Abstract
Well placement and design under geological uncertainties defines a major risk for field development processes. Including alternative geological realizations in a manually optimized development plan has been cumbersome and time consuming. In practical cases, a single reference model was often used as a basis for the flow simulation model which included a major risk on underestimating geological uncertainties. Optimization approaches and related optimization methods applied in this field previously included an objective function definition which aggregates multiple objectives, e.g. cumulative well rates or economical indicators. These optimization methods do not allow distinguishing easily between correlated and uncorrelated objectives which defines a major limitation for efficiency.
This paper presents a novel approach individually linking objectives and design parameters to multiple optimization processes which operate in parallel on a single simulation case. This approach increases the efficiency of stochastic optimization processes for complex application scenarios with multiple objectives. The extension to an uncertainty workflow including multiple geological models in the optimization processes is discussed.
Well placement optimization of horizontal wells in independent target formations of the gas condensate field is used to verify the optimization methodology. Alternative geological models are included in the optimization workflow representing geological uncertainties. The specific objective of the case study is to find optimum well trajectories by maximizing cumulative gas production over the life cycle of the field. Performance indicators for all well candidates (design parameters) are related to individual objectives (regional production). Robustness criteria for well candidates are implicitly fulfilled on the basis of risk weighted geological realizations.
