Exxon Production Research Company

David F Becker

Graham A Winbow

Sen-Tsuen Chen

Azik I Perelberg

An acoustic borehole well logging method and apparatus for measuring azimuthal anisotropy of a formation traversed by a borehole using at least one multipole transducer. In a preferred embodiment, a dipole wave transmitter and at least one detector sensitive to dipole waves are employed. In an alternative preferred embodiment, a monopole transmitter and at least one multipole detector are employed. In the inventive method, two acoustic wave arrivals are detected, each associated with a different azimuthal orientation relative to the longitudinal axis of the borehole (i.e. each is transmitted by a multipole transmitter oriented at such angle, or is detected by a multipole detector oriented at such angle, or both). The inventive apparatus preferably includes at least one transducer unit including two or more multipole transmitters (or two or more multipole detectors) oriented at different azimuthal angles relative to the tool's longitudinal axis.

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Houston, TX, United States of America

David F Becker