SPE

Society of Petroleum Engineers

SPE 17610

The Evaluation of Oil Saturation Through Casing Using

Carbon/Oxygen Logs
by R. Woodhouse,* BP Exploration Co., and S.A. Kerr, BP Research Inti.
*SPE Member

Copyright 1988 Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE International Meeting on Petroleum Engineering, held in Tianjin, China, November 1-4, 1988.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following. review of information. contained in an a~stract submit~ed by the
author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed ~~the Soc1ety ?f Petroleum Engmee_rs and ~re s~bJect to correct1on by the
author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any pos1t1on of the Society of Pe~roleum Engineers, 1ts_off1cers, or ~e":Jbers. Pape~s
presented at SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committ.ees of the Soc1ety of Petroleu~ Engm~ers. Perm1ss1on to copy IS
restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may notbe copied. The abstract should contam conspicuous acknowledgment of
where and by whom the paper is presented. Write Publications Manager, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083·3836. Telex, 730989 SPEDAL.

ABSTRACT vicinity of the borehole. Early logging tools

were constrained to stationary measurements in
Carbon/oxygen logging is used to determine oil order to obtain results of acceptable precision;
saturation in cased holes without knowing in recent years, slow but continuous logging
formation water salinity. measurements have emerged. This paper reviews
the principles o~ the measurement, assesses the
When the carbon/oxygen tool is used alone, in accuracy and precision achievable and then.
non-extreme conditions, the accuracy of the discusses field examples made with contemporary
interpreted So is calculated to be ±23 saturation logs.
units at 20% porosity. The uncertainty increases
rapidly as porosity decreases. TOOL PHYSICS
Field examples illustrate its potential value and The spectrometry of neutron induced gamma-rays
practical problems created by the measurement provides the basis for a family of techniques of
statistics, borehole fluid changes and remaining growing importance to well logging, especially
mud filtrate. through casing. All neutron sources suitable for
deployment in logging tools emit fast (high
INTRODUCTION energy) neutrons. Most fast neutrons are slowed
down (thermalised) and are eventually captured by
As an ever increasi~g number of oil and gas
nuclei of the materials in the vicinity of the
reservoirs reach maturity, so emphasis has been borehole. Slowing down is principally the result
placed on developing effective cased hole of elastic scattering (billiard ball type
reservoir monitoring techniques. Reservoir collisions), but a significant number of
parameters of critical importance are original inelastic scattering interactions also occur.
and residual hydrocarbon saturation. Thermal
neutron die-away interpretation becomes Inelastic scattering involves the transfer of
unreliable in reservoirs with low or unknown kinetic energy from the incident neutron into
salinity waters. It is for these environments excitation energy of the sca~l 0 ring nucleus. This
that the fechniqueof carbon/oxygen logging was energy rapidly (less than 10 seconds) emerges
developed • as gamma-rays of discrete energies, emitted as
the nucleus de-excites. Inelastic scattering
The technique relies on the detection of from light nuclei can only take place when the
gamma-rays, resulting from energetic neutron incident neutron exceeds a threshold energy of at
collisions, to provide information on the least a few MeV. For this reason, inelastic
concentrations of carbon and oxygen in the scattering can only occur immediately (less than
few microseconds) after neutron emission.

Logging tool2 ~ased on inelastic scattering

measurements ' employ a pulsed deuterium-tritium
References and illustrations at end of paper

