Applied Petroleum Reservoir Engineering, 3rd Edition

Chapter 12. History Matching

12.1 Introduction

One of the most important job functions of the reservoir engineer is the prediction of future production rates from a given reservoir or specific well. Over the years, engineers have developed several methods to accomplish this task. The methods range from simple decline-curve analysis techniques to sophisticated multidimensional, multiflow reservoir simulators.^1–7 Whether a simple or complex method is used, the general approach taken to predict production rates is to calculate producing rates for a period for which the engineer already has production information. If the calculated rates match the actual rates, the calculation is assumed to be correct and can then be used to make future predictions. ...