An Approach to Reservoir Management

Abstract

Many petroleum reservoirs are not developed and produced properly. This failure can be the result of poor reservoir operations management. An understanding of reservoir management and its elements is needed to effectively exploit petroleum reservoirs. This paper defines reservoir management and proposes a comprehensive, integrated approach to the management of reservoir operations. The paper does not address the many technical details of reservoir management, nor does it give detailed recommendations for particular operations. It presents a method and approach to making these decisions for any reservoir. Its purpose is to communicate the importance of reservoir management and to present an approach for the development of a reservoir management plan. Introduction The petroleum industry has progressed from an early period of unrestrained production, through a period of maximum production regulated by government constraint into a period of declining production where companies plan to maximize profits based on the current management environment. Thc industry has now moved into a period of challenge. Industry must accept the challenge that a significant amount of oil and gas will remain unrecovered unless improvements are made in reservoir management practices. Petroleum reservoir management is an area that has generated significant discussion within the industry in recent years as reserves have declined, prices have fluctuated and companies have begun to realize the necessity for comprehensive planning in reservoir development. A review of the literature suggests that there are varying conceptions of what reservoir management is and what it involves as evidenced by just a few references. A thorough understanding of the petroleum reservoir management process is important to the proper development and exploitation of oil and process is important to the proper development and exploitation of oil and gas reserves. This paper will define reservoir management, discuss its process and recommend the use of a written reservoir management plan. process and recommend the use of a written reservoir management plan. RESERVOIR MANAGEMENT Petroleum reservoir management is the application of state-of-the-art technology to a known reservoir system within a given management environment. Reservoir management can be thought of as that set of operations and decisions by which a reservoir is identified, measured, produced, developed, monitored and evaluated from its discovery through produced, developed, monitored and evaluated from its discovery through depletion and final abandonment. Figure 1 summarizes the concept of reservoir management A reservoir is managed for a particular purpose and that purpose is accomplished within the management environment using the available tools and technology. Elements of Reservoir Management Reservoir management is not simply the creation of a depletion plan and/or a development plan but rather a comprehensive, integrated strategy for reservoir exploitation. Management is comprehensive in that it requires the three primary components of reservoir management; 1) knowledge about the entity being managed, 2) the management environment, and 3) the available technology. When these three components are integrated, decisions can be made and a strategy developed for achieving management goals. Without an understanding of these components, effective management cannot take place and a comprehensive strategy for achieving management goals will not be developed. Reservoir Knowledge. Knowledge of the system being managed has several dimensions. First is the general nature of the system. A petroleum reservoir is an accumulation of hydrocarbons trapped within a petroleum reservoir is an accumulation of hydrocarbons trapped within a single hydrodynamically-connected geological environment. This general knowledge includes an understanding of fluid movement, rock properties, phase behavior and other basic knowledge. phase behavior and other basic knowledge. P. 327

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