| Entries |
| Document | Title | Date |
|---|
| 20080255816 | System and method for evaluating petroleum reservoir using forward modeling - This invention relates to petroleum reservoir characterization. It uses a novel system and method to generate a system of reservoir models, and then use a series of simulation techniques to simulate the models. The models are refined through each simulation and comparison step by comparing the results of the simulation with the known data from the reservoir. The invention can be applied to different reservoirs which have different known properties. Simulation techniques such as EM test forward calculation, stochastic reservoir modeling, streamline forward calculation are all candidates of simulation methods disclosed in the invention. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080255817 | MODELING THE TRANSIENT BEHAVIOR OF BHA/DRILL STRING WHILE DRILLING - A method, system and computer program product for performing a drilling operation for an oil field, the oil field having a subterranean formation with geological structures and reservoirs therein. The method involves creating a finite-difference model to simulate behavior of a drilling assembly used to drill a wellbore in the drilling operation, performing a simulation of the drilling operation using the finite-difference model, analyzing a result of the simulation, and selectively modifying the drilling operation based on the analysis. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080262809 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MODELLING PETROLEUM MIGRATION - A method for modelling the migration of reactant in a subsurface petroleum system is described. The method comprises in part generating a mesh for an area of the petroleum system. The mesh comprises a plurality of nodes, with each node representing a point in space in the area. The method also comprises calculating one or more variables representing one or more physical characteristics at each node in the area and determining the migration of reactant in the petroleum system based on the one or more variables. The method can also handle multiple reactant phases and non-static meshes. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080262810 | NEURAL NET FOR USE IN DRILLING SIMULATION - A method of optimizing a drilling tool assembly including inputting well data into an optimization system, the optimization system having an experience data set and an artificial neural network. The method further including comparing the well data to the experience data set and developing an initial drilling tool assembly based on the comparing the well data to the experience data, wherein the drilling tool assembly is developed using the artificial neural network. Additionally, the method including simulating the initial drilling tool assembly in the optimization system and creating result data in the optimization system based on the simulating. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080288226 | Integrated Resevoir optimization - A method of managing a fluid or gas reservoir is disclosed which assimilates diverse data having different acquisition time scales and spatial scales of coverage for iteratively producing a reservoir development plan that is used for optimizing an overall performance of a reservoir. The method includes: (a) generating an initial reservoir characterization, (b) from the initial reservoir characterization, generating an initial reservoir development plan, (c) when the reservoir development plan is generated, incrementally advancing and generating a capital spending program, (d) when the capital spending program is generated, monitoring a performance of the reservoir by acquiring high rate monitor data-from a first set of data measurements taken in the reservoir and using the high rate monitor data to perform well-regional and field-reservoir evaluations, (e) further monitoring the performance of the reservoir by acquiring low rate monitor data from a second set of data measurements taken in the reservoir, (f) assimilating together the high rate monitor data and the low rate monitor data, (g) from the high rate monitor data and the low rate monitor data, determining when it is necessary to update the initial reservoir development plan to produce a newly updated reservoir development plan, (h) when necessary, updating the initial reservoir development plan to produce the newly updated reservoir development plan, and (i) when the newly updated reservoir development plan is produced, repeating steps (c) through (h). A detailed disclosure is provided herein relating to the step (a) for generating the initial reservoir characterization and the step (b) for generating the initial reservoir development plan. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080319726 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING OILFIELD SIMULATION OPERATIONS - The invention relates to a method of performing a gas operation of an oilfield having a subterranean formation with at least one reservoir positioned therein. The method steps include modeling the gas operation of the oilfield using a multi-domain simulator by coupling a static model of the subterranean formation, a dynamic model of the subterranean formation, and a well model, wherein the multi-domain simulator comprises the static model, the dynamic model, and the well model, defining a development plan for the gas operation based on the modeling, and performing gas injection according to the development plan. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20090006057 | Simulating fluid flow in reservoir with modified grid - A method, system and computer program product for simulating a fluid flow in a reservoir are disclosed. According to an embodiment, the current invention includes a method for simulating a fluid flow in a reservoir, the method comprising: providing an initial grid including multiple grid cells, each grid cell including a cell property; adjusting the initial grid to generated a modified grid in the case that a pressure equivalent radius under the initial grid is smaller than a well bore radius of the reservoir; and simulating the fluid flow in the reservoir based on the modified grid. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090006058 | Iterative Drilling Simulation Process For Enhanced Economic Decision Making - An iterative drilling simulation method and system for enhanced economic decision making includes obtaining characteristics of a rock column in a formation to be drilled, specifying characteristics of at least one drilling rig system; and iteratively simulating the drilling of a well bore in the formation. The method and system further produce an economic evaluation factor for each iteration of drilling simulation. Each iteration of drilling simulation is a function of the rock column and the characteristics of the at least one drilling rig system according to a prescribed drilling simulation model. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090012765 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING OILFIELD SIMULATION OPERATIONS - The invention relates to a method of simulating operations of an oilfield, which has process facilities and wellsite operatively connected, each wellsite having a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation for extracting fluid from an underground reservoir. The method steps include selecting simulators for modeling the oilfield with at least one of the simulators having functionality to model fluid injection, selectively coupling each of the simulators according to a predefined configuration, and modeling an injection operation of the oilfield by selectively communicating between the simulators. | 01-08-2009 |
| 20090043554 | Updating a Subterranean Model Using at Least Electromagnetic Data - To update a subterranean model, an initial subterranean model is provided, and based on the initial subterranean model, changes to subterranean parameters are predicted using a reservoir simulator. Electromagnetic data representing characteristics of a subterranean structure is computed according to the predicted changes to the subterranean parameters, and the initial subterranean model is modified based on comparing the computed electromagnetic data with observed electromagnetic data. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090043555 | Method for Evaluating an Underground Reservoir Production Scheme Taking Account of Uncertainties - Method for evaluating an underground reservoir production scheme taking account of uncertainties. | 02-12-2009 |
| 20090063117 | ADDING POSITIONAL INFORMATION FOR SURFACES IN A GEOLOGICAL FORMATION AFTER TRANSFORMING TO A GAPPED REPRESENTATION - A system, method and memory medium for injecting positional information into a geological data set for improved modeling of surfaces in a geological formation. The method involves: (1) displaying a cross section of the formation through a selected subset of wells, where the displayed cross section includes well picks for the selected wells; (2) opening a gap in an unconformity of the displayed cross section, where the gap is opened at one or more wells that intersect the unconformity, where the gap represents non-deposition and/or material that is missing from the formation due to erosion; (3) receiving user input specifying positions of tops within the gap; and (4) closing the gap, where closing the gap includes calculating positions of restored tops based on the positions of the tops specified within the gap, where the positions of the restored tops are usable to model one or more surfaces in the formation. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090070085 | METHODS FOR PERFORMING SIMULATION OF SURFACTANT FLOODING OF A HYDROCARBON RESERVOIR - The present invention performs numerical simulation of surfactant flooding during enhanced oil recovery of a given hydrocarbon reservoir. The present invention utilizes an improved method for determining relative permeability while maintaining physical consistency when the phase behavior varies between different phase Types. This new relative permeability model maintains the physical consistency in the transition from Type II(−) to Type III to Type II(+) systems and vice versa. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090070086 | METHOD FOR UPDATING A GEOLOGICAL MODEL USING DYNAMIC DATA AND WELL TESTS - Method for optimizing the development of an underground reservoir, wherein a geological model is updated using dynamic data and well tests. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090083017 | PREDICTING BEHAVIOR OF A TOOL USING A MODEL OF A RHEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTIC OF A FLUID - A model of at least one rheological characteristic of a fluid is provided. According to the model, a behavior of the tool that includes an actuator that uses the fluid is predicted. The behavior of the tool is predicted for at least one expected condition in a well. | 03-26-2009 |
| 20090119082 | RESERVOIR FRACTURE SIMULATION - Reservoir fracture simulation relates to a method of evaluating a reservoir. Data associated with properties of the reservoir as well as properties of a fracture in the reservoir, is collected. This data is then used in conjunction with a correlation matrix to determine modification parameters of a reservoir model of the reservoir. The correlation matrix corresponds to an empirical functional relationship between the modification parameters and the data, and is obtained based on a plurality of experimental fractures defined in the reservoir. Effects of the fracture are then emulated by selectively modifying the reservoir model using the modification parameters to generate a modified reservoir model. The reservoir is then modeled with the fracture by using the modified reservoir model to generate a result. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090125288 | Hydrocarbon Recovery From a Hydrocarbon Reservoir - A computer system for modelling and controlling a hydrocarbon reservoir through management of fluid flow at individual wells. The computer system has program instructions which operate a computer model which uses oilfield production data to provide a model of future production. The model comprises an optimal regression model which represents injector and producer wells whose fluid flow characteristics are highly correlated with the fluid flow characteristics of the well of interest; the application of parsimonious information criterion techniques to identify well pairs that statistically contribute information to the optimal regression model; and a statistical reservoir model comprising the product of the optimal regression model and a significance matrix. The system is also provided with control means, responsive to the output of the computer model in order to control wells in the hydrocarbon reservoir. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090157367 | Optimizing Drilling Operations Using Petrotechnical Data - A method for optimizing drilling operations. The method includes providing an earth model of a volume having a well, obtaining petrotechnical data about the volume while drilling the well, comparing the petrotechnical data with the earth model, updating the earth model with the petrotechnical data based on the comparison, and modifying a drilling plan of the well using the updated earth model. | 06-18-2009 |
| 20090182541 | DYNAMIC RESERVOIR ENGINEERING - An example method for performing reservoir engineering includes generating a geological model of a reservoir including a geological horizon, obtaining an offset relative to the geological horizon, and positioning a wellbore equipment item in a well completion design based on the offset. The method further includes calculating an absolute position of the wellbore equipment item in the well completion design based on the offset and a location of the geological horizon in the geological model and updating the geological model to generate an updated location of the geological horizon. The method further includes updating the absolute position of the wellbore equipment item in the well completion design based on the offset and the updated location of the geological horizon and simulating a simulation case including the geological model and the well completion design after updating the absolute position of the wellbore equipment item. | 07-16-2009 |
| 20090198477 | Method For Comparing And Back Allocating Production - Methods and system for incorporating downhole and surface data with models and adjustment algorithms to back allocate flow rates of commingled zones. The models include fluid flow in the reservoir and wellbore, pressure drop across a choke, and fluid flow in the well completion. The models are coupled with an algorithm for comparing the results from the individual commingled zones to the total cumulative commingled volume and adjusting at least one predicted rate so that they match the measured flow rate over a specified time period. One method utilizes a reassignment factor for the adjustment of the predicted rates. These comparisons and allocation adjustments can be accomplished even when the frequency of the commingled flow rate and cumulative measurements, and the frequency of the predicted rates from the model differ from each other and the specified time period. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090198478 | OILFIELD EMULATOR - A method for performing oilfield operations for an oilfield. The method includes receiving modeling data and user instructions from a graphical user interface, selectively adjusting at least a portion of the modeling data to generate adjusted modeling data, obtaining an oilfield model based on the user instructions, instantiating first and second simulator instances based on the user instructions for performing a simulation using the adjusted modeling data and the oilfield model, passing interim simulation results between the first and second simulator instances for performing the simulation, displaying a result of the simulation using the graphical user interface, and performing the oilfield operations based on the result of the simulation. Further, the oilfield operations include a gas lift operation of the oilfield and the graphical user interface is configured to emulate the gas lift operation using a wellbore simulator. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20090216508 | Well Modeling Associated With Extraction of Hydrocarbons From Subsurface Formations - A method and apparatus for associated with various phases of a well completion. In one embodiment, a method is described that includes identifying first principle physical laws governing performance of a well completion and parameters associated with the first principle physical laws or the well. A coupled physics simulator is selected based on the first principle physical laws. Then, a coupled physics limit is generated based upon the coupled physics simulator that incorporates the first principle physical laws and the parameters. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20090222246 | High-Level, Graphical Programming Language and Tool for Well Management Programming - A reservoir simulation method, which includes building a hierarchical logic diagram having one or more components. Each component represents a block of programming code. The method further includes converting the hierarchical logic diagram to programming code configured to manage the simulation of a reservoir. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20090248378 | Method For Geologic Modeling Through Hydrodynamics-Based Gridding (Hydro-Grids) - A method of hydrodynamics-based gridding (Hydro-Grids) for creating geologic models of subsurface volumes, such as reservoirs, is disclosed. Geologic data is obtained. Vertical grid surfaces are created. Lateral grid surfaces are created to correspond to surfaces of constant geologic time during the deposition of sediments in the subsurface volume. Geologic properties within each cell are represented as values within each cell created by the vertical and lateral surfaces. Reservoir performance is simulated using the represented geologic properties of the subsurface volume. A hydrocarbon reservoir is developed based on the simulated reservoir performance. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090254324 | Method for defining regions in reservoir simulation - A method is disclosed, which is practiced by a reservoir simulator, for simulating a reservoir and generating a set of simulation results, the simulation results including a framework, the framework further including a plurality of grid cells, comprising: generating one or more static and dynamic regions within the grid cells of the framework of the simulation results, the static and dynamic regions each having region values, wherein the region values of the static regions cannot be allowed to change dynamically, and wherein the region values of the dynamic regions can be allowed to change dynamically. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090254325 | MANAGEMENT OF MEASUREMENT DATA BEING APPLIED TO RESERVOIR MODELS - A data management toolkit for acquiring measurement data regarding hydrocarbon wells and reservoirs, from a database, and processing that data for application to a reservoir model. The data management toolkit is implemented as a web-based application, accessible from remote workstations. The reservoir engineer configures the data management toolkit to acquire measurement data and previously calculated parameter values over a date range, for one or more wells, and also specifies various processing options including filtering, averaging, and the like. Events, such as RFT tests and pressure build-up analyses, may also be included. The web-based data management toolkit is executed on a web server to acquire and process that data, and to then update model files accordingly. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090292516 | Earth Stress Management and Control Process For Hydrocarbon Recovery - A method for controlling hydrocarbon recovery to improve well interactions while preventing excessive strain or stress-induced well deformations and mechanical failures is described. The method incorporates a systematic, transient analysis process for determining the formation effective displacement, stress and excess pore pressure field quantities at any depth within a stratified subterranean formation resulting from the subsurface injection and/or withdrawal of pressurized fluids. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20090299714 | DYNAMIC UPDATING OF SIMULATION MODELS - The preferred embodiment of the instant invention preferably takes place in three stages. In the first stage, a determination is made as to which sands (or other reservoir bodies) are in fluid communication with the existing wells, and the disconnected sands are removed from the fine scale geological model. In the second stage, the transmissibilities in the fine scale model are upscaled to the course grid for direct use in the simulation. In the third stage the connected sands only are upscaled and a simulation is carried forward to the point when a new well is to be drilled. The pressure and saturation data are exported to combine with newly connected sands (reservoir bodies), and new pressure and saturation is calculated. The new values are exported in the simulation model and simulation run is continued. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20090312995 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MODELING FLOW EVENTS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FORMATION OF A GEOLOGICAL RESERVOIR - A system configured to model geometric architectures of flow events in geological reservoirs. In one embodiment, the system comprises a geological control input, a rules module, and a modeling module. The geological control input is configured to receive a set of environmental conditions that act as geological controls impacting a geometric architecture of a geological reservoir at a point in geologic time. The rules module is configured to apply a set of rules to the set of environmental conditions present at the point in geologic time to determine geometric flow parameters of the geometric architecture, wherein the set of rules comprise one or more empirical rules. The modeling module is configured to model the geometric architecture based on the geometric flow parameters determined for the flow event by the rules module. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090312996 | FEEDBACK CONTROL USING A SIMLATOR OF A SUBTERRANEAN STRUCTURE - To provide feedback control in a simulation framework, any one of plural output metrics from a simulator of a subterranean structure is selected. A value for the selected output metric is received from the simulator. In response to the received value of the selected output metric and a target value of the selected output metric, at least one setting of the simulator is adjusted by a feedback controller. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090312997 | USING MODELS FOR EQUILIBRIUM DISTRIBUTIONS OF ASPHALTENES IN THE PRESCENCE OF GOR GRADIENTS TO DETERMINE SAMPLING PROCEDURES - Methods and systems to characterize a fluid in a reservoir to determine if the fluid is in one of equilibrium or non-equilibrium in terms of one of gravity, solvency power, entropy effect or some combination thereof. The method includes acquiring tool data at each depth for each fluid sample of at least two fluid samples wherein each fluid sample is at a different depth and communicating the tool data to a processor. Determining formation properties of each fluid sample to obtain formation property data and determining fluid properties for each fluid sample to obtain fluid property data. Selecting a mathematical model based on one of gravity, solvency power or entropy, in view of a fluid property, using one of tool data, formation property data, fluid property data, known fluid reservoir data or some combination thereof, to predict if the fluid is in an equilibrium distribution or a non-equilibrium distribution. | 12-17-2009 |
| 20090319241 | Systems and Methods for Modeing Wellbore Trajectories - Systems and methods for modeling wellbore trajectories using curvature bridging functions. The systems and methods use a clothoid spiral as a bridging curve in the transition zones to reduce tubular stresses/failures in the design of multilateral well paths and extended reach well paths. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090319242 | MULTI-SCALE METHOD FOR MULTI-PHASE FLOW IN POROUS MEDIA - A multi-scale method to efficiently determine the fine-scale saturation arising from multi-phase flow in a subsurface reservoir is disclosed. The method includes providing a simulation model that includes a fine-scale grid defining a plurality of fine-scale cells, and a coarse-scale grid defining a plurality of coarse-scale cells that are aggregates of the fine-scale cells. The coarse-scale cells are partitioned into saturation regions responsive to velocity and/or saturation changes from the saturation front. A fine-scale saturation is determined for each region and the saturation regions are assembled to obtain a fine-scale saturation distribution. A visual display can be output responsive to the fine-scale saturation distribution. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090319243 | HETEROGENEOUS EARTH MODELS FOR A RESERVOIR FIELD - A method for creating a heterogeneous earth model (HEM) of a reservoir field includes generating a group of wellsite models for a group of wellsites of the reservoir field based at least on cluster analysis and cluster tagging performed on log data of the group of wellsites, generating a reference model from the group of wellsite models, where cluster tagging errors of the group of wellsite models is minimized to obtain the reference model, constructing a contour plot of the cluster tagging errors on a cluster by cluster basis in the reservoir field, identifying at least one well location and associated core depth interval based on the contour plot for obtaining additional sampling results, and updating the reference model based on the additional sampling results to create the HEM. | 12-24-2009 |
| 20090326895 | TECHNIQUE AND SYSTEM FOR SEISMIC SOURCE SEPARATION - A technique includes obtaining first seismic data acquired by seismic sensors during a survey of a medium. The first seismic data are indicative of energy attributable to a plurality of interfering seismic sources. The technique includes generating datasets, with each dataset primarily indicating energy attributable to a different one of the seismic sources. For each seismic source, the datasets are generated as follows. The first seismic data are processed to add information to the first seismic data indicative of a geometry of the seismic source to produce second seismic data. The second seismic data is processed to perform migration based on an estimate of a geophysical model of the medium to produce migrated data. The migrated data are processed to perform reverse migration based on the estimate of the geophysical model to produce the dataset. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20100004914 | MODELING THE NONLINEAR HYSTERESIS RESPONSE OF RESERVOIR MEDIA - A method of modeling a nonlinear hysteresis response of reservoir media involves obtaining measurements of core samples from the reservoir to generate a multitude of bounding curves representing primary drainage and primary imbibition characteristics of a reservoir, generating, using a processor, a plurality of constitutive equations based on the multitude of bounding curves and a multitude of material functions, the multitude of material functions determined based on material properties associated with the reservoir, generating, using the processor, an output in a form of capillary-pressure scanning curves based on the multitude of constitutive equations, the capillary-pressure scanning curves representing drainage and imbibition behaviors of the reservoir during an oilfield operation, and storing the output. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100010796 | LOCATION OF BYPASSED HYDROCARBONS - A method of locating resources in a reservoir that includes at least one injection well and at least one production well includes mapping a modeled permeability characteristic of structures making up the reservoir, computing, based on the modeled permeability characteristic, an indicator of flow velocity for streamlines from each production well, computing, based on the modeled permeability characteristic, an indicator of flow velocity for streamlines from each injection well, and combining the indicators of flow velocity from each production and injection well to characterize a sweep efficiency of the reservoir system. | 01-14-2010 |
| 20100049490 | ANALYZING AN OILFIELD NETWORK FOR OILFIELD PRODUCTION - A method for performing an analysis of an oilfield network. The oilfield network includes multiple wellsites. The method includes collecting oilfield data from the oilfield network, modeling a first wellsite using the oilfield data to create a first production model of the first wellsite, and modeling a second wellsite using the oilfield data to create a second production model of the second wellsite. The method further includes modeling a sub-network of the oilfield network to create a third production model of the sub-network. The modeling of the sub-network includes identifying a junction of a branch associated with the first wellsite and a branch associated with the second wellsite. A fourth production model is created for the junction by combining the first production model with the second production model. The production model of the sub-network is created using the fourth production model of the junction. The method further includes solving the oilfield network based on the third production model to create a production result, and storing the production result. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100057418 | Method for Quantifying Reservoir Connectivity Using Fluid Travel Times - The present application describes a method and system associated with the production of hydrocarbons. In the method, fluid travel time models are constructed from a reservoir model. Then, reservoir connectivity measures are calculated from the fluid travel time models and analyzed to determine a location for at least one well. Based on the analysis, one or more wells may be drilled and hydrocarbons produced. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100076740 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WELL TEST DESIGN AND INTERPRETATION - A method and system for well test design and interpretation, comprising a testing manager system, which includes at least one of testing hardware and gauge metrology; a geological model coupled to the testing manager system; a dynamic and static engineering data acquisition system coupled to the geological model; and a reservoir modeling system coupled to the dynamic and static engineering data acquisition system to generate a reservoir model. Also provided is a method and computer program for controlling, driving, and enabling the devices, systems, and subsystems presented herein through interaction with a human user, or the like. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100088082 | MULTIDIMENSIONAL DATA REPOSITORY FOR MODELING OILFIELD OPERATIONS - A method for performing oilfield operations including collecting a model data set from the oilfield for populating a location of a plurality of locations in a multidimensional data repository, the plurality of locations accessible based on a plurality of dimensions of the multidimensional data repository, performing, using a processor of a computer, analysis of at least the model data set retrieved from the location of the plurality of locations to generate a result, adjusting, using the processor, the multidimensional data repository based on the result, and adjusting the oilfield operations based on the multidimensional data repository. | 04-08-2010 |
