Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/T21370/01
Title:	Towards a truly 'intelligent' oil field
Principal Investigator:	Jackson, Professor MD
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	CNRS Group Sondex Ltd University of Oxford
Department:	Department of Earth Sciences
Organisation:	Imperial College London
Scheme:	First Grant Scheme Pre-FEC
Starts:	01 January 2005	Ends:	31 December 2006	Value (£):	100,591
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Oil & Gas Extraction
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Environment Energy
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Oil companies currently produce an average of three barrels of water for each barrel of oil, which is expensive and environmentally unfriendly: the produced water is contaminated and must be treated and disposed of carefully. Ideally, water production would be prevented by measuring its movement within the reservoir and responding appropriately, but this is not possible using current technology. However, recent research suggests that water advancing towards a well can be detected before it arrives using an array of permanently installed downhole sensors. At the same time, technological advances in the oil industry have led to the development of so-called 'intelligent' wells, which have valves or switching devices installed downhole to remotely control the flow of fluids into the wellbore.This project combines and builds upon these recent advances in science and technology. It proposes the development of truly 'intelligent' wells, which can detect the approach of water before it arrives, and respond appropriately to prevent or minimise water production whilst enhancing oil production. The response of the wells could be fully automated. These intelligent wells are unlike anything which has been developed previously, and offer enormous economic and environmental benefits. They may revolutionise reservoir management, particularly in fields which are difficult to access, or dangerous to operate.
Key Findings
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Potential use in non-academic contexts
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Impacts
Description This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk Summary Date Materialised
Sectors submitted by the Researcher
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Project URL:
Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.imperial.ac.uk