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The new Nexus software from Landmark Graphics Corp offers dramatic reductions in run-time on traditional simulator offerings for full-field asset simulation of single or multiple reservoirs tied to a common surface network.

Next-generation reservoir modelling

available now
ECISIONS IN TODAYS field development environment and economic conditions must be made in ever-shorter time. The DecisionSpace Nexus solution from Halliburtons Landmark Digital & Consulting Solutions Division* provides integrated reservoir modelling and simulation workflows to help asset team engineers make quick and accurate production and reserve forecasts and improve the planning of field development with its necessary facilities. It will also optimise the value of assets faster than any other commercial simulation solution available today. Only released in October last year Nexus provides unprecedented simulation speed by leveraging a robust volume-balance formulation that results in convergence with fewer iterations or repeats. This improved performance takes place straight out of the box with a minimal tuning requirement to set it up. Using a fully-coupled and implicit formulation Nexus simultaneous surface and subsurface simulation process results in more accurate production forecasts, says the leading supplier of software and services for the upstream oil and gas industry worldwide. The direct-access modelling environment it relies on improves user productivity by eliminating the need for data transfers and reformatting. So data preparation and analysis is always fast and easy using the intuitive Windows-based DataStudio

pre- and post-processing modules. Therefore in summary the benefits to your business are: 6 Rapid simulation. 6 Accurate production forecasts. 6 Improved productivity. The detailed features of the new DecisionSpace Nexus software are: 6 Use of a robust volume balance formulation which runs efficiently immediately, with little or no tuning required. The simulator conserves the component mass and achieves convergence in fewer repeated iterations, which results in unprecedented speedy simulation. 6 Generalised compositional formulation. Nexus is a single simulator employing a generalised compositional approach. With the exception of PVT calculations the simulator executes the same code whether the material being studied is black crude or compositional. So the only input changes needed are for actual fluid data. Nexus simulates multiple reservoirs through a coupling process, which allows different material physics and formulations to be joined up seamlessly. So multiple reservoirs tied to a common surface network are rapidly solved as a single simulation exercise. The incorporated Network Planner module

enables fast and automated generation of surface plans, including features such as flow lines, valves, chokes, manifolds, gas plants and separators. Nexus automatically simulates the entire network with the subsurface, resulting in a better understanding of how the reservoir(s) will behave once development has taken place. This Network Planner allows the user to design, view and edit both wells and surface facilities in either 2D or 3D viewing windows. It solves the surface network at the Newtonian level together with the subsurface equations, which leads to a fully coupled solution. In each iteration the surface nodes are subsurface grid cells that are solved simultaneously. This results in a completely accurate representation of the total surface/subsurface asset. A powerful and unstructured linear solver is employed. So a dramatic reduction in CPU cycles can be realised in simulations having large numbers of unstructured non-local connections. These are often present in simulations because of faults, local grid refinements, necessary grid coarsening and pitchouts. Nexus integrated workflow flexibility in gridding, up- and down-scaling workflows create a simulator-ready model while at the same time honouring known geological features where necessary. Gridding, up- and down-scaling workflows by means of the add-on DecisionSpace PowerGrid module results in a reservoir-friendly model that fully reflects the subsurface rock

Revolutionary advance in reservoir simulation

HALLIBURTON DIGITAL & Consulting Solutions has released the commercial version of its DecisionSpace Nexus software under the Landmark brand, which covers a range of integrated E&D products and suites. Developed in collaboration with BP Nexus is designed to perform reservoir simulation on both simple and complex reservoirs at great speed. It gives reservoir engineers and asset teams a productivity tool that allows simulation that is typically five times faster than existing technology, and can be very much faster still. This is achievable along with easy data transfer and streamlined workflow. Halliburton says the ability to simulate both surface and sub-surface conditions simultaneously creates a much more accurate representation of what the assets hold, which can only result in better development decisions down the line. Division VP Jonathan Lewis says: We are committed to providing our customers with technology that will assist them in making better, more accurate reserve estimations as well as optimising production and ultimate recoveryNexus technology is able to simulate todays challenging field developments such as multiple reservoirs tied to a common surface facility. Benchmarking efforts have demonstrated that Nexus can simulate some faulted and coarsened models over 20 times faster than current commercial simulators, which means simulation in hours instead of days. And adds colleague John Killough: Piloting of Nexus is currently under way on several diverse and complex assets around the world, including the Middle East and North Africa. Weve been consistently able to realise enormous time savings and process efficiencies. The new Nexus software allows engineers to simulate reservoirs of every size and complexity fast. It requires no complicated set-up or tuning. Nexus is part of the DecisionSpace suite and is described as being inherently open and extensible, introducing cutting-edge technology to optimise assets quickly. The bottom line for users is that operating costs can be cut and large capital expenditure decisions made more efficiently than ever before. The complete Landmark range of software solutions span exploration, production, drilling, business-decision analysis and data management see website listed within this feature.

