Reservoir management system and method

A system for controlling depletion rates of a hydrocarbon field being developed, comprising:

• a plurality of well control units for controlling production from a plurality of corresponding wells;
• at least one downhole data acquisition system having a remote sensing unit placed within a subsurface formation for gathering formation data, said downhole data acquisition unit being communicatively coupled to a corresponding well control unit of the plurality of well control units;
• and
• a central control unit for receiving the formation data from the corresponding well control unit and for transmitting control commands responsive to the formation data.

A method for controlling the depletion of a hydrocarbon field, comprising:

• establishing a first wireless communication link in a downhole data acquisition system between a remote sensing unit deployed in a subsurface formation and a downhole communication unit wherein the remote sensing unit transmits formation data to the downhole communication unit;
• transmitting formation data from the downhole data acquisition system to an above ground communication network;
• and
• establishing a communication link in the above ground communication network to transmit the subsurface formation data to a central controller, whereby the central controller controls production based upon received subsurface formation data.

A remote sensing unit for sampling a subsurface formation to obtain formation data, comprising:

• a formation interface for communicating with a subsurface formation material;
• data acquisition circuitry fluidly coupled to the formation interface for sampling the subsurface formation material to determine subsurface formation data;
• and
• a transceiver coupled to the formation interface for transmitting the subsurface formation data.

A remote sensing unit for sampling a subsurface formation to obtain subsurface formation data, comprising:

• a formation interface for communicating with a subsurface formation material;
• data acquisition circuitry fluidly coupled to the formation interface for sampling the subsurface formation material to determine subsurface formation data, the data acquisition circuitry comprising a pressure sensor and a temperature sensor;
• a transceiver coupled to the formation interface for transmitting the subsurface formation data;
• a power supply having a charge storage device for converting RF power received by the transceiver to a DC signal and for charging the charge storage device with the converted DC signal;
• modulation circuitry for modulating the subsurface formation data to be transmitted to the downhole power and communication signal transceiver system;
• and
• demodulation circuitry for demodulating control commands transmitted by the downhole power and communication signal transceiver system.