The X-tended Range Micro Imager (XRMI™) tool, a wireline borehole imaging tool, is designed to obtain quality images even in envirionments with a high formation resistivity to mud resistivity (Rt:Rm) ratio. The expanded operating range of the XRMI tool over conventional electrical imaging services is achieved through its state-of-the-art 32-bit digital signal acquisition architecture combined with a large increase in available power for the excitation current (EMEX).

As a result, the signal-to-noise ratio of the raw measurements is improved by a factor of up to five, and the dynamic range is expanded by a factor of up to three. The resulting images offer superior fidelity, even in highly resistive formations (Rt > 2,000 ohm-m) or relatively salty borehole fluids (Rm < 0.1 ohm-m).

Tool Design and Superior Image Quality

Besides the new electronics, the mandrel architecture derived from Halliburton’s highly successful EMI™ imaging tool greatly helps the XRMI tool generate superior-quality borehole images. Pads mounted on six independently articulated arms help maintain pad contact in rugose, washed-out, elliptical, or highly deviated boreholes. Further, a high sampling rate (120 samples per foot) and borehole coverage help obtain high-resolution pictures of the borehole walls.

Halliburton’s XRMI tool can:

• Optimize offset well placement by evaluating structural and stratigraphic features and bedding orientation
• Improve net-to-gross estimations

in laminated shaly sands and carbonates by delineating thin beds and laminations

• Rationalize the well stimulation and formation testing decisions by

characterizing the secondary porosity (e.g., fractures and vugs) in reservoirs

• Optimize the drilling efficiency by evaluating and orienting borehole breakout
• Optimize the completion tactics and reservoir management by providing characterization of rock texture and electrofacies

The XRMI tool reduces E&P risk by helping:

• Take the guess-work out of identifying the subsurface sedimentary sequence
• Describe the reservoir facies just like "cores," the ground truth

• Show bedding dips that help rationalize the choice for the next drilling location
• Choose the sidewall core zones, formation testing zones, and perforation intervals accurately by integrating images with other open-hole logs
• Compute accurate, high-resolution net-to-gross