621
2 THE EVALUATION OF OIL SATURATION THROUGH CASING USING CARBON/OXYGEN LOGS SPE 17610

accelerator which supplie~ intense bursts of 14 Figure 4 shows the response of a logging tool to
MeV neutrons. The high initial neutron energy
thermal neutron capture gamma-rays from chlorine.
enhances the probability of inelastic scattering,
There are, however, quite substantial differences
whilst the pulsing of the source permits between the formation volume s~mpled by inelastic
background gamma spectral measurements to be
scattering and neutron capture • The differences
obtained between bursts when inelastic events do primarily arise because the thermal neutron flux
not occur. Subtraction of this background
density falls away more gradually than that of
suppresses significant interfering signals from the high energy neutrons with increasing distance
thermal neutron capture gamma-rays. The
from the source. Such differences may be of
resulting net inelastic gamma-ray spectrum significance when considering the bed boundary
consists of contributions from a number of the responses of neutron capture and inelastic
major elements of the rock, casing and associated
scattering measurements.
fluids. In a hydrocarbon bearing formation, the
signals from carbon and oxygen predominate, (see
CARBON/ OXYGEN INTERPRETATION
Figure 1a) with gamma-ray energies of 4.437 and
6.129 MeV respectively. The triplet structure is In order to interpret the measured carbon/oxygen
characteristic of the detection process.
ratio (COR), signal contributions from the
Elements such as Ca, Si and Fe may also give
borehole, formation fluids and rock matrix must
measurable inelastic signals.
be taken into account. An expression relating
these sources of carbon agd oxygen to COR has
Analysis of the inelastic and capture spectra
been developed by Hertzog , and takes the form:-
allows elemental yields to be extracted. Results
are expressed in the form of elemental ratios· C . +C +C
in particular carbon/oxygen (C/O or COR), and's! COR A --~~!!!~-----E2!~-~E~£~ _____ Q2!~g2!~ ••• (1)
and Ca ratios. Hence measurement uncertainties 0 + 0 + 0
related to the neutron source intensity are ·matrix pore space borehole
eliminated.
This may be expressed more fully as:-
In order to study the depth of investigation,
a(l-~) + {3~so + Be
calculations we4e performed at the BP Research
Centre, Sunbury using the discrete ordinate
COR A -----------------------
')"(1-¢>) + 0~(1-So) + Bo
••• (2)
multi-group neutron transport code, ANISN. · '
Figure 2 shows the results of a calculation of
Equation 2 forms the basis for COR interpretation,
the cumulative carbon and oxygen response from an
which is usually performed 'ith the aid of 'fan
oil bearing limestone formation plotted as a
function of radial distance. For the formation charts' such as the example shown in Figure 5. A
fan chart for a particular lithology and borehole
component, 50% of the response originates within
geometry relates COR to porosity by a family of
4" (10 em) of the borehole wall, however this
curves, each representing a different oil
does not take into account borehole
saturation.
contributions.
Alternatively, equation 2 can be rearranged to
In the case shown for a water-filled hole, the
solve for oil saturation:-
borehole contributes about 45% of the total
oxygen signal. In the case shown for an
oil filled hole, the borehole contribution to the ('YCOR - O!A)( 1 - ~) + COR(O~ + Bo) - ABc
total carbon signal is in exeess of 60%. Of the So -------------------------------------- ••• (3)
~ ( {3A + OCOR)
remainder, 26% is derived from the rock matrix
and only 14% from the formation hydrocarbon. The
Assuming that the formation lithology and
carbon/oxygen response is consequently influenced
porosity are known, together with the composition
much more strongly by borehole carbon than by
oxygen. Water filled holes are therefore to be of the borehole fluid, equation 3 will yield a
value for oil saturation. The lithology
preferred.
information necessary to assign values for the
parameters Q!and "f may be obtained from open hol2
Figure 3 is an isometric plot of the formation
vertical and radial contributions to the logs or from the Si/Ca ratio (or LIR). Westaway
has published atomic concentrations of carbon and
inelastic carbon response for a 20% porosity,
oxygen for common lithologies and fluids. For
water saturated, limestone in which the borehole
quartz/ carbonate formations a= 0.027 (1-LIR) and
contribution has been suppressed. The response
')"= 0.081 + 0.007 LIR.
is seen to come primarily from two regions in the
formation: gamma-rays originating near the
Matrix carbon will generally be associated with
detector have a high probability of detection,
limestone and dolomite but occasionally other
whilst the most intense gamma-ray emissions occur
minerals, such as siderite or carbon rich clays,
near the source where the fast neutron flux may need to be considered. Matrix oxygen is
density is highest.

