Minh Nguyen

April 10, 2014

Well Design Improves

Hydrocarbon Recovery of

Carbonate Reservoir Analog Model

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> 50%

So Why Carbonates?

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Why Analog Model?

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La Molata Field Area

(Franseen and Goldstein, 2011)

La Molata Outcrops in SE Spain

…20+ years of research work on this area

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Geology & Analog Models

(Franseen and Goldstein, 2011)

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Objectives

How efficient would a vertical well drilled updip be in draining the reservoir?

How much oil would be left behind because of progrades and lateral pinchouts of reefs?

Would a horizontal well be required and should it be along strike or downdip to intersect the maximum number of progrades?

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Well Design Scenarios

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Pair 1 Pair 2Pair 3

Simulation Results

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Pair 1 (I1-P1)

Pair 2 (I2-P2)

Pair 3 (I3-P3)

But Why Pair 1?!?

But Wait…

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Pair 1 Pair 2 Pair 3

Connected Volumes

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Why Pair 1 recovers the most…

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Pair 1 Pair 2 Pair 3

Zones 3, 4, 5, 6

Zones 5, 6

Zones 5, 6, 7

Well Design Scenarios – Pair 1

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Pair 1 Horizontal wells – Pair 1

Pair 1 – with added lateral branches

Zones 3, 4, 5, 6

Zones 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Zones 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Simulation Results

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Vertical Pair 1

Horizontal Pair 1

Added lateral branches

ConclusionAnswered all the questions asked by geologists

Developed a method of building connected volumes to identify drilling targets

Optimized wells for better recovery of this analog model

Further study can be done through completion optimization, drilling economics

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AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to acknowledge the funding support from ExxonMobil and KU Tertiary Oil Recovery Program.

We also thank Schlumberger for software donation to make this research possible.

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Questions or Comments?