26 Mohammad Islam Miah and M.

Farhad
Howladar

SUST Journal of Science and Technology, Vol. 16, No.2, 2012; P:26-31

Natural Gas Properties Analysis of Bangladesh: A Case Study of

Titas Gas Field
(Submitted: April 13, 2011; Accepted for Publication: December 13, 2011)

Mohammad Islam Miah and M. Farhad Howladar1

Dept. of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh
E-mail: dmfh75@yahoo.com1

Abstract
Titas is the largest gas field in Bangladesh and the highest gas producer in the country at
present which was discovered in 1962 by Shell Oil Company, Pakistan. In designing gas
production, processing, transport and handling systems, a complete knowledge of natural gas
properties is crucial. For this reason, a detailed research has been done for the measurement and
prediction of hydrocarbon fluid properties. This research shows the reservoir of natural gas
properties analysis of Titas gas field from gas composition. Based on the studied composition, it is
shown that the Titas gas is a sweet gas. The specific gravity and apparent molecular weight of gas
are 0.584 and 16.927, respectively. The gas compressibility factor, super-compressibility factor,
real gas density and gas formation volume factor are 0.94, 1.031, 9.48 lb m/ft3, 0.0047 res ft3/scf,
respectively. The Isothermal compressibility and viscosity of the gas are 200.75×10 -6 per psia and
0.0189 cp at reservoir formation temperature 193 0F and pressure 3689 psia. The estimated fluid
properties are indicates that reservoir fluid type is semi-dry gas and these results are reliable for
reserve estimation and well test analysis.
Key Words: Composition, Specific Gravity, Formation Volume Factor, Isothermal
Compressibility and Viscosity.

1. Introduction
The Titas gas field was discovered by Shell Oil Company, Pakistan in 1962.This field is located (Figure-1) in
Brahmanbaria district far from about 96 km E-N-E of Dhaka. The Titas field lies in the south central part of the
Surma Basin and on the western margin of the Tripura high. The maximum flank dip to the east is 120 and that to the
west is 60. The dip is much gentler in the north-south direction at 3 0 and indicates stronger compression and uplift.
The structure was first mapped by Shell in 1960 with a single fold seismic grid. No faults were observed from the
2D seismic data over the Titas gas field and its vicinity. The stratigraphy of the field is related to the stratigraphy of
the Surma Basin and is based on lithological correlation with rocks in the Assam oil fields. The formations that have
been reached by wells in the Surma Basin are Dupi-Tila, Tipam, Bokabil and Bhuban Formation. Sediments
deposited in the later stages of the Indian Plate collision include the Upper Bhuban and Bokabil units which are
overlain by Tipam and Dupi-Tila. The reservoir sands in the area are composed of stacked sands which are divided
into three groups A, B and C Sands (Figure-1). The most prolific are those of the Group-A Sands which are the
dominated constituent of the reservoirs in the Titas Field [1].

In designing gas production, processing, transport, and handling systems a complete knowledge of petroleum
properties is crucial. For this reason, the present research has been performed for the measurement and prediction of
hydrocarbon fluid properties. The area of property prediction continues to attract significant attention from
researchers who seek to optimize design and control of gas systems [2]. Knowledge of pressure-volume-temperature
(PVT) relationships and other physical and chemical properties of gases are essential for prediction and solving
problems in natural gas reservoir engineering. The physical properties of a natural gas may be obtained directly
either by laboratory measurements or by prediction from the known chemical composition of the gas [3]. The type
of the gas is sweet or sour; it can be identified mainly based on non-hydrocarbon gases percentages.
 27 Mohammad Islam Miah and M. Farhad
Howladar

Drilled wells Figure-

1: Sub surface
location of Titas
field and gas
bearing Gas sand sands
(Petrel software,
A- Group sand

B- Group sand

C- Group sand

West East
Petrobangla)

The properties of natural gases are apparent molecular weight, specific gravity and API gravity of gas, gas
compressibility factor, super-compressibility factor, gas density, formation volume factor, isothermal compressibility
and viscosity of gas. Interkomp Kanata Management studied about initial gas formation volume factor and viscosity
at initial pressure and temperature conditions [4]. The objectives of this study are to identify the type of gas reservoir
(sweet or sour) and natural gas properties analysis of Titas gas field.

