Reservoir Simulation & Modeling
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Reservoir simulation is the tool used to answer the questions that no analytical method can settle: how a field will behave under competing development plans, where the remaining oil sits, what a new well will produce, and how much recovery a change in strategy is actually worth. Getting a defensible answer depends far more on how the model is built, initialised and matched than on the size of the grid or the speed of the run.
This workshop covers the complete simulation workflow from first principles through to forecasting. It begins with what a simulator actually does, the equations it solves, the assumptions behind them and the limits of what a model can represent, followed by the structure of the simulation input deck and the role of each data section.
Participants then work through the construction of the model in the order it is built: the fluid model and its preparation from validated laboratory data, the rock physics functions including relative permeability and capillary pressure and their treatment across rock types, and the review and quality control of the static geological model before it is used dynamically. Model initialisation follows, covering equilibration, saturation distribution, contact definition and the calculation of hydrocarbon volumes, with dynamic in-place figures checked against volumetric and material balance estimates.
Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis is treated as part of the reserves workflow rather than an afterthought, covering the identification of the parameters that actually drive the answer and the presentation of results as a range.
The workshop then covers well engineering and completion design in the model, well data preparation and operating controls, the construction of development strategies and the definition of simulation cases. History matching is addressed as a structured workflow, and the workshop closes with prediction: building forecast cases, comparing development strategies and producing the profiles used for planning and reserves reporting.
The workshop is delivered at an advanced level and is intended for reservoir engineers who build, review or use dynamic simulation models.
Workshop Objectives
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
Explain what a reservoir simulator solves, the assumptions involved and the limits of what a model can represent
Describe the structure of a simulation input deck and the function of each data section
Prepare a validated fluid model and select between black oil and compositional descriptions
Build rock physics functions, including relative permeability and capillary pressure, and apply them consistently across rock types
Review and quality-control a static geological model for grid geometry, property distribution and upscaling before dynamic use
Initialise a dynamic model, define equilibration regions, saturation distribution and fluid contacts
Calculate hydrocarbon volumes and STOIIP from the model and reconcile them with volumetric and material balance estimates
Design and run uncertainty and sensitivity analyses to express reserves as a range rather than a single figure
Define wells and completions in the model, including trajectories, perforations and completion type
Set well operating controls, constraints and group-level rules that reflect real field operations
Build development strategies and define simulation cases for comparison
Carry out structured history matching of pressure and production data and assess the quality of the match
Build prediction cases, compare development strategies and generate production forecasts and recovery estimates
About the Presenter
Eng. Hesham Mokhtar Ali
Senior Reservoir Engineer | Certified Instructor | MSc, Cairo University
Hesham Mokhtar Ali is a reservoir engineer with over 14 years of experience across operating, service and training organisations. He is currently with Kuwait Energy in subsurface development planning, working on the Yamama, Zubair and Mishrif reservoirs in the Faihaa field, Block 9, Iraq, where his responsibilities cover field development planning, reserves classification and auditing under SPE-PRMS, reservoir simulation and production forecasting. He previously spent six years as Reservoir Engineering Team Leader at General Petroleum Company in Egypt, managing Western Desert and Gulf of Suez assets.
His technical background covers material balance and decline curve analysis, pressure and rate transient analysis, integrated production modeling, waterflood management and full-field dynamic modeling. He holds an MSc in Reservoir Engineering and a BSc in Petroleum Engineering from Cairo University, and has published with SPE on permeability estimation, formation evaluation and carbonate rock typing.
Since 2020 he has delivered reservoir engineering and simulation training to Repsol, ADNOC Group, Kuwait Oil Company, OMV, SLB, Halliburton, Sonatrach, Gazprom Neft, Petroleum Development Oman and Pakistan Petroleum. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
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