Multiscale-Streamline Simulation of Highly Heterogeneous and Fractured Reservoirs

In the near future, Schlumberger Information Solutions will enhance the Petrel Workflow Tool to include fracture modeling. This will create higher demands for improved fluid flow simulation. The major goal of the current project is to develop a prototype reservoir simulator that can simulate the fluid flow with industry acceptable accuracy directly on a detailed and complex geological model including detailed fracture modeling. The simulator will be able to perform these simulations with much higher computational efficiency than what is possible with today’s commercial reservoir simulators. This will make it possible to simulate directly on geological models that has up to 100 million grid cells in less than 15 hours using a single state-of-the-art (at the end of the project) Windows-based PC.

This will be achieved by:

• Developing a multiscale mixed finite-element code for corner-point geometry and implementing this code into the streamline reservoir simulator FrontSim.
• Developing a computational method to ensure unconditional stability of a streamline method regardless of time-step length.
• Developing a multiscale mixed finite-element code for corner-point geometry and fractured reservoirs and implementing this code into the streamline simulator FrontSim.
• Develop a parallel capability for FrontSim.
• Perform extensive testing and verification of each of the points above against state-of-the-art and industry standard simulation tools.

Key Publications

1. B. Skaflestad and S. Krogstad. Multiscale/mimetic pressure solvers with near-well grid adaption.  Proceedings of ECMOR XI, Bergen, Norway, 8-11 September 2008.
2. J. R. Natvig, B. Skaflestad, F. Bratvedt, K. Bratvedt, K.-A. Lie, V. Laptev, and S. K. Khataniar. Multiscale mimetic solvers for efficient streamline simulation of fractured reservoirs. Paper SPE 119132 presented at 2009 SPE Reservoir Simulation Symposium, The Woodlands, Texas, USA, 2-4 February.