1. n. [Reservoir Characterization]

The act of adjusting a model of a reservoir until it closely reproduces the past behavior of a reservoir. The historical production and pressures are matched as closely as possible. The accuracy of the history matching depends on the quality of the reservoir model and the quality and quantity of pressure and production data. Once a model has been history matched, it can be used to simulate future reservoir behavior with a higher degree of confidence, particularly if the adjustments are constrained by known geological properties in the reservoir.

See related terms: reservoir modeling