Field Development Optimization Using Machine Learning Methods to Identify the Optimal Water Flooding Regime

Abstract

The main technology used to optimize field development is hydrodynamic modeling, which is very costly in terms of computing resources and expert time to configure the model. And in the case of brownfields, the complexity increases exponentially. The paper describes the stages of developing a hybrid geological-physical-mathematical proxy model using machine learning methods, which allows performing multivariate calculations and predicting production including various injection well operating regimes. Based on the calculations, we search for the optimal ratio of injection volume distribution to injection wells under given infrastructural constraints. The approach implemented in this work takes into account many factors (some features of the geological structure, history of field development, mutual influence of wells, etc.) and can offer optimal options for distribution of injection volumes of injection wells without performing full-scale or sector hydrodynamic simulation. To predict production, we use machine learning methods (based on decision trees and neural networks) and methods for optimizing the target functions. As a result of this research, a unified algorithm for data verification and preprocessing has been developed for feature extraction tasks and the use of deep machine learning models as input data. Various machine learning algorithms were tested and it was determined that the highest prediction accuracy is achieved by building machine learning models based on Temporal Convolutional Networks (TCN) and gradient boosting. Developed and tested an algorithm for finding the optimal allocation of injection volumes, taking into account the existing infrastructure constraints. Different optimization algorithms are tested. It is determined that the choice and setting of boundary conditions is critical for optimization algorithms in this problem. An integrated approach was tested on terrigenous formations of the West Siberian field, where the developed algorithm showed effectiveness.