There are substantial enhancements to all Ecrin modules in v4.20.

One of the main areas of development has been unconventional resources, in particular shale gas, with additional diagnostic tools in Topaze NL, specifically adapted internal analytical models in Saphir NL and Topaze NL, and substantially enhanced numerical models in Saphir NL, Topaze NL and Rubis.

Other improvements include slug test and minifrac analysis in Saphir NL, additional analysis tools in Topaze NL, an improved Rubis sector to PTA where the dynamic state of the simulation is transferred to Saphir NL and a prediction of future IPR’s in Amethyste that is now a free add-on to other Ecrin modules.

Two new additional modules, as yet non-commercial, for thermal modeling and surface networks have been included for evaluation.

A full technical description with a list of all new features is available for download from http://www.kappaeng.com/ecrin420.pdf.

Substantial work was done on the numerical model, especially for the modeling of unconventional resources. Intermediate 3D local grid refinement has been created to account for vertical flow in Topaze NL without the detail of the transient analysis grid. The gridding is not only adjusted to the flow geometry, but also to the reservoir diffusivity, providing superfine grids for extremely low permeability. Fractured horizontal wells now include limited entry fractures. For unconsolidated formations there is individual control of matrix and fracture pressure dependence.

On the analytical side, Saphir NL and Topaze NL now integrate a comprehensive internal model for multiple fracture horizontal wells, including enhanced features such as a global fracture angle and composite zones. In the multilayer models, vertical crossflow can now be modeled with a leakage factor or a thin interface layer.

Minifrac analysis has been added in Saphir NL. This includes G-function, square root plot and the After Closure Analysis (ACA) plot. Slug / pulse test analysis has been added, allowing the initial DST slugs to be analysed. Perrine’s method has been improved to handle multiphase analyses (Kamal et al.). Deconvolution is enhanced by adding a material balance correction (Levitan et al.).

In Rubis the extraction of a sector for pressure transient analysis now sends to Saphir NL the exact dynamic state of the simulation at the time of the extraction. It is no longer necessary to create a different initial state in Saphir NL. Direct import from Geomodelers now include net-to-gross ratio, and the volume averaging interpolation method has been modified to improve the property mapping between the imported grid and the Rubis cells. Finally, unconsolidation has been extended from Saphir NL and Topaze NL to Rubis.

In Topaze NL new specialized plots have been added, including the square root and power law loss ratio plots for unconventional formations. Specialized lines on the loglog plot, already in Saphir NL, are now also available in Topaze NL. New corrections and display capabilities have been added to existing specialized plots, in particular to the p/Z plots.

Amethyste is now a free add-on of Saphir NL, Topaze NL, Rubis and Emeraude licenses under active maintenance according to our current price list. The main development here is the prediction of future IPR.

Also new to v4.20, on an experimental basis and for evaluation purpose only, is a first version of a thermal model and a surface network. These are noncommercial. In the future they may be removed or packaged in additional Ecrin modules…

Not detailed here are more than forty additional improvements, most of them coming from the requests of our user groups. Among them, the Span & Wagner EOS for pure CO2, a faster USB protection key, RAM monitoring, an XML section in the Ecrin files allowing the direct reading of the main results from third party software, preconfiguring our coming OpenServer.