--> ABSTRACT: Developing Naturally Fractured Reservoirs: Field Development Vs. Reserves Development, by David L. Mikesh; #91040 (2010)

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Developing Naturally Fractured Reservoirs: Field Development Vs. Reserves Development

David L. Mikesh

Naturally fractured reservoirs generally do not lend themselves to quick and easy evaluation. In order to maximize drilling success and increase production from a fractured reservoir, development approaches that will work toward accomplishing those goals must be recognized and used. Two approaches are available to the petroleum industry: field development and reserves development. These methods are not mutually exclusive, but their components differ enough to provide a choice when confronted with this situation.

Field development is concerned with the geologic framework of reservoirs as related to delineating pool boundaries, locating drill sites, and establishing calculable reserves. Field development has been practiced to a great extent in competitive drilling of non-unitized pools. Reserves development mainly involves reservoir drainage, and is commonly used in unit operations. When considering a water-free, heterogeneously fractured reservoir, the former approach is economically more relevant than the latter, because interpolated geologic determinants for economic production generally are more effective than extrapolated engineering interpretations. A disadvantage of using reserves development exclusively is in the tendency toward empirical reasoning that is inherent to this method. The f eld development approach should, of course, recognize and incorporate engineering data in order to evaluate development economics. Examples of the two contrasting approaches are Gavilan Mancos and Puerto Chiquito Mancos West fields, located on the eastern flank of the San Juan basin in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico.

Whatever the perception of money or economic scenarios at any point in time, developing reserves in heterogeneous, water-free fractured reservoirs can be significantly enhanced by emphasizing field development as a method of studying reservoir dynamics rather than emphasizing reserves development alone.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91040©1987 AAPG Rocky Mountain Section Meeting, Boise, Idaho, September 13-16, 1987.