Case Study: CoreFlow improves tight carbonate model certainty with SLB digital rock and fluid analysis

CoreFlow services accurately characterize flow properties of low-permeability matrix at high-pressure reservoir conditions

CoreFlow, working with SLB, needed better reservoir characterization for a low-permeability, high-pressure tight carbonate field in Iraq. Because core data was limited and laboratory testing could not reproduce reservoir conditions, the initial model relied on published values and carried significant uncertainty for reserves and development planning.

SLB used CoreFlow digital rock and fluid analytics, including DHD direct hydrodynamics pore flow simulation, X-ray microCT and SEM-based digital rock models, and multiphase digital fluid modeling at reservoir conditions. The workflow produced permeability, relative permeability, capillary pressure, and moveable oil estimates for the low-permeability matrix, improved forecast quality and history matching, and showed water-phase permeability krw dropping from 0.3 to 0.05, indicating low water-injection efficiency and helping predict water breakthrough more accurately.

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