Abstract

Recent trends in reservoir management indicate that the approach used by various companies utilizes concepts of teamwork and integrated operations. This is particularly evident in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects due to the wide scope, complexity and high cost associated with various EOR processes. Reservoir management of typical EOR projects includes reservoir evaluation, geology, process design, surface facilities, performance monitoring, production data analysis, operational aspects and environmental as well as contractual considerations.

Modern reservoir management is based on cooperative participation and input from various professionals involved in a given EOR project. Participants include geologists, reservoir engineers, reservoir simulation engineers, production engineers, facilities (design and construction) engineers and field management team personnel. With such a wide variety of backgrounds among participants, it is necessary to establish a common understanding of fundamental concepts, key parameters and data requirements throughout various phases of project implementation.

With the practical fact that an oil reservoir can only be produced once, operators pay special attention to the reservoir management of EOR projects in order to obtain optimum results and avoid costly mistakes. Recently, many operators have come to the conclusion that utilizing teamwork in an integrated operation, allowing enough flexibility and designing adequate performance monitoring, will assure efficient and practical reservoir management. It is clear that each of the above elements require participation and input from several professionals of various disciplines. This participation, coupled with a cooperative effort, increases the reliability of the results and assures the right selection of producing methods and development plans. When an EOR process is implemented in a given field, the degree of success of its reservoir management program is directly related to the teamwork efficiency of the professionals associated with the project.