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conditions. And an intelligent vertical simulation process known to engineers as layer lumping allows users to combine the geological layers. Automatic local-grid refinement around such physical features as wellbores, faults and channels enables more accurate prediction of resulting fluid flows. The direct access-modelling environment created by Nexus enables integrated workflows and eliminates the need to import, export and reformat multiple data types. So, as Landmark puts it, What you see is what you simulate. Nexus takes full advantage of the latest highperformance parallel computing systems such as use of clusters and grids by switching seamlessly from serial to parallel mode as often as required. The speeding-up recognised in serial mode is amplified when the software is run in parallel. The following hardware is required to run this next-generation reservoir simulator: 6 Processor: Opteron, Itanium2 or EM64T 2GB RAM or greater 6 Hard disk: 600mb for installation and 200mb to operate

6 Graphics adapter: Nvidia Quadra FX500,

1000,1100,1300, 3400, Go700 or 1000, Nvidia Quadro4 380XGL, 900XGL, NVS400. Additional software as follows is also needed on board: 6 Oracle8I Enterprise Client 8.1.7 6 Compatibility with OpenWorks R2003 6 Hummingbird Exceed 10.0 6 Complementary DecisionSpace infrastructure under the Landmark brand. 6 Either a Windows 2000, Windows XP or Red Hat Linux Enterprise operating system is required, along with one of the following interconnects for parallel computation: Infiniband (SilverStorm), Myrinet or Gigabit Ethernet. To sum up, todays energy industries in North Africa and the Gulf are changing fast as new challenges emerge along with market developments. A common feature reported from right across Oil Reviews readership area is the constant need to accelerate E&D operations in order to cut cycle times. So industry professionals are always looking

for streamlined processes and cost reduction possibilities. The new reservoirs they need to stay in business get ever more difficult to locate and complex in structure. And they need all the help they can get to improve their understanding of the many uncertainties involved that will actually impact on the economics of any new project. This all means more cross-discipline integration and accuracy of assumptions made so that better decisions can be taken and risks can be managed, not guessed. Thus workflows need to be executed many times within practical timeframes. The solution to these challenges facing regional operators today is already emerging in next-generation technologies such as the new DecisionSpace Nexus software for reservoir simulation described here.

* For your nearest location contact Corporate Headquarters of Landmark Graphics Corp at PO Box 42806, Houston, TX 77242-2806, USA (Tel 713 839 2000 or fax 713 839 2015). Alternatively visit www.lgc.com

Reservoir Performance Centre right here in UAE

LANDMARKS CERP IN Abu Dhabi delivers quality field development studies to the Mid East region, on time, within budget and using industry-best practise. Halliburtons landmark division offers a variety of facilities that showcase the latest in technology, workflow processes and decision-making strategies. These include the Real Time Decision and Executive Briefing Centres. Together we provide integration across the entire spectrum of oilfield services worldwide, the company says. Within these potential clients can sample Landmarks integrated technologies and see just how new workflows managed in a collaborative environment could speed up your own decision-making processes. The Halliburton Division now has more than 45 regional offices around the world. As one of these Landmarks Centre of Excellence for Reservoir Performance was set up in the UAE in May 2004 as the groups number-one source for delivering varied technologies and services in the fields of reservoir performance and field development planning. The brand-new Nexus reservoir simulation system is being piloted locally here. The new CERP was established in Abu Dhabi specifically to cater to clients in the Middle East for solutions to the regions special challenges and reservoir conditions in a rapidly changing economic environment. The Centre is an operating consulting practice staffed by Landmarks top simulation engineers, who together possess a unique breadth of experience ranging from complex compositional parallel simulation to dual-porosity fractured reservoirs. In addition the Centre employs reservoir geologists, petroleum engineers, geoscientists and systems engineers who, as well as having complementary areas of expertise, have the benefit of access to two powerful 64 CPU Linux clusters and other appropriate computer hardware. Directed locally by Nigel Bock*, the Reservoir Performance Centre in Abu Dhabi has the following specific objectives for serving its clients. First, it functions as a knowledge transfer point, providing a fast track to transfer the knowledge, technology and other know-how about reservoir simulation and field development to upcoming engineers and geo-scientists of all national oil companies in the region. Second, it performs high-quality studies in field development. Modern technology has made it possible to use refined models with improved descriptions of the regions complex geological and fluid assets. The resulting multimillion-cell models, often with compositional formulation and operational processes like WAG, are developed within the CERP to deliver quality field development studies in order to help the Centres professional staff help clients meet their operational objectives. Third, the Centre acts as a testing ground in the Emirates for new technology. This is where Landmarks professionals test the latest technical solutions on local reservoirs, using real data sets and live problems. Solutions are then rolled out to the customers who have commissioned them. The Centre is currently pioneering Landmarks Decision Management System technology for uncertainty analysis and automated optimisation of field development plans. The state-of-the-art Nexus reservoir simulation system described in the accompanying article is being piloted here on a variety of challenging local potential assets. CERP in Abu Dhabi also offers flexible options for running training/mentoring sessions for local oil producers. Their own professionals can come and work in the Centre itself on live projects, or CERPs in-house staff can run customised courses on clients own premises. Centre staff is also seconded to individual local ongoing projects, providing experience within client-defined objectives and deadlines. Finally the CERP brings Landmarks own R&D professionals from overseas into the region specifically to solve the specific problems of Gulf clients. They achieve this by providing on-site fixes and enhancements that are crucial to making the technology incorporated within new tools and software such as Nexus even more useful in the varied reservoir development conditions found here in the Gulf. The company says the Centre of Excellence for Reservoir Performance has already been well received by the exploration and production sections of the industry throughout the region. Landmark is committed to providing specific field development solutions to the oil industry here of which an excellent example is the new DecisionSpace Nexus software, a revolutionary advance in reservoir simulation for tomorrows energy industries. * contact via Mr Sanjeev Varma at savarma@lgc.com or +971 4303 6363 ext 6349

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