Resistivity Log

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

Well Log
SP Resistivity
 TYPICAL RESISTIVITY LOG RESPONSE

0 GR (API) 150 0.2 Res (ohm-m) 20

Gas/Oil
Sand Contact
Water

Sand GR
Gas/Oil

RESISTIVITY LOG
Res
With knowing of fluids resitivity,
we could identify the fluids
content (Gas, Oil, Water)
IDEALIZED LOG SET

R=4

= 0.30
R = 0.4

R=8 = 0.07

Shale

R = 0.3
Sand = 0.35
 FOUR COMPONENTS OF SANDSTONE
Geologists Classification

1. Framework Note different use of matrix

2. Matrix Engineering
matrix by geologists and engineers
3. Cement
4. Pores

PORE
FRAMEWORK
CEMENT (QUARTZ) MATRIX

FRAMEWORK
(FELDSPAR)

Ayers, 2001
0.25 mm
 FLUID SATURATIONS
Grain Water Gas Oil
and matrix

Initially, water fills pores and wets the rock surface

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

The voltage required to cause one amp to pass

through a cube having a face area of one
square meter

Units are ohm-m2/m; usually ohm-m (.m)

1
Resistivity
Conductivity
RESISTIVITY OF EARTH MATERIALS

1
Resistivity
Conductivity

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

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

Resistivity of water
Porosity of the formation,
Pore geometry - tortuosity
Lithology of the formation
Degree of cementation, and
Type and amount of clay in the rock
 ELECTRICITY AND EARTH
MATERIALS

Conduction is by ions in water

Na+ and Cl- are very common
Other monovalent ions K+ and OH-
Common bivalent ions: Ca++, Mg++
 Electricity and Earth Materials
Water resistivity
controlled by
Ion
concentrations
What type of ions
What temperature
Chart GEN-4 to
convert to NaCl
equivalent
Chart GEN-5 for
temperature/resist
for NaCl
Resistivity of NaCl Solutions
(GEN-5 H or GEN-9 S)
 ARPS FORMULA
For constant solution
R1(T1 + 7) = R2(T2 + 7) (T in deg F)
R1(T1 + 21.5) = R2(T2 + 21.5) (T in deg C)

Example
Rm = 0.32 ohm-m @ surface (25 deg C)
What is Rm at 145 deg C?
R2 = R1(T1 + 21.5)/(T2 + 21.5)
R2 = 0.32(25+21.5)/(145+21.5) = 0.089 ohm-m
Check this on the chart!
 ARCHIES FIRST LAW
As the salt water content increases, the formation
resistivity will decrease.
A rock containing oil or gas will have a higher
resistivity than the same rock completely saturated
with salt water.
As the shale content increases, the rock matrix will
become more conductive.
Ro = Resistivity of a rock that is 100%
saturated with formation water
Rw = Resistivity of formation water
Ro = F Rw
F = Formation factor (formation resistivity
factor)
 FORMATION FACTOR

The formation factor (F) depends on:

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

a
F
m

a = constant 1.0 for most formations

m = cementation factor 2 for most formations
Common values
F = 0.8/2 (Tixier) or F = 0.62/2.15 (Humble) for
sandstones
F = 0.8/2 for carbonates
Formation Resistivity Factor Versus Porosity
RELATION OF FORMATION FACTOR
TO VOLUMETRIC POROSITY
 RESISTIVITY FACTOR TO SHALINESS
The formation factor (F) is constant for a clean sand;
F decreases for shaly sand as value of Rw increases
 ARCHIES SECOND LAW

If Rt = R0, then the formation is 100%

saturated with formation water. If Rt > Ro,
then the formation contains oil or gas.

General formula:

Ro F * Rw a * Rw
S
n
m
Rt
w
Rt Rt

For clean sands, n = 2 is common.

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

Uninvaded
Zone
(Rt)
Invaded
Zone (Rxo)

Wellbore
Mud
(Rm)

Uninvaded Mud Cake

Zone (Rmc)
(Rt)

Modified from J. Jensen

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

Sxo
Rs
di
dj
Adjacent bed

(Invasion diameters)

rj

dh
Hole
diameter
After Schlumberger
 COMMON TERMINOLOGY
Borehole
Rm : Borehole mud resistivity
Rmc : Mudcake resistivity
Invaded zone
Rmf : Mud filtrate resistivity
Rxo : Invaded zone resistivity
Sxo : Invaded zone water saturation
Uninvaded zone
Rw : Interstitial water resistivity
Rt : Uninvaded zone resistivity
Sw : Uninvaded zone water saturation
 SUMMARY - RESISTIVITY

Resistivity important property

Depends on ions in water
Water resistivity depends on
Concentration
Temperature
Species
Archies First Law relates rock resistivity to Rw
Archies Second Law relates Sw to Rt
WHY 3 DIFFERENT RESISTIVITY MEASUREMENTS?

