Sensitivity Analysis of Production Parameters of an Iranian Oilfield Using Sobol Method

Using sensitivity analysis is one of the effective methods to simplify numerical models. There are a lot of parameters in models constructed for the simulation of oilfields. These parameters do not have the same impact on the model›s output. Therefore, utilization of the sensitivity analysis methods help that nonsignificant variables can be identified and kept at nominal values in order to save time and cost. According to studies, favorable method in sensitivity analysis is a dimensionless, quantitative, global, and model-free method. In this study, Sobol method has been selected as a desirable method for sensitivity analysis of production parameters. This method is applied to the surface model of one of Iran›s oilfields and it is characterized that parameters such as choke size, flowline diameter and pump frequency have the greatest effect on the oil production rate.