The Influence of Permeability Anisotropy on Reservoir Simulation Model Behaviour in Oil Fields

Abstract

With a geological and dynamic model of the hydrocarbon field, adapted to historical exploitation data, petroleum engineers can gain invaluable insights into the current situation and evaluate proposed solutions with great effectiveness. This resource is highly beneficial, providing invaluable insights that can result in favourable results. Therefore, in order to obtain reliable results, it is very important to build a reservoir model, taking into account their geological features. One of these features can be considered anisotropy of permeability. This is very important when it comes to low porosity and permeability reservoirs, which oil and gas companies are actively developing. The goal of this study was to assess how permeability anisotropy impacts the performance of a hydrodynamic model for a productive reservoir in an oil field. This study involves creating a field model and performing hydrodynamic calculations. This includes using field data to determine a close-to-real value for permeability anisotropy, optimizing an existing development system, and analyzing development maps. As a result of the study, it was found that the omission of permeability anisotropy leads to an overestimation of the accumulated field development indicators. It was found that an increase in the value of anisotropy does not always lead to an increase in cumulative oil production, which undoubtedly emphasizes the peculiarity of the geological structure of the reservoir. In the final stage, a hydrodynamic calculation of the development was performed for 15 years, allowing conclusions to be reached about the correctness of applying operations to enhance oil recovery (EOR).