Modeling of flow of oil gas and water in natural petroleum reservoirs and
production systems poses many challenges. The fluids consist of many
individual components, these components are transferred between phase as a
result of changing pressure and temperature during flow in the reservoir,
and the geology of the reservoir itself is highly uncertain. The
mathematical models resulting from mass conservation over each component
(or pseudo components) and momentum balance applied to phases are highly
nonlinear and complex. Numerical techniques for solving these equations
have been in continuous development in both academia and the industry for
over fifty years. The challenge has been to be able to produce useful
results from such models in a timely manner to influence critical decisions
that can involve many billions of dollars of expenditure. This requires
models that robust, accurate and fast.
As the production systems have become more and more complex, the oil
industry has become more and more dependent on reservoir simulation to aid
in decision making. In the current environment of scarce resources and high
oil prices virtually every significant reservoir is managed with the aid of
numerical models know as reservoir simulators.
In my talk I will provide an overview of the current state of this
technology and give examples of areas of current research.