Novel Techniques Show Links between Reservoir Flow Directionality, Earth Stress, Fault Structure and Geomechanical Changes in Mature Waterfloods.

Abstract

Abstract Recent studies have revealed a strong correlation between the directionality of reservoir flow in waterfloods and the local orientation of horizontal earth stresses. Field applications are described of a novel technique of determining interaction between wells as a potential indicator of flow directionality. This technique calculates the Spearman rank correlation coefficient between flow rates at pairs of wells. These applications have demonstrated that the reservoir dynamics associated with correlated rate fluctuations have at least some component coupled to geomechanics. Coupled geomechanical-fluid flow numerical modelling is able to explain some of the observations and offers an improved predictive tool for planning and managing waterfloods and determining optimal locations for infill wells.