ANALYSES OF PRODUCTION TESTS AND MDT TESTS CONDUCTED IN MALLIK AND ALASKA METHANE HYDRATE RESERVOIRS: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THESE WELL TESTS? ...

• Main Authors: Kurihara, Masanori, Funatsu, Kunihiro, Ouchi, Hisanao, Masuda, Yoshihiro, Yamamoto, Koji, Narita, Hideo, Dallimore, Scott R., Collett, Timothy S., Hancock, Steve H.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: The University of British Columbia 2008
• Subjects: Methane hydrate; Alaska
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0041138; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0041138

Pressure drawdown tests were conducted using Schlumberger’s Modular Formation Dynamics Tester™ (MDT) wireline tool in the Mallik methane hydrate (MH) reservoirs in February 2002 as well as in the Mount Elbert (Alaska) MH reservoirs in February 2007, while a production test was conducted applying a depressurization method in one of the Mallik MH reservoirs in April 2007. All of these tests aimed at measuring production and bottomhole pressure (BHP) responses by reducing BHP below the MH stability pressure to estimate reservoir properties such as permeability and MH dissociation radius. We attempted to analyze the results of these tests through history matching using the numerical simulator (MH21-HYDRES) coded especially for gas hydrate reservoirs. Although the magnitude of depressurization and the total duration spent for these tests were almost identical to each other, the simulation studies revealed that there existed significant differences in what could be inferred and could not be inferred from test ...