Well logging

Well logging, also known as borehole logging is the

practice of making a detailed record (a well log) of
the geologic formations penetrated by a borehole. The
log may be based either on visual inspection of samples brought to the surface (geological logs) or on physical measurements made by instruments lowered into the
hole (geophysical logs). Some types of geophysical well
logs can be done during any phase of a wells history:
drilling, completing, producing, or abandoning. Well logging is performed in boreholes drilled for the oil and gas,
groundwater, mineral and geothermal exploration, as well
as part of environmental and geotechnical studies.

Real-time data is recorded directly against measured cable depth. Memory data is recorded against time, and
then depth data is simultaneously measured against time.
The two data sets are then merged using the common time
base to create an instrument response versus depth log.
Memory recorded depth can also be corrected in exactly
the same way as real-time corrections are made, so there
should be no dierence in the attainable TAH accuracy.
The measured cable depth can be derived from a number
of dierent measurements, but is usually either recorded
based on a calibrated wheel counter, or (more accurately)
using magnetic marks which provide calibrated increments of cable length. The measurements made must
then be corrected for elastic stretch and temperature.[1]

Wireline logging

There are many types of wireline logs and they can be

categorized either by their function or by the technology
that they use. Open hole logs are run before the oil or
gas well is lined with pipe or cased. Cased hole logs
are run after the well is lined with casing or production
pipe.[2]

The oil and gas industry uses wireline logging to obtain a

continuous record of a formations rock properties. Wireline logging can be dened as being The acquisition and
analysis of geophysical data performed as a function of
well bore depth, together with the provision of related
services. Note that wireline logging and mud logging
are not the same, yet are closely linked through the integration of the data sets. The measurements are made
referenced to TAH - True Along Hole depth: these and
the associated analysis can then be used to infer further
properties, such as hydrocarbon saturation and formation
pressure, and to make further drilling and production decisions.

Wireline logs can be divided into broad categories based

on the physical properties measured.

1.1 History

Wireline logging is performed by lowering a 'logging tool'

- or a string of one or more instruments - on the end
of a wireline into an oil well (or borehole) and recording petrophysical properties using a variety of sensors.
Logging tools developed over the years measure the natural gamma ray, electrical, acoustic, stimulated radioactive
responses, electromagnetic, nuclear magnetic resonance,
pressure and other properties of the rocks and their contained uids. For this article, they are broadly broken
down by the main property that they respond to.

Conrad and Marcel Schlumberger, who founded

Schlumberger Limited in 1926, are considered the
inventors of electric well logging. Conrad developed
the Schlumberger array, which was a technique for
prospecting for metal ore deposits, and the brothers
adopted that surface technique to subsurface applications. On September 5, 1927, a crew working for
Schlumberger lowered an electric sonde or tool down
a well in Pechelbronn, Alsace, France creating the rst
well log. In modern terms, the rst log was a resistivity
log that could be described as 3.5-meter upside-down
lateral log.[3]

The data itself is recorded either at surface (real-time

mode), or in the hole (memory mode) to an electronic
data format and then either a printed record or electronic
presentation called a well log is provided to the client,
along with an electronic copy of the raw data. Well
logging operations can either be performed during the
drilling process (see Logging While Drilling), to provide
real-time information about the formations being penetrated by the borehole, or once the well has reached Total
Depth and the whole depth of the borehole can be logged.

In 1931, Henri George Doll and G. Dechatre, working for

Schlumberger, discovered that the galvanometer wiggled
even when no current was being passed through the logging cables down in the well. This led to the discovery of
the spontaneous potential (SP) which was as important as
the ability to measure resistivity. The SP eect was produced naturally by the borehole mud at the boundaries
of permeable beds. By simultaneously recording SP and
resistivity, loggers could distinguish between permeable
oil-bearing beds and impermeable nonproducing beds.[4]
1

1 WIRELINE LOGGING

In 1940, Schlumberger invented the spontaneous poten- 1.2 Electrical logs

tial dipmeter; this instrument allowed the calculation of
the dip and direction of the dip of a layer. The basic 1.2.1 Resistivity Log
dipmeter was later enhanced by the resistivity dipmeter
(1947) and the continuous resistivity dipmeter (1952).
See also: Resistivity logging
Oil-based mud (OBM) was rst used in Rangely Field,
Colorado in 1948. Normal electric logs require a conResistivity logging works by characterizing the rock or
ductive or water-based mud, but OBMs are nonconducsediment in a borehole by measuring its electrical resistive. The solution to this problem was the induction log,
tivity.
developed in the late 1940s.
The introduction of the transistor and integrated circuits
in the 1960s made electric logs vastly more reliable.
Computerization allowed much faster log processing, and
dramatically expanded log data-gathering capacity. The
1970s brought more logs and computers. These included
combo type logs where resistivity logs and porosity logs
were recorded in one pass in the borehole.

