34 Oilfield Review

D avid A l l e n
S t e ve Cra r y
Bob Fr e e d m a n
Sugar Land, Texas, USA
M a rc A n d r e a n i
Werner Klopf
Milan, Italy
Rob Badry
C a l g a r y, Alberta, Canada
Charles Flaum
Bill Ke nyo n
Robert Kleinberg
Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA
Patrizio Gossenberg
Agip S.p.A.
Milan, Italy
Ja ck Horkow i t z
Dale Logan
Midland, Texas, USA
Julian Singer
C a racas, Ve n e z u e l a
Jim W h i t e
Aberdeen, Scotland
For help in preparation of this article, thanks to Greg
Gubelin, Schlumberger Wireline & Testing, Sugar Land,
Texas, USA; Michael Herron, Sch l u m b e r g e r- D o l l
R e s e a rch, Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA; James J.
H oward, Phillips Petroleum Research, Bartlesville,
Oklahoma, USA; Ja ck LaVigne, Schlumberger Wireline
& Testing, Houston, Texas; Stuart Murchie and Kambiz A .
S a f i nya, Schlumberger Wireline & Testing, Montrouge,
France; Carlos E. Ollier, Schlumberger Wireline & Te s t-
ing, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Gordon Pirie, Consul-
tation Services, Inc., Houston, Te x a s .
AIT (Array Induction Imager Tool), APT (Accelerator Po r o s-
ity Tool), CMR and CMR-200 (Combinable Magnetic Res-
onance), ELAN (Elemental Log Analysis), ECS (Elemental
Capture Spectrometer for geochemical logging), EPT
(Electromagnetic Propagation Tool), Litho-Density, MAXIS
(Multitask Acquisition and Imaging System), MDT (Modu-
lar Formation Dynamics Tester), MicroSFL, RFT (Repeat
Formation Tester Tool) and PL AT F O R M EX P R ESS are marks of
S ch l u m b e r g e r. MRIL (Magnetic Resonance Imager Log) is
a mark of NUMAR Corpora t i o n .
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) log-
ging is creating excitement in the well log-
ging community. Within the last ye a r, two
issues of The Log A n a l ys t were devo t e d
e x c l u s ively to NMR.
1
The Oilfield Rev i ew
published a comprehensive article explain-
ing borehole NMR technology less than
t wo years ago.
2
R e c e n t l y, many special
workshops and conference sessions on
NMR have been held by professional log-
ging societies. To d ay, Internet Web sites
p r ovide current information on NMR log-
ging adva n c e s .
3
W hy all the excitement? The reasons are
c l e a r. First, the tools used to make high-
quality borehole NMR measurements have
i m p r oved significantly. The quality of mea-
surements made in the field is approach i n g
that of laboratory instruments. Second, these
measurements tell petrophysicists, reservo i r
engineers and geologists what they need to
k n owthe fluid type and content in the
well. The measurements also provide easy-
to-use ways to identify hydrocarbons and
predict their producibility. Fi n a l l y, despite
How to Use Borehol e
Nucl ear Magnetic Resonance
It is a rare event when a fundamentally new petrophysic al logging
m e a s u rement bec omes routinely available. Rec ent
developments in nuc lear magnetic resonanc e
m e a s u rement tec hnology have widened the
sc ope of formation fluid c harac terization. One
of the most signific ant innovations provides
new insight into re s e rvoir fluids by
p a rtitioning porosity into frac tions
c lassed by mobility.
Summer 1997 35
the mysterious nature of the NMR tech-
nique, the measurement principles are rela-
t ively easy to understand.
Important advances have been made in
applying NMR measurements to detecting
and differentiating all formation fluids, such
as free water and bound wa t e r, as well as dif-
ferentiating gas from oil in hy d r o c a r b o n -
bearing reservoirs. In this article, we review
the improvements in tool technology that
a l l ow today s tools to measure different
porosity components in the formation (s e e
What is Sandstone Po ro s i ty, and How Is It
M e a s u re d ? , page 36). Then, we evaluate the
n e w, high-speed, cost-effective ways NMR
can be used with conventional logging mea-
surements to determine critical formation
properties such as bound-water satura t i o n
and permeability for predicting production.
Fi n a l l y, we show how NMR measurements,
in combination with other logging data, pro-
vide a more accurate, quantitative and there-
fore profitable understanding of formations
including shaly gas sands and those contain-
ing viscous oil.
A Rapi dl y Devel oping Te c h n o l o g y
The first NMR logging measurements were
based on a concept developed by Chevron
R e s e a rch. Early nuclear magnetic logging
tools used large coils, with strong currents, to
produce a static magnetic field in the forma-
tion that polarized the hydrogen nuclei
protonsin water and hy d r o c a r b o n s .
4
A f t e r
q u i ckly sw i t ching off the static magnetic
field, the polarized nuclei would precess in
the weak, but uniform, magnetic field of the
earth. The precessing nuclei produced an
exponentially decaying signal in the same
coils used to produce the static magnetic
field. The signal was used to compute the
free-fluid index, FFI, that represents the
porosity containing movable fluids.
These early tools had some technical defi-
ciencies. First, the sensitive region for reso-
nance signal included all of the borehole
fluid. This forced the operator to use special
magnetite-doped mud systems to eliminate
the large borehole background signalan
expensive and time-consuming process. In
addition, the strong polarizing currents
would saturate the resonance receiver for
long periods of time, up to 20 msec. This
diminished the tool sensitivity to fast-decay-
ing porosity components, making early
tools sensitive only to the slow free-fluid
parts of the relaxation decay signal. These
tools also consumed huge amounts of
(continued on page 39)
1. The Log A n a l ys t37, no. 6 (Nove m b e r- D e c e m b e r,
1996); and The Log A n a l ys t38, no. 2 (March - A p r i l ,
1 9 9 7 ) .
2. Ke nyon B, Kleinberg R, Straley C, Gubelin G and
Morriss C: Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Te chnology for the 21st Century, Oilfield Rev i ew7 ,
no. 3 (Autumn 1995): 19-33.
3. The SPWLA provides an extensive bibliogra p hy of
NMR publications developed by Steve Prensky, U.S.
Department of Interior Minerals Management Service,
located at URL: http://www.spwla.org/, and informa-
tion on the Schlumberger CMR tools can be found at
h t t p : / / w w w. c o n n e c t . s l b . c o m .
The NUMAR information Web site is located at URL:
h t t p : / / w w w. n u m a r. c o m .
4. Early NMR tools did not contain permanent magnets
to polarize the spinning protons.
36 Oilfield Review
Si mpl y put, porosi ty i s the voi d space i n al l rocks
where fl ui ds accumul ate. In i gneous rocks, thi s
space i s qui te smal l because the crystal l i zati on
growth process resul ts i n domi nant i nterl ocki ng
grai n contacts. Si mi l ar arguments can be made
for metamorphi c rocks. In contrast, sandstones
are formed by the deposi ti on of di screte parti cl es
creati ng abundant voi d space between i ndi vi dual
parti cl e grai ns.
O b v i o u s l y, hydrocarbons are found onl y i n
porous formati ons. These rocks can be formed by
the weatheri ng and erosi on of l arge mountai ns of
sol i d rock, wi th the eroded pi eces deposi ted by
water and wi nd through vari ous processes. As the
weathered parti cl es are carri ed farther from the
source, a natural sorti ng of parti cl e or grai n si ze
occurs ( r i g h t ). Geol ogy attempts to study how vari -
ati ons i n ori gi nal porosi ty created by di fferent
grai n packi ng confi gurati ons are al tered by post-
deposi ti onal processes, whether they be purel y
mechani cal or geochemi cal , or some mi xture of
the two.
Duri ng transportati on, the smal l est weathered
parti cl es of rock, such as fi ne-grai ned sands and
si l ts, get carri ed the farthest. Other mi neral s, such
as mi ca, whi ch i s made of sheets of al umi nosi l i -
cates, break down qui ckl y through erosi on, and
are al so carri ed great di stances. These sheet si l i-
cates gi ve ri se to cl ay mi neral s, whi ch are formed
by weatheri ng, transportati on and depositi on.
Cl ays can al so form i n fl ui d-fi l l ed sedi ments
through di ageneti c processeschemi cal , such as
preci pi tati on i nduced by sol uti on changes; or bi o-
l ogi cal , such as by ani mal burrows; or physi cal ly
through compacti on, whi ch l eads to dewateri ng of
cl ays. The fi nal formati on porosi ty i s determined
by the vol ume of space between the granul ar
m a t e r i a l (next page, top).
What Is Sandstone Porosi ty, and How Is It Measured?
How weathering and transportation cause changes in scale of grain size. Thedecomposition of large rocks leads
to the development of clastic sedimentary deposits. Water and wind carry the finer grained materials the farthest
from their source. Many materials that are resistant to water and chemical alteration become sand and silt grains
eventually deposited in sediments. Other layered-lattice minerals in the original igneous rocks, such as micas and
other silicates, becometransformed into fine-grained clays through degradation and hydrothermal processes.
Summer 1997 37
But, al l porosi ty i s not equi val ent. Cl earl y, what
i s speci al about NMR i s that i t not onl y measures
the vol ume of the voi d space, assumi ng that i t i s
fi l l ed wi th a hydrogenated fl ui d, but al so al l ows
some i nferences to be made about pore si ze from
measurement of rel axati on rates. Thi s i s the abi l -
i ty to apporti on the porosi ty i nto di fferent compo-
nents, such as movabl e fl ui ds i n l arge pores and
bound fl ui ds i n smal l pores.
In sandstone formati ons, the space surroundi ng
pores can be occupi ed by a vari ety of di fferent mi n-
eral grai ns. In the si mpl e case of wel l -sorted,
w a t e r-wet sandstones, water that i s adheri ng to the
surface of the sand grai ns i s ti ghtly bound by sur-
face tensi on. Frequentl y, i n these formati ons, the
spaces between sand grai ns are fi l l ed wi th cl ay
parti cl es. Water al so attaches i tsel f to the surfaces
of cl ay parti cl es, and si nce cl ays have l arge sur-
face-to-vol ume rati os, the rel ati ve vol ume of cl ay-
bound water i s l ar ge. Thi s water wi l l always
remai n i n the formati on, and is known as ir re-
duci bl e water. In pure sands, thi s i s al so known as
c a p i l l a ry-bound water. Al l exposed mi neral sur-
faces have adsorbed water, whi ch l i nk parti cl e si ze
wi th vol ume of i rreduci bl e water.
The NMR measurements tel l us two i mportant
thi ngs. The echo si gnal ampl i tudes depend on the
vol ume of each fl ui d component. The decay rate,
or T
2
for each component, refl ects the rate of
rel axati on, whi ch i s domi nated by rel axati on at the
grai n surface. T
2
i s determi ned pri mari l y by the
pore surface-to-vol ume rati os. Since porosi ti es are
not equal capi l l ary-bound or cl ay-bound water
are not produci bl e, but free water i stwo equal
zones of porosi ty, but wi th enti rel y di fferent pro-
duci bi l i ty potenti al , can be di sti ngui shed by thei r
T
2
ti me di stri buti ons ( l e f t ).
Hydrogen nucl ei i n the thi n i nterl ayers of cl ay
water experi ence hi gh NMR rel axati on rates,
because the water protons are cl ose to grai n
surfaces and encounter the surfaces frequentl y.
