Multilayer capacitance–resistance model with dynamic connectivities

•We introduce a simple dynamic model for inter-well connectivities.•A multilayer material balance is considered to model multilayer reservoirs.•Numerical simulations and field cases are in good agreement with this work.•These enhancements allow to make full use of dynamic data to estimate connectivities.

Monitoring vertical and areal distribution of injected water is a key factor to optimize oil production in mature fields. Inter-well connectivities are of fundamental importance to understand such distribution and may help to reveal oversweeped or short-circuited zones. In this paper we develop a new data-driven method to calculate these parameters using production and completion information. We propose a multilayer capacitance–resistance model combined with a simple dynamic model representing the evolution of connectivities with time. This model is automatically calibrated searching for the best fit to historical production rates and incorporates in the description the status of each perforation to drive the evolution of connectivities. This gives a realistic representation of the dynamic nature of inter-well connections and improves the accuracy of existing data-driven models in the literature.Full numerical simulations of synthetic fields are analyzed with this model showing a good agreement. Moreover, the comparison with previous models in the literature shows that important deviations, encountered when the status of a perforation is changed or when high heterogeneity exists, are corrected by the present technique.We also exhibit a field example of a mature waterflood consisting of over one thousand wells that shows the advantages of this technique on large datasets where corrections associated to new wells or shut-ins must be included.Taking into account the low computational effort and data needed for a run, this method could be a wide scope practical tool to estimate inter-well connectivities in mature fields.