This study reviews the performance of a three-phase coning model when simulated at different oil production rates, varying perforation intervals and permeability anisotropies. Data from the second comparative solution project which is a three-phase radial model with fifteen layers was used to run the sensitivities for production rates, perforation intervals and permeability anisotropies of the system. ECLIPSE 100 was used to simulate the different scenarios with the knowledge of the radial extent and fluid contacts of the system. The results obtained indicate that larger production rates increase the pressure gradient and consequently, improve the recovery efficiency of a reservoir. Longer perforation intervals produce more water while shorter perforation intervals produce less water; conversely, longer perforation intervals produce less gas and shorter perforation produce more gas. This indicates that smaller perforation intervals are likely to increase the water breakthrough time which is desirable. The result of simulating different anisotropic values - 0.01, 0.1 and 1.0, showed that smaller values of anisotropy enhance the performance of the reservoir. Therefore, when the value of horizontal permeability is much larger than the vertical permeability, the anisotropic ratio will be smaller and better recovery efficiency will be achieved and coning is minimized; hence, shorter perforation intervals are recommended.
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