Chapter 4

Production Logging
R.M. McKinley, SPE, Consultant and Norman Carlson, Consultant
4.1 Introduction
This chapter consists of a general discussion of production logs, some misconceptions about
what can be determined with these logs, and the requisite skills to obtain good results. Also
included are discussions of practical matters such as required safety and environmental tips,
sinker-bar weight, maximum tool length to pass through a bend, depth control, pricing, and
record keeping. Attached as an Appendix is a set of tables prepared for readers that are consult-
ing this text to find out quickly what type of production-logging tools are appropriate to a
particular problem. These tables indicate what tools to use, how to use them, and what results
(resolution) to expect. These tables were designed to be independent of the general discussion
and can be used by themselves. The indexing scheme used in the tabulation is explained in the
Appendix.
Production-logging tools find many applications from the time a well is drilled until aban-
donment and, occasionally, beyond. An appropriate categorization of production logs is by
usage. This approach leads to the five distinct categories listed below that also represent a
rough chronological order of tool evolution. Effective interpretation of the data from each type
of log requires significant education and experience.
1. Diagnose production problems and allocate production.
2. Monitor cement placement.
3. Monitor corrosion.
4. Monitor reservoir fluid contacts.
5. Select zones for recompletion.
These are discussed as categories below.
4.1.1 Category One. Includes tools used to track movement of fluid either inside or immedi-
ately outside the casing of a well. The logs frequently used for such flow diagnosis and
allocation include temperature surveys, mechanical flowmeter surveys, and borehole fluid-densi-
ty or fluid-capacitance surveys. Each of these tools responds to fluid velocity or fluid type. The
logs are run to determine if a production problem, such as excessive water or gas production,
is the result of a completion problem or a reservoir problem. Their value thus resides in the
guidance they give for continued expenditure on a well that is performing poorly. This type of
application is largely responsible for the growth and evolution of modern production logging.
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Also belonging in Category One are evaluations of the placement of acids or hydraulic-fractur-
ing material and diagnoses of premature flow or lost circulation in a drilling well.
4.1.2 Category Two. There are two different objectives of cement-placement monitoring: to
determine where the cement went (cement top) and to determine whether the cement provides
zonal isolation. The logs used to locate the cement top include the temperature log, which re-
sponds to hydration heating; the unfocused gamma ray log, which responds to behind-pipe
density; and the regular bond log, which measures the acoustical deadening of pipe.
Zonal isolation should be addressed when pressure imbalance causes crossflow through poor-
ly cemented sections, leading to excessive production of unwanted fluids. The tools most often
used for this purpose include cement-bond logs, temperature, noise, radioactive tracer, and neu-
tron-activation logs. The temperature log detects alterations caused by flow, the noise log
measures turbulent sound caused by flow, and the tracer log tracks tagged fluid behind casing.
The neutron-activation log creates tracer in behind-pipe water.
4.1.3 Category Three. Corrosion-monitoring tools are specialized in nature and include me-
chanical caliper tools and electromagnetic casing-inspection tools. The mechanical caliper tools
are used to assess corrosion internal to the casing and to measure the shape of casing as well
as the amount of rod and drillpipe wear inside tubing or casing. The electromagnetic devices
respond to changes in metal thickness either inside or outside the pipe containing the tool.
These logging tools are either of the eddy-current type or of the flux-leakage type, or a combi-
nation of the two. The eddy-current devices measure the load on a coil resulting from eddy
currents induced into the wall of the casing. This load increases with increases in wall thick-
ness. The driven frequency of the coil determines the depth of penetration of the field into the
casing wall. The flux-leakage devices measure, by means of pad-conveyed coils in contact with
the pipe wall, the induced currents that result from magnetic field lines that escape at abrupt
changes in metal-wall thickness. Both types of tools make indirect measurements that are then
related to metal loss through calibration.
4.1.4 Categories Four and Five. The last two categories, monitoring of fluid contacts in for-
mations and selection of recompletion zones, use the cased-hole nuclear logs such as the
neutron, the pulsed-neutron, and the various spectral logs. Please refer to the chapter on nucle-
ar logging in the Reservoir Engineering volume of this Handbook for information on these logs.
V-496 Petroleum Engineering HandbookVol. V
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