1.2.2 Image log

Image logs use a rotating transducer to measure acoustic

impedance across the entire borehole wall.[6] This can
then be used to identify the presence and direction of rock
The two types of porosity logs (acoustic logs and nuclear fractures, as well as understanding the dip direction of the
logs) date originally from the 1940s. Sonic logs grew out stratigraphy.
of technology developed during World War II. Nuclear
logging has supplemented acoustic logging, but acoustic
or sonic logs are still run on some combination logging
1.3 Porosity logs
tools.
Nuclear logging was initially developed to measure the
natural gamma radiation emitted by underground formations. However, the industry quickly moved to logs
that actively bombard rocks with nuclear particles. The
gamma ray log, measuring the natural radioactivity, was
introduced by Well Surveys Inc. in 1939, and the WSI
neutron log came in 1941. The gamma ray log is particularly useful as shale beds which often provide a relatively
low permeability cap over hydrocarbon reservoirs usually
display a higher level of gamma radiation. These logs
were important because they can be used in cased wells
(wells with production casing). WSI quickly became part
of Lane-Wells. During World War II, the US Government gave a near wartime monopoly on open-hole logging
to Schlumberger, and a monopoly on cased-hole logging
to Lane-Wells.[5] Nuclear logs continued to evolve after
the war.
The nuclear magnetic resonance log was developed in
1958 by Borg Warner. Initially the NMR log was a scientic success but an engineering failure. However, the
development of a continuous NMR logging tool by Numar (now a subsidiary of Halliburton) is a promising new
technology.
Many modern oil and gas wells are drilled directionally.
At rst, loggers had to run their tools somehow attached
to the drill pipe if the well was not vertical. Modern
techniques now permit continuous information at the surface. This is known as logging while drilling (LWD)
or measurement-while-drilling (MWD). MWD logs use
mud pulse technology to transmit data from the tools on
the bottom of the drillstring to the processors at the surface.

Porosity logs measure the fraction or percentage of pore

volume in a volume of rock. Most porosity logs use either acoustic or nuclear technology. Acoustic logs measure characteristics of sound waves propagated through
the well-bore environment. Nuclear logs utilize nuclear
reactions that take place in the downhole logging instrument or in the formation. Nuclear logs include density
logs and neutron logs, as well as gamma ray logs which
are used for correlation. [7] The basic principle behind the
use of nuclear technology is that a neutron source placed
near the formation whose porosity is being measured will
result in neutrons being scattered by the hydrogen atoms,
largely those present in the formation uid. Since there is
little dierence in the neutrons scattered by hydrocarbons
or water, the porosity measured gives a gure close to the
true physical porosity whereas the gure obtained from
electrical resistivity measurements is that due to the conductive formation uid. The dierence between neutron
porosity and electrical porosity measurements therefore
indicates the presence of hydrocarbons in the formation
uid.

1.3.1 Density
See also: Density logging
The density log measures the bulk density of a formation by bombarding it with a radioactive source and measuring the resulting gamma ray count after the eects of
Compton Scattering and Photoelectric absorption. This
bulk density can then be used to determine porosity.

1.5
1.3.2

Miscellaneous
Neutron porosity

See also: Formation evaluation neutron porosity

The neutron porosity log works by bombarding a formation with high energy epithermal neutrons that lose energy through elastic scattering to near thermal levels before being absorbed by the nuclei of the formation atoms.
Depending on the particular type of neutron logging tool,
either the gamma ray of capture, scattered thermal neutrons or scattered, higher energy epithermal neutrons are
detected.[8] The neutron porosity log is predominantly
sensitive to the quantity of hydrogen atoms in a particular
formation, which generally corresponds to rock porosity.

