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Identification Of Open Natural Fractures Using Conventional Wireline Logs,

Borehole Imaging And Stoneley Waves

Conference Paper · November 2017

DOI: 10.3997/2214-4609.201702590

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Constantin L Ciuperca Bogdan Mihai NICULESCU

University of Bucharest University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geology and Geophysics
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44104
Identification Of Open Natural Fractures Using
Conventional Wireline Logs, Borehole Imaging And
Stoneley Waves
C. Ciuperca* (University of Bucharest, Department of Geophysics), C. Badulescu (University
of Bucharest, Department of Geophysics), B. Niculescu (University of Bucharest,
Department of Geophysics), A. Negut (University of Bucharest, Department of Geophysi

Summary
The identification of open natural fractures is an important and challenging task for oil and gas industry
specialists, because such fractures have an important impact on fluids flow, within a reservoir or from reservoir
to the borehole.
Due to high costs, it is not always possible to perform coring. In these situations, borehole geophysical imaging
may partially compensate the lack of direct information. Given the ambiguity of open fractures detection using
only borehole images, it is necessary to integrate different types of geophysical data and methods, as well as
drilling events, for accurate fracture characterization.
Stoneley waves recorded by acoustic logging tools can be used to detect open fractures due to their attenuation
and reflection in fractured intervals. The analysis of the differences between direct and reflected Stoneley
modes, in combination with caliper and formation density data allows the discrimination of permeable fractures
from cavings and bed boundary reflections.
The drilling mud weighting by barite addition strongly influences the density and photoelectric factor readings,
but can help in the case of open natural fracture detection. Barite may invade open fractures and result in very
high values of the photoelectric absorption factor at particular depths.

9th Congress of the Balkan Geophysical Society

5-9 November 2017, Antalya, Turkey
Introduction

The necessity of identifying new hydrocarbons resources lead the exploration and research efforts
towards reservoirs with low primary porosity (the so-called "tight reservoirs"), where fractures play an
extremely important role in hosting the reservoir fluids and allowing their circulation. For such
reservoirs, the identification and determination of natural fractures type is of utmost importance in the
formation evaluation process, having direct implications on the economic potential of the reservoirs.

Core analysis represents the most efficient method for identifying the natural fractures type. However,
core extraction has the disadvantages of being expensive, time consuming and, also, of providing only
discontinuous information. Geophysical investigations, as indirect analysis methods, can only
partially overcome the lack of cores and only in certain situations can aid in determining the fractures
type. For natural open fractures identification an integrated analysis has to be employed, putting
together several borehole geophysical data types, as well as drilling events and data.

One of the most efficient geophysical investigation methods is borehole imaging, due to its very high
resolution. Different types of borehole images, based on electrical resistivity or acoustic
measurements, used both in water-based or oil-based drilling muds, may help in fracture identification
but do not allow for their characterization as open fractures. In the case of resistivity images obtained
in water-based muds, an open fracture can be easily confused with one filled with conductive material
(e.g. pyrite or clay minerals). On resistivity images acquired in oil-based muds, open fractures can
appear as dark/conductive when the resistivity of the drilling fluid is less than the host rocks one or as
white/resistive when the drilling fluid is more resistive then the host rocks. Also, in the case of
acoustic imaging, open natural fractures could be confused with those filled with different materials,
because of their detection based on acoustic impedance.

While borehole images are able to help with fracture identification, Stoneley waves and conventional
open-hole logs (bulk density, neutron porosity and photoelectric absorption factor) can provide
complementary information about the type and character of the fractures.

We present a case study where natural fractures were detected using resistivity images obtained in oil-
based mud, Stoneley wave chevron patterns and quad-combo conventional logging data, in a wellbore
where barite was added as drilling fluid weighting agent.

Method and theory

The identification of open natural fractures via indirect measurements was performed by integrating
spectral gamma ray, resistivity, neutron porosity, bulk density, photoelectric factor, sonic dipole and
wellbore electrical imaging data; all the measurements were carried out in high-resistivity synthetic
drilling mud. The weighting of the drilling mud was done by means of barite addition. During
circulation, barite was taken along the wellbore path, penetrating the open natural fractures. Also, it
became part of the mud-cake, generating abnormally high photoelectric factor readings.

Barite accumulation along the open fractures (the existence of fractures being confirmed by borehole
electrical imaging) are observed by means of this diagnostic high readings, above the normal trend of
the wellbore, given the known high Pe response of barite (267 barns/electron) compared to common
sedimentary rocks.

