Chapter 4

Material Balance Equation

Material Balance Equation
v The general material balance equation is simply a volumetric balance, which states
that since the volume of a reservoir is a constant, the algebraic sum of the volume
changes of the oil, free gas, water, and rock volumes in the reservoir must be zero.
v A general material balance equation that can be applied to all reservoir types was first
developed by Schilthuis in 1936.
v Although it is a tank model (volumetric which means that the reservoir volume does
not change) equation, it can provide great insight for the practicing reservoir engineer.
It is written from start of production to any time (t) as follows:
Expansion of oil in the oil zone + Expansion of gas in the gas zone + Expansion of connate water in
the oil and gas zones + Contraction of pore volume in the oil and gas zones + Water influx + Water
injected + Gas injected
= Oil produced + Gas produced + Water produced

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Material Balance Equation
v When oil and gas reservoir is tapped with wells, oil and gas, and frequently some
water, thereby reducing the reservoir pressure and causing the remaining oil and gas to
expand to the fill the space vacated by the fluid removed.
v And if oil and/or gas strata are hydraulically connected to aquifer, water encroaches
in the reservoir as the pressure drops owing to production. This water encroachment
decreases the extend to which the remaining oil and gas expand and accordingly
retards the decline in reservoir pressure.

Volume Produced = Volume Replaced

- oil production - oil expansion + solution gas expansion

- gas production - rock production + connate water expansion
- water production - Initial gas cap expansion

- water influx
- water injection
- gas injection

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MBE – Historical Perspective
v “ It seems no longer fashionable to apply the concept of material balance to oilfields,
the belief being that it has now been superseded by the application of the more
modern technique of numerical simulation modeling.”
v “ Acceptance of this idea has been a tragedy and has robbed engineers of their most
powerful tool for investigating reservoirs and understanding their performance rather
than imposing their wills upon them, as it often the case when applying numerical
simulation directly in history matching.”
v “ Above all, numerical simulation and material balance must not be regarded as
competitive techniques; we have too few tools in reservoir engineering to discard any
of them. Material balance is for history matching whereas simulation is for prediction
and in this respect they should be supportive.”
L. P. Dake, The Practice of Reservoir Engineering (2001)

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MBE Derivation
v Based on conservation of mass principle, and
v Ignores the detail of fluid flow in porous media
v Treats the reservoir as closed container
Initial reservoir free gas volume
m=
initial reservoir oil volume
v The change in the rock volume is expressed as a change in the void space volume,
which simply the negative of the change in the rock volume.

Δ𝑉!"# + Δ𝑉$%&& '() + Δ𝑉*(+&% + Δ𝑉%!,- = 0

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MBE Derivation

N = initial reservoir oil , STB b g = gas formation volume factor , bbl SCF
b oi = initial oil formation volume factor , bbl STB W = initial reservoir water , STB
N p = Cumulative oil production, STB Wp = cumulative reservoir production, STB

b o = oil formation volume factor , bbl STB b w = water formation volume factor , bbl STB
G = initial reservoir gas ( free + dissolved ), SCF cw = water isothermal compressibility , psi -1
b gi = initial gas formation volume factor , bbl SCF DP = change in average reservoir pressure, psi
S wi = initial water saturation
G f = amount of free ga s in the reservoir , SCF
V f = initial void space, bbl
Rsoi = initial solution gas oil ratio, SCF
STB c f = formation isothermal compressibility , psi -1
R p = Cumulative solution gas oil ratio, SCF
STB
Rso = solution gas oil ratio, SCF
STB

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MBE Derivation
v Change in the oil volume:
Ø Initial reservoir oil volume: N b oi
Ø Oil volume at time t and pressure p: (N - N )b p o

Ø Change in oil volume: N boi -(N - N )b p o

Gas
produced
v Change in the free gas volume
G f b gi
Ø Ratio of initial free gas to initial oil volume: m=
N boi
Ø So the initial free gas volume: G f b gi = mN b oi free gas
Ø So
é SCF free ù é SCF initial gas ù é SCF gas ù é SCF remaining ù
ê gas at t ú = ê free + dissolved ú - ê produced ú - êin solution
ë û ë( )û ë û ë
ú
û
solution gas
é Nmb oi ù
Gf = ê + NRsoi ú - éë N p R p ùû - éë( N - N p ) Rso ùû
êë b gi úû
é Reservoir free gas ù é Nmb oi ù Gas remaining in
ê volume at time t ú = ê b + NRsoi - N p R p - ( N - N p ) Rso ú b g
ë û ëê gi ûú solution
échange in free ù é Nmb oi ù
ê gas volume ú = mN b - ê + NR - N R - ( N - N ) R ú bg
êë b gi
oi soi p p p so
ë û úû

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MBE Derivation
v Change in the water volume
échange in ù
ê water volume ú = W - (W + We - Wp b w + Wcw DP )
ë û
= -We + Wp b w - Wcw DP

v Change in the void space volume:

échange in void ù
ê space volume ú = V f - éëV f - V f c f DP ùû = V f c f DP
ë û

échange in ù
Þê ú = -V f c f DP
ë rock volume û

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MBE Derivation
v Combining the changes in water and rock volumes into a single term, yields the
following:
-We + Wp bw - WcwDP - V f c f DP
N b oi + Nmb oi
v Recognizing that W = V f S wi and that V f =
1 - S wi

v And substituting, the following is obtained:

