Fundamentals of Reservoir Simulation

• Introduction
• Current status, development and future direction
• Types of reservoir simulators
• Generalized model formulation
• Boundary and initial conditions
• Data needs

OnePetro: 42,782 (2/15/2017)

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 Reservoir Engineering Technology
• Quantitative estimates of how much oil/gas is in place
– Static, volumetric concepts (porosity, saturation, density,
pressure, compressibility, solution gas-oil ratio…; decline
curve analysis… )
• Flow calculation for how much oil/gas can be produced or
reservoir performance be optimized under given geological and
operational conditions
– Mass and energy conservation, and momentum balance
concepts (Density, porosity, saturation, temperature,
enthalpy…)
– Driving forces (pressure gradient, potential energy,
capillarity…)
– Flow properties (permeability, viscosity, interface tension
(ITF), wettability…)
– Darcy’s law or its various forms of modifications
– Primary/secondary recovery and IOR/EOR processes
What is Reservoir Simulation?
1. Numerical (mathematical) representation
of a reservoir in a computer used to
investigate and predict reservoir and well
performance
– Use equations to describe how the reservoir
behaves
One mile down
What is Reservoir Simulation?
2. Combination of Physics, Mathematics,
Computer Science, and Petroleum
Engineering
Physics:
-Fluid flow in porous media (Darcy’s Law)
-Multiphase flow behavior
-PVT of fluids, relative permeability,
-Gravity, capillary force / equilibrium effects
What is Reservoir Simulation?
2. Combination of Physics, Mathematics,
Computer Science, and Petroleum
Engineering
Math and Numerics:
-Equation Formulation (Finite Difference)
-Partial Differential Equations
-Linear Algebra (solving multiple equations with
multiple unknowns)
-Solution Methods (direct/iterative)
What is Reservoir Simulation?
3. Representing the properties of a reservoir
on a grid where some properties change
over time.
The Grid:
-Backbone of Reservoir Simulation
-Divide continuous reservoir into a number of
representative volumetric blocks (10,000 to 100+
millions)

property: φ, k, Sw, So, P, ρ, FVF, krx, …

-For each gridblock, assign or calculate each
What is Reservoir Simulation?
3. Representing the properties of a
reservoir on a grid where some
properties change over time.
The Grid (continued):
-Assume the property is the average (and
representative) of the entire block
-Propagate the model forward in time, and
calculate the change in properties: pressures,
saturations - and all properties dependent on
these two - will change
 Why use Reservoir Simulation?
1. Solve problems that cannot be solved by
other (simpler) techniques
Other possible techniques:
-Decline curves and type curves
-Material balance equation
-Buckley-Leverett / Welge models
-Analytical models
-Analogous field/well studies
-Lab tests/pilot projects (not simpler)
Why use Reservoir Simulation?
2. Most reservoir simulation projects are
predictive and economic (reservoir
management type problems)
Simulation uses:
-Rate Prediction
-Development Planning/comparison
- Various operating strategies
- Well placement/design (infills, horizontal wells, etc.)
-Waterflood and Enhanced Oil Recovery
-Remaining and Bypassed Oil
Why use Reservoir Simulation?
3. Assess Uncertainty and Risk
– Tryout various scenarios
– Parameter sensitivity
Inputs with Uncertainty:
- Production Strategies
- Reservoir (Rock and Fluid) Properties
- Lack of data/ measurement uncertainty
- Historical production rates/pressures
- Geologic and geophysics description
- …
Why use Reservoir Simulation?
4. Other Simulation Uses
– Lab scale modeling
– Fundamental understanding
• e.g. recovery mechanisms for thermal project,
• or evaluate Upper Shale contribution in Bakken
– Comparison of techniques
– …
 History, current status and advances
• Starting from 1950’s (Peaceman and Rachford, 1955,
Douglas et al. 1959)
• In 1960’s, 2D, 3D, two- and three phase flow models,
(Coats et al. 1967)
• In 1970’s and 1980’s, chemical, thermal and
compositional models (oil and geothermal);
groundwater models, and unsaturated (Richards) flow
codes
• From the 1900’s, simulators and models - engineering
tools
• Parallel development in petroleum engineering,
groundwater, soil science, geothermal engineering,
subsurface contamination, waste storage, CO2
geosequestration, etc. 12
 History, current status and advances:
Numerical Approaches
• Finite difference (conventional & integrated)
• Finite element (Galerkin & control volume)
• Others (e.g., boundary & analytical element)?
• Iterative or direct solver, and parallel computing
• Numerical formulation and solution:
1. IMPES (IMplicit Pressure Explicit Saturation)
2. Fully implicit
3. Adaptive IMplicit (AIM)

