DRILL STEM TESTS

Formation Evaluation by Tomisin Olapo

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DRILL STEM TESTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION:
A drill stem test (DST) is a procedure for isolating and testing the surrounding geological formation through the drill stem. The test is a measurement of pressure behavior at the drill stem and is a valuable way to obtain important sampling information on the formation fluid and to establish the probability of commercial production. In oil and natural gas extraction, the drill stem includes the drill pipe, drill collars, bottomhole assembly, and drill bit. During normal drilling, fluid is pumped through the drill stem and out the drill bit. In a drill stem test, the drill bit is removed, a drill stem test tool is added, and fluid from the formation is recovered through the drill stem, while several measurements of pressure are being made. The basic drill stem test tool consists of a packer or packers, valves or ports that may be opened and closed from the surface, and two or more pressure-recording devices. (A packer is an expanding plug which can be used to seal off sections of the open or cased well, to isolate them for testing. The drill stem test tool is lowered on the drill pipe to the zone to be tested. The packer or packers are set to isolate the zone from the drilling fluid column, the tester valve is opened, and testing begins.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY:

Working in El Dorado, Arkansas, in the 1920s, E.C. Johnston and his brother M.O. Johnston developed the first drill stem tester and ran the first commercial drill stem test in 1926. In April 1929, the Johnston Formation Testing Corporation was granted a patent (U.S. Patent 1,709,940) and they subsequently refined the testing system in the early 1930s. In the 1950s, Schlumberger introduced a method for testing formations using wireline. The Schlumberger formation-testing tool, placed in operation in 1953, fired a shaped charge through a rubber pad that had been expanded in the hole until it was securely fixed in the hole at the depth required. Formation fluids flowed through the perforation and connecting tubing into a container housed inside the tool. When filled, the container was closed, sealing the fluid sample at the formation pressure. The tool was then brought to the surface, where the sample could be examined. In 1956, Schlumberger acquired Johnston Testers and continues to perform drill stem tests and wireline formation tests in both open and cased holes.

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1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To give an overview on the working principles of Drill Stem Tests and its application to drilling, well testing and reservoir optimization.

1.3 WHY DRILL STEM TESTS? Drill Stem Tests is used primarily to determine the fluids present in a particular formation and the rate at which they are produced. A temporary well completion to gather information on the potential productivity of a formation Despite the tremendous value of core analysis and well logging some doubt always remains concerning the potential productivity of an exploratory well WE NEED TO KNOW: if there is a reservoir? what does it contain? at what rate will it produce? for how long? what facilities will be required and when? what hazards are there?

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2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW: Geologists are well aware of the relevance of abnormal pressure to hydrocarbon accumulations in the Uinta and Piceance Basins (Lucas and Drexler, 1976; Johnson, 1989b; Wilson and others, 1998). As Law and Spencer (1998, p. 2) have noted, ***(knowledge of) the large number of abnormally pressured areas in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States is a consequence of several detailed investigations of abnormally pressured, unconventional gas reservoirs. In this region and elsewhere in North America, investigators have noted the close association of hydrocarbon accumulations, particularly unconventional gas accumulations, and abnormal pressures. Much of the oil and gas in the Uinta and Piceance Basins occurs in basincentered (continuous) systems. Consequently, knowledge of abnormal pressuring in these basins is of especial interest, because basin-centered gas accumulations are nearly always associated with abnormal pressures (Law and Spencer, 1998). Although the need for accurate determinations of formation pressure in the characterization of basin-centered res-ervoirs is well established, the determination of formation pressure itself is anything but straightforward. Holm (1998) ranked the methods of obtaining formation pressure in the following order: repeat formation tester, drill-stem tests, mud-weight data, and pressure kicks. Drill-stem tests (DSTs), which are the subject of this report, measure the down-hole pressure of fluid within the wellbore, rather than the formation pressure itself. DST results must be extrapolated and corrected carefully in order to obtain the best estimate of true formation pressure (Holm, 1998). No such analyses were carried out in this study, which simply presents the unanalyzed pressure data from a large number of DSTs within the Uinta and Piceance Basins. It is believed that the bias imposed by this lack of detailed analysis underestimates the formation pressure in a certain fraction of cases, as discussed below. As a reminder of this bias, a measurement is described as apparent pressure or apparent pressure gradient. The DST pressure data are presented in compact graphs arrayed in map-like format (checkerboard plots) and in con-ventional plots of pressure versus depth. The pressure data have not been integrated with stratigraphy or indicators of thermal maturity; the analysis is limited to comments on the validity of the data and the distribution of overpressured conditions. The results appear most informative in the Altamont-Bluebell field of the Uinta Basin, moderately informative in the eastern Uinta Basin, and rather disappointing in the Piceance Basin. As utilization of ground water and ground-water reservoirs increases the importance of having knowledge on regional ground-water systems also increases. Understanding these systems often requires hydrologic data from great depths. In some areas such information may be available from pumping tests made during the course of petroleum exploration. The usual
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hydrologic test performed by the petroleum industry is the drill-stem test. The oil industry developed the drill-stem test as a method of sampling the fluid in a subsurface formation during the course of drilling operations. Most modern drill-stem tests, however, yield three types of hydrologic data: 1) A sample of the formation fluid, 2) The undisturbed formation pressure, and 3) A coefficient of permeability for the stratigraphic interval tested. During the drill-stem test the stratigraphic interval of interest is isolated in the hole by the use of packers attached to the drill string and is allowed to yield fluid into the drilling pipe under the influence of the formation head. The arrangement of down-hole components in a typical drillstem test string is shown in Figure 1.In the usual relatively shallow test the drill pipe initially is completely empty and open to atmospheric pressure. By opening the tester valve in the test string

