| Completed
Study |
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Using
Microstructure Observations to Quantify Fracture Properties
and Improve Reservoir Simulations
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Despite
the critical role natural fractures commonly play in governing
reservoir fluid flow, fractures are rarely accounted for
adequately in reservoir simulations. This oversight results
not only from the severe observational challenges that
prevent satisfactory fracture characterization, but also
the time limitations for discrete fracture simulation.
This project, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy,
and implemented through BDM-Oklahoma, Inc., developed
fracture characterization approaches and methods for incorporating
this information into fractured reservoir simulators.
It was a collaborative project among the Bureau, Department
of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, and Department
of Geological Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin.
The project, which ended in September 1998, resulted in
several conceptual and practical breakthroughs in fracture
analysis. |
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research team successfully integrated fracture characterization
and evaluation methods developed during the project in
several case studies and presented results in workshops
in Austin, Midland, and Denver. |
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References:
Rossen, W. R. , Y. Gu, and L. W. Lake, 2000, Connectivity and Permeability
in Fracture Networks Obeying Power-Law Statistics, SPE Paper 59720.
Laubach, S.
E., Marrett, Randall, Rossen, C., Olson, J., Lake, L. W., Ortega,
Orlando, Gu, Yaguang, and Reed, R. M., 1999, Using microstructure
observations to quantify fracture properties and improve reservoir
simulations: The University of Texas at Austin, Bureau of Economic
Geology, final report prepared for U.S. Department of Energy, Assistant
Secretary for Fossil Energy, under subcontract no. G4S51732, contract
DE-AC22-94-PC91008, 493 p.
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| For more information,
please contact Steve Laubach, principal investigator. Telephone 512-471-6303;
e-mail stephen.laubach@beg.utexas.edu. |
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