| 20100114544 | Three Dimensional Well Block Radius Determiner Machine And Related Computer Implemented Methods And Program Products - Three dimensional well block radius determiner machines, systems, program products, and computer implemented methods are provided to determine a three dimensional equivalent well block radius of a perforated grid block cell, with three dimensional flow, of a three dimensional coordinate grid block constructed over a three dimensional simulated well formation in a finite difference petroleum reservoir simulator. Various embodiments of the invention, for example, can beneficially account for both horizontal and vertical flow of oil through a well perforation without the need for complicated, expensive, and time-consuming numerical or iterative solutions. Embodiments of the present invention, for example, can be used as a part of legacy simulators thereby providing more accurate well block radius calculations, by accounting for both horizontal and vertical perforation flow, without introducing significant implementation hurdles, development costs, or simulation runtime delays. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100131257 | Systems and Methods for the Determination of Active Constraints in a Network Using Slack Variables - Systems and methods for determining active constraints in a surface facility network, which include the use of slack variables and multipliers in system equations to eliminate the extraneous (inactive) constraints. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100138202 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF GRID GENERATION FOR DISCRETE FRACTURE MODELING - Computer-implemented systems and methods are provided for generating accurate grids that can be used for simulation of highly complex subsurface reservoirs, such as fractured subsurface reservoirs. A representation of a fractured subsurface reservoir and an explicit discrete fracture represented within the fractured subsurface reservoir are provided. The representation of the fractured subsurface reservoir is decomposed into polyhedral cells. Interfaces between the polyhedral cells are selected to approximate the discrete fracture explicitly represented within the fractured subsurface reservoir. The selected interfaces are used to produce a grid that can be used for constructing a simulation model of the fractured subsurface reservoir. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100161300 | System and method for forecasting production from a hydrocarbon reservoir - A system and method is taught to substantially automate forecasting for a hydrocarbon producing reservoir through integration of modeling module workflows. A control management module automatically generates static and dynamic offspring models, with static and dynamic modeling software, until a performance objective associated with the forecasting of the reservoir is satisfied. The performance objective can include an experimental design table to determine a sensitivity of a particular parameter or can be directed towards reservoir optimization, i.e., ultimate hydrocarbon recovery, net present value, reservoir percentage yield, reservoir fluid flow rate, or history matching error. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100174517 | Method For Prediction In An Oil/Gas Production System - Method in an oil and/or a gas production system including a plurality of oil and/or gas wells each producing a multiphase fluid stream, adapted for predicting change in produced fluids resulting from change in manipulated variables. Fitted model parameters which express the relationship between the change in manipulated variables and the produced fluids are determined from a set of historical production measurements. The method includes the steps of choosing a model structure which predicts change in produced fluids as a function of the change in manipulated variables, where the predicted change in produced fluids depends on the value of fitted model parameters, determining fitted model parameters so that predictions of produced fluids match said historical production measurements as closely as possible, and determining a quality tag that describes the uncertainty of the predictions of change in produced fluids. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100179797 | Systems and Methods for Planning Well Locations with Dynamic Production Criteria - Systems and methods for automatically and optimally planning multiple well locations within a reservoir simulator. The systems and methods use dynamic production criteria to create and optimize well target completion intervals and the associated well geometries for new wells dynamically, and directly within a reservoir simulator. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100185427 | AUTOMATED FIELD DEVELOPMENT PLANNING - A system for automatically optimizing a Field Development Plan (FDP) for an oil or gas field uses a fast analytic reservoir simulator to dynamically model oil or gas production from the entire reservoir over time in an accurate and rapid manner. An objective function defining a Figure of Merit (FoM) for candidate FDPs is maximized, using an optimization algorithm, to determine an optimized FDP in light of physical, engineering, operational, legal and engineering constraints. The objective function for the Figure of Merit, e.g., net present value (NPV) or total production for a given period of time, relies on a production forecast from the fast analytic reservoir simulator for the entire FDP. The position, orientation and dimensions of analytical model elements for the subsurface oil or gas field, as well as the physical properties associated with these elements, correlate to connected flow volume data from a Shared Earth Model (SEM). Uncertainty in the SEM is considered via stochastic sampling. In the presence of uncertainty, the optimum Field Development Plan (FoM) is selected by maximizing an objective function defining a risk-based Figure of Merit for the entire FDP. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100185428 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SIMULATING FLUID FLOW IN AN UNDERGROUND FORMATION WITH UNCERTAIN PROPERTIES - A method for simulating fluid flow in an underground reservoir formation with uncertain properties comprises: a) building an object oriented reservoir simulation model with embedded uncertainty descriptors for the uncertain properties; b) using the uncertainty descriptors to define probability distributions and parameterizations for data objects associated with the uncertain properties; c) providing each uncertainty descriptor with functionality to display a probability distribution to associated parameterized data objects to a user; and d) processing the reservoir simulation model in a reservoir flow simulator with a graphical user interface, which displays user selected uncertainty descriptors, parameterized data objects and/or resulting spread of reservoir flow simulation results. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100191516 | Well Performance Modeling In A Collaborative Well Planning Environment - Methods and systems are provided that may be utilized to make completion design an integral part of the well planning process by enabling the rapid evaluation of completion performance. This integration may include an earth model and may specify wellpath parameters, completion parameters, and other parameters in a simulation of operations using the earth model. The simulation generates well performance measures, which may be optimized depending on well performance technical limits. The optimization may be used to maximize an objective function. The system may include multiple users at the same or different locations (e.g. over a network) interacting through graphic user interfaces (GUI's). | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100198570 | System and method for predicting fluid flow in subterranean reservoirs - A reservoir prediction system and method are provided that use generalized EnKF using kernels, capable of representing non-Gaussian random fields characterized by multi-point geostatistics. The main drawback of the standard EnKF is that the Kalman update essentially results in a linear combination of the forecasted ensemble, and the EnKF only uses the covariance and cross-covariance between the random fields (to be updated) and observations, thereby only preserving two-point statistics. Kernel methods allow the creation of nonlinear generalizations of linear algorithms that can be exclusively written in terms of dot products. By deriving the EnKF in a high-dimensional feature space implicitly defined using kernels, both the Kalman gain and update equations are nonlinearized, thus providing a completely general nonlinear set of EnKF equations, the nonlinearity being controlled by the kernel. By choosing high order polynomial kernels, multi-point statistics and therefore geological realism of the updated random fields can be preserved. The method is applied to two non-limiting examples where permeability is updated using production data as observations, and is shown to better reproduce complex geology compared to the standard EnKF, while providing reasonable match to the production data. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100204972 | Method For Predicting Well Reliability By Computer Simulation - Methods of predicting earth stresses in response to pore pressure changes in a hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir within a geomechanical system, include establishing physical boundaries for the geomechanical system and acquiring reservoir characteristics. Geomechanical simulations simulate the effects of changes in reservoir characteristics on stress in rock formations within the physical boundaries to determine the rock formation strength at selected nodes in the reservoir. The strength of the rock formations at the nodes is represented by an effective strain (ε | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100211370 | Modeling Subsurface Processes On Unstructured Grid - Embodiments of the invention involve forming a prismatic grid and solving a convection-diffusion problem using the prismatic grid and mixed finite element analysis. The prismatic grid may be formed by providing a triangular mesh on a plane of a model. The mesh is then coarsened to make cells that are less desirable larger. The coarsened grid is then projected to form the prismatic grid. Each cell of the grid is then assigned a plurality of degrees of freedom. Mixed finite element analysis of the grid produces a matrix, which is then solved to yield a solution to the convention-diffusion problem. | 08-19-2010 |
| 20100217574 | Parallel Adaptive Data Partitioning On A Reservoir Simulation Using An Unstructured Grid - A computer implemented system and method for parallel adaptive data partitioning on a reservoir simulation using an unstructured grid includes a method of simulating a reservoir model which includes generating the reservoir model. The generated reservoir model is partitioned into multiple sets of different domains, each one corresponding to an efficient partition for a specific portion of the model. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100217575 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING PRODUCTION AND DOWNHOLE PRESSURES OF A WELL WITH MULTIPLE SUBSURFACE ZONES AND/OR BRANCHES - A method for controlling the influx of fluids into a multizone well in which each inflow zone is provided with an inflow control device, comprises: assessing the flux of oil, gas, water and other effluents from the well; monitoring production variables, including ICD position and/or fluid pressure in each inflow zone upstream of each ICD and/or downstream of each ICD; sequentially adjusting the position of each of the ICDs and assessing the flux of crude oil, natural gas and/or other well effluents; monitoring production variables; deriving a zonal production estimation model for each inflow zone of the well; and adjusting each ICD to control the influx of crude oil, natural gas and/or other effluents into each inflow zone on the basis of data derived from the zonal production estimation model for each inflow zone of the well. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100235154 | Dynamic Connectivity Analysis - Methods, computer-readable mediums, and systems analyze hydrocarbon production data from a subsurface region to determine geologic time scale reservoir connectivity and production time scale reservoir connectivity for the subsurface region. Compartments, fluid properties, and fluid distribution are interpreted to determine geologic time scale reservoir connectivity and production time scale reservoir connectivity for the subsurface region. A reservoir connectivity model based on the geologic time scale and production time scale reservoir connectivity for the subsurface region is constructed, wherein the reservoir connectivity model includes a plurality of production scenarios each including reservoir compartments, connections, and connection properties for each scenario. Each of the production scenarios is tested and refined based on production data for the subsurface region. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100241410 | Relative and Absolute Error Models for Subterranean Wells - A relative error model is used to compute a relative uncertainty in the position of a first well with respect to a second well. This relative uncertainty may be computed in real time during drilling and may be used in making subsequent steering decisions during drilling. Moreover, an absolute uncertainty in the position of a first well may be obtained by combining an absolute uncertainty in the position of a second well and the relative uncertainty in the position of the first well with respect to the second well. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100250214 | METHODS TO ESTIMATE SUBSURFACE DEVIATORIC STRESS CHARACTERISTICS FROM BOREHOLE SONIC LOG ANISOTROPY DIRECTIONS AND IMAGE LOG FAILURE DIRECTIONS - Methods and apparatus for estimating stress characteristics of formations. The method comprises: (a) acquiring sonic anisotropy data, image data or both associated with at least one borehole (b) employing sonic anisotropy data to estimate fast shear direction (FSA) to extract FSA observed data; (c) computing FSA from forward modeling, forward modeling utilizes a first deviatoric stress tensor to extract FSA predicted data; (d) computing FSA misfit from difference between FSA observed data and FSA predicted data to obtain computed FSA misfit relating to first deviatoric stress tensor; (e) if computed FSA misfit is equal to or less than a defined value, then store computed FSA misfit, otherwise repeat steps (d)-(h) using another deviatoric stress tensor so a different deviatoric stress tensor is used for each repeat; (f) selecting smallest stored computed misfit from group consisting of stored computed FSA misfit, at least one other stored computed misfit or combination thereof. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250215 | METHODS OF MODELING FLOW OF GAS WITHIN A RESERVOIR - Methods of modeling flow of gas within a reservoir are provided. A particular method includes generating a representation of a gas reservoir, where the gas reservoir includes at least two phases of matter. The representation of the gas reservoir models the gas reservoir as a single phase. The method also includes modeling flow of gas within the gas reservoir using the representation. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100250216 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CHARACTERIZING FRACTURES IN A SUBSURFACE RESERVOIR - The disclosed methods, systems, and software are described to optimize fracture characteristics and simulate fluid flow rates in a well model. The well model, which includes at least one fracture intersecting a production well, is generated with static and dynamic data. Fluid flow in the well model is simulated to obtain simulated fluid flow rates between fractures and the well. Fracture properties, such as length, height and aperture, are then updated responsive to measured and simulated fluid flow rates. Multiple simulation runs and updating of the fracture properties can be performed until the simulated fluid flow rates converge with the measured fluid flow rates. Pressure data can be used to determine gridblock permeability, which in turn helps constrain the model, thus providing more reliable fracture properties. Uncertainty ranges of the fracture properties can also be calculated. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100274546 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF PLANNING A PROCEDURE FOR CLEANING A WELLBORE - A method of planning a procedure for cleaning a wellbore by injecting a cleaning fluid from a reservoir into the wellbore includes detecting properties and conditions of fluids circulating between the reservoir and the wellbore; preparing a data set from the detected properties and conditions of the fluids circulating between the reservoir and the wellbore; simulating a cleaning operation model of injecting the cleaning fluid into the wellbore based on the data set; determining parameter settings of the simulated cleaning operation model that satisfy prescribed constraints; and producing the procedure for cleaning the wellbore based on the determined parameters. A system for conducting a procedure for cleaning a wellbore includes a sensor unit; a control unit; and a cleanup simulation system. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100274547 | METHOD OF MODELLING A POROUS GEOLOGIC MEDIUM TRAVERSED BY A NETWORK OF FRACTURES - A method of modelling a fractured reservoir having application for petroleum reservoir development is disclosed utilizing a set of several families of equivalent blocks of regular shapes and sizes. The fractured reservoir is modelled by a complex porous medium made up of irregular blocks. A function defining the progress of an imbibition front within these blocks, whose derivative A′(X) is calculated, is determined. A function defining the progress of an imbibition front within regular equivalent blocks, whose derivative A′eq(X) is calculated, is then determined. This derivative, which constitutes at least two line segments with distinct slopes, depends on the dimensions of the equivalent blocks. Finally, the dimensions of the equivalent blocks are obtained by adjusting the two derivatives A′eq(X) and A′(X). | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100286971 | Systems, Computer Implemented Methods, and Computer Readable Program Products to Compute Approximate Well Drainage Pressure for a Reservoir Simulator - Systems, computer implemented methods, and program products to determine approximate static well pressures for one or more arbitrary shaped wells by estimating the drainage volume of the one or more wells, are provided. The drainage volume of the one or more wells, for example, can be estimated from the one or more computed fluid flow flux vectors, and the approximate static well pressures for the one or more wells can be subsequently calculated by taking the pore volume average of the dynamic grid block pressures within the drainage volume of the one or more wells. The one or more fluid flow flux vectors can be calculated at each iteration in a numerical reservoir simulator as a part of standard simulator computations, negating a need for additional, extraneous computations to calculate effective drainage volume of the one or more wells. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100286972 | Volume Body Renderer - Irregular volumes within one or more three-dimensional volume datasets are identified and extracted in response to criteria. The processing involves automatically finding a seed voxel or seed cell that meets the criteria and thus belongs to an irregular volume of interest, and then identifying cells related to the seed cell by one or more predetermined relationships that are therefore also to be grouped into that irregular volume. Information, which can be of any suitable type, identifying each such cell as being related to other cells and belonging to an irregular volume is stored in a suitable data structure. The location or similar neighborhood information and other data describing properties or attributes of the identified cell are also stored. Because the irregular volumes are extracted and pre-processed in this manner, operations including rendering them on a display and performing Boolean and arithmetic operations on them can readily be performed. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100299123 | WELL PLACEMENT IN A VOLUME - Implementations of well placement in a volume are described. Some techniques described herein involve ascertaining a skeleton of a volume within a reservoir, and using the skeleton to map out a well topology to retrieve resources, such as hydrocarbons, from the volume. In one possible implementation, the skeleton can be found by generating a repulsive field throughout an interior of the volume, with the field decreasing with distance from the boundary of the volume. Interior points where a magnitude of the force drops to within a preset value are called critical points. The skeleton can be found by following outward flow from the volume from critical point to critical point. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100299124 | Apparatus and Method for Modeling Well Designs and Well Performance - In one aspect, a method of estimating fluid flow contribution from each producing zone of multi-zone production well is provided, which method may include: defining a wellhead pressure; determining a first inflow performance relation (IPR | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100299125 | POROUS MEDIUM EXPLOITATION METHOD USING FLUID FLOW MODELLING - Porous A porous medium exploitation method having application to petroleum exploitation is disclosed using coupling between a reservoir model and a near-wellbore model for modelling fluid flows. Fluid flows within the medium are simulated using a reservoir simulator and a near-wellbore simulator. At each time step, the boundary conditions used by the second simulator are calculated by means of with the reservoir simulator. Numerical productivity indices used by the reservoir simulator are calculated by means of using the near-wellbore simulator. The fluid flows within the porous medium during a given period of time are modelled by repeating the previous stages for several time steps. An optimum medium exploitation scenario is deduced determined from this modelling by taking into accounting for, for example, a well damage due to a drilling fluid, an injection of a polymer solution or of an acid solution in the well. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100299126 | METHOD FOR UNCERTAINTY QUANTIFIATION IN THE PERFORMANCE AND RISK ASSESSMENT OF A CARBON DIOXIDE STORAGE SITE | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100305927 | UPDATING A RESERVOIR MODEL USING ORIENTED CORE MEASUREMENTS - A method of updating a model of a subsurface reservoir using a sidewall core obtained from within the reservoir that comprises: making one or more directionally dependent measurements on said sidewall core, determining the in-situ position and orientation of the sidewall core, and updating a reservoir model of the reservoir using the directionally dependent measurements and the in-situ position and orientation of said sidewall core. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract which will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100312535 | UPSCALING OF FLOW AND TRANSPORT PARAMETERS FOR SIMULATION OF FLUID FLOW IN SUBSURFACE RESERVOIRS - An upscaling method for efficiently simulating a geological model of subsurface reservoir is disclosed. The method includes providing a fine-scale geological model of a subsurface reservoir associated with a fine-scale grid and a coarse-scale grid. Time-dependent fluid flow solutions, such as fluxes and saturations, are computed for the coarse-scale grid cells. The coarse-scale fluid flow solutions are distributed onto local fine-scale boundaries to obtain local fine-scale boundary conditions. Fine-scale cell fluid flow solutions are computed within the local fine-scale boundaries using the local fine-scale boundary conditions. Two-phase upscaling functions are computed with the fine-scale cell fluid flow solutions and are output to produce a display of fluid flow within the subsurface reservoir. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100312536 | INTEGRATING FIELD DATA - An example method of integrating field data that includes obtaining the field data associated with a field and performing a production analysis on the field data to generate a production output, the production analysis performed by a production engineering tool. The method further includes transforming the field data to obtain transformed field data requested by a field application and sending the transformed field data from the production engineering tool to the field application, the field application performing a field analysis using the transformed field data to generate a field output. The method further includes generating a comparison of the production output and the field output. | 12-09-2010 |
| 20100318337 | METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR MODELED CARBON SEQUESTRATION - Methods, systems and apparatuses are provided for facilitating sequestration of naturally occurring or anthropogenic carbon dioxide. The methods, systems and apparatuses of the present invention include a software interface for facilitating an exchange of data among associated simulators which simulate various steps of the carbon sequestration process. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100324873 | Method and system for estimating three phase fluid flow for individual wells - Method for providing reconciled estimates of three phase fluid flow for individual wells and at individual locations in a hydrocarbon production process facility comprising a plurality of wells. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100332205 | METHOD OF MODIFIED FACIES PROPORTIONS UPON HISTORY MATCHING OF A GEOLOGICAL MODEL - A method of modifying a geological model representative of an underground reservoir is disclosed which respects average proportions of the lithologic facies imposed by a production data calibration process which has application to petroleum reservoir development. A geographical zone Z is defined within the geological model and an average proportion in zone Z allowing the production data to be calibrated is determined for k facies, with an optimization process. The proportions of these facies are modified using a block indicator cokriging method constrained by the average proportions to be respected. A new geological model constrained by the modified facies proportions is simulated and the development of the underground medium is optimized by the simulated model. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110015912 | Transport Property Data Calculated From Derivative Seismic Rock Property Data For Transport Modeling - At least one transport property for a subsurface region is calculated from derivative seismic data by generating a model relating at least one derivative seismic rock property of a subsurface region to at least one transport property for the subsurface region. At least one transport property is calculated by applying the generated transport property model. Transport phenomena may be simulated with a transport model using at least one transport property generated by applying the model. A model describing evolution of the at least one transport property may be generated within the subsurface region over time, e.g., to facilitate basin modeling of the subsurface region. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110022368 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WELL PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION - A system, software program, and method to evaluate the performance of a well in a subsurface reservoir are disclosed. A new well module is used to evaluate new wells to be placed in fluid communication with the subsurface reservoir. An existing well module is used to evaluate existing wells that are in fluid communication with the subsurface reservoir. Wells can be evaluated to calculate performance characteristics, optimize performance, resolve any associated performance issues, or a combination thereof. A well screening module is used to quickly calculate properties of a well. A visual display is used to display outputs from the new well module, the existing well module, or the well screening module. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110040543 | VIRTUAL RESERVOIR SENSOR - One or more computer-readable media include computer-executable instructions to instruct a computing system to receive simulation results for future behavior of a reservoir that includes a material production well and a fluid injection site; define a virtual sensor as being located between the material production well and the fluid injection site; determine fluid saturation at the virtual sensor based at least in part on the simulation results; and issue a notification if the fluid saturation at the virtual sensor exceeds a fluid saturation limit. Various other apparatuses, systems, methods, etc., are also disclosed. | 02-17-2011 |
| 20110046934 | MONITORING A REGION OF INTEREST IN A SUBSURFACE FORMATION - A method of monitoring a subsurface formation ( | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110054869 | Modeling Dynamic Systems By Visualizing and Narrowing A Parameter Space - A method for modeling a dynamic system (e.g., geological system) comprises: constructing an input parameter space for a model of the geological system, the input parameter space including more than three dimensions, and the model associated with response data, representing the input parameter space visually with three or fewer dimensions, reducing the input parameter space by conditioning the parameter space using at least a subset of the response data, and updating the representation of the input parameter space to visually represent the reduction of the parameter space. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110060572 | DYNAMIC SUBSURFACE ENGINEERING - An example system includes interconnected modeling modules that share knowledge to create a unified earth model dynamically representing a subsurface site. The system models and may simulate subsurface operations associated with, for example: hydrocarbon production and stimulation, natural gas storage, carbon capture and storage, aquifer maintenance, geothermal energy production, and in-situ leachable ore processing. The system integrates a reporting module, and also an economic module to evaluate cost versus benefit of each subsurface operation. A related example method for performing subsurface engineering includes generating a model of a subsurface site including a geological horizon, obtaining an offset relative to the geological horizon, and locating an operation based on the offset. When field data update the model in real time, positions of 3D objects and 3D surfaces are dynamically updated in the model, including the positions of the modeled operations. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110060573 | Decision Management System and Method - A system and method may be configured to support the evaluation of the economic impact of uncertainties associated with the planning of a petroleum production project, e.g., uncertainties associated with decisions having multiple possible outcomes and uncertainties associated with uncontrollable parameters such as rock properties, oil prices, etc. The system and method involve receiving user input characterizing the uncertainty of planning variables and performing an iterative simulation that computes the economic return for various possible instantiations of the set of planning variables based on the uncertainty characterization. The system and method may (a) utilize and integrate highly rigorous physical reservoir, well, production flow, and economic models, and (b) provide a mechanism for specifying constraints on the planning variables. Furthermore, the system and method may provide a case manager process for managing multiple cases and associated “experimental runs” on the cases. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110071810 | Method for Controlling Fluid Production From a Wellbore By Using a Script - In one aspect, a method is provided for controlling fluid flow in a wellbore containing a plurality of production devices, wherein the method includes the steps of defining a first setting of each production device in the plurality of production devices, defining a change in a parameter relating to fluid flow in the wellbore and using a model to determine a second setting for at least one of the plurality of production devices based on the change in the parameter. The method also includes the step of generating a script corresponding to the second setting, wherein the script is configured to be implemented without modification, and storing the script in a suitable storage medium. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110077928 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DESIGN AND/OR SELECTION OF DRILLING EQUIPMENT BASED ON WELLBORE DRILLING SIMULATIONS - Methods and systems may be provided for simulating forming a wide variety of directional wellbores including wellbores with variable tilt rates and/or relatively constant tilt rates. The methods and systems may also be used to simulate forming a wellbore in subterranean formations having a combination of soft, medium and hard formation materials, multiple layers of formation materials and relatively hard stringers disposed throughout one or more layers of formation material. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110082676 | STREAMLINE FLOW SIMULATION OF A MODEL THAT PROVIDES A REPRESENTATION OF FRACTURE CORRIDORS - To simulate a subterranean structure having fracture corridors, a model is used to represent the subterranean structure, where the model also provides a representation of the fracture corridors. A streamline simulation is performed using the model. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110087476 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONFIGURING OIL AND/OR GAS PRODUCTION SYSTEM - Embodiments of the invention identify a plurality of operating points for oil and/or gas producing systems, each operating point being characterised by a set of operating parameters which can be used to control components of the actual oil and/or gas producing system. These generated operating points may be collectively presented in a graphical manner to an operator of the oil and/or gas producing system, who can systemically configure the components of the oil and/or gas producing system to move, in an informal manner, through a path of operating points in order to reach what appears from the generated operating point data to be an optimal operating region. The oil and/or gas producing system may also be referred to as a hydrocarbon producing system. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110098997 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MODELING A GEOLOGIC VOLUME OF INTEREST - A model of a geologic volume of interest that represents the geological architecture of the geologic volume of interest is generated. The model is generated as a series of geologic events at a string of points in geologic time such that each event is deposited or eroded sequentially. A given geologic event is determined based on the topological and/or geological properties of the geologic volume of interest at the time of the geologic event, environmental conditions present at the time of the geologic event that impact geologic formation, deposition, and/or erosion, and/or other considerations. The given geologic event is further determined to honor, at least somewhat, local conditioning data that has been obtained during direct measurements of the geological parameters (and/or trends therein) within the geologic volume of interest. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110098998 | MULTISCALE FINITE VOLUME METHOD FOR RESERVOIR SIMULATION - A Multiscale Finite Volume (MSFV) method is provided to efficiently solve large heterogeneous problems; it is usually employed for pressure equations and delivers conservative flux fields to be used in transport problems. It relies on the hypothesis that the fine-scale problem can be described by a set of local solutions coupled by a conservative coarse-scale problem. In numerically challenging cases, a more accurate localization approximation is used to obtain a good approximation of the fine-scale solution. According to an embodiment, a method is provided to iteratively improve the boundary conditions of the local problems, and is responsive to the data structure of the underlying MSFV method and employs a Krylov-subspace projection method to obtain an unconditionally stable scheme and accelerate convergence. In one embodiment the MSFV operator is used. Alternately, the MSFV operator is combined with an operator derived from the problem solved to construct the conservative flux field. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110106514 | FORMATION MODELING WHILE DRILLING FOR ENHANCED HIGH ANGLE FOR HORIZONTAL WELL PLACEMENT - Methods for three-dimensionally characterizing a reservoir while drilling a high angle or horizontal wellbore through the reservoir are disclosed. An initial reservoir model for the reservoir is selected and a section is extracted for a planned trajectory of the wellbore. A secondary model is generated by performing secondary modeling for at least part of the planned trajectory. An area of interest is identified within the secondary model where statistical uncertainty is high. Possible causes of the statistical uncertainty are identified for the area of interest within the secondary model that are not present or accounted for in the initial reservoir model. A set of parameters for the area of interest are defined at that are based on the possible causes of statistical uncertainty. The area of interest is logged with at least one logging while drilling LWD tool. Sensitivities of the LWD tool response to the subset of parameters are evaluated by performing at least one tertiary model for a range of the subset of parameters. The most sensitive parameters from the subset of parameters and corresponding measurements are identified. One or more real-time LWD measurements to be used for proactive well placement along the planned trajectory are identified and are based on the most sensitive parameters. The initial reservoir model is updated while drilling with information from the tertiary model. The model update is based on physics-based modeling or on inversion and on running multiple models and selection of a best candidate model based on correlations between the tool measurements and modeled results for each geologic model. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110112815 | METHOD OF SELECTING ADDITIVES FOR OIL RECOVERY - A method is described for selecting an additive for enhanced recovery from a subterranean hydrocarbon reservoir including the steps of using parameters characterizing rock type and surfaces in the reservoir, pore geometry and/or distribution, hydrocarbons and/or other constituent elements identified as being present in the reservoir, using parameters characterizing an injection fluid or fluid mixture to be injected into the reservoir, using parameters characterizing the additive to be added to the injection fluid and its concentration; using the parameters to determine at a first level of molecular dynamic modeling the effect of the additive on the interfacial tension between hydrocarbon and water/brine or an equivalent parameter, using the parameters and results derived from the first level of molecular dynamic modeling to determine at a second coarser level of molecular dynamic modeling wettability effects or an equivalent parameter and using the parameters and results derived from first and second level of molecular dynamic modeling to determine at a third coarser level of molecular dynamic modeling imbibition or drainage effects. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110125476 | Probabilistic Simulation of Subterranean Fracture Propagation - Systems, methods, and instructions encoded in a computer-readable medium can perform operations related to stochastic simulation of subterranean fracture propagation. A plurality of subterranean formation models, each representing a subterranean formation, are analyzed to obtain information on predicted results of applying an injection treatment to the subterranean formation. Each of the analyzed subterranean formation models is generated by simulating forces acting on rock blocks of the subterranean formation during the injection treatment. Each simulation has an input parameter value determined for that simulation based on sampling a distribution of values for a characteristic of the subterranean formation. The characteristic may include, for example, a natural fracture parameter. The information on the predicted results of applying the injection treatment may include, for example, an output probability distribution. In some implementations, the information may be used to design an injection treatment for the subterranean formation. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110144965 | METHOD, SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR MODELING PRODUCTION SYSTEM NETWORK UNCERTAINTY - Embodiments of the present disclosure include a method that includes creating a deterministic model representing a production system. The model may include one or more inputs and parameters that are not deterministically known, and one or more outputs. A prior probability density function may be used to determine a prior uncertainty, and a measurement related to a first of the outputs may be obtained. The method may also include determining a posterior probability density function using the prior probability density function, the measurement, and a conditional probability density function. Embodiments of the present disclosure also include a computer-readable medium having a set of computer-readable instructions residing thereon that, when executed, perform acts comprising the foregoing method. Embodiments of the present disclosure further include a computing device that includes a memory, one or more processors operatively coupled to the memory, and functionality operable by the processors to perform the foregoing method. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110153300 | System and Method For Planning A Drilling Operation - A method of planning a drilling operation IS provided that comprises selecting a set of targeted regions based on data from a three-dimensional shared earth model and generating at least one targeted segment within each one of the set of targeted regions The method further comprises defining at least one application agent for the purpose of evaluating the at least one targeted segment within each one of the set of targeted regions based on a potential payout in terms of production of hydrocarbons The exemplary method additionally comprises identifying at least one well trajectory through the at least one targeted segment within each one of the set of targeted regions And the method comprises employing the at least one application agent to evaluate well trajectories based on the potential payout in terms of at least one of production of hydrocarbons, drilling complexity, cost or stability of well planning | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110166843 | Method For Modeling Deformation In Subsurface Strata - A method for modeling deformation in subsurface strata, including defining physical boundaries for a geomechanical system. The method also includes acquiring one or more mechanical properties of the subsurface strata within the physical boundaries, and acquiring one or more thermal properties of the subsurface strata within the physical boundaries. The method also includes creating a computer-implemented finite element analysis program representing the geomechanical system and defining a plurality of nodes representing points in space, with each node being populated with at least one of each of the mechanical properties and the thermal properties. The program solves for in situ stress at selected nodes within the mesh. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110184711 | METHOD FOR ESTIMATING FORMATION PERMEABILITY USING TIME LAPSE MEASUREMENTS - A method for determining permeability of a subsurface formation includes measuring a parameter related to fluid content of the formation at a first time from within a wellbore penetrating the formation. A rate of entry of fluid from the wellbore into the formation is determined from the measurement of the parameter made at the first time. The permeability is determined from the rate of entry. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110191080 | MULTILEVEL PERCOLATION AGGREGATION SOLVER FOR PETROLEUM RESERVOIR SIMULATIONS - An efficient percolation aggregation solver methodology captures media connectivity and continuity to reliably incorporate relevant flow solution trends in subterranean formation models. The approach allows introduction of meaningful physical information that is generally overlooked by state-of-the-art algebraic algorithms in the solution process. Percolation aggregation extends the efficiency and robustness of solution methods used to solve scientific and engineering problems. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110208499 | METHOD FOR HISTORY MATCHING OF A GEOLOGICAL MODEL COMPRISING A SUB-SEISMIC FAULT NETWORK - A history matching method by gradual deformation of a fault network associated with a geological model is disclosed having application to notably petroleum reservoir development. A fault network is constructed by drawing fault centers in a multifractal density map constructed by a multiplicative cascading and by generating a fault for each fault center. History matching of the model is then performed by deforming the fault network through continuous deformation of the multifractal density map, then by reiterating the center drawing and fault generation stages. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110213600 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR USING MULTIPLE-POINT STATISTICS SIMULATION TO MODEL RESERVOIR PROPERTY TRENDS - A computer-implemented method and system for simulating reservoir property trends, including petrophysical trends within facies geobodies, is provided. One embodiment includes discretizing a range of values of the reservoir property to be modeled into at least two categories and utilizing the categories to discretize the associated well data and training image into categorical well data and a categorical training image. An embodiment includes applying MPS simulation using the categorical training image on a stratigraphic grid of nodes discretizing the reservoir volume to create a categorical property model. The embodiment additionally includes applying variogram-based simulation in each sub-region of the categorical property model to create a reservoir property model that reproduces the category histogram of each associated sub-region and models the reservoir property trends. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110213601 | METHOD OF AUTOMATICALLY CONTROLLING THE TRAJECTORY OF A DRILLED WELL - Steering behavior model can include build rate and/or turn rate equations to model bottom-hole assembly behavior. Build and/or turn rate equations can be calibrated by adjusting model parameters thereof to minimize any variance between actual response | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110213602 | Sand and Fluid Production and Injection Modeling Methods - Methods for modeling subsurface reservoirs are provided. In at least one embodiment, the process includes building a numerical model of a reservoir having at least one injection well and at least one producing well, and incorporating at least one of an Eulerian boundary condition (EBC) into each of the at least one injection well and at least one producing well, an advanced constitutive model (ACM) int the reservoir, and an adaptive re-meshing technique (ART) into the reservoir model. Then generating a simulation result from the integrated reservoir model, wherein the simulation result includes at least a volume of produced fluids and produced particulate solids from the reservoir, a volume of injected fluids and injected particulate solids into the reservoir, and a simulation of movement of at least a volume of particulate solids and fluids in the reservoir. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110246163 | Optimizing Well Operating Plans - Methods and systems for making decisions related to the operation of a hydrocarbon well include 1) characterizing effective production capacity of a reservoir over space and time based at least in part on a reservoir potential and a near-well capacity; 2) determining an optimized well potential over space and time relative to the characterized effective production capacity using a well model of a simulated well accessing the reservoir; and 3) determining at least one well operating plan component that can be incorporated into a well operating plan to provide the optimized well potential in a well accessing the reservoir. The optimized well potential may be determined based at least in part on an objective function that considers at least one of a plurality of decision-making factors, such as one or more of operations costs, operational risks, and modeled production rates over the life of the well. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110246164 | Methods For Performing Simulation of Surfactant Flooding of a Hydrocarbon Reservoir - The present invention performs numerical simulation of surfactant flooding during enhanced oil recovery of a given hydrocarbon reservoir. The present invention utilizes an improved method for determining relative permeability while maintaining physical consistency when the phase behavior varies between different phase Types. This new relative permeability model maintains the physical consistency in the transition from Type II(−) to Type III to Type II(+) systems and vice versa. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110264429 | SYSTEM FOR OPTIMIZING A DRILLING OPERATION AND METHOD FOR USING SAME - A system and method for optimizing a drilling operation is provided. The system has a drilling a drilling operation optimization unit. The drilling operation optimization unit has a base model unit for producing a base model of the reservoir and a reservoir stress unit for producing a three dimensional stress model of the reservoir. The drilling operation optimization unit has a trajectory unit for determining at least one property for at least one wellbore trajectory based on the base model and the three dimensional stress model, wherein each of the wellbore trajectories is selectable by an operator. The system has an operator station for inputting data into the drilling operation optimization unit at the wellsite and a drilling tool for forming a wellbore along at least one of the at least one selected wellbore trajectories. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110264430 | Methods and Systems To Volumetrically Conceptualize Hydrocarbon Plays - Methods for identifying hydrocarbon plays include applying predictive models to sediment fill volume(s) to provide play-element volume(s) representing at least one play element. Each play-element volume represents at least 1) qualities of the at least one play element and 2) a probability that the at least one play element satisfies determined criteria for each of a plurality of locations within a basin. The methods further include analyzing the play-element volume(s) to define play-concept volume(s) representing hydrocarbon play(s). Each of a plurality of locations within the play-concept volume(s) is attributed with: 1) an identification of each play element associated with the location, 2) the qualities of each play element, 3) the probability for each play element that it satisfies determined criteria, and 4) a composite likelihood that the location represents a hydrocarbon play. At least one of the volumes may be used to identify hydrocarbon play(s). | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110264431 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PORE PRESSURE PREDICTION - A method for performing an oilfield operation at a wellsite having a drilling rig configured to advance a drilling tool into a subsurface formation. The method includes generating a borehole temperature model for an area of interest using water depth information and a vertical stress model, generating a formation temperature model using the borehole temperature model, generating a mud-weight pressure model using the formation temperature model and pressure coefficients, generating a formation pore pressure model using the mud-weight pressure model, and adjusting the oilfield operation based on the formation pore pressure model. | 10-27-2011 |
| 20110288842 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SIMULATING OILFIELD OPERATIONS - A method is provided for simulating oilfield operations. The method may include receiving two or more reservoir models to be simulated and receiving two or more surface models to be simulated. The method may further include automatically generating a communication file to couple the two or more reservoir models with the two or more surface models. Additionally, the method may include simulating the coupled reservoir models and surface models. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110288843 | METHOD FOR INTERPRETATION OF DISTRIBUTED TEMPERATURE SENSORS DURING WELLBORE TREATMENT - A method for determining flow distribution in a formation having a wellbore formed therein includes the steps of positioning a sensor within the wellbore, wherein the sensor generates a feedback signal representing at least one of a temperature and a pressure measured by the sensor, injecting a fluid into the wellbore and into at least a portion of the formation adjacent the sensor, shutting-in the wellbore for a pre-determined shut-in period, generating a simulated model representing at least one of simulated temperature characteristics and simulated pressure characteristics of the formation during the shut-in period, generating a data model representing at least one of actual temperature characteristics and actual pressure characteristics of the formation during the shut-in period, wherein the data model is derived from the feedback signal, comparing the data model to the simulated model, and adjusting parameters of the simulated model to substantially match the data model. | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110295580 | METHOD FOR OBTAINING CONSISTENT AND INTEGRATED PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF POROUS MEDIA - A method and system for obtaining a consistent and integrated set of physical properties of a sample specimen of porous media, e.g., rock, in which a specimen is prepared for imaging. The specimen is imaged multiple times to yield a set of images that undergo a segmentation process to provide a digital representation of the sample specimen. The digital representation provides a view of the solid phase and pore space of the sample specimen. The digital representation may be used to determine a plurality of physical properties of the sample porous specimen, such that the sample porous specimen may remain intact throughout the method. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110295581 | MULTI-PHASIC DYNAMIC KARST RESERVOIR NUMERICAL SIMULATOR - A multi-phasic dynamic reservoir simulator includes a reservoir model for a karst system comprising: a plurality of caves connected via at least one conduit, wherein the plurality of caves and the at least one conduit are filled with at least two types of fluids, an exit point for a fluid to leave the karst system and at least one entry point for a fluid to enter the karst system from a surrounding rock matrix, and a set of parameters defining volumes and distributions of the at least two types of fluids in the plurality of caves and the at least one conduit; and a program having instructions for causing a processor to simulate fluid flows in the reservoir model for the karst system. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110307230 | Optimizing Reservoir Performance Under Uncertainty - One or more methods for optimizing reservoir development planning include a source of characterized input data, an optimization model, a baseline model for simulating the reservoir, a modified model, and one or more solution routines interfacing with the optimization model. The optimization model can consider unknown parameters having uncertainties directly within the optimization model. The modified model can systematically address uncertain data, for example comprehensively or even taking all uncertain data into account. Accordingly, the modified model is optimized to flexible or robust solutions. Final reservoir development plans are generated based on optimized model results. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110313743 | Method of Improving the Production of a Mature Gas or Oil Field - A method of improving the production of a mature gas or oil field, the field comprising a plurality of existing wells, the method comprising the steps of providing a field simulator capable of predicting a production of the field in function of a given scenario, a scenario being a set of data comprising production parameters of the existing wells and, the case may be, location and production parameters of one or more new wells, determining drainage areas of the existing wells using the field simulator, determining locations of candidate new wells such that drainage areas of the candidate new wells, determined using the field simulator, do not overlap with the drainage areas of the existing wells, optimizing the value of a gain function which depends on the field production by determining a set of wells out of a plurality of sets of wells, which optimize the value of said gain function, each set of wells of said plurality of sets of wells comprising the existing wells and new wells selected among the candidate new wells. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110313744 | Production Simulator for Simulating a Mature Hydrocarbon Field - A production simulator ( | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110313745 | Machine, Program Product, and Computer-Implemented Method to Simulate Reservoirs as 2.5D Unstructured Grids - Example embodiments utilize machines to model reservoir geometry having geological layers as 2.5D unstructured grids. Example embodiments include program products to simulate a reservoir by generating a reservoir data system, performing a numerical fluid flow simulation, and visualizing the simulation. Data system embodiments include data structures to model a reservoir geometry as laterally unstructured two-dimensional (2D) grids and associated layer depths defining z-lines to thereby define a 2.5D unstructured grid, including datasets for: vertices of the grid cells for the future grid top and bottom surfaces, a number and listing of vertices for each grid cell, cell center coordinates, and vertex adjacency information using a compressed sparse row format. Computer-implemented methods include projecting external and internal boundaries onto a future grid surface; generating 2D unstructured, e.g., Voronoi, grids, for the top and bottom surfaces; and generating z-lines of depths corresponding to reservoir layers to thereby generate 2.5D unstructured grids. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110320182 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMIC, THREE-DIMENSIONAL GEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION AND MODELING - Techniques and a system for performing geological interpretation operations in support of energy resources exploration and production perform well log correlation operations for generating a set of graphical data describing the predetermined geological region. The process and system interpret the geological environment of the predetermined geological region from measured surface and fault data associated with the predetermined geological region. Allowing the user to query and filter graphical data representing the predetermined geological region, the method and system present manipulable three-dimensional geological interpretations of two-dimensional geological data relating to the predetermined geological region and provide displays of base map features associated with the predetermined geological region. The method and system automatically update the manipulable three-dimensional geological interpretations of two-dimensional data relating to the predetermined geological region, as well as calculate three-dimensional well log and seismic interpretations of geological data relating to the predetermined geological region. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20120004892 | Reservoir Simulation of Giant Subsurface Reservoirs With Accelerated Phase Equilibrium Determination - A computer system analyzes data from giant subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs which are organized into a number of component cells and simulates the conditions in the reservoirs based on determination of thermodynamic phase equilibrium using equation of state (EOS) modeling. The computer system takes the form of a heterogeneous (hybrid) computer environment which includes computer processor units (or CPU's) and graphical processing units (or CPU's). The system takes advantage of computational acceleration capabilities of the graphical processing units while utilizing the computer processing units for execution control, input/output of data and memory. Processing time requirements are reduced by more than an order of magnitude speed improvement over existing methods. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20120010865 | Reservoir Quality Characterization Using Heterogeneity Equations With Spatially-Varying Parameters - A method is disclosed wherein an expression is selected to approximate measurement-based values of a geologic attribute along a dimension of a subsurface formation as a function of position along the dimension. Values for terms of the expression are determined such that the expression satisfies an objective function to within a predetermined amount. The objective function indicates a difference between outputs of the expression and the measurement-based values at similar points along the dimension. The expression and the values of the terms of the expression are outputted, which includes mapping the terms of the expression to represent the geologic attribute in the subsurface formation such that the geologic attribute is described at all locations in the subsurface formation using the expression and the values of the terms of the expression. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120016649 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN ADVANCING FLUID FRONT OF A RESERVOIR - A system and method for controlling an advancing water front in a reservoir toward a wellbore is provided. The system has a production control unit. The production control unit has a reservoir unit for producing a reservoir model and a production path unit for producing a production path model that determines at least one pressure parameter about the wellbore during a life of the wellbore. The production control unit has a production optimizer unit for producing a well plan that optimizes a function of the wellsite. The production control unit may be for controlling an advancing fluid front in the reservoir with at least one control device, and wherein a production path is constructed based on the well plan. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120029895 | MODEL-CONSISTENT STRUCTURAL RESTORATION FOR GEOMECHANICAL AND PETROLEUM SYSTEMS MODELING - A method for modeling a subterranean formation of a field, including receiving a structural model and restoring geological layers thereof to create boundary conditions each associated with a corresponding geological layer, and iteratively modeling each geological layer by alternatively applying a petroleum system model (PSM) and a geomechanical model (GMM) to a first geological layer while exchanging data between the PSM and GMM for convergence prior to applying the PSM and the GMM to a second geological layer. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120041736 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ANALYZING DATA - A computer-implemented method, computer program product, and computing system for obtaining an oil field modeling file. One or more values are associated with one or more variables included within the oil field modeling file. The oil field modeling file is executed to generate one or more result sets. A portion of each of the one or more result sets is compared with empirically-derived data related to the portion. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120041737 | Dynamic reservoir characterization - Method for dynamic reservoir characterization by generating, and visually presenting a three-dimensional reservoir model defined by a data set of cells, each cell describing a geometric shape in space and time having an array of physical properties. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120041738 | Method For Upscaling A Reservoir Model Using Deep Reading Measurements - A method of upscaling for reservoir simulation is disclosed, comprising: inverting a set of deep reading measurements constrained by upscaled multi-well data, and, in response to the inverting step, upscaling for reservoir simulation. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120059639 | Machine, Computer Program Product and Method to Generate Unstructured Grids and Carry Out Parallel Reservoir Simulation - A machine, computer program product, and method to enable scalable parallel reservoir simulations for a variety of simulation model sizes are described herein. Some embodiments of the disclosed invention include a machine, methods, and implemented software for performing parallel processing of a grid defining a reservoir or oil/gas field using a plurality of sub-domains for the reservoir simulation, a parallel process of re-ordering a local cell index for each of the plurality of cells using characteristics of the cell and location within the at least one sub-domain and a parallel process of simulating at least one production characteristic of the reservoir. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120059640 | THERMODYNAMIC MODELING FOR OPTIMIZED RECOVERY IN SAGD - One or more computer-readable media include computer-executable instructions to instruct a computing system to receive input as to physical characteristics of a resource recovery system and a resource reservoir; simulate fluid thermodynamics of the system and the reservoir; and output information as to phase composition, for example, in at least one dense phase affected by the resource recovery system. Various other apparatuses, systems, methods, etc., are also disclosed. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120059641 | Iterative Method and System To Construct Robust Proxy Models For Reservoir Simulation - A method, system and computer program product is disclosed for utilizing proxy models to evaluate a subterranean reservoir. The method includes constructing a proxy model from a set of sampling points to approximate simulation outputs of a reservoir model. The set of sampling points is updated by adding at least one new sampling point that is selected from a location associated with surface non-linearities such as gradients, curvature, and bending energy. Response surface values at new sampling points and distances to existing sampling points can also be used to evaluate new sampling points. Proxy models are refined with the updated set of sampling points until the proxy model satisfies a predetermined stopping criterion, such as when a predetermined number of iterations are reached or when changes to the response surface are below a predetermined threshold. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120072196 | CORE COLUMN SIMULATOR FOR A WASTEWATER BIOTREATMENT SYSTEM AND METHODS OF USE - A core column simulator device and methods of assessing the efficacy of a wastewater biotreatment system using the core column simulator device are disclosed. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120078600 | Single Well Anisotropy Inversion Using Velocity Measurements - At least one elastic parameter of a region of interest of a formation is modeled, and at least one velocity measurement acquired in a wellbore extending in the formation is predicted based on the modeling. The model is refined based on the predicted velocity measurement(s) and based on at least one actual measurement acquired from within a single wellbore. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120109611 | System and Method for Performing Wellsite Containment Operations - A system and method for performing an adaptive wellsite operation about a wellsite having a sub-surface system with a wellbore formed through at least one subterranean formation, wherein the subterranean formations are configured to store fluid. The system has a containment unit. The containment unit has a static model unit for generating a static model of a subsurface system. The static model unit further has a defect model unit for generating a defect model. The containment unit has a dynamic leak model unit for generating a dynamic leak model. The containment unit has a leak mitigation unit for providing at least one containment plan. The leak mitigation unit and the dynamic leak model unit are integrated for passing data therebetween and whereby the containment plan may be adapted as the static model, the defect model, and/or the dynamic model is generated. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120109612 | Iterative Inversion of Data From Simultaneous Geophysical Sources - Method for reducing the time needed to perform geophysical inversion by using simultaneous encoded sources in the simulation steps of the inversion process. The geophysical survey data are prepared by encoding ( | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120116740 | METHOD FOR CHARACTERIZING THE FRACTURE NETWORK OF A FRACTURED RESERVOIR AND METHOD FOR DEVELOPING IT - The invention is a method for constructing a representation of a fluid reservoir traversed by a fracture network and by at least one well. The reservoir is discretized into a set of grid cells and the fractures are characterized by statistical parameters from observations of the reservoir. An equivalent permeability tensor and an average fracture opening is constructed from an image representative of the fracture network delimiting porous blocks and fractures is then deduced from the statistical parameters. A first elliptical boundary zone centered on the well and at least a second elliptical boundary zone centered on the well which form an elliptical ring with the elliptical boundary of the first zone are defined around the well. The image representative of the fracture network is simplified in a different manner for each of the zones which is used to construct the representation of the fluid reservoir. