Multilateral wells placement via transshipment approach

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016011332-A1
Application number	US-201414330510-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 14, 2014
Priority date	Jul 14, 2014
Publication date	Jan 14, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A multilateral well placement methodology is provided for hydrocarbon reservoirs utilizing transshipment network optimization to best fit productivity conditions in the reservoir. Multilateral well trajectories are generated which ensure contact with hydrocarbon rich pockets in the reservoir. Different levels of branching for lateral wells are also permitted.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer implemented method of formulating well completions of at least one multilateral well in a subsurface reservoir producing hydrocarbon fluids, the reservoir being organized as a reservoir model partitioned into a number of cells, the computer implemented method comprising the steps of:
a) performing a reservoir simulation to determine hydrocarbon fluid content of the cells in the reservoir model; b) forming a measure of profit for the cells based on productivity of the determined hydrocarbon fluid content of the cells; c) generating a model for the at least one multilateral well by transshipment network analysis of the measures of profit for the cells; d) optimizing placement of the generated model of the at least one multilateral well in the reservoir model; and e) forming an output display of the at least one multilateral well at a location in the reservoir model according to the step of optimizing placement.

2 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the step of forming a measure of profit comprises the step of forming a profit matrix for the cells of the reservoir model.

3 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the step of optimizing placement is performed by mixed integer processing.

4 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein well completions of a plurality of multilateral wells are formulated and wherein:
a) the step of generating comprises generating a model for the plurality of multilateral wells by transshipment network analysis of the measures of profit for the cells; b) the step of optimizing placement comprises optimizing placement of the generated model of the plurality of multilateral wells in the reservoir model; and c) the step of forming an output display comprises forming an output display of the plurality of multilateral wells at locations in the reservoir model according to the step of optimizing placement.

5 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon fluids comprise oil and gas.

6 . The computer implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the step of performing a reservoir simulation further comprises determining water content of the cells in the reservoir model.

7 . The computer implemented method of claim 7 , wherein the step of forming a measure of profit comprises the step of
forming a measure of profit for the cells based on productivity of the determined hydrocarbon fluid and water content of the cells.

8 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the step of optimizing placement comprises optimizing placement by local optimization of the generated model of the at least one multilateral well in the reservoir model.

9 . The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the step of optimizing placement comprises optimizing placement by global optimization of the generated model of the at least one multilateral well in the reservoir model.

10 . The computer implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the step of optimizing placement by global optimization includes the steps of:
a) partitioning the optimization into plural subproblems having common properties; b) recursively solving the partitioned subproblems to form partitioned solutions; and c) combining the partitioned solutions.

11 . A data processing system for formulating well completions of at least one multilateral well in a subsurface reservoir producing hydrocarbon fluids, the reservoir being organized as a reservoir model partitioned into a number of cells, the data processing system including:
a processor performing the data processing steps of: a) performing a reservoir simulation to determine hydrocarbon fluid content of the cells in the reservoir model; b) forming a measure of profit for the cells based on productivity of the determined hydrocarbon fluid content of the cells; c) generating a model for the at least one multilateral well by transshipment network analysis of the measures of profit for the cells; d) optimizing placement of the generated model of the at least one multilateral well in the reservoir model; and a user interface performing the step of e) forming an output display of the at least one multilateral well at a location in the reservoir model according to the optimized placement.

12 . The data processing system of claim 11 , wherein the processor in forming a measure of profit performs the step of forming a profit matrix for the cells of the reservoir model.

13 . The data processing system of claim 11 , wherein the processor in optimizing placement performs mixed integer processing.

14 . The data processing system of claim 11 , wherein well completions of a plurality of multilateral wells are formulated and wherein:
a) the processor in generating a model performs the step of generating a model for the plurality of multilateral wells by transshipment network analysis of the measures of profit for the cells; b) the processor in optimizing placement performs the step optimizing placement of the generated model of the plurality of multilateral wells in the reservoir model; and c) wherein the user interface performs the step of forming an output display of the plurality of multilateral wells at locations in the reservoir model according to the optimized placement.

15 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon fluids comprise oil and gas.

16 . The data processing system of claim 5 , wherein the processor in performing a reservoir simulation further performs the step of determining water content of the cells in the reservoir model.

17 . The data processing system of claim 7 , wherein the processor in forming a measure of performs the step of
forming a measure of profit for the cells based on productivity of the determined hydrocarbon fluid and water content of the cells.

18 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein processor in optimizing placement performs the step of optimizing placement by local optimization of the generated model of the at least one multilateral well in the reservoir model.

19 . The data processing system of claim 1 , wherein processor in optimizing placement performs the step of optimizing placement by global optimization of the generated model of the at least one multilateral well in the reservoir model.

20 . The data processing system of claim 9 , wherein the processor in optimizing placement by global optimization performs the steps of:
a) partitioning the optimization into plural subproblems having common properties; b) recursively solving the partitioned subproblems to form partitioned solutions; and c) combining the partitioned solutions.

21 . A data storage device having stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium computer operable instructions for causing a data processing system to formulate well completions of at least one multilateral well in a subsurface reservoir producing hydrocarbon fluids, the reservoir being organized as a reservoir model partitioned into a number of cells, the instructions stored in the data storage device causing at least one processor in the data processing system to perform the following steps:
a) performing a reservoir simulation to determine hydrocarbon fluid content of the cells in the reservoir model; b) forming a measure of profit for the cells based on productivity of the determined hydrocarbon fluid content of the cells; c) generating a model for the at least one multilateral well by transshipment network

Assignees

• Saudi Arabian Oil Co
• Univ Texas Tech System

Inventors

• Alqahtani Ghazi D
• Berlow Noah E
• Soliman Mohamed Y

Classifications

• E21B43/305 Primary

  comprising at least one inclined or horizontal well · CPC title

• G06F30/20

  Design optimisation, verification or simulation (optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30) · CPC title

• G06Q10/04

  Forecasting or optimisation specially adapted for administrative or management purposes, e.g. linear programming or "cutting stock problem" (market predictions or forecasting for commercial activities G06Q30/0202) · CPC title

• E21B43/30 Primary

  Specific pattern of wells, e.g. optimising the spacing of wells · CPC title

• G01V99/005 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic