Chapter 6

Cased Hole Formation Resistivity (CHFR)

Logging

71
 Introduction

Objectives:
• Hydrocarbon water contact identification
• Identify by-passed hydrocarbon zones
• Quantification of remaining hydrocarbon saturation to assist in re-completion decision

Challenges:
• Cement layer : Low resistivity cements typically found in oil wells do not degrade the
measurements, but highly resistive cements (> 8 ohmm) will require an environmental
correction.
• Low casing resistivity ~ 2.10-7 ohm.m
• Measured/total current ratio: DI/I ~ 10-3 to 10-5
• Formation current in mA range, casing resistance in µohm range
• Voltages to handle are in the nanoVolt range
• Frequency of operation is limited around 1Hz
• Good electrical contact essential (it is recommended to do a scraper run before running the
CHFR

72
CHFR is a Laterolog Type Tool

Logging Tool

Invaded Zone/ Borehole/

Cement/Rxo Casing

Uninvaded Zone e
Rt
Re spons
Rx o
olog
Rm Later

CHFR

Rm

Rx o

Rt
esponse
tion R
Induc
73
CHFR - Tool String
13.0m
Telemetry

Top current
electrode
Insulating joint
Tool Size Available:

Electronics Slim Tool - 2 1/8”

Standard Tool - 3 3/8”

Note :
Arm section Tool can not be run
inside tubing which
limits its applicability
Hydraulics compared to C/O.

Bottom
current
electrode 0.0m

74
 CHFR – Measurement Principle

CHFR tool evolved from the CPET tool (Casing

Telemetry
Corrosion and Protection Evaluation) and
consists of:
Top current
• Telemetry communication cartridge
electrode
• Newly designed electronic cartridge
Insulating joints • Current injection electrodes which also acts
Middle as centralizers.
current
electrode • Hydraulic Arm sections with 4 levels of
voltage measurement electrodes.
Arm section
(voltage electrodes) • Insulating joints to physically separate
+ Hydraulics
measurement electrodes from the injectors.

Bottom
Current Each level of the voltage electrodes consists of
electrode three arms/pads with injector tips connected in
parallel for redundancy.

75
Apparent Resistivity from a Laterolog-Type Tool

V tool
−V ref
Ra = Kf ⋅
I

K f = K - factor of the tool

V tool −V ref = tool voltage
I = formation current

76
CHFR – Acquisition Step: 1 The AC injection current is generated in a
surface power supply.

Of the four level voltage measuring electrode,

3 electrodes are used in measuring the
difference in down-going current (∆I) between
pairs of voltage electrodes.

In Step 1, high current is injected (shown in

purple) flowing up and down to a return to
surface.
With 3 voltage electrodes A, B and C ,the first
A derivative of the axial current is estimated i.e.
the formation current or delta I which leaks out
B ∆I =
VAB −VBC of the casing, and which is proportional to the
RAB R BC
formation conductivity.
C Casing resistance is not exactly the same in
front of the electrodes. So this variations needs
to be accounted for in the measurement. Thus,
the casing resistance difference needs to be
measured between the electrodes which is
explained in Step-2 as casing step
measurement.
Formation current acquisition step

77
CHFR – Acquisition: Step 2

For the casing step measurement,

a downhole current source is used over a
small distance between two injection
electrodes. In this configuration, no leakage
Middle
occurs into the formation. (∆I current or
leakage is null). Therefore, the casing
resistance from the voltage drop can be
measured.
A
B ∆I =
VAB −VBC At every station, three levels of measurement
electrodes contribute to one resistivity
RAB RBC measurement; therefore, with four levels of
C measurement electrodes available, two
resistivity measurements can be made at a
time (station).

Casing resistance acquisition step

78
What Voltage for the Resistivity Computation?

V tool − V ref
R =K ⋅
a f
I
K f = K - factor of the tool
V tool − V ref = tool voltage
I = formation current

79
CHFR - DC Voltage measurement

Fish#9 Fish#8

The casing voltage

TOP measurement cannot be
injector performed simultaneously with
the formation current
measurement (AC coupling).
A separate step is needed in
which a DC current is injected
from the top injector and
returning to surface, while the
voltage is measured between
the bottom injector and the SP
fish (#8) used as a reference
BOTTOM electrode.
injector
80
CHFR - DC Voltage Measurement

• Relative (potential) measurement between bottom injector and Fish #8.

• An additional step in the measurement sequence
- Not at each station (typically one every 10 stations)
- Expected variations are small (except near the casing shoe)

81
CHFR – Specifications and Depth of Investigation

• Resistivity range 1 - 100 ohmm

• Station time 1 min (typical)
• Tool speed between station 5000 ft/hr
• Vertical Resolution 4 feet
• Depth of investigation 7 to 32 feet

• The CHFR measurement is deeper than conventional saturation monitoring from

nuclear tools
• It provides additional information and allows direct comparison with open hole
resistivity logs.
• The CHFR is a Laterolog
• DOI is comparable to LLD (DLT), HLLD (PEX), RLA5 (HRLA)
• It is affected by reverse invasion profiles (Rxo>Rt) or more generally by any
“resistive material” lying in-between the casing and the formation

82
Applicabilities of C/O, PNC and CHFR Logs

83
Experiences with Cased Hole Formation Resistivity
(CHFR) Logging in BSP/EPA

BSP (Date logged: January, 2009)

• Well A was worked-over with the hoist and a scraper run was done. Baker Integrity
logging had shown good cement quality, and minimal casing wear.
• CHFR Slim tool and first standard size back-up tool failed during logging.
(refer subsequent slides)
• Finally the third tool (with parts of the second one) did the job and gave good results.
• This success opens up an opportunity to run this tool in our future wells

Woodside (Date logged : May, 2007)

• Could hardly get the tool to leave the lubricator, and finally hung up in the well. The job
and subsequent jobs were canceled.

STOS (Date logged : April, 2007)

• A CHFR slim tool was attempted to run in a live STOS well. Unable to get it out of the
lubricator - probably due to the well pressure trying to force the cable out of the lubricator.
Weights were added to the tool so it could get out of the lubricator, but it went to
2400mah and no further - only at 40 degrees deviation.

84
Experiences with Cased Hole Formation Resistivity
(CHFR) Logging in BSP/EPA
BSP (Date logged : September, 2008)

The larger diameter tool was run inside 9 5/8" casing as the newer slim tool of 2 1/8"
diameter could not be run in casing size greater than 7". The well was 25 years old and no
recent corrosion or cement logs were available. A scraper ran was conducted prior to running
the resistivity pass.The CHFR was run in 2 different passes. Unfortunately, resistivity logs from
these two passes were mostly incoherent and inconsistent. In fact, once we saw the logs were
spurious, we decided to increase sampling rate from 20 cycles/min to 50 cycles/min. However,
50 cycles/min did not improve the quality of logs. According to Schlumberger, the success rate
of providing quality resistivity logs when a larger diameter tool is run is apparently poorer than
when 2 1/8" tool is run. Unfortunately, the statistics of larger diameter tool failure was given to
us much later. Schlumberger had also speculated that the tool might have been moving while
taking measurement since the logging cable & unit was set up on the Tender.

85
Experiences with Cased Hole Formation Resistivity
(CHFR) Logging Outside BSP/EPA

PDO (Routinely run in PDO)

• Run in NIMR cluster, mostly in vertical wells
• > 85% success rate when run in cemented 9.5/8" casing & cemented 7" casing.
• Some 45% success rate in EGP environments.

Aramco (Had successfully run in 3 wells in Saudi Aramco prior to year 2002)
• CHFR data agrees well with open-hole resistivity data, in the working range of CHFR of 1
to 100 ohmm.
• Data may be questionable if formation resistivity is out of the range of 1 to 100 ohmm,
especially for highly deviated or horizontal wells.
• The CHFR has good repeatability, within the specified working range of the logging tool.