2. Materials and Methods

Brief Out Line about the Gas Composition and Used Different Charts
Hydrocarbon molecular weight, pseudo-critical temperature and pressure for each component (Economides, 1994)
and gas composition of A-Group sand [5] have been used for fluid properties estimation which is listed in Table-1.
Reservoir formation temperature (Trf) and pressure (Prf) are 193 0F and 3689 psia have been used for reservoir fluid
properties analysis of Titas gas field [4].
In the present research to complete the analysis properly, some well recognized charts have been used [6].
Table-1: Gas composition of A-group sand (IKM, 1991b)
Gas composition Mole fraction (Yj)
C1 0.9648
C2 0.0160
C3 0.0035
i- C4 0.0010
n-C4 0.0008
i-C5 0.0005
n-C5 0.0004
C6 0.0005
C7 0.0019
N2 0.0034
H2S 0.0000
CO2 0.0072
Natural Gas Properties Analysis of Bangladesh: A Case Study of Titas Gas Field 28

Methodology of Gas Properties Analysis:

How to Calculate the Molecular Weight and Gas Specific Gravity:

The Apparent molecular weight (Ma) has been estimated from the product of each gas component (Yj) and molecular
weight (Mj) i.e. Ma = Yj*Mj [2]. The specific gravity of a gas is defined as the ratio of the density of the gas to the
density of dry air with both measured at the same temperature and pressure [7]. The specific gravity (γ g) is
calculated from apparent molecular weight i.e. γg = Ma/28.97 [7].

Process of Estimating Gas Formation Volume Factor and Gas Density:

The gas formation volume factor (B g) is defined as the volume of gas at reservoir conditions required to produce one
standard cubic foot of gas at the surface. The gas formation volume factor has been estimated as the following steps
[2&7]:
Step 1: Calculation the pseudo-critical temperature Tpc and pseudo- critical pressure Ppc,
Step 2: Determination of the pseudo-reduced temperature Tpr and pseudo-reduced pressure Ppr,
Step 3: Estimation of the gas compressibility factor (Z) from Standing and Katz chart [8] in Figure-2,
Step 4: Calculation of gas formation volume factor.
The real gas density (ρg) has been calculated as following equation [2]:
ρg = (PM/ZRT) where R is the universal gas constant.

Figure-2: Gas compressibility factor (Z) chart (Standing et al, 1942)

Steps of Estimating the Gas Compressibility and Viscosity:

Isothermal gas compressibility is defined as the fractional change of volume as pressure is changed at constant
temperature which has been calculated as the following steps:
 29 Mohammad Islam Miah and M. Farhad
Howladar

Step-1: Estimation of the product of Cpr (Pseudoreduced compressibility) and Tpr from Pseudoreduced
compressibilities chart for gases,
Step-2: Estimation of Cpr and gas isothermal compressibility [7] i.e. Cg = (Cpr/Ppc).
The coefficient of viscosity is a measure of the resistance to flow exerted by a fluid. Usually, viscosity is given in
units of centipoise (cp). The viscosity of a mixture of gases (μg) has been estimated as the following steps:
Step-1: Calculation of the viscosity from chart [9] at 1 atmospheric (atm) pressure in Figure-3.
Step-2: To take into account the effect of the presence of non-hydrocarbon gases using Figure-3.
Step-3: Estimation of the viscosity of gas at elevated temperature-pressure from chart [9] in Figure-4.

Figure-3: Viscosity chart at 1 atmospheric pressure (Carr et al, 1954 and Economides et al, 1994)

Figure-4: Viscosity chart at elevated temperature-pressure (Carr et al, 1954 and Economides et al, 1994)
Natural Gas Properties Analysis of Bangladesh: A Case Study of Titas Gas Field 30

3. Results and Discussions

In Titas field, the gas composition of methane (mole fraction) is 0.9648 and H 2S mole fraction is 0 (zero). Since
methane is the predominant component of natural gases above 96% which indicate a sweet gas reservoir [10]. The
gas composition is known and Kay’s mixing rule has been used to calculate the pseudo-critical temperature &
pressure. From the data analysis, a detailed reservoir gas properties results are shown in Table-2, 3 and 4.

Table-2: Estimated gas compressibility factor (Z) and Formation volume factor of Titas gas field

Reservoir Temperature Reservoir pressure Z-factor Gas formation volume factor, Bg

(0R) (psia) (Dimensionless) ( res ft3/scf)
653 3689 0.94 0.00471

Table-3: Apparent molecular weight and density of gas

Specific gravity Molecular weight Real gas density, ρg

(Dimensionless) (Dimensionless) (lbm/ft3)
0.584 16.927 9.479

Table-4: Estimated compressibility and viscosity of natural gases

Pseudo-reduced Pseudo-critical Product of Gas compressibility, Cg Viscosity of gases, μg

Temperature, Tpr Pressure, Ppr Cpr & Tpr (per psia) (cp)
(Dimensionless) (psia) (Dimensionless)
1.86 669.55 0.25 0.00471 0.0189