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120130696 | Optimizing Well Management Policy - A field operating policy for a subsurface region is optimized by setting initial policy parameters for the subsurface region. Fluid flow within a subsurface region is simulated, wherein the simulation includes optimizing an objective function for field operating policy, the objective function corresponding simultaneously to the modeled fluid flow characteristics of one or more wellbores within the subsurface region and relating to at least one production system performance parameter. Optimizing the objective function for field operating policy may include optimizing the initial policy parameters for the subsurface region with an over time optimization technique, wherein the policy parameters are optimized for a predetermined policy period. An enhanced value of the objective function is determined at each timestep within the predetermined policy period. The optimized policy parameters for the predetermined policy period may serve as constraints in the determination of an enhanced value of the objective function at each timestep within the predetermined policy period. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120136641 | MACHINE, COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT AND METHOD TO CARRY OUT PARALLEL RESERVOIR SIMULATION - A machine, computer program product, and method to enable scalable parallel reservoir simulations for a variety of simulation model sizes are described herein. Some embodiments of the disclosed invention include a machine, methods, and implemented software for performing parallel processing of a grid defining a reservoir or oil/gas field using a plurality of sub-domains for the reservoir simulation, a parallel process of re-ordering a local cell index for each of the plurality of cells using characteristics of the cell and location within the at least one sub-domain and a parallel process of simulating at least one production characteristic of the reservoir. | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120143577 | PRIORITIZING WELL DRILLING PROPOSITIONS - Embodiments of the present disclosure include one or more of a method, computing device, computer-readable medium, and system for prioritizing drilling propositions. An example embodiment of the present disclosure may include a method that includes providing a reservoir simulator for simulating a reservoir model, wherein the reservoir model defines a plurality of wells to be drilled. The method may further include storing model state information related to the reservoir model; calculating a potential production of at least a portion of the wells to be drilled by simulating one or more timesteps; and restoring the model state information to the reservoir model. In addition, the method may include using the reservoir simulator to simulate the reservoir model with a drilling priority, wherein the drilling priority is based on the calculated potential production. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120143578 | METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING A FLOW MODEL ASSOCIATED WITH CAPILLARY PRESSURE CURVES AND/OR RELATIVE PERMEABILITY CURVES - A method of constructing a reservoir flow model from capillary pressure curves (Pc) and/or relative permeability curves (Kr) is disclosed having application to petroleum reservoir development, acid gas storage and underground water management. After discretizing the reservoir into a set of cells, a principal component analysis is performed for a data table constructed from curves (Pc, Kr) so as to extract principal factors explaining the data. The curves are represented in a representation space constructed from these principal factors and the curves represented in the representation space are classified. At least one curve representative of each class resulting from this classification is then defined and associated with each cell. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120143579 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONFIGURING CRUDE OIL DISPLACEMENT SYSTEM - A computer-implemented method for determining one or more operating modes for a crude oil displacement system is provided. The crude oil displacement system is arranged to inject an aqueous displacement fluid into one or more reservoirs, each reservoir comprising a porous and permeable rock formation, wherein crude oil and formation water are contained within a pore space of the rock formation. The crude oil displacement system is for use in displacing crude oil from the pore space of the rock formation. The computer-implemented method comprises the steps of receiving measurement data associated with one or more chemical characteristics of the displacement fluid and one or more chemical characteristics of the rock formation, the crude oil and the formation water of the one or more reservoirs, and inputting the measurement data and data representing a predetermined volume of oil into a computer-implemented predictive model. The predictive model is operated so as to generate predicted data indicative of a predicted additional amount of oil, compared to the predetermined volume of oil, that will be displaced by configuring the crude oil displacement system so as to inject the displacement fluid having the chemical characteristics into the one or more reservoirs. On the basis of the predicted data, the one or more operating modes of the crude oil displacement system are determined. A further computer-implemented method employing the predictive model in which predicted data indicative of one or more predicted chemical characteristics of the displacement fluid are generated is also provided. Additionally, a system for configuring a crude oil displacement system is provided. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120150517 | Calculating Liquid Levels in Arbitrarily Shaped Containment Vessels Using Solid Modeling - Systems and method for simulating liquid containment behavior. The system comprises a solid modeler and a nonlinear equation solver. The nonlinear equation solver takes as input the solid model representation of the containment vessel from the solid modeler, a desired orientation in space, dynamic conditions (e.g., lateral acceleration) and an amount of liquid. To find the level of liquid in the vessel, the system solver iteratively performs successive Boolean subtractions using an infinite horizontal half-space that represents the liquid level of the vessel. The resulting sliced solid model is used to compute the volume of the liquid at that level. The iterative system solver terminates when the computed volume of the sliced containment vessel matches the specified volume of liquid (e.g., fuel) within a given tolerance. To accommodate dynamic situations, e.g., when acceleration is present, the horizontal liquid plane is replaced with a plane at an angle that corresponds to the total acceleration. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120150518 | Method and System For Coupling Reservoir and Surface Facility Simulations - A method, system and apparatus are disclosed for coupling independent reservoir and surface facility network simulators. A reservoir simulator is configured to simulate fluid flow in subterranean reservoirs and a surface facility network simulator is configured to simulate fluid flow in production equipment. Simulation of fluid flow in a subterranean reservoir is initiated using the reservoir simulator. Simulation of fluid flow in production equipment is initiated using the surface facility network simulator. The simulated fluid flow in the production equipment includes fluids produced from the subterranean reservoir. The simulation of fluid, flow in the subterranean reservoir is coupled with the simulation of fluid flow in the production equipment using, a sub-domain inflow performance relationship. | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120150519 | ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY SCREENING MODEL - This invention relates to enhanced oil recovery methods to improve hydrocarbon reservoir production. An enhanced oil recovery screening model has been developed which consists of a set of correlations to estimate the oil recovery from miscible and immiscible gas/solvent injection (CO | 06-14-2012 |
| 20120158388 | MODELING SHOCK PRODUCED BY WELL PERFORATING - A method of utilizing a shock model for prediction of perforating effects can include recording measurements of the perforating effects on an actual perforating string in a wellbore, adjusting the shock model so that predictions of the perforating effects output by the shock model substantially match the measurements of the perforating effects, and causing the adjusted shock model to predict the perforating effects for a proposed perforating string. A method of predicting perforating effects on a perforating string in a wellbore can include inputting a three dimensional well model and a three dimensional model of the perforating string into a shock model, and causing the shock model to predict the perforating effects on the perforating string. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120158389 | Method and System For Rapid Model Evaluation Using Multilevel Surrogates - The present techniques disclose methods and systems for rapidly evaluating multiple models using multilevel surrogates (for example, in two or more levels). These surrogates form a hierarchy in which surrogate accuracy increases with its level. At the highest level, the surrogate becomes an accurate model, which may be referred to as a full-physics model (FPM). The higher level surrogates may be used to efficiently train the low level surrogates (more specifically, the lowest level surrogate in most applications), reducing the amount of computing resources used. The low level surrogates are then used to evaluate the entire parameter space for various purposes, such as history matching, evaluating the performance of a hydrocarbon reservoir, and the like. | 06-21-2012 |
| 20120173220 | Numerical simulation method for characterizing fluid channelling along large-aperture fractures of reservoirs - A numerical simulation method for characterizing fluid channeling along large-aperture fractures of reservoirs relates to the field of petroleum reservoir development research and computational fluid dynamics. The conventional method can not effectively represent the rapid fluid channeling along large-aperture fractures. Aiming at solving the above technical problem, an advanced method is provided in the present invention. In the invented method, the geometric similarity and hydraulic similarity treatments of large-aperture fractures can be made simultaneously, moreover, the traditional numerical simulation software was improved to be an unstructured grid simulator. Therefore, the method of the present invention can effectively simulate the rapid fluid channeling along large-aperture fractures, consequently it can ensure the reliability of the simulation results and provide reasonable reference for the adjustment and optimization of oil field development plans. The present invention is simple in principle and easy to use, thus it has a great value of application and popularization. | 07-05-2012 |
| 20120179443 | DYNAMIC GRID REFINEMENT - A method for enhanced oil recovery, comprising selecting a target reservoir comprising hydrocarbons; inputting a plurality of parameters concerning the reservoir and the hydrocarbons into a simulator; and modeling an enhanced oil recovery technique with the simulator using dynamic local grid refinement to provide additional model resolution of a front between an enhanced oil recovery injectant and the hydrocarbons. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120179444 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING DOWNHOLE STIMULATION OPERATIONS - A system and method for performing stimulation operations at a wellsite having a subterranean formation with of a reservoir therein is provided. The method involves performing reservoir characterization to generate a mechanical earth model based on integrated petrophysical, geomechanical and geophysical data. The method also involves generating a stimulation plan by performing well planning, a staging design, a stimulation design and a production prediction based on the mechanical earth model. The stimulation design is optimized by repeating the well planning, staging design, stimulation design, and production prediction in a feedback loop until an optimized stimulation plan is generated. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120179445 | Systems and Methods for Modeling Wellbore Trajectories - Systems and methods for modeling wellbore trajectories, which can be used to model corresponding drillstring trajectories and transform the torque-drag drill string model into a full stiff-string formulation. | 07-12-2012 |
| 20120185225 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING DOWNHOLE STIMULATION OPERATIONS - A system and method for performing stimulation operations at a wellsite having a subterranean formation with of a reservoir therein is provided. The method involves generating a plurality of quality indicators from a plurality of logs, and combining the plurality of quality indicators to form a composite quality indicator. The composite quality indicator may be combined with a stress log to form a combined stress and composite quality indicator, the combined stress and composite quality indicator comprising a plurality of blocks with boundaries therebetween. The method may further comprise identifying classifications for the plurality of blocks; defining stages along the combined stress and composite quality indicator based on the classifications; and selectively positioning perforations in select stages based on the classifications thereon. | 07-19-2012 |
| 20120191432 | VISUALIZING FLUID FLOW IN SUBSURFACE RESERVOIRS - In visualizing flow in subsurface reservoirs, a system partitions flow information according to source-sink pairs and streamlines in a reservoir. The system displays dynamic streamline flow indicators and flow animations, such as 3D pie charts, to dynamically show flow contributions and properties at each well. A pie chart displayed at a producer well may have pie wedges that dynamically update to show the percentage of fluid being received via streamlines from each of multiple injectors. Highlighting the chart highlights all wells contributing to the output. Radial sections of each pie wedge may be further mapped to show the flow rate of components, such as oil, water, and gas phases in a streamline. Each chart may show many other properties and may be stacked across time steps. The system also displays streamline properties with animations, which demonstrate flow velocity and model properties, such as phase components, rates, volumes, etc., through color and size codes. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120191433 | METHOD FOR REAL-TIME RESERVOIR MODEL UPDATING FROM DYNAMIC DATA WHILE KEEPING THE COHERENCE THEREOF WITH STATIC OBSERVATIONS - The invention is a method for real-time updating of a geological model using dynamic data while maintaining the coherence thereof with static observations. An initial set of reservoir property maps, obtained from stochastic simulations of a random function, are available. Parameters providing new realizations of the random function when applied to the set are selected. New maps are created using initial values of the parameters. As soon as new dynamic data are available, the parameters are modified to reduce a difference between the simulated data for perturbed models and the measured data. Finally, the reservoir is developed using a modified development scheme to account for the deformed maps. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120215511 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MODELING A SUBTERRANEAN RESERVOIR - A computer-implemented reservoir prediction system, method, and software are provided for updating simulation models of a subterranean reservoir. An ensemble of reservoir models representing a subterranean reservoir having non-Gaussian characteristics is provided, along with reservoir data from the subterranean reservoir used to condition the ensemble of reservoir models. For each of the reservoir models in the ensemble of reservoir models, a constrained optimization with equality constraints and inequality constraints are solved using a constrained Kernel Ensemble Kalman Filter to obtain a constrained optimal solution. The constrained optimal solutions are assembled to update the ensemble of reservoir models. The updated ensemble of reservoir models are consistent with the reservoir data provided from the subterranean reservoir and the non-Gaussian characteristics of the subterranean reservoir are preserved. | 08-23-2012 |
| 20120215512 | System And Method For Uncertainty Quantification In Reservoir Simulation - A computer-implemented reservoir prediction system, method, and software are provided for quantifying uncertainty and evaluating production performance of a subterranean reservoir. A reservoir simulation model representing a subterranean reservoir and an associated distribution of input variables are provided. A plurality of polynomial chaos expansions is generated. Each polynomial chaos expansion is used to approximate a simulation output of the reservoir simulation model for the distribution of input variables. Deterministic coefficients of the polynomial chaos expansions are calculated using a sampling process, such as a quasi-Monte Carlo method using a low discrepancy sequence. An output variable, such as cumulative oil production, and associated output variable uncertainty are forecasted using the polynomial chaos expansions and the deterministic coefficients such that production performance of the subterranean reservoir can be evaluated. | 08-23-2012 |
| 20120215513 | Method and Apparatus For Reservoir Modeling and Simulation - A method and apparatus for generating a simulation grid for a reservoir model based on a geological model comprising horizons, constraints and multiple geological grid cells. A pre-image is generated corresponding to the geological grid cells, the pre-image comprising a surface and the modeling constraints being mapped onto the surface. A constrained two-dimensional grid is generated on the pre-image, the two-dimensional grid comprising multiple grid cells. Simulation layer boundaries are selected from the geological model and the constrained two-dimensional grid is projected onto the simulation layer boundaries. Prismatic cells are then generated to form the three-dimensional simulation grid. The method of generating a grid as herein described may be incorporated in existing reservoir simulators to improve their accuracy. | 08-23-2012 |
| 20120221308 | Portable Drilling Simulation System - A portable drilling simulation system includes a main control computer, a graphic processing computer, a choke console and a blowout preventer console. The main control computer, the graphic processing computer, the choke console and the blowout preventer console are interconnected by a network and serial ports. The blowout preventer console includes a blowout preventer control panel. On the left of the blowout preventer control panel is provided a blowout preventer control zone. On the upper right is provided a throttling manifold control zone. On the lower right is provided a high-pressure manifold control zone. The flow plug console includes a flow plug control panel. A main control program runs on the main control computer and a graphic processing program runs on the graphic computer. The regular blowout preventer console, the regular throttling manifold, the regular high-pressure manifold and the regular flow plug console are integrated into the portable drilling simulation system, thus the simulated operation of several apparatuses on the control panel is realized. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120232871 | METHOD FOR 3-D GRAVITY FORWARD MODELING AND INVERSION IN THE WAVENUMBER DOMAIN - A method for determining spatial distribution of a property within a volume of subsurface formations includes generating an initial model of spatial distribution of a property of the formations using available data related to the property distribution within the volume. A forward model is generated in the wavenumber domain of spatial distribution of a potential field. Measurements of a physical parameter having a potential field obtained at spaced apart locations above the volume and/or in at least one wellbore penetrating the volume are entered. A revised model of spatial distribution of the potential field is generated by interpolating the measurements of the parameter. The interpolating is performed in the wavenumber domain. A revised model of spatial distribution of the physical property is generated by inversion in the wavenumber domain of the revised potential field model. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120232872 | MODELING HYDRAULIC FRACTURES - A method for modeling hydraulic fractures of a well. The method includes receiving a reservoir model that describes petrophysical properties of a subsurface of the earth near a reservoir. The method then receives one or more mechanical properties of the reservoir and generating a geomechanical model of the reservoir based on the reservoir model and the mechanical properties. After generating the geomechanical model of the reservoir, the method generates a three dimensional (3D) representation of the hydraulic fractures based on the geomechanical model and the reservoir model. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120232873 | Systems and Methods for Improved Positioning of Pads - Systems and methods for the automated positioning of pads and orienting of slot templates for the pads. The systems and methods also include automated adjustment of well path plans from a pad to selected well targets. | 09-13-2012 |
| 20120239363 | PRODUCTION ESTIMATION IN SUBTERRANEAN FORMATIONS - A system has a tool capable of obtaining data that characterizes a stimulated reservoir or from which the stimulated reservoir can be characterized. The system also includes a processor capable of predicting the production of the stimulated reservoir using the characterizing data and outputting the predicted production. A reservoir may be stimulated using a stimulation process and data may be obtained that characterizes the stimulated reservoir or from which the stimulated reservoir can be characterized. The production of the stimulated reservoir may be predicted using the data. Alternatively, a reservoir may be stimulated using a stimulation process and data that characterizes the stimulated reservoir or from which the stimulated reservoir can be characterized may be obtained. One or more 3-D volumes may be produced based on the characterizing data, and inferences about the stimulated reservoir may be made using the one or more 3-D volumes. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120245911 | Simulating dynamic reservoir behaviour - A method for simulating and displaying dynamic reservoir behavior. | 09-27-2012 |
| 20120253770 | Method and System For Creating History Matched Simulation Models - A method for matching production history to flow simulations includes identifying a plurality of parameters that control an objective function measuring the mismatch between a flow simulation response in a parameter subspace and a production history. A value is calculated for an objective function and for a static measurement at each of a plurality of experiments in the parameter subspace. These results are used to develop a mathematical relationship between one or more static measurements and the objective function. During subsequent adjustment of the simulation model, a target window in the objective function is identified, and flow simulations are performed for each modified model that is predicted from the static geologic measurement to produce an objective function within the window. An objective function of each flow simulation to the production history is calculated and the procedure is iterated until the objective function is within a target range. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120265512 | UPDATING GEOLOGICAL FACIES MODELS USING THE ENSEMBLE KALMAN FILTER - The invention relates to a method for history matching a facies geostatistical model using the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) technique. The EnKF is not normally appropriate for discontinuous facies models such as multiple point simulation (MPS). In the method of the invention, an ensemble of realizations are generated and then uniform vectors on which those realizations are based are transformed to Gaussian vectors before applying the EnKF to the Gaussian vectors directly. The updated Gaussian vectors are then transformed back to uniform vectors which are used to update the realizations. The uniform vectors may be vectors on which the realizations are based directly; alternatively each realization may be based on a plurality of uniform vectors linearly combined with combination coefficients. In this case each realization is associated with a uniform vector made up from the combination coefficients, and the combination coefficient vector is then transformed to Gaussian and updated using EnKF. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120271608 | DISCONTINUITY DETECTION - Implementations of discontinuity detection are described. In one possible embodiment, information associated with a computer-generated model is accessed. A location associated with a feature in the model can be reviewed for possible discontinuity properties by comparing an orientation associated with the location to an orientation of a true normal to the feature associated with a specific point nearby the location. In one possible aspect, if the orientation associated with the location and the true normal are within a given range of one another, the location can be flagged as a possible discontinuity in the feature. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120271609 | METHODS AND COMPUTING SYSTEMS FOR HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION - Methods and computing systems for hydrocarbon exploration are disclosed. In one embodiment, an integrated petroleum systems model is generated for an area of interest, wherein the integrated petroleum systems model is based on: a geological outline, a set of satellite remote sensing data, and a set of airborne remote sensing data. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120278053 | Method of Providing Flow Control Devices for a Production Wellbore - A method of providing a production string for a wellbore formed in a formation is disclosed. The method, in one embodiment may include: defining a performance criterion for flow of a fluid from a formation into a wellbore; performing a simulation using a processor, a simulation program, a parameter of the fluid, a parameter of the formation and a parameter of the wellbore to determine a first flow characteristic of the flow of the fluid from the formation into the wellbore corresponding to an initial set of flow control devices arranged in the wellbore; performing one or more additional simulations using the processor, the simulation program and the parameters of formation, fluid and wellbore to determine a new flow characteristic of the flow of the fluid from the formation into the wellbore for a new set of flow control devices until a new determined characteristic of the flow of the fluid from the formation into the wellbore meets the performance criterion; and storing results of simulation results relating to the flow control devices in a suitable storage medium. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120290277 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CHARACTERIZING RESERVOIR FORMATION EVALUATION UNCERTAINTY - A method is provided that utilizes independent data spatial bootstrap to quantitatively derive P10, P50 and P90 reservoir property logs and zonal averages. The method utilizes at least a “baseline” dataset that is assumed to be correct, and determines the distribution of possible input parameter values that provide the most optimal solution to fit the log analysis to the core data. In one embodiment, independent data spatial bootstrap method can be applied to determine the uncertainty of porosity and saturation. | 11-15-2012 |
| 20120296617 | Methods For Characterization Of Petroleum Fluid And Application Thereof - An improved method that performs downhole fluid analysis of the fluid properties of a reservoir of interest and that characterizes the reservoir of interest based upon such downhole fluid analysis. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20120296618 | Multiscale Geologic Modeling of a Clastic Meander Belt Including Asymmetry Using Multi-Point Statistics - Facies modeling with multi-point statistics (MPS) is used for modeling the outline and internal geometry of a sand belt deposited by high sinuosity, meandering river channels, covering all three different scales relevant to describe the heterogeneity of properties affecting fluid flow in the sand belt. The full complexity of real sediments can be modeled if symmetry and geometric opposition are analyzed and used to condition the modeling processes at each of the scales with auxiliary variables to produce realistic results. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20120296619 | Method and System For Partitioning Parallel Simulation Models - A method is presented for partitioning a simulation model into a plurality of subdomains that may each be assigned to one of a plurality of processors. The method includes creating a representation of a topology graph of a simulation model in a tangible, computer readable medium. The topology graph includes a plurality of computational elements and a plurality of connections between those elements. Each of the plurality of connections is weighted to create a plurality of weights, and each of the plurality of weights is scaled. Optionally, the weights can be mapped to different interval of values. Based on the weights information the topology graph is partitioned into two or more subdomains, wherein a partition boundary follows a local topographical minimum in the topology graph. A subdomain is assigned to each of the plurality of processors. | 11-22-2012 |
| 20120303347 | METHOD FOR PHYSICAL MODELING OF RESERVOIRS - Disclosed is method for simulating materials subsurface to the earth. The method includes: receiving dimensions of each subsurface material to be simulated; receiving a value of a property for each of subsurface materials to be simulated; and constructing a three-dimensional physical model of the subsurface materials using a three-dimensional printer, the three-dimensional printer being configured to print one or more layers of a print material for each of the subsurface materials being represented in the model wherein dimensions and a property value of the print material for each subsurface material being represented corresponds to the dimensions and the property value for that subsurface material. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120310613 | METHOD TO IMPROVE RESERVOIR SIMULATION AND RECOVERY FROM FRACTURED RESERVOIRS - A method for modeling flow properties over a series of time increments of a reservoir in an earth formation having a plurality of fractures is disclosed. The method includes: building a three-dimensional stress field representing stresses in the reservoir; building a three-dimensional discrete fracture network (NFM) having fracture flow properties using information obtained from a tool or changes to the stress field; running a flow simulation of the reservoir for a time increment using the NFM to model the flow properties of the reservoir for that time increment; computing a latest change in the three-dimensional stress field from the flow simulation; and incrementing the time increment and iterating the building the NFM using the latest change in the stress field, the running of the flow simulation using the latest NFM, and the computing a latest change in the stress field from the latest running of the flow simulation. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120310614 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PREDICTING THE EFFECT OF MICROBES INJECTED INTO AN OIL-BEARING RESERVOIR - 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, is provided. Measurement data representing the effect of injecting the microbes into a multiple coreflood apparatus is received. The multiple coreflood apparatus comprises at least first and second material samples indicative of a rock formation associated with said oil-bearing reservoir, the 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. Selected data of the received measurement data is input into a computer-implemented reservoir model configured to simulate said effect of microbe injected in relation to the second grid. The reservoir model is executed to generate reservoir model data indicative of the effect of injecting the microbes into the multiple coreflood apparatus. Parameters of the reservoir model are adjusted by matching the reservoir model data against the measurement data, in order to calibrate the reservoir model. The calibrated reservoir model is then executed for the first grid to predict the effect of injecting the microbes into the reservoir. A corresponding system, and a method and apparatus for generating data indicative of the effect of injecting microbes into an oil-bearing reservoir, are also provided. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120323544 | RESERVOIR CALIBRATION PARAMETERIZATION METHOD - A method is described for producing an amended realization of a geostatistical model of a hydrocarbon reservoir using the Karhunen-Loève (KL) expansion. The KL expansion may be used to produce amended realizations for history matching and is widely used. However, it is necessary in order to use the KL expansion to perform singular value decomposition of the covariance matrix of the model to provide eigenvectors and eigen values for use in the expansion. In a typical geostatistical model, the covariance matrix is too large for singular value decomposition to be performed. Prior solutions to this problem involved reducing the resolution of the model so as to reduce the size of the covariance matrix. In the method described, a plurality of random realizations are generated and an approximation of the covariance matrix is constructed from the realizations, the approximation matrix having smaller dimensions than the true covariance matrix. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20120330634 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HYDROCARBON PRODUCTION FORECASTING - A system and method for hydrocarbon production forecasting which includes creating an integrated production model representative of at least two interconnected subsurface tanks, at least one well, and a surface network, wherein the surface network comprises multiple components including at least one pipeline; parameterizing a subsurface part of the integrated production model by using material balance to characterize the at least two interconnected subsurface tanks; parameterizing a well part of the integrated production model based in part on well geometry; parameterizing the surface network based on the multiple components of the surface network; combining the parameterized subsurface part, the parameterized well part and the parameterized surface network into an improved integrated production model; forecasting hydrocarbon production based on the improved integrated production model and displaying the input, output and intermediary products. | 12-27-2012 |
