Small operators can now model reservoirs

Journal Article · Mon Mar 31 04:00:00 EST 1986 · Oil Gas J.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5839481

Forsyth, P; Sammon, P H; Behie, A

Low risk in-fill drilling, waterflooding, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) are ways of maintaining cash flow during the present time of uncertainty. Reservoir simulation is a useful tool for predicting and evaluating incremental recovery from proven reservoirs. In the past, high costs prevented many oil companies from carrying out extensive reservoir simulation studies because costs were based on the need to use expensive, centralized computing facilities and specialized personnel. With the advent of powerful microcomputers and new mathematical algorithms, such studies can now be carried out at greatly reduced cost. Perhaps more importantly, these new techniques greatly increase the ease of use of the new generation of simulators. Although modern algorithms permit troublefree simulation, there is still the problem of creating simulation data sets and processing the results. Widespread use of simulation requires interactive data generators which lead a reservoir engineer step-by-step through the creation of a new data file, without reference to a printed manual. Model output must be conveniently displayed in graphical form. The availability of relatively inexpensive, color graphics monitors and plotters has revolutionized the task of history-matching, predicting reservoir performance, and generation of reports. Consequently, reservoir simulation is no longer a tool for experts only, and is becoming commonplace in many small-to-medium-sized independent oil companies. In this article, the authors look at some of the recent advances in technology which allow cost-effective simulation by operating companies of any size.

• Research Organization: Dynamic Reservoir Systems Ltd., Calgary
• OSTI ID: 5839481
• Journal Information: Oil Gas J.; (United States), Journal Name: Oil Gas J.; (United States) Vol. 84:13; ISSN OIGJA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
03 NATURAL GAS
030300 -- Natural Gas-- Drilling
Production
& Processing
ALGORITHMS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COMPUTERS
COST
DRILLING
ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
ENGINEERING
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLUID INJECTION
MATHEMATICAL LOGIC
MICROELECTRONIC CIRCUITS
MICROPROCESSORS
NATURAL GAS WELLS
OIL WELLS
RECOVERY
RESERVOIR ENGINEERING
SIMULATION
WATERFLOODING
WELL DRILLING
WELLS