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Overview: The Reservoir Characterization Project (RCP) at Colorado School of Mines is an independently sponsored research consortium whose mission is to develop and apply 4-D, 9-C seismology and associated technologies to effectively model complex reservoirs. For over 20 years, the RCP has been
developing and applying new reservoir modeling and simulation
techniques, incorporating multidisciplinary reservoir
technologies and enhancing and improving hydrocarbon recovery. Projects are chosen by industry sponsors;
faculty, students, and associated researchers form an integrated
research environment to characterize reservoirs in a variety of
geologic settings. RCP students have the opportunity to
experience real world data sets and real world challenges. The RCP leads the industry in investigating innovative 3-D and 4-D multicomponent seismic and reservoir characterization methodologies.
History: The RCP was created in 1984 when Geophysics
Professor Tom Davis approached the Colorado School of Mines
administration for support in forming a consortium to study
reservoir characterization with support from industry sponsors.
The model was for oil companies to offer access to their fields
in a 2-year phase of study by the RCP students. During this
time, numerous experimental ideas would be tested to better
understand the behavior of the reservoir and prove viability for
the concepts and technologies. The vision included seismic data
acquisition over a study field, using the latest technologies.
Support from industry companies was solicited as monetary
donations, or the contribution of services, equipment, and staff
to acquire and process seismic data in the project area. The RCP
sponsors were tasked with active participation, putting forward
candidate projects and voting to choose the one with the most
potential. An advisory board was established, representing a
cross-section of sponsor companies. Sponsor meetings and
interaction with students were essentials components of the
vision. When the
first project was started in the The model for the RCP consortium was an uncharted way of doing things when first begun. Companies had generally supported academic consortia with dollars for research, but took a backstage when it came to actively selecting projects and providing other resources to help with the research, or setting expectations for specific outcomes. With the RCP, all of this changed.
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The RCP model for sponsorship encouraged participation, granted members the right to suggest their own projects as research candidates, and allowed a closer relationship with the school and its students. Today, the participatory industry sponsor model stands as a hallmark and well-defined strength of the consortium. Another pioneering effort of the RCP’s model
was integration. Cooperation between geologists and
geophysicists was still rare in the 1980s. Petroleum
engineers shied away from utilizing seismic data in
collaboration with the geoscientists. When the industry was
ready for a shift to a more integrated approach to true
reservoir characterization, the RCP had already formed. As
the value of better imaging through the recording and analysis
of multi-component data began to take hold, the RCP was already
researching the advantages of vector wave field properties
through their emphasis on 9-C data.
Over the years, RCP projects have been completed both
domestically and in
Research has focused on the application of dynamic reservoir characterization to enable monitoring of reservoir production processes. Two back-to-back phases, Phases X and XI at Rulison Field in the Piceance Basin, Colorado, reflect the industry’s demand for improved natural gas recovery. The objective was the creation of a high resolution measurement system for monitoring changes in the rock and gas properties of the field. Key elements include monitoring reservoir depletion using seismic anisotropy and integrated geo-mechanical flow models. Facilitated by sponsor contributions of technology, the RCP acquired a 4-D and 9-C seismic survey at Rulison, enabling analysis of shear wave anisotropy as a key to dynamic reservoir characterization in this unconventional gas reservoir. The project anticipates that activities will be winding down by the end of 2007, although studies will continue beyond that date.
Achievements:
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