Exxonmobil Upstream Research Company

Bp Corporation North America Inc.

Julianna J Toms

Christine E Krohn

Enru Liu

Joanne Fredrich

Nathan Lane

Method for estimating fluid heterogeneity in a subsurface region from seismic wave attenuation or velocity dispersion that is either measured or extracted from geophysical data (). A rock physics model in the form of a mathematical relationship is selected that relates attenuation or velocity to frequency and to physical properties that are related to fluid heterogeneity (). The model, or asymptotes () representing the model's behavior at frequency extremes, is inverted () and that relationship is used to obtain () one or more of the physical properties related to fluid heterogeneity, such as characteristic length scale for fluid saturation heterogeneities () and relative volume fractions of the fluids saturating the pore space ().

Estimation of production sweep efficiency utilizing geophysical data

A testing system for performing image based direct numerical simulation to characterize petrophysical properties of a rock sample under the simulated deformation condition, for example as representative of subsurface conditions. A digital image volume corresponding to x-ray tomographic images of a rock sample is segmented into its significant elastic phases, such as pore space, clay fraction, grain contacts and mineral type, and overlaid with an unstructured finite element mesh. A simulated deformation is applied to the segmented image volume, and the resulting deformed unstructured mesh is numerically analyzed, for example by way of direct numerical simulation, to determine the desired petrophysical properties.

Growing community of inventors

Houston, TX, United States of America

Julianna J Toms