Schlumberger Technology Corporation

Jan Smits

Qiming Li

Brian Oliver Clark

Dzevat Omeragic

Ruben Martinez

Reza Taherian

Lawrence Chou

Christian Stoller

Dean M Homan

Michael Lynn Evans

Robert A Adolph

Gary A Hazen

Patrick J Fisseler

Chengbing Liu

Robert C Smith

David T Oliver

Kuo Chiang Chen

Jean-Michel Denichou

Peiwen Xia

Paul A Wand

James F Bristow

Mark T Frey

Richard A Rosthal

David L Smith

Peter T Wu

Anthony Louis Collins

Jian Yang

Simon Hastings Bittleston

Helene Claire Climent

Libo Yang

Cheng Bing Liu

Attilio Pisoni

Yanqing Zeng

A bias unit having a support body in use to be integrated with a drilling assembly and rotatable therewith for drilling a borehole penetrating a geological formation. A pad is pivotally connected to the support body proximate to the leading edge of the pad. A spring-driven push rod is positioned and preloaded to engage the pad, proximate to the trailing edge of the pad, and to urge the pad outward from the support body to contact the borehole wall during drilling.

System, apparatus, and method of conducting measurements of a borehole

A system and method for downhole measurement for use with drill strings to reduce the borehole gap with respect to sensors carried by the drill string. In one embodiment, the sensors are mounted on a surface of the directional drilling hinged pad that comes in contact with the borehole wall. The hinged pad is pressed against the borehole wall as contact is made with the wall, thereby keeping the sensors at a minimum gap with respect to the wall. In another embodiment, the hinged pad is not used for directional drilling. Therefore the hinged pad is extended outward to the wall with the minimum necessary amount of force. Activation of the hinged pad can be initiated, for example, by flow of mud in the annulus of the string or through a user-provided command. The sensors can include resistivity, density, neutron, electromagnetic, acoustic, seismic, and NMR measurement sensors.

System and method for reducing the borehole gap for downhole formation testing sensors

A method for displaying a formation model while drilling a wellbore in the formation includes operating a well logging instrument at a measurement point in the formation along a wellbore while the wellbore is being drilled. Measurement data regarding the formation are obtained from the well logging instrument. An actual orientation of a geological structure is determined from the measurement data. A trajectory of the wellbore is displayed in three dimensions as it is being drilled through the formation. While drilling the wellbore, the geological structure is displayed along the trajectory of the wellbore according to the determined actual orientation of the geological structure. The actual orientation reflects an azimuth angle of planes corresponding to the geological structure. The trajectory of the wellbore is changed in response to displaying the determined actual orientation of the geological structure relative to the trajectory.

Methods for visualizing distances between wellbore and formation boundaries

A method is provided for conducting measurements of a borehole while drilling the borehole in a geological formation. First, a rotatable drilling assembly is provided that has, at a forward end, a drill bit and a borehole measurement tool connected rearward of the drill bit. The measurement tool includes at least one caliper arm extendible outward from the measurement tool. The method involves drilling the borehole by operating the rotatable drilling assembly. While drilling, the wall of the borehole is contacted with at least one extendable caliper arm of the borehole measurement tool and the extension of the caliper arm contacting the borehole wall is measured, thereby determining a distance between the measurement tool and the borehole wall. During rotation of the drilling assembly, contact is maintained between the caliper arm and the borehole wall and the measuring step is repeated at multiple positions of the drilling assembly.

A method for displaying a formation model includes displaying a trajectory representing a three-dimensional structure of the wellbore; and displaying objects representing a bed boundary along the trajectory, wherein the objects are displayed at distances from the trajectory according to measurement data, wherein the objects are displayed in orientations reflecting azimuth angles of planes corresponding to the bed boundary.

Various technologies for removing shoulder-bed effects from measurements of an earth formation made in a wellbore. In one implementation, a methodology for removing the shoulder-bed effects includes receiving the measurements and constructing a layered model of the earth formation. Each layer has a set of parameters corresponding to one or more types of the received measurements ascribed to each layer such that the set of parameters define a parameter space for the layered model. The methodology may further include dividing the parameter space into subspaces based on relationships among the parameters, selecting from the subspaces one or more starting points, minimizing a cost function using the one or more starting points to generate one or more candidate solutions having the shoulder-bed effects removed and selecting a final solution from the one or more candidate solutions.

