EOR screening with an expert system

Abstract

The application of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) technique to assist in the selection of an Enhanced Oil Recovery process (EOR) is described. The aim of this Expert System (ES) is to provide reasoned comments on the applicability of such processes on the basis of reservoir characteristics. The knowledge base has been developed using a professional inference engine. To be closer to the type of reasoning used by experts, fuzzy logic concepts have been introduced in the knowledge representation. This approach leads to a methodology for selecting EOR processes and for improving know-how by checking the criteria used by comparison with practical experience, and it helps to transfer the expert's knowledge to the users of the system. Moreover, estimations of additional field cases makes it possible to continuously refine the screening procedure.