Fig 1: DST assembly using two straddle packers showing the main components of a typical drill stem test steering.

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2.1 BASIC THEORY OF DRILL STEM TESTS Mathematical analysis of the test results is based upon the diffusion equation first applied to problems of heat flow. Theis (1935) showed the usefulness of this equation for analyzing fluid flow to producing water well. Muskat (1937) suggested the following form of the differential equation for petroleum problems which applies to horizontal radial flow through a unit thickness of the producing formation.

The concept of storage as expressed in equation 1 is somewhat different from the concept of storage used in ground-water theory. Storage is expressed in equation 1 by the factors f and c, which include only the compressibility of fluid within the producing formation. Muskat in a later publication (1949), following both Theis (1935) and Jacob (1940), modified the concept to take into account not only the compressibility of the fluid but also deformation of the aquifer skeleton. Horner (1951) suggested a method to analyze the pressure recovery during a drillstem test based upon the following solution to the basic equation:

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The analysis is equivalent to that suggested by Theis (1935).for analysis of recovery tests in water wells. Horner's solution like Theis's, is based on the fact that with sufficient time the Ei function (the exponential integral) may be closely approximated by a logarithmic function. Horner (1951) states that thecriteria for applying the equation is:

where rw = radius of the well. For the usual situation, the theoretical error in using equation 2 would be very small in a matter of a few seconds to a few minutes. The coefficient of transmissibility as the term is used in ground-water terminology is comparable to the terms kh/ in equation 2. The viscosity, which is neglected in the usual ground-water problem, becomes significant when considering many regional groundwater systems. For example, in the Big Horn Basin, Wyoming, the temperature of fluids within the Tensleep Sandstone varies from approximately 48 F near theoutcrop area to something in excess of 300 F in the deeper parts of the basin. This change in temperature produces a change in viscosity from approximately 1.4 centipoises to less than 0.2 centipoise, affecting the ease with which fluid may move in the system by a factor of approximately 7. The practical solution to equation 2 is made by plotting log (t0 + At)/At against pq,. Pressure-versus time data are taken from the pressure chart (Figure 2). As suggested above, the theory is developed to analyze the recovery in the shut-in pressure following a period of production. An example of a plot of log (t0 + At)/At versus p, is shown in Figure 3. The points should fall on a straight line if the assumptions on which the mathematical model is based are closely approximated to the field.

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3.0 MODE OF OPERATION:

Fig. 2: Schematic representation of a Drill Stem Tester

Fig 3: Test Tree; Basically all it is, is a combination of valves That are made up on top of the test string and will divert the formation fluid to the choke and on to the separators. The surface test tree must be equipped with swab, master, kill and flow valves. A swivel, positioned above the master valve, must also be incorporated to allow rotation of the string. The test tree should be able to be hung off in a standard drill pipe elevator and must have connections for kill and flow lines facing down.

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Fig. 4: Basically all the test choke is, is a combination of valves That are made up on top of the test string and will divert the formation fluid to the choke and on to the separators. The surface test tree must be equipped with swab, master, kill and flow valves. A swivel, positioned above the master valve, must also be incorporated to allow rotation of the string. The test tree should be able to be hung off in a standard drill pipe elevator and must have connections for kill and flow lines facing down.

The typical drill stem test will be split into four periods, Pre flow. Initial shut in period, a main flow period and a final shut in period. Times of for each test are dependent on conditions at the well site Drill stem tests may be run at any time during the drilling operation at the current depth or may be used to test any interval in the hole after TD has been reached. Using these data and based on the evaluation of engineers and geologists, management can base a decision to complete the hole for potential production of oil or gas or proceed with abandonment. Pre- flow Period: is a production period to clean up the well and is used to remove any supercharge given to the formation due to mud infiltrating into the prospective formation during the drilling operation. Initial shut-in Period: This period is to allow the formation to recover from pressure surges caused during the pre-flow. this is often referred to as "closed in for the pressure build up" this period will be longer. Main Flow Period: a more lengthy production period designed to test the formations flow characteristics more rigorously. Samples of any fluids will be checked for water content Gas bubble bust pressure temperature and many other nice surprises. This will be done using set choke or variable chokes. Sample reaching surface will be measured as to volume and gathered for analysis in a laboratory. Samples of any fluids in the drill string at the conclusion of the test will be measured as to volume and gathered for analysis. Flowing pressures and temperatures will be recorded. Final Shut-in Period: formation pressure is recorded over this period. The shape of the pressure build up curve will tell us the permeability of the formation, the degree of formation damage (likely caused during the drilling operation), It will also tell us if we have found a small reservoir but there is no telling if it a big one.
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Formation Evaluation by Tomisin Olapo

DRILL STEM TEST PROCEDURE: Lowering of DST tool Opening the bypass valve Sealing the hole by packers Rotation of Drill string and flow of formation fluid formation fluid flow shut in valve and building of pressure Removing DST tool

Drillstem Testing (DST) is a valuable tool in the oil and natural gas extraction process. Drillstem Testing is a procedure to determine the productive capacity, pressure, permeability or extent of an oil or gas reservoir. Drill stem testing is essentially a flow test, which is performed on isolated formations of interest to determine the fluids present and the rate at which they can be produced. By employing parts such as a DST bottomhole assemblies (BHA) application tests can be done to determine the viability and commercial productivity of a well within an accelerated time line as well providing lower financial risk compared to conventional well testing methods. Basic Drill Stem BHA consist of a packer or packers, which act as an expanding plug to be used to isolate sections of the well for the testing process, valves that may be opened or closed from the surface during the test, and recorders used to document pressure during the test. In addition to packers a downhole valve is used to open and close the formation to measure reservoir characteristics such as pressure and temperature which are charted on downhole recorders within the BHA.

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4.0 APPLICATIONS OF DRILL STEM TESTS Cased Hole Performed after the well is cased, cased hole drill stem testing uses a retrievable production packer that is set above the zone of interest. The well is then flow tested through perforations in the casing. The two types of cased hole testing are pressure operated and mechanically operated. More details Open Hole Because it's performed before casing is run, open hole drill stem testing can be the most economical way to determine productive (see below) capacity, pressure, permeability or the extent of an oil or gas reservoir. The testing equipment is run into the well and the zone of interest is isolated using inflate or compression-set packers, depending on your requirements and drilling conditions. More details Alternate Procedures Depending on testing objectives and scope of work DST may also be performed in combination with various other exploration and completion process such as fluid loss control and well control, closed chamber tests, well stimulation, and a combination of DST and TCP. ADVANTAGES OF DST Reasonable sample of formation fluid Can find fluid potential directly Gives better measurements than others Proves reserves by producing hydrocarbons

DISADVANTAGES OF DST Not very economical Very time consuming Quantitative analysis is not highly accurate. POINTS OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE: Condition of the hole Pressure Surges Operating conditions

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5.0 REFERENCES Bradley, J.S., and Powley, D.E., 1994, Pressure compartments in sedi-mentary basins, a review, in Ortoleva, P.J., ed., Basin compartments and seals: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 61, p. 326. Collins, A.G., 1992, Properties of produced waters, Chapter 24 in Brad-ley, H.B., ed., Petroleum engineering handbook: Society of Petro-leum Engineers, Richardson, Texas, 23 p. Engelder, T., and Leftwich, J.T., Jr., 1997, A pore-pressure limit in overpressured South Texas oil and gas fields, 1997, in Surdam, R.C., ed., Seals, traps, and petroleum systems: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 67, p. 255268. Holm, G.M., 1998, Distribution and origin of overpressure in the Central Graben of the North Sea, in Law, B.E., Ulmishek, G.F., and Slavin, V.I., eds., Abnormal pressures in hydrocarbon environments: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 70, p. 123144. History of Petroleum Engineering, API Division of Production, New York City, 1961, pages 561566 Hunt, J.M., Whelan, J.K., Eglinton, L.B., and Cathles, L.M., III, 1998, Relation of shale porosities, gas generation, and compaction to deep overpressures in the U.S. Gulf Coast, in Law, Law, B.E., and Spencer, C.W., 1998, Abnormal pressure in hydrocarbon environments, in Law, B.E., Leftwich, J.T., Jr., and Engelder, T., 1994, The characteristics of geo-pressure profiles in the Gulf of Mexico Basin, in Ortoleva, P.J., ed., Basin compartments and seals: American Association of Petro-leum Geologists Memoir 61, p. 119130. Lucas, P.T., and Drexler, J.M., 1976, Altamont-BluebellA major, natu-rally fractured stratigraphic trap, Uinta Basin, Utah, in North Ameri-can oil and gas fields: American Association of Petroleum Geolo-gists Memoir 24, p. 121135.

