Leveraging Acoustic Logging for Identification & Quantification of Induced Fractures

The main objective of the acoustic logging in 15K openhole multistage fracturing completions (OH MSFs) is to identify the fracture initiation points behind pipe and contributing fractures to gas production. The technique will also help to understand the integrity of the OH packers. A well was identified to be a candidate for assessment through such technique. The selected well was one of the early 15K OH MSF completions in the region that was successfully implemented with the goal of hydrocarbon production at sustained commercial rates from a gas formation. The candidate well was drilled horizontally to achieve maximum contact in a tight gas sandstone formation. Similar wells in the region have seen many challenges of formation breakdown due to high formation stresses. The objective of this work is to use the acoustic data to better characterize fracture properties. The deployment of acoustic log technology can provide information of fractures initiation, contribution for the production and the reliability of the isolation packers between the stages. The candidate well was completed with five stages open-hole fracturing completion. As the well is in an open hole environment, a typical PLT survey provides the contribution of individual port in the cumulative production but provides limited or no information of contributing fractures behind the pipe. The technique of acoustic logging helped to determine the fracture initiation points in different stages. If fractures can be characterized more accurately, then flow paths and flow behaviors in the reservoir can be better delineated. The use of acoustic logging has helped to better understand the factors influencing fracture initiation in tight gas sandstone reservoirs; resulting in a better understanding of fractures density and decisions on future openhole length, number of fracturing stages, packers and frac ports placement.

Numerical Simulation and Experimental Verification of Electric–Acoustic Conversion Property of Tangentially Polarized Thin Cylindrical Transducer

In solving piezoelectric equations of motion, we established an electric–acoustic equivalent circuit of tangentially polarized thin cylindrical transducers and derived analytical expressions of the electric-acoustic response from the harmonic driving-voltage excitation. To experimentally verify the findings, we manufactured a parallel electric-acoustic transmission network for transducers excited by multifrequency driving signals. We found that the tangentially polarized thin cylindrical transducers achieved a much higher electric-acoustic conversion efficiency than the radially polarized thin cylindrical transducers. The electric-acoustic impulse response of the transducers consisted of a direct-current damping with lower-frequency components, a damping oscillation with higher-frequency elements, and a higher resonant frequency of the transducer over its center frequency. The characteristics of radiated acoustic signals included contributions from the geometrical shape and size of the transducer, the physical parameters of piezoelectric material, the type of driving-voltage signals, and the polarization mode of the transducers. In comparison, our theoretical predictions are in good agreement with experimental observations. It is plausible that using the tangentially polarized thin cylindrical transducers as sensors in the acoustic-logging tool may significantly improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the measured acoustic-logging signals.

Vibration and horizontal directivity analysis of transmitting transducer for acoustic logging while drilling

Radially polarized open-cylindrical piezoelectric transducers are widely used in the field of acoustic logging while drilling (LWD). Unlike the wireline logging transducer, the structure of the acoustic LWD transducer is an open structure; in this case, its radial vibration is accompanied by apparent circumferential vibration. In this paper, based on the two-dimensional wave equations and electrostatic charge equation, according to the free boundary conditions of the transducer, the resonance frequency equation of radial-circumferential coupled vibration for the acoustic LWD transducer is obtained. The vibration modal and resonance frequency for transducers of several typical sizes are simulated using COMSOL software. The results show that when the geometrical size of the transducer satisfies certain conditions, the theoretical calculation and the numerical analysis are in good agreement and the relative error is controlled below 3%. Meanwhile, the horizontal directivity of the LWD transducer after actual installation is discussed, and it is found that adding appropriate coupling materials can improve the monopole sound field radiation. So, it is expected that this work can serve as a reference for the acoustic LWD transducer design and install.

The theoretical-empirical technique of hydrocarbons prediction in wells sections. New aspects

We present the developed theoretical-empirical technique for predicting of rocks’ oil-and-gas bearing in wells sections according to acoustic logging (AL) and core research (CR) and its variants by using data of other loggings and also the results of testing them on wells sections data in the Western oil and gas bearing region of Ukraine (WOGR). The mathematical apparatus of the created technique is based on a mathematical model of solid porous rock, empirical relationships between elastic and reservoir characteristics of rocks and acoustic logging data for specific studied wells. The key parameter in the calculations is the rock compressibility. Determination of the porosity of rocks and prediction of the type of pore filler (water, oil, gas) is implemented by comparing the results of calculating the velocities using theoretical and constructed empirical relationships with the actual data of the AL, by the parameter of compressibility of rocks, by the density of the pore filler fluid. Additional versions of the technique have been developed based on correlation dependences and data from other logging methods — gamma-ray logging (GL), electric logging (EL/SP), offset method and seismic logging (SL). They are used in case of absence of AL data for the studied wells or for the intervals of their sections, and also for improving the reliability of prediction the oil and gas content of these sections. The software for the implementation of the technique was developed in Fortran, C# and Excel software environments. The technique was tested on the data of wells of a number of structures of the WOGR of Ukraine (Lishchyns’ka, Buchats’ka, Ludyns’ka, Zaluzhans’ka, Zarichnyans’ka and Nyklovyts’ka).The technique ensures reliable prediction of petrophysical characteristics, porosity and oil-gas-water saturation of rock layers of different thicknesses (including thin layers — from 0.1—0.2 m) in well sections. For this, in addition to the data of the general parametric base of the WOGR reservoir rocks, the specially constructed refined empirical relations for various specific types and subtypes of the WOGR reservoir rocks are used, they are based on the results of analysis of petrophysical characteristics of those rocks.

Characterizing flow in the first hundred-meter depth of a fractured aquifer using hybrid seismic methods, acoustic logging, and flow-log measurements

Understanding subsurface flow, especially in fractured rocks only housing water through a few preferential pathways, is still challenging. The point is mainly associated with the poor accessibility of the subsurface and the lack of accurate representations for both heterogeneity and spatial distribution of water bearing bodies. This notwithstanding, highly-resolved geophysical investigations bring new images of the subsurface. This is exemplified over a fractured limestone aquifer at the site scale (for example, that of the radius of influence of an extraction well). On an experimental site, situated in the Cher region (France), two boreholes have been drilled for field experiments. Full Waveform Acoustic Logging (FWAL) and seismic experiments were conducted. Hybrid seismic imaging, which consists in combining refraction and reflection seismic results, has been carried out. Based on a four-step procedure, the processing of refracted and reflected waves provided two sections. After assemblage, these sections produced in a first step an extended time reflectivity section starting from the surface and, in a second step, a section over depth after calibration with Vertical Seismic Profile (VSP) and acoustic data. However, even the Very High Resolution (VHR) seismic methods do not have a sufficient vertical resolution to describe accurately the geological formation. The acoustic sections were processed to separate the different wave fields, to extract the criss-cross events and to build a criss-cross index log. A log of fracturation index, based on both criss-cross index and P-wave velocity measurements, was computed to detect the presence of fractures. After calibration, and under the assumption that the slower the P-wave velocity, the higher the permeability – porosity, a 3D seismic block of reflection can inform on preferential areas where flow should occur. At the scale of an open wellbore, acoustic loggings that measure wave velocities over a short distance within the well also inform on open features crosscut by the well. Finally, flow log measurements confirm the occurrence of flowing horizons that were previously marked by both seismic and acoustic data. Seismic and acoustic data are therefore suited to image contrasted hydraulic properties over fractured subsurface systems usually poorly documented.