Society of Petroleum Engineers, 2001. - 421 pages.
The electronic explosion that we have been witnessing over the past two decades has transformed reservoir simulation from a some what esoteric approach to a practical toolbox of immense importance. With the use of the tools from this toolbox, today's engineering community has an opportunity to better understand not only the intricacies offluid-flow dynamics in increasingly complex reservoirs, but also the characteristics of fluid-flow dynamics in wellbores, flow patterns developing within the immediate vicinity of perforations, the interaction of vertical, slanted, horizontal, and multilateral wells and the reservoir, and the complexities of reservoir characterization. These areas represent only a small portion of a list that includes some challenging issues playing critical roles in the optimum development of hydrocarbon reservoirs, and in the optimized implementation of capital-intensive projects that can be investigated with numerical simulation.
The conduct of a reservoir-simulation study should not simply imply making a few computer runs and writing a report based on the computer-generated results. In our view, the conduct of a simulation study covers much more. First, the simulation engineer must set the objectives for the study. Envisaging ajudicious set of objectives will assist the simulation engineer in selecting an adequate approach that is in parity with the scope of the study as well as with the characteristics of the reservoir and its fluids. The third step of the process involves the preparation of the input data. The time invested in looking for good-quality data represents time well spent; an internally consistent set of data will save a great deal of time later. The fourth step of the simulation study involves careful planning of computer runs. It is again the simulation engineer's responsibility to ensure that each run conducted does not represent a "shot in the dark. " The final step of a simulation study involves the analysis ofresults and report preparation. An experienced simulation engineer will not subscribe immediately to the results presented within the output files. To avoid becoming a hostage to computer-generated results, it is necessary to ask questions and ponder the implications of those results. Therefore, it is very important to remember that every simulation study carries the signature of the simulation engineer, but not the computing device and the computer code used in the study.
