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Chapter from:
AAPG Memoir 71: Reservoir Characterization-Recent Advances
Edited by Richard A. Schatzinger and John F. Jordan
Copyright 1999 by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
Memoir 71, Chapter 1: The Role of Reservoir Characterization in the Reservoir Management Process (as Reflected in the Department of Energy's Reservoir Management Demonstration Program), by Michael L. Fowler, Mark A. Young, Michael P. Madden, and E. Lance Cole, Pages 3 - 18

Chapter 1
The Role of Reservoir Characterization in the Reservoir Management Process (as Reflected in the Department of Energy's Reservoir Management Demonstration Program)

E. Lance Cole
Petroleum Technology Transfer Council
Sand Springs, Oklahoma, U.S.A.

Optimum reservoir recovery and profitability result from guidance by an effective reservoir management plan. Success in developing the most appropriate reservoir management plan requires knowledge and consideration of (1) the reservoir system, including rocks, fluids, and rock-fluid interactions, as well as wellbores and associated equipment and surface facilities; (2) the technologies available to describe, analyze, and exploit the reservoir; and (3) the business environment under which the plan will be developed and implemented. Reservoir management plans de-optimize with time as technology and the business environment change or as new reservoir information becomes available. Reservoir characterization is essential for planning appropriately scaled reservoir management plans.