
RESISTIVITY
-.
7 RlWRDtD
Rer,rl~w/ye.?
/'arslsrlvlr~
I
II
I
FIG. 1 (MOUNCE)
3
POTENTIAL
ELECTROD15
POINT R[I
ERLNCt FOR
DEPTH
UltAlURiYUl
CLLfCTRODE
URUINT
Res,st!vlty
ACTUAL RLSlSlIVllV
FIG. 2 (MOUNCE)
". .