v4.12 is a major new release.

It integrates a new module for Well Performance Analysis; Amethyste and sees the fundamental re-write of the Production Analysis module Topaze.

Technically, major new developments have been made that constitute a real breakthrough in the path to integrate the analysis of dynamic data into the next generation of field management or ‘Intelligent Fields’ as they are known. This includes, for the first time, a reliable way to automatically identify shut-ins from PDG data, whether they are hard or soft. The demand for new tools for unconventional gas (shale gas, CBM) has been addressed by integrating desorption in the numerical models. For shale gas a numerical fractured horizontal well has been added. In the drive towards connectivity an ‘intelligent’ link between Diamant Master and an industry standard field model is included in this release.

Looking forward, the work has started in earnest on the restructuring some of the calculation modules to prepare the drastic move to generation 5 and development is underway in Rubis on a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) prototype to model the injection and migration of CO2 in deep saline formations in the prospect of some pilot projects post Kyoto.

A full technical description with a list of all new features is available for download from : http://www.kappaeng.com/ecrin412.pdf

The following is a summary of key improvements.

Ecrin 4.12 is a major new release that includes a new module; Amethyste. This Well Performance Analysis (WPA), or ‘Nodal’ in Schlumberger terminology, module completes the Ecin Dynamic Data Analysis suite and provides a wellbore model to connect the reservoir to surface. It is included free to existing Ecrin users until August 2010. We felt this price would please managers in the current environment.

Topaze, the Production Analysis (PA) module has been fundamentally re-written to offer true multi-well capability. Load facilities have been extended to include DMP2, Merak and groups from Diamant Master. It is now possible to make fast analyses in parallel for individual wells or groups of wells. These can be viewed and compared in tables and/or bubble maps and a field production profile generated. A production profile generator (formerly the free-standing K-Prospect) has been included. When added to Saphir, with so much shared code, the the incremental price is marginal.

With the increasing use of Permanent Downhole Gauge (PDG) data and the wide acceptance of Diamant Master for the management and handling of the massive data this generates, new labor saving tools have been developed and added in v4.12. The elusive issues of automatic buildup identification and corresponding rate allocation and synchronization have been solved, saving hours of tedious work for the user. It is now possible to identify years of build-ups in Diamant Master and send these to Saphir in a few clicks. When opened in Saphir the rates and build-ups are already sychronised. Voila! Time for a coffee.

This principle of connectivity is extended to third parties with the facility to create and update Diamant Master by mapping the field description of an integrated database, transfer the production history and automatically look for PDG data in historians. The developments are generic with the first implementation on the Petex IFM data model.

It is now possible to grab a section of the full field Rubis History Match (HM) model and drop this into the Saphir (PTA) module for analysis. Saphir is then running a sector of the full field 3D model, 3-Phase, multiwell and with gravity effects.

A fourth deconvolution method has been added (after the combined KAPPA and Levitan methods)

The increasing demand for tools to model unconventional gas sees the addition of gas desorption for use in gas or gas-water cases in shale gas and coal bed methane formations. This can be combined with unconsolidated formation responses. A numerical fractured horizontal well model has been added.

Amongst a host of minor improvements and updates, data input has been improved with the addition of Excel load, the French units system, Petex black oil PVT load, PAS file explorer to Ecrin drag-drop and GRDECL Eclipse and Zmap into Rubis (HM). The shared modeling capabilities see many enhancements and these include new PVT correlations, expansion of the already extensive flow correlation resource with the merge of the Marathon and KAPPA libraries, the addition of new plots, models and improved general handling.

...and Ecrin now has an ‘undo’ button.