Gaming-style in Simulation

Someone asked me today:

“What’s #Gaming_Style_in_Reservoir_Simulation?”

Here’s a short answer.

Gaming style is the way you use any simulator.

Example:
You can increase oil recovery from a field by one or more methods, say waterflooding, polymer flooding,
of infill drilling.

First you explore each option and determine oil recovery factor and also NPV. Compare which method
gives best performance.

Here’s the catch. The cost (CAPEX and OPEX) of the three methods differ, so the NPV of a method (also
ROR) may not be attractive even when that method may give better oil recovery factor, RF (%).

This tells you that a COMBINATION (two or three) may give you a better result, in terms of both RF and
NPV (and another suitable ROR).

Therefore, start playing Games. That’s, apply WF, PF, Infill at several points of time, number and timing
of infill wells, for a given pattern of flooding (5-spot for a large field, vertical & horizontal well
combinations otherwise).

And there’s no feeling of ‘Gaming’ if you are not playing against one or more competitors!

That’s what we do in a classroom setting!

In a company, the simulation manager should set up at least two teams, with a $bonus incentive plus
other incentives, and this way a much better Project Scheme can emerge!

A smart manager would outsource a university team of students (under a professor’s active supervision,
i.e., the professor must do the simulation also, more than the students while he lets each student play
another scenario).

I have developed and deployed this Gaming Style of using a commercial, 3D Reservoir Simulator in
undergraduate EOR course, with fantastic results and students enjoying to the extent that they’re
waiting eagerly to prove better than the old simulation dogs in the industry .

The smart manager should know who to hire next, don’t you think so?

And if you’re a graduate with your Project report and presentation resulting from Gaming, you better let
the hiring manager know.

Anyone out there to share Gaming experience?