Patent ID: 8868392

Claim:
A method for predicting the effect of microbes injected into an oil-bearing reservoir, the oil-bearing reservoir being capable of being represented by a first computer-generated grid comprising a first plurality of grid blocks, the method comprising the steps of: receiving measurement data representing the effect of injecting the microbes into a multiple coreflood apparatus, the multiple coreflood apparatus comprising at least first and second material samples indicative of a rock formation associated with said oil-bearing reservoir, said first and second samples being capable of being represented by a second computer-generated grid comprising a second plurality of grid blocks, the first and second samples being representative of different regions of the reservoir and being connected such that microbes injected into the first sample are able to flow to the second sample; inputting selected data of the received measurement data into a computer-implemented reservoir model configured to simulate said effect of microbe injection in relation to the second grid; executing the reservoir model to generate reservoir model data indicative of the effect of injecting the microbes into the multiple coreflood apparatus; adjusting parameters of the reservoir model by matching the reservoir model data against the measurement data, in order to calibrate the reservoir model; and executing the calibrated reservoir model for the first grid to predict the effect of injecting the microbes into the reservoir.