Automating Well Log Correlation Workflow Using Soft Attention Convolutional Neural Networks

In the process of deriving the reservoir petrophysical properties of a basin, identifying the pay capability of wells by interpreting various geological formations is key. Currently, this process is facilitated and preceded by well log correlation, which involves petrophysicists and geologists examining multiple raw log measurements for the well in question, indicating geological markers of formation changes and correlating them with those of neighboring wells. As it may seem, this activity of picking markers of a well is performed manually and the process of ‘examining’ may be highly subjective, thus, prone to inconsistencies. In our work, we propose to automate the well correlation workflow by using a Soft- Attention Convolutional Neural Network to predict well markers. The machine learning algorithm is supervised by examples of manual marker picks and their corresponding occurrence in logs such as gamma-ray, resistivity and density. Our experiments have shown that, specifically, the attention mechanism allows the Convolutional Neural Network to look at relevant features or patterns in the log measurements that suggest a change in formation, making the machine learning model highly precise.