Muskat, Morris. 1937. The flow of homogeneous fluids through porous media. McGraw-Hill, New York. 763 p. Muskat, Morris. 1949. Physical principles of oil production. McGraw-Hill, New York. 922 p.
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Spencer, C.W., 1987, Hydrocarbon generation as a mechanism for overpressuring in Rocky Mountain region: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 71, no. 4, p. 368 388. Theis, C. V. 1935. The relation between the lowering of the Van Everdingen, A. F. 1953.The skin effect and its influence on the productive capacity of a well. Van Poollen, ll. K. 1960. Status of drill-stem testing techniques and analysis, in formation evaluation. Am. Inst.Mining Metall. Petroleum Engineers, p. IV-21-IV-38.

"Society of Petrophysicists & Well Log Analysts glossary". Retrieved 12 September 2006. "Society of Petrophysicists & Well Log Analysts glossary". Retrieved 12 September 2006.

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WIRELINE FORMATION TESTERS

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WIRELINE FORMATION TESTER

1.0 INTRODUCTION A formation fluid sampling device, actually run on conductor line rather than wireline, that also logs flow and shut-in pressure in rock near the borehole. A spring mechanism holds a pad firmly against the sidewall while a piston creates a vacuum in a test chamber. Formation fluids enter the tes5t chamber through a valve in the pad. A recorder logs the rate at which the test chamber is filled. Fluids may also be drawn to fill a sampling chamber. Wireline formation tests may be done any number of times during one tip in the hole, so they are very useful in formation testing. Wireline formation testers serve a number of useful purposes, including obtaining a sample of formation fluid, gauging formation permeability, and measuring formation pressure to determine formation pressure gradients. Wireline formation testers have been used for many years to recover samples of formation fluid both in open and cased holes. Traditional tools suffered from a number of drawbacks, such as lack of resolution and accuracy of pressure gauges, and the inability of the instrumentation to tell the operator whether or not a good packer seal was obtained until it was too late to rectify the situation. 1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

First used in the early 1980's Early tools suffered poor resolution and accuracy of pressure gauges. Often good formation seals could not be monitored in real-time.

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To give an overview on the working principles Wireline Formation Testers and its application to drilling, well testing and reservoir optimization. 1.3 WHY WIRELINE FORMATION TESTERS?

Measure formation pressures accurately Take several formation fluid samples without mud filtrate contamination Take true PVT samples Estimate formation permeability and formation damage Determine gas/oil/water gradients and fluid contacts Rw and Sw determination

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2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

Wireline formation testers serve a number of useful purposes, including obtaining a sample

of formation fluid, gauging formation permeability, and measuring formation pressure to determine formation pressure gradients. Wireline formation testers have been used for many years to recover samples of formation fluid both in open and cased holes. Traditional tools suffered from a number of drawbacks, such as lack of resolution and accuracy of pressure gauges, and the inability of the instrumentation to tell the operator whether or not a good packer seal was obtained until it was too late to rectify the situation. The Formation Tester is a tool which is run in either open or cased holes on a conventional logging cable. Tests may be made rapidly and safely at various depths in the hole. The Formation Tester provides: a sample of the formation fluids, GORs, a means to determine accurate gas-oil, or oil-water contacts, bottom hole pressure data, an index to the permeability of the small zone adjacent to the tool. There are many formation testing problems peculiar to soft formations. Development of solutions has been very successful. The problems encountered and their solutions were: 1. The percentage of successful tests was less than expected because unconsolidated sands would not support the packer. This problem was almost completely solved by the introduction of the shaped charge and snorkel testers. 2. The number of fishing jobs needed to be reduced. This problem was overcome by keeping the cable in constant motion so that hydrostatic pressure could not seal the cable to the wall of the hole. 3. Interpretation was confusing. It was found after many tests that the amount of oil or gas recovered was the factor which determined what the ultimate production would be. The water produced should not be used as an indicator of final production. The Wire Line Formation Tester has recently been used in cased holes with very good success. The operation and application are similar to those in open holes with the following additional applications: old wells may be tested, cement jobs can be evaluated for channeling, directional holes may be tested without wire line hazards. These inadequacies have now largely been overcome by the introduction of two key features of modern repeat formation testers, namely quartz crystal pressure gauges and pretest capabilities that allow the operator to rectify a bad seal before it leads to undesirable results. An added bonus is the ability of these tools to make pressure tests independent of sample taking. Indeed, in practice nowadays it is quite common to use these tools solely to make pressure tests.
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When ordering the service, give plenty of notice to the service company. Variables such as sample size, packer hardness, choke size, pressure gauges, and water cushions may not be universally available. If a sample of recovered hydrocarbons is needed for PVT lab analysis, a special pressure cylinder should be requested. When running the tool, a valid test is one that recovers significant quantities of fluid and/or records formation and hydrostatic pressure. A dry test is indeterminate, and the tool should be repositioned several times to determine whether the formation is impermeable (in which case all tests will be dry) or the tool was set in a shale or tight streak (in which case repositioning should result in a valid test). A lost packer seal is also indeterminate. In that case, the tool should be repositioned. Openhole logs are particularly helpful in resolving dry tests and lost packer seals. The microlog, if available, is useful as an indicator of tight streaks, and caliper logs, particularly the four-arm type, are useful for avoiding hole conditions leading to lost packer seals.

