AUTOMATED FIELD DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
First Claim
1. In a system for generating a Field Development Plan with at least one platform location, borehole trajectories and well completions for an oil or gas field, a method of selecting an optimized Field Development Plan comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a Shared Earth Model including a static three-dimensional, finite element map for the geological subsurface of an oil or gas field;
b) determining a set of connected flow volumes from the three-dimensional, finite element map of the geological subsurface for the oil or gas field, each connected flow volume corresponding to a distinct subsurface flow unit;
c) upscaling the set of connected flow volumes into a set of cuboid, analytical model elements suitable for use in a fast analytical reservoir simulator that dynamically models flow within respective cuboid elements, wherein each cuboid element is defined by its dimensions, position and orientation within the geological subsurface as well as physical parameter values for the cuboid; and
d) selecting an optimized Field Development Plan having one or more platform locations, borehole trajectories and well completions for the set of cuboid elements describing the geological subsurface of the oil or gas field, wherein the optimized Field Development Plan is selected based on optimization of an objective function for a Figure of Merit for candidate Field Development Plans, the objective function comprising use of the fast analytical reservoir simulator to forecast production from the set of cuboid, analytical model elements.
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Abstract
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.
88 Citations
25 Claims
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1. In a system for generating a Field Development Plan with at least one platform location, borehole trajectories and well completions for an oil or gas field, a method of selecting an optimized Field Development Plan comprising the steps of:
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a) providing a Shared Earth Model including a static three-dimensional, finite element map for the geological subsurface of an oil or gas field; b) determining a set of connected flow volumes from the three-dimensional, finite element map of the geological subsurface for the oil or gas field, each connected flow volume corresponding to a distinct subsurface flow unit; c) upscaling the set of connected flow volumes into a set of cuboid, analytical model elements suitable for use in a fast analytical reservoir simulator that dynamically models flow within respective cuboid elements, wherein each cuboid element is defined by its dimensions, position and orientation within the geological subsurface as well as physical parameter values for the cuboid; and d) selecting an optimized Field Development Plan having one or more platform locations, borehole trajectories and well completions for the set of cuboid elements describing the geological subsurface of the oil or gas field, wherein the optimized Field Development Plan is selected based on optimization of an objective function for a Figure of Merit for candidate Field Development Plans, the objective function comprising use of the fast analytical reservoir simulator to forecast production from the set of cuboid, analytical model elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. In a system for selecting an optimized Field Development Plan, a method of estimating the value of acquiring new data to reduce uncertainty of physical variables in a Shared Earth Model comprising the steps of:
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selecting an initial Field Development Plan optimized for an initial Shared Earth Model wherein an objective function for the Figure of Merit is degraded by a risk factor in the presence of uncertainty for physical variables in the Shared Earth Model; applying the results of one or more measurements to the Shared Earth Model in order to generate a new Shared Earth Model with reduced uncertainty for physical variables; computing a risk degraded Figure of Merit (FoMs1λ
/m2) for the initial Field Development Plan based on the new Shared Earth Model having reduced uncertainty;selecting a new Field Development Plan optimized for the new Shared Earth Model wherein the objective function for the Figure of Merit is degraded by the risk factor in the presence of the reduced uncertainty for the physical variables in the new Shared Earth Model; computing a risk degraded Figure of Merit (FoMs2λ
/m2) for the new Field Development Plan based on the new Shared Earth Model having reduced uncertainty; andcomparing (FoMs1λ
/m2) to (FoMs2λ
/m2) to determine the value of acquiring new data.
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18. A system for automatically generating an optimized Field Development Plan with at least one platform location, borehole trajectories and well completions for an oil or gas field, the system comprising:
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a Shared Earth Model providing a static, three-dimensional, finite element map for the geological subsurface of an oil or gas field; a connected flow volume generator that determines a set of connected flow volumes from the static, three-dimensional, finite element map of the Shared Earth Model; a fast analytical reservoir simulator that dynamically models flow within cuboid, analytical model elements having zero flow boundary conditions; means for upscaling the set of connected flow volumes into a set of cuboid elements for the fast analytical reservoir simulator; and means for optimizing an objective function for a Figure of Merit for candidate Field Development Plans, the objective function comprising use of the fast analytical reservoir simulator to forecast production from the set of cuboid elements; wherein the system is a computer system and each of the Shared Earth Model, connected flow volume generator, fast analytical reservoir simulator, and means for optimizing consist of computer software stored on a computer readable medium. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification