Patent ID: 8140310

Claim:
A method of evaluating a reservoir, comprising: obtaining data comprising properties of the reservoir and properties of a fracture in the reservoir; determining, by a processor of a computer system, modification parameters of a reservoir model of the reservoir based on the data using a correlation matrix, wherein the correlation matrix corresponds to an empirical functional relationship between the modification parameters and the data, wherein the modification parameters are time dependent, and wherein the correlation matrix is obtained based on a plurality of experimental fractures defined in the reservoir, wherein determining the modification parameters of the reservoir model using the correlation matrix is based on using the data as input to an interpolation procedure applied to the correlation matrix; simulating, by the prcessor, effects of the fracture by selectively modifying the reservoir model using the modification parameters to generate a modified reservoir model; and modeling, by the processor, the reservoir with the fracture using the modified reservoir model to generate a result.