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The objective of history matching is to provide a model than can reasonably predict the future performance of the reservoir under various operational scenarios. Different operational scenarios may include well stimulations, drilling of new wells, abandonment of existing wells, injection of different fluids, and modification of surface facilities. These actions are intended to increase or accelerate hydrocarbon recovery and most will require significant capital investment. Hence, a facility for economic analysis is required in the comparison of alternative operational scenarios. We will not discuss economic evaluations in this book.

The development planning process is an exercise in optimization, in which the objective is to maximize economic metrics such as net present value (NPV) or ultimate recovery, while honoring the external constraints, such as physical (platform) limitations, available capital, drilling rigs, or injection gas. The nature of the objective function (i.e., NPV) must be clearly defined before the optimization stage, as it provides the means to compare different scenarios. Most engineers prefer to use predictive simulation models for comparative analysis; thus, the optimization process adheres to this preference.

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