622
SPE 17610 R. WOODHOUSE AND S.A. KERR
present in most minerals in proportions which do
not vary widely. The sandstone value of ~is
quite insensitive to the presence of micas,
feldspars or clays, i.e. the complex mineralogy.
Although the COR measurement is dependent on
lithology, it is largely insensitive to water
salinity or shaliness of a formation. This
important benefit is a characteristic of
inelastic scattering measurements. The C/O tool
response is almost unaffected by the presence of
thermal neutron absorbers, such as boron and
chlorine, which have such a strong influence on,
for example, neutron porosity and die-away
measurements.
UNCERTAINTY OF COR MEASUREMENT AND So
INTERPRETATION
A discussion of accuracy requires an analysis of
the components involved in the laboratory
calibration, tool measurement and field
application.
The logging contractors have carried out
laboratory test pit calibrations for many
combinations of the carbon/oxygen ratio, oil
saturation, porosity, lithology and borehole
fluid. Comparisons of the tool measurement of
COR with the calculated COR, for a given
laboratory borehole and formatio§, have been
made. The published comparisons give the
uncertainty of equation 2, the COR to So
relationship, as + 0.016 in COR, even when long
counting times reduce the COR statistics to
negligible amounts. Laboratory uncertainties in
the borehole carbon, borehole oxygen and the
spectral analysis systems of the tool are
included in this estimate.
In the field the measurement of COR must be made
when conditions are less certain than in the
laboratory and the counting times are shorter.
By making multiple passes the precision
(repeatability) of the COR measurement can be
reduced to about 0.008 but bed boundary effects
make further reduction difficult. Equation 2
also requires field knowledge of borehole carbon,
borehole oxygen, lithology and porosity among
other parameters. Downhole calibration of the
interpreted So in water zones and/or undepleted
zones at original So allows these uncertainties
to be reduced significantly. Where downhole
calibration of So is not practical the
uncertainty of all these interpretation
parameters must be included when attempting to
cal~ulate an absolute value of So from a single
log •
Uncertainty Estimates
Algorithms for COR and Borehole Corrections. The
uncertainty of the laboratory calibrated
algorithms, including the whole system from raw
623
3
count rates, the use of equation 2 and the
required borehole corrections. Typical values of
COR are 0.1 to 0.3 (GST) and 1.5 to 1.7 (MSI).
The difference between tools arises mainly
because of differences in energy window size.
COR-C = ± 0.016
COR Field Statistics. The typical statistical
variations (standard error of mean) of measured
COR field logs. Both stationary and multipass
continuous measurements may be desirable.
· COR-L = ± 0.008
Borehole Carbon. Uncertainty due to possible
carbon in the casing and cement, wax and possible
oil channeling in cement. Much greater
uncertainty will occur if mixtures of oil and
water occur in the borehole. In an oil filled
borehole, Be is approximately 0.04 and leads to a
COR shift of about 0.3. In a water filled
borehole, where Be is taken as zero, the
uncertaintiy of 0.002 leads to the Sw
uncertainties shown in Table A1.
Be = + 0.002
Borehole Oxygen. Uncertainty due to original
borehole size variations. Severe wash-outs will
cause greater uncertainty. A typical Bo value is
0.025.
Bo = + 0.003
Lithology. Uncertainty from mixed minerals such
as carbonate/sand and carbonate/anhydrite. These
are here represented by the Lithology Indicator
Ratio but this is equivalent to a component
volume uncertainty of 5%.
LIR = ± 0.05
Porosity. Uncertainty from open hole log
evaluations.
POR = + 3 p.u.
Other Factors. Formation fluid carbon has low
uncertainty except in a gas bearing zone, when
the large change can be used as a gas detector.
Mud filtrate remaining in the formation is
sometimes a practical problem.
Oil Saturation
The Appendix shows an analysis of the estimated
So uncertainties due to the systematic· and
statistical uncertainties. The resulting
estimates of "most likely" uncertainty in So vary
with porosity and are summarised in Table 1.
4 THE EVALUATION OF OIL SATURATION THROUGH CASING USING CARBON/OXYGEN LOGS
TABLE 1 - UNCERTAINTY IN CARBON-OXYGEN DERIVED So
WITHOUT DOWNHOLE CALIBRATION AGAINST A KNOWN Sw
ZONE. (SINGLE LOG SUITE; NOT TIME-LAPSE)
