Abstract
This paper presents a history matching scheme that has been applied to production data and time lapse seismic data. The production data objective function is calculated using the conventional least squares method between the historical production data and simulation predictions, while the seismic objective function uses the Hamming distance between two binary images of the gas distribution (presence of gas (1) or absence of gas (0)) sequenced over the different acquisition times. The technique is applied to a UKCS (United Kingdom Continental Shelf) field that has deep-water tertiary turbidite sands and multiple stacked reservoirs defining some degree of compartmentalisation. Thirty five parameters are perturbed in this history match, they can be classified as volumetric parameters (net-to-gross, pore volume), transmissibility parameters (permeability, transmissibility), and end points of the relative permeability curves (critical saturation points). An initial ensemble of fluid flow simulation models is created where the full range of uncertain parameters are acknowledged using experimental design methods, and an evolutionary algorithm is used for optimization in the history matching process. It is found that permeability and critical gas saturation are key parameters for achieving a good history match, and that the volumetric parameters are not significant for this match in this particular reservoir. We also observe that matching only to production data marginally improves the seismic match, whilst matching to only seismic data improves the fit to production data. Combining both sets of data delivers an improvement for the production data and seismic data, as well as an overall reduction in the uncertainties. A unique feature of this technique is the use of the Hamming distance metric for seismic data history matching analysis, as this circumvents the use of the uncertain petroelastic model. This approach is easy to implement, and also helps achieve an effective global history match.