Al so, i f the pore vol umes are smal l enough that
the water i s abl e to di ffuse easi l y back and forth
across the water-fi l l ed pore, then the rel axati on
rates wi l l si mpl y refl ect the surface-to-vol ume
rati o of the pores. Thus, water i n smal l pores
wi th l arger surface-to-vol ume rati os has fast
rel axati on rates and therefore short T
2
porosi ty
components (next page, top l eft).
Intergranular porosity. The
pores between these water-
wet sand grains are occu-
pied by fluids and fine layers
of clay. The irreducible water
( dar k blue) is held against
the sand grains by surf a c e
tension and cannot be pro-
duced. Clay-bound water
( shaded dark blue) is also
unproducible. Larger pores
can contain free water ( l i g h t
b l u e ), and in some cases
there are pockets of oil
(green) isolated from the
sand grains by capillary
w a t e r. The clay particles,
and their associated clay-
bound water layer, effec-
tively reduce the diameter
of thepore throats. This
reduces the formations abil-
ity to allow fluids to flow
p e r m e a b i l i t y.
Good water and bad water. The amplitude of the NMR T
2
measurement is directly proportional to porosity, and the decay
rate is related to the pore sizes and the fluid type and viscosity
in the pore space. Short T
2
times generally indicate small pores
with large surface-to-volume ratios and low permeability, whereas
longer T
2
times indicate larger pores with higher permeability.
Measurements were made in two samples with about the same
T
2
signal amplitudes, indicating similar porosity, but with consid-
erably different relaxation times that clearly identify the sample
with the higher permeability.
38 Oilfield Review
On the other hand, i n l arge por es wi th smal l er
surface-to-vol ume rati os, i t takes l onger for the
hydrogen to di ffuse across the pores. Thi s wi l l
decrease the number of encounters wi th the sur-
face and l ower the rel axati on ratel eadi ng to a
l onger T
2
component i n the NMR measurement.
Free water, found i n l arge pores, i s not strongl y
bound to the grai n surfaces by surface tensi on.
Longer T
2
ti me components refl ect the vol ume of
free fl ui d i n the formati on.
Another exampl e of l ong T
2
ti me fl ui d compo-
nents seen by NMR i s the case of oi l trapped i nsi de
a strongl y water-wet pore (above ri ght). Here the
oi l mol ecul es cannot di ffuse past the oi l -water
i nterface to gai n access to the grai n surface. As a
resul t, the hydrogen nucl ei i n the oi l rel ax at thei r
bul k oi l rate, whi ch i s usual l y sl ow dependi ng on
the oi l vi scosi ty. Thi s l eads to a good separati on of
the oi l and water si gnal s i n NMR T
2
d i s t r i b u t i o n s .
1
Neutron tool s have tradi ti onal l y been used for
porosi ty measurements. The scatteri ng and sl ow-
i ng down of fast neutrons i n formati ons l ead to the
detection of ei ther thermal or epi thermal neutrons,
dependi ng on the tool desi gn. Hydrogen has an
extremel y l arge scatteri ng cross secti on, and
because of i ts mass, i t i s parti cul arl y effecti ve at
sl owi ng down neutrons. Thus, the response of
neutron porosi ty tool s i s sensi ti ve to the total
hydrogen concentrati on of the formati on, whi ch
l eads to thei r porosity response (next page, top).
H o w e v e r, there are compl i cati ons. Smal l di ffer-
ences i n the other el emental neutron cross sec-
ti ons l ead to changes i n the porosi ty response for
di fferent mi neral s, cal l ed the l i thol ogy effect.
There i s al so the effect of thermal absorbers,
especi al l y i n shales, whi ch cause l arge systemati c
i ncreases i n the porosi ty response of thermal neu-
tron tool s. For tunatel y, epi thermal neutron poros-
i ty tool s, such as the APT Accel erator Porosi ty
Tool , are i mmune to thi s effect.
Fi nal l y, because the neutrons cannot di scri mi -
nate between hydrogen i n the fl ui ds or hydrogen
that i s an i ntegral part of the grai n structure, neu-
tron tool s respond to the total hydrogen content of
the formati on fl ui ds and rocks. Even after al l the
cl ay-bound water and surface water are removed,
cl ay mi neral s contai n hydroxyl s [ OH]
-
i n thei r
crystal structureskaol i ni te and chl ori te contai n
[ OH]
8
and i l l i te and smecti te contai n [ OH]
4

maki ng them read especi al l y hi gh to neutron

porosi ty tool s.
2
Densi ty tool s use gamma rays to determi ne
p o r o s i t y. Gamma ray scatteri ng provi des an accu-
rate measurement of the average formati on bul k
d e n s i t y, and i f the formati on grai n and fl ui d densi -
ti es are assumed correctl y, the total fl ui d-fi l l ed
porosi ty can be accuratel y determi ned (see Gas-
Corrected Porosi ty from Densi ty-Porosi ty and CMR
Measurements, page 54). Usual l y, one assumes
the grai n densi ty for sandstone or l i mestone and
w a t e r-fi l l ed pores. Errors occur i f the wrong grai n
densi ty i s assumeda l i thol ogy effector the
wrong fl ui d densi ty i s assumed, whi ch occurs wi th
gas-fi l l ed pores.
Usi ng Porosi ty Logs
Compari ng one porosi ty measurement wi th another
l eads to new i nformati on about the makeup of the
formati on. Tr a d i t i o n a l l y, neutron and densi ty-
porosity l ogs are combi ned, someti mes by si mpl e
averagi ng. In many cases, the l i thol ogy effects on
the neutron porosi ty tend to cancel those on the
densi ty porosi ty, so that the average deri ved poros-
i ty i s correct. If there are onl y two l i thol ogi es i n a
water or oi l fi l l ed formati on, then porosi ty and the
fracti on of each rock mi neral can be determi ned
usi ng a crosspl ot techni que. In gas zones, neutron-
deri ved porosi ty reads l ow, i f not zero, whereas
densi ty-deri ved porosi ty reads sl i ghtl y hi gh. Thi s
l eads to the cl assi c gas crossover si gnaturea
useful feature.
NMR T
2
di stri buti ons provi de for fl ui d di scri mi -
nati on. Si nce fl ui ds confi ned to smal l por es near
sur faces have short T
2
rel axati on ti mes and free
fl ui ds i n l arge pores have l arge T
2
r e l a x a t i o n
ti mes, parti ti oni ng the T
2
di stri buti ons al l ows di s-
cri mi nati on between the di fferent fl ui d compo-
nents (next page, bottom). Addi ng the ampl i tudes
of the observed flui d T
2
components together gi ves
Oil in the pore space of a water-wet rock. The lack
of contact between oil and the rock grain surface
allows the oil to take its bulk relaxation time, which
for low-viscosity oils will generally be longer than
the shortened water relaxation.
Interlayer water and hydroxyls in clay structures. Clay minerals are hydrated sili-
cates of aluminum which are fine grained, less than 0.002 mm. The layers are sheet
structures of either aluminum atoms octahedrally coordinated with oxygen atoms and
hydroxyls [OH]
-
, or silica tetrahedral groups. These octahedral (A) and tetrahedral (B)
sheets link together to form the basic lattice of clay minerals, either a two layerone
of each sheet (AB), or a three layer (BAB) structure. In smectite clay, these lattices
sheets are then linked together by cations and interlayer water molecules. The hydrox-
yls are seen as porosity by all neutron tools, but not NMR tools. The interlayer water,
trapped between sheets of theclay lattice, is not producible.
Summer 1997 39
power to tip the polarized spinning hydro-
gen nuclei and were not combinable with
other logging tools.
Sparked by ideas developed at Los
Alamos National Laboratories in New
Mexico, USA, the application of NMR tech-
nology in the oil field took a giant leap for-
ward in the late 1980s with a new class of
NMR logging toolsthe pulse-echo NMR
logging tools. Now, polarizing fields are
produced with high-strength permanent
magnets built intothe tools (see Pu l s e - E c h o
NMR Measure m e n t s ,page 44).
5
Two tool styles are currently available for
c o m m e rcial well logging. These tools use dif-
ferent design strategies for their polarizing
fields. To gain adequate signal strength, the
NUMAR logging tool, the Magnetic
Resonance Imager Log (MRIL), uses a com-
bination of a bar magnet and longitudinal
r e c e iver coils to produce a 2-ft [60-cm] long,
thin cy l i n d e r-shaped sensitive region con-
centric with and extending seve ral inch e s
away from the borehole.
6
The Schlumberger tool, the CMR Combin-
able Magnetic Resonance tool, uses a direc-
tional antenna sandw i ched between a pair of
bar magnets to focus the CMR measurement
on a 6-in. [15-cm] zone inside the forma-
tionthe same rock volume scanned by
other essential logging measurements (next
p a g e).
7
Complementary logging measure-
ments, such as density and photoelectric
cross section from the Litho-Density tool,
dielectric properties from EPT Electro-
magnetic Propagation Tool, microresistiv i t y
from the MicroSFL and epithermal neutron
porosity from the APT A c c e l e rator Po r o s i t y
Tool can be used with the CMR tool to
enhance the interpretation and evaluation of
formation properties. Also, the vertical reso-
lution of the CMR measurement makes it
s e n s i t ive to rapid porosity variations, as seen
in laminated shale and sand sequences.
a total NMR porosi ty whi ch usual l y agrees wi th the
densi ty porosi ty i n water-fi l l ed formati ons. In gas
zones, li ke the neutron porosi ty, NMR depends on
the total hydrogen content, and therefore reads
l o w. Thi s l eads to an NMR gas crossover si gnature.
What porosity tools
measure. NMR
porosity tools can
discriminate between
capillary-bound or
clay-bound fluids by
their short T
2
compo-
nents and free iso-
lated fluids with
longer T
2
compo-
nents (top right). By
contrast, neutron
porosity tools are
sensitive to the total
hydrogen content of
the formation (left),
and cannot distin-
guish between fluids
of different mobility.
NMR T
2
time distributions provide clear picture of the fluid components. In
water-filled sandstone formations, the T
2
time distribution reflects the pore size
distribution of the formation. Shorter T
2
components are from water that is close
and bound to grain surfaces.
1. Kleinberg and Vinegar, reference 12 main text.
2. The protons, which arepart of the hydroxyls found in the
clays, areso tightly bound in thecrystal structure that the
NMR decay is much too fast to beseen by any borehole
NMR logging tool.
5. M u r p hy DP: NMR Logging and Core A n a l y s i s
S i m p l i f i e d , World Oil 216, no. 4 (April 1995):
6 5 - 7 0 .
6. Miller MN, Paltiel Z, Gillen ME, Granot J and Bouton
JC: Spin Echo Magnetic Resonance Logging: Po r o s i t y
and Free Fluid Index Determination, paper SPE
20561, presented at the 65th SPE Annual Te ch n i c a l
Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, Louisiana,
USA, September 23-26, 1990.
7. Morriss CE, Macinnis J, Freedman R, Smaardyk J,
S t raley C, Ke nyon WE, Vinegar HJ and Tutunjian PN:
Field Test of an Experimental Pulsed Nuclear Mag-
netism To o l , Transactions of the SPWLA 34th A n n u a l
Logging Symposium, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Ju n e
13-16, 1993, paper GGG.
40 Oilfield Review
NMR i n the Bore h o l e
Borehole NMR measurements can prov i d e
different types of formation porosity-related
information. First, they tell how much fluid
is in the formation. Second, they also supply
details about formation pore size and struc-
ture that are usually not available from con-
ventional porosity logging tools. This leads
to a better description of fluid mobility
whether the fluid is bound by the formation
r o ck or free to flow. Fi n a l l y, in some cases,
NMR can be used to determine the type of
f l u i d wa t e r, gas or oil.
