WVU Researchers to Help Optimize Marcellus Shale Production
New technology uses artificial intelligence and data mining.
The State Journal
20 January 2011
Researchers with West Virginia University's College of Engineering and
Mineral Resources have received a grant from the Gas Technology
Institute to use data-intensive science to optimize gas production in
the region.
Conventional reservoir simulation and modeling is a bottom-up approach.
It starts with existing petrophysical and geophysical information is
enhanced with engineering fluid flow principles to create a model that
is used to strategize field development.
Top-Down, Intelligent Reservoir Modeling, by contrast, integrates
traditional reservoir engineering analysis with artificial intelligence
and data mining technology to generate a full field model, according to
Shahab Mohaghegh, a professor in WVU's Department of Petroleum and
Natural Gas Engineering.
The new technology, he said, saves both time and research resources to
obtain accurate predictive models.
Over time, more wells and more historical data enhance the results of
the model.
“This is very new technology that has been extensively and exclusively
used here at WVU,” Mohaghegh said. “People in the industry are quite
interested to see how our research in this area progresses.”
The $353,934 funding for the project is provided through the
“Ultra-Deepwater and Unconventional Natural Gas and Other Petroleum
Resources Research and Development Program,” authorized by the Energy
Policy Act of 2005.
The program — funded from lease bonuses and royalties paid by industry
to produce oil and gas on federal lands — specifically is designed to
increase supply and reduce costs to consumers while enhancing the
global leadership position of the United States in energy technology
through the development of domestic intellectual capital.