Abstract: The invention pertains to new processes and apparatuses which can effectively and efficiently convert heat contained in wellhead fluids comprising hydrocarbons to a useful energy source like electricity. The process generally comprises first producing a heat containing fluid comprising one or more hydrocarbons from a wellhead and then passing the heat containing fluid to one or more heat exchangers. The one or more exchanger exchange at least a portion of the heat contained in the heat containing fluid to a working fluid thereby producing a heated working fluid capable of converting energy.

Abstract: Computer-implemented systems and methods are provided for modeling a geomechanical reservoir system to provide fracturing predictions. The model predictions are generated by solving a system of partial differential equations that model the geomechanical reservoir system.

Abstract: The disclosed methods, systems, and software are described for optimizing well placement in a reservoir field. A geological model of a reservoir field, a grid defining a plurality of cells, one or more wells to be located within the plurality of cells, and an objective function are all provided. The geological model is associated with the grid defining the plurality of cells. The locations of the wells are represented by continuous well location variables associated with a continuous spatial domain. A gradient of the objective function is calculated responsive to the continuous well location variables. The locations of the wells are then adjusted responsive to the calculated gradient of the objective function. Iterative calculation of the gradient and adjustment of the wells continue until the well locations are optimized. A visual representation of the reservoir field can be generated based on the optimized well placements.

Abstract: A subsea system for securing an end portion of a pipeline includes a subsea foundation. The foundation has a lower portion located below the sea floor and an upper portion extending above the sea floor. The subsea foundation has a receptacle formed in the upper portion. The system includes a base frame that lands on the subsea foundation. The base frame has a track formed therein. A stab is hingedly mounted to the base frame. The stab stabs into the receptacle to secure the base frame to the subsea foundation. A sliding mechanism is carried by the base frame and moves along the track. The sliding mechanism is connected to a segment of the pipeline extending along the sea floor. A terminal assembly for an end portion of a pipeline and a method for securing an end portion of a pipeline are also included herein.

Abstract: A remote power supply system associated with offshore hydrocarbon production and transportation operations includes an expansion turbine that generates power for the system. The remote power supply system also has a support structure that supports the expansion turbine. A cooling section is supported by the support structure, and is in fluid communication with the expansion turbine to receive the vapor therefrom and to condense it to liquid. A downcomer and boiler section is in fluid communication with the cooling section to receive the liquid condensed from the vapor. An ignition assembly is positioned toward a lower end portion of the downcomer and boiler section. The ignition assembly ignites a fuel and air mixture and causes the liquid received by the downcomer and boiler section from the cooling section to boil into vapor. A return passage conveys vapor from the downcomer and boiler section to the inlet of the expansion turbine.

Abstract: A method for enhancing oil recovery includes the step of providing a subsurface reservoir containing hydrocarbons therewithin. A wellbore is provided in fluid communication with the subsurface reservoir. A surfactant-polymer solution is formed for injection into the reservoir. The surfactant-polymer solution is formed by mixing a composition with at least one surfactant, at least one polymer, and at least one co-solvent or co-surfactant such that the surfactant-polymer solution is clear and aqueous stable. The surfactant-polymer solution is injected through the wellbore into the reservoir. A chaser solution is formed for injection into the reservoir. The chaser solution has an additional predetermined quantity of the co-solvent or co-surfactant. The chaser solution is injected through the injection wellbore into the reservoir to increase the production of hydrocarbons from the reservoir while maintaining the clear and aqueous stability of the surfactant-polymer solution.

Abstract: A multi-scale finite-volume (MSFV) method simulates nonlinear immiscible three-phase compressible flow in the presence of gravity and capillary forces. Consistent with the MSFV framework, flow and transport are treated separately and differently using a fully implicit sequential algorithm. The pressure field is solved using an operator splitting algorithm. The general solution of the pressure is decomposed into an elliptic part, a buoyancy/capillary force dominant part, and an inhomogeneous part with source/sink and accumulation. A MSFV method is used to compute the basis functions of the elliptic component, capturing long range interactions in the pressure field. Direct construction of the velocity field and solution of the transport problem on the primal coarse grid provides flexibility in accommodating physical mechanisms. A MSFV method computes an approximate pressure field, including a solution of a course-scale pressure equation; constructs fine-scale fluxes; and computes a phase-transport equation.

Abstract: A method for enhancing the allocation of fluid flow rates among a plurality of well bores in fluid communication with at least one subterranean reservoir is disclosed. An objective function and system equations are generated which utilize constraint violation penalties associated with soft constraints. The soft constraints are constraints which may be violated if necessary to arrive at a feasible solution to optimizing the objective function and the system equations. The fluid flow rates are then allocated among the well bores as determined by the optimizing of the objective function and system equations. Fluid flow rates among well bores, particularly those exhibiting similar fluid characteristics, may be related to one another. Initial flow rates of components (oil, gas, and water) and pressures in the well bores may be determined by an initial simulation run.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method, a system and a program storage device containing instructions for simulating the flow of fluid in a physical system using a composition-based extensible object-oriented program. A computer program includes: (i) a framework subsystem providing a graph package, a compute package and a property package; (ii) an engine subsystem including engine subsystem packages for performing numerical simulation, the engine subsystem packages including a linear solver package and a non-linear solver package; and (iii) a set of model components providing physical and numerical modeling behaviors utilized by the engine subsystem, the model components including at least one of a reservoir model, a well model, an aquifer model, a fluid model and a SCAL model. The framework subsystem, the engine subsystem and the model components work with one other to simulate the flow of fluid.

