Method of hydrocarbon reservoir simulation using streamline conformal grids

1 . A method of simulating fluid flow in a hydrocarbon reservoir, comprising:

obtaining a coarse grid model of the hydrocarbon reservoir and a trajectory of a wellbore that penetrates the hydrocarbon reservoir;

determining a fluid pressure distribution using the coarse grid model;

determining an initial grid surrounding the trajectory,

wherein a first axis of the initial grid approximates isobars of the fluid pressure distribution, and

wherein a second axis of the initial grid approximates streamlines of the fluid pressure distribution;

constructing a reservoir simulation grid, wherein the reservoir simulation grid:

conforms to the initial grid in a first region in a vicinity of the wellbore,

wherein the first region is interior to a bounding box, and

conforms to the coarse grid model in a second region,

wherein the second region is exterior to the bounding box, and

wherein the reservoir simulation grid in the first region and the reservoir simulation grid in the second region are connected by an irregular transitional grid; and

performing a hydrocarbon reservoir simulation, modeling a flow of fluid in the hydrocarbon reservoir based, at least in part, on the reservoir simulation grid.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming and executing a hydrocarbon reservoir production plan based, at least on part, on the hydrocarbon reservoir simulation.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the hydrocarbon reservoir simulation comprises performing a multiphase multi-component reservoir simulation.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon reservoir is a wet gas reservoir.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first axis of the initial grid comprises an ellipse.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the second axis of the initial grid is locally orthogonal to the ellipse.

7 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions for simulating fluid flow in a hydrocarbon reservoir, the instructions executable by a computer processor, comprising functionality for:

obtaining a coarse grid model of the hydrocarbon reservoir and a trajectory of a wellbore that penetrates the hydrocarbon reservoir;

determining a fluid pressure distribution using the coarse grid model;

determining an initial grid surrounding the trajectory,

wherein a first axis of the initial grid approximates isobars of the fluid pressure distribution, and

wherein a second axis of the initial grid approximates streamlines of the fluid pressure distribution;

constructing a reservoir simulation grid, wherein the reservoir simulation grid:

conforms to the initial grid in a first region in a vicinity of the wellbore,

wherein the first region is interior to a bounding box, and

conforms to the coarse grid model in a second region,

wherein the second region is exterior to the bounding box; and

wherein the reservoir simulation grid in the first region and the reservoir simulation grid in the second region are connected by an irregular transitional grid; and

performing a hydrocarbon reservoir simulation, modeling a flow of fluid in the hydrocarbon reservoir based, at least in part, on the reservoir simulation grid.

8 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , further comprising instructions for forming a hydrocarbon reservoir production plan based, at least on part, on the hydrocarbon reservoir simulation.

9 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein performing the hydrocarbon reservoir simulation comprises performing a multiphase multi-component reservoir simulation.

10 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the hydrocarbon reservoir is a wet gas reservoir.

11 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7 , wherein the first axis of the initial grid comprises an ellipse and the second axis of the initial grid is locally orthogonal to the ellipse.

12 . A system comprising:

a reservoir simulator, configured to:

obtain a coarse grid model of a hydrocarbon reservoir and a trajectory of a wellbore that penetrates the hydrocarbon reservoir,

determine a fluid pressure distribution using the coarse grid model,

determine an initial grid surrounding the trajectory,

wherein a first axis of the initial grid approximates isobars of the fluid pressure distribution; and

wherein a second axis of the initial grid approximates streamlines of the fluid pressure distribution,

construct a reservoir simulation grid, wherein the reservoir simulation grid:

conforms to the initial grid in a first region in a vicinity of the wellbore, wherein the first region is interior to a bounding box; and

conforms to the coarse grid model in a second region,

wherein the second region is exterior to the bounding box; and

wherein the reservoir simulation grid in the first region and the reservoir simulation grid in the second region are connected by an irregular transitional grid,

perform a hydrocarbon reservoir simulation, modeling a flow of fluid in the hydrocarbon reservoir based, at least in part, on the reservoir simulation grid;

develop a hydrocarbon reservoir production plan based, at least on part, upon the hydrocarbon reservoir simulation; and

a well planning system configured to determine a planned wellbore trajectory based upon the hydrocarbon reservoir production plan.

13 . The system of claim 12 , further comprising a drilling system configured to drilling the wellbore guided by the planned wellbore trajectory.

14 . The system of claim 12 , further comprising a pumping system configured to pump a fluid injection program based, at least in part, upon the hydrocarbon reservoir production plan.

15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the hydrocarbon reservoir is a wet gas reservoir.

16 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the first axis of the initial grid comprises an ellipse.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the second axis of the initial grid is locally orthogonal to the ellipse.