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Material Balance

Samarth D. Patwardhan

Gas Cap Drive

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Gas Cap Drive

• Reservoir Pressure falls slowly and
continuously
• Producing gas oil ratio rises continuously in
wells high in the structure (coning)
• Wells have a long natural flow life if the gas
cap is large
• Expected recoveries between 20 – 40%

Production Behavior – Gas Cap Drive

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Combination Drive

Material Balance Equation

(A General Form)

OUT IN 

  
 
N p Bo  R p  Rs Bg  W p Bw  W B  G B  W 
 Inj w Inj g e
 Bo  Boi   Rsi  Rs Bg  Bg   Cw S wc  C f  
 N i Boi   m  1  1  m  p 
B  
 B     1 S  

oi gi wc
 
EXPANSION

Gi Bgi
Where, m  is the gas cap index.
N i Boi

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Material Balance Equation

(A General Form)

Expansion of gas in the gas-cap

 Bg 
N i Boim 1  Gi Bg  Gi Bgi
B 
 gi 

Expansion of rock and connate water

 Cw S wc  C f   C S Cf 
N i Boi 1  m p  N i Boi  Gi Bgi  w wc p
 1  S wc   1  S wc 

Practical Considerations
(Known's vs. Unknowns)

1. Known : Np, Wp, Cw Swc, Bw

2. Potential unknown: Ni, m, p, Bo,Bg,Rp,Rs,cf
3. Unknown: We

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Condensed Notation
• The material balance equation is lengthy;
cumbersome to work with.
• Introduce shorthand notation to facilitate
manipulation.
• Total Production of oil, water and gas:

 
F  N p Bo  Rp  Rs Bg  Wp

Condensed Notation
• Reservoir fluid expansion terms (on a per
STB basis)
– Expansion of oil and dissolved gas
Eo  Bo  Boi   Rsi  Rs Bg
– Expansion of gas-cap gas
 Bg 
mEg  mBoi   1
 Bgi 
– Expansion of rock and connate water
c S c 
1  mE f ,w  1  mBoi  w wc f p
 1  S wc 

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Note
• The fluid expansion terms Eo, Eg, and Ef,w are
composed only of fluid PVT properties and
connate water saturation.
– At reservoir conditions (Temperature constant),
they are functions of reservoir pressure only.

Gas Cap Drive – No Water Influx

• In this case, the material balance equation can be
simplified to

F  Ni Eo  mEg  1 mE f ,w 

• Straight line form:
F  N i Eo  E f , w   mE g  E f ,w 
F
 N i  mNi
Eg  E f ,w 
Eo  E f ,w  Eo  E f ,w 

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Gas Cap Drive Plot

F
 N i  mNi
Eg  E f ,w 
F  Ni Eo  E f ,w   mEg  E f ,w  Eo  E f ,w  Eo  E f ,w 

Which one is better?

Gas Cap Drive

What if there is water influx?
Differentiating GCD material balance equation can
magically eliminate m.
FE g'  F ' Eg We Eg'  We' Eg
 Ni 
Eo Eg'  Eo' Eg Eo Eg'  Eo' Eg
The above equation can be used to determine Ni and
the water influx model.
Then the general GCD material balance equation
used to obtain m.

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GCD Straight Line Technique

Problem 1
The following production and PVT data are reported
from a reservoir suspected of producing from a gas cap
drive reservoir. Using the information, calculate the
initial oil in place and the value of m. If the recovery
factor in this reservoir is estimated to be 50%, how
much are the remaining reserves?

GCD Straight Line Technique

Problem 1 Cont.
Pressure Np Rp Bo Rs Bg
Psia MMSTB SCF/STB bbl/STB SCF/STB bbl/SCF
3,300 0 0 1.2511 510 .00087
3,150 3.295 1,050 1.2353 477 .00092
3,000 5.903 1,060 1.2222 450 .00096
2,850 8.852 1,160 1.2122 425 .00101
2,700 11.503 1,235 1.2022 401 .00107
2,550 14.513 1,265 1.1922 375 .00113
2,400 17.73 1,300 1.1822 352 .00120

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GCD Straight Line Technique

Problem 2
You have been asked to review the performance of a
combination solution gas, gas cap drive reservoir. Initial
reservoir pressure and solution gas oil ratio where
2,500 psia and 721 SCF/STB respectively. During the
life of the project, pressure maintenance by gas
injection was initiated. The exact point in time is not
known. The amount of injected gas is also not known.
Assume no active water drive or water production. Use
the following PVT and production data from the table:

GCD Straight Line Technique

Problem 2 Cont.
Rp* =
Pressure Bg Bt Np Gp,prod/Np
psia SCF/STB bbl/SCF MMSTB SCF/STB
2500.00 0.001048 1.50 0.00 0.00
2300.00 0.001155 1.52 3.74 716.00
2100.00 0.00128 1.56 6.85 966.00
1900.00 0.00144 1.62 9.17 1297.00
1700.00 0.001634 1.70 10.99 1623.00
1500.00 0.001884 1.82 12.42 1953.00
1300.00 0.002206 2.25 16.14 2551.00
1100.00 0.002654 2.25 16.14 3214.00
900.00 0.0033 2.60 17.38 3765.00
700.00 0.004315 3.21 18.50 4317.00
500.00 0.006163 4.36 19.59 4839.00

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GCD Straight Line Technique

Problem 2
Note that Bt=Bo+(Rsi-Rs)Bg.