Porosity Uncertainty in So
% saturation units %
10 +47
20 +23
30 +15
40 +11
As might be expected from the form of Figure 5,
the So uncertainty increases rapidly as the
porosity decreases. Without appropriate downhole
calibration against known So values the
interpreted So becomes of marginal value below
porosities of about 15p.u. At high porosities
the quantities of formation fluid carbon and
oxygen are high and the interpretation accuracy
of So is good.
Time Lapse Logging
Where log runs are made months or years apart,
many of the parameters considered as uncertain
remain constant between runs. We can reasonably
assume cement, lithology, porosity, etc, to be
constant. If the borehole fluid also remains
constant, the difference in COR between runs can
measure changes in oil saturation with an
uncertainty controlled only by COR-L, the
precision of the log measurements. Each absolute
value of So will have the larger stand-alone
uncertainty but the change in So will be known
more accurately.
FIELD EVALUATIONS
Carbonate Example
Figure 6 shows the carbon and carbon/oxygen ratio
logs 9 from a carbonate reservoir in the Middle
East • The formation is highly stratified with
some anhydrite in the lower porosity beds of the
upper sections and also variable dolomite
fractions throughout. The well is completed with
cemented 7" casing in an Bt" hole. T~ere are no
perforations. The carbon/oxygen tool (GST) was
run without a borated fluid excluder sleeve and
the casing was f1lled with fresh water. The
carbon/oxygen log was selected because the
formation water and injection water had widely
different salinities (200,000 and 25,000ppm
NaCl). Six inelastic gamma passes were made,
each .at a logging speed of 90 feet per hour (27.4
metres/hour). Four capture gamma passes were
also made to obtain lithology estimates, but are
not presented here. The first series of logs was
made six months
624
SPE 17610
after the well was drilled. The second series
was made five months later with 11 inelastic
passes each at 80 feet per hour. The well
conditions were identical.
Figure 7 shows an open hole log calculated
porosity trace and the averages of ~he
carbon/oxygen ratio logs from the f1rst and
second time-lapse jobs. The logs have similar
broad features but do not agree in detail. In
several sections the two carbon/oxygen logs
separate by more than 0.008, the 68% confidence
limit standard error. This is to be expected
since separations greater than 0.008 are expected
at 32% of depth levels. Some parts of the
overlay separate by as much as 0.03 but still do
not represent real formation property changes
between runs.
Interpreted water saturations from the two
carbon/oxygen logs and the original open hole
logs are shown in Figure 8. The changes in Sw
observed where the two carbon/oxygen logs
separate are especially high in the low porosity
intervals such as 5892 and 5912 feet. However,
the expected uncertainty of the Sw is also poor
in low porosity conditions. The uncertainty band
shown in Figure 8 applies to the evaluation of a
single carbon/oxygen log and indicates that the
Sw is fairly confidently known at porosities
greater than 20% but is of limited value below
15% porosity.
The comparison between.the open-hole and
carbon/oxygen Sw evaluations indicates the
presence of increased water saturation ove: most
of the formation. Evidence from the chlor1ne
capture gamma (salinity) curve and the micro
resistivity derived Sxo, both not shown,
indicates that the lowest section has been swept
by injection water but that most other sections
still contain mud filtrate which has not
dispersed since the well was drilled.
The shallow depth of investigation of
carbon/oxygen logs and the time since drilling
are factors which.must be considered during the
evaluation of reservoirs with mobile
hydrocarbons.
Sandstone Example
Figure 9 shows the carbon/oxygen ratio logs from
a sandstone reservoir in the North Sea. The
formation is a sandstone, shale and coal sequence
with some thick sands of 25% porosity. The well
has 7" casing cemented in an Bt", 30° deviation
hole and the casing has been perforated down to
11511 feet as shown. While the well was shut-in,
five passes were made with the carbon/oxygen
3
too1 (MSI-CO) at 120 feet/hour (36.5 metres per
hour). These logs were recorded eight years
after initial completion. The carbon/oxygen log
was selected because both formation water and
SPE 17610 R. WOODHOUSE AND S.A. KERR 5

