Characterization of natural fractures in carbonate reservoirs to the resolution of well tests is reliable for major fracture corridors. These fracture corridors, intersecting or non-intersecting the wells, impact the well performance and the ultimate recovery in the field. Good transient-test data is the key to diagnosing fractures and their characteristics. When fractures exist between the wells, it requires some additional efforts in locating these with respect to the wells. To overcome this challenge we propose a new approach of building 3D, numerical models to diagnose and characterize the inter-well fracture corridors. In addition, these 3D multi-well, numerical models are to determine the location and the extent of fracture corridors by utilizing dynamic pressure-transient data. The innovative idea of bringing multiple wells to the models to consider interference of wells and fracture corridors makes the models robust. We have been able to identify the inter-well fracture corridors successfully in carbonate reservoirs by performing pressure-transient analyses on wells. By adjusting the inter-well locations of fracture corridors and the extents of these fracture corridors in the multi-well models, we try to achieve the best possible matches with the transient-pressure data. This integrated approach will provide essential input to 3D full- field reservoir models, and will lead to optimizing field management.

Over the last several years, the petroleum industry has experienced a significant increase in the number of new fields and increments being equipped with the intelligent field technology. This includes remote monitoring and control of wells in real time, as well as the acquisition of high frequency pressure, temperature and rate data from the integrated-monitoring systems, including the permanent down-hole monitoring systems. Using field cases, this paper demonstrates the added values of this technology in the pressure transient analysis of real-time data. As part of this study, real-time, build-up tests have been monitored and interpreted remotely for two oil wells conducted in one of intelligent fields. The objectives of these tests are to characterize the reservoir and investigate the presence of reservoir boundaries and heterogeneities around the wells. The results demonstrated how the intelligent field technology provides the real-time reservoir characterization and guarantees achieving the overall objectives of the tests. Monitoring the tests in real-time significantly improves the decision on when to call off the test. It also allows the shut-in times to be extended until sufficient pressure transient data has been acquired, to ensure that the late time responses have been captured. This paper also illustrates how the intelligent field technology helps in the modeling and analysis of the pressure transient responses of wells, by incorporating the effects of the offset wells in a multi-well numerical model. This strengthens the interpretation outcomes of the analysis and eliminates any other less-likely interpretations or scenarios due to the late time responses.

The last several years have seen an explosion in the number new fields and increments being equipped with Intelligent Field technology, which includes remote monitoring and control of wells in real-time, as well as the acquisition of high frequency pressure and rate data from permanent downhole monitoring systems (PDHMS). This paper shows how this Intelligent Field data is being leveraged to obtain full-field reservoir characterization using both analytical and numerical pressure transient analysis methods. Utilizing data from a Saudi Aramco "intelligent" field, collected over a seven-month period, the paper employs pressure transient analysis to investigate the presence of reservoir boundaries and heterogeneities, and to obtain reservoir and well properties. This work reveals the importance of Intelligent Field data, how it can add value for the pressure trainset analysis, and how it is essential in the multiwell interpretation technique to yield accurate analysis. Major heterogeneity in the reservoir of this field was successfully detected and analyzed using the numerical multiwell interpretation technique, made available by Intelligent Field technology. The results are also compared with pressure transient analysis results from wireline gauge data collected through traditional buildup tests conducted on the same wells, to illustrate the distinct advantages of using Intelligent Field data over traditional wireline test data.

The inter-reservoir communication plays a major role in the dynamic performance of any reservoir. Hence, characterizing and understanding the degree of the communication is essential in modeling the reservoir behavior. This paper demonstrates the power of the pressure transient tests in successfully detecting and characterizing the communication between two reservoirs separated by a very thin tight layer as a case study. It also presents the results of integrated pressure transient analyses for long build-up tests conducted in one of the wells, the data of which was acquired from the PDHMS. These confirm the inter-reservoir communication in this field. Using a numerical interpretation technique, a rigorous multi-layer model has successfully matched the pressure transient data and has helped estimating the degree of the communication between the two reservoirs. It has also allowed characterizing the thin tight layer that separates the two reservoirs and controls the inter-reservoir hydraulic communication. This work will help the simulation models of the field to quantify the degree of the communication and capture the real performance of the reservoirs in order to achieve better and effective reservoir management and development plans.