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Homework Assignment No. 3

February 17, 2015
Due on Tuesday, February 24, 2015@ 2:00 PM
PGE368
Spring Semester 2015
Fundamentals of Well Logging

Instructor: Carlos T. Verdín, Ph.D.

BASIC INTERPRETATION OF WELL LOGS ACQUIRED IN

CLASTIC SEDIMENTARY SEQUENCES

DESCRIPTION:
The objective of this homework is to exercise basic concepts in the interpretation
of triple-combo well logs acquired in clastic sedimentary sequences. Specifically,
students will be asked to differentiate between shales, clean sandstones, shaly
sandstones, corresponding saturating fluids, and to perform some basic
calculations from well logs.

GUIDELINES FOR THE PREPARATION OF HOMEWORK REPORTS:

(A) YOUR REPORT SHOULD BE CLEAN, NEAT, AND WELL ORGANIZED.

DESCRIPTIONS SHOULD BE LEGIBLE AND READABLE.
(B) ALL FIGURES AND TABLES SHOULD BE LABELED AND PROPERLY ANNOTATED
WITH A CAPTION. PLOTS SHOULD BE DISPLAYED WITH THEIR AXES, VARIABLES,
AND MEASUREMENT UNITS.
(C) ALL RELEVANT RESULTS AND QUANTITIES SHOULD BE WRITTEN WITH THE
CORRESPONDING MEASUREMENT UNITS.
(D) ATTENTION SHOULD BE PAID TO NUMBER OF DECIMAL FIGURES USED TO
DISPLAY RESULTS.
(E) SPREADSHEETS ARE NOT SELF-EXPLANATORY NOR ARE LOOSE FIGURES.
(F) CLEARLY INDICATE THE NUMBER OF THE PROBLEM THAT YOU ARE
ANSWERING EACH TIME.
(G) CIRCLE YOUR NUMERICAL ANSWERS.
(H) ANSWER QUESTIONS IN ORDER (IF THE ANSWERS ARE ON LOGS, KEEP THE
ORDER AND GIVE THE REFERENCE TO THE PAGE NUMBER WITH THE PLOT),
(I) IF YOU DID NOT HAVE TIME TO FINISH THE HOMEWORK, YOU SHOULD CLEARLY
INDICATE WHICH QUESTIONS YOU DID NOT ANSWER.

POINTS WILL BE DEDUCTED FROM HOMEWORK THAT DOES NOT

ADHERE TO THE ABOVE PRESENTATION RULES.
 SUGGESTION:

This homework project is a continuation of Homework Assignment No.

2. Students are strongly recommended to review the solution set for
Homework Assignment No. 2 before starting to work on the solution for
this new homework project.

QUESTIONS:

(0) In which situation/situations would one expect the electrical

resistivity of a clean, water-saturated sandstone to be ABOVE the
resistivity shale baseline? (check all that apply)

 very low salinity of formation water

 very low porosity
 very high residual hydrocarbon saturation
 very high irreducible water saturation

(1) Refer to Figure No. 2-1. The well logs shown in Figure 2-1 were
acquired in a siliciclastic sedimentary sequence. Even though the
well logs display a density-neutron cross-over the sequence
produced only water, why?

Figure 2-1. Idealized well logs acquired in a siliciclastic sedimentary sequence.

 (2) Refer to Figure 2-2. The well logs shown in Figure 2-2 were acquired
in a siliciclastic sedimentary sequence. What is the approximate
porosity of the clean sandstone centered at 5,040 ft MD?

Figure 2-2. Idealized well logs acquired in a siliciclastic sedimentary sequence.

(3) What is the porosity of a rock whose density porosity reads 27

limestone porosity units, whose grain composition is 100% quartz,
and is saturated with 25% gas and 75% formation water?
NB: water density = 1.0 gm/cc; gas density = 0.2 gm/cc; limestone
density = 2.71 gm/cc; quartz density = 2.65 gm/cc. SHOW YOUR
WORK (No work, no credit!)

(4) A well-cemented and consolidated granular rock includes grains

whose composition is 25% dolomite and 75% quartz and is fully
saturated with water. The density of the rock is 2.35 gm/cc, salt
concentration of formation water is 65,000 ppm NaCl, and resistivity
of mud-filtrate (water base) is 0.20 Ohm-m at 75degF. The rock is
being invaded with water-base mud. Formation temperature is 185
degF. Assume a=1, m=2, and n=2 in Archie’s equations.
NB: The density of dolomite is 2.87 gm/cc, the density of quartz is
2.65 gm/cc, and the density of water is 1.0 gm/cc.
 (4.a) What is the porosity of the rock?

