Past studies of variation in reservoir fluid composition have focused on the effects of gravity and the geothermal gradient. Some experience exists in description of the slow convective and diffusive fluxes in the reservoir. However, the lateral variation still remains puzzling. It may be formed by non-equilibrium effects which behavior is unknown.
The connectivity of the reservoirs may also be questioned. The oil or gas may come from different sources, and the time of reservoir formation may simply not be large enough for complete mixing. Other factors may also influence the fluid distribution.
The goal of the present project is to study the lateral fluid distribution in petroleum reservoirs. The model objects will be the tight reservoirs of the Danish sector of the North Sea, especially, Valdemar and the adjacent reservoirs. Advanced methods for fluid characterization and the principles of nonequilibrium thermodynamics will be applied for the study.
An important practical outcome of the study will be reduction of indefiniteness in the fluid characterization of various tight petroleum reservoirs in the North Sea, improving the prospects of their development.
The PhD project will fill a technical gap and can potentially assist in de-risking the PVT uncertainties on undeveloped Lower Cretaceous reservoirs Valdemar (Bo South), Tyra (Tyra Thick/Thin), Adda (Crest and Flank) and Bøje. Previous studies have been zooming in on single field fluid PVT studies. A regional study of the fluids in Lower Cretaceous combined with other types of data might give new insight.
Related Phd projects: Gas liberation in tight porous medium