Reservoir Connectivity Analysis - Defining Reservoir Connections & Plumbing (2005)

Reservoir Connectivity Analysis - Defining Reservoir Connections & Plumbing Peter Vrolijk Peter Vrolijk ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference, Kingdom of Bahrain, March 2005. Paper Number: SPE-93577-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/93577-MS Published: March 12 2005 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Vrolijk, Peter. "Reservoir Connectivity Analysis - Defining Reservoir Connections & Plumbing." Paper presented at the SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference, Kingdom of Bahrain, March 2005. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/93577-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference Search Advanced Search AbstractGas, oil, and water fluids in channelized or faulted reservoirscan create complex reservoir plumbing relationships.Variable hydrocarbon contacts can develop when some, but not all, fluids are in pressure communication.Reservoir Connectivity Analyis (RCA) is a series of analyses and approaches to integrate structural, stratigraphic, and fluid pressure and composition data into permissible but non-unique scenarios offluid contacts and pressures.RCA provides the basis for fluid contact and pressure scenarios at all business stages, allowing the creation of fluid contact and segmentation scenarios earlier in an exploration or development setting, and the identification of by-passed pays or new exploration opportunities in aproduction setting.Combining conventional structural and fault juxtaposition spill concepts with a renewed appreciation of fluid breakover (contacts controlled by spill of pressure-driven, denser fluid, like water over a dam) and capillary leak (to define the ratio of gas and oil where capillary gas leak determines the GOC), we define permissible but non-unique scenarios of the full fluid fill/displacement/spill pathways of ahydrocarbon accumulation comprised of single or multiple reservoir intervals.This new analytical approach has been used in a wide range of reservoirs, including clastic (from fluvial to shoreface to deepwater) and carbonate reservoirs, in fields around the world.RCA models have been used to predict fluid contacts in faulted reservoirs where other approaches failed, to locateby-passed pay opportunities for in fill drilling in mature fields, and to condition connections in reservoir simulation models. RCA is an integrated technology that challenges the interpreter to evaluate and incorporate fluid property, composition, and pressure data with stratigraphic and structural interpretations of a reservoir to achieve a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of reservoir compartments and the connections between them.IntroductionHydrocarbon contacts in petroleum reservoirs become complex when reservoir thickness is less than the height of the trap closure and when faults or stratigraphic facies changes provide lateral seals.In these instances, fluid contacts appearat seemingly unpredictable depths.Without a clear framework to understand the cause of those contacts, it is difficult to make contact predictions and efficiently develop and produce a reservoir.Reservoir Connectivity Analysis (RCA) provides the means to make reasoned fluid contact predictions and assessments.The analysis is based on combining good geologic interpretations with sound reservoir management practices, using an integrated framework of logical, deductive reasoning to achieve a deeper and more rigorous understanding of reservoir connections and plumbing.An RCA model defines all stratigraphic and structural reservoir compartments and describes the connections that trace the path of fluid displacement when a droplet of oil or gas are added to any individual reservoir compartment.A fundamental assumption of RCA is a steady-state fluid distribution appropriate to a pre-production fluid state, although fields on production can also be analyzed within this assumption.RCA Process DefinedThere are three basic components of RCA:Describe reservoir compartmentsDefine connections between compartmentsBuild an RCA modelCompartments arise through the interactions of stratigraphic and strucutral geometries with the buoyant fluid contained within them.Compartments are connected through stratigraphic or structural leak or spill features and are defined in the context of those connections. Keywords: upstream oil & gas, pressure data, leak, spe 93577, reservoir characterization, north flank, artificial intelligence, fluid contact, compartment, south flank Subjects: Reservoir Characterization This content is only available via PDF. 2005. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.