Improving reservoir simulation with 4-D seismic surveys

John Jianlin Zhang, Laurence R. Bentley

In order to manage a reservoir we need to be able to predict how fluids will flow in response to the production and injection of fluids. Reservoir simulation allows us to predict fluid flow. Before production, a reservoir is characterized using data from geology, seismic exploration, logging, well tests, core and laboratory work. During production, pressure, saturation and temperature change, and the change is predicted by reservoir simulation. Dynamic data collected during production and 4-D seismic surveys can be used to improve reservoir simulation. As a first step, reservoir simulation parameters are adjusted so that the model predictions approximate the bottom hole pressure (BHP), water cut, gas oil ratio (GOR) and other field observations. Reservoir parameters can be further adjusted so that the predicted changes in seismic response approximate the results from 4-D seismic surveys. We are currently searching for candidate 4-D research sites.