scholarly journals Centimeter-Scale Lithology and Facies Prediction in Cored Wells Using Machine Learning

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Martin ◽  
Ross Meyer ◽  
Zane Jobe

Machine-learning algorithms have been used by geoscientists to infer geologic and physical properties from hydrocarbon exploration and development wells for more than 40 years. These techniques historically utilize digital well-log information, which, like any remotely sensed measurement, have resolution limitations. Core is the only subsurface data that is true to geologic scale and heterogeneity. However, core description and analysis are time-intensive, and therefore most core data are not utilized to their full potential. Quadrant 204 on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf has publicly available open-source core and well log data. This study utilizes this dataset and machine-learning models to predict lithology and facies at the centimeter scale. We selected 12 wells from the Q204 region with well-log and core data from the Schiehallion, Foinaven, Loyal, and Alligin hydrocarbon fields. We interpreted training data from 659 m of core at the sub-centimeter scale, utilizing a lithology-based labeling scheme (five classes) and a depositional-process-based facies labeling scheme (six classes). Utilizing a “color-channel-log” (CCL) that summarizes the core image at each depth interval, our best performing trained model predicts the correct lithology with 69% accuracy (i.e., the predicted lithology output from the model is the same as the interpreted lithology) and predicts individual lithology classes of sandstone and mudstone with over 80% accuracy. The CCL data require less compute power than core image data and generate more accurate results. While the process-based facies labels better characterize turbidites and hybrid-event-bed stratigraphy, the machine-learning based predictions were not as accurate as compared to lithology. In all cases, the standard well-log data cannot accurately predict lithology or facies at the centimeter level. The machine-learning workflow developed for this study can unlock warehouses full of high-resolution data in a multitude of geological settings. The workflow can be applied to other geographic areas and deposit types where large quantities of photographed core material are available. This research establishes an open-source, python-based machine-learning workflow to analyze open-source core image data in a scalable, reproducible way. We anticipate that this study will serve as a baseline for future research and analysis of borehole and core data.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian Popescu ◽  
Rebecca Head ◽  
Tim Ferriday ◽  
Kate Evans ◽  
Jose Montero ◽  
...  

Abstract This paper presents advancements in machine learning and cloud deployment that enable rapid and accurate automated lithology interpretation. A supervised machine learning technique is described that enables rapid, consistent, and accurate lithology prediction alongside quantitative uncertainty from large wireline or logging-while-drilling (LWD) datasets. To leverage supervised machine learning, a team of geoscientists and petrophysicists made detailed lithology interpretations of wells to generate a comprehensive training dataset. Lithology interpretations were based on applying determinist cross-plotting by utilizing and combining various raw logs. This training dataset was used to develop a model and test a machine learning pipeline. The pipeline was applied to a dataset previously unseen by the algorithm, to predict lithology. A quality checking process was performed by a petrophysicist to validate new predictions delivered by the pipeline against human interpretations. Confidence in the interpretations was assessed in two ways. The prior probability was calculated, a measure of confidence in the input data being recognized by the model. Posterior probability was calculated, which quantifies the likelihood that a specified depth interval comprises a given lithology. The supervised machine learning algorithm ensured that the wells were interpreted consistently by removing interpreter biases and inconsistencies. The scalability of cloud computing enabled a large log dataset to be interpreted rapidly; >100 wells were interpreted consistently in five minutes, yielding >70% lithological match to the human petrophysical interpretation. Supervised machine learning methods have strong potential for classifying lithology from log data because: 1) they can automatically define complex, non-parametric, multi-variate relationships across several input logs; and 2) they allow classifications to be quantified confidently. Furthermore, this approach captured the knowledge and nuances of an interpreter's decisions by training the algorithm using human-interpreted labels. In the hydrocarbon industry, the quantity of generated data is predicted to increase by >300% between 2018 and 2023 (IDC, Worldwide Global DataSphere Forecast, 2019–2023). Additionally, the industry holds vast legacy data. This supervised machine learning approach can unlock the potential of some of these datasets by providing consistent lithology interpretations rapidly, allowing resources to be used more effectively.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4862
Author(s):  
Nilesh Dixit ◽  
Paul McColgan ◽  
Kimberly Kusler

