Produced-water-chemistry history matching in the Janice field

Produced-water-chemistry (PWC) data are the main sources of information to monitor scale precipitation in oilfield operations. Chloride concentration is used to evaluate the seawater fraction of the total produced water per producing well and is included as an extra history-matching constraint to reevaluate a good conventionally history-matched (HM) reservoir model for the Janice field. Generally, PWC is not included in conventional history matching, and this approach shows the value of considering the nature of the seawater-injection front and the associated brine mixing between the distinctive formation water and injected seawater.

Adding the extra constraint resulted in the reconceptualization of the reservoir geology between a key injector and two producers. The transmissibility of a shale layer is locally modified within a range of geologically consistent values. Also, a major lineament is identified which is interpreted as a northwest/southeast-trending fault, whereby the zero transmissibility of a secondary shale in the Middle Fulmar is locally adjusted to allow crossflow. Both uncertainties are consistent with the complex faulting known to exist in the region of the targeted wells. Other uncertainties that were carried forward to the assisted-history-matching phase included water allocation to the major seawater injectors; thermal fracture orientation of injectors; and the vertical and horizontal permeability ratio (Kv/Kh) of the Fulmar formation.
Finally, a stochastic particle-swarm-optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to generate an ensemble of HM models with seawater fraction as an extra constraint in the misfit definition. Use of additional data in history matching has improved the original good HM solution. Field oil-production rate is interpreted as improved over a key period, and although no obvious improvement was observed in field water-production rate, seawater fraction in a number of wells was improved.