Review of Basic Concepts

Lecture 3
ROCK COMPOSITION
This is the geologist’s first task to Interpret well-logs which will reveal
• Both the mineralogy and proportions of the solid constituents of the
rock (i.e. grains, matrix and cement),
• the nature and proportions (porosity, saturations) of the interstitial
fluids.
Log analysts distinguish only two categories of solid component in a
rock-“matrix” ** and “shale”.
Matrix
• For the log analyst, matrix encompasses all the solid constituents of
the rock (grains, matrix *, cement), excluding shale.
• A simple matrix lithology consists of single mineral (calcite or quartz,
for example)
• A complex lithology contains a mixture of minerals: for instance, a
cement of a different nature from the grains (such as a quartz sand
with calcitic cement).
• A clean formation is one containing no appreciable amount of clay or
shale
Complex Rock Matrix: A large mass of ultramafic rock hosting
platinum and palladium and also iridium, osmium, rhodium.
Clean Formation
 Shale
• A shale is a fine-grained, hardend
sedimentary rock formed by the
consolidation of clay or silt. It is
characterized by a finely
stratified(arrainged layers) structure
(laminae 0.1-0.4 mm thick) and/or
fissility approximately parallel to the
bedding.
• It normally contains at least 50% silt
with, typically, 35% clay or fine mica
and 15% chemical or authigenic
minerals
( fissility is the ability or tendency of a
rock to split along flat planes of
weakness)
silt
• A silt is a rock fragment or detrital particle having a diameter in the
range of 1/256 mm to 1/16 mm. It has commonly a high content of
clay minerals associated with quartz, feldspar and heavy minerals
such as mica, zircon, apatite, tourmaline, etc

Clay Silt
Clay
A clay is an extremely fine-grained natural sediment or soft rock
consisting of particles smaller than 1/256 mm diameter.
• It contains clay minerals (hydrous silicates, essentially of aluminium,
and sometimes of magnesium and iron)
• minor quantities of finely divided quartz, decomposed feldspars,
carbonates, iron oxides and
• other impurities such as organic matter. Clays form pasty, plastic
impermeable masses
 Fluids
• The arrangement of the grains usually leaves spaces (pores and channels)
which are filled with fluids: water, air, gas, oil, tar, etc. (Fig. 1-2).
• Just how much fluid is contained in a rock depends on the space, or
porosity, available.
• With the exception of water, these pore-fluids have one important
property in common with the large majority of matrix minerals- they are
poor electrical conductors.
• Water, on the other hand, conducts electricity by virtue of dissolved salts.
The electrical properties of a rock are therefore strongly influenced by the
water it contains.
• The quantity of water in the rock is a function of the porosity, and the
extent to which that porosity is filled with water (as opposed to
hydrocarbons).
 Fluids
• From the resistivity we can
determine the percentage
of water in the rock
(provided we know the
resistivity of the water
itself).
• If we also know the
porosity, we may deduce
the percentage of
hydrocarbons present (the
hydrocarbon saturation).
Porosity
• Porosity is the fraction of the total volume of a rock that is not occupied
by the solid constituents.
There are several kinds of porosity:
• (a) Total porosity, Φt consists of all the void spaces (pores, channels,
fissures, vugs) between the solid components
• We distinguish two components in the total porosity:

• Φ1 is the primary porosity, which is intergranular or intercrystalline. It

depends on the shape, size and arrangement of the solids, and is the
type of porosity encountered in clastic rocks.
• Φ2 is the secondary porosity, made up of vugs caused by dissolution
of the matrix, and fissures or cracks caused by mechanical forces. It is
a common feature of rocks of chemical or organic (biochemical)
origin.
• (b) Interconnected porosity, Φconnect is made up only of those spaces
which are in communication. This may be considerably less than the
total porosity
• (c) Potential porosity, Φpot is that part of the interconnected porosity
in which the diameter of the connecting channels is large enough to
permit fluid to flow (greater than 50 µm for oil, 5 µm for gas).
• (d) Effective porosity, Φe, is a term used specifically in log analysis. It
is the porosity that is accessible to free fluids, and excludes,
therefore, non-connected porosity and the volume occupied by the
clay-bound water or clay-hydration water (adsorbed water, hydration
water of the exchange cations) surrounding the clay particles.
• The resistivity ( R ) of a substance is the measure of its opposition to
the passage of electrical current. It is expressed in units of ohm
𝑚2 /m.
• The electrical conductivity (C) is the measure of the material’s ability
to conduct electricity. It is the inverse of the resistivity, and is usually
expressed in units of millimhos/m (mmho/m) or mS/m (milli Siemens
per metre)
ROCK TEXTURE AND STRUCTURE
The shape and size of the rock grains, their degree of sorting, the
manner in which they are cemented and the relative importance of the
cement itself have three important consequences.
• They determine the porosity; the size of the pores and connecting
channels influences the permeability, and hence the saturation; and
the distribution of the porosity decides the tortuosity.
• The internal structure of layers (homogeneity, heterogeneity,
lamination, continuous gradation). The configuration of individual
sedimentary structures, the thickness of the nature of their
interfacing, their arrangement in sequences **, and the boundaries
and trends of these sequences provide valuable information about
the depositional environment.
• This is why the study of the many different characteristics of
sedimentary formations is of such interest to the geologist and
reservoir engineer
CLASSIFICATION OF LOG MEASUREMENTS
The measurements grouped into two broad categories; those arising
from natural (or spontaneous) phenomena, and those arising from
induced phenomena.
• The first group simply employs a suitable detector to obtain the
measurement;
• The second group requires an appropriate type of emitter to “excite”
a particular response in the formation, in addition to a detection
system
Natural phenomena
• (a) Natural gamma radioactivity, which can be measured: (1) as a
total gamma-ray count-rate, as in the classical gamma-ray log; and (2)
as count-rates corresponding to selected energy bands, as in the
natural gamma-ray spectrometry log (NGS * or Spectralog).
• (b) Spontaneous potential: the S.P. log.
• (c) Formation temperature: the temperature log.
We should also include in this category:
• (d) Hole-diameter: the caliper log, which in fact is a measurement
strongly related to the mechanical or chemical properties of the rock.
• (e) Inclination of the hole: the deviation log, which measures both the
angle of the hole from the vertical, and its direction (or azimuth).
 natural gamma-ray tool

