Learnings From a New Slimhole LWD NMR Technology

Abstract

This paper presents recent results obtained from a new 4.75-in. logging-while-drilling (LWD) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) tool. Data from several wells provided real-time operational insight and new petrophysical learnings. The new LWD technology offers an innovative capability to simultaneously measure NMR T1 and T2 distributions with reduced sensitivity to drilling mud conductivity and a real-time sensor motion-warning system. The real-time T1 and T2 spectra compare favorably with the data set retrieved from the tool memory. The LWD NMR measurements were followed by wireline (WL) NMR logging for comparison in three wells. In carbonate reservoirs, the main objective was to evaluate the new NMR tool’s capability in resolving carbonate pore size with slow NMR relaxation rates. Another set of NMR logs contained time-lapse repeat passes in a well drilled with oil-based mud (OBM) that traversed a clastic reservoir. The sequence of measurements identified rock types and provided a unique insight into the mud filtrate invasion process. In a carbonate reservoir, the LWD NMR real-time partial porosity estimates were in excellent agreement with the core-calibrated WL micro-, meso-, and macropore volumes. Another carbonate formation contained high-permeability layers embedded in a microporous rock, where the real-time LWD NMR logs successfully located the high-quality rock zones, later verified by WL logging. In the clastic reservoir, the while-drilling LWD NMR data indicated native light hydrocarbons, whereas the subsequent LWD reaming and WL NMR passes showed a displacement of native hydrocarbons by oil-based mud filtrate (OBMF). The native hydrocarbon signature observed by the LWD NMR tool was in good agreement with the mud gas log. OBMF invasion occurred shortly after drilling, indicated by the differences observed in the LWD NMR relogged data acquired several hours after the while-drilling pass. The WL NMR data, logged about 4 days after drilling, showed advanced stages of OBMF invasion, including formation water displacement and wettability changes in intermediate and large pores. Finally, the environmental noise remained low in the LWD NMR data set acquired in a well in which the mud salinity changed by several folds, indicating that mud salinity had little effect on the quality of LWD NMR logs in slim holes. The new slimhole LWD NMR technology demonstrated its robust capability to provide T1 and T2 logs through several examples. For the first time, a time-lapse comparison of NMR logs showed that OBMF invasion could occur in silty sands with high capillary-bound fluid fractions.