Case Description
Carbonate and unconventional reservoirs are usually highly fractured. The fractures exist at all length scales ranging from microscopic fissures to kilometer-size structures. Consequently, it is vitally important to rigorously characterize the multi-scale fracture system and to accurately model the fluid flow in such highly fractured porous media.
In this project, we employed the discrete fracture model (DFM) for large-scale fractures, the dual porosity/dual permeability (DP) model for fractures that form strongly connected networks, and the effective matrix medium (EMM) model for small fractures with weak connectivities. By integrating DFM, DP, and EMM systematically using a hybrid, unstructured grid system, this model provides a novel approach that balances accuracy and efficiency.
The project work were conducted in Simba, our unique and industry-pioneering software for modeling, simulation and history matching. Compared to previous studies performed on the same reservoir, simulation time cost was reduced from 45 hours to 1.2 hours, and history match rate was improved from 66% to 93%.
