Hydrocarbon reservoir analytics using high-frequency pressure data

世界上超过一半的能源来自石油和天然气，但能源部门正面临着一个重大挑战，大多数容易开采的石油已经被开采出来，因此，石油和天然气运营商正在转向新技术，使他们能够从现有的储量中回收更多石油。他们通常通过向油层注入水或其他流体来增加压力，开采剩余的石油。我们之前的研究得到了ITF、BERR和NERC的资助，并开发了可应用于从储层收集的低频流量数据的数据挖掘技术。在知识交换方面，令人信服的价值主张是基于使用已收集并随时可供石油和天然气运营商使用的现有流量数据。从这些数据中，我们能够对储集层动态提供新的见解，并了解井之间是如何沟通的。这有助于预测未来的产量和优化注水策略。通过考虑所有井对，包括那些彼此远离的井对，该方法对储层的地质力学响应施加了显著的限制，这一点在先前应用于北海油藏的研究工作中发表的现场试验中得到了验证。包括与Gullfaks油田重新激活的断层构造和ValHall油田(http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/imain/igmpapers/grl2006main.pdf)诱发地震活动模式的比较这个拟议的(http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/imain/igmpapers/Zhang_2011_SPE.pdf).The项目的目的是回应行业在NERC后续资金赠款NE/J006483/1期间收到的关于我们当前技术的反馈，并研究如何使用高频压力数据来提供更准确的分析。压力被广泛认为比分配的流量更准确，并越来越多地以常规方式进行监测。它还对油藏地质力学施加了更直接的约束，因为压力与测量点的有效应力更直接相关，现在可以通过在生产层位井下工作的坚固而高频的仪器来测量。高频压力数据的使用还提供了对油井完整性或水突破潜在问题进行早期预警的前景。该项目的第一阶段将集中于检查能够分析高频(可能每小时)井下压力数据的方法，纳入生产和注入流量，并建立在我们的专利知识产权和已成功开发的软件工具的基础上，该软件工具已在NE/J006483/1中成功开发。第二阶段将在操作员提供的真实油藏数据上使用这种方法。

Over half of the World's energy comes from oil and gas, but the energy sector is facing a major challenge, most of the easy to drill oil has already been produced and because of this, oil and gas operators are turning to new technologies that enable them to recover more from their existing reserves.They typically do this by injecting water or other fluids into the reservoir to boost pressure and extract the remaining oil. Our previous research received funding from ITF, BERR and NERC and developed data mining techniques that could be applied to low-frequency flow-rate data gathered from reservoirs.The compelling value proposition in terms of knowledge exchange is based on using existing flow-rate data that is already collected and readily available to oil and gas operators. From this data, we are able to provide new insights into reservoir behaviour and understand how wells communicate with each other. This helps enable forecasting of future production rates and optimisation of water injection strategies. By considering all well pairs, including those remote from each other, the method places significant constraints on the geo-mechanical response of the reservoir, as verified in published field trials from previous research work applied to North Sea reservoirs, including comparison with reactivated fault structures in the Gullfaks oilfield (http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/imain/igmpapers/grl2006main.pdf) and induced seismicity patterns in the Valhall oilfield (http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/homes/imain/igmpapers/Zhang_2011_SPE.pdf).The aim of this proposed NERC project is to respond to industry feedback received on our current techniques during NERC Follow-on fund grant NE/J006483/1 and examine how high-frequency pressure data can be used to provide more accurate analytics. Pressure is widely considered to be more accurate than allocated flow rate and is increasingly monitored in a routine way. It also places more direct constraints on reservoir geo-mechanics because pressure is more directly related to the effective stress at the point of measurement, and can now be measured by robust and high-frequency instruments operating down-hole at the producing horizon. The use of high-frequency pressure data also holds out the prospect of early warning of potential problems with well integrity or water breakthrough.The first phase of the project will be focused on examining approaches capable of analysing high-frequency (perhaps hourly) down-hole pressure data, incorporating production and injection flow rates and building on our patented IPR and the software tool already developed successfully as a deliverable in NE/J006483/1. The second phase will be to use this approach on real reservoir data provided by an operator.