| 20130006597 | SIMULATING SUBTERRANEAN FRACTURE PROPAGATION - Systems, methods, and instructions encoded in a computer-readable medium can perform operations related to simulating subterranean fracture propagation. A subterranean formation model representing rock blocks of a subterranean formation is received. The subterranean formation model is used to predict a response of each rock block to one or more forces acting on the rock block during an injection treatment for the subterranean formation. The predicted responses of the rock blocks may include, for example, a fracture, a rotation, a displacement, a dilation of an existing fracture, and/or another type of response. In some implementations, an injection treatment may be designed for a subterranean formation based on the predicted response of the rock blocks. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130018642 | Hierarchical Modeling of Physical Systems and Their Uncertainties - A hierarchical modeling tool or process is provided that represents the fill range of behavior of a hydrocarbon system, accurately including uncertainties and potential events affecting the system. The potential events may include actions taken and information learned. The hierarchical modeling tool may be embedded within a decision support system or used in a stand-alone fashion. Disclosed aspects may link from accurate (high-detail) physics models to an accurate uncertainty representation, and then reduce the accurate uncertainty representation to a high-speed representation of both the physics model and the uncertainty that can be used in an optimizer. | 01-17-2013 |
| 20130024174 | Systems and Methods for Dynamically Developing Wellbore Plans With a Reservoir Simulator - Systems and methods for dynamically developing a wellbore plan with a reservoir simulator. The systems and methods develop a plan for multiple wellbores with a reservoir simulator based on actual and potential reservoir performance. | 01-24-2013 |
| 20130030782 | N-PHASIC FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR CALCULATING A FULLY COUPLED RESPONSE OF MULTIPHASE COMPOSITIONAL FLUID FLOW AND A SYSTEM FOR UNCERTAINTY ESTIMATION OF THE CALCULATED RESERVOIR RESPONSE - In an exemplary embodiment, a method is disclosed for developing an N-phasic finite element model for performing fully coupled analyses of multi-phase compositional fluid flow and heat flow in nonlinearly deforming porous solid media with time-dependent failure. The method can include formulating a finite element model of the behavior of a coupled solid-fluid formation, having complex geometry and behavior, and applying the model to derive the response of the formation in the form of one or more displacement fields for the solid phases and one or more pressure fields for the fluid phases in a zone of interest in a formation. In an exemplary embodiment, a system is disclosed for estimating the uncertainties in the derived displacement and pressure field solutions for the response of the fully coupled solid-fluid phases. | 01-31-2013 |
| 20130035919 | SYSTEMS AND PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR PERFORMING A FULLY AUTOMATED WORKFLOW FOR WELL PERFORMANCE MODEL CREATION AND CALIBRATION - Systems and program product for creating and calibrating production and injection well models for a reservoir, are provided. An example of a system for creating and calibrating well models can include a well performance modeling computer and well performance modeling program product program product. The well performance modeling program product can include instructions that when executed by the well performance modeling computer cause the computer to perform operations including those for performing a comprehensive retrieval or gathering of required data components, feeding the gathered data into well performance software to thereby develop a model of the well, performing an initial calibration of the well model, performing a total system calibration on the well model, and performing a recalibration to fine tune the well model. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130035920 | METHODS FOR PERFORMING A FULLY AUTOMATED WORKFLOW FOR WELL PERFORMANCE MODEL CREATION AND CALIBRATION - Methods for creating and calibrating production and injection well models for a reservoir, are provided. An example of a method for creating and calibrating well models can include performing a comprehensive retrieval or gathering of required data components, feeding the gathered data into well performance software to thereby develop a model of the well, performing an initial calibration of the well model, performing a total system calibration on the well model, and performing a recalibration to fine tune the well model. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130066617 | Methods of Hydraulically Fracturing a Subterranean Formation - A method is provided for performing a fracture treatment on a subterranean formation. The method includes acquiring subterranean formation layer geomechanical properties, which include well completion and reservoir data for the subterranean formation. The method also includes inputting geomechanical properties of the formation into a model, and simulating propagation of a network of fractures in the formation. The method further includes predicting a flow rate and pressure distribution throughout the network of fractures by solving governing deformation and flow equations, and predicting a result of the fracture treatment. The model is adjusted if the predicted result is not satisfactory. | 03-14-2013 |
| 20130073272 | Discretized Physics-Based Models and Simulations of Subterranean Regions, and Methods For Creating and Using the Same - Methods for creating and using discretized physics-based models of subsurface regions, which may contain a hydrocarbon reservoir or other subsurface feature(s). The methods may include selecting a pre-solved model, applying a mesh to the pre-solved model, defining the shape of the subsurface region to be modeled, and transforming the pre-solved model, to which the mesh has been applied, to the shape of the subsurface region. In some methods, the pre-solved model is an idealized model. In some methods, the mesh is applied to a solution of potential field lines associated with the pre-solved model, and in some methods, the solution of potential field lines is a composite solution of a plurality of solutions of potential field lines. In some methods, one or more supershapes are used to define the shape of the subsurface region. In some methods, a hyperelastic strain deformation calculation is utilized for the transforming. | 03-21-2013 |
| 20130080133 | CORE-PLUG TO GIGA-CELLS LITHOLOGICAL MODELING - Well core data descriptions are received as input digital data for computer lithofacies modeling. Digital templates are established for carbonate and clastic core description based on reservoir rock formation analysis. Description criteria of the template for carbonate rock can include texture, mineral composition, grain size, and pore type. For clastic rock, the criteria in the template can include grain size, sedimentary structure, lithology, and visual porosity. The data and observations regarding these criteria are entered into a computer 3D geological modeling system directly. Wireline log data are integrated to calibrate with well core description to derive lithofacies. The lithofacies are exported in digital format to be entered into the 3D geological modeling system. A geologically realistic model of the reservoir can be established. | 03-28-2013 |
| 20130090906 | HIGH PERFORMANCE AND GRID COMPUTING WITH QUALITY OF SERVICE CONTROL - High performance computing (HPC) and grid computing processing for seismic and reservoir simulation are performed without impacting or losing processing time in case of failures. A Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard is implemented in High Performance Computing (HPC) and grid computing platforms, to avoid the shortcomings of current Message Passing Interface (MPI) communication between computing modules, and provide quality of service (QoS) for such applications. QoS properties of the processing can be controlled. | 04-11-2013 |
| 20130090907 | Method and System For Parallel Simulation Models - A method for modeling a hydrocarbon reservoir. A representation of a simulation model is generated in a non-transitory, computer readable medium. The simulation model is used to generate computational tasks. The tasks are allocated among a plurality of computational nodes. Each processing node of the plurality of computational nodes includes core processors and a shared memory accessible by the core processors. The reservoir simulation is executed on the plurality of computational nodes. During the reservoir simulation, if a first processing node in the plurality of computational nodes finishes executing its allocated tasks, a migration request is sent from the first processing node to another processing node in the plurality of computational nodes. The migration request is configured to request migration of a movable task from the other processing node to the first processing node. The movable task is migrated from the other processing node to the first processing node. | 04-11-2013 |
| 20130096896 | 4D SATURATION MODELING - Saturation models of subsurface reservoirs of interest are formed in a computer based on data from well logs, production data and core data. Data of these types obtained over a period of time are used to form 4-D Saturation models of a reservoir illustrative of fluid movement in the reservoir over time. The saturation models based on actual data are theft available for analysts to evaluate and display how gas and water have moved within the reservoir over time. | 04-18-2013 |
| 20130096897 | RESERVOIR MODELING WITH 4D SATURATION MODELS AND SIMULATION MODELS - Production based saturation models of subsurface reservoirs of interest are formed in a computer based on data from well logs, production data and core data. Data of these types obtained over a period of time are used to form 4-D actual or measured production based saturation models of a reservoir illustrative of fluid movement in the reservoir over time. Simulation models of fluid saturation of the reservoir are also formed for comparable times. Composite models of the production based saturation models and the simulation models are formed for analysts to evaluate accuracy of the simulation models of the reservoir taking into account production experience. The simulation models can then be adjusted for changes noted in the reservoir and based on how gas and water have actually moved within the reservoir over time. | 04-18-2013 |
| 20130096898 | Methods and Systems For Machine - Learning Based Simulation of Flow - There is provided a method for modeling a hydrocarbon reservoir that includes generating a reservoir model that has a plurality of sub regions. A solution surrogate is obtained for a sub region by searching a database of existing solution surrogates to obtain an approximate solution surrogate based on a comparison of physical, geometrical, or numerical parameters of the sub region with physical, geometrical, or numerical parameters associated with the existing surrogate solutions in the database. If an approximate solution surrogate does not exist in the database, the sub region is simulated using a training simulation to obtain a set of training parameters comprising state variables and boundary conditions of the sub region. A machine learning algorithm is used to obtain a new solution surrogate based on the set of training parameters. The hydrocarbon reservoir can be simulated using the solution surrogate obtained for the at least one sub region. | 04-18-2013 |
| 20130096899 | Methods And Systems For Machine - Learning Based Simulation of Flow - There is provided a method for modeling a hydrocarbon reservoir that includes generating a reservoir model comprising a plurality of coarse grid cells. The method includes generating a fine grid model corresponding to one of the coarse grid cells and simulating the fine grid model using a training simulation to generate a set of training parameters comprising boundary conditions of the coarse grid cell. A machine learning algorithm may be used to generate, based on the set of training parameters, a coarse scale approximation of a phase permeability of the coarse grid cell. The hydrocarbon reservoir can be simulated using the coarse scale approximation of the effective phase permeability generated for the coarse grid cell. The method also includes generating a data representation of a physical hydrocarbon reservoir in a non-transitory, computer-readable, medium based at least in part on the results of the simulation. | 04-18-2013 |
| 20130096900 | Methods and Systems For Machine - Learning Based Simulation of Flow - There is provided a method for modeling a hydrocarbon reservoir that includes generating a reservoir model comprising a plurality of sub regions. At least one of the sub regions is simulated using a training simulation to obtain a set of training parameters comprising state variables and boundary conditions of the at least one sub region. A machine learning algorithm is used to approximate, based on the set of training parameters, an inverse operator of a matrix equation that provides a solution to fluid flow through a porous media. The hydrocarbon reservoir can be simulated using the inverse operator approximated for the at least one sub region. The method also includes generating a data representation of a physical hydrocarbon reservoir can be generated in a non-transitory, computer-readable, medium based, at least in part, on the results of the simulation. | 04-18-2013 |
| 20130110483 | METHOD FOR MEASUREMENT SCREENING UNDER RESERVOIR UNCERTAINTY | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130110484 | RESERVOIR MODELLING WITH MULTIPLE POINT STATISTICS FROM A NON-STATIONARY TRAINING IMAGE | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130110485 | Determining Interwell Communication | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130110486 | IINTEGRATING RESERVOIR MODELING WITH MODELING A PERTURBATION | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130116998 | STATISTICAL RESERVOIR MODEL BASED ON DETECTED FLOW EVENTS - Computerized method and system for deriving a statistical reservoir model of associations between injecting wells and producing wells. Potential injector events are interactively identified from time series measurement data of flow rates at the wells, with confirmation that some response to those injector events appears at producing wells. Gradient analysis is applied to cumulative production time series of the producing wells, to identify points in time at which the gradient of cumulative production changes by more than a threshold value. The identified potential producer events are spread in time and again thresholded. An automated association program rank orders injector-producer associations according to strength of the association. A capacitance-resistivity reservoir model is evaluated, using the flow rate measurement data, for the highest-ranked injector-producer associations. Additional associations are added to subsequent iterations of the reservoir model, until improvement in the uncertainty in the evaluated model parameters is not statistically significant. | 05-09-2013 |
| 20130124178 | MULTISEGMENT FRACTURES - A method can include identifying a discrete natural fracture in a three-dimensional environment that includes a reservoir modeled by a three-dimensional grid model, representing the discrete natural fracture via a multisegment model in a two-dimensional region within the three-dimensional grid model, defining at least one connection for fluid communication between the multisegment model and the three-dimensional grid model, defining boundary conditions for the multisegment model, and solving the multisegment model subject to the at least one connection and the boundary conditions to provide values for fluid flow in the two-dimensional region. Various other apparatuses, systems, methods, etc., are also disclosed. | 05-16-2013 |
| 20130132055 | METHOD FOR OPTIMIZING THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN UNDERGROUND MEDIUM BY MEANS OF A RESERVOIR STUDY COMPRISING OPTIMIZED UPSCALING - A method for optimizing the development of a fluid reservoir by means of an accelerated reservoir study. A geological model is constructed. A reservoir model is then constructed by upscaling the geological model. The links between cells of the geological model and a cell of the reservoir model where they are contained are determined and stored. Flow simulations are carried out by computer-implemented reservoir simulator, the reservoir model and the links. The above stages are then repeated without repeating the link determination, by modifying parameters of the reservoir study to optimize the development scheme. Finally, the reservoir is developed according to this optimized development scheme. | 05-23-2013 |
| 20130144583 | HYPER-DIMENSIONAL SIMULATION FOR RESERVOIR ENGINEERING AND GEOSCIENCES - A hyper-dimensional simulator performs petroleum reservoir engineering and geosciences in a spatial volume operating environment. The entire spatial volume is ‘active’ for reservoir and geosciences applications. Although points in 3-D space are available for reservoir engineering and geosciences functions, it is conceptually easier to work with virtual, that is hyper dimensional surfaces and media. Limitations of single channel input using the mouse and/or keyboard imposed by prior art methods. | 06-06-2013 |
| 20130179136 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SIMULTANEOUS VISUALIZATION OF FLUID FLOW WITHIN WELL COMPLETIONS AND A RESERVOIR - There is provided a system and method for creating a visualization representing location, type and fluid flow in a completion hardware configuration and the fluid flow in a reservoir containing the completion hardware configuration. An exemplary method comprises obtaining data relating to a location and type of the completion hardware configuration. The exemplary method comprises obtaining data relating to fluid flow within the completion hardware configuration based on the location and type of the completion hardware. Data relating to fluid flow within the reservoir is also obtained. The exemplary method also comprises importing the data relating to the location and type of the completion hardware configuration and the fluid flow within the completion hardware configuration into a main program. Data relating to fluid flow within the reservoir is also imported into the main program. The exemplary method comprises providing a visualization that includes the data relating to the location and type of the completion hardware configuration and the fluid flow within the completion hardware configuration, along with the data relating to fluid flow within the reservoir. | 07-11-2013 |
| 20130179137 | Reducing the Dimensionality of the Joint Inversion Problem - Method for reducing a 3D joint inversion of at least two different types of geophysical data acquired by 3-D surveys ( | 07-11-2013 |
| 20130197892 | METHOD AND SYSTEM OF PLOTTING CORRELATED DATA - Plotting correlated data. At least some of the illustrative embodiments are methods including: displaying on a display system of a computer system a two-dimensional plot of output data related to an earth formation, the output data estimated from a model of the earth formation, and the volume plotted relative to modeled time; placing a cursor shown on the display system over a first portion of the two-dimensional plot, the first portion corresponding to a first modeled time; and displaying on the display system a three-dimensional plot of respective values of a parameter from a plurality of cells of the model of the earth formation, the respective values at the first modeled time. | 08-01-2013 |
| 20130211807 | Method and System for Fracturing a Formation - Systems and methods for fracturing a formation are provided. A method includes generating a subsurface model including the production formation and a zone proximate to the production formation. A number of scenarios are simulated in which a volumetric change is created in the zone proximate to the production formation. A scenario is selected from the plurality of scenarios to stimulate the production formation. The scenario is performed to create a fracture field in the production formation. | 08-15-2013 |
| 20130218545 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR SUBTERRANEAN BORE HOLE FRACTURE SIMULATION - Apparatus and methods for simulation of bore hole fractures are disclosed. A device for simulating a fracture in a subterranean formation comprises a housing, an inlet for directing a sample fluid to the housing, and a first disk and a second disk positioned within the housing. The second disk is movable relative to the first disk to form an adjustable gap between the first disk and the second disk and the sample fluid flows through the adjustable gap. A common collector receives at least a portion of the sample fluid that flows through at least one of the first disk and the second disk. | 08-22-2013 |
| 20130231910 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR WELL PLANNING BASED ON A COMPLEX FRACTURE MODEL - Optimizing well planning scenarios. At least some of the illustrating embodiments include: receiving, by a computer system, a complex fracture model that estimates fractures in a subsurface target; applying the complex fracture model to a reservoir model that estimates geological features between the subsurface target and earth's surface; and determining an earth surface well site and a well path from the earth surface well site to the subsurface target based on the complex fracture model and the geological in formation, wherein the earth surface well site is offset from the subsurface target. | 09-05-2013 |
| 20130238306 | Systems and Methods for Horizontal Well Correlation and Geosteering - Systems and methods for horizontal well correlation and geosteering, which include using a correlated 2D model and updated 3D model to determine target lines from the end of a horizontal section of the wellbore to a target point in the formation. | 09-12-2013 |
| 20130246028 | INPUT PARSING AND ARRAY MANIPULATION IN RESERVOIR SIMULATION - A reservoir simulator forms by parallel processing in a multimode computer system estimates of behavior of a subsurface reservoir organized into a matrix grid of three-dimensional cells. The simulator is provided with a module which acts on input data regarding actual reservoir performance and parameters of interest. A grammar is provided which has a sequence of tokens and actions to be taken by the computer system on the input data. Based on the grammar, the input data are arranged into data structures for processing. The module translates the data structures into a set of arithmetic and logical actions to be applied to the original input data provided to the simulator. | 09-19-2013 |
| 20130246029 | TECHNIQUE FOR ESTABLISHING PREDICTIVE REACH THROUGH A DEVIATED WELL - A method of estimating extended reach for a downhole line traversing a deviated section of a well. The method may include storing line and well architectural and physical data and then performing a static analysis of substantially axial-exclusive estimated friction between the line and well wall during conveyance (which may be thought of as the contact force due to interference therebetween). A one dimensional dynamic analysis may then be performed. Thus, based on these factors, speed of the conveyance, vibration parameters of an incorporated vibration tool, etc., an efficient simulation of the conveyance may be run. | 09-19-2013 |
| 20130246030 | Parallel Adaptive Data Partitioning On A Reservoir Simulation Using An Unstructured Grid - A computer implemented system and method for parallel adaptive data partitioning on a reservoir simulation using an unstructured grid includes a method of simulating a reservoir model which includes generating the reservoir model. The generated reservoir model is partitioned into multiple sets of different domains, each one corresponding to an efficient partition for a specific portion of the model. | 09-19-2013 |
| 20130246031 | Constructing Geologic Models From Geologic Concepts - Method for constructing a geologic model of a subsurface region. A concept region and a geologic concept is selected ( | 09-19-2013 |
| 20130246032 | Optimal Design System for Development Planning of Hydrocarbon Resources - Methods and systems are provided for generating a development plan for a hydrocarbon asset. A high-fidelity computer model of a hydrocarbon asset is created. A low-fidelity computer model of the hydrocarbon asset is created. The low-fidelity computer model is iterated on to an interim solution. A comparison is generated of the interim solution to a solution obtained from a simulation of the high-fidelity computer model at the variables of the interim solution. The low-fidelity computer model is calibrated based, at least in part, on the comparison. The development plan for the hydrocarbon asset is generated based, at least in part, on a result from the calibrated low-fidelity computer model. The low-fidelity computer model is a mixed-integer nonlinear programming problem with complementarity. | 09-19-2013 |
| 20130262069 | TARGETED SITE SELECTION WITHIN SHALE GAS BASINS - Targeted site selection determines the best hydrocarbon producing locations within areas of highest hydrocarbon reserves of a resource play. The best hydrocarbon production locations are selected within an area of favorable conditions for resource production based on source rock and reservoir properties. Risking of hydrocarbon production and productivity includes Monte Carlo simulations of a shale gas production model for targeted sites using probability distributions for petroleum systems model parameters, well parameters, and project parameters. Cumulative probability of recoverable hydrocarbons for the portfolio of targeted hydrocarbon production locations allows the high-grading of areas of greatest potential within the resource play. | 10-03-2013 |
| 20130262070 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SUBSURFACE RESERVOIR CHARACTERIZATION - A system and computer-implemented method for characterizing a subsurface reservoir is presented. The method includes receiving seismic data and at least one migration velocity model representative of the subsurface reservoir and well logs representative of a geologic region similar to the subsurface reservoir; analyzing the well logs to determine regional trends that differentiate at least two of porous sands, cemented sands, and shales; inverting the seismic data to obtain a p-impedance model and an s-impedance model; predicting a gross sand volume from a ratio of the p-impedance to the s-impedance; and determining a porous sand volume from the gross sand volume through a depth dependent cutoff for cemented sand p-impedance values. | 10-03-2013 |
| 20130275105 | FEEDBACK CONTROL USING A SIMLATOR OF A SUBTERRANEAN STRUCTURE - To provide feedback control in a simulation framework, any one of plural output metrics from a simulator of a subterranean structure is selected. A value for the selected output metric is received from the simulator. In response to the received value of the selected output metric and a target value of the selected output metric, at least one setting of the simulator is adjusted by a feedback controller. | 10-17-2013 |
| 20130275106 | Systems and Methods For Subsurface Reservoir Simulation - Systems and methods for providing a reservoir simulation are based on data from an unstructured grid using a structured grid reservoir simulator. Exemplary methods comprise obtaining an unstructured grid reservoir model comprising a reservoir model discretized on an unstructured grid. A virtual structured grid is defined for the unstructured grid reservoir model. The unstructured grid is aligned with the virtual structured grid by adding cells to the unstructured grid to make the unstructured grid and virtual structured grid have the same number of cells. The virtual structured grid may be represented in the unstructured grid. Structured grid reservoir simulator input data comprising reservoir model data assigned to the virtual structured grid is prepared based on reservoir model data in the unstructured grid model. A structured grid reservoir simulation is performed using the structured grid reservoir simulator input data to produce a reservoir simulation. | 10-17-2013 |
| 20130282348 | EFFICIENT DATA MAPPING TECHNIQUE FOR SIMULATION COUPLING USING LEAST SQUARES FINITE ELEMENT METHOD - The coupling of geomechanics to reservoir simulation is essential for many practical situations in the exploitation of hydrocarbons. Such coupling requires cross-mapping block-centered data in reservoir model to nodal data in geomechanical finite element model. If different grid geometries and grid densities between two models are used, this data mapping will become considerably challenging. In this invention, an innovative method is proposed to achieve remarkable accuracy of data mapping from reservoir model to the geomechanical model with ease and quite efficiently using least squares finite element method. The achievement of accurate data mapping will enable efficient simulation coupling between reservoir simulation and geomechanical simulation to investigate some engineering problems in the exploitation of hydrocarbons. | 10-24-2013 |
| 20130282349 | METHOD AND SYSTEM OF UPDATING A GEOCELLULAR MODEL - Updating a geocellular model. At least some of the illustrative embodiments are methods including: modifying a geocellular model of an earth formation based on an actual datum from an actual borehole, the modifying by: selecting a plurality of cells to be removed from the geocellular model; interpolating to determine a new surface using data associated with cells to be removed, data associated with cells not selected for removal, and the actual datum from the actual borehole; and calculating data associated with new cells that replace the cells to be removed, the new cells with locations relative to the new surface. | 10-24-2013 |
| 20130289960 | PROCESS FOR CHARACTERISING THE EVOLUTION OF AN OIL OR GAS RESERVIOR OVER TIME - Disclosed is a process for characterising the evolution of a reservoir by co-analyzing the changes in the propagation times and seismic amplitudes of seismic reflections. The method comprises the steps of: providing a base survey of the reservoir with a set of seismic traces at a first time; providing a monitor survey of the reservoir, taken at a second time, with a set of seismic traces associated to the same positions as in the base survey; and characterising the evolution of the reservoir by inversion to obtain an estimate of the changes having occurred during the time interval between base and monitor surveys. The inversion is regularized by the imposition of a sparsity constraint, such as Cauchy sparsity, which favours inversion solutions for which most of the solution values are equal to zero, while large values of said inversion solutions are preserved. | 10-31-2013 |
| 20130289961 | Methods For Producing Fluids From Geological Formation - Embodiments disclosed herein relate to reservoir characterization techniques and methods for accurately predicting scale tendencies of formation fluids, developed with the newly discovered phenomena that extreme downhole conditions affect the properties of reservoir fluids, including both the brine and dense hydrocarbon gas phases. In one aspect, there is disclosed a method for producing fluids from a geological formation. The method comprises inputting at least one property of a geological formation into an equation of state (EOS) model. The EOS model accounts for bound water, a high temperature effect on the brine and a high temperature effect on the dense gas phase. The EOS model is solved to determine a character of fluids contained in the geological formation, and inputting a production condition or a plurality of production conditions into the EOS model. A character of the fluids is determined based on the determined character of the fluids in the geological formation and the input production conditions. The solution can be output to a display device. Planning of the production of fluids from the geological formation can be performed. Production conditions can be controlled or adjusted. | 10-31-2013 |
| 20130289962 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL MECHANICAL EARTH MODELING - A technique includes receiving a first dataset that is indicative of seismic data acquired in a seismic survey of a field of wells and receiving a second dataset that is indicative of wellbore data acquired in a wellbore survey conducted in at least one of the wells. The technique includes determining a mechanical earth model for the field based at least in part on the seismic data and the wellbore data. | 10-31-2013 |