The NMR measurement is a dynamic one,
meaning that it depends on how it is made.
Changing the wait time affects the total
polarization. Changing the echo spacing
affects the ability to see diffusion effects in
the fluids. Tra n s verse relaxation decay times,
T
2
, depend on grain surface structure, the
r e l a x ivity of the surfaces and the ability of
the Brownian motion of the water to sample
the surfaces. In some cases, when the pore
fluids are isolated from surface contact, the
o b s e r ved relaxation rate approaches the bulk
fluid relaxation ra t e s .
The first pulsed-echo NMR logging tools,
introduced in the early 90s, were unable to
detect the fast components of the resonance
d e c ay. The shortest T
2
was limited to the 3-
to 5-msec range, wh i ch allowed measure-
ment of capillary-bound water and free flu-
ids, together known as e f f e c t i ve p o r o s i t y.
8
H ow e ve r, clay-bound wa t e r, being more
tightly bound, is believed to decay at a
m u ch faster rate than was measurable with
these tools. Within the last ye a r, improve-
ments in these tools enable a factor- o f - t e n
faster decay rate measurement. Now mea-
suring T
2
d e c ay components in the 0.1 to
0.5 msec range is possible. These improve-
ments include electronic upgrades, more
efficient data acquisition and new signal-
processing techniques that take adva n t a g e
of the early-time information.
For example, NUMAR added a multi-
plexed timing scheme to their standard tools
to boost the signal-to-noise ratio for fast-
d e c ay modes. This was ach i e ved by com-
bining a standard pulse-echo tra i n c o n s i s t-
ing of 400 echoes with an echo spacing of
1.2 msecand a rapid burst of short ech o
t rainlets of 8 to 16 echoes with half the stan-
dard echo spacing.
9
This pulse sequence is
repeated 50 times to reduce the noise by a
factor of seven. Now, this tool is sensitive to
t ra n s verse decay components with T
2
a s
short as 0.5 msec.
The Schlumberger CMR tool has also had
h a r dware improvements and signal-process-
ing upgra d e s .
1 0
The signal-to-noise per ech o
has been improved by 50% in the new reso-
nance receive r. Also, the echo acquisition
rate has been increased 40%, from
0.32-msec spacing to 0.2 msec, increasing
the CMR ability to see fast decay times ( n ex t
p a g e ). In addition, the signal-processing soft-
ware has been optimized for maximum sen-
s i t ivity to the short T
2
d e c ays. As a result, a
new pulsed-echo tool, called the CMR-200
tool, can measure formation T
2
c o m p o n e n t s
as short as 0.3 msec in continuous logging
modes and as short as 0.1 msec in stationary
logging modes.
Total Poro s i t y
NMR measurements now have the ability to
see more of the fluids in the formation,
including the sub-3-msec microporosity
associated with silts and clays, and intra-
particle porosity found in some carbonates.
Therefore, the measurement provided by
NMR tools is approaching the goal of a
lithology-independent t o tal poro s i ty m e a-
surement for evaluating complex reservoirs.
Total porosity using NMR T
2
d e c ay ampli-
tudes depends on the hydrogen content of
the formation, so in gas zones, NMR poros-
CMR tool. The CMR tool ( l e f t ) is 14 ft [ 4.3 m] long and is combi nable wit h many other
S c h l u m b e rger l ogging tool s. The sensor i s ski d-mounted to cut through mud-cake and
have good contact with the format ion. Contact i s enhanced by an eccent ral izi ng arm or
by power cali pers of other loggi ng tool s. Two strong i nternal permanent magnets pro v i d e
a static pol ari zi ng magnetic fiel d ( r i g h t ). The tool is designed to be sensi tive to a vol ume
of about 0.5 in. t o 1.25 i n. [ 1.3 cm to 3.2 cm] into the formati on and stretches the length of
the antennaabout 6 in. [ 15 cm], provi di ng the tool with excellent vertical re s o l u t i o n .
The area i n front of the antenna does not contribute to the si gnal , which al l ows the tool to
operate i n hol es with a li mi ted amount of rugosi ty, simi l ar to density tool s. The antenna
acts as both transmi tter and recei vertransmi tting the CPMG magnetic pulse sequence
and recei vi ng the pulse echoes from the form a t i o n .
Summer 1997 41
ity reads low because the hydrogen density
in gas is less than in water or oil and there is
incomplete gas polarization. The difference
between total NMR porosity and density
porosity logs provides an indicator of gas.
Other applications based on NMR poros-
ity discrimination are permeability logs and
irreducible water saturation. In the future,
the improved T
2
s e n s i t ivity of NMR porosity
logs may permit accurate estimates of clay -
b o u n d - water volumes for petrophy s i c a l
interpretation, such as the calculation of
hydrocarbon saturation through Dual-Wa t e r
or Waxman-Smits models.
A simple example from South A m e r i c a
i l l u s t rates the improved sensitivity to shale
resulting from the increased ability to mea-
sure fast-decay components ( n ext page, t o p
l e f t ). Density-derived porosity was calculated
assuming a sandstone matrix density of
2.65 g/cm
3
, and thermal neutron porosity wa s
computed also assuming a sandstone matrix.
The CMR-200 T
2
distributions shown in
t ra ck 3 were used to compute total porosity,
TCMR; a traditional CMR 3-msec effective
porosity curve, CMRP, shown in tra ck 2; and
a 12-msec bound-fluid porosity BFV curve ,
based on the fast-decaying portion of the T
2
distribution, shown in tra ck 1.
All the porosity logs in tra ck 2 agree in
Zone B, indicating a moderately clean
wa t e r-filled sandstone reservo i r. This shale-
free zone makes relatively little contribution
to the relaxation time distribution below the
3-msec detection limit of the early pulse-
e cho CMR tools. How e ve r, in the shale,
Zone A, the picture changes. Here, the bulk
of the porosity T
2
response shifts to a much
shorter part of the T
2
distribution that is eas-
ily seen in tra ck 3. In the shale zone, the
new CMR-200 total porosity curve in tra ck 2
is sensitive to the fast-decaying components
and agrees well with the density porosity.
The older CMR 3-msec porosity in tra ck 2
misses the fast-decaying components of the
T
2
distribution between 0.3 and 3 msec,
and therefore reads 10 p.u. lower in the
shale zone.
The large sub-3-msec porosity contribu-
tion suggests that the shales contain clay
m i n e rals with a high bound-water content.
How i ncreased echo rate i mproves CMR abi lity to see earl y-ti me decay from small pore s .
CMR tool was run in a shall ow Cretaceous Canadian test well at three diff e rent echo
spaci ngs-0.32 msec, 0.28 msec and 0.20 msec. As echo spacings decrease, the total
observed porosi ty (middl e track) read by t he tool increases in the shaly intervals, contai n-
i ng smal l pores, because the abi l i ty to see the sub-3 msec T
2
components (right track)
i n c reases with echo rate. This is veri fi ed by the increased CMR-200 bound flui d volume
(BFV) curves (left track). In the two sand zones A and B, the long T
2
components seen i n
the time distri buti ons correspond to increases i n observed CMR free fluid (mi ddl e track).
8. Miller et al, reference 6.
9. P rammer MG, Dra ck ED, Bouton JC, Gardner JS,
Coates GR, Chandler RN and Miller MN: Measure-
ments of Clay - B o u n d - Water and Total Porosity by
Magnetic Resonance Logging, paper SPE 36522, pre-
sented at the 1996 SPE Annual Te chnical Conference
and Exhibition, Denve r, Colorado, USA, October 6-9,
1 9 9 6 .
42 Oilfield Review
The thermal neutron log is reading too high
in the shale zone because of the large ther-
mal absorption cross section of the shale,
probably caused by some trace absorption
elements such as boron or gadolinium asso-
ciated with the clay s .
In tra ck 1, there is a strong correlation
between the gamma ray log and the bound-
fluid porosity curve, BFV, obtained using
e verything below a 12-msec T
2
cutoff. Th i s
suggests another interesting application for
total porosity measurementsthe porosity
associated with short T
2
components can
p r ovide a good shale indicator that is inde-
pendent of natural ra d i o a c t ivity in the for-
mation. This is significant because there are
m a ny important logging environments with
clean sands that contain ra d i o a c t ive miner-
als. In these environments, gamma ray logs
are not useful for differentiating sands and
shales. At best, gamma ray logs are only
q u a l i t a t ive shale indicators, and are usually
used to estimate clay corrections used for
computing effective porosity.
Finding Gas in Shaly SandsA south Te x a s
well illustrates the value of total CMR poros-
ity logging in detecting gas in shaly sand for-
mations. The interval consists of a shale
overlying a shaly gas sand ( a b ove right).
Looking for gas with the traditional thermal
neutron-density crossover is unreliable or
impossible in shaly formations, because
thermal neutron absorbers in shales forc e
the thermal neutron porosity tools to read
too highas can be seen in this example.
This effect on the neutron log suppresses the
gas signature, wh i ch means the neutron-
porosity curve never consistently drops
b e l ow the density-porosity curve when the
logging tools pass a gas zone.
Fo r t u n a t e l y, total porosity NMR logging
works well in these environments, simplify-
ing the interpretation. Starting from the bot-
tom of the interval, in the lower sand, Zone
C, the total CMR porosity TCMR agrees with
the density porosity. How e ve r, in Zone B at
the top of this shaly sand, the CMR-derive d
porosity drops, crossing below the density-
d e r ived porosity. This is the NMR-density
logging crossovera gas signature. Th e
NMR porosity signal drops in the gas zone
due to the reduced concentration of hy d r o-
gen in the gas and long gas polarization
timeleading to incomplete polarization of
the gas. The logged density-derived porosity,
wh i ch assumed wa t e r-filled pores, reads
slightly high in the gas zoneaccentuating
the crossover effect. Since gas affects both
CMR porosity and density porosity, the
CMR-based gas signature works effective l y
in shaly sands.
Total porosi ty loggi ng wi th the PL AT F O R M EX P R E SSt ool di ff e re n t i -
ates sands and shales. The porosity l ogs are shown in track 2 of
the well si te di splay. Both neutron and density porosi ty were
derived assumi ng a sandstone matrix. Total CMR poro s i t y
(TCMR) correctly finds the ti ghtly bound shale porosi ty seen in
the short T
2
distri butions shown in track 3. The neutron poro s i t y
log reads too hi gh in the shale i nterval , Zone A, due to neutro n
absorbers i n the shale. The gamma ray and bound-fluid poro s i t y ,
BFV (al l porosi ty with T
2
bel ow 12 msec) i n track 1 show that the
CMR measurement provides an al ternative method for identify-
ing shal e zones.
Using tot al CMR porosit y and densi ty to fi nd gas. In track 2 the
defi ci t bet ween total porosi ty ( red curve) and density poro s i t y
(bl ue curve) in a shaly sand can be used to identi fy a gas zone.
The t radi tional neutron-density crossover is suppressed by the
shali ness, whi ch opposes the gas effect i n the therm a l - n e u t ro n
l og ( g reen curve). The T
2
time di stri butions show l arge cont ri bu-
ti ons from short relaxati on ti mes below 3-msec coming from the
clay-bound water i n the shales. The gas corrected poro s i t y ,
(dashed black curve) is always l ess than the densi ty poro s i t y
and greater than the total CMR poro s i t y .
Summer 1997 43
Based on the petrophysical responses for
CMR total porosity and density porosity, a
new gas-corrected porosity
ga s - c o r r
, show n
in tra ck 2, and the volume of gas V
ga s
,
s h own in tra ck 1, are derived (see G a s - Co r -
rected Po ro s i ty from Density- Po ro s i ty and
CMR Measure m e n t s , page 54).
