--> Abstract: Research Activities of the Center for Petroleum Studies, by C. K. Morooka and I. F. Simoes; #90933 (1998).

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Abstract: Research Activities of the Center for Petroleum Studies

Morooka, C. K. and I. Simoes F. - UNICAMP

The present paper deals with the research activities of the Center for Petroleum Studies (CEPETRO) of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) under cooperation agreements that it maintains with the Oil Industry and Brazilian Government.

Today, CEPETRO/UNICAMP provides support for the Graduate Program in Petroleum Science and Engineering, at M.Sc. level, with courses in petroleum engineering and reservoir geoengineering. The Center, founded in 1987, began with a cooperation agreement with Petrobras (Brazilian Oil Company) to train that company's engineers, geologists and geophysicists at graduate level. Working jointly with graduate programs offered by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering (FEM) and Institute of Geosciences (IG), the Center has helped to graduate more than 200 M.Sc. students, leading to the publication of over 220 scientific and technological papers and reports.

The Center maintains research agreements under Petrobras' PROCAP (Deep Water Program) and PRAVAP (Advanced Oil Recovery Program) research programs led by Petrobras' Research Center (CENPES). Usually, University professionals from different fields conduct research work in multidisciplinary research teams. Among the many research projects, one finds the development of the Anawin computer system for well test analysis, the development of a deep- water oil and gas separator, the study of intelligent systems for oil production system control and for completion planning, the experimental studies of micro-organisms for enhanced oil recovery, the study on advanced thermal recovery, the development of parallel computing for reservoir simulation, the development of an advanced system for seismic interpretation, and the development of hydraulic fracture experimental devices and procedures.

Fig. 1 and 2 illustrate some results obtained from the above mentioned research projects. Fig. 1 shows a map of non-reservoir facies thickness, obtained by kriging with an external drift from studies of development of an advanced system for seismic interpretation. The crosses in the Figure indicates well locations and, darker are the zones lower will be the thickness in the non-reservoir facies. Fig. 2 shows scheme for laboratory experiments to study the fundamentals of gas-liquid separation process taking place within a cyclonic gas-oil separator. In this case, centrifugal and gravity forces acting on the flow of the gas-liquid mixture are the main driving mechanism for separation of the phases.

The UNICAMP/CEPETRO also maintains research projects with government supported institutions, and the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology has certified it as a Nucleus of Excellence in Petroleum Engineering. Recently, the UNICAMP/CEPETRO signed an agreement with the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) of the Ministry of Mining and Energy to provide technical assistance in activities such as continuing education and data analysis of the Brazilian Oilfields.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90933©1998 ABGP/AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil