Electromagnetic oil field mapping for improved process monitoring and reservoir characterization
Abstract
Electromagnetic (EM) techniques are being developed to monitor oil recovery processes and improve overall process performance. Just as seismic surveys generate acoustic waves to detect changes in sonic velocity, and then infer rock properties, EM surveys generate electromagnetic fields to detect changes in electrical resistivity, and then infer fluid properties. The potential impact of the EM survey is very significant, primarily in the areas of locating oil, identifying oil inside and outside the pattern, characterizing flow units, and pseudo-real time process control to optimize process performance and efficiency. Since a map of resistivity is of no direct use to a reservoir engineer, an essential part of the EM technique is understanding the relationship between the process and the formation resistivity at all scales, and integrating this understanding into reservoir simulation. This abstract discusses the process we have developed for integrating EM measurements into reservoir characterization and simulation.
- Publication:
-
NASA STI/Recon Technical Report N
- Pub Date:
- 1991
- Bibcode:
- 1991STIN...9210132W
- Keywords:
-
- Characterization;
- Electrical Resistivity;
- Electromagnetic Fields;
- Oil Fields;
- Reservoirs;
- Heterogeneity;
- Rocks;
- Simulation;
- Communications and Radar