Uninvaded Zone resistivity,Rt measurement is affected by:

Mud resistivity, Rm
Mudcake resistivity, Rmc
Flushed zone resistivity, Rxo
Three resistivity measurements are made to get an accurate
resistivity, Rt, since no tool can read uninvaded zone (as far
as 5-7 ft from borehole) resistivities without compromising
vertical resolution or being affected by flushed zone
resistivity, mud resistivity and mudcake resistivity.
Typical depths of investigation:
Resistivity Tool Depth of Investigation
Deep resistivity 5-7 feet.
Shallow resistivity 2-3 feet.
Micro resistivity A few inches ( 2~3 inches)
 CORRECTION CHARTS
To obtain a value for Rt, we use of correction charts
The three resistivity measurements are corrected for the
presence of mud, mudcake and invasion effects and also
for other environmental factors like borehole size and tool
position in the borehole.

NOTE : When doing a Quicklook analysis on the wellsite, it

is common practice to use the deep measurement as an
approximate value for Rt and the shallow measurement an
approximation of Rxo.
 RESISTIVITY TOOLS

There are two kinds of Resistivity tools :

Resistivity tools - Measure resistivity, eg.
Dual Laterolog
Conductivity tools - Measure conductivity,
eg. Array Induction
Tool
RESISTIVITY TOOL: THE DUAL LATEROLOG

Deep and shallow measurement systems work

simultaneously - this is the dual aspect of the tool

Deep and shallow measurement systems operation at

different frequencies of and have different depths of
investigation

Both measurements maintain the same vertical

resolution of 2 feet

All currents (deep and shallow) are emitted

circumferentially from the tool in a disc pattern
LLD-LLS CURRENT PATTERNS
 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

RLL J m Rm J xo Rxo J t Rt

Where Jm, Jxo, Jt are geometric factors giving the

contribution of each zone to the resistivity read by the tool.
In the laterolog tool, the zones add up in series. The tool
responds therefore to the most resistive zone and hence
the DLL is used where:
Mud is saline or WBM (low resistivity); or
Formation is highly resistive.
A rule of thumb is to use the DLL when Rw/Rt>2.5
CONDUCTIVITY TOOLS: INDUCTION TOOLS

These tools provide conductivity measurements

They provide both deep and a shallow measurements
A transmitter coil with an alternating current passing
through it sets up an alternating magnetic field through the
borehole and formation. Faradays Law predicts that this
time varying field will establish an EMF in the formation that
causes current flow through the formation in circular paths.
Magnitude of these currents is proportional to the formation
conductivity.
Current loops produce their own magnetic fields that cut
through the receiver coil and induce an alternating voltage
at the receiver that is proportional to the strength of the
secondary magnetic field and, hence, the formation
conductivity.
INDUCTION TOOL OPERATION
 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
There are current loops in the mud, in the mudcake, in the
invaded zone and in the uninvaded zone
Therefore, apparent conductivity read by the induction tool,
Ca is:

Ca GmCm GxoCxo Gt Ct
Measurements are corrected for the effects of the borehole
and other environmental effects
Tool responds to the most conductive medium surrounding
it, so we use an induction tool where we have:
Low salinity mud or OBM (low conductivity);
Low resistivity formations; or
Where Rw/Rmf > 2.5
SELECTING THE RESISTIVITY TOOL
 RESISTIVITY TOOL SUMMARY

Micro-resistivity has a very shallow depth of

investigation - approximately 2-3 inches.

Micro-resistivity is measured with tools like the

micro-spherically Focused Tool.

All three types of resistivity tools help determine Rt,

with the use of correction charts.
 RESISTIVITY TOOL
APPLICATIONS

Well to well correlation

Sxo and Sw computation
Presence and depth of hydrocarbons
Invasion profile analysis/Imaging
 SATURATION MEASUREMENT
FROM RESISTIVITY
Rock containing pores saturated
with water and hydrocarbons

Non-shaly rock, 100% saturated

with water having resistivity,
Rw
Rt Cube of water
= 20% having resistivity,
Sw = 20% Rw
Ro
= 20%
Sw = 100%
Rw
= 100%
Sw = 100%
(1) Rock
Conductivity
Increasing
Increasing
Resistivity

(2) Gas
(3) Oil a
F Ro
(4) Fresh Water Rw m
(5) Salt Water
 Archies Law

ARw
S m
n
Uninvaded Zone water

w
Rt saturation

A Rmf
S
n
Invaded/Flushed zone water

xo m
Rxo saturation
VARIABLES DETERMINED
FROM WIRELINE LOGS

1/ n
a Rw
S w m

Rt
 ARCHIES EQUATION

Empirical constant
(usually near unity) Resistivity of

a Rww formation water,

Sw n
-m

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

(also usually Resistivity of

near 2) Porosity, uninvaded
fraction formation, -m
 HOW ARCHIES EQUATION WORKS
Archies equation is based on the following
relationships
1000
Rock type 1

Solving for Ro when

water saturation is 100% 100

Ro a
FR

10 Rock type 2
Rw m
1
.01 .1 1.0

 HOW ARCHIES EQUATION WORKS
1000

Rock type 1
100

R0
Rt
Solving for Ro when IR =
is constant Rock type 2
10
Rt 1

R o Sw n 1
.01 .1 1.0
Sw