Using this information:

• At what point (i.e., pressure) did the pressure
maintenance operation begin?
• Estimate the initial volumes of Oil and free gas in the
reservoir.
• How much gas in SCF has been injected when the
reservoir pressure is 500 psia?

GCD Straight Line Technique

(Field example)

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GCD Straight Line Technique

(Field example)
• Remote onshore reservoir
• Gas re-injection into gas due to no gas market.
• Field production reaches plateau soon after all 45
development wells are switched on.
• Practically no water-influx due to low permeability in
the aquifer

GCD Material Balance

(practical consideration)

• Efw is often neglected since gas is much more

compressible than water and rock.
• Material balance calculation for GCD reservoirs are
much more complex than SGD and US reservoirs with
more unknowns (N, m and We).
• Accurate basic data, especially pressure is required,
which is, however, usually not the case for gassy
reservoirs. Since multi-phase well test data is less
accurate.

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Material Balance Equation

For Gas Reservoirs

Gas Material Balance

G p Bg  Wp Bw  We  Gi Bg  Bgi 
    
Out In Expansion

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Gas Material Balance

(Applicability)

Since gas has high compressibility, the pressure

disturbance is usually deemed to equilibrate slowly in
such a system.
Can we use Material Balance in a gas reservoir?
This depends on the hydraulic diffusivity constant
(k/c). Since k/ is the same for both oil and gas
reservoirs. The comparison is made on c group.
(c)oil=1 cpX20X10-6/psi=20X10-6cp/psi
(c)gas=0.02 cpX1/5000/psi=4X10-6cp/psi
Gas equilibrate faster than oil ?!

Gas Material Balance

(Havlena-Odeh Plot)

G p Bg  Wp Bw  We  Gi Bg  Bgi 
    
F Eg

F W
 Gi  e
Eg Eg

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Gas Material Balance

(Havlena-Odeh Plot)

Gas Material Balance

zT z iT
Since: Bg  0.0283 Bgi  0.0283
p pi
Substitute them into Gas material balance equation and
manipulate:
 G 
 1 p 
p pi  Gi 
 
z zi We  W p Bw pi 
1 
 G i z i 

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Gas Material Balance

Average p/z in case there is lack of pressure equilibrium:

p
  p z  G   p z 
j p j j


j

z  G   p z 
j
p j j

Gas Material Balance

(Volumetric Reservoir)

• If there is no water influx and no water

production:

p pi pi G p
 
z zi zi Gi

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Straight Line Plot

• For a volumetric gas reservoir, a plot of Gp
versus p/z will be a straight line of slope –
(Gi/(pi/zi)) and intercept Gi
• In practice, people plot p/z versus Gp and
extrapolate to p/z = 0

p/z versus Gp
pi
zi

p
z

Gi
0
0
Gp

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Material Balance
(Gas Reservoir with We)

Assuming no water:

 G 
 1 p 
p pi  Gi 
  
z zi 1  We pi
 
 Gi zi 

p/z versus Gp

In case there is surface compression at the wellhead, the bottomhole pressure

is allowed to reduce to a lower level, more gas can be produced. This is
especially true for volumetric depletion.

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p/z versus Gp
In case there is gas compressor at the wellhead, the
bottomhole pressure is allowed to reduce to a lower level,
more gas can produced.

p/z versus Gp
Material balance at abandonment:
Gp
1
 p p Gi
   i
 z  ab zi  S gr 1 
   
 1  S wc  
Where,  is the volumetric sweep efficiency at abandonment
(typical value=0.7);
Sgr is residual gas saturation at abandonment (typical
value=0.35).

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p/z versus Gp
Material balance at abandonment derivation:
Abandonment=GIIP- Trapped - By-passed gas
Production residual gas
 S 
G p  Gi  Gi Bgi gr  Bg  1   Gi Bgi  Bg
 1  S wc 
zT
Since: Bg  0.0283
p
Substitute them into Gas material balance equation and
manipulate yields the material balance at abandonment.

p/z versus Gp
“Theory showing that depleting gas reservoirs
will exhibit a straight line p/z plot has been
developed but the corollary, that a straight line
p/z plot proves the existence of depletion drive
has not been proved.”
- Cason, L.D. Jr.: Waterflooding Increase Gas recovery,
JPT Oct 1989, 1102

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p/z versus Gp

Straight Line Analysis

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Straight Line Analysis

Straight Line Analysis

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Development Planning
•Obtain accurate initial reservoir pressure.
•Obtain reliable fluid sample for PVT analysis
•Make frequent pressure measurement during early
life time
•Produce at as high rate as possible.
•Possibly “blowing down” the pressure at the flooded-
out regions.

