The portfolio of research projects has been extended significantly in Danish Hydrocarbon Research and Technology Centre (DHRTC). This is due to the start-up of research in the latest work programme: Tight Reservoir Development. The objective is to acquire better understanding of the Lower Cretaceous reservoir.
A new research programme is now really seeing the light of day with the launch of 12 work packages. The new programme is called Tight Reservoir Development, and the programme objective is to improve oil extraction from reservoirs with low permeability. More specifically, the planned research deals with issues relating to the Lower Cretaceous reservoir. Across the partnership behind DHRTC, researchers are involved in the new work, which – so far – runs until 2021.
“We’ve allocated a large amount of money to the new work programme around Tight Reservoir Development, which addresses a critical point - that’s how we can extract the potentially large deposits of oil and gas from the Lower Cretaceous reservoir. At the same time, this programme is in line with our portfolio, in which we are conducting research into - among other fields - the basic understanding of the reservoir properties of the subsoil,” says Ulla Hoffmann, Programme Manager, DHRTC.
"The new project in DHRTC gives us a fantastic opportunity to clarify some of the questions that we have long been pondering about reservoir structure and properties in this difficult calcareous formation."
Peter Frykman, GEUS
Interdisciplinary collaboration is an important principle for DHRTC. The same applies to the research, which is conducted in a collaboration between several teams of experts. The majority of the allocated funds have gone to researchers who conduct their research across two or more of the partner institutions.
“We expect and look forward to a great degree of integration across the packages with a continuous flow of communication and sharing of results,” says Ulla Hoffmann.
In one of the major research projects under Tight Reservoir Development, Peter Frykman from GEUS works together with Kresten Anderskouv from University of Copenhagen, and Stéphane Bodin from Aarhus University, to map sedimentation pattern and reservoir architecture.
“The new project in DHRTC gives us a fantastic opportunity to clarify some of the questions that we have long been pondering about reservoir structure and properties in this difficult calcareous formation. For example, how the very varying contents of clay minerals and microscopic silica are distributed in the reservoir layers, and how this influences the development history behind the mechanical strength properties of the material, and the flow conditions at microscopic scale in the tiny pores in the limestone,” explains Peter Frykman.
The 12 work packages in Tight Reservoir Development are:
• Sedimentological and Stratigraphic controls on reservoir properties and heterogeneity (KU IGN, GEUS, AU)
• Tectonic evolution, structural modelling and 4D deformation analysis (AU, DTU Civil Engineering, GEUS DHRTC)
• Reservoir characterization, clay content and mechanical/flow properties (DTU Civil Engineering, GEUS, KU Kemi, AU)
• Seismic modelling and optimal inversion (KU IGN, KU NBI, GEUS, DTU Civil Engineering)
• Rock Mechanics and Rock Physics Properties for Lower Cretaceous Formations (DTU Civil Engineering, GEO)
• Gas injection investigations (DTU Chemistry, GEUS, DHRTC)
• Phase behavior in tight reservoirs (DTU Chemistry)
• Reservoir drive from secondary gas cap development in low permeability reservoirs (DTU KT, GEUS)
• Screening of Strongly Adsorbing Organic Acid Distributions by ATR Spectroscopy (DTU Chemistry)
• Feasibility of Microfluidic Core Model Platforms - Phase 1 (DTU Nanotech)
• Why do four particular wells in North-Jens perform outstandingly? Investigations using a Data Analytical approach (KU Chemistry)
• Investigation of methane seeps impact on reservoir properties (KU IGN)
Photo:Joachim Rode