injection water have low salinities of 18,000 and applications are also possible in less rigorous
30,000 ppm NaCl - marginal operating conditions conditions and results can be optimised in a well
for the available neutron die-away logs.
by consideration of the following.
Production logs were subsequently recorded with
the well flowing. The fluid density curve shows
Optimisation of Field Measurements
produced fluid (mostly formation and injection
water) in the casing opposite and above the
1. Logging in producing wells leads to borehole
perforations. Below 11515 feet a denser, aqueous correction unknowns but logging in
completion fluid of 1.25 gm/cc remains in the
overbalanced shut-in wells may present
casing.
interpretation problems due to re-invasion.
Therefore a zero flow condition would have
The production rates before the logging job were
advantages.
1420 BOPD and 18310 BWPD (i.e. 92.8% water cut)
with most of the production coming from the
2. The ideal borehole fluid is fresh water,
lowest perforations. An average of the three
since salt water increases the captuae
best passes of the carbon/oxygen log was made.
background in the inelastic spectrum •
The large deflections at 11525, 11557, 11580 and
Practical logs can however be made in salt
11607 feet were caused by coal beds. The logs
water or oil.
show a standard error of the mean carbon/oxygen
ratio of 0.008. The raw C/O measurements over
3. Several continuous repeat passes serve to
the sands show little or no change.
improve the statistical precision of the
carbon/oxygen measurement to useful levels
Figure 10 shows the generally low Sw calculated
but this factor does not govern the overall
from the open hole logs and the Sw calculated by
uncertainty of the interpreted So.
the logging company from the carbon/oxygen ~nd
1
capture gamma silicon/calcium measurements • 4. Accurate results cannot be expected where
The low carbon/oxygen residual oil saturations in
cement is poor and in large borehole and
the perforated intervals are consistent with the
casing sizes. Constant borehole diameter is
high water cuts of the produced fluids. The
preferred.
difference in borehole fluid density and
hydrocarbon content below 11515 feet meant that
different borehole corrections were required to 5. Effective time lapse logging requires a base
log at early time after the well has
the carbon/oxygen and silicon/calcium curves.
stabilised and mud filtrate has dissipated.
The interpretation below 11515 feet assumed the
zone at 11540-50 feet was undepleted.
POTENTIAL TOOL IMPROVEMENTS
In the zones below 11600 feet high carbon/oxygen
Present tools have 3.625" diameter and therefore
oil saturations are indicated. After logging,
cannot be run through normal tubing.
the well was recompleted in these lower zones
Opportunities to log are therefore limited to
between 11597 and 11684 feet and the oil rate
wells with large tubing or to periods when a
increased;to 9314 BOPD with 13490 BWPD and the
workover is being performed. A through-tubing
water cut was reduced to 59%. Although some
tool of smaller diameter would allow more
water movement had already occurred, significant
improvements to the well oil rate were made frequent access to the well. However the present
penalties for smaller tools are reduced detector
following the recompletion.
efficiencies and larger borehole contributions.
The analysis confirmed the presence of undepleted More effective scintillation materials have
potential applications. More intense neutron
oil in this well but an essential element in the
evaluation was practical calibration opposite a sources may also improve the measurement
zone which was reasonably taken to be undepleted. precision. Where completion design permits,
borehole effects have been reduced in the past by
a borated excluder sleeve. A through tubing tool
OPTIMUM APPLICATIONS
might benefit from an inflatable fluid excluder
system.
Perfect conditions for use of carbon/oxygen
logging would be in quartz sandstone or pure
calcium carbonate formations of high porosity High energy resolution detector systems, such ~s
semi-conductor devices (eg. high purity german1um
where the formation is close to the tool.
Borehole fluids would be well known and occupy a which operate at around liquid nitrogen
minimum and constant volume. Quantities of temperatures of -196°C), appear to offef 1 ~r2ginal
benefits for carbon/oxygen measurements • The
cement would be well known and constant. A
line spectrum from carbon is Doppler broadened
perfect application would be to a low mobility
oil bearing quartz sandstone reservoir of high due to the very short lifetime of the carbon
excited ~tate involved in the inelastic
porosity. Time-lapse log results are also 1
optimum in high porosities. Successful process • The Doppler process places a
fundamental limit to the energy resolution

625
6 THE EVALUATION OF OIL SATURATION THROUGH CASING USING CARBON/OXYGEN LOGS SPE 17610

achievable for the carbon spectrum. This is NOMENCLATURE

demonstrated by Figures la and lb which show the
same material measured with both a high A Constant related to inelastic
resolution germanium detector and a conventional neutron cross-sections for
Nai(Tl) scintillation detector. carbon and oxygen.
Be Borehole carbon
For oxygen and the capture spectrum however there Bo Borehole oxygen
are potential benefits from the use of a high BOPD Barrels oil per day
resolution detector, particularly in the BWPD Barrels water per day
recognition of spectral interferences. Potential COR Carbon/Oxygen Ratio
penalties of using high resolution detectors are COR-C COR calibration uncertainty
lower detector count rates and the need to COR-L COR log statistics uncertainty
separate spectral data into many more channels, LIR Lithology Indicator Ratio
to exploit the information available, e.g. 4096 LIR = Si/(Si + Ca)
for high resolution data compared with 256 for POR and '/J Porosity fractional unless
scintillation spectra. stated as p.u. (porosity units %)
So Oil saturation fractional unless
CONCLUSIONS stated as s.u. (saturation units
%)
Carbon/oxygen logs are unique in their ability in cx,{3 Atomic concentrations of carbon
favourable conditions to provide oil saturation in matrix and formation fluid
determinations through casing in reservoirs with respectively.
unknown or low salinity formation water. The 'Y,o Atomic concentrations of oxygen
depth of investigation is however shallow and the in matrix and formation fluid
measurement can therefore have large borehole and respectively, all in units of
remnant invaded zone effects. For moderate and Avogadro's number.
high salinity formation water the modern thermal
neutron die-away logs provide more reliable ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
evaluations with lower statistical variations.
The authors are indebted to the oil companies who
Carbon can be present in reservoir rocks and in have given permission to use the field logs and
the borehole, so interpretation of carbon/oxygen thank the logging contractors for their advice.
logs relies on accurate knowledge of the logging The valuable contributions of our colleagues Dr.
environment. This dependence can be reduced by J.S. Petler and Mr. C.C.L. Vermeulen are warmly
calibration of the interpretation against known acknowledged. We thank BP for permission to
oil saturations in water zones or undepleted publish this work.
zones. Carbon/oxygen interpretations can also be
improved when other data such as open hole REFERENCES
evaluations, cement bond logs, borehole fluid
density, production logs and the produced fluid 1. W.A. Hoyer, "Induced Nuclear Reaction
history are taken into account. Logging", JPT Trans-AIME V.222, August 1961,
797-802.
Without external calibration controls, a single
log may provide quantitative oil saturation data 2. P. Westaway, R. Hertzog, R.E. Plasek, "The
only above about 15% porosity (p.u). The Gamma Spectrometer Tool Inelastic and
uncertainty improves at higher porosities to + 23 Capture Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy f·o~Reservoir
saturation units (s.u.) at 20 p.u. and + 15 s~u. Analysis", Paper SPE 9461 ( 1980)~~ i'
1

at 30 p.u. These estimates have been made for .d

realistic, not extreme, conditions.
Time lapse logs taken months or years apart can
more accurately evaluate changes in oil
saturation but they do not reduce the uncertainty
in the absolute value of oil saturation.
The log can retrieve significant lithology,
porosity and oil saturation information through
casing and can therefore be useful when modern
open-hole logs are not available.
3. D.M. Chace, M.G. Schmidt, M.P. D~heck, "The
Multiparameter Spectroscopy Inst ment
Continuous Carbon/Oxygen Log-MSI. /O", Trans
Can. Well Logg. Soc. lOth Form. Eval. Symp.,
Calgary, October 1985.
4. J.S. Petler, M.C. Underwood, K. Randle "Bulk
Material Analysis Using 14 MeV Neutrons", J.
Radioanal. Nucl. Chern. !!l (1987) 383-90.
5. D.W. Oliver, E. Frost, W.H. Fertl,
"Continuous Carbon/Oxygen (C/O)
Logging-Instrumentation, Interpretive
Concepts and Field Applications", SPWLA 22nd
Annual Logging Symposium, June 1981, Paper
TT.