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 History, current status and advances
(Continued)
• Mature engineering tools (used by most reservoir
engineers and hydrologists, instead of few experts as in
the early stages of 1970’s and 1980’s)
• Simulations most done on PC, laptop, workstation,
and clusters instead of super computers
• Widely applications in industry as well as in
academia (from engineering/management decisions,
operations and designs, performance evaluation and
forecast, laboratory analysis to policy making and even
in court)

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 History, current status and advances
(Continued)
• Improved capabilities in handling complex
multiphase fluid flow and transport in EOR/IOR,
subsurface resource, and environment fields
• Models/case studies/applications using multi-
disciplinary approaches
• Coupled process models
• Numerical simulation experiments for best
development and management strategies from
field operation to lab design

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 History, current status and advances
(Continued)
1. Modeling coupled processes of multiphase flow with
chemical reaction, thermodynamics, geomechanics,
geophysics, and bio-processes
2. Complex nonlinear flow phenomena (e.g., non-
Newtonian and non-Darcy flow) occurring in
EOR/IOR processes and unconventional reservoirs
3. Modeling different-scale fractured reservoirs
4. Improved numerical formulation and solution
approaches
5. Parallel simulation using PC clusters and laptops in
addition to super computers 16
 History, current status and advances
(Continued)

6. Streamline, pore-scale network, pore-scale Lattice

Bolzmann, and molecule-scale models
7. Stochastic and geostatistic modeling analyses
8. Dynamic and unstructured grids
9. Upscalling model input parameters
10. Inverse modeling and optimization

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History, current status and advances:
Problems with current models

1. Poorly-defined constitutive relations

2. Incompleteness in description of coupled
physical and chemical processes
3. Computational intensity restrictions
4. Uncertainties in parameters/data and modeling
conditions
5. Others?

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 Future development and direction
• Take advantages of rapid advances in computer and
computational science as well as internet technology
• Develop in-depth understandings and better
constitutive correlations for physically and chemically
coupled processes
• Improve modeling approaches and capabilities for
handling heterogeneity of complex reservoir systems
• Use multi-scale (spatial and time), multi-physics and
coupled-process models
• Parallel simulation using PC, laptop, PC-clusters or
multi-CPU workstations

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 Future development and direction
(Continued)
• Integrated modeling approaches incorporating
different type data and processes (geological,
hydrologic, chemical, thermal, mechanic, geophysical,
biologic, coupled with well/surface facility, etc.)
• Geostatistic modeling approaches for uncertainty
analysis
• Simple, powerful and user-friendly simulators on PC
and web-based input data systems for engineers to conduct
real-time simulation

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 SPE Reservoir Simulation Conference, 20-22 Feb 2017
Technical Program:
1. Formulations and discretization techniques for multiphase
flow
2. Parallel and high-performance computing
3. Scalable linear and nonlinear solvers
4. Gridding, upscaling, and multiscale methods
5. Integrated modeling of reservoirs, wells, and surface facilities
6. Fast simulation methods and next-generation simulator
development
7. Data assimilation and uncertainty quantification
8. Model-based and data-driven optimization
9. Surrogate models and reduced order models
10. Reservoir management and reliable forecasting
11. Modeling complex recovery processes
12. Coupled flow, heat transfer, geomechanics, and geochemical
reactions
13. Modeling subsurface CO2 sequestration and EOR
14. Simulation of unconventional reservoirs 21
15. Applications of reservoir simulation: successes and failures
 Reservoir Simulators
in Petroleum Reservoir Engineering

1. Black oil model

2. Compositional model
3. Chemical flooding model
4. Thermal-recovery model
5. Streamline model

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Different Reservoir Simulators
1. Computer Modeling Group (CMG) - IMEX
2. Schlumberger - Eclipse (Intersect)
3. Halliburton/Landmark – VIP/Nexus
4. Smaller simulation companies – JewelSuite,
Sensor, More, …
5. Individual Companies – Saudi Aramco
ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, …
6. Academic software – UT, Stanford, CSM…
• All use basically the similar equations and have the
same basic functions
• Difference is (1) ease of use (i.e. user interface) and
(2) additional options/capabilities
 Reservoir Simulators:
Groundwater Models

• Groundwater simulators: Modflow

• Unsaturated flow: Richards equation
• Solute/contaminant transport
• NAPLs contamination

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 Reservoir Simulators
in Other Fields

• Geothermal reservoir engineering

(e.g., EGS)
• CO2 geosequestration
• Nuclear waste disposal
• Gas hydrates
• Others?

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Roles of Reservoir Simulators (Dr. Delshad)
 Provide a tool for understanding how variation in
reservoir properties can impact engineering
design and performance

 Aid in a more robust design to withstand the

uncertainties in reservoir characterization

 Explore alternative strategies and approaches

 History match the past field data

 Predict the future performance

 Aid in designing laboratory/field tests

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