A new method for correcting temperature log profiles in low-enthalpy plays

Abstract

Temperature logs recorded shortly after drilling operations can be the only temperature information from deep wells. However, these measurements are still influenced by the thermal disturbance caused by drilling and therefore do not represent true rock temperatures. The magnitude of the thermal disturbance is dependent on many factors such as drilling time, logging procedure or mud temperature. However, often old well reports lack this crucial information so that conventional corrections on temperature logs cannot be performed. This impedes the re-evaluation of well data for new exploration purposes, e.g. for geothermal resources. This study presents a new method to correct log temperatures in low-enthalpy play types which only requires a knowledge of the final depth of the well as an input parameter. The method was developed and verified using existing well data from an intracratonic sedimentary basin, the eastern part of the North German Basin. It can be transferred to other basins with little or no adjustment.