Effect of Tarmat on Reservoir Behavior: Reservoir Simulation Case Studies

Summary Corner-point grids have the capability to model complex geological features, such as faults and irregular reservoir boundaries. As an industry standard, they are widely used to simulate different types of reservoirs, including conventional and unconventional reservoirs. It is necessary to effectively simulate natural or hydraulic fractures in such reservoirs. In this work, a discrete fracture model is developed to conveniently simulate fractures in geologically complex reservoirs represented by corner-point grids. The method is an extension of the embedded discrete fracture model (EDFM). We first present the difficulties in terms of geometrical calculations pertaining to corner-point grids, including the irregularity and degeneracy of block geometry and irregular connections between fracture segments. A general-purpose geometrical algorithm is developed to find the intersections between the matrix and fractures in corner-point grids. This algorithm properly handles the intersection between a general polyhedron and a general polygon, in which both the polyhedron and the polygon can be convex or concave. Transmissibility-factor formulations are also further developed for connections and intersections between fractures. The calculation of effective well indices in different situations is also discussed in detail. Several case studies are presented to illustrate the accuracy and applicability of the developed model in standard black-oil or compositional simulators. The accuracy of the developed model is demonstrated by comparing its simulation results with those of local-grid-refinement (LGR) models. It is also found that the accuracy of the EDFM is not sensitive to matrix gridding when the average size of gridblocks is similar. Field-scale studies using synthetic and realistic reservoir models are presented to illustrate the significance of fractures during secondary recovery. Existing simulators can directly be used in conjunction with the proposed approach with slight modification in simulation input, if the simulators have nonneighboring-connection (NNC) functionality. Through the case studies, the algorithms and methodology developed in this work are shown to be highly effective for the modeling of fractures in field-scale reservoir-simulation studies with complex corner-point grids.

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A Practical Approach to History-Matching Water-recycling in Waterflood Reservoir Simulation - Method and Case Studies in South Belridge Diatomite Waterflood

10.2118/174006-ms ◽

2015 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Zhengming Yang ◽

Alfredo H. Urdaneta

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Reservoir Simulation ◽

History Matching ◽

Simulation Method ◽

Practical Approach ◽

Water Recycling

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Case Studies Illustrating the Use of Reservoir Simulation Results in the Reserves Estimation Process

SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering ◽

10.2118/110066-pa ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 12 (01) ◽

pp. 149-158 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dean C. Rietz ◽

Adnan H. Usmani

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Reservoir Simulation ◽

High Performance ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Numerical Models ◽

Simulation Software ◽

Probabilistic Methods ◽

Field Development ◽

Estimation Process ◽

Simulation Results

Summary Continuous improvements in reservoir simulation software and the availability of high performance computing equipment are making the use of simulation models commonplace for field development and planning purposes. Naturally, this trend has also increased interest in the use of reservoir simulation model results in the oil and gas reserves estimation process. As simulation specialists who work in a primarily reserves-evaluation company, the authors are routinely asked to evaluate, and in many cases incorporate, simulation results in the reserves estimation process. In addition, the authors are required to opine on the approach and tactics used by clients while they incorporate numerical models in their reserves bookings. Because limited published discussion exists on this topic, the purpose of this paper is to provide some examples of the approach used by the authors. We believe this approach to be appropriate and within the spirit of reserves interpretation as used by typical reserves regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Papers previously published have discussed the use of models in the reserves process, including the evaluation of the models themselves (Palke and Rietz 2001; Rietz and Usmani 2005). In contrast, this paper provides three case studies that illustrate how results from various models have been used to assist in quantifying reserves. Two of the examples are based on history-matched models, while the third focuses on a pre-production reservoir where no adequate history is available and probabilistic methods were incorporated to help understand the uncertainty in the forecasts. While there is no "cookbook" or step-by-step procedure for using simulation results to estimate reserves, the case studies presented in this paper are intended to both show some examples and also spark some debate and discussion. Undoubtedly there will be some disagreement with our techniques, but an open discussion should prove to be beneficial for both reserves evaluators and simulation specialists.

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