Method and system for reservoir simulations based on an area of interest

A system, comprising:

• a wellhead coupled to a wellbore;
• a flow rate sensor coupled to the wellhead;
• and
• a reservoir simulator comprising a computer processor and coupled to the flow rate sensor, wherein the reservoir simulator comprises functionality for:
• obtaining a first user selection comprising a first plurality of user-defined coarsening parameters and a plurality of selected geological features,
• wherein the first plurality of user-defined coarsening parameters comprise a predetermined fine-grid region in a geological region of interest and a first predetermined cell distance,
• wherein the first user selection is based on one or more user inputs to a graphical user interface coupled to the reservoir simulator, and
• wherein the plurality of selected geological features are selected from a group consisting of one or more faults, one or more channels, and one or more fractures;
• determining, automatically in response to obtaining the first user selection, an area of interest (AOI) mask for the geological region of interest based on the predetermined fine-grid region;
• determining a plurality of geological property values for the plurality of selected geological features;
• determining a geological property mask based on the first plurality of user-defined coarsening parameters and the plurality of geological property values, wherein the geological property mask corresponds to a plurality of grid cells within a reservoir grid model that are disposed within the first predetermined cell distance from the AOI mask;
• generating a first coarsened grid model using flow rate data from the flow rate sensor and well data for the geological region of interest, wherein the first coarsened grid model comprises one or more coarsened regions based on the AOI mask and the geological property mask,
• wherein the plurality of geological property values above a predetermined threshold correspond to at least one of the plurality of selected geological features within the geological property mask and to non-coarsened regions in the first coarsened grid model;
• performing a reservoir simulation of the geological region of interest using the first coarsened grid model;
• and
• determining a predicted production rate for a well in the geological region of interest based on the reservoir simulation.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executable by a computer processor, the instructions being configured to perform a method comprising:

• obtaining a first user selection comprising a first plurality of user-defined coarsening parameters and a plurality of selected geological features, wherein
• the first plurality of user-defined coarsening parameters comprise a predetermined fine-grid region in a geological region of interest and a first predetermined cell distance,
• wherein the first user selection is based on one or more user inputs to a graphical user interface coupled to a reservoir simulator, and
• wherein the plurality of selected geological features are selected from a group consisting of one or more faults, one or more channels, and one or more fractures;
• determining, automatically in response to obtaining the first user selection, an area of interest (AOI) mask for the geological region of interest based on the predetermined fine-grid region;
• determining a plurality of geological property values for the plurality of selected geological features;
• determining a geological property mask based on the first plurality of user-defined coarsening parameters and the plurality of geological property values, wherein
• the geological property mask corresponds to a plurality of grid cells within a reservoir grid model that are disposed within the first predetermined cell distance from the AOI mask;
• generating a first coarsened grid model using grid model data and well data for the geological region of interest, wherein the first coarsened grid model comprises one or more coarsened regions based on the AOI mask and the geological property mask,
• wherein the plurality of geological property values above a predetermined threshold correspond to at least one of the plurality of selected geological features within the geological property mask and to non-coarsened regions in the first coarsened grid model;
• performing a reservoir simulation of the geological region of interest using the first coarsened grid model;
• and
• determining, by the computer processor, a predicted production rate for a well in the geological region of interest based on the reservoir simulation.