FORMATION EVALUATION

RESISTIVITY THEORY
 OPENHOLE LOG EVALUATION
Most abundant data for formation evaluation and
determination of fluid saturations

Well Log
SP Resistivity
IDEALIZED R=4

LOG SET  = 0.30

R = 0.4

R=8  = 0.07

Shale

Sand R = 0.3
 = 0.35
 FLUID SATURATIONS

Grain Water Gas Oil

and matrix

• Initially, water fills pores and wets the rock surface

• Hydrocarbons migrate into the reservoir rock, displacing some water
• Hydrocarbon distribution determined by gravity and capillary forces,
and by wettability
 RESISTIVITY
Resistivity

• The voltage required to cause one amp to pass

through a cube having a face area of one
square meter

• Units are ohm-m / m; usually ohm-m (.m)

2

1
Resistivity 
Conductivity
RESISTIVITY – DEFINITION OF THE
OHM-METER

From Halliburton (EL 1007)

RESISTIVITY OF EARTH MATERIALS

1
Resistivity 
Conductivity

Conductivity
Increasing
(1) Rock
(2) Gas
Increasing
Resistivity

(3) Oil
(4) Fresh Water
(5) Salt Water
FACTOR AFFECTING RESISTIVITY

• Resistivity of water
• Porosity of the formation,
• Pore geometry - tortuosity
• Lithology of the formation
• Degree of cementation, and
• Type and amount of clay in the rock
Resistivity
of NaCl
Solutions
____

GEN-5 H
or
GEN-9 S
 ARP’S FORMULA

• For constant solution

– R1(T1 + 7) = R2(T2 + 7) (T in deg F)
– R1(T1 + 21.5) = R2(T2 + 21.5) (T in deg C)

• Example
– Rm = 0.32 ohm-m @ surface (25deg C)
– What is Rm at 145 deg C?
– R2 = R1(T1 + 21.5)/(T2 + 21.5)
– R2 = 0.32(25+21.5)/(145+21.5) = 0.089 ohm-m
– Check this on the chart!
RESISTIVITY OF ROCKS CONTAINING FLUID
 RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENT

• Resistivity
V
 
(ohms) * A m 2
Rohm  meters   I
Lm 
 ARCHIE’S FIRST LAW

• As the salt water content increases, the formation

resistivity will decrease.
• A rock containing oil or gas will have a higher
resistivity than the same rock completely saturated
with salt water.
• As the shale content increases, the rock matrix will
become more conductive.
Ro = Resistivity of a rock that is 100%
saturated with formation water
Rw = Resistivity of formation water
Ro = F Rw (Archie’s – 1st Law)
F = Formation factor (formation resistivity
factor)
 FORMATION FACTOR - 1

The formation factor (F) depends on:

– Porosity of the formation;
– Pore geometry;
– Lithology of the formation;
– Degree of cementation; and
– Type and amount of clay in the rock.
 FORMATION FACTOR - 2
• For a clean formation (no shale), the formation factor can
usually be empirically correlated with porosity.

A
F m

A = constant  1.0 for most formations
m = cementation factor  2 for most formations
• Common values
– F = 0.8/2 (Tixier) or 0.62/2.15 (Humble) for sandstones

– F = 0.8/2 for carbonates

Formation
Resistivity
Factor
Versus
Porosity
RELATION OF FORMATION FACTOR
TO VOLUMETRIC POROSITY
RESISTIVITY FACTOR TO SHALINESS
• The formation factor (F) is constant for a clean
sand; F decreases for shaly sand as value of Rw
increases.
 ARCHIE’S SECOND LAW
• If Rt = R0, then the formation is 100% saturated
with formation water. If Rt > Ro, then the
formation contains oil or gas.

• General formula:

Ro F * R w A * R w
n
Sw    m
Rt Rt  Rt

• For clean sands, n = 2 is common.

• Like A and m, n is measured in the lab.
LAB EVALUATION OF N
 DRILLING DISTURBS FORMATION
• Drilling and rock crushing
– Damage zone
• Mud systems and invasion
– OBM
Mudcake
• Small conductivity mud Damaged zone
• Shallow invasion
• Thin cake
– WBM
Invading filtrate
• Moderate to very
conductive mud
• Shallow to deep invasion
• Thin to thick cake
EFFECTS OF DRILLING AND
MUD FILTRATE INVASION
 MUD FILTRATE INVASION

Uninvaded
Zone
(Rt)
Invaded
Zone (Rxo)

Wellbore
Mud
(Rm)

Uninvaded Mud Cake

Zone (Rmc)
(Rt)
 Resistivity of zone
Resistivity of the water in the zone
Water saturation in the zone
Mud
SYMBOLS USED Rm
Adjacent bed
IN LOG Rs
INTERPRETATION
Uninvaded
Flushed zone
hmc
zone Zone of
Rmc R1
transition
(Bed dh or
Rw
thickness) annulus
Mudcake Rxd
Sw
h Rm1

