The subject of well spacing is one of importance in thepetroleum industry. The well itself plays a very significantrole in the development of the oil and gas reservoirs andin the control of the recovery process. However,determination of appropriate well spacing for maximumeconomic oil recovery and investment optimization hasbeen a complicated and controversial issue in oil fielddevelopment.Previous papers on this subject have concentrated ondeterministic evaluation of optimum well spacing tomaximize returns on investment. A stochastic approachto fully account for uncertainties in input variables isproposed in this paper.An analytical approach is used in developing theoptimization model from an economic view point. Themodel is tested with one of the reservoirs of a NigerDelta field. Non-linear programming application is usedto estimate the optimum well spacing from a populationof input variables of different probability distribution.Uncertainty analysis is carried out using CrystallBall.The result from the study carried out on the shallow anddeep levels of a swamp field located in the Niger Delta,Nigeria gave the optimum well spacing for maximumreturns on investment. Unlike the deterministicapproach, the stochastic approach provided reasonablebounds for NPV that reflects the uncertainties associatedwith the input variables.The optimum well spacing falls within reasonablebounds for field optimization and maximization of returnson investment. The combination of non-linearprogramming tool and stochastic approach provides acost effective method in getting a quicker solution to theproblem of well spacing.
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