caliper log

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m-hole-open-hole-logging-tool/

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logging-tools/67-301-gamma-ray-
tool
Physical properties measured by inducing responses from
the formation
(A) Electrical measurements, by the emission of an electrical signal:
(1)Resistivity or conductivity:
• (a) using an electrode system: electrical survey (ES), laterolog (LL) *,
microlog (ML) *, microlaterolog (MLL) *, spherically focused log (SFL)
*, micro- spherically focused log (MSFL)*,high-resolution dipmeter
(HDT) *, (SDT) *.
• (b) using inductive coils: induction log (IL).
(2) Dielectric constant, using inductive coils: electromagnetic
propagation tool (EPT) *.
(B)Nuclear measurements

Nuclear measurements, by the irradiation of formation with gamma

rays or neutrons:
1. Density. Gamma rays are emitted from a source. The Compton
scattered gamma rays returning from the formation are detected:
formation density or gamma-gamma log. (FDC , D, CD, LDT).
2. Photo-electric absorption coefficient (related to the mean Atomic
Number). This is a low energy gamma-ray phenomenon and is
measured in addition to density in the litho density log (LDT).
3. The hydrogen index. The formation is continuously bombarded by
high energy neutrons, which are slowed by successive elastic collisions
with atomic nuclei, particularly those of hydrogen. There are several
techniques in use, involving the detection of:
• (a) Thermal neutrons, i.e. those neutrons that have been slowed
down to thermal energy: neutron-thermal neutron logging (CNL *,
NT).
• (b) Gamma rays emitted when these thermal neutrons are captured
by atomic nuclei: neutron-gamma logging (N).
• (c) Epithermal neutrons i.e. those neutrons not yet slowed down to
thermal energy: neutron-epithermal neutron logging NE, SNP *, CNL *
(epithermal).
(4) Macroscopic thermal neutron capture cross-section (Σ). High-
energy neutrons are emitted in short bursts. The rate of decay of the
thermal neutron population in the formation is measured between
bursts. This is a neutron capture phenomenon: thermal neutron decay
time (TDT) * or neutron lifetime logging (NLL).
(5) Elemental composition. Gamma rays emitted from interactions
between high energy neutrons and certain atomic nuclei are analyzed
spectroscopically. There are three types of interaction important for
induced gamma ray spectroscopy:
• (a) Fast neutron or inelastic interactions: inelastic gamma ray
spectrometry (IGT, GST), carbon-oxygen logging.
• (b) Neutron capture: capture gamma ray spectrometry (GST, IGT),
chlorine logging.
• (c) Activation and subsequent decay of radio-isotopes: activation
logging, high resolution spectrometry (HRS).
(6) Proton spin relaxation time. A pulsed DC magnetic field
momentarily aligns the nuclear magnetic moments of the protons.
After the pulse, the time required for the protons of the formation to
stop precessing about the Earth’s magnetic field is measured. This spin
relaxation time can be used to evaluate residual oil. Nuclear magnetic
resonance log (NML).
(C) Acoustic measurements
An acoustic signal is sent into the formation. We may measure:
• (1) The velocity of a compressional wave, from the transit time
between two receivers: sonic log (SV, SL, BHC *). The shear-wave
velocity can also be measured.
• (2) The transit time from a surface gun to a downhole geophone: well
seismic (WST).
• (3) The amplitude of a selected peak or trough in the acoustic wave-
train arriving at a receiver. The compressional or shear-wave arrivals
may be of interest: amplitude logging (A).
• (4) The relative amplitudes of the various components of the wave-
train, the configuration of the wave-train; variable density logging
(VDL) *, sonic waveform photography, well seismic (WST), borehole
televiewer (BHTV).