Overview
About
The Stanford Center for Reservoir Forecasting (SCRF) is an industrial affiliates program in the Energy Resources Engineering department of the School of Earth Sciences at Stanford University. SCRF was initiated in 1988 to further the development and integration of geological, geophysical and reservoir engineering data and techniques for forecasting reservoir performance. This program is widely open to energy companies, geophysical services companies, research institutes and consultants who wish to support and benefit from the interdisciplinary research team of SCRF. The program is the brain-child of Andre Journel, who retired from SCRF in 2006.
Objective
- Support an interdisciplinary group at Stanford University dedicated to the general problem of reservoir characterization and reservoir performance forecasting.
- Provide research incentives for faculty and graduate students from the traditional disciplines to cross boundaries and participate in interdisciplinary projects.
- Integrate data of widely different volume supports and precision into unified numerical reservoir models for reservoir management.
- Tackle the general problem of scale averaging and quantitative transfer of information from one scale to another.
- Promote numerical geological modeling by developing practical tools for modeling realistic 3D geological structures that significantly impact flow performace.
Current Research Topics
- The role of geostatistics in reservoir modeling
- Multiple-point geostatistics
- Pattern-based spatial modeling
- Modeling uncertainty
- Theory of data integration
- Modeling multi-scale phenomena
- Modeling of subsurface structural features (faults/horizons)
- Quantitative interpretation and integration of 3D and 4D Seismic data
- Methods for inverse modeling subject to spatial constraints
- Practical history matching techniques
- 3D modeling of aquifer systems
- Analysis and modeling of satellite images
- Application of geostatistics in ore deposit evaluation
- Spatial modeling software
- Value of Information
The Need for SCRF
The nature and extent of the SCRF affiliates program allows for paradigm-changing research in the field of geostatistics and numerical reservoir modeling. We are not bound by the limited extent of project-based research with its short-term deadlines and limited scope. This long-term perspective has lead to revolutionary changes in reservoir modeling, amongst which: the introduction of stochastic simulation in reservoir modeling, GSLIB as a standard geostatistical software package, the advent of multiple-point geostatistics, practical solutions for large-scale inverse problems with geological constraints, an open-source software termed S-GEMS, techniques for modeling uncertainty. The funding mechanism of SCRF has created a long-term think-tank where a group of faculty, post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, visiting scholars and industry experts come together to tackle problems of first-order importance in quantitative modeling of space-time varying phenomenon and its applications in reservoir modeling.
Operation
SCRF operates within the School of Earth Sciences with Jef Caers and Tapan Mukerji, as directors of SCRF. SCRF has a close collaboration with other groups within ERE and ES, amongst which:
- SUPRI-A: Thermal & Heavy Oil Recovery
- SUPRI-B: Reservoir Simulation
- SUPRI-C: Gas Injection, CO2-sequestration, in-situ combustion
- SUPRI-D: Well Testing
- SUPRI-HW: Advanced Wells
- Geothermal Program
- Smart Fields
- Stanford Project on Deep-sea Depositional Systems (SPODDS)
- Sedimentary Research Group (SED)
- Stanford Rock Physics and Borehole Geophysics Project (SRB)
- Stanford Exploration Project (SEP)
In addition, SCRF has a strong relationship with the GOCAD Research Group headed by Guillaume Caumon. SCRF is supported by a consortium of industrial organizations. Participation in the program is open to all interested companies and organizations. Research is conducted by Stanford faculty, research associates and graduate students, with advice from sponsoring organizations. All research results are made available to affiliates in the form of theses, research reports, software and early preprints of papers. SCRF holds an annual meeting at Stanford, and periodic week-long continuing education seminars on relevant areas of development.
Membership
Membership in the SCRF Industrial Affiliates Program is open to all organizations interested in research and education in Reservoir Characterization and Performance Forecasting. Organizations interested in becoming members of SCRF should contact:
Professor Jef Caers
Department of Energy Resources Engineering
Phone: (650) 723-1774
Fax: (650) 725-2099
Email: jcaers@stanford.edu