(4.b) What is the deep (uninvaded) resistivity of the rock?

(4.c) What is the shallow (invaded) resistivity of the rock?

SHOW YOUR WORK (No work, no credit!)

(5) Consider the well logs shown on page 42 of PGE368’s Well-Log

Compendium. This is an example of fluvial sedimentary sequence
where formation water is fresh. Density and neutron logs are given in
sandstone porosity units. Depths are given in feet MD from the KB.

(5.a) What is the dominant saturating fluid at 6,765 ft MD?

 hydrocarbon  water  not enough information

(5.b) What is the dominating saturating fluid at 6,715 ft MD?

 hydrocarbon  water  not enough information

(5.c) What is the dominating saturating fluid at 6,515 ft MD?

 hydrocarbon  water  not enough information

BRIEFLY EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWERS TO RECEIVE CREDIT (no

explanation, no credit!)

(6) Consider the well logs shown on page 23 of PGE368’s Well-Log

Compendium. Depths are given in ft MD from the KB. The neutron
log is expressed in sandstone porosity units and the density log in
gm/cc using a porosity-compatible scale with the neutron log. The
well was drilled with oil-base mud. This is an example of a turbidite
sedimentary sequence. Archie’s parameters are a=0.9, m=2.1, and
n=2.0.

(6.a) What is the dominant saturating fluid in the depth section

between 8,760 and 8,800 ft MD?

 salty water  fresh water  hydrocarbon  uncertain

BRIEFLY EXPLAIN YOUR ANSWER TO RECEIVE CREDIT (no

explanation, no credit!)

(6.b) What is the average total porosity in the depth section between
8,760 and 8,800 ft MD? (Hint: calculate the average only across
points where the gamma-ray log exhibits a local minimum)
 (6.c) What is Rw (electrical resistivity of formation water) at 8,780 ft
MD (this is a local minimum of the gamma-ray log)?

(6.d) Calculate total porosity at 8,500 ft MD with the formula

D 2   N 2

2 ,
where D and N are the readings of the density and neutron
porosity logs, respectively.

Consider the idealized set of well logs displayed below. All well logs were
acquired across clastic sedimentary sequences. Density logs are expressed
in gm/cc and neutron logs in sandstone porosity units. Archie’s parameters
are a=1, m=2, and n=2. Assume that the properties of formation water within
porous rock units remain constant across a given example.

(7) Refer to Figure 2-7.

(7.a) What is the dominant saturating fluid at 5375 ft MD? CHECK ONLY ONE
 brine (salty formation water)
 gas
 oil
 gas condensate
 hydrocarbon + water in similar proportions
 hydrocarbon
 uncertain
 olive oil
 fresh water

(7.b) What is the dominant saturating fluid at 5275 ft MD? CHECK ONLY ONE
 brine (salty formation water)
 gas
 oil
 gas condensate
 hydrocarbon + water in similar proportions
 hydrocarbon
 uncertain
 olive oil
 fresh water
 (7.c) What is the dominant saturating fluid at 5075 ft MD? CHECK ONLY ONE
 brine (salty formation water)
 gas
 oil
 gas condensate
 hydrocarbon + water in similar proportions
 hydrocarbon
 uncertain
 olive oil
 fresh water

Figure 2-7. Idealized well logs acquired in a siliciclastic sedimentary sequence.

(8) Refer to Figure 2-8.

(8.a) Do all shales present in this well exhibit the same constitution? CHECK
ONLY ONE
 Yes
 No
(8.b) Is the sandstone unit centered at 5175 ft MD clean (shale free) or not?
CHECK ONLY ONE
 Yes
 No

(8.c) What is the dominant saturating fluid at 5075 ft MD? CHECK ONLY ONE
 brine (salty formation water)
 gas
 oil
 gas condensate
 hydrocarbon + water in similar proportions
 hydrocarbon
 uncertain
 olive oil
 fresh water

(8.d) What is the dominant saturating fluid at 5275 ft MD? CHECK ONLY ONE
 brine (salty formation water)
 gas
 oil
 gas condensate
 hydrocarbon + water in similar proportions
 hydrocarbon
 uncertain
 olive oil
 fresh water

(8.e) What is the dominant saturating fluid at 5375 ft MD? CHECK ONLY ONE
 brine (salty formation water)
 gas
 oil
 gas condensate
 hydrocarbon + water in similar proportions
 hydrocarbon
 uncertain
 olive oil
 fresh water
Figure 2-8. Idealized well logs acquired in a siliciclastic sedimentary sequence.