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An Approach To Reservoir Management PDF
An Approach To Reservoir Management PDF
SPE
SPE 20747
This paper was prepared for presentation at th3 65th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition of lhe Society of Pelroleum Engineers fie!d in New Orleana, LA, September 23-26, 19S9.
This papw was selected for praaentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of informal on contained in an abstract suomilled by Ifte author(a). Confenla of lhe paper,
aa presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineera and are subject to correction by the aulhor(s). The material, aa presented, does not necesaaily reflect
any poallion of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at SPE meetings are subject to pufsficalion review by Editorial Committees of the Society
of Petroleum Engineers. Permission to copy ia restricted 10an abstract of I al more than 300 words. Illuslrationa may not be copied. The abslracf should contain conspicuous acknowledgment
of where and by whom the paper is presanted. Write Publication Manager, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 750834836. Telex, 730S89 SPEDAL.
Many petroleum reservoirs are not developed and process is impomnt to the proper development and exploitation of
produced properly. i%isfailure can be the result of poor resemoir oil and gas reserves. This paper will define reservoir
operations management, An understanding of reservoir mmagement, discuss its process and recommend the use of a
management and its elements is needed to effectively exploit w~ittenreservck management plan.
petroleum reservoirs. This paper defines xeservoir management
and proposes a comprehensive, integrated approach to the ~GEMENX
management of reservoir opmtions.
Petroleum reservoir management is the application of state-
The paper does not address the many technical details of of-the-art technology to a known reser~oir system within a given
reservoir management, nor does it give detailed recommendations rninagement envk mment. Reservoir management can le thought
for particular operations. It presents a meti,od and approach to of as that set of operations and decisions by which a reservoir is
making these decisions for any reservoir. Its purpose is to identified, measured, produced, developed, monitored and
communicate the importance of reservoir management and to evaluated from its discovery ihrough depletion and final
present an approach for the development of a reservoir abandonment. Plgure 1 summarizes the concept of reservoir
management plan, ma~agement, A reservoir is managed for a particular purpose and
that purpose is accomplished within the management environment
using the available tools and technology,
The petroleum industry has progressed from an early . .
of ReservowMaUQtNLU
period of unrestrained production, through a pericd of maximum
production regulated by government constraint iiito a pericxi of Reservoir management is not simply the creation of a
declining production where crmpanies plan to maximize profits depletion plan and/or a development plan but rather a
based on the cument management enviwnment. The industry has comprehensive, integrated strategy for reservoir exploitation.
now moved into a period of challenge. Industry must accept the Management is comprehensive in that it requires the three primary
ci~allenge that a significant amount of oil and gas will remain components of reservoir management; 1) knowledge about the
unrecovered unless improvements are made in reservoir entity being managed, 2) the management envimnmertt, and 3) the
management practices. available technology. When these three components are
integrated, decisions can be made and a strategy developed for
Petroleum reservoir management is an area that has generated achieving management goals. Without an understanding of these
significant discussion within the industry in recent years as components, effective management cannot take pl~ce and a
reserves have declined, prices have fluctuated and companies have comprehensive strategy for achieving management goals will not
begun to realize the necessity for comprehensive planning in be developed.
reservoir development, A review of the literature suggests that
there are varying conceptions of what reservoir management is ~XttQQQ@ fiowledge of the sfstem being
and what h involves as evidenced by just a few references.-8 A managed has several dimensions, First is the general nature of the
thorolgh understanding of the petroleum reservoir management system. ,~ petroleum reservoir is an accumulation of
hydrocarbons trappd within a single hydrcdynamicall~camected
geological environment, This general knowledge includes an
understanding of fluid movement, reek properties, phase behavior
and other basic knowledge,
Technological knowledge also includes the types of Corporate .manag?mcnt must communicate m their
tcchnioues and operations that may be used to study or be reservoir managers the objectives of the company SP.dhow those
performed on a reservoir. Methods for acquiring data, monitoring objectives are to be measured, The reserw% managers and
techniques, diagnostic and analytical procedures, modeling technical staff can ther dwelop a plan m z~nievcthose objectives.
techniques and any other concepts which pertain to the handling They must predict the possibie. events that might occur and
of reservoir data and its use for determining a condition, a evaluate ail the options and ahcmatives that could PCimplemented.
reccrvoir processor a course of action m examples of this type of Then a final plan can be pmparcd which ~ptim] ::the corporate
knowledge, obje.ctivcs. The plan is tkn implemented, monitw-cdand changed
0, as new information % dwtincd to continue meeting those
~1 objectives. This must bean ongoing process that ends only when
the reservoir is abandoned.
It is not enough iust to know the entity i~ing managed, to
undcrsmnd the tcchnolo~es and their cap:tbilities and to be free of XHUIESE~
constraining management factors, One must know how to
integrate the components as decisions must* made in response The prixess of petroleum reservoir management cart be
to the dcski obyctivcs. The decision process itself must be approached by cons!denng the overall steps in any management
analytical and must take into account and consideration the activity, These steps include: 1) setting goais and objectives, 2)
alternative courses of action that may be available, With the creating a plan of operations to cwhie~ethe goals and objectives,
information that is available, the rcsmvoir manager must make 3) monitoring and control of operauons to achieve the quality
assessments and take action. intended, and 4) audhing to verify that goals and objectives have
been achieved?
The process of petroleum reservoir management is
dynamic, not static. Each component is constantly subject to Jnherent in these st atcments arc assumptions that the
change. Technology does not stand still. It is advanced as more pccroieum rescrvwir and its operations can be defined, that both
is lcamcd from each reservoir that is managed, The reservoir can be ~uantificd and measured, that techniques for performance
system is never known completely, but the knowledge becomes evaluation are available, and that control of operations is
tilore perfect as the reservoir matures. In addition, .ite technologically feasible. Reservoir management involves a full
management environment is also subject to change. Thus the delineation of these assumptions and the limitations that apply to
process of reservoir management is a changing process from them for each reservoir managed.