In fractured areas the bulk density values drop (the drilling mud, formation water and hydrocarbons
that are present within the open fracture system have lower density with respect to the formations), the
neutron porosity increases if fractures are filled with liquids and decrease in the presence of gas, while
the sonic transit time increases in the presence of fluids (Fig. 1). These anomalies occur only if the
open fractures aperture is high enough to allow their detection.

9th Congress of the Balkan Geophysical Society

5-9 November 2017, Antalya, Turkey
The resistivity wellbore imaging device for nonconductive drilling muds, used in this well, is
composed of 6 independent arms with 6 pads having 10 electrodes each (Fig. 2). The electrodes are
shaped like blades, cutting through the mudcake and assuring the electrical contact with the
formations. Each change in the formations is recorded as microresistivity changes.

Figure 1 The behaviour of conventional quad-combo logs in fractured intervals.

Figure 2 Oil-Base Mud Microimager tool.

Stoneley wave readings acquired by sonic dipole tools are a type of surface waves traveling at the
wellbore / formation interface. They travel at low frequencies and are particularly sensitive to
formation permeability and fractured zones. In zones with open fractures, Stoneley waves are
reflected and generate chevron-like interference patterns on the recorded full waveforms (Fig. 3).
These reflections can also be generated by bed boundaries and washouts. However, there are methods
to differentiate between fractures, bed boundaries and washouts.

9th Congress of the Balkan Geophysical Society

5-9 November 2017, Antalya, Turkey
Case study

The analysed well is located in the SW part of the Scythian Platform (Romania), close to the Trotuş
Fault. The Scythian Platform is a continental block oriented NW-SE to W-E and it is located between
Bistriţa and Trotuş Faults (Fig. 4).

Figure 3 Stoneley wave reflected in fractured intervals (left) and clear chevron patterns showing on
the recorded full waveform data (right).

Figure 4 Simplified structural map of the autochthonous units in the frontal part of the Romanian
Carpathians and contour map of the pre-Miocene basement of the foreland platforms (Maţenco et al.,
2002).
According to Săndulescu & Visarion (1988) and Visarion et al. (1988), the autochthonous platform
units from the Carpathian foreland consist of two distinctive areas, relatively stable: the East
European Platform / Scythian Platform and the Moesian Platform, separated by the North Dobrogea
Orogen. Within the Scythian Platform, three major sedimentary cycles are present (Ionesi, 1994):
Upper Paleozoic - Lower Mesozoic (Permian - Lower Triassic), Mesozoic - Paleogene (Jurassic -
Eocene) and Tertiary (Upper Badenian - Romanian).

The interest zone in the analysed well, located at about 4000 m depth, is part of the Mesozoic -
Paleogene cycle and the detrital rocks are characterized by low primary porosity. The well was drilled
using a resistive synthetic-based mud and the open-hole logging program comprised the following
methods: quad-combo suite, sonic dipole and wellbore electrical imaging. Figure 5 shows the
fractures identified by the wellbore image and confirmed by the quad-combo data. Figure 6 is a
composite plot constructed from all the available data; track 5 shows the quad-combo porosity-
lithology curves, track 6 lists the events picked on the imaging data, while track 8 confirms the open
character of the fractures identified by the other methods.

9th Congress of the Balkan Geophysical Society

5-9 November 2017, Antalya, Turkey
 Figure 5 Quad-combo data and electrical imaging data identifying the same fractured interval.

Figure 6 Stoneley wave events confirming the open character of the fractures.

Conclusions

In many cases it is almost impossible to detect open natural fractures using only high resolution
borehole images. Stoneley wave method is extremely useful for this purpose, but may have its
limitations related to erroneous interpretation of bed boundaries and washouts as natural open
fractures. Barite or other measureable additive in the drilling fluid can help for open fracture detection
by generating abnormal readings on the corresponding geophysical curves. Each open-hole logging
curve responds to the presence of fractures in its own specific manner. The only way to
comprehensively detect and characterize natural open fractures in a wellbore is to perform a fully
integrated interpretation based on all available logging data and drilling events.

References

Ionesi, L. [1994] Geology of Platform Units and North Dobrogean Orogen. Technical Publishing
House, Bucharest, 280 pp. (in Romanian)
Maţenco, L., Bertotti, G., Cloetingh, S., Dinu, C. [2003] Subsidence analysis and tectonic evolution of
the external Carpathian-Moesian platform during Neogene times. Sedimentary Geology, 156,
71-94.
Cheng, C.H., Paillet, F.L., Pennington, W.D. [1992] Acoustic Waveform Logging - Advances in
Theory and Application. The Log Analyst, 33 (3), SPWLA-1992-v33n3a2.

9th Congress of the Balkan Geophysical Society

5-9 November 2017, Antalya, Turkey

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