Well log data generation and imputation using sequence-based generative adversarial networks

Well log analysis is crucial for hydrocarbon exploration, providing detailed insights into subsurface geological formations. However, gaps and inaccuracies in well log data, often due to equipment limitations, operational challenges, and harsh subsurface conditions, can introduce significant uncertainties in reservoir evaluation. Addressing these challenges requires effective methods for both synthetic data generation and precise imputation of missing data, ensuring data completeness and reliability. This study introduces a novel framework utilizing sequence-based generative adversarial networks (GANs) specifically designed for well log data generation and imputation. The framework integrates two distinct sequence-based GAN models: Time Series GAN (TSGAN) for generating synthetic well log data and Sequence GAN (SeqGAN) for imputing missing data. Both models were tested on a dataset from the North Sea, Netherlands region, focusing on different sections of 5, 10, and 50 data points. Experimental results demonstrate that this approach achieves superior accuracy in filling data gaps compared to other deep learning models for spatial series analysis. The method yielded R^2 values of 0.921, 0.899, and 0.594, with corresponding mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) values of 8.320, 0.005, and 151.154, and mean absolute error (MAE) values of 0.012, 0.005, and 0.032, respectively. These results set a new benchmark for data integrity and utility in geosciences, particularly in well log data analysis.

Enhanced anomaly detection in well log data through the application of ensemble GANs

Although generative adversarial networks (GANs) have shown significant success in modeling data distributions for image datasets, their application to structured or tabular data, such as well logs, remains relatively underexplored. This study extends the ensemble GANs (EGANs) framework to capture the distribution of well log data and detect anomalies that fall outside of these distributions. The proposed approach compares the performance of traditional methods, such as Gaussian mixture models (GMMs), with EGANs in detecting anomalies outside the expected data distributions. For the gamma ray (GR) dataset, EGANs achieved a precision of 0.62 and F1 score of 0.76, outperforming GMM's precision of 0.38 and F1 score of 0.54. Similarly, for travel time (DT), EGANs achieved a precision of 0.70 and F1 score of 0.79, surpassing GMM 0.56 and 0.71. In the neutron porosity (NPHI) dataset, EGANs recorded a precision of 0.53 and F1 score of 0.68, outshining GMM 0.47 and 0.61. For the bulk density (RHOB) dataset, EGANs achieved a precision of 0.52 and an F1 score of 0.67, slightly outperforming GMM, which yielded a precision of 0.50 and an F1 score of 0.65. This work's novelty lies in applying EGANs for well log data analysis, showcasing their ability to learn data patterns and identify anomalies that deviate from them. This approach offers more reliable anomaly detection compared to traditional methods like GMM. The findings highlight the potential of EGANs in enhancing anomaly detection for well log data, delivering significant implications for optimizing drilling strategies and reservoir management through more accurate, data-driven insights into subsurface characterization.

PetroGAN: A novel GAN-based approach to generate realistic, label-free petrographic datasets

Deep learning architectures have enriched data analytics in the geosciences, complementing traditional approaches to geological problems. Although deep learning applications in geosciences show encouraging signs, the actual potential remains untapped. This is primarily because geological datasets, particularly petrography, are limited, time-consuming, and expensive to obtain, requiring in-depth knowledge to provide a high-quality labeled dataset. We approached these issues by developing a novel deep learning framework based on generative adversarial networks (GANs) to create the first realistic synthetic petrographic dataset. The StyleGAN2 architecture is selected to allow robust replication of statistical and esthetical characteristics, and improving the internal variance of petrographic data. The training dataset consists of 10070 images of rock thin sections both in plane- and cross-polarized light. The algorithm trained for 264 GPU hours and reached a state-of-the-art Fr\'echet Inception Distance (FID) score of 12.49 for petrographic images. We further observed the FID values vary with lithology type and image resolution. Our survey established that subject matter experts found the generated images were indistinguishable from real images. This study highlights that GANs are a powerful method for generating realistic synthetic data, experimenting with the latent space, and as a future tool for self-labelling, reducing the effort of creating geological datasets.