Special Core Analysis

Course review:

The extensive use of reservoir simulation in the evaluation, development and management of oil fields is placing increased importance on the correct use of results from special core analysis, particularly those from relative permeability tests.
Correct use of these data requires knowledge of the history of the core, including the drilling mud used during coring as well as how it was handled on its way to and in the laboratory. As a consequence the course covers such topics as coring operations and core preservation techniques. Laboratory measurement methods are also addressed, since results are affected by the techniques used and the test conditions.
Results that are considered valid require adjustment and refinement, and an understanding of laboratory techniques is needed to do this since each method has its own strengths and weakness. The reasons why steady-state and unsteady state waterflood results are often different are explained in this way. There is emphasis throughout the course on identifying invalid or questionable data and making the necessary refinements to the data which are considered to be valid.
A comprehensive manual accompanies the course which includes numerous examples from the North Sea and elsewhere in the word.


WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• Carry out a systematic review of a laboratory report and differentiate results that are clearly invalid from those that may be reliable
  
• Define the strengths and weaknesses of the various laboratory measurement techniques and identify which portions of reported relative permeability curves are likely to require refinement
  
• Analyse and evaluate reported relative permeability curves and make necessary adjustments and refinements
  
• Relate relative permeability results to rock types
  
• The course will also prepare engineers, geologists and petrophysicists to formulate a special core analysis program for a new well or field