Improved Methodology for Estimating Recovery Factor of Carbonate Reservoirs Using Geological Parameters

Abstract:

Carbonate reservoirs are highly complicated and heterogeneous than typical sandstone reservoirs, because of their depositional and diagenetic complexity. Therefore estimating the prospectiveness in an early stage of reservoir development is not an easy task. Typically we use an empirical equation, which calculates recovery factor (RF) for this assessment. Since the equation was created with reservoir parameters (porosity, water saturation, permeability, viscosity, pressure, etc.) from sandstone reservoirs, the applicability to carbonate reservoirs is questionable. We compiled 97 carbonate reservoirs and created a database with reservoir properties, geological information, and production data. First, we applied the existing empirical equation to our data and the results were disappointing: the predicted RF’s was far off from actual values and correlation was also poor. We then modified the equation by adding geological parameters, such as play type, reservoir age, reservoir type, porosity type, trap information. The new equation was modelled by determining the coefficient of each parameter using least-square minimizing scheme. The modified equation estimated the recovery factor much better and more reliably. We think that the additional geological information is essential for accurate assessment of carbonate reservoirs in early stage of development, since the carbonate reservoirs show high variability and complexity by depositional and diagenetic changes. Acknowledgements: This research was supported by the Basic Research Project of the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of Korea (GP2012-029).