3
was measured relative to a xed reference electrode at the
surface.[11]
The most useful component of this potential dierence is
the electrochemical potential because it can cause a signicant deection in the SP response opposite permeable
beds. The magnitude of this deection depends mainly
on the salinity contrast between the drilling mud and the
formation water, and the clay content of the permeable
bed. Therefore the SP log is commonly used to detect
permeable beds and to estimate clay content and formation water salinity.

1.5 Miscellaneous

Boron is known to cause anomalously low neutron tool

count rates due to it having a high capture cross section for
thermal neutron absorption.[9] An increase in hydrogen 1.5.1 Caliper
concentration in clay minerals has a similar eect on the
See also: Caliper log
count rate.
1.3.3

Sonic

See also: Sonic logging

A tool that measures the diameter of the borehole, using

either 2 or 4 arms.[10] It can be used to detect regions
where the borehole walls are compromised and the well
logs may be less reliable.

A sonic log provides a formation interval transit time,

which typically varies lithology and rock texture but particularly porosity. The logging tool consists of a piezo- 1.5.2 Nuclear magnetic resonance
electric transmitter and receiver and the time taken to for
the sound wave to travel the xed distance between the See also: Nuclear magnetic resonance logging
two is recorded as an interval transit time.

1.4
1.4.1

Lithology logs
Gamma ray

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) logging uses the

NMR response of a formation to directly determine its
porosity and permeability, providing a continuous record
along the length of the borehole.[12][13]

See also: Gamma ray logging

1.5.3 Spectral noise logging
A log of the natural radioactivity of the formation along
the borehole, measured in API, particularly useful for
distinguishing between sands and shales in a siliclastic
environment.[10] This is because sandstones are usually
nonradioactive quartz, whereas shales are naturally radioactive due to potassium isotopes in clays, and adsorbed
uranium and thorium.
1.4.2

Self/spontaneous potential

See also: Spontaneous potential logging

The Spontaneous Potential (SP) log measures the natural
or spontaneous potential dierence between the borehole
and the surface, without any applied current. It was one of
the rst wireline logs to be developed, found when a single
potential electrode was lowered into a well and a potential

Spectral noise logging (SNL) is an acoustic noise measuring technique used in oil and gas wells for well integrity
analysis, identication of production and injection intervals and hydrodynamic characterisation of the reservoir.
SNL records acoustic noise generated by uid or gas ow
through the reservoir or leaks in downhole well components.
Noise logging tools have been used in the petroleum industry for several decades. As far back as 1955, an
acoustic detector was proposed for use in well integrity
analysis to identify casing holes.[14] Over many years,
downhole noise logging tools proved eective in inow
and injectivity proling of operating wells,[15][16] leak
detection,[17][18] location of cross-ows behind casing,[19]
and even in determining reservoir uid compositions.[20]
Robinson (1974) described how noise logging can be
used to determine eective reservoir thickness.[21]

3 MUDLOGGING

1.6

Logging while drilling

In the 1970s, a new approach to wireline logging was introduced in the form of logging while drilling (LWD).
This technique provides similar well information to conventional wireline logging but instead of sensors being
lowered into the well at the end of wireline cable, the
sensors are integrated into the drill string and the measurements are made in real-time, whilst the well is being
drilled. This allows drilling engineers and geologists to
quickly obtain information such as porosity, resistivity,
hole direction and weight-on-bit and they can use this information to make immediate decisions about the future
of the well and the direction of drilling.[22]
In LWD, measured data is transmitted to the surface
in real time via pressure pulses in the wells mud uid
column. This mud telemetry method provides a bandwidth of less than 10 bits per second, although, as drilling
through rock is a fairly slow process, data compression
techniques mean that this is an ample bandwidth for realtime delivery of information. A higher sample rate of
data is recorded into memory and retrieved when the
drillstring is withdrawn at bit changes. High-denition
downhole and subsurface information is available through
networked or wired drillpipe that deliver memory quality
data in real time.[23]

1.7

Memory log

This method of data acquisition involves recording the

sensor data into a down hole memory, rather than transmitting Real Time to surface. There are some advantages and disadvantages to this memory option.
The tools can be conveyed into wells where the trajectory is deviated or extended beyond the reach of
conventional Electric Wireline cables. This can involve a combination of weight to strength ratio of
the electric cable over this extended reach. In such
cases the memory tools can be conveyed on Pipe or
Coil Tubing.
The type of sensors are limited in comparison to
those used on Electric Line, and tend to be focussed on the cased hole,production stage of the
well. Although there are now developed some memory Open Hole compact formation evaluation tool
combinations. These tools can be deployed and carried downhole concealed internally in drill pipe to
protect them from damage while running in the hole,
and then Pumped out the end at depth to initiate
logging. Other basic open hole formation evaluation
memory tools are available for use in Commodity
markets on slickline to reduce costs and operating
time.

ical wire (.82 - .125 inches in OD), to manipulate

or otherwise carry out operations in the well bore
completion system. Memory operations are often
carried out on this Slickline conveyance in preference to mobilizing a full service Electric Wireline
unit.
Since the results are not known until returned to
surface, any realtime well dynamic changes cannot
be monitored real time. This limits the ability to
modify or change the well down hole production
conditions accurately during the memory logging by
changing the surface production rates. Something
that is often done in Electric Line operations.
Failure during recording is not known until the
memory tools are retrieved. This loss of data can
be a major issue on large oshore (expensive) locations. On land locations (e.g. South Texas, US)
where there is what is called a Commodity Oil service sector, where logging often is without the rig
infrastructure. this is less problematic, and logs are
often run again without issue.

2 Coring
See also: Core sample
Coring is the process of obtaining an actual sample of a
rock formation from the borehole. There are two main
types of coring: 'full coring', in which a sample of rock
is obtained using a specialised drill-bit as the borehole
is rst penetrating the formation and 'sidewall coring', in
which multiple samples are obtained from the side of the
borehole after it has penetrated through a formation. The
main advantage of sidewall coring over full coring are that
it is cheaper (drilling doesn't have to be stopped) and multiple samples can be easily acquired, with the main disadvantages being that there can be uncertainty in the depth
at which the sample was acquired and the tool can fail to
acquire the sample.[24][25]

3 Mudlogging
See also: Mud logging

Mud logs are well logs prepared by describing rock or

soil cuttings brought to the surface by mud circulating
in the borehole. In the oil industry they are usually prepared by a mud logging company contracted by the operating company. One parameter a typical mud log displays is the formation gas (gas units or ppm). The gas
recorder usually is scaled in terms of arbitrary gas units,
which are dened dierently by the various gas-detector
In cased hole operation there is normally a Slick manufactures. In practice, signicance is placed only on
Line intervention unit. This uses a solid mechan- relative changes in the gas concentrations detected.[26]

5
The current oil industry standard mud log normally includes real-time drilling parameters such as rate of penetration (ROP), lithology, gas hydrocarbons, ow line temperature (temperature of the drilling uid) and chlorides
but may also include mud weight, estimated pore pressure and corrected d-exponent (corrected drilling exponent) for a pressure pack log. Other information that is
normally notated on a mud log include directional data
(deviation surveys), weight on bit, rotary speed, pump
pressure, pump rate, viscosity, drill bit info, casing shoe
depths, formation tops, mud pump info, to name just a
few.

Information use

See also: Formation evaluation

[4] Pike, Bill; Rhonda Duey (2002). Logging history rich

with innovation ( Scholar search ). Harts E&P: 5255. Retrieved 2008-06-02.
[5] Now a division of Baker Hughes
[6] Crains Petrophysical Handbook
[7] Sengel, E.W. Bill (1981). Handbook on well logging.
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Institute for Energy Development. p. 168 p. ISBN 0-89419-112-8.
[8] Schlumberger Oileld Glossary
[9] Etnyre, L.M. (1989). Finding Oil and Gas from Well
Logs. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 249 p. ISBN
978-0442223090.
[10] Darling, Toby (2005). Well Logging and Formation Evaluation. Oxford, UK: Elsevier. p. 5 p. ISBN 0-75067883-6.
[11] Etnyre, L.M. (1989). Finding Oil and Gas from Well

In the oil industry, the well and mud logs are usually transLogs. Kluwer Academic Publishers. p. 220 p. ISBN
ferred in 'real time' to the operating company, which uses
978-0442223090.
these logs to make operational decisions about the well,
to correlate formation depths with surrounding wells, and [12] Gluyas, J. & Swarbrick, R. (2004) Petroleum Geoscience.
Publ. Blackwell Publishing
to make interpretations about the quantity and quality of
hydrocarbons present. Specialists involved in well log in- [13] Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technology of
terpretation are called log analysts.
the 21st century. Kenyon, Kleinberg, Straley, Gube-

lin, and Morris. Oileld Review. http://eps.mcgill.ca/

~{}courses/c550/Literature/NMR-21st-century.pdf

See also
Drilling mud
Drilling rig

[15] Britt E.L. 1976. Theory and applications of the borehole audio tracer survey, the SPWLA Seventeenth Annual
Logging Symposium, Denver, Colorado

