Among the various properties important for simulating reservoir behavior, relative permeability curves may be the most poorly determined by current methods. This paper presents a method for obtaining improved estimates of relative permeability curves. A Bayesian-type performance index is used to incorporate prior estimates of relative permeability curves into an automatic history-matching algorithm. Estimates obtained with the method are consistent with the reservoir production and yet conform to the prior estimates.

Keywords:
reservoir production data, performance index, artificial intelligence, production data, bayesian inference, information, flow in porous media, reservoir simulation, fluid dynamics, estimation
Subjects:
Flow in porous media, Reservoir Fluid Dynamics, Reservoir Simulation
Copyright 1991, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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