| Article ID: | iaor20123819 |
| Volume: | 14 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Start Page Number: | 85 |
| End Page Number: | 90 |
| Publication Date: | Jan 2008 |
| Journal: | Petroleum Geoscience |
| Authors: | Carter Jonathan N, Matthews John D |
| Keywords: | mineral industries, heuristics: genetic algorithms, production, location |
A parallel genetic algorithm has been applied successfully to design a production plan that is substantially superior to that obtained using a conventional engineering approach. The reservoir, a dipping structure, was expected to yield optimum production using a rolling line drive from downdip to updip positions. The simulation allowed for 3800 positions for each of 11 wells, giving a total of 1.3×10ˆ31 options. The genetic algorithm sampled 1650 of these and was able to identify seven solutions that would increase production by over 30% compared with the rolling line drive. In contrast, a random search using 850 samples managed to find only two plans that improved production; in each of these cases the improvement was less than 1%.