Mark Sh. Levin

Combinatorial planning framework for geological exploration

The paper describes a combinatorial framework for planning of geological exploration for oil-gas fields. The suggested solving scheme consists of the stages: (1) building of special 4-layer tree-like model of geological exploration; (2) generations of local design (exploration) alternatives for each low-layer geological object: conservation, additional search, independent utilization, joint utilization; (3) multicriteria assessment of the exploration alternatives and their interrelation (compatibility); (4) hierarchical design of composite exploration plans; (5) integration of the plans into region exploration plans (versions); and (6) aggregation of the region plans (versions) into a general (resultant) exploration plan. Stages 2, 3, 4, and 5 are based on hierarchical multicriteria morphological design (HMMD) method. The composition problem is based on morphological clique model. Aggregation of the obtained modular alternatives (stage 6) is based on multiple choice model. The usage of multiset estimates for alternatives is described as well. The alternative estimates are based on expert judgment. The suggested combinatorial planning methodology is illustrated by realistic numerical examples for geological exploration of Yamal peninsula.

 

KEYWORDS: planning, geological exploration, oil-gas field, combinatorial optimization, morphological analysis, heuristic