Systems and Methods for Dynamic Real-Time Hydrocarbon Well Placement

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions stored thereon that are executable by a processor to perform the following operations for developing a hydrocarbon reservoir:

• generating a dynamic well placement simulation of a hydrocarbon reservoir for a span of time (Δt) defined by a start time (t1) and end time (t2), the dynamic well placement simulation comprising:
• determining a number (N) of wells to be drilled into the hydrocarbon reservoir at a given point in time (tw) within the span of time (Δt);
• determining an initial reservoir model of the hydrocarbon reservoir, the initial reservoir model comprising cells that represent the hydrocarbon reservoir and a corresponding set of initial properties for each of the cells;
• conducting, using the initial reservoir model of the hydrocarbon reservoir, a first segment of a simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir to generate a first segment reservoir properties, the first segment of the simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir comprising a simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir from the start time (t1) to the given point of time (tw) that is conducted using the initial reservoir model, the first segment reservoir properties comprising estimated properties for the cells at the given point of time (tw) determined based on the first segment of the simulation;
• identifying, based on the first segment reservoir properties, the number (N) of columns of the cells that have the highest column oil content at the given point of time (tw) and that do not have a well located in the column at the given point of time (tw);
• generating, based on the columns of cells identified, a well-modified model of the hydrocarbon reservoir, the well-modified model comprising the first segment reservoir properties associated with the cells and a new well located at each column of the columns of the cells identified;
• conducting, using the well-modified reservoir model of the hydrocarbon reservoir, a second segment of the simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir to generate second segment reservoir properties, the second segment of the simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir comprising a simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir from the given point of time (tw) to the end time (t2) that is conducted using the well-modified reservoir model, the second segment reservoir properties comprising estimated properties for the cells at the end time (t2) determined based on the second segment of the simulation;
• and
• generating, based on the second segment reservoir properties, a simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir for the span of time (Δt).

A hydrocarbon reservoir development system comprising:

• a hydrocarbon reservoir control system comprising non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions stored thereon that are executable by a processor to perform the following operations for developing a hydrocarbon reservoir:
• generating a dynamic well placement simulation of a hydrocarbon reservoir for a span of time (Δt) defined by a start time (t1) and end time (t2), the dynamic well placement simulation comprising:
• determining a number (N) of wells to be drilled into the hydrocarbon reservoir at a given point in time (tw) within the span of time (Δt);
• determining an initial reservoir model of the hydrocarbon reservoir, the initial reservoir model comprising cells that represent the hydrocarbon reservoir and a corresponding set of initial properties for each of the cells;
• conducting, using the initial reservoir model of the hydrocarbon reservoir, a first segment of a simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir to generate a first segment reservoir properties, the first segment of the simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir comprising a simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir from the start time (t1) to the given point of time (tw) that is conducted using the initial reservoir model, the first segment reservoir properties comprising estimated properties for the cells at the given point of time (tw) determined based on the first segment of the simulation;
• identifying, based on the first segment reservoir properties, the number (N) of columns of the cells that have the highest column oil content at the given point of time (tw) and that do not have a well located in the column at the given point of time (tw);
• generating, based on the columns of cells identified, a well-modified model of the hydrocarbon reservoir, the well-modified model comprising the first segment reservoir properties associated with the cells and a new well located at each column of the columns of the cells identified;
• conducting, using the well-modified reservoir model of the hydrocarbon reservoir, a second segment of the simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir to generate second segment reservoir properties, the second segment of the simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir comprising a simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir from the given point of time (tw) to the end time (t2) that is conducted using the well-modified reservoir model, the second segment reservoir properties comprising estimated properties for the cells at the end time (t2) determined based on the second segment of the simulation;
• and
• generating, based on the second segment reservoir properties, a simulation of the hydrocarbon reservoir for the span of time (Δt).