Uncertainty Study Aids Development-Plan Optimization in Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

This paper describes development-plan optimization and a probabilistic uncertainty study using Latin hypercube experimental design constrained to production performance in Lower Miocene (LM) reservoirs of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico Shenzi Field. The purpose of the development-plan optimization was to identify, rank, and characterize future development opportunities (i.e., infills and injectors) in the LM reservoirs to arrest field decline. The study uses history-matched dynamic simulation models.

Introduction

The Shenzi discovery is approximately 122 miles off the coast of Louisiana in a water column approximately 4,400 ft deep (Fig. 1 above). This part of the field is a partially filled three-way closure against a salt-cored anticline.