The quantitative response of neutron tool to gas or light hydrocarbon depends primarily on hydrogen index and "excavation effect". The hydrogen index can be estimated from the composition and density of the hydrocarbons
Given a fixed volume, gas has considerably lower hydrogen concentration. When pore spaces in the rock are excavated and replaced with gas, the formation has smaller neutron-slowing characteristic, hence the terms "Excavation Effect". If this effect is ignored, a neutron log will show a low porosity value. This characteristic allows a neutron porosity log to be used with other porosity logs (such as a density log) to detect gas zones and identify gas-liquid contacts.