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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
Houston Geological Society Bulletin
Abstract
ABSTRACT:
Borehole
Image Logs — A Useful Tool for Earth
Scientists
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Western Region Manager, Fronterra Geosciences
Borehole
image logs have been around since the mid-1990s; they represent a well-understood technology. Recent technological
advances have greatly expanded acquisition capabilities, data sensitivity, and the ability to apply
borehole
image data to complex
reservoir systems.
Borehole
image logs have sub-centimeterscale
resolution that can bring clarity to the structural and
stratigraphic complexities of a field. As a result of the quantity
of useful data collected by this technique,
borehole
imaging
is becoming a more frequent component of standard logging
runs on exploration and development wells.
The strength of borehole
image data is that they reveal the
spatial geometry of features such as bedding, channels, folds,
faults, lithologic changes, and fracture networks. A
borehole
image provides data similar to that derived from a core
without the time, expense, or other issues of coring.
There are four main components of borehole
image analyses:.
Structural Bedding determination is used to identify changes
in the spatial geometry of rock masses due to tectonic
deformation and the presence of unconformities and
sequence boundaries . In-situ Present Day Stress determination derives the spatial geometry of maximum and
minimum horizontal compressive stress trajectories – a
crucial element in designing effective well stimulations.
Fracture / Fault Characterization is necessary
for understanding a dominant permeability element in a
reservoir. Finally, Stratigraphic Analysis is used to reconstruct
depositional environments and sediment dispersal patterns
which govern the spatial distribution of sand bodies. An
example of fluvial and shoreface environments will
demonstrate the utility of core / image facies comparisons.
Using the analysis of multiple image logs in a field improves
understanding of sand body geometry and facies distribution
which will deliver better well placement and more efficient
field development.