1 1
The new
gas-corrected porosity, computed from the
TCMR and density-porosity shown in tra ck
2, gives a more accurate estimate of true
porosities in the gas zones. NMR wo r k s
here, where the traditional neutron tool
d o e s n t, because NMR porosity responds
only to changes in hydrogen concentra t i o n ,
and not to neutron absorption in the shales.
In the shale, Zone A, the total CMR and gas-
corrected porosities again agree with the
density-porosity curve, as expected.
Fi n a l l y, in the lowest interval, Zone C,
b e l ow the gas sand, there is a transition into
p o o r e r-quality sand with lower permeability
as evidenced by the short relaxation times
seen in the T
2
distributions. This zone show s
little indication of gas because the total
CMR porosity, gas-corrected porosity and
density-porosity logs are in agreement.
Another striking example, from a British
Gas well in Trinidad, shows how the CMR-
d e r ived total porosity was used with density-
d e r ived porosity to detect gas in shaly sands
( l e f t ) . The interval contains shaly wa t e r
zones at the bottom, Zone C, followed by a
thin, 6-ft [2-m] clean sand, Zone B, topped
by a section of shale, Zone A. There is a gas-
water contact at XX184 ft in the lower part
of the clean sand in Zone B. The CMR total
porosity curve, shown in tra ck 2, ove r l i e s
the density-porosity curve throughout the
wa t e r-filled shaly sand intervals. In the clean
sand, wh i ch contains gas, there is a large
s e p a ration between the CMR total porosity
and the density-porosity curves. Again, the
reduction in the CMR porosity response is
due to the reduced concentration of hy d r o-
gen in the gas. The large crossover of these
t wo logs provides a clear flag for finding gas
in the reservo i r.
The NMR logs shown in this example were
obtained with the early pulse-echo CMR
tool. Comparing the early tools 3-msec
e f f e c t ive porosity log with the new total
porosity log demonstrates the improve m e n t
p r ovided by the new CMR total porosity
algorithms. The total porosity and effective
porosity curves, shown in tra ck 2, are similar
in the clean sand, but the 3-msec porosity
log misses the fast-decaying porosity in the
shale zones. Similarly, the bound-fluid
porosity log based on the early tools 3-msec
limited T
2
distributions, shown in tra ck 3, is
m u ch noisier and misses most of the bound-
fluid porosity in the shale zones. The new
CMR T
2
distributions in tra ck 4 show large
contributions from the fast-decaying shale
with bound-fluid components between 0.3
and 3 msec. Like the previous example, the
new total porosity-derived bound-fluid log
n ow correlates well with the gamma ray, and
can be used as a improved shale indicator.
As commercial CMR tools are upgraded to
CMR-200 hardware, logging data and inter-
pretation results, like those in this example,
will improve .
Detecting gas usi ng total porosity l ogging with t he PL AT F O R M EX P R E SStool. A dramatic
i m p rovement i n agreement between the CMR-200 total porosi ty (solid black), compare d
to the 3-msec CMR porosity (dotted black), and densi ty porosity ( re d ), shown i n track 2, i s
obtai ned by i ncl udi ng t he fast-decayi ng shale-bound porosity components from the new
CMR-200 T
2
di st ri buti on shown i n track 4. Thi s enhances the abil ity to use the CMR total
p o rosi ty and densi ty-porosi ty crossover as a fl ag t o detect gaspink-shaded area i n track
2. Improvements i n the si gnal processi ng are obvi ous when the CMR-200 total bound-
fl ui d l og (sol id bl ack) i s compared to the old 3 msec CMR bound-fl ui d log (dotted bl ack)
shown in track 1.
(continued on page 46)
10. Freedman R, Boyd A, Gubelin G, Morriss CE and
Flaum C: Measurement of Total NMR Porosity A d d s
New Value to NMR Logging, Transactions of the
SPWLA 38th Annual Logging Symposium, Houston,
Texas, USA, June 15-18, 1997, paper 00.
11. Bob Freedman, personal communication, 1997.
44 Oilfield Review
A feature common to second-generati on NMR l og-
gi ng tool s i s the use of an advanced pul se-echo
spi n fl i ppi ng scheme desi gned to enhance the
measurement. Thi s scheme, fi rst devel oped nearl y
fi fty years ago for l aborator y NMR measurements,
works i n the fol l owing way.
1
The Source Al l hydrogen nucl ei i n water
[ H
2
O] ; gas such as methane [ CH
4
] ; and oi l [ C
n
H
m
]
are si ngl e, spi nni ng, el ectri cal l y charged hydro-
gen nucl ei protons. These spi nni ng protons cre-
ate magneti c fi el ds, much l i ke currents i n ti ny
el ectromagnets.
Proton Al i gnmentWhen a strong external
magneti c fi el dfrom the l arge permanent magnet
i n a l oggi ng toolpasses through the formati on
wi th fl ui ds contai ni ng these protons, the protons
al i gn al ong the pol ari zi ng fi el d, much l i ke ti ny bar
magnets or magneti c compass needl es. Thi s pro-
cess, cal l ed pol ari zati on, i ncreases exponenti al l y
i n ti me wi th a ti me constant, T
1
.
2
Spi n Ti p p i n gA magneti c pul se from a radi o
frequency antenna rotates, or ti ps, the al i gned
protons i nto a pl ane perpendi cul ar to the pol ari za-
ti on fi el d. The protons, now al i gned wi th thei r
spi n axi s l yi ng i n a pl ane transverse to the pol ar-
i zati on fi el d, are si mi l ar to a spi nni ng top ti pped
i n a gravi tati onal fi el d, and wi l l start to precess
around the di recti on of the fi el d. The now-ti pped
spi nni ng protons i n the fl ui d wi l l precess around
the di recti on of the pol ari zati on fi el d produced by
the permanent magnet i n the l oggi ng tool ( a b o v e ).
The Effects of Precessi onThe precessi on fre-
q u e n c y, or the resonance frequency, i s cal l ed the
Larmor frequency and i s proporti onal to the
strength of the pol ari zati on fi el d. The precessi ng
protons, sti l l acti ng l i ke smal l magnets, sweep
out osci l l ati ng magneti c fi el ds j ust as many radi o
antennas transmi t el ectromagneti c fi el ds. The
l oggi ng tool s have recei vers connected to the
same antennas used to i nduce the spi n-fl i ppi ng
pul ses. The antennas and recei vers are tuned to
the Larmor frequencyabout 2 MHz for the CMR
tool and recei ve the ti ny radi o frequency si g-
nal a few mi crovol tsfrom the precessi ng pr o-
tons i n the formati on.
A Fai nt Si gnal from the Formati onIn a perfect
worl d, the spi nni ng protons woul d conti nue to pre-
cess around the di rection of the external magneti c
fi el d, unti l they encountered an i nteracti on that
woul d change thei r spi n ori entati on out of phase
wi th others i n the transverse pl anea transverse
rel axati on process. The ti me constant for the
transverse rel axati on process i s cal l ed T
2
, the
transverse decay ti me. Measuri ng the decay of the
precessi ng transverse si gnal i s the heart of the
NMR pul se-echo measurement.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y, i t is not a perfect worl d. The
pol ari zati on fi el d i s not exactl y uni form, and smal l
vari ati ons i n thi s pol ari zati on fi el d wi l l cause cor-
respondi ng vari ati ons i n the Larmor precessi on
f r e q u e n c y. Thi s means that some protons wi l l pre-
cess at di fferent rates than others. In terms of thei r
precessi onal moti on, they become phase i ncoher-
ent and wi l l get out of step and poi nt i n di fferent
di recti ons as they precess i n the transverse pl ane
(next page). As the protons col l ecti vel y get out of
step, thei r precessi ng fi el ds add together i ncoher-
e n t l y, and the resonance si gnal decays at an
apparent rate much faster than the actual trans-
verse rel axati on rate due to the dephasi ng process
descri bed above.
3
Spi n-Fl i ppi ng Produces Pul se EchoesA cl ever
scheme i s used to enhance the si gnal and to mea-
sure the true transverse rel axati on rate by r e v e r s-
i n g the dephasi ng of the precessi ng protons to pro-
Pul se-Echo NMR Measurements
Precessing protons. Hydrogen nucleiprotonsbehave like spinning bar magnets. Once disturbed from
equilibrium, they precess about the static magnetic field (left) in the same way that a childs spinning top
precesses in the Earths gravitational field (right).
Summer 1997 45
duce what i s cal l ed a spi n echo. Thi s i s done
appl yi ng a 180 spi n fl i ppi ng magneti c pul se a
short ti meat hal f the echo spaci ngafter the
spi ns have been ti pped i nto the transverse pl ane
and have started to dephase. By fl i ppi ng the spi ns
180, the protons conti nue to precess, i n the same
transverse pl ane as before, but now the sl owest
one i s i n fi rst and the fastest one l ast. Soon the
sl owest ones catch up wi th the fastest, resul ti ng i n
al l spi ns precessi ng i n phase agai n and produci ng
a strong coherent magneti zati on si gnal (cal l ed an
echo) i n the recei ver antenna. Thi s process,
known as the pul se-echo techni que, i s repeated
many ti mes; typi cal l y 600 to 3000 echoes are
recei ved i n the CMR tool .
The T
2
Resonance DecayThe pul se-echo
techni que used i n todays l oggi ng tool s i s cal l ed
the CPMG sequence, named after Carr, Purcel l ,
Mei boom and Gi l l who refi ned the pul se-echo
s c h e m e .
4
It compensates for the fast decay
caused by reversi bl e dephasi ng effects. However,
each subsequent echo wi l l have an ampl i tude
that i s sl i ghtl y smal l er than the previ ous one
because of remai ni ng i r r e v e r s i b l e t r a n s v e r s e
rel axati on processes.
Irreversi bl e Rel axati on Decay Rates M e a s u r-
i ng echo ampl i tudes determi nes thei r transverse
magneti zati on decay rate. The ti me constant T
2
characteri zes the transverse magneti zati on si gnal
d e c a y. The decay comes from three sources;
i ntri nsi c the i ntri nsi c bul k rel axati on
rate i n the fl ui ds,
surface the surface rel axati on rate,
a formati on envi ronmental effect
di ffusi on the di ffusi on-i n-gradi ent
effect, whi ch i s a mi x of envi ronmental
and tool effects.
Bul k-fl ui d relaxati on i s caused pri mari l y by the
natural spi n-spi n magneti c i nteracti ons between
nei ghbori ng protons. The rel ati ve moti ons of two
spi ns create a fl uctuati ng magneti c fi el d at one
spi n due to the moti on of the other. These fl uctuat-
i ng magneti c fi el ds cause rel axati on. The i nterac-
ti on i s most effecti ve when the fl uctuati on occurs
at the Larmor frequency, 2 MHz for the CMR tool
a very sl ow moti on on the mol ecul ar ti me scal e.
Mol ecul ar moti ons i n water and l i ght oi l s are
much more rapi d, so the rel axati on i s very i neffi -
ci ent wi th l ong decay ti mes. As the l i qui ds
become more vi scous, the mol ecul ar moti ons are
s l o w e r, and therefore are cl oser to the Larmor fre-
q u e n c y. Thus vi scous oi l s rel ax rel ati vel y effi -
Pulse-echo sequence and refocusing. Each NMR measurement comprises a sequence of transverse mag-
netic pulses transmitted by an antennacalled a CPMG pulse-echo sequence (middle). Each CPMG sequence
starts with a pulse that tips the protons 90 and is followed by several hundred pulses that refocus the pro-
tons by flipping them 180. This creates a refocusing of the dephased spins into an echo. The reversible fast
decay of each echothe free induction decayis caused by variations in the static magnetic field (top). The
irreversible decay of the echoesas each echo peak decays relative to the previous oneis caused by molec-
ular interactions and has a characteristic time constant of T
2
transverse relaxation time. The circled numbers
correspond to steps numbered in the race analogy.
