Abstract:
Industry has recognized that dynamic reservoir characterization, from wellbore pressure and production behaviors, is a key driver for maximizing the production and recovery of a reservoir.
Accurate simulation requires appropriate modeling of the existing heterogeneities in the field. Most of the main fields around the world produce from naturally fractured vuggy reservoirs, where matrix, fracture network, and high vuggy porosity are usually present.
Vugs effect on permeability is related to their connectivity and the determination of permeability and porosity in vuggy zones from core measurements are likely to be pessimistic.
Also, some fractured reservoirs exhibit a fractal behavior, which describes fractures with different scales, poor fracture connectivity and disorderly spatial distribution. Both fractured vuggy and fractal behavior reservoirs cannot be explained by the conventional dual-porosity model. This lecture addresses different characterization approaches that take into consideration the above descriptions, that include as special case the classic dual-porosity model, and reviews field applications in which these approaches were used in reservoir characterization by using pressure transient and rate data.
It also outlines the challenges encountered during characterization of fractured reservoirs and presents a current and future vision for an appropriate dynamic characterization of these reservoirs.
About Author:
Rodolfo Camacho-Velazquez, Pemex E&P
Rodolfo Camacho works as a senior engineer for Pemex E&P. He has more than 30 years of experience in academia and E&P fields.
He has developed several well test analysis techniques, and analysis and interpretation methods of production data.
He has authored or co-authored more than 100 technical papers on petroleum engineering. He has won several awards including the 2008 Lester Uren Award.
He holds a BS degree in geophysical engineering from the University of Mexico and MS and PhD degrees in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa.