Patent ID: 9568629
Date: 2017-02-14
CPC Classifications: E21B,G01V

Claim:
1. A computer-implemented method for assisting an oil well operation, the method being executed using one or more processors and comprising: receiving an acoustic signal associated with a sound produced by an oil well tool implemented to perform the oil well operation by contacting a portion of a subterranean zone, the acoustic signal comprising a source acoustic signal and a reflected acoustic signal, the reflected acoustic signal produced in response to the source acoustic signal, wherein the sound is produced before a pause of the oil well operation and the pause is associated with an oil drilling operation that is performed independently from a recording of the acoustic signal, the recording starting before the pause and continuing during a portion of the pause; processing the acoustic signal to determine the source acoustic signal and the reflected acoustic signal; and determining properties of the subterranean zone based on a correspondence between the source acoustic signal and the reflected acoustic signal based on the pause of the oil well operation.