New Integrated 3D-Fracture Modeling and Flow Simulation Study: A Giant Saudi Arabian Carbonate Reservoir

Author(s):  
Hisham M. Al Qassab ◽  
Mohammad A Al Khalifa ◽  
Zaki Al-Ali ◽  
Mohammed Ameen ◽  
Robert Phillips ◽  
...  
Geofluids ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miller Zambrano ◽  
Alan D. Pitts ◽  
Ali Salama ◽  
Tiziano Volatili ◽  
Maurizio Giorgioni ◽  
...  

Fluid flow through a single fracture is traditionally described by the cubic law, which is derived from the Navier-Stokes equation for the flow of an incompressible fluid between two smooth-parallel plates. Thus, the permeability of a single fracture depends only on the so-called hydraulic aperture which differs from the mechanical aperture (separation between the two fracture wall surfaces). This difference is mainly related to the roughness of the fracture walls, which has been evaluated in previous works by including a friction factor in the permeability equation or directly deriving the hydraulic aperture. However, these methodologies may lack adequate precision to provide valid results. This work presents a complete protocol for fracture surface mapping, roughness evaluation, fracture modeling, fluid flow simulation, and permeability estimation of individual fracture (open or sheared joint/pressure solution seam). The methodology includes laboratory-based high-resolution structure from motion (SfM) photogrammetry of fracture surfaces, power spectral density (PSD) surface evaluation, synthetic fracture modeling, and fluid flow simulation using the Lattice-Boltzmann method. This work evaluates the respective controls on permeability exerted by the fracture displacement (perpendicular and parallel to the fracture walls), surface roughness, and surface pair mismatch. The results may contribute to defining a more accurate equation of hydraulic aperture and permeability of single fractures, which represents a pillar for the modeling and upscaling of the hydraulic properties of a geofluid reservoir.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aamir Lokhandwala ◽  
Vaibhav Joshi ◽  
Ankit Dutt

Abstract Hydraulic fracturing is a widespread well stimulation treatment in the oil and gas industry. It is particularly prevalent in shale gas fields, where virtually all production can be attributed to the practice of fracturing. It is also used in the context of tight oil and gas reservoirs, for example in deep-water scenarios where the cost of drilling and completion is very high; well productivity, which is dictated by hydraulic fractures, is vital. The correct modeling in reservoir simulation can be critical in such settings because hydraulic fracturing can dramatically change the flow dynamics of a reservoir. What presents a challenge in flow simulation due to hydraulic fractures is that they introduce effects that operate on a different length and time scale than the usual dynamics of a reservoir. Capturing these effects and utilizing them to advantage can be critical for any operator in context of a field development plan for any unconventional or tight field. This paper focuses on a study that was undertaken to compare different methods of simulating hydraulic fractures to formulate a field development plan for a tight gas field. To maintaing the confidentiality of data and to showcase only the technical aspect of the workflow, we will refer to the asset as Field A in subsequent sections of this paper. Field A is a low permeability (0.01md-0.1md), tight (8% to 12% porosity) gas-condensate (API ~51deg and CGR~65 stb/mmscf) reservoir at ~3000m depth. Being structurally complex, it has a large number of erosional features and pinch-outs. The study involved comparing analytical fracture modeling, explicit modeling using local grid refinements, tartan gridding, pseudo-well connection approach and full-field unconventional fracture modeling. The result of the study was to use, for the first time for Field A, a system of generating pseudo well connections to simulate hydraulic fractures. The approach was found to be efficient both terms of replicating field data for a 10 year period while drastically reducing simulation runtime for the subsequent 10 year-period too. It helped the subsurface team to test multiple scenarios in a limited time-frame leading to improved project management.


2008 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 411-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Istvan Szikora ◽  
Gyorgy Paal ◽  
Adam Ugron ◽  
Ferenc Nasztanovics ◽  
Miklos Marosfoi ◽  
...  

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