86
 Well-A

Objectives:
• Quantification of remaining hydrocarbon saturation in support of the Seria
Enhanced Oil Recovery (Alkaline Flooding) project.

Tools present at the wellsite:

• 1 Slim CHFR
• 2 Standard CHFR as back-up

Logging summary:
• Well was worked over with the hoist and a scraper run was done
• Baker Integrity logging had shown good cement quality, and minimal casing
wear
• CHFR Slim tool and first standard size back-up tool failed (see next slides)
• Finally the third tool (with parts of the second one) did the job and gave a good
result

87
 Well-A: 1st Failure - Slim CHFR (bad measurement)

Date Well Status Description Root Cause/Action Plan

Slim CHFR fail. Bad LQC as showing on

Itot current too high up to 14 A, Zinj is not
steady (Should be 0.5 to 0.7 A) and no
Imon on measurements after 60 stations
for 30 m logging interval.
07-Dec Well A Open
Direct Cause:
Slim Bottom Injector (line-7) got short to the Mass instead after
tool expose 5 hrs on the well.
Slim CHFR spring leaf possible not creating good
contact/coupling effecting the monitoring of the loop
on measurement.
Root Cause:
Possible reason Humidity went very deep inside insulator
Action Plan / Recommendation:
Fix the lost insulation on line 7 and heat the tool in the oven up
to 125 Deg C for 24 Hour, then resulting good.
Final check the insulation joint to put inside pressurize tube.

88
 Well-A : 2nd Failure - Standard CHFR - too High Zinj
(Casing Step fail)

Date Well Status Description Root Cause/Action Plan

Standard CHFR Zinj (Casing Impedance)

too high resulting for casing step
measurement fail.

Direct Cause:
Lose continuity for the LH-19 and 10 to the mass at middle
injector effecting the monitoring of the loop, which is
key to actually making the measurement
Root Cause:
08-Dec Well A Open O-ring installed on LH of CFMC made from non-conductive
material was create stand off & lose of mass continuity.
Action Plan / Recommendation:
Maintenance team fix the middle injector continuity and
insulation, by changing o-ring on LH of CFMC,
resulting mass continuity became good contacts.

89
Well- A : CHFR - Processed Log

90
Well-A : Processed Log and Removal of Bad Data

Points that
are removed
could be due
to bad
contact or in
this case
there was
some erosion
on the casing
inside wall,
which could
have made
the contact
worse (see
Baker’s
Magnelog
Spurious result on the
Data left).
resulted in
erroneous
resistivity
logs
Good
repeatability
91
Well-A : Processed Log : Preliminary Results
Overall Quality - The CHFR standard tool run
inside water filled casing resulted in visibly
acceptable resistivity logs

Depleted Zones – Overall depleted zones are

Rt OH clearly seen from CHFR

Rt CHFR

Vertical Resolution - the CHFR has a 4 ft

or so vertical resolution. Therefore, in thinly
bedded sandy sections it misses the shales

92
 Recommendations for Future Logging Operations

• Use the Standard CHFR in bigger (>6 inch) wellbore.

• Do a minimum of one scraper run, using a tandem scraper or doing multiple
runs with a single scraper is advised.
• Good preparation is needed when running a CHFR tool in a humid environment
(like Brunei). Schlumberger should check the insulation in advance and make
sure the tool was heated in the oven up to 125 Deg C for 24 Hour.
• Make sure the calibration is done properly, the engineer can show the
calibration data gain and offset computation: status should be good for all
modules and angles.
• While logging be aware of the quality checks the engineer can do: the surface
power supply current should not be above a certain value (value is dictated by
the tool planner. Similarly the casing impedance from the casing step
measurement should not be too high (Zinj should have been 0.5 to 0.7 ohm).
• To ease the processing: a repeat measurement should be done close by the initial
measurement but not exactly at the same depth and the chronological order in
which they are taken should be honored.

93
 Well-A : Additional Works

• C/O log run in the same well is currently being interpreted (no water bearing
intervals available for calibration). Comparison with saturation from CHFR log
will be made once it is available.

94