Hydrocarbon Flow-up Intersecting Faults: Economic Aspects of Production and Bypass Considerations

Abstract

The economic aspects are addressed towards production from reservoirs supplied with hydrocarbons along a master fault. In particular, the costs of production, the onset and termination times of production in relation with the supply time of hydrocarbons, as well as the supply rate and the production rates, in addition to the selling price of product, are all involved in determining if a positive net present value can be realized during the production phase of the reservoir. Depending on the relative timing, it is possible that the reservoirs cannot be made profitable unless the selling price exceeds a critical minimum. These aspects, and several residual concerns related to the desired production rate vs that allowed by reservoir fill rates, are addressed in this article.