Summary

Reservoir simulation can be significantly more challenging for fractured reservoirs than it is for conventional porous media reservoirs. Issues of connectivity and heterogeneity which play a key role in fractured reservoirs are generally better addressed by discrete feature network (DFN) approach rather than simplified equivalent porous medium (EPM) approaches. The popular dual porosity (DP) approach for analysis of fractured reservoirs does not address connectivity issues, although it does add a second interacting continuum to reflect storage effects. This paper presents newly developed techniques to directly and quantitatively derive EPM and DP parameters using DFN models.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90928©1999 AAPG Annual Convention, San Antonio, Texas