An operator in the Lower Shaunavon required expert support to determine the optimal development strategy for a tight oil field through infill drilling and water injection conversions. Although there were some early vertical wells, the tight oil reservoir had been mainly developed with multi-stage fractured horizontal wells due to the low permeability nature of the field.
Project Highlights
- Required optimal field development strategy
- Hydraulic fractures successfully modelled
- Water injection caused hydraulic fractures to propagate further
- Client provided with multiple options for optimizing their field
Challenge
- The client required help to determine the optimal development strategy for a tight oil field through infill drilling and water injection conversions
- The Lower Shaunavon is a carbonate formation containing a medium viscosity reservoir oil
- Although there were some early vertical wells, the tight oil reservoir had been mainly developed with multi-stage fractured horizontal wells due to the low permeability nature of the field
Solution
- A geological model of the Lower Shaunavon was developed and a nine-section pilot region was exported for use in a simulation model
- Local grid refinement was used to model the hydraulic fractures, and the model was calibrated to match performance data
- An interesting finding of the study was that the hydraulic fractures at injectors propagated further into the reservoir during injection; this phenomenon was successfully modelled by using a dual porosity/dual permeability approach
Value
- Production profiles and recovery factors were determined through performance forecasting, and the optimal field development strategy was determined
Manager, Reservoir Characterization
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