Imagine runners lined up at the start of a race (bottom) . They are started by the 90 pulse (1). After several
laps, the runners are spread around the track (2, 3). Then the starter fires a second pulse of 180 (4, 5) and
the runners turn around and head in the other direction. The fastest runners have the farthest distance to
travel and all of them will arrive at the same time if they return at the same rate (6a). With any variation in
speed, the runners arrive back at slightly different times (6b). Like the example of runners, the process of
spin reversals is repeated hundreds of times during an NMR measurement. Each time the echo amplitude is
less and the decay rate gives T
2
relaxation time.
1. Hahn EL: Spin Echoes, Physical Review 80, no. 4 (1950):
5 8 0 - 5 9 4 .
2. The time constant for this process, T
1
, is frequently known
as the spin-lattice decay time. Thename comes from solid-
state NMR, where the crystal lattice gives up energy to the
spin-aligned system.
3. The observed fast decay due to the combined components
of irreversable transverse relaxation decay interactions and
the reversable dephasing effect is frequently called thef r e e
induction decay.
4. Carr HY and Purcell EM: Effects of Diffusion on Free
Precession in Nuclear Magnetic ResonanceExperiments,
Physical Review 94, no. 3 (1954): 630-638.
Meiboom S and Gill D: Modified Spin-Echo Method for
Measuring Nuclear Relaxation Times, The Review of
Scient ific Instruments 29, no. 8 (1958): 688-691.
46 Oilfield Review
To tal Po ro s i ty for Better Pe r m e a b i l i ty
A n sw e r sIn the North Sea, micaceous
sandstones challenge density-derived poros-
ity interpretation and permeability analysis,
because grain densities are not well-know n .
Here, CMR-derived total porosity provides a
m u ch better match to core porosity than
c o nventional porosity logging tools ( n ex t
p a g e , t o p ). In addition, permeability data
d e r ived from CMR measurements are of
c o n s i d e rable value. Other sources of mea-
suring this critically important reservo i r
p a ra m e t e r, such as coring and testing,
i nvoke high cost or high uncertainty.
Experience in these environments show s
that wellsite computations of CMR porosity
and permeability using the default para m e-
ters agree well with core data in at least
75% of wells. Ty p i c a l l y, default para m e t e r s
assume a fluid-hydrogen index of unity (for
water) and the Ti m u r-Coates equation with a
33-msec T
2
cutoff is used for computing the
bound-fluid log.
1 2
In most of these wells,
the CMR tool is now being used to replace
some of the coring, especially in frontier off-
shore drilling operations where coring can
cost up to $6000 per meter.
An offshore Gulf of Mexico gas well,
drilled with oil-base mud on the flank of a
large salt dome, provided an opportunity to
e valuate fluid contacts in an established oil
and gas field and determine hy d r o c a r b o n
p r o d u c t ivity in low - r e s i s t ivity zones. Previ-
ous deep wells on this flank encountered
drilling difficulties leading to poor- t o - f a i r
boreholes and degraded openhole log qual-
i t y. This resulted in ambiguous petrophy s i-
cal analysis and reservoir ch a racterization.
The combination of CMR measurements
and other logs provides a stra i g h t f o r wa r d
description of the petrophysics in this well
( n ext page, b o t t o m ). These logs show many
h i g h - r e s i s t ivity zones in tra ck 2 and density-
neutron crossovers in tra ck 3, wh i ch signal
these intervals as potentially gas-producing.
Total CMR porosity is low in the gas inter-
vals. There are some low - r e s i s t ivity interva l s
that could produce free wa t e r. Of special
interest are the low - r e s i s t ivity zones at the
base of the gas sand in Zone C, wh i ch may
indicate a water leg, and the low - r e s i s t iv i t y
sand in Zone D. The CMR bound-fluid
porosity increases in these zones.
An ELAN Elemental Log Analysis interpre-
tation, wh i ch combines resistivity and CMR
Grain surface relaxation. Precessing protons diffuse about the pore space colliding with other protons and
with grain surfaces (left) . Every time a proton collides with a grain surface there is a possibility of a relaxation
interaction occurring. Grain surface relaxation is the most important process affecting relaxation times. Exper-
iments show that when the probability of colliding with a grain surface is highin small pores (center)
relaxation is rapid and when the probability of colliding with a grain surface is lowin large pores (right)
relaxation is slower.
Relaxation time versus viscosity. The bulk relaxation
of crude oil can be estimated from its viscosity at
r e s e rvoir conditions. T
2
values are shown for various
echo spacings and have been computed for the CMR
tool with a 20 gauss/cm magnetic field gradient. Diffu-
sion-in-gradient effects, which depend on echo spac-
ing, T
E
, dominate T
2
rates for low viscosity liquids.
ci entl y wi th short T
1
and T
2
decay ti mes ( r i g h t ). It
shoul d be noted that for l i qui ds wi th vi scosi ty l ess
than 1 cp, T
2
does not change muchand even
decreases for l ow vi scosi ty. Thi s i s due to the di f-
fusi on-i n-gradi ent mechani sm, whi ch i s strongest
for l i qui ds wi th the l argest di ffusi on coeffi ci ent
l owest vi scosi ty. Thi s effect i s al so enhanced by
l ong echo spaci ng. The di ffusi on-i n-gradi ent
mechani sm does not affect T
1
.
5
Flui ds i n contact wi th grai n surfaces rel ax at a
much hi gher rate than thei r bul k rate. The surface
rel axati on rate depends on the abi l i ty of the protons
i n the fl ui ds to make mul tipl e i nteracti ons wi th the
surface. For each encounter wi th the grain surface,
there i s a hi gh probabi l i ty that the spi nni ng proton
i n the fl ui d wi l l be rel axed through atomi c-level
el ectromagneti c fi el d i nteracti ons. For the surface
process to domi nate the overal l rel axati on decay,
the protons in the fl ui d must make many random
di ffusi on (Browni an moti on) tri ps across the pores
i n the formation ( a b o v e ). They col l i de wi th the grai n
surface many ti mes unti l a rel axati on event occurs.
F i n a l l y, there i s relaxati on from di ffusi on i n the
pol ari zati on magneti c fi el d gradi ent. Because pro-
tons move around i n the fl ui d, the compensati on by
the CPMG pul se-echo sequence i s never compl ete.
Some protons wi l l dri ft i nto a di fferent fi eld
strength duri ng thei r moti on between spi n fl i ppi ng
pul ses, and as a resul t they wi l l not recei ve correct
phase adj ustment for their previ ous polari zati on
fi el d envi ronment. Thi s l eads to a fur ther, though
not si gni fi cantl y l arge, i ncrease i n the T
2
r e l a x a t i o n
rates for water and oi l . Gas, because of i ts hi gh di f-
fusi on mobi l i ty, has a l arge di ffusi on-i n-gradi ent
effect. Thi s i s used to di fferenti ate gas from oi l .
6
The pul se-echo measurements are anal yzed i n
terms of mul ti pl e exponenti al l y decayi ng porosi ty
components. The ampl i tude of each component i s
a measure of i ts vol umetri c contri buti on to porosi ty.
5. Kleinberg RL and Vinegar HJ : NMR Properties of Reser-
voir Fluids, The Log Analyst 37, no. 6 (November-
D e c e m b e r, 1996): 20-32.
6. Akkurt R, Vinegar HJ , Tutunjian PN and Guillory AJ : NMR
Logging of Natural Gas Reservoirs, The Log Analyst 3 7 ,
no. 6 (November- D e c e m b e r, 1996): 33-42.
12. The hydrogen index is the volume fraction of fresh
water that would contain the same amount of hy d r o-
gen. The Ti m u r-Coates equation is a popular formula
for computing permeability fromNMR measurements.
Its implementation uses ratio of the free-fluid to
bound-fluid volumes. It was first introduced in Coates
G and Denoo S: The Producibility A n swer Product,
The Technical Rev i ew, 29, no. 2 (1981): 54-63.
Summer 1997
Permeabi l i ty l oggi ng usi ng CMR total
porosi ty i n North Sea mi caceous sandstones.
A good match (track 2), between core- and
CMR-deri ved per meabi l i ty usi ng the defaul t
Ti mur-Coates equati on, i s common i n many
North Sea reservoi rs. Thi s exampl e i s from an
oi l zone dri l l ed wi th oi l base mud.
Gas producti on i n the Gul f of Mexi co.
Bi modal CMR T
2
di stri buti ons i n track 4 show
effects of oi l -base mud i nvasi on wi th l ong T
2
and l arge bound-fl ui d components bel ow the
33-msec T
2
cutoff. Neutron-densi ty crossover
cl earl y shows gas zones. The l ow CMR si gnal
i s due to the l ow hydrogen content and l ong
pol ari zati on ti me of the gas. The bound-fl ui d
measurement was used wi th the resi sti vi ty
data to determi ne movabl e water i n the
l ower resi sti vi ty zones.
47
48 Oilfield Review
data, shows that there is little free water in
this entire interval ( l e f t ) . Most of the wa t e r
contained in these zones appears irre-
ducible because the CMR bound-fluid vo l-
ume matches the total water vo l u m e
d e r ived from the resistivity logs. The upper
three sands were completed and the CMR
total porosity, bound-fluid and permeability
logs allowed the operator to confidently
p e r f o rate Zones A, B and C.
1 3
The initial
production from the upper three sand zones
was 20 MMcf/D, 780 B/D [124 m
3
/d] of
condensate with less than 1% wa t e r, con-
firming the CMR interpretation. The low e r
sands, Zones D and E, have not been com-
pleted because of downdip oil production.
H ow e ve r, the interpretation results from
these zones have been included in the
ove rall well reserves analysis.
Another Gulf of Mexico example from an
infill development well in a faulted anticline
r e s e r voir helped the operator determine if a
zone, believed to be safely updip from the
wa t e r d r ive in a mature low - r e s i s t ivity oil-
and gas-producing zone, would produce
salt water or hydrocarbons. The CMR
porosities and T
2
distributions have been
added to the standard density neutron
PL AT F O R M EX P R E S Swellsite display ( n ext page).
S e ve ral sandstone intervals, Zones A, B
and C, are easily identified by their longer
T
2
distributions that may correspond to
hydrocarbons isolated in wa t e r-wet rocks or
large wa t e r-filled pores. Zone C is more
c o n d u c t iveindicating wa t e r, but the CMR
total porosity reads less than the density-
porosityindicating gas. There are high-
r e s i s t ivity sands in Zones A and B that are
difficult to interpret from raw logs alone. Th e
picture is confusing.
A petrophysical analysis, combining CMR
and PL AT F O R M EX P R E S S data over this interva l ,
r e veals the nature of the reservoir complex-
itieslithologic changes and the presence
of a wa t e r d r ive flood front (page 50, t o p ).
This interpretationincluding the CMR-
d e r ived permeability, verified by subse-
quent core analysisalong with irreducible
water analysis, shows that the upper resis-
t ive sand, Zone A, is productive and con-
tains oil with little free wa t e r. The middle,
less resistive sand, Zone B, contains less oil
with a significant amount of potential pro-
ducible wa t e r. The low - r e s i s t ivity sand,
Zone C, appears to contain some oil, but
with a large amount of free water most
likely coming from the wa t e r f l o o d .
