ABSTRACT: Modeling Prudhoe Bay: A Reservoir Description for Engineering and Reservoir Management

BARNES, PAMELA J., BP Exploration (Alaska), Inc., Anchorage, AK

Current engineering and reservoir development decisions at Prudhoe Bay are increasingly affected by the dynamic influx of gas and water into the Ivishak Reservoir light oil column. To provide reservoir geology input needed for evaluating development options, BP Exploration (Alaska), Inc. uses a numerical description of the field to model the movement of fluids through the reservoir. This numerical model of Prudhoe Bay is the foundation for a variety of reservoir analysis techniques, including reservoir simulator initializations, fluid influx distribution modeling, original and current oil in place volumetric calculations, and automated well planning and waterflood pattern management systems.

The Prudhoe Bay Ivishak Reservoir model integrates an extensive amount of geological, geophysical, and petrophysical data into a single description of reservoir geometry and rock and fluid properties, characterizing the distribution of hydrocarbon and influx fluids within 36 modeled sand- and shale-prone hydraulic units. New well data and recent surveillance measurements of fluid influx are incorporated into the model semiannually, keeping it current for developing engineering strategies for the depletion of the light oil column.

The Ivishak Reservoir numerical description is used to provide up-to-date reservoir geology answers to engineering and reservoir development questions. The model has been successfully applied to a variety of engineering evaluations, resulting in improved reservoir management decisions. As the field matures and production issues become more complex in the future, the value of reservoir characterization in reservoir management decisions will increase at Prudhoe Bay.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91012©1992 AAPG Annual Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 22-25, 1992 (2009)