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Edward C. Cazier1,
Neville E. Jones2
(1) BP Amoco Exploration Venezuela, Anchorage, AK
(2) BP Amoco Exploration Venezuela
Abstract: Strategies for development of complex reservoirs: a case history from the Pedernales Field, Eastern Venezuelan Basin
The growth of detailed geological models for reservoir simulation records the happy marriage between geologists who remain faithful to the fine-scale detail in rocks, and reservoir engineers who put abundant computing power to work to achieve accurate solutions. In many well-connected reservoirs, this union allows successful analysis of complicated recovery processes.
However, the marriage may become rocky in complex reservoirs. Even where abundant well and 3D seismic data are available for mapping, these data provide only static views of the reservoir. To predict reservoir performance accurately, dynamic reservoir connectivity must be understood. If connectivity is high, then detailed models may be appropriate. If connectivity is low, then other approaches should be used.
Pedernales field provides a case history of how results from static and dynamic analyses have been reconciled to help refine a development plan. Severe reservoir compartmentalization in this field has created a large contrast between oil-in-place, as mapped by static methods, and the calculated dynamic oil-in-place connected to a producing well. Study of production data has yielded statistics on the volume of reservoir connected to each well. Use of these statistics in development planning has led to a flexible reservoir management strategy which dictates, based on early production data, whether a compartment will be developed by primary or secondary recovery. This, in turn, allows prediction of average reserves-per-well.
This approach may be useful for reserves calculation in other complex reservoirs, as traditional reserves calculation and model building using static properties alone may yield overly optimistic results.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90914©2000 AAPG Annual Convention, New Orleans, Louisiana