Fig. 1: schematic of the tools sampling system

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2.1 BASIC THEORY OF THE WORK

Figure 2: Schematic representation of the Wireline Formation Tester

The Wireline Formation Tester is lowered in the hole until the snorkel is opposite the zone of interest. Tool hydraulics is deployed to open the rubber packer and backup arms and seal against the borehole wall. Hydraulic pressure, 1500psi above hydrostatic pressure is usually sufficient to obtain a good seal. This stops any borehole mud contaminating the formation fluid sample being tested. The snorkel is then deployed or extracted at various rates and volumes, to draw the formation fluid into the pre-test chambers of the tool. Pre-test chambers are typically 0-30cc in volume. After a few moments the snorkel deployment is then ceased and the formation pressure build-up is then monitored and recorded. Further deployment of the
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snorkel will draw the formation fluid into sample chambers attached at the bottom of the tool. The fluid samples are stored at formation pressures that help in determining hydrocarbon composition. Depending upon the formation permeability, pressure build-up times can vary from seconds for high permeability (>5mD) to hours for low permeability (<0.1mD). Often tool hydraulic pressure can slowly dissipate if fluid or pressure sampling takes 1 hour or more. This may result in a lost formation seal and formation fluid contamination with the borehole mud. Some tools require different tool accessories need to be used depending upon borehole conditions. Hard or soft packers, different packer sizes, different sample chambers sizes and types and choke sizes all need to be planned before the logging job. Wireline Formation Tester tools can typically operate in borehole sizes ranging from 7" to 19" in diameter. This depends upon the design of each tool and it's specifications.

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3.0 MODE OF OPERATION Since the tool is stationary in the hole during the test, the recording is made on a time scale with increasing time in the down-hole direction on the log. Notice that in track 1, pressure is recorded in analog form. Four subtracks record the units, tens, hundreds, and thousands of psi. Each record shows the following pressures: Before tool is set--hydrostatic During pretest--drawdown After pretestbuildup After buildup--formation pressure

The standard gauge used in the RFT is a strain gauge calibrated by a "dead weight" tester. The accuracy of this system, after applying temperature corrections, is 0.41% of full scale, i.e., 41 psi for a 10,000 psi gauge. The resolution of the gauge is about I psi, with a repeatability of 3 psi. The accuracy may be improved to 0.31% full scale if a special calibration technique is employed involving placement of the gauge and the downhole electronics in a temperature-controlled oven. In some cases, a further pressure difference may be noted between the two gauges, since the strain gauge is calibrated in psig and the quartz gauge is psia. Interpretation In order to make the greatest use of RFT data, the analyst should be able to interpret the following types of RFT records: pretest records for formation permeability Post pretest buildup for formation permeability Llarge-sample fill-up time for formation permeability Sequential pressure readings versus depth for pore pressure gradients Large-sample collection data for expected formation product ion

The magnitude of the pressure differential (DP) between pretest sampling pressure and formation pressure coupled with the flow rate during pretest is sufficient to define permeability. In general, this may be found by a relation of the form k = A C q / DP where: k is permeability in millidarcies A is constant to take care of units
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C is the flow shape factor q is the flow rate in cc/second is the viscosity of the fluid in cp DP is the drawdown in psi A number of flow regimes may exist around an RFT tool and the borehole. It is generally agreed that the flow is somewhere between hemispherical and spherical. Computer modeling of the probe/formation system for one service companys tool shows that the combination of constants A C to be used should be such that

The flow rate is derived by dividing the 10 cc volume of the pretest chamber by the sampling time read from the pressure record. The viscosity, is considered to be that of the mud filtrate and may be estimated from published charts. DP is read from the pressure recording as the difference between pretest sampling pressure and formation pressure. The pretest method of permeability determination has these limitations: If the permeability is very high, the drawdown is very small and cannot be measured accurately. If the permeability is very low, the sampling pressure may drop below the bubble-point, in which case gas or water vapor is liberated and theflow rate of the liquid withdrawn is less than the volumetric displacement rate of the pretest pistons. The volume of formation investigated is small and hence the permeability measured may be that of the damaged zone, if present, and thus not representative of the formation as a whole. In general, a good estimate of formation permeability may be obtained from a visual inspection of the pretest record.

