[CCoE Notice] Thesis Announcement: Application of Reservoir Simulation Techniques Using an Actual Case Study of a Mature Oil Field

[Grayson, Audrey A]

Application of Reservoir Simulation Techniques Using an Actual Case Study of a Mature Oil Field



Sundar Ramasamy Masters’ Thesis Dissertation



Defense Date: Thursday, August 2nd 2018 Time: 3:00 pm Location: Room 124, ERP Building 9

Committee Members: Dr. Ganesh Thakur, Dr. Ahmad Sakhaee-Pour and Dr. Sriram Balasubramanian



            The aim of this study is to apply reservoir simulation techniques, namely streamline simulation and black oil simulation to an actual oil field undergoing primary recovery. These techniques were used to propose a future development strategy for an oil field. The field under study in this thesis is in operation since 1993 and is currently under primary recovery under a strong water drive. The two types of simulations compared in this study are black oil and streamline simulation models. The simulators used are ECLIPSE E100 and Frontsim for black oil simulation and streamline simulation, respectively. FrontSim, by default, is an IMPES (Implicit Pressure and Explicit Saturation) type simulator which solves pressure equations implicitly and the saturation equations explicitly. In streamline simulation, pressure throughout the reservoir is calculated and this is then used to generate a series of streamlines representing the fluid flow in the reservoir. The fluid saturations are then calculated along theses streamlines. This de-coupling of the pressure and saturation equations helps reduce the computational time of streamline simulators when compared to black oil simulators. The drastic reduction in computation time supports the use of streamline simulators in intensive workflows such as history matching, uncertainty studies and waterflood optimization, which require multiple model runs in a considerably short time. The static model of the oil field was provided by the operating company of this field. Field data such as production, completion, core flood and PVT report required to initialize and history match the reservoir model were also provided. The entire simulation study was carried out using streamline and black oil simulation methods, drawing comparisons between them during history match. Prediction scenarios were run using black oil simulation method as it was observed to produce a better history match compared to streamline simulation method.  Prediction cases include a blind test, base case prediction and proposal and performance evaluation of two horizontal infill wells. It was observed that the reservoir under study has a strong aquifer support and does not require water-flooding in the near future. Hence, infill drilling will contribute to majority of the field development. Three infill locations have been proposed and evaluated for future performance. Two of the three proposed horizontal infill wells were predicted to produce around 3 MMSTB of oil each in a span of 20 years. The third well was a poor producer and was predicted to produce less than 1 MMSTB of oil in 20 years. This well was not suggested to be drilled as it is of a lower priority compared to the other two wells. Based on the location of these wells, new infill well locations can be determined in the future.











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