ELAN i nterpretation anal ysi s. The CMR-resist ivity i nterpretation suggests that there is no
movabl e water i n the entire l ogged i nterval . The top three sand zones A, B and C, al l wi th
high permeabil i ty determined by the CMR tool, track 2, produced 20 MMcf/ D of gas wi th
780 B/ D condensate and no water. The reserves i ndi cated in the l ower sand Zone E wi l l
be completed at a later time.
13. W h e n e ver oil-base mud is used in wa t e r-wet rocks,
it is easy to identify bound versus free fluid. Bound-
fluid water has a short T
2
, and oil-base mud flushing
into the free-fluid pore space has a long T
2
. The
T
2
cutoff is obvious, making free fluid and bound
fluid easy to distinguish for Ti m u r-Coates perme-
ability calculations.
Summer 1997 49
The opera t o r, hoping that the logs might
h ave been affected by deep invasion, com-
pleted and tested the lower sand, Zone C.
H ow e ve r, it produced only salt wa t e r, con-
sistent with the petrophysical interpretation.
After a plug was set above this zone, the
upper sands were completed and produce
100 BOPD [16 m
3
/d] with only a 10%
water cut, wh i ch is also in agreement with
the expectations from the ELAN interpreta-
tion. It is clear that combining the porosity
discrimination and permeability information
from CMR measurements with other logs,
s u ch as resistivity and nuclear porosity,
helps explain what is happening to the
wa t e r d r ive and hydrocarbons in pay zones
in this common, but complex, reservo i r.
Loggi ng for Bound-Fl ui d
Bound-fluid logging, a special application
of NMR porosity logging, is based on the
ability of NMR to distinguish bound-fluid
porosity from free- or mobile-fluid porosity.
Bound-fluid porosity is difficult to measure
by conventional logging methods. A full
NMR measurement requires a long wa i t
time to polarize all components of the for-
mation, and a long acquisition time to mea-
sure the longest relaxation times. How e ve r,
experience has shown that the T
2
r e l a x a t i o n
time of the bound fluid is usually less than
33 msec in sandstone formations and less
than 100 msec in carbonate formations. In
fast bound-fluid NMR logging, it is possible
to use short wait times by accepting less
a c c u ra cy in measuring the longer T
2
c o m-
ponents. In addition, a short echo spacing
and an appropriate number of ech o e s
reduce the acquisition time and ensure that
the measurement volume does not ch a n g e
significantly because of the faster tool
m ovement. This logging mode can acquire
NMR data at speeds up to 3600 ft/hr
[1100 m/hr] because of the short relaxation
times of the bound fluid.
The bound fluid volume can be used in
conjunction with other high speed logging
measurements to calculate two key NMR
a n swerspermeability and irreducible
water saturation, S
w i r r
. Ty p i c a l l y, the density
log is used in shaly sands, and the density-
neutron crossplot porosity log is used in gas
sands, carbonates and complex lithologies.
The epithermal neutron porosity from the
Well site PL AT F O R M EX P R E SSdi spl ay. This exampl e shows long T
2
components i n the l ow-
resi stivi ty pay sand, Zone C. This appears t o the CMR tool t o contain mostl y free water in
l a rge pores, but could contain i sol ated hydrocarbons wi th long T
2
. The upper two zones
have high resi sti vi ty and potenti al ly contain hydrocarbons. The total CMR poro s i t y
matches the density porosi ty except in the lower secti ons of Zones A and C, due to i ncom-
plete pol ari zation (with a 1.3 sec wait time) of the hydro c a r b o n s .
50 Oilfield Review
Solvi ng the mystery with ELAN interpre-
tation. High permeabili ty deri ved from the
CMR tool , t rack 2, with water saturat ion,
track 3, and irreducibl e water anal ysis,
track 4, show that the l ow-resi sti vi ty pay
sand in Zone C will produce onl y water,
p robabl y from the fl ood dri ve. The upper
sand, Zone A, contai ns oi l wit h onl y a l ittl e
f ree water. Zone C tested 100% sal t water,
w h e reas the upper zone i s producing
100 BOPD wi th a l ow wat er cut. Note the
ex cel lent agreement between the CMR
p e rmeabil ity and core-deri ved perm e a b i l -
i ty (bl ack circ l e s ) in track 2.
Bound-fl ui d logging with water- f ree pro-
duction i n a long oi l-water transiti on zone.
CMR readings i ndi cate water- f ree pro d u c-
ti on above XX690 ft, where the wat er vol-
ume, S
w
, computed from resistivity l ogs
matches the bound-fl ui d vol ume (BFV) fro m
the CMR tool . Even though bound-fluid l og-
ging speeds are fast, long T
2
c o m p o n e n t s
a re seen i n the CMR T
2
d i s t r i b u t i o n s .
Summer 1997 51
APT tool is especially accurate because it is
immune to the thermal neutron absorber
effects frequently found in shales.
1 4
Bound-fluid logging can also be used to
detect heavy oil, since many high-viscosity
oils have T
2
components below the 33-msec
or 100-msec cutoffs and above the 0.3-msec
detection limit of the CMR-200 tool. Th e s e
oils will be properly measured in a bound-
fluid log.
Our first example of bound-fluid logging
comes from the North Sea, where long tra n-
sition zones and zones of low - r e s i s t ivity pay
often lead to uncertainty about the mobile
fluid being oil or wa t e r, or both (p rev i o u s
p a g e , b o t t o m ). One method of predicting
mobile water is to compare the bound-fluid
volume, BFV, seen by the CMR tool with
S
w
the volume of water computed from
the resistivity measurement. If the total
water from the S
w
calculation exceeds the
BFV measurement, then the excess wa t e r
will be free fluid and therefore producible.
1 5
In this example, the CMR bound-fluid tool
was run with the standard triple combo
neutron and density for total porosity and an
AIT A r ray Induction Imager Tool for satura-
tionat 1500 ft/hr [460 m/hr]. The fast-log-
ging CMR tool was run with a short wa i t
time of 0.4 sec and 600 echoes. This well
was drilled with an oil-base mud, wh i ch
created a large signal at long T
2
times due to
i nvasion of oil filtrate. To fully capture these
long T
2
components for a total CMR poros-
ity measurement, wait times of 6 sec wo u l d
h ave been required, at a correspondingly
s l ower logging speed of 145 ft/hr [44 m/hr].
An interpretation based on density, neu-
tron and resistivity logs yields the lithology
and fluid content. The T
2
distributions show
significant oil-filtrate signal seen at late
times despite the short wait time. The lithol-
ogy analysis shows little or no clay, consis-
tent with the lack of T
2
data below 3 msec.
In this well, a 100-msec cutoff was used to
differentiate the bound-fluid volume from the
free fluids; this is verified by excellent agree-
ment with core permeability using the default
Ti m u r-Coates equation. Ideally, the T
2
c u t o f f
should be confirmed independently, for
example by careful sampling with the MDT
Modular Formation Dynamics Tester tool
around the oil-water transition depths.
In another example, a real-time wellsite
q u i cklook display was developed for com-
bining CMR bound-fluid logging with the
PL AT F O R M EX P R E S S acquisition at 1800 ft/hr
[550 m/hr] in the Gulf of Mexico. In offshore
wells, with hourly operating expenses that
far exceed logging costs, fast logging and
immediate answers are critical for timely
decision-making at the wellsite. The field
q u i cklook incorporates the CMR measure-
ments into a Dual-Water saturation compu-
tation. The results are total porosity from the
neutron-density and water saturation from
the AIT induction tools ( a b ove ). The wellsite
permeability computation, tra ck 2, uses the
CMR bound-fluid results in a Ti m u r- C o a t e s
analysis with two estimates of total poros-
ityone from the traditional neutron-density
crossplot porosity, and the other from a den-
s i t y - d e r ived porosity.
1 6
The first porosity estimate is more accura t e
in the shaly sections but requires free- and
b o u n d - water resistivity and wet-clay porosity
p a rameters and is limited by the vertical reso-
lution of the neutron measurement. The sec-
ond porosity estimate has the advantages of
not requiring any parameter picks for the
shaly intervals and also has the higher ve r t i-
cal resolution inherent in the density mea-
surement. The field-derived results show both
sand Zones, A and B, with good production
potential and with low water cut. These log-
ging results agree well with the sidewall core
permeabilities and porosities measured later,
s h own as circles in tra cks 2 and 4.
Re p e a ta b i l i ty of Fast BFV Lo g g i n g Th i s
example shows that accurate and repeatable
bound-fluid volumes and permeabilities can
PL AT F O R M EX P R E SS-CMR well si te qui ckl ook. The fi eld interpretati on result s from high-speed
CMR logging enable the operator to qui ckl y identi fy that hydrocarbon pay Zones A and
B, have hi gh permeabi l ity, track 2, and hi gh potenti al for wat er- f ree producti on because
all the water in the interval, as shown i n track 4, i s either clay-bound or i rreducible. The
wel lsite interpretati on resul ts al so compared well with core anal ysis obtained l ater.
14. Scott HD, Thornton JL, Olesen J-R, Hertzog RC,
M c Keon DC, DasGupta T and Albertin IJ: Response
of a Multidetector Pulsed Neutron Porosity To o l ,
Transactions of the SPWLA 35th Annual Lo g g i n g
S y m p o s i u m, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, June 19-22,
1994, paper J.
15. The BFV log measures the capillary-bound and non-
mobile wa t e r.
16. L a Vigne J, Herron M and Hertzog R: Density-Neu-
tron Interpretation in Shaly Sands, Transactions of
the SPWLA 35th Annual Logging Symposium, Tu l s a ,
Oklahoma, USA, June 19-22, 1994, paper EEE.
52 Oilfield Review
be measured at high logging speeds
( a b ove ). Three runs were made through a
series of sand-shale zones, where fresh
water makes producibility evaluation diffi-
cult and high-precision bound-fluid deter-
mination is important. The three CMR
passes were made with 0.2-sec wait time,
200 echoes at 3400 ft/hr [1040 m/hr]; 0.3
sec wait time, 600 echoes at 1800 ft/hr
[549 m/hr]; and finally at 2.6 sec wait time,
1200 echoes at 300 ft/hr [92 m/hr]. The data
were processed with total CMR porosity to
g ive T
2
distributions from 0.3 msec to 3 sec,
s h own in tra cks 3, 4 and 5 for each run. Th e
three bound-fluid BFV logs, computed with
default 33-msec T
2
cutoff and five - l e ve l
s t a cking, are shown in tra ck 1. They agree
well with each other, having a root-mean-
square error on the bound-fluid vo l u m e s
about of 1.2 p.u., wh i ch is comparable to
the typical statistical error found in other
non-NMR porosity logs. The BFV curve s
correlate well with the gamma ray except in
Zones A and B, with the shortest T
2
va l u e s ,
where the relaxation may be too rapid to be
seen by the CMR tool.
Permeability estimates, in tra ck 6, were
based on the standard Ti m u r-Coates equa-
tion. CMR bound-fluid logs and a robust total
porosity estimator based on the minimum of
the density and neutron-density porosities
were used to compute the free-fluid and the
bound-fluid volumes used in this permeabil-
ity equation.
1 7
At these logging speeds, all
three permeability estimates overlie one
a n o t h e r, typically within a factor of 2.