A good understanding of different rock types and their distribution is critical to locate oil and gas accumulations in the subsurface. Traditionally, rock core samples are used to directly determine the exact rock facies and what geological environments might be present. Core samples are often expensive to recover and, therefore, not always available for each well. Wireline logs provide a cheaper alternative to core samples, but they do not distinguish between various rock facies alone. This problem can be overcome by integrating limited core data with largely available wireline log data with machine learning. Here, we presented an application of machine learning in rock facies predictions based on limited core data from the Umiat Oil Field of Alaska. First, we identified five sandstone reservoir facies within the Lower Grandstand Member using core samples and mineralogical data available for the Umiat 18 well. Next, we applied machine learning algorithms (ascendant hierarchical clustering, self-organizing maps, artificial neural network, and multi-resolution graph-based clustering) to available wireline log data to build our models trained with core-driven information. We found that self-organizing maps provided the best result among other techniques for facies predictions. We used the best self-organizing maps scheme for predicting similar reservoir facies in nearby uncored wells—Umiat 23H and SeaBee-1. We validated our facies prediction results for these wells with observed seismic data.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (22) ◽  
pp. 7714
Author(s):  
Ha Quang Man ◽  
Doan Huy Hien ◽  
Kieu Duy Thong ◽  
Bui Viet Dung ◽  
Nguyen Minh Hoa ◽  
...  

The test study area is the Miocene reservoir of Nam Con Son Basin, offshore Vietnam. In the study we used unsupervised learning to automatically cluster hydraulic flow units (HU) based on flow zone indicators (FZI) in a core plug dataset. Then we applied supervised learning to predict HU by combining core and well log data. We tested several machine learning algorithms. In the first phase, we derived hydraulic flow unit clustering of porosity and permeability of core data using unsupervised machine learning methods such as Ward’s, K mean, Self-Organize Map (SOM) and Fuzzy C mean (FCM). Then we applied supervised machine learning methods including Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Support Vector Machines (SVM), Boosted Tree (BT) and Random Forest (RF). We combined both core and log data to predict HU logs for the full well section of the wells without core data. We used four wells with six logs (GR, DT, NPHI, LLD, LSS and RHOB) and 578 cores from the Miocene reservoir to train, validate and test the data. Our goal was to show that the correct combination of cores and well logs data would provide reservoir engineers with a tool for HU classification and estimation of permeability in a continuous geological profile. Our research showed that machine learning effectively boosts the prediction of permeability, reduces uncertainty in reservoir modeling, and improves project economics.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1896
Author(s):  
Timur Merembayev ◽  
Darkhan Kurmangaliyev ◽  
Bakhbergen Bekbauov ◽  
Yerlan Amanbek

Defining distinctive areas of the physical properties of rocks plays an important role in reservoir evaluation and hydrocarbon production as core data are challenging to obtain from all wells. In this work, we study the evaluation of lithofacies values using the machine learning algorithms in the determination of classification from various well log data of Kazakhstan and Norway. We also use the wavelet-transformed data in machine learning algorithms to identify geological properties from the well log data. Numerical results are presented for the multiple oil and gas reservoir data which contain more than 90 released wells from Norway and 10 wells from the Kazakhstan field. We have compared the the machine learning algorithms including KNN, Decision Tree, Random Forest, XGBoost, and LightGBM. The evaluation of the model score is conducted by using metrics such as accuracy, Hamming loss, and penalty matrix. In addition, the influence of the dataset features on the prediction is investigated using the machine learning algorithms. The result of research shows that the Random Forest model has the best score among considered algorithms. In addition, the results are consistent with outcome of the SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) framework.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (12) ◽  
pp. 949-958 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. I. Priezzhev ◽  
P. C. H. Veeken ◽  
S. V. Egorov ◽  
U. Strecker

