Determining Connectivity Architecture In 2-D and 3-D Heterogeneous Data
First Claim
1. A method for assessing connectivity between two or more objects in a hydrocarbon reservoir in order to manage development of the reservoir, comprising:
- (a) specifying a data volume of data elements on a discrete two or three-dimensional grid, said data representing a selected characteristic of the hydrocarbon reservoir at each cell in the grid;
(b) specifying location of at least two objects in the data volume;
(c) determining all Voronoi curves (2-D) or surfaces (3-D) in the data volume for the at least two objects as propagation seeds, said Voronoi curves or surfaces defining where fronts started simultaneously from each object meet, wherein front propagation speed at each cell location is a function of the data element at that cell;
(d) locating all saddle points on the Voronoi curves/surfaces;
(e) for each saddle point, finding a locally optimal path between two objects nearest to the saddle point by finding optimal paths between the saddle point and the two objects; and
(f) assessing connectivity of the at least two objects based on the locally optimal paths connecting them.
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Abstract
A method is disclosed for determining the connectivity architecture of a hydrocarbon reservoir in terms of locally optimal paths between selected source points, e.g. wells. In one embodiment of the invention, a fast-marching method (133) is used to compute the distance field (or the time of arrival field) from N selected source points in a heterogeneous media, i.e. in a non-uniform velocity field. This is done by propagating N labeled (132) fronts simultaneously from N objects. Then, a method (134) is disclosed for detecting Voronoi curves or Voronoi surfaces, where fronts of differing labels meet each other. Then, saddle points are found on the Voronoi curves or surfaces (135), and each saddle point is used to determine a locally optimal path (136) between a pair of equidistant (from the saddle point), closest (to the saddle point) source points.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for assessing connectivity between two or more objects in a hydrocarbon reservoir in order to manage development of the reservoir, comprising:
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(a) specifying a data volume of data elements on a discrete two or three-dimensional grid, said data representing a selected characteristic of the hydrocarbon reservoir at each cell in the grid; (b) specifying location of at least two objects in the data volume; (c) determining all Voronoi curves (2-D) or surfaces (3-D) in the data volume for the at least two objects as propagation seeds, said Voronoi curves or surfaces defining where fronts started simultaneously from each object meet, wherein front propagation speed at each cell location is a function of the data element at that cell; (d) locating all saddle points on the Voronoi curves/surfaces; (e) for each saddle point, finding a locally optimal path between two objects nearest to the saddle point by finding optimal paths between the saddle point and the two objects; and (f) assessing connectivity of the at least two objects based on the locally optimal paths connecting them. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for producing hydrocarbons from a subsurface reservoir, comprising:
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(a) obtaining an assessment of connectivity of different parts of the reservoir, said connectivity assessment having been made by steps comprising; (i) specifying a data volume of data elements on a discrete two or three-dimensional grid, said data representing a selected characteristic of the subsurface hydrocarbon reservoir at each cell in the grid; (ii) specifying location of at least two objects in the data volume; (iii) determining all Voronoi curves (2-D) or surfaces (3-D) in the data volume for the at least two objects as propagation seeds, said Voronoi curves or surfaces defining where fronts started simultaneously from each object meet, wherein front propagation speed at each cell location is a function of the data element at that cell; (iv) locating all saddle points on the Voronoi curves/surfaces; (v) for each saddle point, finding a locally optimal path between two objects nearest to the saddle point by finding optimal paths between the saddle point and the two objects; and (vi) assessing connectivity of the at least two objects based on the locally optimal paths connecting them; (b) relating each of the at least two objects to different parts of the reservoir; and (c) developing the reservoir to produce hydrocarbons based at least in part on the connectivity assessment.
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Specification