A new heat-conduction logging technique and its application

Abstract

The results of a heat-conduction experiment with a central point source in a sand barrel shows that the temperature of the heat source increase much faster in sand saturated with oil and air (dry sand) than in water sand. During cooling the temperature of the central heat source goes down slower in oil- or air-saturated sands than in water sands. Based on the theory of heat-conduction in porous media and the experimental results, we developed a new heat-conduction logging technique which utilizes an artificial heat source (dynamite charge or electric heater) to heat up target formations in the borehole and then measure the change of temperature at a later time. Post-frac oil production is shown to be directly proportional to the size of the temperature anomaly when other reservoir parameters are fairly consistent. The method is used to evaluate potential oil production for marginal reservoirs in the FY formation in Song-Liao basin of China.