15 January 2014
IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) and REPSOL Technology Center have just signed a framework collaboration agreement for the joint conduct of research and innovation projects in the field of exploration and production.
In order to identify new reserves and optimize production, IFPEN is developing basin modeling and reservoir characterization software to provide a better insight into the underground environment and help evaluate the oil potential. In parallel REPSOL is conducting technology research focusing challenging aspects of underground modeling and reservoir characterization, with application to key projects of the company. One of the main objectives of the collaboration is to validate and jointly develop these technologies using real data from the fields operated by the Spanish oil company. IFPEN and REPSOL will use these data to fine-tune the software and adapt it to the specific problems faced by REPSOL.
Some priority areas have already been identified in the area of carbonate reservoir characterization. To carry out their studies, IFPEN and REPSOL – via its Technology Center in Madrid – will draw on the expertise of their respective teams in the field of oil geosciences.
This collaboration may subsequently be extended to other research fields or exploration and production-related services.
“By combining our know-how with the experience of an operator like REPSOL, we will be able to develop innovative solutions that will help us optimize the production of oil reserves”, highlights Maurice Bouteca, Director of IFPEN’s Resources Business Unit.
“This collaboration will deliver new insights into some of the most challenging aspects of reservoir characterization and modeling with an important impact in future E&P projects”, says Santiago Quesada, Director of REPSOL’s E&P Technology.
IFP Energies Nouvelles is a public-sector research, innovation and training center active in the fields of energy, transport and the environment. Its mission is to provide public players and industry with efficient, economical, clean and sustainable technologies to take up the challenges facing society in terms of climate change, energy diversification and water resource management. In the field of conventional and unconventional oil and gas exploration and production, IFPEN develops innovative solutions based on a precise understanding of the mechanisms at play. In particular, these solutions draw on multiscale simulation and modeling techniques validated in the laboratory and on-site.
http://www.ifpenergiesnouvelles.com/developpement-industriel/exploration-production
REPSOL is an integrated oil and gas company present in more than thirty countries, employing 23,000 people. The company is the market-leader in refining and marketing in Spain with a daily production of 360,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day and a refining system, which can process 998,000 barrels of oil per day. During the recent years, the company has lived an important growth in upstream areas participating in some of the world’s largest discoveries. The REPSOL technology centre is one of the most advanced in Europe and the largest in Spain, spanning 56,000 m., with more than 400 scientists and researchers working at the facilities through the company’s value chain.
www.repsol.com