Oil production

Bee et al. 1994 give a review of the Duri Field's history and production, and describe the 4-D experiment and initial interpretation. The Duri Field contains 5.3 billion barrels (bbls) of original oil in place (OOIP). Primary production was expected to produce only about 400 million bbls, or about 8% of OOIP, because the Duri oils are very viscous (API gravity is 22$^{\circ}$). With steamflooding, about 60% of OOIP is expected to be recovered, representing an additional 2.7 billion bbls of oil over primary production.

Currently, about 40% of the field is undergoing steamflooding. The first steamflood patterns were drilled in 1985 and have increased the field production from about 40,000 barrels per day (BPD) to currently over 300,000 BPD. Over $1.2 billion has been invested in steamflooding to date, and the project is expected to expand to completion for another 25 years. If seismic monitoring can increase production by only 1% of OOIP, an extra 53 million bbls of oil will be gained. Therefore, the incentive for attempting to use time-lapse seismic data to enhance reservoir management is very favorable at this site.