Crossflow in Fractured/Layered Media Incorporating Gravity, Viscous, and Phase Behavior Effects

Crossflow across the interfaces of layered reservoirs, and between matrix blocks and fractures in fractured reservoirs may be very pronounced. The literature emphasizes viscous crossflow, however, crossflow due to gravity may be more significant. In this paper, the crossflow due to various effects in layered and fractured media are presented. The examples selected for the layered media show that most of the oil is first transferred from the low permeability to the high permeability layer and then produced. The examples for fractured media reveal a significant contribution of crossflow to recovery performance. The fractured-media examples imply that a real challenge exists to perform compositional simulation of fractured reservoirs.