Reservoir characterisation

PETR3512
Introduction

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 1

History and problems

z

The modern history of reservoir characterisation began in the early

1980s, driven by the realisation that deficiencies in advanced oil
recovery techniques frequently had their origin in an inadequate
reservoir description.
The litany of problems became commonplace:
Wells drilled between existing wells did not have the
interpolated characteristics,
Chemicals injected in wells appeared (when they appeared at
all) in unforeseen locations,
Displacing agents broke through to producing wells too early,
and,
Above all, oil recovery was disappointing.
Each of these problems can be traced to a lack of understanding of
the nature of the distribution of properties between the wells.

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 2

Reservoir characterisation
Reservoir Characterisation is the process of
describing a hydrocarbon reservoir, in terms of
the parameters of a numerical model, so that its
performance can be predicted.
Ballester
Reservoir Characterisation is a process for
quantitatively assigning reservoir properties,
recognising geologic information and
uncertainties and spatial variability.
Lake & Carroll
Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 3

Reservoir characterisation
Reservoir Characterisation is a holistic multi-disciplinary process focussed on
understanding the properties of a reservoir
Mathematics

Reservoir
Engineering

Geophysics

Reservoir
Characterisation

Petrophysics

Dr Elena Pasternak

Geology

Slide 4

Reservoir Characterisation throughout

the life cycle of a reservoir or field
Reservoir Characterisation is required throughout the life cycle of a
reservoir or field and when there is a requirement for Reservoir
Simulation. As more data becomes available, the model should be fine
tuned to incorporate this data and provide improved input to simulation
z

When the reservoir is first discovered

During the process of Appraisal

During Development Planning

During Development

Throughout the Producing Life of the Field

Before Abandonment of the Field

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 5

RESERVOIR CHARACTERISATION
WORKFLOW
Reservoir Characterisation workflow involves
three phases:
z Defining large scale characteristics,
z Defining small scale characteristics, and
z Scaling up the information for use in a
Reservoir Simulator
An interpretation of the output in terms of initial problem (reservoir) is
essential

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 6

Borehole and field information

z

The accurate simulation of historical and forecast field

performance controls the success of field development
and exploitation and, as such, requires a thorough
knowledge of the reservoir.
Wells that provide most of the information for reservoir
simulation occupy only a billionth of the total reservoir
volume.
The process of Reservoir Characterisation, using this
information together with the expert knowledge of the
production geoscientist, the application of
geostatistical techniques and the scale-up of this
information to a dataset of manageable size helps
bridge the dimension gap between wells and the field.

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 7

Up scaling and down scaling

z

Scaling up (up scaling)

Even with modern (super)computers, the gridblocks in a large
simulation are still quite large as much as several meters
vertically and several 10s of meters areally. The term gridblock is
very often a grid pancake. This introduces an additional (artificial)
scale by the simulation user.
The typical measurement scales (core and logs) are smaller than
the gridblock scale. Thus some adjustment of the measurement is
necessary. This process is called scaling up or upscaling
(homogenisation or effective characteristics) and is the subject of
active research.
For example, reservoir size is 2km2km2km. Grid block is 2m. We
need 100010001000 elements (blocks)=109 too many even for
a supercomputer! Also sample (from the core) is 10cm and 3-5cm
in diameter. Assume 1 measurement costs $1K too expensive
even to consider to perform 109 measurements.

Scaling down (down scaling)

The larger scale of seismic and production-derived data is
essentially scaled down to the modelling resolution during the
construction of the geostatistical model.

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 8

BP Example of
effect of different
realisations on
Recovery Factor

(Corvi & Cobley, 1992)

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 9

Reservoir Simulation Process

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 10

Reservoir characterisation. Integration of

geophysical, geological, and reservoir engineering
data
z

Once an accumulation of petroleum has been discovered it is

essential to characterise the reservoir as accurately as possible
in order to calculate the reserves and to determine the most
effective way of recovering as much of the petroleum as
economically as possible.
Reservoir characterisation first involves the integration of a vast
amount of data from seismic surveys, from geophysical well
logs, and from geological samples.
Note that the data come in a hierarchy of scales, from the
megascopic and mesoscopic to the microscopic. It is important
to appreciate both the scale and the reliability of the different
data sets (for example, the problems of reconciling porosity and
permeability data from logs and rock samples).

