2019 Rice Data Science Conference

Recently developed machine learning techniques, in association with the Internet of Things (IoT) allow for the implementation of a method of increasing oil production from heavy-oil wells. In contrast to traditional simulations of steam flood, a widely used enhanced oil recovery technique based on principles of classic physics, we introduce here an approach using cutting-edge machine learning techniques that have the potential to provide a better way to describe the performance of steam flood. We propose a workflow to address a category of time-series data that can be analyzed with supervised machine learning algorithms and IoT. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique for forecasting oil production in steam flood scenarios. Moreover, we build an optimization system that recommends an optimal steam allocation plan, and show that it leads to a 3% improvement in oil production. We develop a minimum viable product on a cloud platform.