Nuclear techniques in the oil industry

The major area of application of nuclear techniques in the oil industry is in the measurement of subsurface formation properties for discovering and evaluating hydrocarbons and to understand the formation geology for improved production and management of the reserves. Recent advances in nuclear well logging measurements have provided a significant increase in the amount of information available for describing subsurface formations. A key element has been the routine introduction of γ-ray spectroscopy measurements that can provide a significant number of elemental concentrations. When combined with nuclear geophysical measurements, geochemical descriptions of the subsurface environment can be obtained. On a much wider scale than could be previously considered, nuclear techniques can be applied to solving oil industry problems. The types of measurements that can be performed, their relationship to geological parameters, and a description of the equipment used to perform the necessary measurements under borehole conditions are reviewed. (author)