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Empirical charts then link recovered volumes to predicted production. Three areas are delineated on the chart indicating formations that are gas, oil, and water productive. An estimate of water cut can also be made using:

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4.0 APPLICATIONS

When investigating zones of interest in which conventional tests are not feasible, such as those too far above TD, those lacking good intervals for setting straddle packers, or those with very short intervals, where depth control is critical For pinning down water-oil, gas-oil, or gas-water contacts When rig time is critical When pressure control is critical because of time of day or rig locations

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5.0 REFERENCES
http://www.onepetro.org/mslib/servlet/onepetropreview?id=SPE-001244-G http://ipims.com/data/fe11/G40095TA.asp?UserID=&Code=35969 http://www.petrolog.net/webhelp/Logging_Tools/tool_fet/fet.html

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NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (NMR) LOGGING

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NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE (NMR)

1.0

INTRODUCTION

This summary of the state of the art in nuclear-magnetic-resonance (NMR) well-logging technology is aimed at nonspecialists who would like to gain some knowledge of the formationevaluation capabilities of NMR logging tools. The objective is to explain the basic measurement principles and interpretations needed to understand NMR formation-evaluation techniques and to discuss a few examples of these methods. Introduction of pulsed-NMR logging tools in the 1990s provided the industry with unique, even revolutionary, new methods for analyzing reservoir fluids, rocks, and fluid/rock interactions. The introduction of this technology came at an opportune time. It coincided with rapidly declining production after the 1970s drilling boom and the need for new tools to evaluate the more complex reservoirs being explored and developed. Pulsed-NMR logging tools brought a wealth of new and unique formationevaluation applications, and this technology has grown rapidly since its inception. Today, major service companies (e.g., Baker Hughes, Halliburton, and Schlumberger) offer NMR logging services. 1.1 BACKGROND OF STUDY The potential value of NMR logging was first recognized in the 1950s, leading to development of nuclear-magnetic-logging (NML) tools in the early 1960s. NML tools had many limitations and eventually were retired from service in the late 1980s. In spite of these limitations, laboratory research conducted to support NML logging anticipated many formation-evaluation applications in use today. These applications include estimation of permeability, pore-size distribution, free-fluid volume, oil viscosity, and wettability. The modern phase of NMR logging can be traced to the initiation of an NMR borehole-logging research project at Los Alamos Natl. Laboratory in 1978. The goal of this project was, in part, to build and test a borehole NMR logging tool that would overcome the limitations of the NML tools. The Los Alamos experimental tool used strong permanent magnets and performed pulsed-NMR spin-echo measurements like those used in modern laboratory-NMR instruments. The value of these measurements is that they are extremely flexible and can be tailored to fit many different formation-evaluation applications. The Los Alamos tool demonstrated feasibility but did not meet the requirements for a commercial tool because the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio was too low and the magnet and radio-frequency (RF) coil design produced a large borehole signal. Soon after this demonstration of feasibility, Numar Corp., a company founded in 1983, and Schlumberger began independent research efforts to design NMR magnets and RF antennas
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that would be suitable for commercial NMR logging measurements. These efforts came to fruition in the early 1990s when both companies began field tests of prototype wireline tools. These tools were vastly superior to the NML tools and quickly had an effect on formation evaluation. Since introduction of the first commercial tools, both companies have introduced advanced NMR wireline tools as well as logging-while-drilling (LWD) NMR tools. Numar was sold to Halliburton in 1997 and operates today as a wholly owned subsidiary. In 2001, Halliburton introduced an NMR fluid analyzer that is part of its wireline fluid-sampling tool. Halliburton and Schlumberger introduced LWD tools in 2000 and 2002, respectively. Baker Hughes introduced a wireline NMR tool in 2004 and an LWD NMR tool in 2005.

1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To give an overview on the working principles Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) tools and its application to drilling, well testing and reservoir optimization.

1.3 WHY NMR? These tools impose an external magnetic field in the formation and make a measurement that is proportional to the porosity, regardless of lithology. This allows identification of the freeand bound-fluid volumes and the free-fluid type (gas, oil or water). It also provides an indication of permeability.

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2.0

LITERATURE REVIEW

Modern NMR Logging Pulsed-NMR Logging Tools. The sensor (i.e., magnet and antenna) is the heart of a pulsed-NMR logging tool. It has a significant effect on important tool characteristics including S/N ratio, minimum echo spacing, depth of investigation (DOI), logging speed, and vertical resolution. Available tools all have somewhat different sensor designs. Further differences are electronics, firmware, pulse sequences, data processing, and interpretation algorithms. Detailed logging specifications for NMR tools can be found on service company websites.

