Apparent dip and apparent anisotropy from multifrequency triaxial induction measurements

Abstract

The triaxial (or multicomponent) induction log is used to measure not only the resistivity anisotropy of an anisotropic formation but also the relative dip of the tool with respect to the formation. The anisotropic resistivity and the relative dip of layered formations are also inverted from the triaxial induction-log measurements at a depth by assuming a homogeneous anisotropic formation or at multiple depths by assuming a multilayered formation model. When the triaxial induction log is run at multiple frequencies, multifrequency focusing can be applied to the log measurements. Then, the apparent dip is algebraically defined from the frequency-focused triaxial induction measurements at a depth. The apparent dip yields the true dip in an anisotropic formation. The algebraically calculated apparent dip may be used to determine the effective dip in layered formations. The apparent dip yields the true dip in thinly bedded formations. The apparentdip also yields the true dip in thick anisotropic formations. However, the apparent dip yields a smaller dip than the true dip when the anisotropy is small (the anisotropy effect). It yields a much smaller dip in thick isotropic formations. Like the apparent dip, the apparent anisotropy is algebraically defined from the frequency-focused triaxial induction measurements at a depth. The apparent anisotropy yields the true anisotropy in an anisotropic formation. The algebraically calculated apparent anisotropy may be applied to layered formations. The apparent anisotropic resistivity (horizontal and vertical) can likewise be determined algebraically from the frequency-focused triaxial data. In contrast to the apparent dip, which yields the true dip in thinly bedded formations but not in thicker formations, the apparent anisotropy yields the true anisotropy in thick anisotropic formations but not in thinner anisotropic formations. The apparent anisotropy is affected by the shoulder-bed anisotropy when the formation is not thick (the shoulder-bed effect).