Reservoir Characterization and Engineering Project Experience

James R. Gilman

Director of Engineering

US and Canadian Experience:

    Rocky Mountains (Wyoming)

    • Simulation and optimization of polymer and waterfloods in sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. Includes simulator development, simulation of laboratory floods, history matching of waterflood and polymerflood performance. Optimization of hydraulic fracture design for polymer injection. Reservoir engineering analysis of performance. Mentoring and training others.

    Alaska Gas Reservoirs

    • Simulation and engineering analysis of water coning and pressure decline in gas reservoirs.

    Illinois Basin

    • Simulation and reservoir engineering analysis of waterflood, polymer flood and surfactant EOR. Includes simulator development, simulation of laboratory floods, simulation of injectivity tests, history match of field performance.

    West Texas Fractured Carbonates

    • Simulation and reservoir engineering analysis of waterflood, polymerflood, steam, and gas injection in naturally fractured carbonates. Includes simulator development, simulation of laboratory floods, history match of field performance, scale-up of 3D geologic models, and mentoring/training others.

    Texas Naturally Fractured and Tight Gas Reservoirs

    • Evaluation of horizontal well performance for optimizing recovery in tight gas reservoirs with natural or induced hydraulic fractures.

    Canadian Heavy Oil and Gas Reservoirs

    • Simulation of cold production for optimization of heavy oil recovery.

International Experience:

    North Sea Oil and Condensate Reservoirs

    • Simulation and reservoir engineering analysis of condensate and oil recovery in North Sea sandstone reservoirs. Includes scale-up of 3-D geologic models and simulation evaluation of gas recycling for optimizing condensate recovery.

    North Africa Oil Fractured Carbonates

    • Reservoir engineering and simulation of naturally fractured reservoirs for purpose of optimizing recovery in naturally fractured carbonates under depletion, waterdrive and gas injection. Includes evaluation of depletion performance, simulation analysis of laboratory imbibition studies for oil recovery and simulation analysis of laboratory gas injection for double-displacement recovery.

    Other International Experience

    • Reservoir engineering and simulation evaluations of company operated or evaluation projects in Indonesia, Russia, India, Mexico, and Middle East.

PUBLICATIONS:

    Gilman, J. R., Kazemi, H.: "Improvements in Simulation of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs", Soc. Pet. Eng. Journal (Aug. 1983). (Reprinted in the SPE Reprint Series Volume 20 Numerical Simulation II, 1986).

    Sengul, M. M., Skinner, T. K., Kirchner, W. D. and Gilman, J. R.: "Simulation of Polymer Flood with a Propagating Hydraulic Fracture", SPE 13125 presented at the 59th Annual Technical Conference, Houston, TX (Sep. 16-19, 1984).

    Gilman, J. R.: "An Efficient Finite-Difference Method for Simulating Phase Segregation in the Matrix Blocks in Double-Porosity Reservoirs", SPE Reservoir Engineering (July 1986).

    Gilman, J. R. and MacMillan, D. J.: "Improved Interpretation of the Inaccessible Pore-Volume Phenomenon", SPE Formation Evaluation (Dec. 1987).

    Gilman, J. R. and Kazemi, H.: "Improved Calculations for Viscous and Gravity Displacement in Matrix Blocks in Dual-Porosity Simulators," J. Pet. Tech., (Jan. 1988).

    Christiansen, R. L., Gilman, J. R., Jargon, J. R., Kazemi, H., and Smith, R. E.: "Enhanced Oil Recovery in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs", paper 51D presented at the AIChE Summer National Meeting, Philadelphia (Aug. 20-23, 1989).

    Gilman, J. R.: "Discussion of Formation Damage Effects on Horizontal-Well Flow Efficiency ", J. Pet. Tech. (July, 1991).

    Gilman, J. R.: "Discussion of Productivity of a Horizontal Well", SPE Reservoir Engineering (February, 1991).

    Gilman, J. R. and Jargon, J. R.: "Evaluating Horizontal Vs. Vertical Well Performance" World Oil (April and June 1992).

    Kazemi, H., Gilman, J. R., and El-Sharkawy, A. M.: "Analytical and Numerical Solution of Oil Recovery from Fractured Reservoirs Using Empirical Transfer Functions," SPE Reservoir Engineering, (May 1992).

    Kazemi, H. and Gilman, J. R.: "Chapter 6. Multiphase Flow in Fractured Petroleum Reservoirs", Flow and Contaminant Transport in Fractured Rock, J. Bear, C. Tsang, and G. deMarsily, eds., Academic Press (1993).

    Gilman, J. R., Hinchman, S. B., and Svaldi, M. A.: "Using Polymer Injectivity Tests to Estimate Fracture Porosity in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs", SPE 25880 presented at the Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting / Low Permeability Reservoirs Symposium Denver, CO (Apr. 26-28, 1993).

    Fleming, C. H., Gilman, J. R., and Kazemi, H.: "Testing of Horizontal Wells with an Overlying Gas Cap", J. Pet. Tech. (June, 1996).

    Gilman, J. R., Bowzer, J. L., and Rothkopf, B. W.: "Application of Short-Radius Horizontal Boreholes in the Naturally Fractured Yates Field", SPE Reservoir Engineering (Feb. 1995).

    Gilman, J. R., Tiss, M., Jargon, J. R., and Hinchman, S. B.: "Dual-Porosity Simulation of the Zebbag Reservoir, Ezzaouia Field", presented at the 2nd ECLIPSE International Forum, Houston, TX (April 15-19, 1996).

    Gilman, J. R., Brickey, R. T, and Redd, M. M.: "Monte Carlo Techniques for Evaluating Producing Properties",SPE 39926 presented at the Rocky Mountain Regional / Low Permeability Reservoirs Symposium Denver, CO (Apr. 5-8, 1998).

    Araujo, H., Gilman, J. R., and Kazemi, H.: "Analysis of Interference and Pulse Tests in Heterogeneous Naturally Fractured Reservoirs", SPE 49234 presented at the 1998 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, LA (Sep. 27-30, 1998).

    Campanella, J. D., Wadleigh, E. E., and Gilman, J. R.: "Flow Characterization— Critical for Efficiency of Field Operations and IOR", SPE 58996 presented at the 2000 SPE International Petroleum Conference and Exhibition in Mexico, Villahermosa, Mexico (Feb. 1-3, 2000).

Short Courses Taught:

  • Reservoir Engineering of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs

  • Practical Aspects of Simulation of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs

  • Black-Oil Simulation

  • Compositional Simulation

  • Production Risk Analysis

  • Reservoir Engineering of Horizontal Wells

  • Double Displacement Process Overview

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