| 20130297272 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL MULTI-MODAL CORE AND GEOLOGICAL MODELING FOR OPTIMAL FIELD DEVELOPMENT - A roadmap for a field development strategy for optimal recovery is provided in a high quality 3D geological model. This geological model combines geological attributes, pore and rock properties for an optimum 3D representation of the reservoir thousands feet beneath the surface. The model is based on the pertinent geological facies, derived from well core description and detailed studies of rock, as well as fluid and pore properties (Full Pore System) obtained from laboratory analyses of core material and well log data. These data differentiate various important pore throat and pore body regions and relationships, i.e., macroporosity and microporosity. Understanding hydrocarbon volumes in the various pore type groups and then establishing proper recovery techniques through focused laboratory studies yields a field development strategy that can significantly increase hydrocarbon recovery from a reservoir. | 11-07-2013 |
| 20130297273 | MODEL BASED INVERSION OF SEISMIC RESPONSE FOR DETERMINING FORMATION PROPERTIES - A method for characterizing a property of a subterranean formation including collecting well log and seismic data, inverting the data, processing for upscaled petrophysical parameters, constructing a flow model that generates saturation, pressure and temperature, constructing seismic velocity relationships from the results of the flow model, and constructing a seismic model. Some embodiments may form a full waveform model or a ray tracing model. Some embodiments may generate a velocity profile and/or waveforms using the profile. Some embodiments may use the parameters to form a reservoir model or to recover hydrocarbons from the formations. Some embodiments build a reservoir model of CO | 11-07-2013 |
| 20130297274 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS REGARDING MODELS OF UNDERGROUND FORMATIONS - Models of underground formations. At least some of the illustrative embodiments are methods including creating a model of an underground formation. The creating may include: calculating a set of probabilities associated with a first horizontal location, each probability indicative of a likelihood of finding abutting geological layers; estimating a plurality of successions of geological layers to create a plurality of estimated successions, and the estimating using the set of probabilities; determining, for each of the estimated succession, a value indicative of how closely each estimated succession matches a measured succession, the measured succession determined by a seismic survey; and selecting from the plurality of estimated successions based on the values, the selecting creates a selected succession of geological layers, and the plurality of modeled values associated with the first horizontal location determined based on the selected succession of geological layers. | 11-07-2013 |
| 20130304444 | METHOD AND SYSTEMS OF DETERMINING VIABLE HYDRAULIC FRACTURE SCENARIOS - Determining viable hydraulic fracture scenarios. At least some of the illustrative embodiments include: executing a fracture planning program, and determining a set of schedules from the fracture planning program, each schedule comprising a volume of fracture fluid, amount of proppant, and flow rate of the fracture fluid; providing each schedule of the set of schedules to a stress analysis program, executing the stress analysis program, and determining a set of indications from the stress analysis program, each indication indicative of whether a respect schedule exceeds engineering limits of a tubing string; and providing at least some of the schedules to a fracture simulation program, executing the fracture simulation program, and determining a set of fracture geometries from the fracture simulation program, each fracture geometry corresponding to a respective schedule. | 11-14-2013 |
| 20130311158 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR UPSCALING MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF GEOMATERIALS - There is provided a method for modelling a hydrocarbon reservoir that includes generating a reservoir model that has a plurality of sub regions. A solution surrogate is obtained for a sub region by searching a database of existing solution surrogates to obtain an approximate solution surrogate based on a comparison of physical, geometrical, or numerical parameters of the sub region with physical, geometrical, or numerical parameters associated with the existing surrogate solutions in the database. If an approximate solution surrogate does not exist in the database, the sub region is simulated using a training simulation to obtain a set of training parameters comprising state variables and boundary conditions of the sub region. A machine learning algorithm is used to obtain a new solution surrogate based on the set of training parameters. The hydrocarbon reservoir can be simulated using the solution surrogate obtained for the at least one sub region. | 11-21-2013 |
| 20130317798 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR FIELD PLANNING - A method is presented for field planning. The method includes obtaining a shared earth model comprising the hydrocarbon field. The hydrocarbon field comprises an area of ground surface and a reservoir disposed beneath the area of ground surface. The method also includes obtaining a plurality of targets for the reservoir. Additionally, the method includes specifying one or more field planning parameters for accessing the plurality of targets from the surface. The method further includes determining a plurality of well site locations for an entirety of the hydrocarbon field using constraint optimization. The number of well site locations is minimized. The number of the plurality of targets accessible from the plurality of well site locations is maximized. | 11-28-2013 |
| 20130317799 | METHOD OF DETERMINING AN AMOUNT OF ALKALINE AGENT TO BE INJECTED WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY - Method of modelling the evolution of the pH value of a porous medium after injection of an alkaline agent solution into this medium. | 11-28-2013 |
| 20130332130 | Method for Analyzing Water and Preparing Oilfield Fluids Therefrom - The present invention is directed to a method of preparing aqueous fluids for use in a hydrocarbon well. The method includes analyzing a water sample to produce a profile including at least one analyte concentration of the water sample, inputting at least a portion of the profile into a formulation database, wherein the formulation database generates an fluid model including at least one recommendation for the fluid composition of the aqueous fluid for use in the hydrocarbon well. | 12-12-2013 |
| 20130332131 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING DISPLAY OF PETROPHYSICAL PROPERTY HEIGHT PROFILE FOR BOTH VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL WELLBORES - A computerized system creates and communicates to a user a wellbore property-height profile of a selected property, such as permeability, at each cell location defining the wellbore. The property-height value is determined based on a “summation from base” algorithm. The system may also be used to create a property-height profile in horizontal and slant wells, by creating a plurality of vertical pseudo-wells which intersect the trajectory of the horizontal or slant well. | 12-12-2013 |
| 20130332132 | COMPUTERIZED METHOD FOR THE ESTIMATION OF A VALUE FOR AT LEAST A PARAMETER OF A HYDROCARBON-PRODUCING REGION, FOR PLANNING THE OPERATION AND OPERATING THE REGION - A method for the estimation of a value for an investigated parameter of a hydrocarbon-producing region, comprising: a) using a design of experiments tool to determine a ruling law for a match parameter as a function of descriptive parameters, b) conducting a set of experiments using a simulation tool wherein, for each experiment, the region is geometrically and physically modelled, c) determining suitable sets of values for descriptive parameters from the ruling law, and d) determining a value for the investigated parameter from most likely sets of values. | 12-12-2013 |
| 20130338983 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR USE IN SIMULATING A SUBTERRANEAN RESERVOIR - A computer-implemented method, system, and computer program product are disclosed for updating simulation models of a subterranean reservoir. An ensemble of reservoir models representing a subterranean reservoir having non-Gaussian characteristics is provided and the ensemble of reservoir models is updated using a subspace ensemble Kalman filter. Kemal principle component analysis parameterization or K-L expansion parameterization can be used to update the ensemble of reservoir models. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20130338984 | Reservoir Connectivity Analysis In A 3D Earth Model - There is provided a system and method for reservoir connectivity analysis in a 3D earth model. A subsurface region is identified and a baseline reservoir connectivity model is obtained from the subsurface region. Compartments and connections are determined from the baseline reservoir connectivity model using reservoir connectivity analysis, and a set of 3D objects representing the compartments and/or connections is created from the 3D earth model. A mathematical graph structure is created from the 3D objects and reservoir connectivity scenarios are evaluated based on analysis of the mathematical graph structure and 3D objects. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20130338985 | Systems and Methods for Reducing Reservoir Simulator Model Run Time - Systems and methods for reducing run time for a reservoir simulator model using a proxy model based on a neural network. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20130338986 | QUALITY CONTROL OF SUB-SURFACE AND WELLBORE POSITION DATA - There is provided a method of assessing the quality of subsurface position data and wellbore position data, comprising: providing a subsurface position model of a region of the earth including the subsurface position data, wherein each point in the subsurface position model has a quantified positional uncertainty represented through a probability distribution; providing a wellbore position model including the wellbore position data obtained from well-picks from wells in the region, each well-pick corresponding with a geological feature determined by a measurement taken in a well, wherein each point in the wellbore position model has a quantified positional uncertainty represented through a probability distribution; identifying common points, each of which comprises a point in the subsurface position model which corresponds to a well-pick of the wellbore position data; deriving for each common point a local test value representing positional uncertainty: selecting some but not all of the common points and deriving a test value from the local test values of the selected common points; providing a positional error test limit for the selected common points; and comparing the test value with the test limit to provide an assessment of data quality. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20130338987 | Method of Reservoir Compartment Analysis Using Topological Structure In 3D Earth Model - There is provided a system and method for automatically identifying potential compartments of a reservoir based on the reservoirs geological structure. A method of identifying compartments of a reservoir structure includes obtaining structural data corresponding to a geological structure of a reservoir. The method also includes generating a topological net based on the structural data, the topological net comprising critical points and poly segments connecting the critical points. The method also includes identifying potential compartments of the reservoir structure based on the topological net. The method also includes identifying spill or break-over relationships among the potential compartments based on the topological net. | 12-19-2013 |
| 20130346048 | Petrophysical Method For Predicting Shear Strength Anisotropy In Fine-Grained Rock Formations - Method and system is described for modeling one or more geophysical properties of a subsurface volume. In one example, a method for predicting strength anisotropy in subsurface formations along a wellpath comprises receiving a stress model of the subsurface formation in the area of the wellpath. Bulk strength properties of target rock are obtained and used to develop anisotropic failure criteria. The stress model may then be combined with the anisotropic failure criteria to develop an anisotropic wellbore stability model which is used to enhance hydrocarbon recovery. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20130346049 | Method for exploiting a geological reservoir on the basis of a reservoir model matched by means of multiple-scale parameterization - The invention relates to a method for exploiting a geological reservoir which may be a reservoir storing gas (for example CO | 12-26-2013 |
| 20140005996 | INTERACTIVE AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL WELL PATH DESIGN | 01-02-2014 |
| 20140012557 | Systems and Methods for Two-Dimensional Domain Decomposition During Parallel Reservoir Simulation - Systems and methods for 2D domain decomposition during parallel reservoir simulation to balance the active cells in a reservoir model. | 01-09-2014 |
| 20140019106 | System, Method & Computer Program Product to Simulate Drilling Event Scenarios - Systems and related methods to simulate trapped annular pressure and wellhead movement during downhole drilling scenarios. | 01-16-2014 |
| 20140019107 | SYSTEM, METHOD & COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT TO SIMULATE RUPTURE DISK AND SYNTACTIC FOAM TRAPPED ANNULAR PRESSURE MITIGATION IN DOWNHOLE ENVIRONMENTS - Systems and related methods to simulate the use of rupture disks and syntactic foam in the mitigation of trapped annular pressure and wellhead movement during downhole operations. | 01-16-2014 |
| 20140019108 | METHOD FOR EXPLOITING A GEOLOGICAL RESERVOIR FROM A RESERVOIR MODEL MATCHED BY THE COMPUTATION OF AN ANALYTICAL LAW OF CONDITIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF UNCERTAIN PARAMETERS OF THE MODEL - The invention is a method for exploiting a geological reservoir to exploit hydrocarbons or provide gas storage. The exploitation is defined on the basis of a reservoir model calibrated relative to dynamic data. The calibration is carried out by computing an objective function for a set of reservoir models. The objective function makes it possible to determine an analytical law of conditional distribution of the uncertain parameters of the model to generate new reservoir models added to the set of reservoir models. | 01-16-2014 |
| 20140025360 | FLOW PROFILING OF WELLS FROM MULTIPLE LOGS - Models of fluid flow in wells in formation of a subsurface earth reservoir are formed by computers based on measurements obtained by well logging tools run in the wells and measurements of formation rock characteristics obtained from laboratory data. The models so formed are used to form measures of injection/production profiles and assist reservoir engineers in allocation of production and injection wells for the reservoir, and in other reservoir production planning and analysis. | 01-23-2014 |
| 20140032192 | Method Of Minimizing Wellbore Instability - A process for reducing wellbore instability includes inputting pre-drilling assessment information into an hydraulics analysis and wellbore stability application, inputting a well plan into the hydraulics and wellbore analysis application, inputting a parameter measured at the wellsite into the hydraulics and wellbore stability analysis application, inputting an observation made at the wellsite into the hydraulics and wellbore stability analysis application, integrating the pre-drilling assessment information, the measured parameter, and the observation into the wellbore strengthening analysis application, and adjusting a drilling fluid parameter in response to the integrated pre-drilling assessment information, the measured parameter, and the observation. | 01-30-2014 |
| 20140032193 | VARIABLE FIDELITY SIMULATION OF FLOW IN POROUS MEDIA - A fine computer model covering an area includes a fine grid. A fault follows a fine-grid-path. The fault divides the area into a first fine side and a second fine. A model of a source of fluid flow is on the first fine side of the area. A model of a sink of fluid flow is on the second fine side of the area. The computer coarsens the model. The fault follows a coarse-grid-path in the coarsened model. The coarse-grid-path divides the area into a first coarse side and a second coarse side. The model of the source and the model of the sink are on the first coarse side of the area. One of the source or the sink is moved to the second coarse side of the area. | 01-30-2014 |
| 20140039859 | MULTI-LEVEL RESERVOIR HISTORY MATCHING - The present disclosure describes systems and methods for performing multi-level reservoir history matching. At least some illustrative embodiments include a method that includes generating a first history-matched model using at least one updated model parameter derived from one or more existing model parameters, generating a set of second history-matched models by applying a probabilistic inversion to the first history-matched model, and deriving a set of third history-matched models from the set of second history-matched models. The method further includes generating dynamic simulation realization sets using each of the set of third history-matched models, ranking each of the set of third history-matched models based at least in part on the dynamic simulation realization sets, and presenting a production forecast to a user based on the highest ranked third history-matched models. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140039860 | Monitoring and Diagnosing Water Flooded Reservoirs Using Production Data - The present disclosure describes systems and methods for monitoring and diagnosing reservoirs. At least some illustrative embodiments include a method that includes collecting measured near-wellbore data representative of conditions at or near wells within the reservoir (e.g., oil and gas wells), storing the measured near-wellbore data in one or more databases and graphically presenting to a user simulated interwell data generated by a reservoir simulation based at least in part on the measured near-wellbore data. The method further includes graphically overlaying at least some of the measured near-wellbore data over the simulated interwell data and graphically presenting to the user one or more production indicators calculated based at least in part on the simulated interwell data. | 02-06-2014 |
| 20140052427 | Method for exploitation of a subterranean medium in accordance with an exploitation scheme defined by an optimized representation - The invention is a method for exploiting a subterranean medium, according to an exploitation scheme defined on a representation of the medium based on a two-dimensional grid representing the subterranean medium. The quality of the mesh cells of the grid is optimized by displacing the nodes of the grid by a procedure for minimizing the deformation of the grid by generating a reference grid; imposing a displacement of at least one node, termed a rigid node, of the reference grid on a corresponding node in the grid to be optimized; and constructing an optimized two-dimensional grid by displacement of the other nodes of the reference grid, while minimizing the displacement field of the nodes. | 02-20-2014 |
| 20140058713 | SEISMIC MODELING SYSTEM AND METHOD - The present disclosure describes a system, method and computer readable medium capable of extracting, characterizing and modeling fracture networks in a subterranean formation. In one embodiment, seismic data points indicating one or more discontinuities in the subterranean formation may be identified using processed seismic data and arranged according to a tree structure. In one embodiment, connection criteria and/or one or more user parameters may be utilized to identify and connect discontinuity points. In one embodiment, the connected discontinuity points may be utilized to generate discontinuity planes. In one embodiment, one or more of the extracted discontinuity planes may be characterized according to their directional characteristics, intersectional characteristics, shape, dipping characteristics, length/distribution, fracture density, and/or fault type. The extracted discontinuity planes may be converted from a seismic scale model into a sub-seismic scale model. | 02-27-2014 |
| 20140067353 | WELLBORE COMPLETION AND HYDRAULIC FRACTURING OPTIMIZATION METHODS AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEMS - Methods and systems for optimizing wellbore completion and, in particular, methods and systems for optimizing hydraulic fracturing parameters are disclosed. In some embodiments, a method of optimizing wellbore completion includes gathering wellbore data, screening and processing the gathered wellbore data, utilizing the screened and processed wellbore data to define an optimized model, and utilizing the optimized model to evaluate combinations of available wellbore completion parameters. In some instances, the optimized model is defined using artificial neural networks, genetic algorithms, and/or boosted regression trees. Further, in some embodiments the combinations of available wellbore completion parameters include hydraulic fracturing parameters, such as number of fractures, fracturing fluid type, proppant type, fracturing volume, and/or other parameters. | 03-06-2014 |
| 20140081613 | METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR SCENARIO MANGEMENT OF DYNAMIC, THREE-DIMENSIONAL GEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION AND MODELING - Techniques and a system for performing geological interpretation operations in support of energy resources exploration and production perform well log correlation operations for generating a set of graphical data describing the predetermined geological region. The process and system interpret the geological environment of the predetermined geological region from measured surface and fault data associated with the predetermined geological region. Allowing the user to query and filter graphical data representing the predetermined geological region, the method and system present manipulable three-dimensional geological interpretations of two-dimensional geological data relating to the predetermined geological region and provide displays of base map features associated with the predetermined geological region. The method and system automatically update the manipulable three-dimensional geological interpretations of two-dimensional data relating to the predetermined geological region, as well as calculate three-dimensional well log and seismic interpretations of geological data relating to the predetermined geological region. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140081614 | Geological Exploration Method for Making Plan and Elevation Drawings Directly by Rotational Tin Network and Non-Profiling Method - A set of geological exploration methods of using the non-section methods and rotary networks formed by triangulated irregulars. It aims to directly construct high-precision three-dimensional models, plans and sections for solving the drawbacks of existing geological exploration methods, such as the dispersion of drill holes, the faults tracking, the controlling of structures, minelayers/stratum/ore bodies, the bending correction of drill holes, and the geological map-making methods. | 03-20-2014 |
| 20140100833 | ANALYZING FRACTURE STRATIGRAPHY - Systems, methods, and software can be used to calculate fracture stratigraphy of a subterranean zone. In some aspects, microseismic event data associated with a fracture treatment of a subterranean zone are received, and the subterranean zone includes multiple subsurface layers. A filter is used to select a subset of the microseismic event data corresponding to fractures in a particular subsurface layer. Fracture stratigraphy is calculated for the particular subsurface layer from fracture planes associated with the selected subset of the microseismic event data. | 04-10-2014 |
| 20140114632 | METHOD FOR MODELING A RESERVOIR USING 3D MULTIPLE-POINT SIMULATIONS WITH 2D TRAINING IMAGES - A method for modeling a reservoir is described. One example of a method for modeling a 3D reservoir involves using multiple-point simulations with 2D training images. | 04-24-2014 |
| 20140122047 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PREDICTING BOREHOLE PARAMETERS - A method of monitoring and predicting measurement data includes: collecting a first plurality of measured data values over an initial time interval; calculating an initial predictive model based on the initial measured data values and calculating a prediction of data values over a prediction time window based on the initial predictive model; collecting a second plurality of measured data values at a plurality of time values following the initial time interval; for each of the second plurality of time values, calculating a new predictive model based on: a data value at a current time value, the first plurality of measured data values, and measured data values associated with time values between the current time value and the initial time interval; and for each of the second plurality of time values, calculating a prediction of data values over a prediction time window based on the new predictive model. | 05-01-2014 |
| 20140129199 | SEQUENTIAL FULLY IMPLICIT WELL MODEL FOR RESERVOIR SIMULATION - A subsurface hydrocarbon reservoir with wells is simulated by sequential solution of reservoir and well equations to simulate fluid flow inside the reservoir and well production rates. Sequential solution of reservoir and well equations treats wells as specified bottom hole pressure wells. This avoids solving large matrices resulting from the simultaneous solution of the reservoir and well equations which can be computationally very expensive for large number of unknowns and require special sparse matrix solvers. Such sequential solution involves regular reservoir system solvers complemented by a small matrix for the numerical solution of the well bottom hole pressures. | 05-08-2014 |
| 20140136171 | Unstructured Grids For Modeling Reservoirs - An earth model of a subsurface reservoir having an unstructured tetrahedral grid defining a plurality of tetrahedral cells that conform to geological discontinuities is provided. The tetrahedral cells define vertices in a physical space that store information associated with a depositional space of the subsurface reservoir. A polyhedral grid is generated in the physical space from the unstructured tetrahedral grid. The polyhedral grid defines a plurality of polyhedral cells that are split based on the information associated with the depositional space. One or more of the plurality of polyhedral cells can be associated with one or more elements having split-property values that correspond to properties on opposite sides of the one or more geological discontinuities. The polyhedral grid is used to model the behavior of the subsurface reservoir. | 05-15-2014 |
| 20140136172 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS OF MODELING HYDROCARBON FLOW FROM LAYERED SHALE FORMATIONS - Modeling hydrocarbon flow, from layered shale formations. At least some of the illustrative embodiments are methods including: modeling movement of hydrocarbons through kerogen-related porosity, the movement through a first model volume; estimating a first permeability of a kerogen-rich layer of a layered shale formation based on the modeling; and modeling hydrocarbon production from the layered shale formation. The modeling hydrocarbon production may include: utilizing the first permeability for the kerogen-rich layer of the layered shale formation; and utilizing a second permeability for a kerogen-poor layer of the layered shale formation, the second permeability different than the first permeability. In various cases the modeling of hydrocarbon production is with respect to a second model volume greater than the first model volume. | 05-15-2014 |
| 20140136173 | METHODS OF HYDRAULICALLY FRACTURING A SUBTERRANEAN FORMATION - A hydraulic fracture design model that simulates the complex physical process of fracture propagation in the earth driven by the injected fluid through a wellbore. An objective in the model is to adhere with the laws of physics governing the surface deformation of the created fracture subjected to the fluid pressure, the fluid flow in the gap formed by the opposing fracture surfaces, the propagation of the fracture front, the transport of the proppant in the fracture carried by the fluid, and the leakoff of the fracturing fluid into the permeable rock. The models used in accordance with methods of the invention are typically based on the assumptions and the mathematical equations for the conventional 2D or P3D models, and further take into account the network of jointed fracture segments. For each fracture segment, the mathematical equations governing the fracture deformation and fluid flow apply. For each time step, the model predicts the incremental growth of the branch tips and the pressure and flow rate distribution in the system by solving the governing equations and satisfying the boundary conditions at the fracture tips, wellbore and connected branch joints. An iterative technique is used to obtain the solution of this highly nonlinear and complex problem. | 05-15-2014 |
| 20140149098 | MULTIPHASE FLOW IN A WELLBORE AND CONNECTED HYDRAULIC FRACTURE - One or more computer-readable media include computer-executable instructions to instruct a computing system to iteratively solve a system of equations that model a wellbore and fracture network in a reservoir where the system of equations includes equations for multiphase flow in a porous medium, equations for multiphase flow between a fracture and a wellbore, and equations for multiphase flow between a formation of a reservoir and a fracture. Various other apparatuses, systems, methods, etc., are also disclosed. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140156244 | SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING POSITION OF MARKER DEPTH COORDINATES FOR CONSTRUCTION OF GEOLOGICAL MODEL OF DEPOSIT - System for building a geological model of oil or other mineral deposit. The system determines functionals represented by the sum of coefficients of correlation for a set of well log curves. A technical result is the improvement of the accuracy of evaluating parameters that are used to build geological model of the location of oil or other deposits. The system makes it possible, given set of markers, chosen as initial solution and to calculate their depths at each well to ensure the best total correlation. For any marker in the set, functional is determined, represented by the sum of correlation coefficients for the set of well log methods for pairs of wells located within specified distance from one another. Partial derivatives are evaluated for this functional, and the vector thus obtained is smoothed and used to search for a larger value of the functional within certain segment along this vector. | 06-05-2014 |
| 20140156245 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATED IDENTIFICATION OF SURFACES FOR BUILDING OF GEOLOGIC HYDRODYNAMIC MODEL OF OIL AND GAS DEPOSIT BY SEISMIC DATA - The invention generally relates to methods of modeling and building models of oil-and-gas deposits. More particularly, the invention relates to a computer-implemented method, a computerized system, and a computer-readable medium designed for automated identification of surfaces for building a geologic-hydrodynamic model of an oil and gas deposit based on seismic data. A technical result is the improvement of the accuracy of building a geological-hydrodynamic model of an oil-and-gas deposit. The objective of embodiments of the invention is to provide a method, device, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium designed for the implementation of stages accounting for a considerable part of the entire problem of building a geological-hydrodynamic model, namely, automated (that is, requiring the user to participate only in the stage of initial data input) building of a set of surfaces based on input seismic data. The output surfaces can be used, without additional processing, to construct a geological-hydrodynamic grid. | 06-05-2014 |
| 20140156246 | SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATED IDENTIFICATION OF SURFACES FOR BUILDING OF GEOLOGIC HYDRODYNAMIC MODEL OF OIL AND GAS DEPOSIT BY SEISMIC DATA - Systems for modeling and building models of oil and gas deposits. In particular, the utility model relates to systems designed for automated identification of surfaces for building a geologic-hydrodynamic model of an oil and gas deposit based on seismic data. A technical result is the improvement of the accuracy in building a geological-hydrodynamic model of an oil-and-gas deposit. The objective of this utility model is to provide a system designed for building a geological-hydrodynamic model, in particular, automated (that is, requiring the user to participate only in the stage of initial data input) construction of a set of surfaces based on input seismic data. The output surfaces can be used, without additional processing, to construct a geological-hydrodynamic grid. The input data for the system are volumes of seismic data attributes P, Q; and seismic volume (optional). | 06-05-2014 |
| 20140180658 | MODEL-DRIVEN SURVEILLANCE AND DIAGNOSTICS - Performing diagnostic of hydrocarbon production in a field includes generating a thermal-hydraulic production system model of a wellsite and a surface facility in the field, and simulating, using the thermal-hydraulic production system model, and based on multiple root causes, a hydrocarbon production problem to generate a feature vectors corresponding to the root causes. Each of feature vectors includes parameter values corresponding to physical parameters associated with the hydrocarbon production. Performing diagnostic further includes configuring, using the feature vectors, a classifier of the hydrocarbon production problem, detecting the hydrocarbon production problem in the field, analyzing, using the classifier, and in response to detecting the hydrocarbon production problem, surveillance data from the wellsite and the surface facility to identify a root cause, and presenting the root cause to a user. The classifier is configured to classify the hydrocarbon production problem according to the root causes. | 06-26-2014 |