Fig. 1 is a schematic of Schlumbergers NMR wireline logging tool. This tool has three antennas and a fully programmable pulse sequencer and can perform a large variety of different measurements. 2 Two 6-in. antennas are used for making high-resolution measurements of NMR-derived total, bound-fluid, and free-fluid porosities. The high-resolution antennas are also used to detect gas and light hydrocarbons and to provide estimates of permeability and poresize distributions. The main antenna is 18 in. long. It provides a variety of NMR measurements made at multiple frequencies for different formation-evaluation applications. Each frequency corresponds to a different DOI in the range from 1.5 to 4 in., measured from the borehole wall. The formation-evaluation applications provided by the main antenna include all of those provided by the two high-resolution antennas, and it is used for radial profiling of fluid types, fluid volumes, and oil viscosities.

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Some features are common to all commercial NMR tools. For instance, the tools all use powerful samarium cobalt permanent magnets that are relatively insensitive to changes in temperature. The magnets are used to polarize (i.e., magnetize) the hydrogen nuclei (protons) in hydrocarbon and water molecules. Another common feature is that they all perform pulsed NMR measurements.

2.1 BASIC THEORY NMR The NMR measurement comprises two steps. The first step is to create a net magnetization of the reservoir fluids. The magnitude of Bo typically is a few hundred gauss in the near-wellbore region (within a few inches of the borehole wall). The magnitude of Bo decreases with the radial distance from the magnet, which causes a magnetic-field gradient or distribution of gradients over the measurement volume. As discussed below, the magnetic-field gradient is used to identify and characterize the fluids in the reservoir. Before exposure to Bo, the magnetic moments of the hydrogen nuclei are randomly oriented so that the fluids have zero net magnetization. During the polarization time, Tp, the magnetization grows exponentially toward its equilibrium value, Mo. The time constant that characterizes the exponential buildup of the magnetization is the longitudinal relaxation time, which is referred to as T1. The T1 buildup of the magnetization during the polarization time is shown in Fig. 2a.

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In reservoir rocks, a distribution of T1 values is needed to describe the magnetization process. The T1 distribution reflects the complex compositions of hydrocarbons and the distribution of pore sizes in sedimentary rocks. A polarization time equal to at least three times the longest T1 is used to ensure that adequate magnetization is achieved. If a polarization time is too short, NMR-derived porosities underestimate true formation porosities. Immediately following the polarization time, a train of RF pulses is applied to the formation. The first RF pulse is called a 90 pulse because it rotates the magnetization vector, which initially is parallel to Bo, into the transverse plane perpendicular to Bo. Once the magnetization is in the transverse plane, it rotates around Bo, producing a time-varying signal in the same antenna used to create the pulses. An NMR free-induction-decay (FID) signal first occurs immediately after the 90 pulse but decays too fast to be detected. The 90 pulse is followed by a series of evenly spaced 180 pulses that are used to refocus the magnetic moments of the hydrogen nuclei to form coherent spin-echo signals. The spin echoes are recorded between each pair of 180 pulses. The RF pulses and spin-echo signals are shown schematically in Figs. 2b and 2c, respectively. The signals are called echoes because they reach maximum amplitude at the midpoint between each pair of 180 pulses and then decay rapidly to zero before the following pulse, which refocuses the magnetic moments to produce the next echo. The RF pulses and associated spin echoes in Figs. 2b and 2c are known as the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence. It is the most widely used NMR logging sequence. The envelope of the spin-echo signal decays exponentially with a characteristic time constant, T2, known as the transverse or spin-spin relaxation (i.e., decay) time.

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3.0 MODES OF OPERATION OF NMR Hydrogen (H) has a relatively large magnetic momentum and is also abundant in rocks. By tuning NMR logging tools to the magnetic resonance frequency of hydrogen, the signal of the precessing nuclei is maximized and measured. The decay of the NMR signal (transverse relaxation time, or T2-time), i.e. the response of the hydrogen nuclei to an outside external magnetic field, and the total signal amplitude are the measurements exploited with NMRlogging tools. The measurement sequence starts with proton alignment, spin-tipping and precession, followed by repeated dephasing and refocusing. The relaxation time T2 depends on the size of the pore-space and is thus a direct measure of porosity. The advantage of the NMR technique is that the porosity measurement is independent of lithology (not like density-porosity) and is carried out without radioactive sources.

Fig 4: Shows the alignment of the proton field in 3-Dimension

Spin-tipping and precession: The next step in the measurement sequence is spin-tipping, i.e. the aligned protons are tippedthrough applying an oscillating magnetic field B1.The frequency of B1is set to the socalled Larmorfrequency, a specific frequency for each type of nucleus. Hydrogen has a Larmorfrequency of 2.3 MHz in a magnetic field of 550 Gauss. The magnitude of the tip-angle is

