Reservoir Representation for Flow Simulation

Abstract

Abstract Reservoir flow modeling involves two aspects: a functional model (flow equations and numerical methods) and a representation model (related to the reservoir description) - and this last aspect is usually the critical one. Reservoir representation is different from reservoir characterization. It is not a question of describing the reservoir in a more or less exhaustive or realistic way, but a question of incorporating relevant information into the flow simulation model, considering the syntax of the flow simulators and the relative impact of information on the simulation results. Reservoir representation makes the bridge between reservoir characterization and flow simulation. This paper presents selected results from a cluster of applied research projects in reservoir representation for flow simulation. It includes: (1) gridding issues in the context of integrated reservoir studies (discussion of terminology, grid specification, generic format reading, etc.);(2) identification and representation of critical heterogeneities of turbidite reservoirs; (3) assigning transmissibility multipliers across partially sealing faults in a field case; (4) incorporation of production data in reservoir flow models with an example of application; (5) hyperdocumention for reservoir simulation files (making use of HTML tags to get a much richer documentation of the flow simulation model).