Petroleum Engineering 324

Reservoir Performance

Material Balance
16 February 2007

Thomas A. Blasingame, Ph.D., P.E.

Department of Petroleum Engineering — Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-3116 (USA)
+1.979.845.2292
t-blasingame@tamu.edu
PETE 324 (07A) — Material Balance Slide — 1
 Material Balance
Orientation
Material Balance: Issues
zOil MBE (must know all data, also cf(p)).
zGas MBE (abnormal pressure, water drive).
Material Balance: Topics
z"Accounting" Concept of Material Balance:
„ Require all inflows/outflows/generations.
„ (Average) reservoir pressure profile is REQUIRED.
„ Require rock, fluid, and rock-fluid properties (at some scale).
zOil Material Balance:
„ Less common than gas material balance (pressure required).
zGas Material Balance:
„ Volumetric dry gas reservoir (p/z versus Gp (straight-line)).
„ Abnormally-pressured gas reservoirs (various techniques).
„ Waterdrive/water influx cases (always problematic)Material
Balance yields RESERVOIR VOLUME!
PETE 324 (07A) — Material Balance Slide — 2
 Reservoir Engineering (Material Balance)
Material Balance of a Petroleum Reservoir
z General Concept of Material Balance...

a. Initial reservoir conditions. b. Conditions after producing Np

STB of oil, and Gp SCF of gas,
z From: Petroleum Reservoir Engineering and Wp STB of water.
— Amyx, Bass, and Whiting (1960).

z Material Balance: Key Issues

„ Must have accurate production measurements (oil, water, gas).
„ Estimates of average reservoir pressure (from pressure tests).
„ Suites of PVT data (oil, gas, water).
„ Reservoir properties: saturations, formation compressibility, etc.
PETE 324 (07A) — Material Balance Slide — 3
 Reservoir Engineering (Material Balance)
Average Reservoir Pressure for Material Balance
z Average Reservoir Pressure

z From: Engineering Features of the Schuler Field and

Unit Operation — Kaveler (SPE-AIME, 1944).

z Average Reservoir Pressure: Key Issues

„ Must "average" pressures over volume or area (approximation).
„ Pressure tests must be representative (pavg extrapolation valid).
„ Can average using cumulative production (surrogate for volume).
PETE 324 (07A) — Material Balance Slide — 4
 Reservoir Engineering (Material Balance)
z From: Application of the Material Balance
Oil Material Balance Case (1/2)
to a Partial Waterdrive Reservoir — van
Everdingen (SPE, 1953).

z Black Oil Material Balance Case: (Example)

„ Note that all fluid functions are given: Np, Wp, and GOR (for Gp).
„ Average reservoir pressure is presumed correct.
„ Authors cite "partial waterdrive" — remains a contentious issue.
PETE 324 (07A) — Material Balance Slide — 5
 Reservoir Engineering (Material Balance)
Oil Material Balance Case (2/2)

z Oil Material Balance Relations:

"Black Oil" Material Balance: (p>pb )
1 Bo
p = pi − Np
Nct Boi
"Solution Gas Drive" (Oil) Material Balance: (all p)
[ ]
Np Bo + ( R p − Rs ) B g + Wp Bw = (Withdrawal (RB))

[
N ( Bo − Boi ) + ( Rsi − Rs ) B g ] (Oil Expansion (RB))

⎡ Bg ⎤
+ mNBoi ⎢ − 1⎥ (Gas Cap Expansion (RB))
⎢⎣ gi ⎥⎦
B
(cw S wi + c f ) (Water Exp./Pore Vol. Comp. (RB))
+ (1 + m ) NBoi ( pi − p )
(1 − S wi )
+ We Bw (Water Influx (RB))

PETE 324 (07A) — Material Balance Slide — 6

 Reservoir Engineering (Material Balance)
Gas Material Balance Case (1/6)

z Gas Material Balance Relations:

General Gas Material Balance:
p
[1 − ce ( p )( pi − p )] =
z
pi pi 1 ⎡
−
zi zi G ⎢⎣
⎢ p
G − Ginj + W R
p sw + 5 . 615
1
[
(Wp − Winj ) Bw − We ]⎤⎥
Bg ⎥⎦
"Dry Gas" Material Balance: (no reservoir liquids )
p pi
= ⎡1 − 1 G ⎤
z zi ⎢⎣ G p ⎥⎦
"Abnormal Pressure" Material Balance: (cf=f(p))
p pi 1 ⎡ Gp ⎤
= 1−
z zi [1 − ce ( p )( pi − p )] ⎣⎢ G ⎥⎦
1 ⎡ ⎡ ⎡VpNNP ⎤ ⎡VpAQ ⎤⎤ ⎤
ce ( p ) = ⎢ S wi cw + c f + ⎢ ⎢ ⎥+⎢ ⎥ ⎥ (cw + c f )⎥
(1 − S wi ) ⎢⎣ ⎣⎢ ⎢⎣ VpR ⎥⎦ ⎢⎣ VpR ⎥⎦ ⎥⎦ ⎥⎦

PETE 324 (07A) — Material Balance Slide — 7

 Reservoir Engineering (Material Balance)
Gas Material Balance Case (2/6)

z Gas Material Balance: Abnormally Pressured Reservoir Example

„ Normal pressure production sequence (volumetric depletion, Gapp).
„ Abnormal pressure production sequence (OGIP, G).
PETE 324 (07A) — Material Balance Slide — 8
 Reservoir Engineering (Material Balance)
Gas Material Balance Case (3/6)

a. Gas Material Balance Plot: p/z vs. Gp —
Illustration of the abnormal pressure
trend starting at an inflection point
defined by the hydrostatic (normal)
pressure.
b. Gas Material Balance Plot: p/z vs. Gp —
Illustration of the abnormal pressure
trend starting at an inflection point
defined by the hydrostatic (normal)
pressure.

z Gas Material Balance: Abnormally Pressured Reservoir Example

„ Normal pressure production sequence (volumetric depletion, Gapp).
„ Abnormal pressure production sequence (OGIP, G).
PETE 324 (07A) — Material Balance Slide — 9
 Reservoir Engineering (Material Balance)
Gas Material Balance Case (4/6)

z "Dry Gas" Material Balance: Normally Pressured Reservoir Example

„ Volumetric reservoir — no external energy (gas expansion only).
„ p/z versus Gp yields unique straight-line trend.
„ Linear extrapolation yield gas-in-place (G).
PETE 324 (07A) — Material Balance Slide — 10
 Reservoir Engineering (Material Balance)
Gas Material Balance Case (5/6)

z "Dry Gas" Material Balance: Abnormally Pressured Reservoir Example

„ Volumetric reservoir — no water influx or leakage.
„ p/z versus Gp yields unique quadratic trend (from approximated MBE).
„ Quadratic extrapolation yield gas-in-place (G).
PETE 324 (07A) — Material Balance Slide — 11
 Reservoir Engineering (Material Balance)
Gas Material Balance Case (6/6)

a. Gas Material Balance Plot: p/z vs. Gp — b. Gas Material Balance Plot: p/z vs. Gp
simulated performance. Note effect of — simulated performance. Note
aquifer permeability on field effect of displacement efficiency (Ep).
performance.
z Gas Material Balance: Water Drive Gas Reservoir
„ Pressure (hence p/z) is maintained during production via communication
with an unsteady-state aquifer (this study).
„ From: Unsteady-State Performance of Water Drive Gas Reservoirs, Agarwal
(Texas A&M Ph.D., 1967).
PETE 324 (07A) — Material Balance Slide — 12