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a function of the magnetic field strength B1and for how long it is switched on. To obtain a tipangle of 90 degrees of hydrogen you need a field of 4 gauss switched on for 16 micro-seconds. Dephasing (FID) First the protons will precess around the new direction of B1in unison. While doing so, they generate a small magnetic field at the Larmorfrequency, which is measured by an antenna inside the NMR tool. However, B0is not perfectly homogenous and the protons do not all precess exactly at the same frequency. Gradually they lose synchronization (dephasing) and the decaying signal is measured. The decay time is called T2* (the asterisk indicates that this is not a formation property) and is comparable to the span of the tipping pulse length. This decay signal is also referred to as free induction decay (FID). Refocusing, spin-echoes: The CPMG pulse sequenceThe dephasing caused by in homogeneities of B0 is (somewhat) reversible. The protons (all precessing at a slightly different frequency) can be refocused by a new pulse, which is180 degrees oriented to the original spin-tipping pulse and also twice as long. As the protons rephase, they generate a new signal in the antenna called a spin-echo. The spin echo decays again on the rate of the FID. However, the 180-degree pulses are applied repeatedly typically several hundred times within a single NMR measurement. The usual procedure is to apply 180-degree pulses in an evenly spaced train, as close together as possible. The entire pulse sequence (90plus a long series of 180pulses) is called a CPMG sequence, named after their inventors:Carr, Purcell, Mayboomand Gill.

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4.0 APPLICATIONS OF NMR The Applications of NMR are listed below: Porosity Reservoir quality Permeability Thin-bed analysis Hydrocarbon identification

The new tool brings the following new answers to the NMR arsenal: Hydrocarbon characterization (oil viscosity) Near-wellbore fluid saturation Potential for wettability1 and pore geometry2 evaluation

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5.0 REFERENCES Brown, R.J.S. et al.: The History of NMR Well Logging, Concepts in Magnetic Resonance Logging, 13, No. 6, 340. De Pavia, L. et al.: A Next-Generation Wireline NMR Logging Tool, paper SPE 84482 presented at the 2003 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Denver, 58 October. Freedman, R. and Heaton,: Fluid Characterization Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Logging, Petrophysics (May/June 2004) 45, No. 3, 241. Freedman, R. et al.: Measurement of Total NMR Porosity Adds New Value to NMR Logging, paper OO presented at the 1997 Annual Meeting of the Soc. of Professional Well Log Analysts, Houston, 1518 June. Prammer, M. et al.: Measurements of Clay-Bound Water and Total Porosity by Magnetic Resonance Logging, paper SPE 36522 presented at the 1996 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Denver, 69 October. McKeon, D. et al.: An Improved NMR Tool Design for Faster Logging, paper CC presented at the 1999 Annual Meeting of the Soc. of Professional Well Log Analysts, Oslo, Norway, 30 May3 June. Allen, D. et al.: How to Use Borehole Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Schlumberger Oilfield Review (Summer 1997) 9, No. 2, 34. Ramakrishan, T.S. et al.: Forward Models for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in Carbonates, The Log Analyst (1999) 40, No. 4, 260. Freedman, R. et al.: A New NMR Method of Fluid Characterization in Reservoir Rocks: Experimental Confirmation and Simulation Results, paper SPE 75325 SPEJ (December 2001) 452. Ahr, W.M. et al.: Confronting the Carbonate Conundrum, Schlumberger Oilfield Review (Spring 2005) 17, No. 1, 18. Freedman, R. et al.: Combining NMR and Density Logs for Petrophysical Evaluation in GasBearing Formations, paper II presentedat the 1998 Annual Meeting of the Soc. of Professional Well LogAnalysts, Keystone, Colorado, 2629 May. Akkurt, R. et al.: NMR Logging of Natural Gas Reservoirs, The LogAnalyst (1996) 37, No. 6, 33.

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Hrlimann, M.D. et al.: Diffusion-Editing: New NMR Measurements of Saturation and Pore Geometry, paper FFF presented at the 2002 Annual Meeting of the Soc. of Professional Well Log Analysts, Oiso, Japan, 25 June. Heaton, N.J. et al.: Saturation and Viscosity from Multidimensional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Logging, paper SPE 90564 presented at the 2004 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Houston, 2629 September. Guru, U. et al.: Low-Resistivity Pay Evaluation Using Multidimensional and High Resolution Magnetic Resonance Profiling, paper OOO presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Soc. of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts, New Orleans, June 2629. Freedman, R. et al.: Wettability, Saturation, and Viscosity From NMR Measurements, paper SPE 87340, SPEJ (December 2003) 317. Flaum, M., Chen, J., and Hirasaki, G.J.: NMR Diffusion-Editing for DT2 Maps: Application to Recognition of Wettability Change, Petrophysics (April 2005) 46, No. 2, 113. Freed, D.E., Durcaw, L., and Song, Y.Q.: Scaling Laws for Diffusion Coefficients in Mixtures of Alkanes, Physical Review Letters (2005) 94, 067602, 1. JPT http://www.encyclo.co.uk/visitor-contrib http://eps.mcgill.ca/~courses/c550/borehole-lecture10-NMR.pdf

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