THE SPE I MAGE LI BRARY SPE 2983

Adj ust ment of Reser voi r Si mul at i on Model s To Mat ch

Fi el d Per f or mance
2983
Sl at er , G. E. , and
Dur r er , E. J . , Member s AI ME,
Gul f Resear ch and Devel opment Co. , Pi t t sbur gh, PA.
Sept ember 1971
ABSTRACT
Numer i cal si mul at i on model s descr i bi ng f i el d
behavi or r equi r e r el i abl e est i mat es f or var i ous
r eser voi r par amet er s whi ch cannot be measur ed
di r ect l y. A t r i al - and- er r or pr ocedur e, l i near and
nonl i near r egr essi on anal ysi s on a r andomsear ch,
and el ect r i c anal ogue comput at i on ar e pr esent l y
used i n or der t o obt ai n t hese est i mat es. They
suf f er ei t her f r oml engt hy comput at i on t i mes or
f r omt he necessi t y t o bui l d a physi cal model f or
each r eser voi r .
Thi s paper descr i bes a bal anced er r or - wei ght ed
gr adi ent met hod t hat syst emat i cal l y r educes t he
di f f er ence bet ween obser ved and cal cul at ed r eser voi r
per f or mance dat a, t her eby l eadi ng t o a hi st or y
mat ch. The scheme r esembl es cl osel y t he mechani cal
bal anci ng of an el ect r i c anal yzer once one has
det er mi ned quant i t at i vel y t he i nt er f er ence
r el at i onshi ps bet ween t he i ndi vi dual wel l r egi ons.
These r el at i onshi ps ar e f ound by changi ng t he
r eser voi r par amet er of each r egi on i n t ur n by a
const ant val ue, whi l e al l ot her r egi onal val ues
r emai n at t hei r base l evel . Then t he i nt er f er ence
r el at i onshi ps ar e or der ed i n mat r i x f or m. The
di agonal el ement s of t hi s mat r i x yi el d t he gr adi ent s
f or t he r egi onal r eser voi r par amet er val ues and
t her eby t he di r ect i on of t he change necessar y t o
obt ai n a r educt i on i n t he mat chi ng er r or . The
magni t ude of change i n each r egi on i s t aken
pr opor t i onal t o t he r egi onal er r or . Such a wei ght i ng
of t he gr adi ent s enabl es one t o cope wi t h t he
i nt er f er ence.
Par t i cul ar car has t o be exer ci sed i n def i ni ng
what component s const i t ut e t he i nf l uent i al r eser voi r
par amet er s of a f i el d. Case st udi es of oi l and gas
f i el ds yi el ded i nf or mat i on f or choosi ng t hese.
Ther ef or e, t he pr oposed pr esent at i on wi l l consi st
of a det ai l ed descr i pt i on of t he mat chi ng pr ocedur e
and i t s appl i cat i on t o sever al r eser voi r s, as wel l
as gener al gui del i nes f or f i el d hi st or y mat chi ng.
THE SPE I MAGE LI BRARY SPE 2983
I NTRODUCTI ON
The par t i al di f f er ent i al equat i on
. . ( 1)
wher e
k = per meabi l i t y
h = r eser voi r t hi ckness
= vi scosi t y
= por osi t y
c = compr essi bi l i t y
p = pr essur e
x
= space coor di nat es
y
t = t i me
Q = i nj ect i on, or pr oduct i on r at e
descr i bes t he pr essur e behavi or i n an oi l or gas
r eser voi r . Fi ni t e- di f f er ence t echni ques, var i at i onal ,
and f i ni t e- el ement met hods can be used t o obt ai n a
numer i cal sol ut i on t o Eq. 1 as no anal yt i cal
sol ut i ons ar e known f or t he condi t i ons t hat
adequat el y descr i be a r eser voi r . Onl y i f a cel l or
el ement happens t o cont ai n a wel l i s a r ough
est i mat e of t he l ocal k and val ue known. . Sever al
t i mes t hr oughout t he ent i r e l i f e of t he r eser voi r t he
st at i c r eser voi r pr essur e may be measur ed at t he
wel l s.
However , k and ar e onl y poi nt measur ement s
when compar ed t o t he over - al l r eser voi r si ze.
Ther ef or , cal cul at ed and obser ved pr essur e
behavi or wi l l r ar el y agr ee i f t hose k and val ues
ar e used i n t he comput at i on of Eq. 1. Usual l y t hey
must be adj ust ed t o yi el d a mat ch bet ween t he t wo
pr essur e behavi or s. Onl y t hen r el i abl e pr edi ct i ons
can be made concer ni ng t he f ut ur e r eser voi r
behavi or .
I n t he past , t he r eser voi r was mor e or l ess
ar bi t r ar i l y di vi ded i nt o a cer t ai n number of r egi ons.
SPEJ
p. 295