PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

Unit I

GAS VISCOSITY

• The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of the internal fluid friction (resistance) to flow. If
the friction between layers of the fluid is small, i.e., low viscosity, an applied shearing
force will result in a large velocity gradient.
• As the viscosity increases, each fluid layer exerts a larger frictional drag on the adjacent
layers and velocity gradient decreases. The viscosity of a fluid is generally defined as the
ratio of the shear force per unit area to the local velocity gradient.
• Viscosities are expressed in terms of poises, centipoise, or micropoises. One poise equals
a viscosity of 1 dyne-sec/cm2 and can be converted to other field units by the following
relationships:

• 1 poise = 100 centipoises

• = 1 ∞ 106 micropoises
• = 6.72 ∞ 10−2 lb mass/ft-sec
• = 2.09 ∞ 10−3 lb-sec/ft2

• The gas viscosity is not commonly measured in the laboratory because it can be estimated
precisely from empirical correlations. Like all intensive properties, viscosity of a natural
gas is completely described by the following function: µg = (p,T,yi)
• where µg = the viscosity of the gas phase. The above relationship simply states that the
viscosity is a function of pressure, temperature, and composition. Many of the widely
used gas viscosity correlations may be viewed as modifications of that expression.

Crude Oil Viscosity

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

• Crude oil viscosity is an important physical property that controls and influences the flow
of oil through porous media and pipes. The viscosity, in general, is defined as the internal
resistance of the fluid to flow. The oil viscosity is a strong function of the temperature,
pressure, oil gravity, gas gravity, and gas solubility.
• Whenever possible, oil viscosity should be determined by laboratory measurements at
reservoir temperature and pressure. The viscosity is usually reported in standard PVT
analyses.
• If such laboratory data are not available, engineers may refer to published correlations,
which usually vary in complexity and accuracy depending upon the available data on the
crude oil. According to the pressure, the viscosity of crude oils can be classified into
three categories:

INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCTION AND WELL TESTING

• Introduction More and more importance is being placed upon efficient performance of
gas and oil wells. Generally.
• some kind of test must be made to determine the performance of an oil or gas well. There
me many types of well rests, and each is con-ducted to obtain certain information about
the well. Some types of tests are made often, and some may be made only on rare
occasions.
• Some of the well tests are simple and some are compli-cated. Standard lease production
equipment may be all that is needed for some of the tests, while special equipment is
necessary for other tests. It is very important that the test be done accurately since well
test data document the perfor-mance of a well and the reservoir in which the test is com-
pleted.
• Very often these tests are performed by the producer to help in establishing proper
production practices and to comply with regulatory requirements. There are many types
of well tests made by lease opera-tors, well testers, or specialty companies. Some of the
most frequently made well tests .

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• Drill-Stem Test When a well is being drilled, a drill-stem test is often run on a formation
of unknown performance to determine if a formation contains oil, water, gas. or a
combination of the three.
• This procedure requires special tools and packers to be run on the drill pipe to isolate the
interval to be tested. Fluid is thus permitted to flow from the formation, through the
tester, and into the drill pipe. Fluid entering the drill pipe is trapped by a system of valves
in the tester no that it may be withdrawn from the well with the drill pipe for subsequent
examination.
• If the formation pressure is sufficient to cause flow to the surface, a sustained flow test
through the drill pipe will provide a measure of the productive capacity of the interval
tested.
• The test results show the bottom-hole shut-in pressure, bottom-hole flowing pressure,
bottom-hole temperature, and the type of fluid the well might be capable of producing.
The results of drill-stem tests on a well will often deter-mine if a casing string should be
run to complete the well as a producing well, or if the well is a dry hole.
• This information is often used as the design basis for the production system.
• Potential Test A potential test is a measurement of the oil, water. and gas that a well will
produce in a 24-hour period under certain fixed conditions.
• This test is made on each newly completed well and at other times as might be requested
by a state or fed-end regulatory agency or the well operator.

• Information from these tests is used to establish the producing rate for the well.
Scheduled rates may be adjusted periodi-cally, depending upon results of the tests.

• Bottom-Hole Pressure Test A bottom.hole pressure test is a measure of the pressure of

the well taken at a specific depth or at midpoint of the pro. (teeing interval. The purpose
of this test is to measure the pressure in the zone in which the well is completed.
• In mak-ing this test, a specially designed pressure gauge is lowered into the well to a
selected depth where the pressure is recorded by the gauge (Figure 56). The gauge is then
pulled to the surface and taken from the well to observe and record the pressure.

