Technology transition from traditional oil and gas reservoir simulation to the next generation energy development

Energy transition has been a focus in both scientific research and social concerns in the past decade, thanks to the urgent need of reducing carbon emissions, slowing down the abnormal speed of global climate and achieving a balance between environmental protection and economic development. Although the global energy sector is shifting from the fossil-based energy systems, including oil and gas, to the renewable energy resources like hydrogen, the necessity of conventional energy development has received increasing attentions with regard to the stable supply and maturely developed technologies. The long-history simulation techniques developed for oil and gas reservoir investigations have enabled the deeper explorations into reservoir properties and enhanced significantly the resource recovery. As a main direction in energy transition, the development of hydrogen energy is profoundly influencing the long-term reconstruction of the world's energy supply and application system, and is accelerating the transition and generational evolution in the fields of transportation, power generation, chemicals, and housing. In this paper, three research directions are proposed as the potential focus of technology transition, where traditional oil and gas reservoir simulation technologies can be adjusted and improved to be used to benefit the development of hydrogen energy.