Dual-Porosity/Dual-Permeability Modeling of a Fractured
Carbonate Reservoir
Meurer, M. Ellen1,
As the world’s
fractured reservoir
assets become increasingly important, new approaches must
be developed in fractured
reservoir
modeling and
simulation
to maximize productivity,
improve economic forecasts, and inform business judgements.
To address this need, we developed and validated a fractured
reservoir
modeling
and
simulation
workflow, that integrates fracture characterization, geologic
modeling, and fractured
reservoir
simulation
technologies. The workflow
includes 1) using a common-scale framework for geologic and
simulation
models,
2) simulating fine-scale element models to compute effective matrix permeabilities, 3) analyzing fracture data obtained from
core, FMI logs, and outcrop, and 4) integrating analysis of field performance,
structure, stratigraphic facies,
and regional geology. Directional equivalent fracture permeabilities,
porosity, and matrix block dimensions were estimated using a 3D geologic
model-based discrete fracture network (DFN) model.
Dual-porosity/dual-permeability
reservoir
simulation
models were built using
similar grid geometry and discretization scale, the
new effective matrix properties, and the DFN-gener-ated
fracture properties.
Simulation
results were compared with a long history of
multiphase production, with the new model showing a better history match than
the previous singlemedium model. We conclude that
for our test case, a dual-porosity/dual-permeability model more accurately
captures the impact of fractures on fluid flow than does a single-medium model;
and our
study
demonstrates an effective and efficient dual-porosity/dual-permeabil-ity fractured
reservoir
modeling and
simulation
strategy.