ECMOR V - 5th European Conference on the Mathematics of Oil Recovery

In this paper, we address the conditioning of Gaussian random fields to time-dependent production data, e.g. pressure or production rate. The goal of obtaining a set of conditioned permeability fields is to make a prediction of the reservoir performance which includes a quantified uncertainty. Instead of the brute force approach of generating many permeability fields and keeping those that satisfy the production data within a give measure, we shall use a method that gradually modifies an initially generated permeability field towards a match with the production data, without destroying its local spatial structure.

Numerical models are routinely used today to analyze the performance of hydrocarbon reservoirs. However, the fit of the historical data has to take into account the initial geological knowledge to provide physical production forecasts, even if reservoir parameters are inherently uncertain over large parts of a field.

In the present paper the use of the multipoint method for automated history matching purposes is demonstrated.

In this paper we present an integrated approach, via sophisticated experimental and numerical techniques, to the investigation of displacement phenomena in porous media. A non-destructive imaging technique, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), has been used to study fluid flow in core plugs, and a Mixed Finite Element/TVD Finite Volume simulator to reproduce the observed data. The main advantage of the MFE/FV code is its capability of accurately solving physical phenomena without introducing unrealistic numerical dispersion or oscillations. Comparison with standard Finite Differences (FD) code has been performed.

Utilizing a recently developed numerical technique, known as the lattice-Boltzmann method, we study immiscible three-phase flow at the pore scale. An important phenomenon at this scale is the spreading of oil onto the gas-water interface. In case of a spreading oil droplet, it is shown that the simulated flow dynamics agree with an analytical model.

Oil ganglion dynamics (that is, the collective flow behavior of a population of interacting oil ganglia in a porous medium) arises in connection with oil bank formation and maintenance during enhanced oil recovery with immiscible flooding.

Optimal utilization of production facilities is an important factor in field development planning and production forecasting.

A new analytical i.e. - for more complex cases - a numerical model is proposed for evaluating weIl tests. The analytical solution can be applied to special cases, whereas the numerical model is fuIly explicit, and can be used to complex weIl pattems, arbitrary grid geometry with general shape signal generation.

This paper describes a mathematical model of the vertical movement of the free water level in a fractured reservoir, where the primary recovery is governed by spontaneous water imbibition.·

Double-porosity, double permeability models are often used to describe flows in fractured systems, or systems with bi-modal permeability density probability functions.