Abstract: A method, system and apparatus for real-time reservoir model updating using ensemble Kalman filters is described. The method includes a conforming step for bring bringing static and dynamic state variables into conformance with one another during a time step of the updating. Also, an iterative damping method is used in conjunction with the conformance step to account for nonGaussian and nonlinear features in a system. Also, a re-sampling method is described which reduces the ensemble size of reservoir models which are to be updated.

Abstract: A three-dimensional hybrid reservoir model representative of a fractured subterranean reservoir is created for simulating fluid flow. The model includes porous matrix blocks and a network of long fractures, which include two-dimensional fracture blocks, that ideally overly and are fluidly connected to the matrix blocks. To simulate fluid flow, matrix and fracture flow equations are obtained and effective fluid flow transmissibilities are determined. The matrix and fracture flow equations are then coupled via the effective fluid flow transmissibilities, such that they can be solved simultaneously for flow responses. The long fractures can be in direct fluid communication with one or more intersecting wells or other fractures. These intersections can be modeled as a point source to enhance numerical stability during simulation.

Abstract: Methods and computer readable media for performing a compositional reservoir simulation of a subterranean hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir is provided. Reduced variables for flash computations are utilized with a methodology of conditional stability testing for achieving optimal efficiency of phase behavior computations in a compositional reservoir simulator. A least abundant phase is selected as primary variables for a primary phase and a secondary phase is selected for a more abundant phase to ensure stability by not dividing by a value near zero due to the selection of the primary phase as being associated with phase which is the least abundant. A bounded interval may be used to limit solution changes in reduced variable algorithms to achieve greater stability of algorithms. Stability tests may be performed during flash computations using reduced variables by employing a direct residual form based on the definition of the reduced variables and the tangent-plane distance condition.

Abstract: A multi-scale finite-volume (MSFV) method to solve elliptic problems with a plurality of spatial scales arising from single or multi-phase flows in porous media is provided. Two sets of locally computed basis functions are employed. A first set of basis functions captures the small-scale heterogeneity of the underlying permeability field, and it is computed to construct the effective coarse-scale transmissibilities. A second set of basis functions is required to construct a conservative fine-scale velocity field. The method efficiently captures the effects of small scales on a coarse grid, is conservative, and treats tensor permeabilities correctly. The underlying idea is to construct transmissibilities that capture the local properties of a differential operator. This leads to a multi-point discretization scheme for a finite-volume solution algorithm. Transmissibilities for the MSFV method are preferably constructed only once as a preprocessing step and can be computed locally.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to using depressurization methods to create mobile fluid zones for producing fluids from a Class 3 hydrate reservoirs through a well. Aspects of the present invention include a two stage method wherein the first stage includes producing fluid from a hydrate interval within the Class 3 hydrate reservoir through a well at a constant pressure and forming an interface, and the second stage includes producing fluid through the interface at a constant mass rate and heating the well.

Abstract: An apparatus and method are provided for solving a non-linear S-shaped function F=ƒ(S) which is representative of a property S in a physical system, such saturation in a reservoir simulation. A Newton iteration (T) is performed on the function ƒ(S) at Sv to determine a next iterative value Sv+1. It is then determined whether Sv+1 is located on the opposite side of the inflection point Sc from Sv. If Sv+1 is located on the opposite side of the inflection point from Sv, then Sv+1 is set to Sl, a modified new estimate. The modified new estimate, Sl, is preferably set to either the inflection point, Sc, or to an average value between Sv and Sv+1, i.e., Sl=0.5(Sv+Sv+1). The above steps are repeated until Sv+1 is within the predetermined convergence criteria. Also, solution algorithms are described for two-phase and three-phase flow with gravity and capillary pressure.

Abstract: A multi-scale finite-volume (MSFV) method to solve elliptic problems with a plurality of spatial scales arising from single or multi-phase flows in porous media is provided. The method efficiently captures the effects of small scales on a coarse grid, is conservative, and treats tensor permeabilities correctly. The underlying idea is to construct transmissibilities that capture the local properties of a differential operator. This leads to a multi-point discretization scheme for a finite-volume solution algorithm. Transmissibilities for the MSFV method are preferably constructed only once as a preprocessing step and can be computed locally.

Abstract: A method for creating an enhanced seismic image is described. Seismic data is acquired from a seismic survey conducted over a subterranean region. The seismic data is transformed into energy components, preferably Gaussian beam components. An earth model is created which is comprised of lens elements. The set of energy components is propagated or migrated through the lens elements to form image components which are combined into a seismic image. A target is identified in the seismic image for image enhancement. Ray tracing may be used to select the trial set of lens elements to be updated and to select a subset of energy components. The subset of energy components is propagated through updated earth model to form updated image components. The seismic image is updated by replacing image components with updated image components which are formed from the subset of selected energy components. This subset is ideally greatly reduced in size relative to the overall number of energy components, i.e., beam components.