History Matching Under Geological Constraints Coupled with Multi-Objective Optimisation to Optimise MWAG Performance - A Case Study in a Giant Onshore Carbonate Reservoir in the Middle East
Authors: AlAmeri Saeeda , AlBreiki Mohamed , Geiger Sebastian 
Published: September 2019

We demonstrate how key geological uncertainties in a giant onshore carbonate reservoir in the Middle East, most notably fracture permeability and saturation distribution, impact the quality of the history match and change the performance forecasts of a planned Miscible Water Alternating Gas (MWAG) injection process. To achieve this, we used a history matching and multi-objective optimisation (MOO) workflow that was tightly integrated with an innovative reservoir modelling workflow that paid particular attention to the fracture and saturation modelling.

Different geological models for the reservoir were designed by integrating static and dynamic data. These data indicated the need to consider fault-related fractures and to update the saturation distribution in the reservoir model. The effective medium theory was therefore used to estimate effective permeability in order to capture the presence of low-intensity fault-controlled fractures in the reservoir. The integration of Special Core Analysis (SCAL) and log-derived J-functions allowed us to build alternative saturation models that honoured well data with great accuracy. The resulting history matched models therefore accounted for the key geological uncertainties present in the reservoir. Afterwards, MOO was applied for each history matched model to identify well controls that optimally balanced the need to maximise the time on the plateau rate while adhering to the field's gas production constraints.

Our results clearly show that including low-intensity fault-controlled fractures in the reservoir model improved the quality of the history match for the gas oil ratio (GOR), bottom hole pressure (BHP) and water cut. This is especially true for wells located near faults, which were difficult to match in the past. Moreover, our results further show that the updated saturation model improved the quality of the history match for the water cut, particularly for wells located in the transition zone. These different history matched models yielded different production forecasts, where the time at which the reservoir can be produced at the plateau rate varied by up to ten years.

Applying MOO for each history matched model then allowed us to identify well controls for the MWAG injection that could extend the time at which the reservoir would be produced at the plateau rate for up to nine years and the risk of losing production plateau down to two years, while always adhering to the current field operational constraints.

We demonstrate how the integration of MOO with an innovative workflow for fracture and saturation modelling impacts the prediction of a planned MWAG injection in a giant onshore carbonate reservoir. Our work clearly illustrates the potential of integrating MOO with new reservoir characterisation methods to improve the quantification of uncertainties in reservoir performance predictions in carbonate reservoirs.