Institut Francais Du Pe'trole

Fabrice Bauget

Roland Lenormand

A method for forming a model simulating production, by an underground reservoir subject to depletion, of hydrocarbons comprising notably relatively high-viscosity oils. From laboratory measurements of the respective volumes of oil and gas produced by rock samples from the reservoir subject to depletion, and the relative permeabilities (Kr) of rock samples to hydrocarbons, a model of the formation and flow of the gas fraction is used to determine a volume transfer coefficient (hv) by means of an empirical function representing the distribution of nuclei that can be activated at a pressure P (function N(P)) which is calibrated with reference to the previous measurements. Considering that the nuclei distribution N(P) in the reservoir rocks is the same as the distribution measured in the laboratory, the numerical transfer coefficient corresponding thereto in the reservoir at selected depletion rates is determined using the gas fraction formation and flow model, which allows predicting the relative permeabilities in the reservoir and the production thereof which is useful for reservoir engineering.

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Downer, Australia

Fabrice Bauget