| 20140195215 | MODELING WELLBORE FLUIDS - Techniques for modeling a wellbore fluid that includes a base fluid and one or more fluid additives includes identifying a target viscosity profile of the wellbore fluid; determining an initial set of values of the fluid additives that are based at least in part on the target viscosity profile; determining, with one or more non-linear predictive models, a computed viscosity profile of the wellbore fluid and a computed set of values of the fluid additives based, at least in part, on the initial set of values of the fluid additives; comparing the computed viscosity profile and at least one of the computed set of values with a specified criteria of the wellbore fluid; and preparing, based on the comparison, an output including the computed viscosity profile and at least one of the computed set of values of a resultant wellbore fluid. | 07-10-2014 |
| 20140214386 | Systems and Methods for Dynamic Visualization of Fluid Velocity in Subsurface Reservoirs - Systems and methods for dynamically visualizing fluid velocity in subsurface reservoirs by displaying a particle at different locations on a streamline that represents a fluid path and a fluid velocity in the subsurface reservoir. The systems and methods may be used to display the actual fluid velocity or a proportionate fluid velocity for a respective streamline at predetermined incremental time steps. | 07-31-2014 |
| 20140214387 | CONSTRAINED OPTIMIZATION FOR WELL PLACEMENT PLANNING - A method, apparatus and program product utilize a constrained optimization framework to generate a well placement plan based on a reservoir model. Candidate well placement plans are generated from control vectors proposed by an optimization engine to optimize based upon an objective function that generally involves an access to a reservoir simulator. Inexpensive constraints that are not based on computation of the objective function are evaluated prior to accessing the reservoir simulator to avoid unnecessary accesses to the reservoir simulator for candidate well placement plans determined to be infeasible in view of the inexpensive constraints. For candidate well placement plans that are determined to be feasible based upon the inexpensive constraints, the objective function may be calculated and additional expensive constraints may thereafter be evaluated to further determine the feasibility of candidate well placement plans. | 07-31-2014 |
| 20140214388 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COARSENING IN RESERVOIR SIMULATION SYSTEM - System and method for implementing a reservoir simulation system are described. One embodiment is a computer-implemented method of coarsening a fine grid including a plurality of fine gridblocks, the fine grid representing a geological model having at least one discontinuity therein. The method comprises grouping a number of fine gridblocks together to form coarse gridblocks, wherein at least one of the coarse gridblocks is a nonstandard-shaped gridblock; and calculating a transmissibility for each pair of adjacent coarse gridblocks in which at least one gridblock of the coarse gridblock pair is a nonstandard-shaped gridblock. The calculating comprises calculating a transmissibility for each pair of adjacent fine gridblocks; mapping each of the fine gridblock pairs to a coarse gridblock pair; and for each gridblock pair, summing the transmissiblities of the fine gridblock pairs mapped thereto. | 07-31-2014 |
| 20140222405 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING DOWNHOLE STIMULATION OPERATIONS - A system and method for performing stimulation operations at a wellsite having a subterranean formation with of a reservoir therein is provided. The method involves generating a plurality of quality indicators from a plurality of logs, and combining the plurality of quality indicators to form a composite quality indicator. The plurality of stress blocks may then be merged using diversion criterion. The composite quality indicator may be combined with the merged stress blocks to form a combined stress and composite quality indicator, the combined stress and composite quality indicator comprising a plurality of blocks with boundaries therebetween. The method may further comprise defining stages along the combined stress and composite quality indicator based on the diverter-assisted stage classifications; and selectively positioning perforations in select stages based on the diverter-assisted stage classifications thereon. | 08-07-2014 |
| 20140236557 | MODELING OF NON-NEWTONIAN FLUIDS IN SUBTERRANEAN RESERVOIRS - A computer-implemented reservoir prediction system, method, and software are provided for modeling the behavior of non-Newtonian fluids in subterranean reservoirs while accounting for shear-rate dependent viscosity and permeability reduction with a skin zone characterized by a traditional skin factor and an apparent skin factor. A non-Newtonian fluid injection pressure or a non-Newtonian fluid injection rate is computed at steady-state responsive to reservoir data associated with a subterranean reservoir, injection data for a non-Newtonian fluid, and fluid data for the non-Newtonian fluid. The shear-rate dependent viscosity can further be applied to a well model in numerical reservoir simulation to improve the well model. | 08-21-2014 |
| 20140236558 | Method For Partitioning Parallel Reservoir Simulations In the Presence of Wells - A method is disclosed for partitioning a grid representing a hydrocarbon reservoir. The grid is composed of a plurality of cells. A connectivity graph of nodes and edges is created. Each of the plurality of cells is represented by a node. Edges connect neighboring nodes. An edge that should not be cut by a partitioning algorithm is designated. Nodes connected by the designated edge are merged into a supernode. A first edge connecting a merged node and a non-merged node is replaced with a second edge connecting the non-merged node with the supernode. The connectivity graph is used with the supernode and the replaced edges to partition the grid. Nodes merged into supernodes are maintained in a single subdomain during partitioning. | 08-21-2014 |
| 20140236559 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIA FOR MODELING COMPLEX WELLBORES IN FIELD-SCALE RESERVOIR SIMULATION - Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are provided for a near-well unstructured grid model builder for generating a full-field unstructured grid for reservoir simulation. As described further below, the near-well unstructured grid model builder may include a workflow interface and a parallel unstructured grid model builder. The inputs to the near-well unstructured grid model builder may include existing well trajectory and completion data, future well data, a geological model, a structured grid simulation model, or any combination thereof. The near-well unstructured grid model builder may output a near-well unstructured grid having a specified grid resolution in regions of interest that include a well. | 08-21-2014 |
| 20140278315 | Analyzing Sand Stabilization Treatments - In some aspects, sand stabilization treatments are analyzed. A computing system can determine a first predicted resource production output for a subterranean reservoir based on a sand stability model analysis for a native condition of the subterranean reservoir. The computing system can determine a second predicted resource production output for the subterranean reservoir based on a sand stability model analysis for a stabilization-treated condition of the subterranean reservoir. The computing system can output an economic value comparison of resource production for the native condition and the stabilization-treated condition based on the first and second predicted resource production outputs. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140278316 | Determining a Target Net Treating Pressure for a Subterranean Region - In some aspects, a target net treating pressure for an injection treatment of a subterranean region is determined. Fracture growth orientation in a subterranean region is modeled by a computer system. In the model, the fracture growth is a response to fluid pressure acting on the subterranean region. A target net treating pressure for fluid acting on the subterranean region during an injection treatment of the subterranean region is determined based on the modeled fracture growth orientations. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140278317 | Method and System for Geophysical Modeling of Subsurface Volumes - Method and system are described for modeling one or more geophysical properties of a subsurface volume ( | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140278318 | Natural Resource Reservoir Modeling - A method, apparatus, and program product determine an effective trap size for reservoir traps of an oil and gas reservoir. Geological data is analyzed to determine structural spill points. Based on the structural spill points and the geological data reservoir traps are identified. An effective trap size for at least some of the reservoir traps of the reservoir is determined based on the structural spill points and the geological data. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140288909 | ZONAL ALLOCATION FOR MULTILAYERED SUBTERRANEAN RESERVOIRS - A system, method, and software are provided for use in modeling zonal allocation in multilayered subterranean reservoirs. Information associated with a wellbore that is in fluid communication with producing zones of a multilayered subterranean reservoir is provided. A methodology is selected to compute zonal splits for the wellbore and zonal splits for the wellbore are automatically computed using the selected methodology and the information associated with the wellbore. | 09-25-2014 |
| 20140297245 | Systems and Methods For Subsurface Oil Recovery Optimization - Systems and methods for subsurface secondary and/or tertiary oil recovery optimization based on either a short term, medium term or long term optimization analysis of selected zones, wells, patterns/clusters and/or fields. | 10-02-2014 |
| 20140303950 | UNIDIRECTIONAL BRANCH EXTENT IN A FLOW NETWORK - A method can include receiving a model of a network of a production system that includes information that specifies branches and pieces of equipment; processing, optionally in parallel, at least a portion of the information for at least a portion of the model of the network; and, based at least in part on the processing, assigning a flow direction to each of the branches in the at least a portion of the model of the network. Various other technologies, techniques, etc., are also disclosed. | 10-09-2014 |
| 20140303951 | INTEGRATED SYSTEM FOR PRODUCTION DESIGN ASSISTANCE - A method can include rendering terrain and equipment locations to a display; assigning one or more domain constraints; analyzing an objective function associated with the terrain and the equipment locations subject to at least one of the one or more domain constraints; and rendering information to the display based at least in part on the analyzing. Various other technologies, techniques, etc., are also disclosed. | 10-09-2014 |
| 20140358510 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CHARACTERIZING UNCERTAINTY IN SUBTERRANEAN RESERVOIR FRACTURE NETWORKS - A system and method for characterizing uncertainty in a subterranean fracture network by obtaining a natural fracture network, obtaining dynamic data, simulating hydraulic fracturing and microseismic events based on the natural fracture network and the dynamic data, generating a stimulated reservoir volume (SRV), and quantifying the uncertainty in the SRV. It may also include narrowing the uncertainty in the SRV through the use of Design of Experiment methods and characterizing the SRV using static and/or dynamic data. | 12-04-2014 |
| 20140358511 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR COMBINING CURVES IN OILFIELD DRILLING AND PRODUCTION OPERATIONS - A system and method for processing and combining data from multiple curves or data-sets in oil field operations based upon a common index. The multiple input curves are combined to form an input vector. The input vector is aligned on the common index, without any values in the curve or data-set being changed. The input vector is then processed to ensure that all curves have values for all index values by interpolation. The input vector may be further processed to create a fixed step increment. An output vector is formed by operation of a set of formulas on the interpolated input vector. | 12-04-2014 |
| 20140365192 | Interactively Planning A Well Site - A method and systems for dynamically planning a well site are provided herein. The method includes generating, via a computing system, a three-dimensional model of a hydrocarbon field including a reservoir. The method also includes determining a location for a well site based on the three-dimensional model and determining reservoir targets for the determined location and a well trajectory for each reservoir target. The method also includes adjusting the location for the well site within the three-dimensional model and dynamically adjusting the reservoir targets and the well trajectories based on the dynamic adjustment of the location for the well site. The determination and the dynamic adjustment of the location, the reservoir targets, and the well trajectories for the well site are based on specified constraints. The method further includes determining a design for the well site based on the dynamic adjustment of the location, the reservoir targets, and the well trajectories for the well site. | 12-11-2014 |
| 20140365193 | METHOD TO CONSTRAIN A BASIN MODEL WITH CURIE DEPTH - Methods for constraining basin models to forecast the presence and maturity of hydrocarbon in a basin. The method involves determining a Curie depth at a location at the basin, constraining basin models to match the Curie depth at the location and determining the presence of hydrocarbon in the basin based on the basin models constrained by Curie depth. | 12-11-2014 |
| 20140372094 | GENERATION OF FRACTURE NETWORKS USING SEISMIC DATA - An embodiment of a method for constructing a fracture network includes: receiving seismic data collected from a stimulation operation in an earth formation, the seismic data including seismic event data including a first seismic event associated with a first time increment and a second seismic event associated with a subsequent second time increment; and constructing a fracture network model. The model is constructed by: constructing an initial portion of the model based on the first seismic event; and subsequently updating the initial portion of the model based on the second seismic event. | 12-18-2014 |
| 20140372095 | GRID CALCULATION FOR FLUID FLOW MODELING - A method of estimating flow properties of an earth formation includes: selecting a grid block representing a region of the earth formation, the region including at least one of an area and a volume of the earth formation, the grid block including a plurality of grid cells and having an orientation defined by grid axes; and calculating a fluid flow model of the region. Calculating the model includes: estimating a principal flow direction for each grid cell; adjusting the orientation of the grid block based on the principal flow direction; and calculating fluid flow parameters in each grid cell to generate the fluid flow model. | 12-18-2014 |
| 20140379317 | GEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS TOOL - Systems, methods, and machine-executable coded instruction sets for associating map, enterprise, and geostatistical data for mapping and otherwise analyzing properties of geological deposits, resource recovery and other enterprises, and geostatistical data. | 12-25-2014 |
| 20150012256 | Convergence Rate of Full Wavefield Inversion Using Spectral Shaping - Method for speeding up iterative inversion of seismic data ( | 01-08-2015 |
| 20150019188 | HIGH PERFORMANCE AND GRID COMPUTING WITH HISTORY QUALITY OF SERVICE CONTROL - High performance computing (HPC) and grid computing processing for seismic and reservoir simulation are performed without impacting or losing processing time in case of failures. A Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard is implemented in High Performance Computing (HPC) and grid computing platforms, to avoid the shortcomings of current Message Passing Interface (MPI) communication between computing modules, and provide quality of service (QoS) for such applications. QoS properties of the processing can be controlled. | 01-15-2015 |
| 20150025869 | System and Method of Implementing Finite Difference Time Domain Models with Multiple Accelerated Processing Components (APCs) - Embodiments of a method for implementing a finite difference time domain modeling with multiple APCs are disclosed herein. The disclosed methods and systems overcome the memory capacity limitation of APCs by having each APC perform multiple timesteps on a small piece of the computational domain or data volume in a APC queued manner. The cost of transferring data between host and compute accelerator can then be amortized over multiple timesteps, greatly reducing the amount of PCI bandwidth required to sustain high propagation speeds. The APC queued nature of the algorithm achieves linear scaling of PCI throughput with increasing number of APCs, allowing the algorithm to scale up to many dozens of APCs in some embodiments. | 01-22-2015 |
| 20150032434 | MODELING POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS SITES AND INFORMING ON ACTUAL HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS - Implementations are directed to monitoring and reporting on actual hazardous conditions at a facility receiving data associated with a site, the site being susceptible to potentially hazardous conditions, and include actions of determining that a hazardous condition is present at the site, processing the data based on one or more models to provide output data, processing the output data to provide indicator data for providing a graphical representation of the site, the graphical representation providing a graphical depiction of the hazardous condition, and providing the indicator data to one or more user devices, the indicator data being processed by each of the one or more user devices to display the graphical representation. | 01-29-2015 |
| 20150039281 | Optimizing Drilling Operations Using Petrotechnical Data - A method for optimizing drilling operations. The method includes providing an earth model of a volume having a well, obtaining petrotechnical data about the volume while drilling the well, comparing the petrotechnical data with the earth model, updating the earth model with the petrotechnical data based on the comparison, and modifying a drilling plan of the well using the updated earth model. | 02-05-2015 |
| 20150051892 | METHOD AND SYSTEM OF PREDICTING FUTURE HYDROCARBON PRODUCTION - Predicting future hydrocarbon production. At least some of the illustrative embodiments are methods including: reading data regarding hydrocarbon production from a hydrocarbon producing field; producing at least one value indicative of future hydrocarbon production based on a data model and the data regarding hydrocarbon production; displaying, on a display device of a computer system, an indication of historic data regarding hydrocarbon production; and displaying, on the display device, an indication of the at least one value indicative of future hydrocarbon production. | 02-19-2015 |
| 20150066461 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR HISTORICAL, GEOLOGICAL MODELING TO PRODUCE AN ESTIMATED DISTRIBUTION OF HYDROCARBONS TRAPPED IN SUBSURFACE CLATHRATES - Methods and systems for historical, geological modeling for producing an estimated distribution of hydrocarbons trapped in subsurface clathrates are disclosed. One method includes instantiating a basin model of a geological area of interest, and, for each of a plurality of predetermined geological times up to a geologic present day: determining one or more changes to the basin model, calculating, at each of a plurality of locations within the basin model, a temperature and a pressure, determining an existence and a location of a clathrate stability zone based on the calculated temperatures and pressures, and estimating one or more clathrate concentrations and hydrocarbon volumes in the clathrate stability zone. The method further includes calibrating a present day clathrate concentration and hydrocarbon volume derived from the basin model against calibration data obtained from one or more locations within the geological area of interest, thereby providing a model of the present day clathrate concentration and hydrocarbon volume at each of the plurality of locations. | 03-05-2015 |
| 20150066462 | Modeling Fluid Flow Interactions Among Regions of a Well System - In some aspects, techniques and systems for simulating well system fluid flow are described. Multiple subsystem models each include fluid flow variables and represent well system fluid dynamics associated with a sub-region in a subterranean region. The subsystem models are connected by one or more junction models. The junction models represent interactions among the subsystem models. For each of the subsystem models, an elimination of internal variables of the subsystem model is performed to express the internal variables in terms of junction variables of the junction models. The junction variables are solved based on the junction models. The internal variables of the subsystem model are solved based on the solved junction variables. | 03-05-2015 |
| 20150066463 | Block Matrix Solver for Well System Fluid Flow Modeling - In some aspects, techniques and systems for operating a subterranean region model are described. A block matrix is identified. The block matrix includes a banded portion and an augmented portion. The banded portion includes flow variable coefficients based on governing flow equations of a model representing well system fluid flow in a subterranean region. In a row of the block matrix, decomposition of a pivot element in the row is performed. Elements along the row are modified based on an inverse of the decomposition of the pivot element. A flow variable of the model is solved based on the block matrix that contains the modified elements. | 03-05-2015 |
| 20150066464 | Determining Phase Behavior of a Reservoir Fluid - Various implementations directed to determining a phase behavior of a reservoir fluid are provided. In one implementation, a method may include receiving a plurality of predetermined pore size data, a plurality of predetermined bulk fluid data, and a plurality of predetermined kerogen data that are based on historical data for a plurality of hydrocarbon reservoirs. The method may also include creating a library of a plurality of simulated phase behavior data for the predetermined pore size data, the predetermined bulk fluid data, and the predetermined kerogen data. The method may further include determining a phase behavior of a reservoir fluid disposed in an actual hydrocarbon reservoir using the library. | 03-05-2015 |
| 20150066465 | METHOD FOR EXPLOITING A SUBSURFACE DEPOSIT COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE GEOLOGICAL OUTCROP BY MEANS OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY - The invention relates to a method for exploiting (EXP) a subsurface deposit comprising at least one outcrop, the exploitation (EXP) of the deposit is based on a geological model (MOD) formed from a photogrammetry. The method reconstructs the geological outcrops in three dimensions (R3D) from photographs (PHO), and interprets the geological elements thereof, such as the sedimentary surfaces, the geological facies, the fault lines and the fractures, the inclination of the beds, etc. to construct a geological model of the deposit (MOD). | 03-05-2015 |
| 20150073762 | METHOD FOR SIMULATING FLUID FLOWS, A COMPUTER PROGRAM AND A COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM - A method for simulating fluid flows in a petroleum reservoir, in which the fluid is split in physical phases comprising a gas phase, an oil phase, a water phase and a microemulsion phase. The fluid comprises water, hydrocarbon, and surfactant components. The method comprises a flash step for calculating compositions via two stages. A first stage comprises a first flash to determine first compositions of the water, oil and gas phases and is performed by omitting the surfactant component in the fluid. A second stage comprises a second flash to determine a microemulsion composition of the microemulsion phase. | 03-12-2015 |
| 20150073763 | OIL OR GAS PRODUCTION USING COMPUTER SIMULATION OF OIL OR GAS FIELDS AND PRODUCTION FACILITIES - Oil or gas fields and associated facilities are computer simulated by solving linear algebraic equations using a Schwarz method with at least one well node included in the overlap. According to another aspect, equations for the wellbore nodes are processed to eliminate some non-pressure variables, e.g. component compositions. Other features are also provided. | 03-12-2015 |
| 20150073764 | OBJECT-BASED WELL CORRELATION - Systems, methods, and computer-readable media geologic modeling are disclosed. For example, the method includes receiving an identification of a type of architectural element in association with a first well in a subterranean domain, based at least partially on data collected from the first well, and determining one or more characteristics of the type of architectural element. The method may also include defining, using a processor, an architectural element of the type of architectural element, in a representation of the subterranean domain and in association with the first well, based on the one or more characteristics, and displaying, using the processor and a display device in communication therewith, the architectural element intersecting the first well in a model. | 03-12-2015 |
| 20150081264 | System and Method for Reservoir Simulation Using On-Demand Data - A method of modeling a formation is described. In one aspect of the disclosure, the method includes initiating operation of a reservoir simulator, and, following initiation of operation of the simulator, retrieving formation data from an external data source via a communications network and utilizing the retrieved data as part of the on-going simulation. In certain embodiments, a data deck may be supplied to the simulator before operation of the simulator is initiated. The data deck may include information for establishing a network communications link between the reservoir simulator and an external data server. | 03-19-2015 |
| 20150081265 | COMBINING DOWNHOLE FLUID ANALYSIS AND PETROLEUM SYSTEMS MODELING - A method for performing a field operation within a geologic basin having rock formations and a reservoir that includes fluids includes generating, by forward modeling using a petroleum system model (PSM), an estimate of a fluid property distribution of a fluid within the reservoir of the geologic basin. The method further includes detecting, from fluid samples, a fluid property gradient within the geologic basin. The fluid samples are extracted from within at least one wellbore drilled through the rock formations. The method further includes, comparing the estimate of the fluid property distribution with the detected fluid property gradient to generate a comparison result, iteratively adjusting, based on the comparison result, the PSM to generate an adjusted PSM, and performing, based on the adjusted PSM, the field operation within the geologic basin. | 03-19-2015 |
| 20150088479 | METHOD FOR HYDROCARBON RECOVERY WITH A FRACTAL PATTERN AND RELATED APPARATUS - A method for predicting hydrocarbon recovery in a subterranean formation may include generating pre-heating data associated with fracturing in a sample from the subterranean formation, determining a first fractal pattern based upon the pre-heating data, and heating the sample with RF power to cause additional fracturing in the sample. The method may include generating post-heating data associated with additional fracturing in the sample after heating with RF power, determining a second fractal pattern based upon the post-heating data, detecting change between the first fractal pattern and the second fractal pattern, and predicting hydrocarbon recovery from the subterranean formation based upon the detected change. | 03-26-2015 |
| 20150100293 | METHOD FOR EFFICIENT DYNAMIC GRIDDING - A method, system and computer readable medium is presented for use in enhancing oil recovery in a subsurface reservoir comprising. The method, system and computer readable medium defines a plurality of grid levels on a geological model of a subsurface reservoir. Connectivities and transmissibilities are calculated between neighboring cells in the same grid and between connecting cells between different grid levels. Gas and/or fluid dynamics are simulated using dynamic grid refinement where the connectivities and transmissibilities are updated at each time step based on the previously calculated connectivities and transmissibilities. | 04-09-2015 |
| 20150120264 | RESEVOIR MODEL TUNING WITH COMPLEX PARAMETER INTERACTIONS - Methods, systems, and non-transitory, computer-readable media for tuning a model of a subterranean domain. The method may include determining a relationship between a first parameter of the model and a second parameter of the model. A modification to the first parameter causes the second parameter to be modified according to the relationship. The method may also include receiving data representing a physical characteristic of a reservoir represented in the model of the subterranean domain, and modifying the first parameter based at least partially on the data. The method may also include modifying the second parameter based on the relationship, by operation of a processor. The method may further include updating the model using the first parameter and the second parameter after modifying the first parameter and after modifying the second parameter. | 04-30-2015 |
| 20150127313 | Method For Determining The Presence and Location of A Subsurface Hydrocarbon Accumulation and The Origin of The Associated Hydrocarbons - A method of determining a presence and location of a subsurface hydrocarbon accumulation from a sample of naturally occurring substance. An expected concentration of isotopologues of a hydrocarbon species is determined. An expected temperature dependence of isotopologues present in the sample is modeled using high-level ab initio calculations. A clumped isotopic signature of the isotopologues present in the sample is measured. The clumped isotopic signature is compared with the expected concentration of isotopologues. Using the comparison, it is determined whether hydrocarbons present in the sample originate directly from a source rock or whether the hydrocarbons present in the sample have escaped from a subsurface accumulation. The current equilibrium storage temperature of the hydrocarbon species in the subsurface accumulation prior to escape to the surface is determined. A location of the subsurface accumulation is determined. This information may be integrated with pre-drill basin burial history models to calibrate a basin model. | 05-07-2015 |
| 20150127314 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SOLVING A MULTI-RESERVOIR SYSTEM WITH HETEROGENEOUS FLUIDS COUPLED TO A COMMON GATHERING NETWORK - Systems and methods for determining operating settings of a fluid production system with a gathering network and a plurality of reservoirs, at least some of which include a method that includes lumping common pseudo-components into reservoir pseudo-components associated with each of the reservoirs. Each common pseudo-component is associated with the gathering network and maps to one reservoir pseudo-component of each of the reservoirs. The method further includes performing at least part of a fully-coupled simulation of the gathering network and the reservoirs using the common pseudo-components to obtain one or more operating settings that meet one or more constraints of the production system, and presenting to a user the operating settings. | 05-07-2015 |
| 20150127315 | Apparatus and Methods For Qualifying Compositions - A test apparatus for qualifying compositions used to reduce scale deposition in fluid, e.g., wax deposition in crude oil, is disclosed. The test apparatus includes a first reservoir capable of holding a first fluid, and a second rotatable reservoir disposed within the first reservoir, the second reservoir capable of holding a second fluid. The apparatus includes a fluid inlet through which the second fluid enters the second reservoir, and a fluid outlet through which the second fluid exits the second reservoir, wherein a bottom surface of the second rotatable reservoir is configured to be at least partially submerged in the first fluid so that precipitate from the first fluid can be deposited thereon. | 05-07-2015 |
| 20150134314 | PARALLEL NETWORK SIMULATION APPARATUS, METHODS, AND SYSTEMS - In some embodiments, systems, methods, and articles may operate to compute, in parallel, to determine values of unknowns in network equations associated with a network of sub-surface wells and at least one surface facility, for intra-well subdivisions of the network, and then for inter-well subdivisions of the network, wherein the computing is based on default values of the unknowns, or prior determined values of the unknowns. Additional activities may include constructing a distributed Jacobian matrix having portions comprising coefficients of the unknowns distributed among a number of processors, wherein each of the portions is distributed to a particular one of the processors previously assigned to corresponding ones of the subdivisions. The Jacobian matrix may be factored to provide factors and eliminate some of the unknowns. Back-solving is used to determine remaining unsolved ones of the unknowns, using the factors. Additional apparatus, systems, and methods are described. | 05-14-2015 |
| 20150142406 | DIRECTIONAL DRILL AHEAD SIMULATOR: DIRECTIONAL WELLBORE PREDICTION USING BHA AND BIT MODELS - A method for predicting a path of a borehole that will be drilled in a rock formation by a bottomhole assembly (BHA) having a drill bit includes: constructing a model of the BHA; calculating confined compressive strength of the rock formation using an axial motion drill bit model that receives drilling parameter, drill bit design and lithology information; calculating lateral motion of the drill bit using a lateral motion drill bit model; calculating a ratio of lateral motion to axial motion using the lateral motion drill bit model; calculating an inclination angle and an azimuthal direction of the BHA using a BHA steering model that receives the ratio; and iterating the above steps by updating the BHA model to include extending the borehole an incremental distance in the direction of the inclination angle and the azimuthal direction and displacing the BHA the incremental distance in the extended borehole. | 05-21-2015 |