Formation evaluation

[16] Spectral Noise Logging Data Processing Technology

Well control

[17] Leak Detection by Temperature and Noise Logging

Geosteering
List of oileld service companies
Log ASCII Standard
Wireline

[14] Enright, R.J. 1955. Sleuth for Down-Hole Leaks, Oil &
Gas J.:78-79

References

[1] Harald Bolt, Wireline Depth Determination, Rev 3.3, Apr

2012, available via Society of Professional Well Log Analysts web site, www.spwla.org
[2] Society of Professional Well Log Analysts (1975). Glossary of terms & expressions used in well logging. Houston,
Texas: SPWLA. p. 74 p.
[3] Hilchie, Douglas W. (1990). Wireline: A history of the
well logging and perforating business in the oil elds. Boulder, Colorado: Privately Published. p. 200.

[18] Innovative Logging Tool Using Noise Log and High Precision Temperature Help to Diagnoses Complex Problems
[19] McKinley, R.M. 1994. Temperature, Radioactive Tracer,
and Noise Logging for Well Integrity: 112-156
[20] Wang J, Alex van der Spek et al. 1999. Characterizing
Sound Generated by Multiphase Flow, SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Houston, Texas
[21] Robinson W.S. 1974. Field Results From the NoiseLogging Technique, 49th Annual Fall Meeting of the SPE
of AIME in Houston, Texas
[22] Rigzone How Does Logging-While-Drilling (LWD)
Work?
[23] Ali, T.H.; M. Sas, J.H. Hood, S.R. Lemke, A. Srinivasan
(2008). High Speed Telemetry Drill Pipe Network Optimizes Drilling Dynamics And Wellbore Placement. Society of Petroleum Engineers. Retrieved 25 September
2012.
[24] Halliburton. Sidewall Coring

[25] Schlumberger Oileld Glossary. Core

[26] Bourgoyne, Adam; Keith Millheim, Martin Chenevert,
F.S. Young Jr. (1986). Applied Drilling Engineering.
Richardson, TX: Society of Petroleum Engineers. p. 274
p. ISBN 1-55563-001-4.

External links
Society of Petrophysicists & Well Log Analysts

EXTERNAL LINKS

An example of a granite core

Wireline log consisting of a complete set of logs

8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

Well logging Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well%20logging?oldid=632340401 Contributors: Jengod, Bearcat, SWAdair, Jmaxit,

Vsmith, Arcenciel, Woohookitty, Tabletop, Bluemoose, BD2412, Dexcel, Mysekurity, Wavelength, RussBot, QBorg, CambridgeBayWeather, Welsh, JocK, TastyCakes, Kkmurray, Claygate, Garion96, Veinor, SmackBot, Bigbluesh, ProveIt, Hmains, Bluebot, Llad,
Berland, Bobbing heads, Mwtoews, Qyd, Wafulz, A876, Florent GSS, Teratornis, LigerThai, Mikenorton, CosineKitty, .anacondabot,
Craw-daddy, SwiftBot, Bramfab, Exploratory, R'n'B, CommonsDelinker, Nkbasu, Birczanin, Chimpex, Slysplace, Plazak, Smorolez, Glom,
Phe-bot, Oileldtiger, Alison Troup, ClueBot, Jan1nad, Mild Bill Hiccup, Ktr101, BakuMatt, Arjayay, Environnement2100, Kolyma, Addbot, DOI bot, Pelex, MrOllie, Caveman1949, Lightbot, Mudgineer, Yobot, Ptbotgourou, Plasticbot, Citation bot, Crookesmoor, A little
insignicant, Abrateg1, Jonesey95, Frismschism, Dinamik-bot, Gwrightnyc, Acather96, Da500063, DMChatterton, Azat Rami, Ttpetroengr, Joshua Doubek, Rangoon11, ClueBot NG, Wesley Vole, PartTimeGnome, Rocksandwaves, HtownCat, YFdyh-bot, Mogism, Frosty,
Cdbartlett19, Uzowuru up, Illuminated2006, DepthLogger, ExtremeHeat11, Monkbot, Andrey Arbuzov and Anonymous: 83

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