626
SPE 17610 R. WOODHOUSE AND S.A. KERR 7

6. R.C. Hertzog "Laboratory and Field

Evaluation of an -----(A2)
Inelastic-Neutron-Scattering and Capture
Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy Tool", Paper SPE 7430
(1978). The sensitivities (dSo/dx) shown below have been
evaluated by partial differentiation of equation
7. M.C. Underwood and C.J. Dyos "Inelastic A1 and inspection of Figure S. The sensitivities
Neutron Scattering Fractions in Fluid are approximations based on a reasonable set of
Saturated Rock as Exploited in Oil Well conditions. Porosity has been retained as a
Logging", Appl. Radiat. !sot. 37 (1986) variable in the sensitivity so that oil
475-81. saturation uncertainties can be calculated at
various porosities.
8. B.A. Roscoe and J.A. Grau, "Response of the
Carbon/Oxygen Measurement for an Inelastic OIL SATURATION/PARAMETER SENSITIVITY dSo/dx
Gamma Ray Spectroscopy Tool" Paper SPE 14460 APPROXIMATIONS
(1985).
d So + 2.01 - 0.83
9. D. Berta and C.C.L. Vermeulen ".The Use and dCOR POR
Limitations of the Gamma Ray Spectroscopy
Tool in a Middle East Carbonate Reservoir", dSo 12.2
to be presented at the 63rd SPE Annual dBC POR
Conference, October 1988.
d So + 3.65
10. T.D. Lawrence, "Continuous Carbon/Oxygen Log d Bo POR
Interpretation Techniques", Paper SPE 8366
(1979). Lithology sensitivity is for quartz/carbonate or
anhydrite/carbonate formations:
11. D.W. Mellor, M.C. Underwood "Formation
Properties from High Resolution Neutron d So + 0.356 - 0.356
Activation Gamma-Ray Spectra", SPWLA 26th oLIR POR
Annual Logging Symposium, June 1985, Paper
FFF. In some circumstances porosity sensitivity is
zero. This approximation is for an So of 50% in
12. J.A. Baicker, A. Sayres, s. Schladale, J. carbonate formations:
Dudek, J •. M. Stone, "Carbon/Oxygen Logging
using a Pulsed Neutron Generator and a d So 0.280
Germanium Cryosonde", SPWLA 26th Annual dPOR POR
Logging Symposium, June 1985, Paper BBB.

13. M.C. Underwood, "Doppler Broadening of
Spectral Lines from 14 MeV Neutron
Bombardment of Bulk Samples", Appl. Radiat.
!sot. 1L (1986) 483-6.
APPENDIX - "Most Likely Error" Analysis of the
Oil Saturation From Stand-Alone Carbon/Oxygen
Logging.
Equation 3 from the main text relates oil
saturation and carbon/oxygen ratio.
s0 (~COR - aA)(1-~)+COR(o~+Bo)-ABc
~( {3A + oCOR) -----(A1)
Five of the above parameters are assumed to be
subject to uncertainty; the others are neglected.
The uncertainty in So due to each of the
parameters is defined by the sensitivity of So to
each parameter (dSo/dx), multiplied by the
standard deviation of that parameter ( ux). The
"most likely" uncertainty in So ( u ) is defined
from the square root of the sum of ~Rese
variances:
The final oil saturation uncertainties are
given in Table A1. The standard deviation, Ux,
or standard error of the mean where appropriate
for multipass logs, were given in the main text
and are shown again in Table A1.
The most likely overall uncertainty in So at
several porosity values has been calculated by
applying equation A2. The values within Table Al
are aso for the individual interpretation
parameters (x). For example the uncertainty due
to borehole carbon alone creates an So
uncertainty of 12 saturation units at a porosity
of 20%. Including all parameters, the most
likely uncertainty at that porosity is 23
saturation units.

627
 seE 17610
TABLE A1 - MOST LIKELY UNCERTAINTY IN S FROM
CARBON/OXYGEN LOGGING AT VARIOUS POROS~TIES C" CARBON

PARAMETER UNCERTAINTY

Uso
UNCERTAINTY in So
AT VARIOUS POROSITIES

O"so aso 2.0

3.0

tv' \ c
1a)

"'~
X O"x @ 30pu @ 20pu @ 10pu

COR-C 0.016 0.148

OXYGEN
0.094 0.308

~
I
COR-L 0.008 0.047 0,074 0.154
~
1.0 . 0
Be 0.002 -0.082 -0.122 -o. 245
...
0
Nal (TI) detector
Bo 0,003 0.037 0.055 o.uo ~
LIR 0.05 0.042 0.071 0.160 ...c
0
3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0
:II
Porosity 0,03 -0.028 -0.042 -0,084 0 5.0
0 0" OXYGEN
CARBON
C" 1b)
4.0 0'
Most likely uncertainty in So 0.15 0.23 0.47
0
3.0

2.0

1.0
HP Ge detector

3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0

Energy (MeV)

Fig. 1-Gamma ray spectra induced by 14 MeV neutrons: (a) low resolution-Nai(TI) spectrum,
and (b) high ·resolution-HPGe (germanium) spectrum .