| 20150142407 | SATURATION END-POINT ADJUSTMENT - A method can include receiving fluid saturation data for fluid saturation parameters associated with permeabilities of a multidimensional spatial model of a geologic environment; adjusting at least a portion of the fluid saturation data to provide adjusted fluid saturation data by optimizing a quadratic function subject to linear constraints; and simulating flow of fluid using the adjusted fluid saturation data for fluid saturation parameters associated with permeabilities and the multidimensional spatial model of the geologic environment. | 05-21-2015 |
| 20150149139 | Data Compression of Hydrocarbon Reservoir Simulation Grids - A dense volumetric grid coming from an oil/gas reservoir simulation output is translated into a compact representation that supports desired features such as interactive visualization, geometric continuity, color mapping and quad representation. A set of four control curves per layer results from processing the grid data, and a complete set of these 3-dimensional surfaces represents the complete volume data and can map reservoir properties of interest to analysts. The processing results yield a representation of reservoir simulation results which has reduced data storage requirements and permits quick performance interaction between reservoir analysts and the simulation data. The degree of reservoir grid compression can be selected according to the quality required, by adjusting for different thresholds, such as approximation error and level of detail. The processions results are of potential benefit in applications such as interactive rendering, data compression, and in-situ visualization of large-scale oil/gas reservoir simulations. | 05-28-2015 |
| 20150149140 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RESERVOIR SIMULATION OPTIMIZATION - A method of solving a optimization problem is described. The method includes creating an initial model having a plurality of wells, each well being associated with a parameter and dividing the well field into first and second regions, the first region including a first subset of the plurality of wells and the second region including a second subset of the plurality of wells. The method also includes solving for the parameters associated with the wells in the first subset to get a first set of values while holding constant the parameters associated with the wells in the second subset, setting the parameters associated with the wells in the first subset to the first set of values, and solving for the parameters associated with the wells in the second subset to get a second set of values while holding constant the parameters associated with the wells in the first subset. | 05-28-2015 |
| 20150149141 | WELL SIMULATION - A method of computational fluid dynamic modelling of a subterranean region comprises: defining a computational domain by generating a geometrical model of a subterranean region comprising a wellbore and a surrounding formation; associating knowledge of a physical property of the subterranean region with a computational parameter; and inputting the computational parameter into the computational domain. In one embodiment knowledge of permeability within the subterranean region is defined as a viscous resistance within the computational domain. | 05-28-2015 |
| 20150149142 | GEOLOGIC FEATURE SPLITTING - A method can include receiving information that defines a three-dimensional subterranean structure; splitting the three-dimensional subterranean structure into portions; generating convex hulls for the portions; and generating a discrete fracture network based at least in part on the convex hulls. | 05-28-2015 |
| 20150301225 | Geophysical Modeling of Subsurface Volumes Based on Horizon Extraction - Method and system is described for modeling one or more geophysical properties of a subsurface volume. The method includes extracting locations from the data volume and combining them into an object, for example a horizon. The extraction may begin with selecting one or more initial traces, assigning labels to each sample of each trace, selecting a propagation pattern, and propagating the labels from the initial traces along a vector volume. Then, locations with the same label are extracted ( | 10-22-2015 |
| 20150337631 | INTEGRATED PRODUCTION SIMULATOR BASED ON CAPACITANCE-RESISTANCE MODEL - A well-based production simulator is provided, which predicts the quantity of fluids produced per phase, per well and per time as a function of operational field parameters. The invention combines a petroleum reservoir simulator with a petroleum production facility simulator to obtain an integrated model to quickly and accurately forecast production on a well-by-well basis. The efficiency of the petroleum reservoir simulator is derived from its unique formulation, which solves for the production well's flow rate rather than the petroleum reservoir pressure. The simulator properly represents viscous, capillary and gravity forces, as well as complex fluid descriptions, including three-phase black-oil formulations. | 11-26-2015 |
| 20150337640 | METHODS FOR ANALYZING AND OPTIMIZING CASING WHILE DRILLING ASSEMBLIES - A method for selecting a bottomhole assembly (BHA) includes inputting casing while drilling BHA parameters, wellbore parameters, and casing while drilling operating parameters, performing a dynamic simulation of a first BHA based on the casing while drilling BHA parameters, wellbore parameters, and casing while drilling operating parameters, and presenting a first set of performance data of the first BHA calculated from the dynamic simulation. | 11-26-2015 |
| 20150355374 | Pressure Transient Test with Sensitivity Analysis - Method for using sensitivity analysis to inform the design and performance of a well test are provided. In one embodiment, a method includes providing a reservoir model of pressure transient behavior and performing a sensitivity analysis to identify an input parameter of the reservoir model that can be estimated from pressure transient test data collected from a well location. This method also includes using the results of the sensitivity analysis to design a pressure transient well test for measuring the identified input parameter. Other methods and systems are also disclosed. | 12-10-2015 |
| 20150362609 | HIGH PERFORMANCE AND GRID COMPUTING WITH PARTITIONING QUALITY OF SERVICE CONTROL - High performance computing (HPC) and grid computing processing for seismic and reservoir simulation are performed without impacting or losing processing time in case of failures. A Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard is implemented in High Performance Computing (HPC) and grid computing platforms, to avoid the shortcomings of current Message Passing Interface (MPI) communication between computing modules, and provide quality of service (QoS) for such applications. QoS properties of the processing can be controlled. A “partitioning” quality of service is provided and the computer can be logically segregated into several “logical partitions” so that a computer can have several publisher nodes, serving several groups of compute nodes, and running different applications independently. | 12-17-2015 |
| 20150362619 | HIGH PERFORMANCE AND GRID COMPUTING WITH FAULT TOLERANT DATA DISTRIBUTORS QUALITY OF SERVICE - High performance computing (HPC) and grid computing processing for seismic and reservoir simulation are performed without impacting or losing processing time in case of failures. A Data Distribution Service (DDS) standard is implemented in High Performance Computing (HPC) and grid computing platforms, to avoid the shortcomings of current Message Passing Interface (MPI) communication between computing modules, and provide quality of service (QoS) for such applications. QoS properties of the processing can be controlled. Multiple data publishers or master nodes of a cluster have access to the same data source. Each of these publishers has an ownership strength quality of service, and the publisher with the highest ownership strength number is the designated publisher of the data to subscriber processor nodes of the cluster. If the designated data publisher prematurely terminates or crashes for some reason, then the publisher node with the next highest ownership strength measure is designated as data publisher and continues publishing data to subscribers. | 12-17-2015 |
| 20150363520 | Methods and Systems for Calculating and Evaluating Value of Information for Reservoir Fluid Models Derived from DFA Tool Data - A method for deriving VOI for a hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir fluid model based on DFA data (“true fluid model”) versus an “incorrect fluid model” includes calculating first, second and third objective functions that are based on NPV(s) of simulated production by a reservoir simulator with different configurations. For the first objective function, the simulator is configured with the incorrect fluid model and control variables that are optimized to derive a first group of control variable values. For the second objective function, the simulator is configured with the true fluid model and the first group of control variable values. For the third objective function, the simulator is configured with the true fluid model and control variables that are optimized to identify a second group of control variable values. The objective functions can be deterministic, or can include statistics that account for uncertainty. A visualization of such results with uncertainty is also described. | 12-17-2015 |
| 20150369018 | Determining Appraisal Locations in a Reservoir System - System and methods for determining appraisal locations in a reservoir system by generating, selecting and ranking a list of priority appraisal locations based on an adjusted hydrocarbon recovery potential. | 12-24-2015 |
| 20150370934 | COMPLETION DESIGN BASED ON LOGGING WHILE DRILLING (LWD) DATA - A method, apparatus, and program product utilize logging while drilling (LWD) data, e.g., structural data, formation property data, fluid contact data and/or structural dip data as may be derived from resistivity and/or other LWD data, to generate a locally enhanced reservoir model of a reservoir proximate a wellbore. The locally enhanced reservoir model, in turn, may be used to optimize the design of a completion for the wellbore, e.g., by optimizing the design of a flow control device incorporated into such a completion. | 12-24-2015 |
| 20150377005 | FRACTURING AND REACTIVATED FRACTURE VOLUMES - A method can include receiving mechanical information of a geologic environment and location information of natural fractures of the geologic environment; using a model of the geologic environment, calculating at least strain associated with hydraulic fracturing in the geologic environment; calculating at least microseismicity event locations based at least in part on the calculated strain; calibrating the model based at least in part on the calculated microseismicity event locations and based at least in part on measured microseismicity information associated with the geologic environment to provide a calibrated model; and, using the calibrated model, determining an increase in reactivated fracture volume associated with hydraulic fracturing in the geologic environment. | 12-31-2015 |
| 20160003010 | METHOD FOR OPERATING A SUBSTERRANEAN FORMATION FROM WHICH A FLUID IS PRODUCED - A method for operating an oil deposit based on a technique of positioning wells to be drilled is disclosed. Based on a grid representative of the petrophysical properties of a subterranean formation through at least one well is drilled, a reservoir simulation is performed up to a time for which production of the formation being studied is to be predicted. Then, attributes are selected that are representative of the flows in the formation and a classification of these attributes is performed. Then, a quality indicator is computed for each of the classes and at least one class is selected such that its quality indicator is greater than a first threshold. | 01-07-2016 |
| 20160003019 | System and Method for Modeling and Design of Pulse Fracturing Networks - Systems and methods for analyzing and designing a customized pulse fracturing operation for fracturing a wellbore in a reservoir formation are disclosed. Pulsed fracturing can create multiple fractures that radiate away from the wellbore while minimizing near wellbore damage. This network can further be extended into the reservoir by utilizing an optimized pumping rate over a predetermined amount of time. The optimized pulse rate and duration can be determined by using a geomechanical and a reservoir simulator which can help in quantifying the production efficiency of the induced fracture network. | 01-07-2016 |
| 20160004800 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR RESERVOIR HISTORY MATCHING FOR IMPROVED ESTIMATION OF RESERVOIR PERFORMANCE - The present disclosure presents methods and apparatuses for forecasting geological formation production data. For example, some example methods include identifying an array of parameter sets, determining a fitting error between a first set of the historical production data and modeled production data, wherein the modeled production data is obtained through execution of a simulation model based on each parameter set of the array, determining a validation error between a second set of the historical production data and extrapolated production data for each parameter set of the array, determining a combined error for each parameter set of the array based on the fitting error and the validation error, and identifying an optimal parameter set size for modeling the target geological region, wherein the optimal parameter set size is determined in reference to a minimum combined error of the combined errors determined for each parameter set of the array. | 01-07-2016 |
| 20160010444 | METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER MEDIUM HAVING COMPUTER PROGRAMS STORED THEREON TO OPTIMIZE RESERVOIR MANAGEMENT DECISIONS | 01-14-2016 |
| 20160011332 | MULTILATERAL WELLS PLACEMENT VIA TRANSSHIPMENT APPROACH | 01-14-2016 |
| 20160017696 | Determining One or More Parameters of a Well Completion Design Based on Drilling Data Corresponding to Variables of Mechanical Specific Energy - Methods for determining parameter/s of a well completion design (WCD) for at least a portion of a drilled well based on drilling data corresponding to variables of mechanical specific energy (MSE) are provided. In some cases, MSE values may be acquired and the WCD parameter/s may be based on the MSE values. The MSE values may be obtained from a provider or may be acquired by calculating the MSE values via the drilling data. In some cases, the data may be amended prior to determining the WCD parameter/s to substantially neutralize distortions of the data. In some cases, the methods may include creating a geomechanical model of the drilled well from acquired MSE values, optionally amending the geomechanical model and determining the WCD parameter/s from the geomechanical model. Storage mediums having program instructions which are executable by a processor for performing any steps of the methods are also provided. | 01-21-2016 |
| 20160024893 | APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE TO PROBE RESERVOIR SIMULATION RESPONSE SURFACE MODELS - Embodiments of systems, non-transitory computer-readable medium having one or more computer programs stored therein, and computer-implemented methods are provided to enhance probing of hydrocarbon reservoir simulation models. Embodiments can utilize an application programming interface (API) to interrogate one or more different hydrocarbon reservoir simulation response surface model proxies (surface model proxies) associated with hydrocarbon reservoir simulation models. The API (a proxy API) can be configured to include preselected operations, and surface model proxies can be in a common image format. Surface model proxies can be interpreted to retrieve simulation data associated with the surface model proxies responsive to operations of the proxy API. Results of operations of the proxy API can also be displayed to probe a hydrocarbon reservoir simulation model associated with a surface model proxy and to thereby estimate probabilities of simulation outcome for potential simulation scenarios yet to be run. | 01-28-2016 |
| 20160047207 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING DOWNHOLE STIMULATION OPERATIONS - A system and method for performing stimulation operations at a wellsite having a subterranean formation with of a reservoir therein is provided. The method involves generating a plurality of quality indicators from a plurality of logs, and combining the plurality of quality indicators to form a composite quality indicator. The plurality of stress blocks may then be merged using diversion criterion. The composite quality indicator may be combined with the merged stress blocks to form a combined stress and composite quality indicator, the combined stress and composite quality indicator comprising a plurality of blocks with boundaries therebetween. The method may further comprise defining stages along the combined stress and composite quality indicator based on the diverter-assisted stage classifications; and selectively positioning perforations in select stages based on the diverter-assisted stage classifications thereon. | 02-18-2016 |
| 20160054472 | METHOD OF MODELLING A SUBSURFACE VOLUME - Disclosed is a method of modelling a subsurface volume, and a corresponding computer program and apparatus. The method comprises defining a regular planar grid of regularly arranged locations in the two dimensions substantially parallel to the surface, and calculating a plurality of one dimensional arrays, each one dimensional array extending from a different one of the regularly arranged locations, in the direction from surface to subsurface. Each of the one dimensional arrays comprises a plurality of one dimensional cells, wherein the cells are delineated according to actual geological features of the subsurface volume. | 02-25-2016 |
| 20160061008 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER MEDIUM TO ENHANCE HYDROCARBON RESERVOIR SIMULATION - Embodiments of systems, non-transitory computer-readable medium having one or more computer programs stored therein, and computer-implemented methods are provided to enhance hydrocarbon reservoir simulation for a plurality of hydrocarbon reservoirs. According to embodiments, a plurality of fluid flow simulation runs in each of a plurality of hydrocarbon reservoirs are initiated. Then, each of a first set of one or more of the plurality of simulation runs are terminated while each of a second set of one or more of the plurality of simulation runs continue. Terminating each of the first set of simulation runs can increase processing availability within a collective limited and predetermined combined computing capacity of one or more processors to another one or more of the plurality of simulation runs being run. Consequently, terminating each of the first set of simulation runs can thereby reduce total hydrocarbon reservoir simulation run time. | 03-03-2016 |
| 20160063150 | ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY USING DIGITAL CORE SAMPLE - Performing an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) injection operation in an oilfield having a reservoir may include obtaining a EOR scenarios that each include a chemical agent, obtaining a three-dimensional (3D) porous solid image of a core sample, and generating a 3D pore scale model from the 3D porous solid image. The core sample is a 3D porous medium representing a portion of the oilfield. The 3D pore scale model describes a physical pore structure in the 3D porous medium. Simulations are performed using the EOR scenarios to obtain simulation results by, for each EOR scenario, simulating, on the first 3D pore scale model, the EOR injection operation using the chemical agent specified by the EOR scenario to generate a simulation result. A comparative analysis of the simulation results is performed to obtain a selected chemical agent. Further, an operation is performed using the selected chemical agent. | 03-03-2016 |
| 20160070024 | WELL SURVIVABILITY IN MULTIDIMENSIONAL GEOMECHANICAL SPACE - A method can include receiving well path data and geomechanical simulation data; rotating at least a portion of the geomechanical simulation data from geomechanical simulation coordinates to well coordinates associated with the well path data; determining at least one of an axial strain proxy and a shear strain proxy based at least in part on the rotating; and analyzing at least the one of the axial strain proxy and the shear strain proxy. | 03-10-2016 |
| 20160084045 | Method To Determine The Presence Of Source Rocks And The Timing And Extent of Hydrocarbon Generation For Exploration, Production and Development of Hydrocarbons - A method and system are provided for exploration, production and development of hydrocarbons. The method involves analyzing a sample for a geochemical signature, which includes a multiply substituted isotopologue signature and/or a position specific isotope signature. Then, historical temperatures are determined based on the signature. The historical temperature is used to define generation timing, which is used to develop or refine an exploration, development, or production strategy. | 03-24-2016 |
| 20160090825 | Method and System for Analyzing the Uncertainty of Subsurface Model - A method for examining uncertainty and risk associated with the development of a hydrocarbon resource by rapidly generating and analyzing variations of reservoir models realized from scenarios. The method and system may include instantiating realizations for objects based on the selected parameter ranges; and combining instantiated realizations of the objects into a reservoir model. | 03-31-2016 |
| 20160097880 | SYSTEM, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR SMART GROUPING OF SEISMIC INTERPRETATION DATA IN INVENTORY TREES BASED ON PROCESSING HISTORY - A system and method to intelligently group seismic interpretation data, retrieved from an interpretation workflow, in an inventory tree based upon processing history records automatically captured during generation of volume and horizon datasets. As new volume and horizon datasets are created during the interpretation workflow, the relationships between the datasets are stored within system records. Inventory trees are then generated and/or updated based upon these records to intuitively display the relationships between the volume and horizon datasets. | 04-07-2016 |
| 20160098498 | TUNABLE MINIATURIZED PHYSICAL SUBSURFACE MODEL FOR SIMULATION AND INVERSION - Conventional computational simulation and inversion of subsurface flow is expensive, which is wasteful in terms of time and energy consumption. The present invention discloses a process for implementation of mathematical techniques such as forward simulation, sensitivity analysis, and inversion to physical microstructure models for subsurface fluid simulation. This process not only offers accurate and reliable results, but also is cost effective. | 04-07-2016 |
| 20160102530 | Automated Well Placement for Reservoir Evaluation - Automated systems and methods provide a systematic determination of suitable placements for well production zones that comply with specified placement constraints while accounting for information in the geocellular model. One computer-based well placement method embodiment includes: creating a three-dimensional geocellular model of a subsurface region including a reservoir; determining a map-view layout of well candidate zones that satisfies a set of layout parameters; deriving a three-dimensional arrangement of well production zones by testing each well candidate zone's potential vertical positions against a set of arrangement parameters; and storing the three-dimensional arrangement of well production zones on a non-transient information storage medium for use in evaluating production from the reservoir. Where the geocellular model has cell layers that conform to stratigraphic surfaces, the method may further include determining potential vertical positions for each well candidate zone by projecting the well candidate zones from the map-view layout onto layer-centered surfaces. | 04-14-2016 |
| 20160103246 | Fault Representation - A method can include mapping a stairstepped grid to a surface where the stairstepped grid and the surface represent a discontinuity in a geologic environment; based at least in part on the mapping, adjusting properties associated with the stairstepped grid to compensate for spatial discrepancies between the stairstepped grid and the surface; and simulating flow in the geologic environment using the stairstepped grid and the adjusted properties. | 04-14-2016 |
| 20160108706 | RESERVOIR SIMULATION SYSTEM AND METHOD - The present disclosure describes an efficient process through which knowledge gleaned from prior reservoir simulations may be captured and applied to future simulations with or without user involvement. A plurality of reservoir simulation categories may be defined and stored to a database. In one embodiment, reservoir simulation data may be captured and analyzed in order to identify process steps and/or workflows for each category of stored reservoir simulations. Upon starting a new reservoir simulation, the system may identify the category of the simulation at issue and query the database in order to identify stored process steps and/or workflows applicable thereto. The stored process steps and/or workflows may then be applied to the new reservoir simulation automatically or by providing suggestions and/or recommendation to the user. | 04-21-2016 |
| 20160115771 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING DOWNHOLE STIMULATION OPERATIONS - A system and method for performing stimulation operations at a wellsite having a subterranean formation with of a reservoir therein is provided. The method involves performing reservoir characterization to generate a mechanical earth model based on integrated petrophysical, geomechanical and geophysical data. The method also involves generating a stimulation plan by performing well planning, a staging design, a stimulation design and a production prediction based on the mechanical earth model. The stimulation design is optimized by repeating the well planning, staging design, stimulation design, and production prediction in a feedback loop until an optimized stimulation plan is generated. | 04-28-2016 |
| 20160123119 | METHOD OF UPSCALING A DISCRETE FRACTURE NETWORK MODEL - A discrete fracture network model is upscaled to a simulation grid having effective permeabilities for each grid cell. Prior to computing the effective permeabilities, the grid cells are grouped in distinct grid cell clusters, such that flow via fractures is only possible between grid cells that mutually belong to the same grid cell cluster. This is achieved by grouping fractures into distinctive fracture clusters, whereby all fractures that are physically connected with each other by intersection, either directly or indirectly via a number of other physically connected fractures, exclusively belong to one fracture cluster. Each grid cell is assigned to exclusively one fracture cluster. After defining the grid cell clusters, effective permeabilities are calculated for each grid cell using only the fractures of the fracture cluster to which the grid cell is assigned while fractures from other fracture clusters are ignored. Inter-cluster flow impediment data is assigned to selected grid cells. | 05-05-2016 |
| 20160123120 | SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND COMPUTER MEDIUM TO OPTIMIZE STORAGE FOR HYDROCARBON RESERVOIR SIMULATION - Embodiments of systems, non-transitory computer-readable medium having one or more computer programs stored therein, and computer-implemented methods are provided to enhance data storage and retrieval during performance of a plurality of hydrocarbon reservoir simulation runs of one or more hydrocarbon reservoir simulation models. Embodiments can relate to performing hydrocarbon reservoir simulation runs while efficiently storing simulation files by utilizing file links rather than duplicate copies of simulation files. Efficient storage can also include use of one or more shared storage locations and other separate individual hydrocarbon reservoir simulation model storage locations. Simulation files stored in the shared storage locations can be shared among a plurality of hydrocarbon reservoir simulation models. Embodiments can further relate to efficient data storage during the building, copying, or editing of a hydrocarbon reservoir simulation model. | 05-05-2016 |
| 20160130916 | LOCAL LAYER GEOMETRY ENGINE WITH WORK ZONE GENERATED FROM BUFFER DEFINED RELATIVE TO A WELLBORE TRAJECTORY - A method, apparatus, and program product utilize a buffer defined relative to a wellbore trajectory to generate a work zone around a wellbore for use in connection with formation modeling. In some embodiments, for example, a closed curve such as a non-rectangular, polygonal work zone may be defined around a wellbore based upon a buffer that extends generally transverse to the trajectory of a length of a wellbore a predetermined distance. In addition, boundaries may be defined in a work zone to effectively split the work zone into multiple closed curves or polygons in response to user editing, e.g., to create one or more subsurface layers in the work zone. In such instances, points defining a subsurface layer may be shared by adjacent layers such that editing of such points will affect each of the layers sharing such points. | 05-12-2016 |
| 20160131800 | MODELING FLUID-CONDUCTING FRACTURES IN RESERVOIR SIMULATION GRIDS - Systems, methods, and media for modeling fluid-conducting fractures in reservoir grid simulations. The method includes determining a model of an underground reservoir. The model includes one or more conductive fractures and a grid of three-dimensional (3D) reservoir cells. The method also includes determining the 3D reservoir cells that intersect the conductive fracture. The method further includes determining two-dimensional (2D) fracture cells representing the conductive fracture in the model. Additionally, the method includes determining fluid flow through the conductive fracture using fluid flow parameters of the plurality the 3D reservoir cells intersecting the fracture and fluid flow parameters of the 2D fracture cells. Further, the method includes updating the model based on the fluid flow. | 05-12-2016 |
| 20160153265 | ALGORITHM FOR OPTIMAL ICD CONFIGURATION USING A COUPLED WELLBORE-RESERVOIR MODEL | 06-02-2016 |
| 20160169856 | Physical Reservoir Rock Interpretation in a 3D Petrophysical Modeling Environment | 06-16-2016 |
| 20160170086 | LOFTING ALGORITHM FOR DISCRETE NETWORK MESHING | 06-16-2016 |
| 20160170087 | CART-BASED PROXY FLOW SIMULATION PROCEDURE FOR RANKING GEOSTATISTICAL REALIZATIONS OF ROCK PROPERTIES | 06-16-2016 |
| 20160177674 | Simulating Fluid Leak-Off and Flow-Back in a Fractured Subterranean Region | 06-23-2016 |
| 20160177681 | PSEUDO PHASE PRODUCTION SIMULATION: A SIGNAL PROCESSING APPROACH TO ASSESS QUASI-MULTIPHASE FLOW PRODUCTION VIA SUCCESSIVE ANALOGOUS STEP-FUNCTION RELATIVE PERMEABILITY CONTROLLED MODELS IN RESERVOIR FLOW SIMULATION IN ORDER TO RANK MULTIPLE PETRO-PHYSICAL REALIZATIONS | 06-23-2016 |
| 20160178546 | Petrophysical Relationships Using Blind Source Separation Techniques | 06-23-2016 |
| 20160179996 | PSEUDO-PHASE PRODUCTION SIMULATION: A SIGNAL PROCESSING APPROACH TO ASSESS QUASI-MULTIPHASE FLOW PRODUCTION VIA SUCCESSIVE ANALOGOUS STEP-FUNCTION RELATIVE PERMEABILITY CONTROLLED MODELS IN RESERVOIR FLOW SIMULATION | 06-23-2016 |
| 20160187533 | Creating Virtual Production Logging Tool Profiles For Improved History Matching - Systems and methods for creating virtual production logging tool profiles for improved history matching and proactive control of smart wells. | 06-30-2016 |
| 20160196369 | RELATIVE PERMEABILITY INVERSION FROM HISTORICAL PRODUCTION DATA USING VISCOSITY RATIO INVARIANT STEP-FUNCTION RELATIVE PERMEABILITY APPROXIMATIONS | 07-07-2016 |
| 20160251948 | METHODS OF HYDRAULICALLY FRACTURING A SUBTERRANEAN FORMATION | 09-01-2016 |
| 20160376873 | FCD MODELING - The present disclosure relates to passive flow control devices or FCDs and modeling methods applicable to same. In particular, a new method to extrapolate the value of a reference FRR tool to other tools with the same architecture, but different ratings. Instead of scaling the output of the model, the data of the available characterizations is used to extrapolate what the characterization results would be to the different FRR. This estimated data set is then used to fit a new model for the uncharacterized FRR tool. | 12-29-2016 |
| 20160376887 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING PORE PRESSURE IN OIL AND GAS WELLS USING BASIN THERMAL CHARACTERISTICS - This inventive method provides a novel way of modeling basins in planning the drilling of crude oil and natural gas wells by accounting for thermodynamic considerations in tracking the pore pressure of a location of interest. By plotting the energy gradients, heat flux, and thermal conductivity of the location of interest, the user can more accurately identify the location of the Top of Geopressure and additional pertinent information during the well drilling planning process that can reduce costs and increase the safety of the process. | 12-29-2016 |
| 20170235854 | PRODUCTION ENGINEERING NETWORKS | 08-17-2017 |
| 20180023373 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONFIGURING OIL AND/OR GAS PRODUCING SYSTEM | 01-25-2018 |
| 20180023374 | Multi-Phase Polymer Shear Viscosity Calculation in Polymer Coreflood Simulation Study Workflow | 01-25-2018 |
| 20190145226 | A METHOD AND DEVICE FOR OPTIMIZING A MODELLING OF FLOWS WITHIN A RESERVOIR FOR OPTIMIZATION OF OIL/GAS PRODUCTION | 05-16-2019 |
| 20190147125 | Field Operations System | 05-16-2019 |
