A methodology to characterize fractured reservoirs constrained by statistical geological analysis and production: a real field case study

Abstract In the oil industry, complex workflow is used to match or predict fluid production. The large uncertainty of the data can lead to large variability of the simulation results, notably because of the strongly heterogeneous nature of fluid flows. The particular case of naturally fractured reservoirs is well known to be especially difficult to match. This paper presents a method to improve an initial geological analysis, carried out in 2008, through the integration of hydrodynamic data in the fractured reservoir model. Dynamic data such as production information, production logging tools and well tests are used to determine fractures properties by calibrating the fluid flow or reservoir pressure measured at wells. The approach, applied to a real field case, respects both the statistical geological analysis and the dynamic analysis of the production history. Using this methodology the geological structural model based on static characterization are preserved and available. In the study we analysed uncertainties and, in respecting the initial geological model, we prove the presence of compartmentalization in the reservoir by matching 1 year of production and three well tests. Both analytical and numerical flow simulations were used at different scales for time and space: near the well and on the whole reservoir.