Multilateral well modeling from compartmentalized reservoirs

Kayode, Oluwadairo (2018) Multilateral well modeling from compartmentalized reservoirs. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The existence of compartmentalization in oil and gas fields have been a major industry challenge for decades. This phenomenon introduces some complexity and uncertainty in the prediction of well productivities and the overall hydrocarbon recovery factor. In the past, multiple vertical wells were drilled to increase recovery. The recent advancement of the multilateral and completions technology made multilateral wells a viable alternative to produce multiple reservoir compartments, most especially offshore. Reservoir compartments may possess a set of unique characteristics, such as average pressures, thicknesses, permeabilities, and porosity distribution. This variation in properties introduced complex dynamics in forecasting the commingled production figures and overall recovery factor from complex reservoir structures using advanced well systems. Existing analytical and semi-analytical productivity models due to the simplifying assumptions in their development are only suitable for first approximations and early estimates in field applications. In this work, a comparison is made between the more widely known finite difference numerical method and the finite volume numerical discretization method in field productivity predictions. The Matlab Reservoir Simulation Toolbox (MRST) which is a collection of open source codes, based on the finite volume discretization methodology is used to develop the reservoir compartment and multilateral well model used in this study. We investigate the pressure drop behavior over time through the lateral for a conventional well completion and compare with the pressure drop behavior for a smart well completion with downhole flow control devices for flow control and optimization. Several cases of compartmentalized reservoirs with faults of varying orientation and sealing capacity is then investigated. The production profile results obtained from the base reservoir case from MRST is compared to those from the IMEX simulator tool in CMG (Computer Modeling Group), a commercial reservoir simulator, based on the finite difference numerical discretization method. The results we obtain show a more accurate production profile prediction based on the finite volume method over the finite difference method, as expected. The ability of the simulation toolbox as well as the importance of using an improved and more efficient numerical discretization scheme in solving an increasingly complex array of reservoir structures and advanced well geometries, with multiphase fluid flow is demonstrated. Finally, an adjoint gradient – based method of optimization implemented in the toolbox is used to investigate the optimization potential of using the smart well completions versus a conventional well completion with the net present value as the objective function. Results obtained show that an investment in smart completions for the multilateral well ultimately yields a higher net cash flow and net present value over a conventional well of equivalent length designed without smart completions.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
URI: http://research.library.mun.ca/id/eprint/13330
Item ID: 13330
Additional Information: Includes bibliographical references (pages 89-96).
Keywords: Multilateral Well Technology, Reservoir Simulation, Well Productivity, Reservoir Compartmentalization, Modeling and Simulation
Department(s): Engineering and Applied Science, Faculty of
Date: May 2018
Date Type: Submission
Library of Congress Subject Heading: Oil wells--Computer simulation; Oil reservoir engineering

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