Prudhoe Bay Field: simulation of a complex reservoir

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982 · Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6471714

Killough, J E; Pavlas, Jr, E J; Martin, C; Doughty, R K

This paper describes the techniques which were used by ARCO Oil and Gas Company in modeling the Prudhoe Bay Field, Alaska. Because of the large areal extent of the field, a unique grid in radial coordinates was used to redue the number of grid cells to a manageable number. A new form of velocity-dependence was introduced into the gas/oil relative permeability and capillary pressure pseudo function relationships in order to more accurately model the gravity drainage and coning behavior in the field. A special pressure solution technique was developed to handle the extensive faults throughout the reservoir. Finally, an overall well and facility management routine was added to control the production/injection of the field and to give realism to the complex boundary conditions involved in these controls. Validation of the modeling techniques was carried out in small scale models, larger cross-sectional models, and finally through history matching of the field. These validations gave excellent results. 8 refs.

• Research Organization: Atl Richfield Co, USA
• OSTI ID: 6471714
• Report Number(s): CONF-8203120-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States) Journal Volume: SPE 10023
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
ARCTIC OCEAN
BAYS
BEAUFORT SEA
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
MINERAL RESOURCES
OIL FIELDS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PRUDHOE BAY
RESOURCES
SEAS
SIMULATION
SURFACE WATERS