CASE STUDY

Producible Hydrocarbons Identified in Low-Resistivity

Reservoir by Combining Litho Scanner Service and NMR
TOC from Litho Scanner spectroscopy service and NMR pore-size distribution
identify the sweet spot for optimal horizontal landing point, Bone Spring Sand
CHALLENGE Low-resistivity bias in finding pay
Identify movable hydrocarbon in reservoirs Pay zones in thinly laminated reservoirs are typically difficult to identify. The interbedded
with low resistivity and low porosity that sands and shales suppress the measured resistivities, and the water saturation conventionally
bias the computation of water saturation computed from these low values is usually pessimistically high, resulting in bypassed oil.
to pessimistically high values. This is the case for the self-sourcing Bone Spring sands, which contain organic-rich shale
laminae that are the source for the productive sand and silt layers. An operator needed
SOLUTION a better way to identify movable hydrocarbon that was not biased by the low resistivity.
Determine intervals with producible
hydrocarbon by differentiating the kerogen The Bone Spring reservoirs require more than just the presence of hydrocarbon to make
content of the total organic carbon (TOC) a viable producing well. Low permeability is also a predominant concern, so intervals with
determined by Litho Scanner* high-definition movable hydrocarbon would also need confirmation of sufficient permeability.
spectroscopy service in comparison with Quantified spectroscopy and NMR measurements for identifying
porosity and fluid content measurements producible hydrocarbon
from the CMR-Plus* combinable magnetic The combination of Litho Scanner high-definition spectroscopy service and the CMR-
resonance tool. Plus combinable magnetic resonance tool does not rely on conventional resistivity-based
calculations. Litho Scanner service precisely measures a large set of key elemental yields,
RESULTS including carbon, to accurately quantify the mineralogy. The in situ TOC is directly
Successfully completed and produced from determined by subtracting the amount of inorganic carbon (IC) associated with carbonate
the optimal interval identified by confirmation minerals from the total inelastic measurement of carbon. Thus Litho Scanner services TOC
of the presence of liquid hydrocarbon from is the carbon contributed by all organic matter present in the formation, whether solid kerogen
Litho Scanner services carbon measurement or liquid hydrocarbon.
and higher permeability shown by the CMR-
Plus tools porosity distributions. Matrix Total porosity

Quartz, Dry clay

Carbonates Liquid Clay-bound
feldspar, matrix Kerogen Water
hydrocarbons water
mica

In situ total organic carbon

Effective porosity
Magnetic resonance porosity
Oil

Density porosity from geochemistry-corrected bulk density

Litho Scanner spectroscopy service accurately quantifies all the dry-weight components of the matrix and
delivers a stand-alone in situ determination of TOC, which incorporates the reservoir contents for kerogen and
liquid hydrocarbon. The CMR-Plus magnetic resonance measurement sees all the fluids and is not influenced
by kerogen. This difference in measurement enables easily dividing the TOC into kerogen and liquid contents.

Formation Evaluation
CASE STUDY: Producible oil found by Litho Scanner service combined with CMR-Plus tool, Bone Spring Sand

The CMR-Plus tools measurement responds Array Laterolog

Resistivity Mode 5
NMR Bin Porosity
0 ft3/ft3 0.25
Litho Scanner
Dry-Weight TOC

to the fluids in the pores and is not influenced 0.2 ohm.m 2,000
Array Laterolog Bin 8
Liquid
Hydrocarbon
Resistivity Mode 4
by the kerogen content. To differentiate the Uranium 0.2 ohm.m 2,000
Bin 7 Liquid
Hydrocarbon
Array Laterolog Bin 6
kerogen portion of the TOC, the porosity Gamma Ray
Minus Uranium
Resistivity Mode 3
0.2 ohm.m 2,000
Bin 5 0
NMR 0
0.02
V/V 0.2
Core TOC (LECO)
Kerogen-Corrected
Grain Density

determined with the CMR-Plus tool is 0 gAPI 150

Neutron
Porosity
Array Laterolog
Resistivity Mode 2 0
Mineralogy
v/v 1
Bin 4 T2 Distribution
(Diffusion Included)
0 V/V
NMR TOC
0.2
Kerogen
2.5 g/cm3
Core Grain Density
3

Bin 3
compared with the total density porosity Environmentally
Corrected
0.45 ft3/ft3 0.15 0.2 ohm.m 2,000
Array Laterolog Bin 2
0.3 ms
T2 LM
3,000 0 V/V
Litho Scanner
0.2
Volume 2.5
Kerogen
g/cm3
Litho Scanner
3

Gamma Ray Bulk Density

corrected for the matrix density obtained from
Resistivity Mode 1 Depth, (Diffusion Included) Dry-Weight TOC Volume Matrix Density

Anhydrite

Evaporite
Dolomite
Chlorite
Siderite
Bin 1

Pyrite
ft

QFM
0 gAPI 150 1.95 g/cm3 2.95 0.2 ohm.m 2,000

RHD

COA
Clay
0.3 ms 3,000 0 V/V 0.2 0 V/V 0.2 2.5 g/cm3 3

Litho Scanner service. This approach benefits 11,200

from the accurate grain density output from

Litho Scanner service, which is comparable
to core grain density measured in the
laboratory. The computed TOC attributed
to kerogen is used to correct the matrix
grain density in the presence of kerogen.
The difference between the two porosities
identifies the amount of kerogen in the TOC
determination, and hence the remainder is 11,225

the volume of producible liquid hydrocarbon. Full Core

Advanced measurements for targeting

Second Bone Spring Sand

the sweet spot
Petrophysical integration of the density log
corrected with Litho Scanner services matrix
measurements and the CMR-Plus tools
porosity logs definitively identified Bone Spring
intervals with liquid hydrocarbon. But did they 11,250

have adequate permeability to be produced?

The binned porosities from the CMR-Plus tool
indicated that larger pores were present in
one of the intervals in the Second Bone Spring
Sand, suggesting higher permeability.

The operator selected the landing point for

the lateral at ~11,235 ft in the Second Bone
Spring Sand, and the well was successfully 11,275

completed to flow oil on a 26/64-in choke at

a rate of 472 bbl/d after 60 days of production.
The computed kerogen volume (third track from the right) was confirmed by the core grain density (second
track from the right) in the Second Bone Spring Sand, which is in good agreement with the kerogen-
corrected grain density. The remaining TOC is attributed to liquid hydrocarbon (green shading, fourth track
from the right), the presence of which is verified by the core UV photograph on the far right. The CMR-Plus
tools binned porosity (Track 6) indicates the presence of large pores (yellow) suggesting more permeable
rock than the other intervals in the Second Bone Spring Sand. The combination of TOC determined from
Litho Scanner service and the CMR-Plus tools distribution of transverse relaxation time ( T2 ) values
(red circle in Track 7) was used by the operator to select the successfully produced lateral landing point
at ~11,235 ft.

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