... .!
0
~ 1.00 0
0
.c
! ...... ·.:::.:.~;;;:·
:. 1- 0
ID
ii

~
u
0.75
. ·············;:;:>/
g /
CD
(!)
/
ii
=aca 0.50 ,I
,
a: I Total Oxygen
.!ca / (Water Filled Borehole)
Total Carbon
;:;, 0.25 o•o 0 o •o • • • o

CD (Oil Filed Borehole)

:E Fonnation Only
(Carbon or Oxygen)
0.00 -h-r-T""T"'r-r-T-r+~"T""T"T""T""T""T'T'"T''T'"T''T'"T''T'"T'"T""T""T""T"T""T"'T""T'"'T""T'"'T""T'"~
0 10 20 30 40
Radius (em)
Fig. 2-Radial response for Inelastic carbon and oxygen gamma rays in water filled and oil filled
boreholes (7-in. casing, 7Vz-in. borehole, 20% porosity limestone, and 100% oil saturated).

628
 C>m
~ 0.55 Sw= ·-

~m 0.50
0%

0.45

20%
0.40
TOol+ 0
Borehole CARBON RESPONSE ~
ca 0.35
a:
Formation
c 40%
~
m 0.30
>- 0%
><
Fig. 3-lsometric plot of the formation contribution to the inelastic carbon response. 20% porosity limestone, 100% 0
water saturated, source-detector spacing=15 in. (38 ems). I 0.25 J LIMESTONE
60%
c

=
N
CCI
..
0
.c
ca
0
0.20 20%
/ /80%
0.15
7 7
40%
100%
0.10
C>m 60%

~m
0.05
80%

0~00 I~ 100%
Neutron Source
-0.054----r--~--~r---.---,----.---.----r---,
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Porosity(%)

Tool+ CHLORINE RESPONSE .... s-a.•• to• -~.,.,.,;•• ;........00 ~· um.......

Borehole

(/)
Formation .-o
(T1

Fig. 4-lsometric plot of the chlorine capture gamma--response. Source-detector spacing=15 in. (38 ems).
....
"""'
0'-
..-
0
 SIX MULTI-PASS SIX MULTI-PASS DEPTH TIME-LAPSE
CARBON/OXYGEN CARBON/OXY?EN POROSITY DEPTH
CARBON YIELDS
RATIOS
ft RATIO ft
~-_! _ _CQR~! _ _Q.~
0.025 IC 0.07510.1 COR+t 0.3
~==:---~~--~~~~------------~--t5850 0.1 COR+ 2 0.3 25 POR% 0
5850

...
l"'(
~ -D -
t> <
F:::
-~
.....::::
1<: r'-
~
~
0)

~ ll£9R+2 -== It::-- -

=
Col)

~ '<:::::
I ......,{: I ~ I 5900 ' ( => 5900
<~~ F-
~~ <:::: ~
r--....
- r--- p
~~ ""':
p
r---.. >-
f ~ ::> ;;::a

~ ~ >~

..,..- ~
'
4F==-
- - r-- r---

Fig. &-Carbonate example showing multipass carbon and carbon/oxygen logs from Run
No.1.
Fig. 7-Carbonate example showing time-lapse carbon/oxygen logs 5 months apart. .,
i"'O
f1'1
....
".....
0'\

0
 CARBON/
WATER SATURATION OIL SATURATION
FLUID OXYGEN
DENSITY RATIO
RAW
AND TIME-LAPSE C/0 1:?.?_P!-I!-__~~~
o.e g /c.c. 1.3 1.25 AV. 1.75

00 WATER SATURATION s.u.

I LOGGED -I 11!1
11450
UPWARDS,...-
i
l'l
I LOGGED
DOWNWARDS
!.
I/
__. ..
I'"
h
II 11500
{I
I~
~

0)
~
~ \ (/)
z
0
DENSITY i=
NOT <
LOGGED gj
BELOW M:
PERFS
~

1165ol tI I
l
1
(~

Fig. a-Carbonate example showing open hole and two carbon/oxygen derived Sw evaluations and the uncertainty Fig. 9-Sandstone example showing multipass carbon/oxygen and
range of a single pass. borehole fluid density logs.
1/)
ro
rn
1-6

"._.
0'

0
 WATER POROSITY LITHOLOGY
SATURATION AND
FROM OPEN-HOLE FLUIDS II COAL
& C/0 LOG om SAND

0 SHALE
100 Sw(C/0) 0 50 percent 0 0 percent 100

1.QQ.. _ ~~( 9~~ _ti_o!_e2 _ .Q

Fig. 10-Sandstone example showing openhole and carbon/oxygen derived Sw evaluations.

632