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• There are several variations of this test, includ-ing the flowing bottom-hole pressure test,
which is a MCA. surement taken while the well continues to flow, and a shut-in bottom-
hole pressure test, which is • measurement taken after the well has been shut in for a
specified length of time.
• These shut-in tests also give information about fluid levels in the shut-in well. A series
of bouom-hole pressure tests conducted at sched-uled intervals will furnish valuable
information about the de-cline or depletion of the zone in which the well has been
producing.
• Transient Pressure Testing In recent years transient pressure testing has played an
increasingly important role in reservoir management. Bot-tom-hole pressures are
recorded under various flowing and shuhin conditions. The information thus obtained can
be used in modeling the reservoir, predicting its performance. and optimizing production
alternatives in order to achieve maximum economic recovery of reserves
• Productivity Test Productivity tests are made on both oil and gas wells and include the
well potential and the bottom-hole pressure tests. Fluid flow in a reservoir is caused by
the movement of fluid from a high-pressure area to a low-pressure area. The rate of fluid
flow from the higher formation pressure to the well bore pressure is proportional to the
difference in these pressures.
• The first procedure in conducting a productivity test is to measure the shut-in boitom-
hole pressure. This pressure might be called static pressure or reservoir pressure. The
well is then produced at several stabilized rates. At each sta-bilized rate of production, the
bottom-hole flowing pressure is measured. These data, when interpreted by an engineer,
provide an estimate of the maximum flow of fluid to be ex-pected from the well.
• The open-tlow potential of a gas well is calculated by extrapolating the gas production to
atmo-spheric pressure at the face of the producing formation. This type of testing is done
on both oil and gas wells and. with slight variations, is the most widely accepted method
of determining the capacity and allowable% of gas wells.
• Routine Production Tests Routine production tests are normally made monthly to inform
the well operator of any changes in the daily pro-duced volumes of oil, water, and gas.
These tests can be taken with various items of equipment ranging from simple tank
measuring equipment and a gas meter to a completely automated test facility. An

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automated test facility consists of a control and readout panel; automatic time-controlled
valves; separation vessels;•meters for oil, water, and gas; and a net oil probe (see Figure
55). Where a computerized sys-tem is used, valve operation is upon computer command
and test results are automatically transmitted to. and analyzed by. the computer.
• Bottom-Hole Temperature Determination This test is usually made in conjunction with
the bottom-hole pressure test and is made to determine the temperature of the well at the
bottom of the hole oral some point above the bottom.
• In conducting this test, a specially designed recording thermometer is lowered into the
well on a wire-line. After the thermometer is removed, the temperature of the well at the
desired depth is read from the instrument.
• These data and the bottom-hole pressure calculations are used by the engineer in solving
problems about the nature of the oil or gas that the well produces. Temperature tests are
sometimes helpful in locating leaks in the pipe above the producing zone.
• Sonic Fluid Level Determination This test, which determines the depth to liquid in the
cas-ing annulus of a well, can be performed on wells that will not flow and are produced
by artificial lift. It is a very useful test on wells produced by sucker red pumping. The
procedure for this test is to fire a blank shell in a sealed wellhead attachment which is
connected to the sur-face casing annulus valve.
• The sound pulse created by firing the blank travels down the easing annulus. A portion of
the sound is reflected by each tubing collar and a larger portion by the liquid level. A
microphone in the wellhead attachment picks up the sound reflections and amplifies
them. They are then transmitted to a receiver, where they are converted to electrical
pulses and recorded as blips on a moving paper strip. Front here, the number of tubing
collars (blips) may then be counted to liquid (large blip) and converted to feet. and the
depth to liquid level can be determined. This is a good test to help determine if MOM
fluid is avail-able for lift and how much. It is also a good test to help in sizing artificial
lift equipment.
• Water Analysis The oil industry has used water analysis for many years for formation
identification, compatibility studies, water. quality control, and evaluation of pollution
problems. The end use of water analysis data should determine the sampling procedure,
the analytical procedure. and data presentation. In some cases, the only concern is