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 11

Reservoir characterisation. Integration of

geophysical, geological, and reservoir engineering
data

(Corvi & Cobley, 1992)

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 12

Reservoir characterisation. Down

scaling
Stage1: Defining large-scale structure

(Corvi & Cobley, 1992)

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 13

Reservoir characterisation. Scaling

up

(Corvi & Cobley, 1992)

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 14

Twenty geological realisations

constructed using the
geological grid and then
regridded to the flow
simulation grid. The grey
arrows point out the location
of the thick shale in the
vertical well.

(Deutsch, 2002)

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 15

Flow results from 20 geostatistical

realisations (solid grey lines)
superimposed with layercake
model (solid line), smooth model
(long dashes), simple geostatistics
model (short dashes).

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 16

Darcy law
u = ( P + g )
u-velocity of fluid
fluid density
g gravitation (acceleration)
=/ fluid mobility
fluid viscosity
- permeability

P P P
P = ,
,

x1 x2 x3

pressure gradient

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 17

Input Required to Define the Large

Scale Characteristics
z

Geometry of the Field

External Geometry of the Reservoir

Position and Nature of Fluid Contacts

Large Scale Discontinuities and Heterogeneities in the

Reservoir

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 18

Input Required to Define the Small

Scale Characteristics
z
z
z
z
z
z

Environment of Deposition & Diagenetic History

Internal Geometry of the Reservoir
Petrophysical Properties
Small Scale Discontinuities, Heterogeneities and
Anisotropy in the Reservoir
Distribution of Internally Consistent Segments in the
Reservoir
Areal and Vertical Distribution of Relevant Properties in
the Reservoir

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 19

Input Required to Scale up the

model for use in a Reservoir
Simulator
z
z
z
z

Large Scale Characteristics Dataset

Small Scale Characteristics Dataset
Representative Element Volume (REV) Characteristics of
the Relevant Reservoir Properties
Effect of Small Scale Discontinuities, Heterogeneities and
Anisotropy in the Reservoir on REV Characteristics

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 20

10

Spectrum of reservoir types

z

The first aim of reservoir characterisation is to produce a geological

model that honours the available data and can be used to predict
the distribution of porosity, permeability, and fluids throughout the
field.
Reservoirs possess a wide range of degrees of geometric
complexity.
The rare, but ideal, layer-cake reservoir is the easiest to model
and to predict from. But reservoirs range from layer-cake via
jigsaw puzzle to labyrinthine types.
Geologists apply their knowledge to produce a predictive model
(deterministic) for the layer-cake model with ease, and the
jigsaw variety with more difficulty. But the labyrinthine reservoir
can only be effectively modelled statistically.
The location of a particular reservoir on the layer-cake - jigsaw labyrinthine spectrum decides whether it can be modelled
deterministically using geology, or probabilistically using statistics,
such as the stochastic and fractal methods.
Whichever approach is used, the objective is to produce a 3D grid
of the field, and to place a value of the porosity, permeability, and
petroleum saturation within each cell of the grid.

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 21

Spectrum of reservoir types

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 22

11

Illustration show how reservoirs may be gridded into a series of cells for which a value
for the porosity, permeability, and petroleum saturation must be given. Then it is possible
to produce an accurate assessment of the reserves and a data for computer simulation to
establish the most effective way of producing petroleum from the reservoir.
Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 23

Tools for reservoir characterisation

Combination of Tools
Outcrop

Well/Field

Giga >300m

Mega
30 - 300m

Macro
cm - m

Micro
- mm

Direct Measurement

Production Performance

3D Seismic / Maps

Logs

Core
Reservoir

Well Testing
Modified from Schlumbergers Middle Eastern Well Evaluation Review

Dr Elena Pasternak

Slide 24

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