Naturally fractured reservoirs - Yet an unsolved mystery

Some of the world's most profitable reservoirs are assumed to be naturally fractured reservoirs (nfr). effective evaluation,prediction and planning of these reservoirs require an early recognition of the role of natural fractures and then a comprehensive study of factors which affect the flowing performance through these fractures is necessary. as nfrs are the combination of matrix and fractures mediums so their analysis varies from non-fractured reservoirs. matrix acts as a storage medium while mostly fluid flow takes place from fracture network. many authors adopted different approaches to understand the flow behavior in such reservoirs. in this paper a broad review about the previous work done in naturally fractured reservoirs area is outlined and a different idea is initiated for the nfr simulation studies. the role of capillary pressure in natural fractures is always been a key factor for accurate recovery estimations. also recovery through these reservoirs is dependent upon grid block shape while doing nfr simulation. some authors studied above mentioned factors in combination with other rock properties to understand the flow behavior in such reservoirs but less emphasis was given for checking the effects on recovery estimations by the variations of only fracture capillary pressures and grid block shapes. so there is need to analyze the behavior of nfr for the mentioned conditions. © pakistan academy of sciences.