Recently, the Repsol Technology Centre (CTR), located in Mostoles, Spain, and the Institut Français du Petrole Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN) signed a global framework collaboration agreement to conduct R&D in the field of E&P.

This collaboration represents an industry trend that is seeing global oil and gas firms and industry associations focus on the application of pioneering technologies to access the world’s declining oil reserves and derive value from recent discoveries and acquisitions through more efficient operations.

One of the main objectives of this project is to develop common technologies for a better understanding of the reservoirs using real data from a Repsol-operated field. These data will be used to improve the software developed by IFPEN and adapt it to specific challenges faced by Repsol in analyzing its carbonate reservoirs.

The first collaborative project between Repsol CTR and IFPEN will focus on R&D to define innovative solutions for the characterization and modeling of carbonate reservoirs. This will be a game changer in the future of E&P.

It is estimated that more than 60% of the world’s oil reserves are held in carbonate reservoirs. Carbonates can exhibit varying properties and can be extremely difficult to characterize due to their structure (faults and fractures), depositional environment, stratigraphy, facies types, diagenesis footprints, petrophysical properties, and dynamic behavior.

To carry out these studies, Repsol and IFPEN will form a team of more than 30 researchers, some of whom will be based at Repsol’s CTR in Madrid and Houston, drawing on the expertise of each company’s team in the field of geosciences.

This project is a key strategic initiative for Repsol given that a large number of its upstream assets are held in carbonate reservoirs. This includes plays in the US, Russia, Spain, and Venezuela, all of which have varying geological elements and characteristics. Moreover, Repsol plans to apply work carried out with IFPEN to its presalt play in Brazil – one of the most significant in Repsol’s E&P portfolio and the most complex in terms of its geological structure.

To improve future field development, define the best well placement strategy, and increase hydrocarbon recovery, it is important to ensure accurate, innovative modeling of carbonate reservoirs instead of using the traditional modeling methods, analogs, and statistics.

There are three components to this. First, the carbonate reservoir needs to be better understood by identifying its type and specific diagenesis. Then, the carbonate reservoir needs to be characterized by defining the key controlling parameters and weighing the impacting heterogeneities. Finally, the carbonate reservoir needs to be modeled by distributing heterogeneities in 3-D, reproducing geological events, and quantifying its behavior.

Through Repsol’s experience in building 3-D models, researchers know that geostatistics cannot be relied upon to build adequate 3-D geological models, especially when applied to carbonate reservoirs with more geologically complex compositions. This also should be taken into consideration when applied to the appraisal phase or early development phase of a project with few control wells. The Repsol-IFPEN collaboration will focus on using geostatistics in a more effective way to better understand the complexity of carbonate reservoirs rather than strictly distributing properties in 3-D.

In addition to this, carbonate characterization and modeling will continue to be developed. In particular, depositional environment modeling, diagenesis modeling, and upscaling methods using software developed by IFPEN will be continued.

This collaborative project will allow both companies to deliver new insights into some of the most challenging aspects of reservoir characterization and modeling. Repsol and IFPEN will continue to work together throughout 2014 to better understand the complexities of its reservoirs, optimize production, and manage the associated risks.

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