This paper addresses issues regarding Knowledge Management challenges of the future. The effective management of complex reservoirs is becoming increasingly dependent on the efficient and speedy utilization of vast amounts of data and information, which can, in turn, be used in real-time, or near realtime decision-making.
North Ghawar presents an interesting case example for Knowledge Management during the coming decade. It spans an area of 130 × 30 Km., includes 1500 wells and has been on production since 1953.
A reservoir knowledge management tool named SMARTS, custom designed and built for Saudi ARAMCO, will be the main vehicle to access diverse streams of geo-engineering data. The system will be linked with five drilling rigs via satellite communication systems for real-time geo-navigation of wells. Other real-time features include down-hole monitoring of conventional as well as intelligent wells with down-hole intervention capabilities.
Knowledge Centers equipped with telecommunication and audio-visual systems will provide the theater of operations. The scale of data to be managed adds an additional challenge to knowledge management in North Ghawar.
The Ghawar Arab-D oil field was discovered in 1948 in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. It is the world's largest oil field. It extends 230 km along a north-south axis with a maximum width of 50 km.
The Arab-D reservoir belongs to the Arab Formation, Upper Jurassic, sealed by the massive overlying Hith anhydrite Formation, dated Tithonian and providing a "final Jurassic regional, stratigraphic datum" as discussed by Al-Husseini1 (1997). North Ghawar was placed on stream in 1951 and development progressed southwards by stages. Due to the lack of aquifer support, peripheral water injection was initiated in the late 60's to maintain the reservoir pressure above the oil bubble point pressure. The field has been primarily developed using vertical wells on a 1-km spacing. During the last five years, the use of horizontal drilling has intensified especially in the southernmost areas of Ghawar.
The North Ghawar Arab-D reservoir history extends over more than fifty years of production. The area has, as of year-end 2001, approximately 1500 wells, including producers and injectors, conventional and horizontal. About 40,000 logs, including openhole and production logs have been acquired from this part of the field. The reservoir is actively being monitored through data monitoring and surveillance programs encompassing static pressure surveys, formation evaluation measurements and production and injection data as summarized below.
BLOCK 1 - - FORUM 4 317
Information Total Number Bottom Hole Pressure Surveys 100,183 Production/Injection Rate Tests 110,350 Openhole and Production Logs 39,690 Productivity Index (PI) Tests
