Slides_Reservoir_Simulation_Nov_00.pdf

Reservoir simulation: A powerful

tool for understanding and

managing reservoir complexity

A.(Tony) Settari

Taurus Reservoir Solutions Ltd.

Calgary, Canada

SPE DISTINGUISHED LECTURER SERIES

is funded principally

through a grant of the

SPE FOUNDATION

The Society gratefully acknowledges

those companies that support the program

by allowing their professionals

to participate as Lecturers.

And special thanks to The American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical,

and P etroleum E ngineers (AIME ) for their contribution to the program.

Outline

• Current state of simulation

• Sources of complexity

• Geology, reservoir description and upscaling

• Complex gridding

• Complex physical processes

• Towards integrated reservoir management

• Look into the future

Current state of simulation

• Simulation models are now considered tools with

widespread use

• Trend to increasing complexity

• Emphasis on user friendliness, robustness

• Understanding of the inner workings (and therefore

limitations) is disappearing

• Expectations on the part of users are high

• Consolidation in the software industry left only a few

players of mainstream software

Sources of complexity in simulation

• Explosion in the sophistication of 3-D seismic,

geological and petrophysical modeling

• Use of stochastic methods for generation of

reservoir properties

• Ever increasing computing power and data

handling capacity

• Increasing understanding of complex, coupled

processes in reservoir engineering