A high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) outcrop model of a Jurassic carbonate ramp was used in order to perform a series of detailed and systematic flow simulations. The aim of this study was to test the impact of small- and large-scale geological features on reservoir performance and oil recovery. The digital outcrop model contains a wide range of sedimentological, diagenetic and structural features, including discontinuity surfaces, shoal bodies, mud mounds, oyster bioherms and fractures. Flow simulations are performed for numerical well testing and secondary oil recovery. Numerical well testing enables synthetic but systematic pressure responses to be generated for different geological features observed in the outcrops. This allows us to assess and rank the relative impact of specific geological features on reservoir performance. The outcome documents that, owing to the realistic representation of matrix heterogeneity, most diagenetic and structural features cannot be linked to a unique pressure signature. Instead, reservoir performance is controlled by subseismic faults and oyster bioherms acting as thief zones. Numerical simulations of secondary recovery processes reveal strong channelling of fluid flow into high-permeability layers as the primary control for oil recovery. However, appropriate reservoir-engineering solutions, such as optimizing well placement and injection fluid, can reduce channelling and increase oil recovery.@en

Carbonate reservoirs contain a significant portion of the world's proven hydrocarbon reserves but are challenging to produce due to their complex lithologies, structural heterogeneities, and neutral to oil-wet nature. Increasing recovery requires a better understanding of how different recovery processes respond to the heterogeneities inherent to these reservoirs. This will contribute to the design of appropriate engineering solutions which extend the life of mature fields and develop green fields more effectively. We use a high-resolution 3D outcrop model of a Jurassic carbonate ramp in order to perform a series of detailed and systematic flow simulations. The aim is to test the impact of small- and large-scale geological features on reservoir performance and oil recovery. The outcrop analogue model is of excellent quality comprising a wide range of diagenetic and structural features, including discontinuity surfaces, mud mounds, mollusc banks and fractures. Flow simulations are performed for numerical well-testing and secondary oil recovery. Numerical well-testing allows us to generate synthetic but systematic pressure responses for different geological features observed in the outcrops. This allows us to assess and rank the relative impact of specific geological features on reservoir performance. The outcome documents that, due to the high level of matrix heterogeneity, most diagenetic and structural features cannot be linked to a unique pressure signature. Instead, reservoir performance is controlled by sub-seismic faults and mollusc banks acting as thief zones. Numerical simulations of secondary recovery processes reveal strong channelling of fluid flow into high-permeability layers. This is the primary control for oil recovery. However, appropriate reservoir engineering solutions such as optimising well placement and injection fluid can reduce channelling and increase oil recovery.@en

Hydrocarbon reservoirs commonly contain an array of fine-scale structures that are below the resolution of seismic images. These features may impact flow behavior and recovery, but their specific impacts may be obscured by the upscaling process for sector and field-scale reservoir simulations. It is therefore important to identify those situations in which subseismic structures can introduce significant departures from full-field flow predictions. Using exposures of Jurassic carbonate outcrops near the village of Amellago in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, we have developed a series of flow simulations to explore the interactions of a hierarchical fracture network with the rock matrix of carbonate ramp strata. Model geometries were constructed in CAD software using field interpretations and LiDAR1 data of an outcrop area that is 350 m long by 100 m high. The impact of water injection on oil recovery between an injector and producer pair was investigated. Simulations were performed by a single medium reservoir simulator using a single mesh to represent fracture planes as well as rock-matrix volumes. The effects of changing scenarios for rock permeability and porosity as well as facture permeability distributions were investigated. First-order results show that the best recovery was achieved by a model with a high permeability, homogeneous matrix combined with a heterogeneous fracture network. The worst recovery scenario was given by a model with low, homogeneous permeability and high fracture permeabilities. The results highlight the importance of the permeability contrasts between the matrix and the fractures for overall recovery and the very significant impact that fractures can have on recovery by creating shadow zones and providing critical connections between permeable layers. The presence of the hierarchical fracture network developed strong fingering even in homogeneous matrix cases and evolving velocity patterns reveal competing fluid pathways among matrix and fracture routes. Insights from these models can help to develop production strategies to improve recovery from fractured carbonate reservoirs and provide an initial platform from which to extend further evaluations of different populations of conductive and baffling structures, spatial variations in wettability and capillary pressures and well positions.@en