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comprised of all available information on the resewoir: 1) the
geological and geophysical data from logs, cuttings cores and
Corporate management is responsible for communicating seismic, 2) the reservoir rock properties measured in cores or
goals and objectives to their resemoir managers. Hcllriegelg from well tests, 3) the fluid properties based on samples of the
emphasizes the importance of corporate management setting produced fluids, and 4) the displacement characteristics from
organizational objectives, These objectives, when linked between laboratory tests,
the various organizational levels, act as an aid in planning and
assist in evaluation and control of operations. They also help This infomnationhas to be integrated into a comprehensive
direct and motivate personnel. It is important that top corporate reservoir description. The reservoir description must take all
management clearly identify an objective for the reservoir available data and merge it into a characteristic model of the
manager, This objective needs to be singular and measurable. reservoir. This model must be consistent with the available data
With this knowledge, managers can evaluate all possible options and all discrepancies resolved or the model modified. Reservoir
and outcomes and make decisions to optimize the objective. description is a continuous process which cannot be isolated from
the geologic, geophysical and engineering studies that should be
A simple example will demonstrate the importance of a conducted during its p~paration.
single objective. Consider the development of a volumetric dry
gas reservoir which is homogeneous and isotropic with known Reservoir description is one of the most important aspects
areal extent and constant thickness. Gas prices are constant as of reservoir management. All decisions will be based mainly on
well as operating, dnllingand facility costs which are estimated this model as it is used in predicting performance and in
on a per well basis, Due to rig availability, only one new well can evaluating development plans. It has to be constantly tested and
be completed each month. Well spacing is unregulated The only modified to represent the reservoir as best as possible at a given
management decision in this example concerns the number of point in time. If not, the results of reservoir operations maybe
wells to be drilled, Figure 2 is a graph of two important economic less than satisfactory.
measures, net present value and rate of return, shown as functions
of wells drilled. Drilling 66 wells will maximize net present value volr P~$ The success of reservoir
while rate of return can be maximized with six wells, operations depend primarily on how the reservoir performs under
the current method of operating that reservoir. If reservoir
This example shows how the optimal reservoir management is inadequate, operations might lx dkappointing;
management policy is affected by the decision criterion, It is however, sound reservoir management should optimize the
upper managements duty to choose an appropriate criterion and accomplishment of management objectives. The fore, analyzing
make the choice known to those involved with reservoir the past twd current behavior of a reservoir as we
7 I as predicting
management activities, its future behavior is an important aspect of reservoir
mtmagernent.
The economic analyses will allow the selection of the Another important aspect of tracking and auditing is
mode of operation that will optimize the managementobjective, records management. It is important that some system of records
management be developed The data should be organized in some
~. Once the economic analysis has been manner which allows ease of use. It should be stored in a way
completed, the mode of reservoir operation will b selected based that is readily accessible to all technical personnel involved in
on optimizing the management objective. During the development reservoir management. It is important that all information be
of the plan, great care should be given m what operations should available to everyone so that the entire reservoir operation might
be conducted, what type of data and information are required and be reviewed. The collection of all records and data in a centralized
how it should be acquired, and why the operations are to be records system can greatly enhance resewoir management.
conducted or the data and information required, It is important
that everyone involved in the reservoir management process
understand the objectives of the plan. This is why a written
reservoir management plan is crucial to successful reservoir A Reservoir Management Plan, in written form, will
management, The written plan allows everyone to become improve communications and allow all personnel, including
familiar with the objectives and planned operations for the drilling, production, geological, reservoir and field, to focus on a
reservoir. The Reservoir Management Plan will be discussed in common goal. The size of the plan, amount of detail and
the next section, frequency of revision will depend on the significance of the
reservoir and the commitment of management to the planning
Once a reservoir management plan has process. A simple, carefully constructed reservoir management
been developed it must b implemented, The value of the plan is plan might suffice for the one well reservoir while a complex and
only recognized when it is put into operation. Though the field complicated plan might be required for a large, multi-well
operations will more than likely be taking place during the reservoir. Though the approach to reservoir management should
development of the reservoir management plan, field operations begin with the planning of the first exploratory well, reservoir
also constitute the implementation of the plan, Through management principles can be implemented at any time in a
implementation all aspects of reservoir management are united to reservoirs life. The point is that every reservoir deserves sound
achieve the objectives of the plan. Here technology is applied to reservoir management and a written plan is almost essentiaf to
the reservoir to achieve management objectives, The proper assure sound reservoir management.
execution of this part of the reservoir management process is
critical to successful reservoir management. Without the
implementation phase and careful observanceof the plan, the
reservoirmanagementplanis useless. A useful Reservoir ManagementPlan should contain
sectionson objectives,constraints,geologicalsetting,drillingand
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completion methods, reservoir description, production and
I these studies be properly cited in the body of the Reservoir
injection information and references. It is important that the Management Plan with sufficient identification to locate them for
sections on drilling and completion methods, reservoir description future reference. Reference to past studies form an inventory of
and production and inection data contain information concerning the body of basic knowledge of the reservoir. A properly
past and present po iicy, reasons for the present policy, and documented reservoir management plan facilitates future research
methods used to track or monitor ~olicy, Maps, production and and improvements in the plan as the reservoir matures.
injection rate curves, completion ~a~s, t logs and surface References should include rwfcrencenumber, date, title, summary
facility diagrams arc also very useful m these z sections. of contents, author and location of report.
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ResourceProduction
PURPOSE
ResourceConservation
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