Oil & Gas - Maximising Recovery Programme (formerly SHARP) IOR Views

Reservoir Characterisation by Integrated Seismic and Electromagnetic Remote Sensing (Grant Ref. Number DT/E005616)

The marine controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) survey method is rapidly gaining acceptance as a geophysical exploration tool for the offshore oil and gas production industry. By determining the electrical resistivity within seafloor geological structures, the CSEM technique can dramatically reduce the risk of drilling dry exploration wells.  This project, led by Southampton University, proposes to extend the application of CSEM to reservoir appraisal and monitoring. This will be achieved through the development of survey geometries and data analysis techniques that optimise the sensitivity of the method to 3D structures, and any changes in them. It also seeks to integrate the interpretation of CSEM and seismic data, to more fully characterise reservoir properties.
Therefore, the overall objective is to develop methodologies that will allow CSEM to be applied to the mapping of small or incremental hydrocarbon reserves. This would lead to accurate monitoring of existing reserves during production and storage of CO2 in geological sequestration projects. 

Downhole Gas Compressor Motor Drive for Production Enhancement from Gas Fields (Grant Ref. Number DT/E005764)

This joint collaboration (Nottingham University, Corac, etc) is focussed on the design, development and engineering of an innovative Integrated Power Electronic Matrix Converter (IPEMC) for driving high power permanent magnet brushless motors.  The key inventive step involves the elimination of all of the bulky inductors that conventionally are used to shape the new AC wave form, using a novel inverter and control technology. 
It is a key enabling component for the Downhole Gas Compressor (DGC) application where the machine must operate in an extremely small space envelope in a hostile environment.  By being able to locate the DGC down hole and pressure boost close to the reservoir, large increases in rates of production (in range 28-42%) are achievable as well as significant increases in Ultimate Recovery (UR).  This unique project results in significant miniaturisation of the power electronics for all industrial applications, while also increasing high temperature performance and ruggedness and reducing EM radiation.
Julian Reed of Corac describes the details of this concept in a separate article in the current issue of IOR Views.

Enhanced Viscosity Prediction for Improved Development of Heavy Oil Fields (Grant Ref. Number DT/E006159)

The project addresses a key issue for the cost-effective recovery of heavy oils: the need for accurate, robust predictive models for the viscosity of field crudes and how this changes with operational conditions. 
A partnership between Schlumberger Cambridge Research, Shell Exploration and Production and Imperial College London aims

• to produce a novel molecular-based model, validated on both model hydrocarbon mixtures and UKCS heavy crudes, capable of predicting viscosity as a function of temperature, pressure, oil and diluent composition
• to incorporate the model into a compositional reservoir simulator
• to use this extended simulator to develop model-based strategies to explore, design and optimise new or improved existing processes for heavy oil production with specific emphasis on the UKCS

The project will have a significant impact on the effectiveness of recovering the more than 7.5 billion bbls of UKCS proven heavy oil reserves.

Improved Simulation of Oil Recovery from Fractured Reservoirs (Grant Ref. Number DT/E010490/1)

EPSRC recently announced the funding support for this project, in which Roxar, BP and PetroCanada are partners with the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London.

This project proposes to develop novel numerical methods to understand recovery prediction from fractured reservoirs. These ideas will then be incorporated into commercial code by a collaborating partner, Roxar, and the software will be used by oil industry partners to design recovery schemes in oil fields in the North Sea and elsewhere.

The research will involve two stages. First, a discrete fracture code will be used to simulate flow in the fracture network and matrix at a scale of a few metres, representing a section of the field. The average behaviour in terms of oil recovery and transport properties will be found. This will be fit to a functional form derived from analytic solutions to the governing transport equations in simple geometries with parameters that depend on the rock, fracture and fluid properties. The second stage involves incorporating this averaged treatment of flow into a field-scale simulator and validating it by making predictions of recovery in reservoirs and comparing with measured data.

For the Clair, Machar and Hanze fields, operated by industry partners, the optimal well placement and the best combination of water and gas injection will be assessed to give the highest recoveries.