Development Planning
(Havlena-Odeh Plot)

Effect of erroneous initial reservoir pressure.

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Development Planning
(Blow-down technique)
Goal: To reduce reservoir pressure in the flood region
allowing trapped residual gas to expand and be produced.
Practice: Convert water-out wells to high rate water
producers with gas lift.
Limitation: lack of space on platform for offshore fields.

Note: Blow-down is more effective in tight gas reservoir

because of high pressure differentials between flooded
region and no flooded regions and high trapped gas
saturation.

Development Planning
(Blowing down technique)
A successful “blowing down” field:
North Alazan Field in Texas, four high rate water producers
were drilled and completed in the aquifer while a further
three water-out wells were converted to water producers.
By withdrawing water at a rate of 30,000 b/d the
abandonment pressure was expected to be reduced from its
natural waterdrive level of 2200 psia to 500 psia releasing
22 bscf of trapped gas which raised the recovery factor by
almost 30%.

From - Lutes, J.L. et al.: Accelerated Blowdlown of a Strong Waterdrive Gas

Reservoir, JPT Dec. 1977, 1153.

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Gas Material Balance

(Example)
Pi=4700 psia
P(3year)=4500 psia
T=180 °F
Gp=109 scf
Gravity=0.8
We=0

Find Gi.

Gas Material Balance

(Example)
When pi=4700 psia
Gravity=0.8, from California Chart:
ppc=665 psia, ppr=4700/665=7.47
pTc=442 °F, pTr=(180+460)/442=1.45
z=0.92
When p=4500, z=0.9
pi/zi=5170, P/z=5000

 i Gi  G p 
p p
z Gi zi

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Gas Material Balance

(Example)
Pi/zi=5170, P/z=5000

5000 
5170
Gi

Gi  109 

Gi=4.7x1010 scf

Gas Material Balance

(Example)
How much gas will the reservoir produce when p= 3500 psia if:
a) We=0. (6.6x109scf)
b) We=500,000 bbls.
c) We=1,000,000 bbls.

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Gas Material Balance

(Example)
What will be the reservoir pressure after it produces 109 scf?

Gas Reservoir
Problem 1
A gas well was discovered in 1985, and we have obtained data
for the well over the next three years as shown below. In
addition, the following reservoir data are estimated based on the
contour maps.
area = 640 acres
h = 19 feet
 = 0.10
Swi = 33.0%
T = 250oF
g = 0.6
pi = 13,217 psia

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Gas Reservoir
Problem 1 Cont.
Date p z p/z Gp,MMSCF
05/10/86 13,173 1.622 8121 0
10/24/86 11,474 1.494 7680 681
02/02/87 10,799 1.443 7482 1022
05/09/87 10,638 1.431 7432 1278
10/17/87 8,326 1.261 6605 2500
05/21/88 5,943 1.096 5421 3919
09/02/88 5,699 1.081 5273 4408
10/02/88 5,461 1.066 5123 4560
05/03/89 5,364 1.060 5060 5251

Gas Reservoir
Problem 2
The following pressures and cumulative production
data are given. Estimate the initial gas in place.
Reservoir Pressure, psia p/z Gp, MMMSCF
2,290 3,014 0
2,075 2,704 8.935
1,780 2,264 18.203
1,325 1,600 30.793
975 1,128 40.312
710 789 47.069

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Gas Reservoir
Problem 3
The following production data are given for a gas reservoir.
Calculate the original gas in place. If abandonment pressure is
300 psia, how much are the remaining reserves?
Pressure, psia z Gp, MMSCF
1,556 0.821 0
1,543 0.821 19
1,538 0.821 45
1,504 0.824 108
1,432 0.830 275
1,360 0.836 427
1,274 0.843 522

Gas Reservoir
Problem 3 Cont.
Calculate the original gas in place using both
volumetric analysis and the material balance
method. Do you observe any discrepancy
between the two answers? Which answer
would be correct? If abandonment pressure is
500 psia, calculate the remaining reserves after
1989.

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Abnormally Pressured Reservoirs

• Normal pressure gradients for gas reservoirs
are in the range of 0.4-0.5 psia/ft of depth
• Abnormally pressured reservoirs have
gradients of 0.7-1.0 psia/ft of depth
– > 300 abnormally pressured gas reservoirs
offshore Gulf Coast; gradients > 0.65 with depths
over 10000 ft.

P/z for Abnormally Pressured

Reservoirs

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p/z versus Gp
(Practical considerations)

Nonlinear perturbations on p/Z plot for water drive fields

a) rate change; b) cyclic production

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