Subsurface reservoir model with 3d natural fractures prediction
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsOTTO E. MEZA CAMARGO, Tariq Mahmood, Khalid Hawas
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Abstract
In reservoir hydrocarbon exploration, fracture characteristics of subsurface reservoir formations are analyzed based on measures obtained about the subsurface formations and rock. Models of subsurface reservoirs are developed with predictions of natural fracture networks within the subject subsurface reservoirs. The mechanical properties of the formation rock in the reservoirs serve as a main controller to model the natural fractures distribution and their properties. The models so formed are important in the location and completion of wells for hydrocarbon exploration and production.
Claims19
A method of drilling a well in a subsurface geological structure to a location in a subsurface hydrocarbon reservoir indicated by a natural fracture network model of the reservoir, comprising the steps of:
- obtaining reservoir parameters representing properties of the subsurface reservoir for processing in a data processing system;
- forming the natural fracture network model by processing the obtained reservoir parameters in the data processing system to identify the presence and extent of natural fractures at locations in the subsurface hydrocarbon reservoir;
- and
- drilling the well in the subsurface geological structure to a location in the subsurface hydrocarbon reservoir based on the identified presence and extent of natural fractures in the subsurface geological structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.