Keynote Address: Understanding Flow in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs with the Aid of Numerical Simulation

Naturally Fractured Reservoirs (NFRs). Understanding multiphase fluid flow in NFRs is important because 60% of the world’s remaining oil reserves reside in rocks the flow through which is fracture dominated [1,2]. Except for igneous or crystalline rocks, fracture related void space contributes little to the bulk storage that is due to pores forming microscopic perforations in the fracture-matrix interface facilitating fluid exchange and altering fracture flow properties when fracture aperture is less than or equal to the pore size.