Shoulder bed effects removal

A downhole tool for formation logging includes a tool body configured to move in a borehole; and at least one sensor module mounted in at least one mounting location on the tool body, wherein the at least one sensor module is interchangeable with other sensor modules that make different measurements. A downhole tool may further comprise a measurement system disposed in the tool body, wherein the measurement system is operatively coupled to the at least one sensor module.

Modular downhole tool system

An apparatus for measuring characteristics of earth formations surrounding a borehole, comprises a resistivity measurement device having a multiplicity of antennae spaced between each other in a longitudinal direction of the apparatus. A neutron measurement device of the apparatus comprises at least a neutron source and at least a neutron detector, each of the neutron detectors being at a distance from the neutron source in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus. The multiplicity of antennae are interleaved with the neutron measurement device in order to reduce a total length of the apparatus and in order to allow a determined area of the earth formation to be measured simultaneously using the neutron measurement device and the resistivity measurement device.

Integrated logging tool for borehole

A method for reducing stand-off effects of a downhole tool includes disposing the downhole tool in a borehole, wherein the downhole tool comprises at least one moveable section disposed between an energy source and a receiver on the downhole tool; and activating the at least one moveable section to reduce a thickness of at least one selected from a mud layer and a mudcake between the downhole tool and a wall of the borehole. A downhole tool includes an energy source and a receiver disposed on the downhole tool; at least one moveable section disposed between the energy source and the receiver; and an activation mechanism for reducing a thickness of at least one selected from a mud layer and a mudcake between the downhole tool and a wall of a borehole.

Apparatus and methods for reducing stand-off effects of a downhole tool

The invention provides a more efficient way to transfer data to or from a logging tool during a drilling process. A memory module is provided for rapid insertion and retrieval from a logging while drilling tool between drilling runs. The memory module records and stores data collected during the drilling process. A process of the invention includes removing the memory module from the tool; loading a new memory module into the tool that contains the desired tool parameters for the next run. The retrieved memory module is then connected to an independent surface system to download the stored data.

Streamlining data transfer to/from logging while drilling tools

A method is described for characterizing a subsurface formation with a logging instrument disposed in a borehole penetrating the formation. The logging instrument is equipped with at least a transmitter system and a receiver system. The method entails positioning the logging instrument within the borehole so that the transmitter system and receiver system are disposed in the vicinity of a formation boundary of interest and measuring the azimuthal orientation of the logging instrument. Electromagnetic energy is transmitted into the formation using the transmitter system and signals associated with the transmitted electromagnetic energy are measured using the receiver system. The method further entails determining the relative azimuth of the formation boundary, composing a symmetrized directional measurement using the measured signals and the determined relative boundary azimuth, and determining the relative dip of the formation boundary using the composed directional measurement.

Method for characterizing a subsurface formation with a logging instrument disposed in a borehole penetrating the formation

A well logging tool and method are disclosed comprising a conductive mandrel, an antenna array disposed around the conductive mandrel, wherein the antenna array comprises a plurality of antennas disposed on insulating supports and at least one contact spacer, the at least one contact spacer having at least one conductor channel having a contact assembly disposed therein, a sleeve disposed over the antenna array, wherein the sleeve includes at least one electrode assembly, the at least one electrode and the contact assembly adapted to provide a radially conductive path from an exterior of the well logging tool to the conductive mandrel and wherein the electrode assembly comprises a first conductor exposed to the exterior of the well logging tool and at least one second conductor conductively connected to the first conductor and exposed to an inner surface of the sleeve, wherein at least one of the first conductor or the second conductor being in sealed contact with the sleeve to prevent the passage of fluid through the sleeve.

Insulated sleeve with conductive electrodes to reduce borehole effects for an induction tool

Characteristics of a reservoir are monitored during a casing drilling operation using a casing drilling assembly that includes a drill bit for drilling a borehole through an earth formation. A casing tubular is coupled with the casing drilling assembly and includes at least one station having at least one slot in the casing tubular. An antenna or sensor, adapted for signal transmission and/or reception, is disposed within the casing tubular and positioned such that the antenna or sensor is aligned with the at least one slotted station. The antenna or sensor is activated during a casing drilling operation to transmit and/or receive a signal.

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Sugar Land, TX, United States of America

Jan Smits