Nearly every step in the development of a reservoir is critical in achieving the goal of maximizing hydrocarbon production. An initial geological analysis provides an understanding of subsurface conditions and an estimated ultimate recovery. Reservoir simulations and cellular gridding provide insight into fluid flows. Wellbore data helps geologists confirm or refine geologic models and completion…
Mature oil fields that have been previously drilled and produced offer an abundance of data generated over their operational life. This data is of great benefit in analysis and visualization for the purpose of determining viability for secondary recovery efforts. Thus, data integration and visualization software is key in understanding and planning secondary recovery for…
Detailed subsurface geological modeling informs and supports asset teams at nearly every stage of the reservoir lifecycle. Geologists strive to create as accurate as possible geological models to allow petroleum engineers and other team members to better assess reservoir viability for further hydrocarbon exploitation. Subsurface geological modeling has many challenges and can be a time-consuming…
Obtaining as accurate as possible an understanding of hydraulic fracture geometry provides many advantages to geologists, geophysicists, and completion engineers as they plan reservoir development. A detailed understanding helps asset teams determine fracking strategies for specific reservoir conditions, evaluate the results of individual frac stages, and continually improve hydraulic fracturing outcomes. Understanding hydraulic fracture geometry…
The life cycle of a typical oil field is defined by the need for oil companies to receive a return on the investment required to develop an oil field. This life cycle follows the five-step process of exploration, appraisal, development, production, and decommissioning. With the production phase being the only one to yield a profitable…
Accurate reservoir characterization benefits every aspect of development and production activities. However, one of the greatest challenges of reservoir characterization concerns the diversity of data used by the individual disciplines of the reservoir team. Each discipline uses specialized software products. Each provides insight into a specific reservoir attribute such as pressure, fluid saturation, net-to-gross, or…
With easily recoverable oil either gone or continuously depleting, operators are evaluating previously-drilled leaseholds to determine if there are opportunities for further economically-feasible recovery through the recompletion of oil and gas wells. Improvements in production technologies and the ability to translate volumes of data obtained over the life of a reservoir into meaningful 3D visualizations…
One of the most common enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods is water injection to restore pressure and return an oilfield to producing worthwhile amounts of oil, or to help free oil from subsurface formations so that it can be extracted. Unlike hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—where high-pressure water is injected to break apart petroleum bearing formations…
Oil well performance analysis delivers greater value when the calculations, simulations, modeling, and monitoring of production metrics can be evaluated in an environment that facilitates the sharing of all relevant information and collaborative analysis by engineering teams. Today, visualization and analysis software solutions are giving reservoir engineers greater ability to more efficiently develop forecast estimates…
One of the critical factors in successful integrated reservoir management is an operator’s ability to utilize data acquired throughout the life of a reservoir to determine the best development and production strategies to maximize recovery. Integrating various sources and formats of reservoir data seamlessly is often a big hurdle in efficient and effective reservoir management.…