Integrated Answers
Bound-fluid logging is one example of how
CMR measurements combine with other
logging measurements to provide a simple,
more accurate picture of the formation in a
fast, more efficient manner. The CMR tool
can be combined with the MDT tool to give
better producibility answers. The in-situ,
dynamic MDT measurements complement
the CMR continuous permeability log, and
help verify the presence of producible
hydrocarbons. Wellsite efficiency is substan-
tially increased when MDT sampling depths
are guided by CMR results.
R e s e r voirs often exhibit large vertical het-
erogeneity due to the variability of sedi-
mentary deposition, such as in laminated
formations. In vertical wells, formation
properties can change over distances small
compared to the intrinsic vertical resolution
of logging tools. In horizontal wells, the
d rainhole can be located near a bed
boundary with different formation proper-
ties above and below the logging tools. It is
important that all logging sensors face the
same formation volume.
Two logging measurements that inve s t i g a t e
the same rock and fluid volume in a forma-
tion are said to be coherent. Conve n t i o n a l
log interpretation methods can be limited by
a lack of volumetric coherence between
logs. For example, when subtracting the
bound-fluid porosity response of an NMR
tool from the total porosity response of a
nuclear tool to compute a free-fluid index,
care must be taken to ensure that the
Repeatabi li ty of bound-fl ui d l oggi ng. Logs and T
2
di stri buti ons from three runs at 300,
1800 and 3400 ft/ hr i n the same wel l show how wel l the bound-fl uid volumes, track 1,
a g ree even at fast loggi ng speeds. The permeabil i ty resul ts, track 6, from CMR bound-
fl ui d l oggi ng overl ie even at the highest loggi ng speeds. The T
2
di stributions are simil ar,
though the peaks i n the sands seem to change somewhat, because there are not enough
echoes i n the fast loggi ng measurement to compl etel y characteri ze the sl ower re l a x-
ati ons. The longest T
2
components di sappear i n the fast-loggi ng mode.
17. Singer JM, Johnson L, Kleinberg RL and Flaum C:
Fast NMR Logging for Bound-Fluid and Pe r m e a b i l-
i t y, Transactions of the SPWLA 38th Annual Lo g g i n g
S y m p o s i u m, Houston, Texas, USA, June 15-18,
1997, paper PP.
Summer 1997 53
nuclear tool does not sample a different vo l-
ume than the NMR tool.
1 8
An interesting example of combining CMR
logging with other coherent measurements,
is the method of determining formation silt
volume developed with A g i p .
1 9
Silt is an
important textural component in clastic
r o cks because it relates to the dynamic con-
ditions of transportation and deposition of
sediments. The quality of a reservoir is deter-
mined by the amount of silt present in the
r o ck formation. Fine silt dra s t i c a l l y
decreases permeability and the ability of a
r e s e r voir to produce hydrocarbons. The silt
can be of any lithology; and, since it is
related only to grain size, its volume and
deposition properties can be determined
with the help of CMR logging, in combina-
tion with EPT measurements.
Dielectric propagation time and attenua-
tion increase with silt volume. These two
logs, coupled with the APT epithermal neu-
tron porosity, provide a porosity interpreta-
tion unaffected by the large thermal
absorbers typically associated with silts and
shales in formations, and are therefore
appropriate in determining silt volume in
complex lithologies.
A c c u ra cy in determining silt volume, as
well as a host of other para m e t e r s p e r m e-
a b i l i t y, fluid volumes and mobility
depends upon a high coherence between
logging measurements.
The CMR measurements ability to ch a ra c-
terize grain size, using the T
2
d i s t r i b u t i o n s ,
coupled with other complimentary logs,
was successfully used to understand a com-
plex reservoir sequence of thinly laminated
sands, silt and shales in the presence of
water and gas ( r i g h t ). The well was drilled
with fresh wa t e r-base mud. The EPT dielec-
tric attenuation and propagation time
c u r ves, showing high bed resolution in tra ck
1, cross each otherclearly identifying the
sequence of silty sands and shales. Pe r m e-
Avoi ding water product ion i n thi nl y layered gas sands wi th CMR data combi ned with
other coherent l ogging measurements. There are nearl y 20 gas pay-sands showi ng in this
i nterval , al l showing simil ar log profil e characteristicsseparati on of the EPT di el ect ri c
p ropagati on ti me TPL, and attenuation EAT T, logs i n t rack 1 and the free-fluid vol umes
f rom CMR and epi thermal neutron porosi ty, in track 4. The i nterpretati on resul ts i denti fy
t h ree Zones (A, C and the lower part of Zone F) that contain free water i n the re s e r v o i r s .
The CMR tool responds well to thi n beds (Zones B, D and G).
18. An example of an incoherent result would be the
case in wh i ch a nuclear tool is sampling a few
i n ches of formation, and an NMR tool is sampling
s e ve ral feet of formation, or vice versa. Then the
net free fluid could be distorted and incorrectly
computed by large porosity changes within the
sample volume caused by shale laminations in the
formation. If the nuclear and NMR tools are sam-
pling the same volume of rock, then the combined
results will always be correct because the different
measurements will be volume matched.
19. Gossenberg P, Galli G, Andreani M and Klopf W: A
New Pe t r o p hysical Interpretation Model for Clastic
R o cks Based on NMR, Epithermal Neutron and Elec-
tromagnetic Logs, Transactions of the SPWLA 37th
Annual Logging Symposium, New Orleans,
Louisiana, USA, June 16-19, 1996, paper M.
Gossenberg P, Casu PA, Andreani M and Klopf W:
A Complete Fluid Analysis Method Using Nuclear
Magnetic Resonance in Wells Drilled with Oil Based
M u d , Transactions of the Offshore Mediterranean
Co n f e re n c e, Milan, Italy, March 19-21, 1997,
paper 993.
54 Oilfield Review
ability curves were computed from the CMR
bound-fluid log using both the Ti m u r- C o a t e s
equation and the Ke nyon equation with the
logarithmic mean of T
2
.
2 0
Both give reason-
able agreement with permeability results
d e r ived from core and the RFT Repeat Fo r-
mation Tester tool.
The dry sand, silt and clay volume inter-
pretation model, shown in tra ck 3, includes
c l ay-bound wa t e r, capillary-bound water (or
irreducible water), and movable water ( n ex t
p a g e , t o p ). By subtracting the irreducible
water measured directly by the CMR bound-
fluid log from total volume of wa t e r, S
w
,
computed from R
t
after clay corrections, all
free water zones within the reservoirs are
clearly determined. For example, Zone F
cannot be perforated without risk of large
water production. Apart from Zones A and
F, most of the other reservoirs show dry gas.
The epithermal neutron and density porosity
logs are shown along with NMR logs in
t ra ck 4. There are intervals with clear exam-
ples of gas crossover between the density-
neutron porosity curves. Also, the separa t i o n
between the APT neutron porosity and CMR
porosity provides a good estimate of clay -
water vo l u m e .
The logs show excellent correlation
between the EPT and CMR curves. Th e
sequence of fining-up grain size in the sands
through Zone F is displayed on the logs as
an increasing silt index. This is confirmed by
increasing attenuation and propagation
times on the EPT logsbecause of increas-
ing conductivity in the silt, and an increase
in bound-water porosity in the CMR logs
implying a decrease of movable fluid. Th e
profile on other pay reservoirs between both
tools shows similar ch a racteristics, especially
in the EPT curve separation and the free-fluid
volumes from the CMR measurements.
The CMR measurements complement other
coherent logging measurements, such as
dielectric, Litho-Density, microresistiv i t y,
neutron capture cross sections and epither-
mal neutron porosity, in providing a critical
e valuation and complete interpretation in
these complex formation environments. Th e
Litho-Density tool is needed for lithologyto
determine the T
2
cutoff for CMR bound-fluid
In zones contai ni ng unfl ushed gas near the bore-
hol e, total CMR porosi ty l ogTCMRunderesti -
mates total porosi ty because of two effects: the
l ow hydrogen concentrati on i n the gas and i nsuffi -
ci ent pol ari zation of the gas due to i ts l ong T
1
rel axati on ti me. On the other hand, i n the pres-
ence of gas, the densi ty-deri ved porosi ty l og DPHI,
whi ch i s usual l y based on the fl ui d bei ng water,
overesti mates the total porosi ty because the l ow
densi ty of the gas reduces the measured formati on
bul k densi ty. Thus, gas zones wi th unfl ushed gas
near the wel l bore can be i denti fi ed by the defi ci t or
separati on between DPHI and TCMR l ogsthe
NMR gas si gnature. The method of i denti fyi ng gas
from the DPHI/TCMR defi ci t does not require that
the gas phase be pol ari zed.
1
The advantages of thi s method of detecti ng gas
i ncl ude:
faster l oggi ng i n many envi ronments si nce the
gas does not have to be pol ari zed
2
more r obust gas eval uati on si nce the defi ci t i n
porosi ty i s often much greater than a di rect
gas si gnal
total porosi ty corrected for gas effects.
As an ai d to i nterpreti ng gas-sand formati ons,
the gas-corrected porosi ty,
g a s - c o r r
, and gas bul k-
vol ume, V
g a s
, equati ons are deri ved from a petro-
physi cal model for the formati on bul k densi ty and
total CMR porosi ty responses.
The mi xi ng l aw for the densi ty l og response i s:
and for the total CMR porosi ty response:
.
In these equati ons,
b
i s the l og measured bul k-
formati on densi ty,
m a
i s the matri x densi ty of the
formati on,
f
i s the densi ty of l i qui d phase i n the
fl ushed zone at reservoi r condi ti ons,
g
i s the den-
si ty of gas at reservoi r condi ti ons, and i s the
total formati on porosi ty.
( H I )
g
i s the hydrogen i ndexthe vol ume fracti on
of fresh water that woul d contai n the same amount
of hydrogenof gas at reser voi r condi ti ons, and
( H I )
f
i s the hydrogen index of fl ui d i n the fl ushed
zone at reservoi r condi ti ons. S
g
i s the fl ushed
zone gas saturati on.
accounts for the pol ar-
i zati on of the gas, where W i s wai t ti me of the CMR
tool pul se sequence, and T
1 , g
i s the l ongi tudi nal
rel axati on ti me of the gas at reservoi r condi ti ons.
To si mpl i fy the algebra, a new parameter,
, i s i ntroduced, and formati on bul k
densi ty i s el i mi nated by i ntroduci ng d e n s i t y
deri ved porosi ty, .
Sol vi ng these equations for the gas-corrected
p o r o s i t y,
g a s - c o r r
, one gets:
,
and for the volume of gas, one gets:
The gas saturati on can be obtai ned from these
equations by si mpl y di vi di ng the l atter by the for-
m e r. Note that the gas-corrected porosi ty,
g a s - c o r r
,
i s the NMR anal og of the neutron/densi ty l og
crosspl ot porosi ty, and i s al ways l ess than D P H I
and greater than T C M R / ( H I )
f
.
Bob Freedman
Gas-Corrected Porosi ty from Densi ty-Porosi ty and
CMR Measurements
20. Ke nyon WE, Day PI, Straley C and Willemsen JF: A
Th r e e - Part Study of NMR Longitudinal Relaxation
Properties of Wa t e r- S a t u rated Sandstones, SPE Fo r-
mation Eva l u a t i o n3 (1988): 622-636.
21. Freedman et al, 1997, reference 10.
22. Bass C and Lappin-Scott H: The Bad Guys and the
Good Guys in Petroleum Microbiology, O i l f i e l d
Rev i ew9, no. 1 (Spring 1997): 17-25.
1. To beable to attribute this deficit to gas, thewait timefor
the logging sequencemust be sufficiently long to polarize
all the liquids, including formation water and mud filtrate.
2. Oilbase muds arethe exception and require long wait times
due to the long T
1
relaxation timeof oil filtrate.
Summer 1997 55
loggingand the salinity independent CMR
water volume is used to correct the dielectric
and resistivity logsused for fluid satura t i o n .
Identification of Oil V i s c o s i ty and Ta r
D e p o s i t sA trend to produce heavy-oil from
s h a l l ow reservoirs is creating the need to
detect high viscosity oil and tar deposits. Fr e-
q u e n t l y, due to the shallow depths and the
complex filling history of the structures, reser-
voirs were charged, then later breached and
r e charged. This results in significant ch a n g e s
in the properties of the hy d r o c a r b o n s
throughout the reservoir sections. One way to
distinguish and identify these oils is to mea-
sure their viscosity in situ using bulk relax-
ation times from the CMR data. The bulk
relaxation rates of different oils can be mea-
sured with reasonable accura cy, between 2
and 10,000 cp, using the CMR tool.
2 1
Field examples show that CMR log-
d e r ived viscosities match drillstem test-
d e r ived values. It is important to determine
wh i ch part of the T
2
signal distribution is
from the oil bulk relaxation decay. In clean,
coarse sands containing high-viscosity oil,
this is a stra i g h t f o r ward process, because the
oil, having a fast decay, is isolated from the
wa t e r-wet rock having a slower decay, and
surface relaxation has little effect on the fast
bulk oil decay. For low-viscosity oils in fine-
g rained rocks, the bulk oil relaxation ra t e s
are much slower and can easily be sepa-
rated from the wa t e r- s a t u rated rock signal.
In some settings, over geological time, oils
h ave come into contact with wa t e r- b o r n e
bacteria that produce impermeable seals
tar deposits at oil-water contacts.
2 2
Th e s e
r e s e r voirs may receive a further oil ch a r g e ,
wh i ch encases a tarry zone inside the
hydrocarbon zone. In such a position, the
tar zone could have a dramatic effect on the
management of the field during production.
The tar, surrounded by other hy d r o c a r-
bons, appears similar to the surrounding flu-
ids when logged with non-NMR tech n i q u e s .
E ven when cored intervals are available, the
tar may be overlooked if the core samples
are cleaned, as they traditionally are, before
analysis. How e ve r, the CMR signature in a
tar zone is quite clear and distinct from that
of more mobile hydrocarbons or wa t e r. It
has been suggested that long hy d r o c a r b o n
chains within the tar cause it to behave
almost like a soliddramatically shortening
the T
2
response. Tar is detected by the
reduction in NMR porosity.
An example from the North Sea shows the
clear tar detection signaturemissing poros-
ity and short T
2
d e c ays ( l e f t ). The well wa s
drilled with an oil-base mud through seve ra l
oil and water zones identified in tra ck 2.
Si l t vol ume i nterpretati on using EPT, APT and CMR l ogs. The data
i n t he crossplots come from a mix ture of sands, mica and feldspar.
EPT attenuati on, EAT T, and propagati on time, TPL, are cro s s p l o t t e d
( l e f t ) al ong wi th the di ff e rence between APT epi thermal neutro n
p o rosi ty and CMR 3-msec effecti ve porosit y, shown as a Z-axis di s-
c r i m i n a t o r. There are two cl usters of poi nts. One i s for t he si l ty sand
w h e re gas i s present (lower cluster). There is a departure from the
sandstone l i ne when si l t i ncreases. The second cluster i s in several
nonpay reservoirs where cl ay mi neral s, associ ated wi th fi ne si lt,
f o rm the shal es. The APT-CMR effecti ve porosi ty di ff e re n c e
i n c reases i n proportion to the clay content due t o the cl ay-bound
w a t e r. Si nce the gas content i s properly controll ed on the EPT cro s s-
plot, the di electri c data are used to appl y accurate gas corre c t i o n s
on the CMR porosit y logs. On the CMR stand-alone crosspl ot ( r i g h t ),
the si lt i ndex i ncreases wi th the bound-fl uid val ues. The scat ter i n
the CMR data is a gas effect induced by l ow polarizati on and vari -
at ion i n hydrogen i ndex. The APT-CMR dif f e rence porosi ty i s used
again for Z-ax is di scri mi nati on and the two cl usters are i dent ifi ed.
Fi ne si lt i n the shal es foll ows the 45clay trend line downwards t o
the cl ay endpoint at the ori gi n. Except for t he gas scatter on CMR
p o rosi ty, the crossplot confirms the high coherence exi sting
between the three l ogs.
Tar zones
detected by the
CMR tool. In
w a t e r, gas or oil ,
the CMR tool has
a cl ear tar signa-
t u re as seen in
Zone Ca sup-
p ressi on of the
long T
2
c o m p o-
nents (track 5)
and a re d u c e d
t otal poro s i t y
(track 4). In this
well the CMR tool
is abl e to con-
f i rmby the pre s-
ence of l arge T
2
contri butions fro m
oi l and no re d u c-
tion i n total CMR
p o rosi tythat the
lower oi l zone
(Zone E) is not tar,
but mobi le oi l,
which coul d be
trapped by a
l ocal st rati graphic
c l o s u re .
56 Oilfield Review
When the tar is in a conductive water zone,
as it is in this example, it can be easily identi-
fied by resistivity measurements. How e ve r,
tar is frequently located in hy d r o c a r b o n
zones, where there is no resistivity contra s t
between tar and nontar hydrocarbon inter-
vals. In such cases, NMR is the only routine
logging measurement that can identify the tar.
Like tar, heavy oil has a short T
2
r e l a x a t i o n
d e c ay time, so detecting heavy oil is similar
to detecting tar, except that the heav y - o i l
relaxation times are sufficiently long to be
captured by the total porosity response of
the CMR-200 tool. Essentially, the heav y - o i l
T
2
contribution shifts the signal below the
3-msec T
2
cutoff, but not below the 0.3-msec
detection limit of the CMR-200 tool (r i g h t ).
This example is from a heavy-oil reservo i r
in California. The low - g ravity (12 to 16API)
oil is produced by a steam-soak injection
method. The logs show that all porosity
logstotal porosity, 3-msec effective poros-
i t y, density and neutron porosityagree in
the lower wet Zone B. The CMR porosities
agree in the wet zone because the formation
does not have T
2
values below 3-msec asso-
ciated with clay-bound porosity or microp-
o r o s i t y. In the upper oil-bearing Zone A ,
total CMR-porosity reads about 5 p.u. higher
than the 3-msec porosity over most of this
i n t e r val, because the heavy oil has consider-
able fast relaxing components below the
3-msec T
2
s e n s i t ivity limit of the early
3-msec porosity measurement. The different
responses of the two CMR porosity measure-
ments to the heavy oil provide a clear delin-
eation of the oil zone and show the oil-
water contact between Zones A and B.
Logging Saves DollarsCombining geo-
chemical logs with CMR-derived permeabil-
ity and free-fluid data, a major oil company
was able to select only productive zones for
s t i m u l a t i o n s aving $150,000 in a South
Texas well.
2 3
The objective was to complete,
including fracture simulation, three high-
r e s i s t ivity potential pay zones at the bottom
of the well. Total porosity from CMR is
approximately 10 to 15 p.u. in all zones,
where free fluid varies from 1 to 10 p.u.
H ow e ve r, spectral data from the ECS Ele-
mental Capture Spectrometer sonde indi-
cate significant differences in clay and car-
bonate cement volumes between zones
( n ext page).
2 4
The two Zones, A and C,
exhibit lower clay and higher carbonate
calcite cementcontent than Zone B.
Resistivity measurements and CMR-derived
bound fluid and permeability correlate
with the lithology changes. Increased clay
volumes in Zone B represent shales that
are clay - r i chsuggesting a lower deposi-
tional rate.
These important lithological differences
h ave significant influence on the electrical,
m e chanical and fluid flow properties of the
r e s e r voir intervals. Bound fluid and free flu-
ids, measured by the CMR tool, vary widely
for any given porosity, and have a large
impact on the permeability.
Based on the logging results, Zone C wa s
p e r f o rated and fracture stimulated and is
currently producing gas at a rate of
6 MMcf/D with a very low water cut of
10 BWPD. The pessimistic estimates of free
fluid volumes and permeability from the
How to see a heavy-oi l water contact wi th total CMR porosity. The
oil -bearing Zone A and the oi l-water contact between Zones A and
B are cl earl y del ineated by the separation between the total CMR
p o rosi ty l og, TCMR, and t he 3-msec porosity l og, CMRP, shown i n
track 3. The oi l-water contact is confi rmed by the resi sti vity l ogs in
track 2. The large heavy oi l contri buti on to the t otal porosity can be
seen by short relaxati on decay components above the oi l-water
contact in the T
2
di stri bution i n track 4.
23. H o r k owitz JP and Cannon DE: Complex Reservo i r
E valuation in Open and Cased We l l s , Tr a n s a c t i o n s
of the SPWLA 38th Annual Logging Symposium,
Houston, Texas, USA, June 15-18, 1997, paper W.
24. Herron SL and Herron MM: Quantitative Lithology:
An Application for Open- and Cased-Hole Spec-
t r o s c o py, Transactions of the SPWLA 37th A n n u a l
Logging Symposium, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA,
June 16-19, 1996, paper E.
Summer 1997 57
CMR tool, confirmed by the increased clay
content shown by the geochemical logs,
c o nvinced the client to cancel the expensive
f racture stimulation and abandon the large
middle zone, Zone B. The upper zone, Zone
A, is currently being perforated and a fra c-
ture stimulation is planned based on the
CMR and ELAN interpretation results, with
an expected gas production rate in excess of
10 MMcf/D.
The Outl ook for t he Future
This is an exciting time for petrophy s i c i s t s ,
r e s e r voir engineers and geologists who use
well logging measurements. Recent
i m p r ovements in NMR logging tool tech n o l-
ogy have dramatically increased the range of
relaxation rates that can be measured in the
borehole. To d ay, we can finally use these
tools to differentiate bound and free fluids in
the formation, determine permeability, and
log faster for bound fluids. We have seen
m a ny examples of how to use these mea-
surements to improve our understanding of
complex shaly sand formations. The CMR
and MRIL tools are commercial and their use
is already routine in many parts of the wo r l d .
H ow e ve r, there is much more to learn.
More work needs to be done to under-
stand how to use T
2
distributions effective l y
in carbonate formations, with their
extremely wide variations in porosity scale
and structure. Our interpretation of NMR
responses in shaly sand reveals bound and
free fluids. In the future, we must extend the
interpretation so that the measured relax-
ation decay times and the T
2
distributions in
carbonates also reflect the mobility and
dynamics of reservoir fluids in these far
more complex pore structures.
RCH
CMR combi ned wi th geochemi cal logs from the ECStool . Decreased free fluid (track 1)
and permeabi l iti es from CMR l ogs (track 2) and hydrocarbons from an ELAN interpre t a-
tion (track 4) show the mi ddl e interval (Zone B) was not worth the expensi ve fracture job
planned by the operator. The low permeabil ity i s due to cl ay and carbonates seen i n thi s
interval (track 4). Two other Zones (A and C) i n the same wel l, were identi fi ed wi th lower
clay, as seen by the geochemical l ogs, and CMR permeabili ties are ten t imes better in
these intervals. Zone C was compl eted and i s producing gas at a rate of 6 MMcf/ D and
Zone A i s expected to produce i n excess of 10 MMcf/ D.