Method of estimating the permeability of a fracture network from a connectivity analysis

摘要

A method for optimizing the development of a fractured hydrocarbon reservoir wherein the network permeability is determined using a reliable compromise between numerical and analytical methods which has application to oil reservoir development. The reservoir is discretized into a set of grid cells and a geometrical description of the fracture network in each cell is elaborated. A connectivity index is then deduced within each cell for the fractures. The permeability of the fracture network of the cells whose connectivity index is above a first threshold is determined and a zero permeability value is assigned in the other cells. Other thresholds can be determined so as to choose between a numerical method and an analytical method to determine the permeability. These permeabilities are exploited in a flow simulator so as to optimize the development of the reservoir.