Saturday 22 March 2014

Repsol and IFPEN develop production technology

Repsol and the French Institute of Petroleum, IFP Energies Nouvelles, have signed a framework collaboration agreement to develop cutting-edge exploration and production technology. These projects will help to make hydrocarbon discoveries, identify new reserves, as well as evaluating their potential and increasing production.

One of the main objectives of the agreement is to jointly develop technology that improves understanding of the subsoil based on data from fields operated by Repsol. These data will allow further development of the software developed by IFPEN for basin modelling and the description of hydrocarbons reservoirs.

Carbonate reservoir characterisation is among the first projects which the scientists at the Repsol Technology Centre and IFPEN will investigate, representing an important contribution to the industry. These reservoirs account for 60% of global oil reserves and 40% of gas reserves.

To perform these studies, involving a team of over 30 people, IFPEN and Repsol will draw on their experience which has allowed the latter to achieve an exploration success rate close to 40%, well above the industry average.

This joint project will provide new insights into some of the most challenging aspects of characterisation and reservoir modelling, with a significant impact on future exploration and production projects. In addition, it will encourage the development of innovative solutions to optimise hydrocarbon reservoir production.