Reservoir Fluid Geodynamics Webinar

For its October 2025, EAGE Local Chapter Paris invites you to discover the field of Reservoir Fluid Geodynamics (RFG) with renowned reservoir expert Dr. Oliver C. Mullins.

History Matching of Reservoir Charge: Forecasting Complex Fluid Distributions and Tar Mats with Reservoir Simulation

Speaker: Oliver C. Mullins (Mullins Reservoir Solutions)

The advent of asphaltene thermodynamics allows determination of the extent of equilibrium of reservoir fluids. Evaluation of 80 reservoirs enabled delineation of numerous processes reservoir fluids undergo over geologic time, giving rise to “reservoir fluid geodynamics” (RFG) and the eponymous 2019 book*. More recently, standard reservoir simulation has been used to model reservoir fluid entry and dynamics over geologic time to forecast current, measured reservoir realizations. This workflow tests the understanding of the charge sequence, fluid mechanics and reservoir structure via the simulated reservoir fluid dynamics. These simulations require incorporation of the asphaltene nanocolloidal structures codified in the Yen-Mullins model. Simulations of reservoirs with a single, low maturity charge show the mechanistic processes of formation of graded viscous oils and tar mats as measured in a large field. The simulations clarify why tar mats form at the current, not paleo, oil-water contacts. Moreover, the simulations show why tar mats form preferentially in high permeability sections of reservoirs. Complex charge histories of reservoirs are also simulated and address connectivity. Reservoirs with oil and biogenic gas charges are simulated showing excellent, in-reservoir gas and oil mixing matching data from a Pliocene reservoir. Simulations of a different reservoirs match the measured huge solution gas gradient and solution gas-induced asphaltene migration. History matching reservoir charge provides a new, powerful way to test and improve reservoir understanding at any stage of exploitation, even prior to production.

About the speaker

Dr. Oliver C. Mullins is an independent contractor and former SLB Fellow and in the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He initiated the discipline “reservoir fluid geodynamics”, accounting for fluid compositional dynamics from charge to present. RFG is based on asphaltene thermodynamics which his team developed. He wrote 2 books, coedited 3 books, coauthored 320 publications, and coinvented 146 allowed US patents. He has received numerous awards including the SPE Anthony F. Lucas Gold Medal and the SPE International Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award, and the George A. Olah Award for Hydrocarbon or Petroleum Chemistry from the American Chemical Society.