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A permanent 4D system for reservoir monitoring has been established in less than three years. The investment is based on market research predicting a huge increase in permanent systems throughout the world.
Building on ongoing IOR research efforts, StatoilHydro aims to be a leading company in quantitative integration of 4D data in reservoir modelling in order to meet challenges in the most complex reservoirs.
Hot water from subsurface reservoirs can be used directly to heat our houses. Data, software and knowledge from oil industry operations can help delineate this under-used resource, as is now being done in The Netherlands.
A new approach makes fast, accurate reservoir modelling a practical component of field management.
The gas potential of the Marcellus Shale of the Appalachian Basin has made it an attractive investment opportunity. Horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing have boosted production rates and recoverable reserves in these low permeability rocks.
Complex and unconventional reservoirs provide important reserves to the world's energy supply however, they are often challenging to produce. Systematic petrographic studies take a close look at these reservoirs yielding improved characterization and quality prediction; a crucial breakthrough that will guide future exploration and production
Permian submarine fans in the Karoo Basin of South Africa are being studied in great detail in order to improve our knowledge of deep marine reservoirs. The ultimate goal is to increase the exploration success ratio and to improve reservoir models so as to maximize oil and gas production from such reservoirs.
Faults and fractures are often an important factor in determining hydrocarbon storage capacity and productivity in reservoirs such as tight carbonates, quartzites and basements.
Between 1995 and 2003, reserve growth from existing fields worldwide added three
times more oil to conventional reserves than new field discoveries1. Estimation of
future reserve growth will be a critical factor for energy resource analysis.
High-resolution, while-drilling electrical imaging provides a 360 degree map of the borehole wall in its most pristine state, before significant mud invasion and borehole degradation.
By preserving data and knowledge we can connect current to future generations of geoscientists. But to safeguard your most valuable assets you need some simple rules of thumb.
Can the reported reserves figures of OPEC countries be trusted? And if not, what are the implications of this to government policy and decision making?
The science of biostratigraphy is a wellestablished discipline when drilling exploration, appraisal and development wells in geologically complex areas. The knowledge obtained from analysing the microfossil content of the sediments whilst drilling is very useful.
Has integrated 3D reservoir modelling really changed the way we work, or has it been just much ado about nothing?
A multitude of geological data suggests that the petroleum system is in place. Rich, voluminous source rocks, likely migration paths, good reservoir rocks and huge traps all make the Seychelles offshore basins a tempting target for companies ready to explore a frontier province.
Flow simulation is the reservoir engineer’s tool of predilection, providing understanding of how fluid flows through the reservoir and how it can optimally be extracted. 3D integrated geomodeling software is becoming the platform of choice for geophysicist and geologists who are slowly leaving their single discipline workstation.
While rock climbers try to avoid the thin, porous and microfractured dolomites, geologists involved with reservoir characterization go to great length in order to give a detailed account of their distribution in carbonate reservoirs in relation to their tight limestone counterparts.
History-matching of reservoir simulation models,meaning adjusting and optimising the simulation model based on observed production data, has been a complex and time consuming task for the industry for years.
Reservoir modelling and reservoir simulation are based on data collected at multiple scales with resolution ranging from sub-millimetre to tens of metres. New software using knowledge of the geological processes forming the reservoir rock now makes it possible to generate more accurate reservoir models.
For many years, Dr. Alain Gringarten considered that "Integration of geological and engineering disciplines is the key to successful exploration and production." Now Professor of Petroleum Engineering at Imperial College, he is putting this into practice.
By introducing the concept of fault facies, a new research project aims to arrive at a more realistic way of representing faults and fault properties in the subsurface. The result is expected to improve our understanding of reservoir behaviour and thus improved recovery.
By getting a better understanding of the pore structure of the reservoir rock through detailed analyses of thin sections, a brand new methodology now makes it possible to predict petrophysical properties almost without using conventional core laboratory services. The ultimate goal is to improve reservoir simulation by offering a high number of inexpensive analyses of reservoir parameters in a minimum of time.
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