Flow through fractured reservoirs under geological and geomechancial uncertainty

The main aim of this work is the efficient preservation of fracture related geological and geomechanical uncertainties in naturally fractured reservoirs throughout the modelling, simulation and decision-making cycle of a field. For this purpose a workflow is designed that relies on multiple-point statistics (MPS) to represent the spatial complexity that comes with fracture network modelling with an emphasis on the uncertainties that are involved around fracture network distributions and the impact that could have on flow behaviour. This is tested on a synthetic field that is based upon a conceptual model for fracture distribution in folded carbonate rocks. The results indicate that the suggested MPS-based workflow is capable of carrying fracture related uncertainties, in particular uncertainties around fracture network distributions, throughout the modelling cycle for naturally fractured reservoirs. The results also imply that not considering these uncertainties could eventually lead to water handling issues during production, if the facilities are not designed for all possible scenarios. This shows, how including more geological realism into the model building workflow for naturally fractured reservoirs can help assessing the overall risk of a project.