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Summary In this paper, we use a combination of acoustic impedance and production data for history matching the full Norne Field. The purpose of the paper is to illustrate a robust and flexible work flow for assisted history matching of large data sets. We apply an iterative ensemble-based smoother, and the traditional approach for assisted history matching is extended to include updates of additional parameters representing rock clay content, which has a significant effect on seismic data. Further, for seismic data it is a challenge to properly specify the measurement noise, because the noise level and spatial correlation between measurement noise are unknown. For this purpose, we apply a method based on image denoising for estimating the spatially correlated (colored) noise level in the data. For the best possible evaluation of the workflow performance, all data are synthetically generated in this study. We assimilate production data and seismic data sequentially. First, the production data are assimilated using traditional distance-based localization, and the resulting ensemble of reservoir models is then used when assimilating seismic data. This procedure is suitable for real field applications, because production data are usually available before seismic data. If both production data and seismic data are assimilated simultaneously, the high number of seismic data might dominate the overall history-matching performance. The noise estimation for seismic data involves transforming the observations to a discrete wavelet domain. However, the resulting data do not have a clear spatial position, and the traditional distance-based localization schemes used to avoid spurious correlations and underestimated uncertainty (because of limited ensemble size), are not possible to apply. Instead, we use a localization scheme that is based on correlations between observations and parameters that does not rely on physical position for model variables or data. This method automatically adapts to each observation and iteration. The results show that we reduce data mismatch for both production and seismic data, and that the use of seismic data reduces estimation errors for porosity, permeability, and net-to-gross ratio (NTG). Such improvements can provide useful information for reservoir management and planning for additional drainage strategies.

Summary Ensemble-based methods are among the state-of-the-art history-matching algorithms. However, in practice, they often suffer from ensemble collapse, a phenomenon that deteriorates history-matching performance. It is customary to equip an ensemble history-matching algorithm with a localization scheme to prevent ensemble collapse. Conventional localization methods use distances between the physical locations of model variables and observations to modify the degree of the observations’ influence on model updates. Distance-based localization methods work well in many problems, but they also suffer from dependence on the physical locations of both model variables and observations, the challenges in dealing with nonlocal and time-lapse measurements, and the nonadaptivity to handling different types of model variables. To enhance the applicability of localization to various history-matching problems, we adopt an adaptive localization scheme that exploits the correlations between model variables and simulated observations. We elaborate how correlation-based adaptive localization can overcome or mitigate issues arising in conventional distance-based localization. To demonstrate the efficacy of correlation-based adaptive localization, we adopt an iterative ensemble smoother (iES) with the proposed localization scheme to history match the real production data of the Norne Field model, and we compare the history-matching results with those obtained by using the iES with distance-based localization. Our study indicates that when compared with distance-based localization, correlation-based localization not only achieves close or better performance in terms of data mismatch, but also is more convenient to use in practical history-matching problems. As a result, the proposed correlation-based localization scheme might serve as a viable alternative to conventional distance-based localization.

Over the last years, the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) has become a very popular tool for history matching petroleum reservoirs. EnKF is an alternative to more traditional history matching techniques as it is computationally fast and easy to implement. Instead of seeking one best model estimate, EnKF is a Monte Carlo method that represents the solution with an ensemble of state vectors. Lately, several ensemblebased methods have been proposed to improve upon the solution produced by EnKF. In this paper, we compare EnKF with one of the most recently proposed methods, the adaptive Gaussian mixture filter (AGM), on a 2D synthetic reservoir and the Punq-S3 test case. AGM was introduced to loosen up the requirement of a Gaussian prior distribution as implicitly formulated in EnKF. By combining ideas from particle filters with EnKF, AGM extends the low-rank kernel particle Kalman filter. The simulation study shows that while both methods match the historical data well, AGM is better at preserving the geostatistics of the prior distribution. Further, AGM also produces estimated fields that have a higher empirical correlation with the reference field than the corresponding fields obtained with EnKF.A. S. Stordal (B) · R. Valestrand · G. Naevdal

Tracers are widely used to increase the understanding of fluid flow; they can be used to label injection fluids, hence, well connections and fluid patterns can be established when the tracer appears in production wells. Tracer data contain valuable information but are often underexploited.This paper presents methodology for assimilation of tracer data for reservoir model updating using the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF). The presented assimilation methodology is generally applicable for all types of tracers, but the example used for demonstration focuses on gas tracers. Contrary to water tracers, which can be either nonpartitioning or partition between (oil and water) phases, gas tracers always partition between the oil and gas phases. This oil/gas partitioning is accounted for in the presented tracer transport modeling. The EnKF has recently gained popularity as a method for history matching. The EnKF includes online update of parameters and the dynamical states. An ensemble of model representations is used to represent the model uncertainty.The value of tracer data in the EnKF approach is demonstrated on a North-Sea-based example. The permeability and fault transmissibility multiplier of a reservoir are estimated by EnKF. This example shows that tracer data can be used successfully in an EnKF-based automatic updating scheme. Potential misinterpretations of gas tracer data if their partitioning is neglected is highlighted by comparing results from simulation cases where partitioning is neglected to simulation results where partitioning is accounted for.