An analytical comparison of seismic inversion with several multivariate predictive techniques is made. Statistical data reduction techniques are examined that incorporate various machine learning algorithms, such as linear regression, alternating conditional expectation regression, random forest, and neural network. Seismic and well-log data are combined to estimate petrophysical or petroelastic properties, like bulk density. Currently, spatial distribution and estimation of reservoir properties is leveraged by inverting 3D seismic data calibrated to elastic properties (VP, VS, and bulk density) obtained from well-log data. Most commercial seismic inversions are based on linear convolution, i.e., one-dimensional models that involve a simplified plane-parallel medium. However, in cases that are geophysically more complex, such as fractured and/or fluid-rich layers, the conventional straightforward prediction relationship breaks down. This is because linear convolution operators no longer adequately describe seismic wavefield propagation due to nonlinear energy absorption. Such nonlinearity is also suggested by the seismic nonstationarity phenomenon, expressed by vertical and horizontal changes in the shape of the seismic wavelet (amplitude and frequency variations). The nonlinear predictive operator, extracted by machine learning algorithms, makes it possible in certain cases to estimate petrophysical reservoir properties more accurately and with less influence of interpretational bias.


Author(s):  
Mohammad Farsi ◽  
Nima Mohamadian ◽  
Hamzeh Ghorbani ◽  
David A. Wood ◽  
Shadfar Davoodi ◽  
...  

Nafta-Gaz ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 283-292
Author(s):  
Tomasz Topór ◽  

The application of machine learning algorithms in petroleum geology has opened a new chapter in oil and gas exploration. Machine learning algorithms have been successfully used to predict crucial petrophysical properties when characterizing reservoirs. This study utilizes the concept of machine learning to predict permeability under confining stress conditions for samples from tight sandstone formations. The models were constructed using two machine learning algorithms of varying complexity (multiple linear regression [MLR] and random forests [RF]) and trained on a dataset that combined basic well information, basic petrophysical data, and rock type from a visual inspection of the core material. The RF algorithm underwent feature engineering to increase the number of predictors in the models. In order to check the training models’ robustness, 10-fold cross-validation was performed. The MLR and RF applications demonstrated that both algorithms can accurately predict permeability under constant confining pressure (R2 0.800 vs. 0.834). The RF accuracy was about 3% better than that of the MLR and about 6% better than the linear reference regression (LR) that utilized only porosity. Porosity was the most influential feature of the models’ performance. In the case of RF, the depth was also significant in the permeability predictions, which could be evidence of hidden interactions between the variables of porosity and depth. The local interpretation revealed the common features among outliers. Both the training and testing sets had moderate-low porosity (3–10%) and a lack of fractures. In the test set, calcite or quartz cementation also led to poor permeability predictions. The workflow that utilizes the tidymodels concept will be further applied in more complex examples to predict spatial petrophysical features from seismic attributes using various machine learning algorithms.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lianteng Song ◽  
◽  
Zhonghua Liu ◽  
Chaoliu Li ◽  
Congqian Ning ◽  
...  

Geomechanical properties are essential for safe drilling, successful completion, and exploration of both conven-tional and unconventional reservoirs, e.g. deep shale gas and shale oil. Typically, these properties could be calcu-lated from sonic logs. However, in shale reservoirs, it is time-consuming and challenging to obtain reliable log-ging data due to borehole complexity and lacking of in-formation, which often results in log deficiency and high recovery cost of incomplete datasets. In this work, we propose the bidirectional long short-term memory (BiL-STM) which is a supervised neural network algorithm that has been widely used in sequential data-based pre-diction to estimate geomechanical parameters. The pre-diction from log data can be conducted from two differ-ent aspects. 1) Single-Well prediction, the log data from a single well is divided into training data and testing data for cross validation; 2) Cross-Well prediction, a group of wells from the same geographical region are divided into training set and testing set for cross validation, as well. The logs used in this work were collected from 11 wells from Jimusaer Shale, which includes gamma ray, bulk density, resistivity, and etc. We employed 5 vari-ous machine learning algorithms for comparison, among which BiLSTM showed the best performance with an R-squared of more than 90% and an RMSE of less than 10. The predicted results can be directly used to calcu-late geomechanical properties, of which accuracy is also improved in contrast to conventional methods.


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