Summary In preparation for the SPE Applied Technology Workshop (ATW) held in Brugge in June 2008, a unique benchmark project was organized to test the combined use of waterflooding-optimization and history-matching methods in a closed-loop workflow. The benchmark was organized in the form of an interactive competition during the months preceding the ATW. The goal set for the exercise was to create a set of history-matched reservoir models and then to find an optimal waterflooding strategy for an oil field containing 20 producers and 10 injectors that can each be controlled by three inflow-control valves (ICVs). A synthetic data set was made available to the participants by TNO, consisting of well-log data, the structure of the reservoir, 10 years of production data, inverted time-lapse seismic data, and other information necessary for the exercise. The parameters to be estimated during the history match were permeability, porosity, and net-to gross- (NTG) thickness ratio. The optimized production strategy was tested on a synthetic truth model developed by TNO, which was also used to generate the production data and inverted time-lapse seismic. Because of time and practical constraints, a full closed-loop exercise was not possible; however, the participants could obtain the response to their production strategy after 10 years, update their models, and resubmit a revised production strategy for the final 10 years of production. In total, nine groups participated in the exercise. The spread of the net present value (NPV) obtained by the different participants is on the order of 10%. The highest result that was obtained is only 3% below the optimized case determined for the known truth field. Although not an objective of this exercise, it was shown that the increase in NPV as a result of having three control intervals per well instead of one was considerable (approximately 20%). The results also showed that the NPV achieved with the flooding strategy that was updated after additional production data became available was consistently higher than before the data became available.

Numerical modeling on a geological timescale is a rapidly expanding tool to investigate controls on formation of the stratigraphic record. Modeling enables us to test existing ideas, but verification of model results is commonly difficult. Many models are based on geometric or diffusion rules, yet neither type of model has much relevance with actual processes that control sedimentary systems.Here we describe a process-response approach to model the evolution and stratigraphy of wave-dominated coastal systems in two dimensions, based on simple approximations of cross-shore erosion and sedimentation. Separating erosion and deposition functions enables us to simulate coastal evolution, stratigraphy, erosion surfaces, and transport of multiple-grain-size classes. The simulated stratigraphic record contains detailed information on grain size and stratal geometry. We calibrated the model with data sets on coastal transgression in the Caspian Sea, Dagestan, and on grain-size distributions at the island of Terschelling, The Netherlands. Furthermore, hypothetical examples are presented to show the effect of changes in sea level and sediment supply, substrate slope, and sediment size distribution. These tests show that the model is capable of reproducing widely accepted conceptual models of coastal evolution on geological timescales (progradation, aggradation, and various modes of retrogradation).

In preparation for the SPE-ATW held in Brugge in June 2008 a unique benchmark project to test the use of flooding optimization and history-matching methods was organized in the form of an interactive competition during the months preceding the ATW. In total nine different groups participated and presented their results during the workshop. Prior to the Brugge workshop, early 2008, a 3D synthetic dataset was made available to the participants by TNO. The dataset consisted of 104 upscaled realizations of a 3D geological model, well-log data from wells with fixed positions, the first 10 years of the production history of the field (including measurement errors), inverted time-lapse seismic data in terms of (uncertain) pressures and saturations, and economic parameters for oil and water (price and discount rate). Participants were asked to provide a history match (either a single matched "best" model or a matched ensemble) based on the available data, and an optimal production strategy (without infill drilling) for the next period (10–20 years). Their strategy was tested on the "real field" to obtain additional production data over the 10-year period. Using these production data, the participants updated their reservoir model and revised their optimal production strategy for the final period of production (20–30 year). The final objective of the exercise was to optimize, within a time constraint, the NPV of a waterflooded oilfield having smart wells that can be controlled by an inflow control valve per completed layer. The results of the nine participants are compared to an optimization of the "real field" as performed by TNO. This paper gives an overview of the results obtained from this benchmark study. After the Brugge workshop the participants that were not able to finalize the exercise in time were given an additional two months time. The results of this additional exercise are reported in this paper as well.

This paper presents the results of a cross-border study of the Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rift phase in the Danish-German-Dutch Central Graben area. Based on long-distance correlations of palynologically interpreted wells, a stepwise basin evolution pattern was determined. Four phases are defined and described as tectonostratigraphic mega-sequences (TMS). The TMS are governed by changes in the tectonic regime. TMS-1 reflects the onset of rifting, triggered by regional east-west extension. Rift climax was reached during TMS-1, reflected by thick mudstone accumulations. TMS-2 reflects a change in the tectonic regime from east-west to NE-SW extension. NW-SE-trending normal faults became active during this phase, switching the depocentres from the graben axis into adjacent basins. TMS-3 displays divergent basin development. In the Dutch Central Graben area, it is characterized by a basal unconformity and widespread sandstone deposition, indicating continued salt and fault activity. Organic-rich mudstone deposition prevails in the Danish and German Central Graben area, indicating sediment starvation and water-mass stratification. With TMS-4 the rift phase ended, reflected by regionally uniform mudstone deposition. The basin evolution model presented here coherently places the lithostratigraphic units occurring in a stratigraphic framework and provides a valuable basis for hydrocarbon exploration activities in the region.Gold Open Access: This article is published under the terms of the CC-BY 3.0 license.

The Middle Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous in the eastern Dutch offshore provides excellent examples of sand-rich sediments that locally accumulated in the vicinity of rift basin margins affected by salt tectonics. These types of deposits are often geographically restricted and difficult to identify, but can be valuable targets for hydrocarbon exploration. The distribution, thickness and preservation potential of fluvio-lacustrine, shallow-and deep-marine sediments is discussed to provide new insights into the regional and local tectonostratigraphy of the Dutch Central Graben, the Terschelling Basin and their neighbouring platforms. New sedimentological, geochemical, biostratigraphic, stratigraphic and structural information have been analysed and integrated into a new tectonostratigraphic model for the Callovian Lower Graben Formation, Oxfordian Middle and Upper Graben formations, Early-Middle Volgian Terschelling Sandstone and Noordvaarder members, and the Late VolgianEarly Ryazanian Scruff Greensand Formation. It is demonstrated that salt withdrawal at the basin axis was the primary control on the generation of high accommodation during the Callovian-Early Kimmeridgian. Incised valleys developed on the platforms providing lateral sediment input. During the Late Kimmeridgian-Ryazanian salt migration shifted laterally towards the basin margins, providing accommodation adjacent to active salt bodies and deposition of overthickened sandy strata.