Application of Engineering Effort Through Use of Reservoir Analyzers

Abstract

Abstract This paper contains a review of the position which the reservoir engineer occupies in the industry today. His work is found to be that of collecting, assembling and analytically treating large quantities of basic data to the end that physical and economic results are optimized. The need for methods to simplify and speed the data collecting and analytical processes of reservoir engineering is discussed. An organization utilized by one company to speed these processes is described. A general discussion of the use of analog computers and the result of six years' experience with this approach is given. It has been found that the reservoir engineer can quickly and easily adjust himself to the use of computers as a routine part of the solution to the over-all problem. In so doing, the burden of manual computation and data processing has been considerably lightened, thereby allowing him to devote more time to original and creative work in planning the basic approach and executing and applying economics to the end result. The Problem The industry has long recognized the intricate complexities of the business called reservoir engineering. The application of the fundamental principles established to date has resulted in a large accumulation of raw data from drilling production and laboratory operations. A normal development program yields voluminous records of electric logging, core analysis, drilling data, laboratory analyses of gas, oil and water, reservoir production of gas, oil and water, reservoir pressures, gas plant reports, etc. The engineer must analyze this information and blend it into the complex array of conservation rules and regulations and general cost and profit economics in order to design the most economic oil recovery process. Faced with this duty, the engineer must find time to perform it responsibly. Routine work must be minimized as much as possible.