Determination of the value of information (VOI) is a well-known process for justifying data acquisition, but engineers struggle to extract relevant information from historical data to apply a Bayesian approach. The objective of this paper is to illustrate a methodology for identifying the VOI in reservoir management—in particular, for deriving the conditional probabilities of success when new and imperfect data are acquired.

Introduction

Managers tend to avoid costs and production losses related to data acquisition. Pressure and rate transient analyses (PTA and RTA) along extended production time allow reservoir characterization and understanding of near-wellbore characteristics; however, PTA and RTA alone do not provide pressure- and fluid-distribution prediction beyond the wellbore. Such a task requires integration with reservoir simulation.

The Role of Surveillance in Integrated Reservoir Management (IRM)

IRM defines the supervision of activities designed to manage subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs. IRM frameworks have been deployed across assets around the world to ensure that reservoir-management goals are achieved or exceeded.

IRM has been proved to help (a) shorten learning curves, hence reducing total cycle time, resulting in increased productivity for an asset; (b) measure key performance indicators that allow integration of the correct multidisciplinary efforts in delivering consistent results; and (c) foster a culture that challenges the status quo continually.