Sxo
Rs
di
dj
Adjacent bed

(Invasion diameters)

rj

dh
Hole
diameter
 COMMON TERMINOLOGY

Borehole
Rm : Borehole mud resistivity
Rmc : Mudcake resistivity
Invaded zone
Rmf : Mud filtrate resistivity
Rxo : Invaded zone resistivity
Sxo : Invaded zone water saturation
Uninvaded zone
Rw : Interstitial water resistivity
Rt : Uninvaded zone resistivity
Sw : Uninvaded zone water saturation
 RESISTIVITY TOOL APPLICATIONS

• Well to well correlation

• Sxo and Sw computation
• Presence and depth of hydrocarbons
• Estimate moveable hydrocarbon
• Invasion profile analysis / Imaging
WHY 3 DIFFERENT RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENTS?
Uninvaded Zone resistivity,Rt measurement is affected by:
•Mud resistivity, Rm
•Mudcake resistivity, Rmc
•Flushed zone resistivity, Rxo
Three resistivity measurements are made to get an accurate
resistivity, Rt, since no tool can read uninvaded zone (as far as 5-7
ft from borehole) resistivities without compromising vertical
resolution or being affected by flushed zone resistivity, mud
resistivity and mudcake resistivity. Typical depths of investigation:
Resistivity Tool Depth of Investigation
• Deep resistivity 5-7 feet.
• Shallow resistivity 2-3 feet.
• Micro resistivity A few inches ( 2~3 inches)
 CORRECTION CHARTS

•To obtain a value for Rt, we use of correction charts

• The three resistivity measurements are corrected for the
presence of mud, mudcake and invasion effects and also for other
environmental factors like borehole size and tool position in the
borehole.
NOTE : When doing a ‘Quicklook’ analysis on the wellsite, it is
common practice to use the deep measurement as an
approximate value for Rt and the shallow measurement an
approximation of Rxo.
 RESISTIVITY TOOLS

There are two kinds of ‘Resistivity’ tools :

Resistivity tools - Measure resistivity, eg.
Dual Laterolog
Conductivity tools - Measure conductivity,
eg. Array Induction
Tool
RESISTIVITY TOOL: THE DUAL LATEROLOG
• Deep and shallow measurement systems work
simultaneously - this is the ‘dual’ aspect of the tool
• Deep and shallow measurement systems operation at
different frequencies of and have different depths of
investigation
• Both measurements maintain the same vertical resolution
of 2 feet
• All currents (deep and shallow) are emitted circumferentially
from the tool in a disc pattern
 ELECTRODE TOOL PRINCIPLE

• Electrode emits current, I

– Electrode A
– Green lines give current flow
• Electrodes sense voltage, V
– Electrodes M and N
– Red lines show equipotentials
• Formation resistivity, R
– R = KV/I
– K is tool constant
• Simple model ignores
– Current flows up borehole
– Radial changes in R
(invasion)
• View animation file
CONDUCTIVITY TOOLS: INDUCTION LOGS

• Induction log was originally developed to

measure formation resistivity in boreholes
containing oil-based muds
• Electrode devices (conventional electric logs)
do not work in non-conductive muds
• The induction log had many advantages; thus,
it is now run in OBM and fresh WBM wells
 INDUCTION LOGS

• Induction logging devices are focused to

minimize influence of borehole and surrounding
formations
• Designed for deep investigation to determine Rt
• New induction log devices are being developed
using improved electronics, telemetry, and
computer processing
SELECTING THE RESISTIVITY TOOL
 RESISTIVITY TOOL SUMMARY

•Micro-resistivity has a very shallow depth of

investigation - approximately 2-3 inches.
•Micro-resistivity is measured with tools like the
micro-spherically Focused Tool.
• All three types of resistivity tools help determine Rt, with
the use of correction charts. This exercise will be covered
in the lab assignments.
 Rock containing pores saturated
with water and hydrocarbons

Non-shaly rock, 100% saturated

with water having resistivity,
Rw

Rt Cube of water
= 20% having resistivity,
Sw = 20% Rw
Ro
= 20%
Sw = 100%

Rw
= 100%
Sw = 100%
(1) Rock
Conductivity
Increasing
Resistivity
Increasing

(2) Gas
(3) Oil
a
(4) Fresh Water
F  Ro 
(5) Salt Water Rw m
 Archie’s Law

ARw
S  m
n
Uninvaded Zone water

w
Rt saturation

A Rmf
S 
n
 Invaded/Flushed zone water

xo m
Rxo saturation
VARIABLES DETERMINED
FROM WIRELINE LOGS

1/ n
 a Rw 
S w   m 

  Rt 
 ARCHIE’S EQUATION

Empirical constant
(usually near unity) Resistivity of

a Rw formation water,

Sw  n
-m


Water
saturation,
m Cementation
exponent
fraction
Saturation
exponent
Rtt (usually near 2)

(also usually Resistivity of

near 2) Porosity, uninvaded
fraction formation, -m