2. Accomplishments

2.1 Discoveries and Innovations
2.2 Implications and Applicability
2.3 Project Demonstration
2.4 Measurement of Project Performance

2. ACCOMPLISHMENTS

2.1 Discoveries and Innovations

The project discoveries and innovations are as follows:

1. 3D Hierarchical Fracture Model: The HFM Model facilitates the generation of 3D DFN simulations constrained by geological and tectonic information. The HFM model can model geologic structures involving spatially variable fracturing, correlations between fractures and major structures.
2. Thermally Assisted Gravity Segregation: The project developed tools for modeling the innovative TAGS process for tertiary oil recovery, and provided TAGS results for the open literature.
3. Fracture Data Analysis: The project developed innovative tools for quantitative analysis of orientation, flow dimension, and spatial structure based on neural network, graph theory, and correlation analysis.
4. Compartmentalization Analysis: The fractured reservoir compartmentalization analyses developed as part of this project utilizes graph theory to understand discrete feature network connectivity.
5. Tributary Volume Analysis: When the primary path for oil delivery to the well completion is the fracture network, the volume of oil produceable from a given completion depends on the geometry of the connected fracture network. The "tributary drainage volume" analysis was developed as part of this project.
6. Block Size Analysis: The multi-directional spacing algorithm (MDS) provides a direct method to calculate block size and shape parameters which are an essential element of dual porosity reservoir simulators such as ECLipse. MDS calculates the block size and shape distribution, the _-factor and the vertical height of matrix blocks.
7. Flow Dimension Analysis: Flow dimension analysis of pressure time-histories was developed for hydrogeological applications. This project developed innovative applications of flow dimension analysis to support connectivity analysis for fractured reservoirs.
8. Practical DFN Analysis for Tertiary Oil Recovery: The project developed and demonstrated the DFN approach for design of tertiary oil recovery.

2.2 Implications and Applicability

1. The DFN approaches developed as part of this project are potentially applicable to all reservoirs in which discrete features provide significant flow paths for oil, water, or gas phases. This represents at least 20% of the known reserves of the United States.
2. The use of DFN based EOR approaches such as TAGS for secondary and tertiary recovery has the potential to improve production and recovery at formerly declining fields such as Yates by the 10-50% rate observed at Yates.
3. Compartmentalization analysis has potential applications in well field layout, completion design, and the design of secondary and tertiary recovery methods dependent on network connectivity, including steam and surfactant floods and gel treatments.
4. Block size analysis has potential application for reservoir analyses which use conventional dual porosity simulators requiring _-Factor and vertical matrix block height.
5. Discrete fracture data analyses developed as part of this project will provide a tool to leverage more than 300 million dollars of FMI data collected annually in the United States to produce useful information for completion design and field engineering.

2.3 Project Demonstration

All of the technologies developed within this project have been demonstrated at the project study site, Tract 17 and Tract 49 of Marathon Oil's Yates Field. This demonstration has included:

• analysis of Tract 17 and Tract 49 FMI and interference test data using project developed orientation, spatial structure, and flow dimension tools,
• compartmentalization, tributary drainage volume, and block size analysis,
• simulation of heat transfer for the TAGS process,
• development of ECLipse simulator parameters using project-developed algorithms,
• implementation of the Hierarchical Fracture Model HFM for portions of the Tracts 17 and 49.

2.4 Measurement of Project Performance

The performance of the project will be measured by the economic analysis to be carried out as Task 4.3, Technology Evaluation. This will include an economic analysis of the benefits and costs of DFN data analysis, compartmentalization analysis, and DFN support to reservoir simulation, and the use of DFN for completion design.

Until this analysis is completed, the best measure of project performance is the level of interest generated by the project web site, www.golder.com/niper/niprhome.htm.

This site sees an average of 12000/hits per year, representing an average of 30 user sessions per day (Table 4-1).