The estimated pseudo-critical temperature and pressure are 351.28 0R and 669.55 psia, respectively. The
apparent molecular weight is 16.927. The gas specific gravity is 0.584 and API gravity is 110.8. The gas Z-factor has
been estimated from Standing and Katz chart (Figure-2) of 0.94 for sweet gas reservoir. This chart is generally more
reliable for sweet natural gases with minor amounts of non-hydrocarbons such as N 2 and CO2 [2] and super-
compressibility factor is 1.031. Gas compressibility factor may be changed if it is estimated by others methods and
correlations. The estimated real gas density is 9.479 lbm/ft3 (0.15184 gm/cm3) using universal gas constant (R) of
10.732. The formation volume factor and expansion factor (1/B g) are 0.00471 res ft3/scf and 212.3 scf/ft3 at reservoir
formation temperature 653 0R and pressure 3689 psia, respectively. The real gas density, formation volume factor
and isothermal gas compressibilities mainly depend on reservoir pressure, temperature as well as Z-factor. The
Isothermal compressibility has been found of 200.75 × 10 -6 per psia using pseudo-reduced compressibility value
(0.13441 per psia) and estimated Pseudo-critical pressure. The viscosity of hydrocarbon gases is 0.01255 cp at 1
atmosphere. The viscosity of all gases is 0.0126 cp including the effect of the presence of non-hydrocarbon gases at
1 atmosphere. The viscosity of A-group sand is 0.0189 cp at mentioned reservoir temperature and pressure. The
effect of each of the non-hydrocarbon gases is to increase the viscosity of the gas mixture. Gas viscosity decreases
with reservoir pressure decreases and vice versa. Viscosity of natural gases depends among reservoir temperature,
pressure and gas compositions [7]. During gas production history of Titas gas field, some hydrocarbon liquid as
condensate and water is produced [5] at the surface condition. The estimated fluid properties indicate that it is a
semi-dry gas reservoir.

4. Conclusions
Titas gas field is the largest gas producer in Bangladesh which is a sweet gas reservoir. The reservoir fluid type
is semi-dry gas. The gas specific gravity is 0.584. The gas compressibility factor, real gas density, formation volume
factor and gas expansion factor are 0.94, 9.479 lb m/ft3, 0.00471 res ft3/scf and 212.3 scf/ft 3, respectively. The
Isothermal compressibility and viscosity of the gas are 200.75 × 10 -6 per psia and 0.0189 cp at reservoir formation
temperature 193 0F and pressure 3689 psia. The estimated fluid properties are reliable and can be used for reserve
estimation and well test analysis of Titas gas field.
 31 Mohammad Islam Miah and M. Farhad
Howladar

Acknowledgement
We are very much grateful to Mr. Md. Jakaria, Assistant professor, Department of Petroleum and Mining
Engineering, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet and Mr. Mijanur Rahman, Deputy General
Manager, Reservoir Engineering Department, BGFCL, Bangladesh, for their constructive criticism and overall
advice regarding data processing and interpretation.

References
[1] Reservoir Management Project (RMP)-2, “Titas Geological Study”, Petrobangla, Bangladesh, p. 36, (2009).
[2] Kumar, S., “Gas Production Engineering”, Gulf publishing Co. V. 4, Houston, Texas, p. 646, (1987).
[3] Ahmed, Tarek, “Hydrocarbon Phase Behavior”, Volume 7, Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas, p. 423,
(1989).
[4] Interkomp Kanata Management (IKM), “Gas Field Appraisal Project: Reservoir Engineering Report”, Titas Gas
Field, Petrobangla, Bangladesh, p. 92, (1991b).
[5] Interkomp Kanata Management (IKM), “Gas Field Appraisal Project: Geological, Geophysical and Petrophysical
Report”, Titas Gas Field, Petrobangla, Bangladesh, p. 88, (1991a).
[6] Economides, J. M. et al., “Petroleum Production System”, Prentice-Hall PTR, p. 611, (1994).
[7] McCain, W. D. Jr., “The Properties of Petroleum Fluids”, second edition, Penn Well Publishing Co., Tulsa,
Oklahoma, p. 548, (1990).
[8] Standing, M. B. and Katz, D. L., “Density of Natural Gases”, Trans., AIME, 146, p. 140-149, (1942).
[9] Carr, N. L., Kobayashi, R. and Burrows, D. B., “Viscosity of Hydrocarbon Gases under Pressure”, Trans., AIME,
201, p. 264-272, (1954).
[10] Imam, B., “Energy Resources of Bangladesh”, First Edition, University Grants Commission Publication No. 89,
Bangladesh, p. 280, (2005).