é N b oi + Nmb oi ù
-We + b wW p - ê ú ( cw S w + c f ) DP
ë 1 - S wi û
or
éc S + cf ù
-We + b wW p - (1 + m ) N b oi ê w w ú DP
ë 1 + S wi û

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MBE Derivation
v Equating the changes in the oil and free gas volumes to the negative of the changes in
the water and rock volumes, the expanding all terms:

Error: Np instead of N
DVoil
!"""#""" $
N b oi - N b o + N p b o
DV
!"""""""""""#"""""""""""$ free gas

é Nmb oi b g ù
+ Nmb oi - ê ú - NRsoi b g + NR p b g + N b g Rso - N p b g Rso
êë b gi úû
é cw S wi + c f ù
= We - b wW p + (1 + m ) N b oi ê ú DP
%"""""""&"""""""' ë 1 - S wi û
DVwater +rock

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MBE Derivation
v By adding and subtracting the term Np Bg Rsoi then grouping term while writing
Boi = Bti , and
Bt = [Bo+(Rsoi – Rso)Bg] and then rearranging term into:

methods of fluid production

!"""""""""""""#""" """"""""""$
Nmbti é cw S wi + c f ù
N ( bt - bti ) +
%''''''& b gi
( b g - b gi ) + (1 + m ) N bti ê
1 - S wi û
ú DP + We
%&
ë
oil expansion %''''''''''& %''''''''''''''''''& water influx
gas expansion void space expansion

= N p éë bt + ( R p - Rsoi ) b g ùû + b wW p
(""""")"""""*
Hydrocarbon + water production

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Assumptions of MBE
v Reservoir temperature doesn’t change. If reservoir temperature changes, it is usually
sufficiently small to be ignored without significant error.
v The reservoir has uniform porosity, permeability, thickness.
v The reservoir has uniform pressure throughout in gas and oil zones.
v Gas liberation mechanism is the same as that used to determine the fluid properties.
v Negligible gravity segregation forces.
v The fluid recovery is independent of flow rate, number of wells, or the location of the
wells. The time element is not explicity expressed in the material balance when
applied to predict future reservoir performance.
v No water encroachment and negligible water production.

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Applications of MBE
v The MBE has been known as one of the basic tools in reservoir engineering for
interpreting and predicting reservoir performance. When properly applied, MBE can
be used to:
Ø Estimate initial hydrocarbon volumes in-place
Ø Predict future reservoir performance:
ü Chapter 7: There are 3 widely known methods
Ø Calculate water influx
Ø Predict reservoir pressure
Ø Predict ultimate hydrocarbon recovery under various types of promary drive mechanisms.

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Material Balance Equation
v If the reservoir is produced simultaneously by the major mechanisms of depletion
drive, gas cap drive, and water drive, it’s of practical interest to determine the relative
magnitude of each of these mechanisms that contribute to the production. And
compressibility can be ignored in this case.
v In that case, the general MBE can be rearranged as follow to obtain 3 fractions, whose
sum is 1.0, which are depletion drive index (DDI), gas cap index (SDI) and water
drive index (WDI)

Nmbti
N ( bt - bti ) +
b gi
(b g - b gi ) + (We - b wWp ) = N p éë bt + ( R p - Rsoi ) b g ùû

dividing by the right - hand side

Nmbti
N ( bt - bti ) b gi
(b g - b gi )
(W - b wW p )
e
+ + =1
N p éë bt + ( R p - Rsoi ) b g ùû N p éë bt + ( R p - Rsoi ) b g ùû N p éë bt + ( Rp - Rsoi ) b g ùû

DDI + SDI + WDI = 1

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The Havlena & Odeh Method
v The Havlena-Odeh linearization technique is used to solve for unknown variables in
the material balance equation. Havlena and Odeh grouped similar terms together to
simplify the application of the relationship.
methods of fluid production
!"""""""""""""#""" """"""""""$
Nmbti éc S + c ù General form of MBE
N ( bt - bti ) +
b gi
( b g - b gi ) + (1 + m ) N bti ê w wi f ú DP + We
%& fournd in slide 78
%''''''& ë 1 - S wi û
oil expansion %''''''''''& %''''''''''''''''''& water influx
gas expansion void space expansion

= N p éë bt + ( R p - Rsoi ) b g ùû + b wW p
(""""")"""""*
Hydrocarbon + water production

N p éë bt + ( R p - Rsoi ) b g ùû + b wW p - WI - GI b gI Factoring N and adding the

é éc S + c ù ù
last 2 terms in LHS. They
mbti
= N ê( bt - b ti ) +
b gi
( b g - b gi ) + (1 + m ) b ti ê w wi f ú DP ú + We were originally not included
êë ë 1 - S wi û úû

F = N p éë bt + ( R p - Rsoi ) b g ùû + b wW p - WI - GI b gI
Eo = ( bt - bti )
éc S + cf ù Define these terms
E f , w = ê w wi ú DP
ë 1 - S wi û
Eg = ( b g - b gi )

é Nmbti ù The material balance

Þ F = NEo + N (1 + m ) bti E f , w + ê ú Eg + We equation thus becomes
êë b gi ûú

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Simple Derivation of MBE
from the definition of compressibility
By definition:

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Tank Model for MBE

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