Abstract
The Carpinteria Offshore field in the Santa Barbara channel is a geologically complex, mature reservoir. Over the past years production has declined due to increased water cut and sand production from unconsolidated zones. The current operator of the field, Pacific Operators Offshore Inc. (POOI), a small and independent producer joined with Los Alamos National Laboratory in a joint research program. The purpose of the program was to use advanced computational tools to improve understanding of the field geology and fluid dynamics. No comprehensive model of the field was available prior to this project. As part of the project, a geologic model that integrated the legacy data was developed. The model was used to develop a reservoir flow simulation model for a part of the field. The model was used to qualitatively understand field fluid dynamics. Subsequently, geostatistical techniques were used to characterize the spatial heterogeneity in reservoir rock properties. Multiple realizations were generated for individual rock properties and the uncertainties associated with the property distributions were quantified. The geologic model has been extensively used by POOI during planning stages of a field redevelopment program. The newly drilled wells have dramatically increased the production from the field. The increased production has been tremendously helpful for the company during the recent oil production shortage.
