Megacell Reservoir Simulation

Abstract

Reservoir simulation has moved into a new era with the rapid advancements in parallel-computer hardware and software technologies. In the past decade, the total number of gridblocks used in a typical reservoir study increased from thousands to millions. Mega (million) -cell simulation capability allows accurate representation of reservoirs because of its ability to include detailed information provided by logs, 3D seismic, horizontal wells, and stratigraphic studies. One of the main advantages of megacell simulation is that it minimizes or eliminates upscaling effects, making more-accurate reservoir-performance predictions possible. Further more, the speed of parallel computers significantly reduces the manpower-intensive history-matching process. Megacell simulators typically are developed on parallel computers With the current low-cost parallel computers, a million-cell simulation run covering 20 years of production history takes less than 1 hour, State-of-the-art computer graphics provide an effective means of visualizing large data sets covering million-cell descriptions of a reservoir and its performance. This paper presents an overview of megacell simulation technologies in the oil industry and academia.