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whether or not a particular substance is present; in other cases. complete mineral anal.
ysis arc required; and in still other cases, the interest may be limited to knowing the
concentration of trace constituents. The chemical and physical properties of water are
influ-enced greatly by the identities and amounts of the dissolved substances.
• The composition of the water can only be deter-mined by chemical analysis and the
physical properties by actual measurements. A reliable water analysis is very important.
since it is the initial step in solving scale. corrosion, or pollution problems. Water
treatment is based on results of water analysis.
• Casing leaks in producing wells can be detected using results of wa-ter analysis.
Compatibilities of waters for injection in en-hanced recovery projects can often be
predicted from water analysis data.
• Water analysis data arc often used to identify the source of water produced with oil and
gas. Water analysis have proven to be very valuable in subsurface studies with respect to
underground water migration, electric log interpretation, and well remedial and
recompletion operations.
• Portable powendriven welch to lower and / extract gauge tip
• Wire line which Savours and extracts gauge
• Wire lino stuffing box and lubricator

CHARECTERSTICS OF RESERVOIR ROCK

• The nature of reservoir rocks containing oil and gas dictates the quantities of fluids
trapped within the void space of these rocks, the ability of these fluids to flow through the
rocks, and other related physical properties. The measure of the void space is defined as
the porosity of the rock, and the measure of the ability of the rock to transmit fluids is
called the permeability. A knowledge of these two properties is essential before questions
concerning types of fluids, amount of fluids, rates of fluid flow, and fluid recovery
estimates can be answered. Methods for measuring porosity and permeability have
comprised much of the technical literature of the oil industry.
• Other reservoir properties of importance include the texture, the resistivity of the rock
and its contained fluids to electrical current, the water content as a function of capillary

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pressure, and the tortuous nature of the interstices or pore channels. The texture of
sedimentary rocks is determined largely by grain shape and roundness, grain size and
sorting, grain orientation and packing, and chemical composition.
• A specific combination of these variables may reveal information about diagenetic and
catagenetic processes and mechanisms operating during transportation, deposition, and
compaction and deformation of sedimentary materials. In some cases, texture may yield
some information about formation permeability and porosity. For example, fine-grained
sandstones with poorly sorted angular grains will generally have lower porosity than
sandstones composed of coarse, well-sorted grains.

PERMEABILITY-POROSITY RELATIONSHIPS

• permeability versus porosity data obtained from a large number of samples of a sandstone
formation. Even though this formation is generally considered very uniform and
homogeneous, there is not a specifically defmed trendline between permeability and
porosity values. In this case, the relationship between permeability and porosity is
qualitative and is not directly or indirectly quantitative in any way.
• It is possible to have very high porosity without having any permeability at all, as in the
case of pumice stone (where the effective porosity is nearly zero), clays, and shales. The
reverse of high permeability with a low porosity might also be true, such as in micro-
fractured carbonates. In spite of this fundamental lack of correspondence between these
two properties, there often can he found a very useful correlation between them within
one formation
• Chilingarian showed that the granulometric composition of sandstones influences the
relationship between permeability and porosity (14). Figure 3.12 is a semilog plot of
permeability versus porosity for
• (1) veil' coarse-grained, (2) coarse and medium grained. (3) fine-grained, (4) silty, and (5)
clayey sandstones. Figure 3.13 shows typical permeability and porosity trends for various
rock types. Such a relationship is very useful in the understanding of fluid flow through
porous media. Many correlations relating permeability, porosity, pore size, specific
surface area, irreducible fluid saturation, and other variables have been made. Some of

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these relationships are presented here for the sole purpose of enabling the reader to form
a reasonable understanding of the Interrelation of the rock properties in petroleum
reservoirs.

KOZENY CORRELATION
• Kozeny derived one of the most fundamental and popular correlations expressing
permeability as a function of porosity and specific surface area . Consider a porous rock
sample of cross-sectional area A and length L as being made up of a number, n, of
straight capillary tubes in a parallel, with the spaces between the tubes sealed by a
cementing material.
• If the capillary tubes are all of the same radius r (cm) and length L (cm), the flow rate q
(cm3./s) through this bundle of tubes, according to Poiseuille's equation, is: q 811. L
nirs4) Ap where the pressure loss AP over length L is expressed in dynes/cm2.

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Acc. to Poiseuille’s equation

Acc.to Darcy’s Law

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Combining both equation’s

Specific surface area @ PV.

Specific surface area @ grain volume.

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Wettability

• Wettability describes the relative preference of a rock to be covered by a certain phase.

Rock is defined to be water-wet if the rock has (much) more affinity for water than for
oil. In that case, a major part of the rock surface in the pores will be covered with a water
layer. Clearly, wettability will be affected by the minerals present in the pores.
• Clean sandstone or quartz is extremely water-wet, but sandstone reservoir rock is usually
found to be intermediate-wet. Intermediate wettability means that some pores are water
wet and other pores are oil wet. Carbonates are believed to be more oil-wet than clastics:
a major part of the rock surface in the pores is then covered with oil.
• It should be stressed that in practice extreme water-wetness or extreme oil-wetness is
rare. Only for gas-liquid systems, one can safely assume that gas is always the non-
wetting phase.
Basic reservoir properties like relative permeability, capillary pressure and resistivity
depend strongly on wettability.
• It is therefore important that laboratory experiments in which these properties are
measured are carried out on samples whose wettability is representative of the reservoir
from which they are taken.
• Since no well-established techniques exist at present for downhole measurement of the
wettability of reservoir material, it is not possible to state categorically whether a certain
wettability is representative in a given case. In the laboratory, wettability is characterised
usually by the so called Amott and USBM indices. These indices are derived
fromcapillary pressure measurements, further discussed below.

Residual saturations
• As mentioned above, in an extremely water-wet rock, the surface is covered with water.
In that case oil (or gas) will be located in the centre of the pores. In the laboratory, when
water-filled water-wet rock is brought to irreducible or connate water saturation (S cw ) by
oil flooding, this water will remain a continuous phase covering the pore walls.
Therefore, in theory, by ongoing oil flooding of a perfect water-wet rock it is possible to
"scratch-out" the last bit of water, albeit at infinitely long displacement time, so that

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S cw =0 for a perfect water-wet system. Consequently, for reservoir rock, a general feature
of water-wetness is that S cw is low, say 10% or so of the pore space. During a
subsequent water-drive to produce the oil, a significant amount of oil eventually will
remain capillary trapped, floating as disconnected blobs in the centre of the pores.
• The residual oil saturation S or is determined by the topology of the pore space and is
usually higher than S cw : around 30% and up. In an oil-wet system, water and oil can be
thought to exchange places when compared with a water-wet system.
• Therefore, in oil-wet rock, the residual oil saturation S or is low, about 10% of the pore
space, and S cw will be higher. As is demonstrated by the simulations, in the laboratory it
is difficult to attain connate water and residual oil saturations in actual experiments. In
practice, only remaining saturations are reached, due to a capillary end-effect or due to
an extremely small mobility of the displaced phase.

Capillary pressure
• Capillary pressure p c is defined as the pressure difference between the non-wetting phase
and the wetting phase as a function of the (wetting phase) saturation. For oil/water
systems in porous rock, oil is in general considered to be the least wetting phase.
Therefore, we will define the capillary pressure as:

• (1)
• In reservoir engineering, p c is an important parameter for simulation studies (in particular
for heterogeneous systems). In most studies, the inflow of water needs to be modelled, so
particularly the imbibition capillary pressure is of importance. Note that an Hg-air
measurement will result in the primary drainage curve and that this data is only used in
the initialization of a simulation model.

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Figure 1 Full capillary pressure curve; 1st drainage, 1st imbibition and 2nd drainage.
• Fig. 1 shows a typical capillary pressure curve for a water-oil system in a porous rock.
The capillary pressure curve consists of three branches: a primary drainage, a primary
imbibition and a second drainage branch. Below we will discuss these branches in some
detail.

1st-Drainage

• At S w =1, the start of the 1st drainage, an "entrance" pressure needs to be exceeded before
oil can enter the sample. Then a plateau is reached. At decreasing water saturations, the
capillary pressure rises to very high values. This means that when oil is injected into this
system, an ever higher injection pressure is required to force the next bit of water out.
The capillary pressure goes to infinity at the connate water saturation S cw .

1st-Imbibition

• When the oil pressure is slowly decreased, water will spontaneously imbibe and the
saturation will increase. The capillary pressure decreases, and is in general smaller than
the drainage capillary pressure for the same saturation, an effect called capillary

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hysteresis. When the oil pressure is equal to the water pressure (p c =0), the saturation
reaches the spontaneous water imbibition saturation S spw . Increasing the saturation from
this point can only be accomplished by forcing the water in, hence by increasing the
water pressure above the oil pressure. By definition, the capillary pressure becomes
negative. An ever higher water pressure is required to force the next bit of oil out, until
the residual oil saturation S or has been reached. Note that p c goes to minus infinity at
water saturations near S w =1-S or . In conclusion, a negative capillary pressure means
nothing else than that a larger water injection pressure than the oil-phase pressure has to
be applied to remove oil from the sample.

2-nd Drainage

• When the water pressure is slowly decreased, oil will spontaneously imbibe and the
saturation will decrease. The capillary pressure increases, and will in general be larger
than the imbibition capillary pressure for the same saturation, as a result of the capillary
hysteresis. At p c =0 the capillary pressure curve crosses the spontaneous oil imbibition
saturation S spo . Increasing the oil pressure (and thus p c ), leads to a decrease of the water
saturation (forced drainage). Around S cw the capillary pressure becomes infinitely large.

Wettability

• As already discussed above, wettability determines the distribution of oil and water in the
porous rock, and directly affects parameters like connate water and residual oil saturation.
Obviously, the capillary pressure also depends strongly on the wettability. In the extreme
water-wet situation, the drainage as well as the imbibition capillary pressure are positive
over the whole saturation range from S cw (small) to S or (large). Water will spontaneously
imbibe from S cw to 1-S or . A kind of inverse situation holds for an extremely oil-wet
system; the drainage as well as the imbibition capillary pressure are negative. In addition
a small S or and a large S cw are typical. Here, oil will spontaneously imbibe from S or to 1-
S cw .
• As already mentioned above, extreme water or oil wetness is rare. Most reservoir rock is
intermediate wet, with S cw and S or roughly equal. For the intermediate-wet case, the

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spontaneous imbibition saturation for water S spw and oil S spo (where p c =0) lie somewhere
in between S cw and 1-S or .
In line with conventional definitions, we will denote by imbibition: increasing water
saturation; and by drainage: decreasing water saturation, irrespective of the wettability.
Note that normally for imbibition UnSteady State experiments, water is injected at the
bottom of the plug, while for drainage the oil is injected from the top to ensure gravity
stable displacement in vertical plugs. SCORES chooses injected phase and inflow face
automatically, based on the choice for imbibition or drainage.

Wettability indices

• The direct effect of wettability on capillary pressure has prompted several investigators to
define a wettability number. We will discuss here the Amott index and the USBM index,
the two mostly used indices. However, it should be stressed that (i) these numbers capture
only part of the shape of the curves and (ii) for the description of displacement processes,
the complete relative permeability and capillary pressure curves are required, instead of a
single wettability index. Wettability indices may give only an (incomplete) wettability
characterisation of rock, but still can be useful in the design of correlations.

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Figure 2 Imbibition and drainage capillary pressure curve, required to determine the
Amott and USBM wettability indices.
• The Amott index is based on the amount of spontaneous imbibition of a certain phase.
For water, the Amott index I w is defined as (see Fig. 2) :

(2)
• Similarly, the Amott index for oil I o is defined as:

(3)
• For an extremely water-wet system I o will be zero, while for an oil-wet system I w equals
zero. Clearly, the shape of the capillary pressure curve is not taken into account in the
Amott index. A more "complete" wettability number is represented by the USBM
number,

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

Unit II

RELAIVE PERMEABILITY

• Numerous laboratory studies have concluded that the effective permeability of any
reservoir fluid is a function of the reservoir fluid saturation and the wetting characteristics
of the formation. It becomes necessary, therefore, to specify the fluid saturation when
stating the effective permeability of any particular fluid in a given porous medium. Just
as k is the accepted universal symbol for the absolute permeability, ko, kg, and kw.
are the accepted symbols for the effective permeability to oil, gas, and water,
respectively. The aturations, i.e., So, Sg, and Sw, must be specified to completely define
the conditions at which a given effective permeability exists. Effective permeabilities are
normally measured directly in the laboratory on small core plugs. Owing to many
possible combinations of saturation for a single medium, however, laboratory data are
usually summarized and reported as relative permeability. The absolute permeability is a
property of the porous medium and is ameasure of the capacity of the medium to transmit
fluids. When two or more fluids flow at the same time, the relative permeability of each
phase at a specific saturation is the ratio of the effective permeability of the phase to the
absolute permeability, or:

• where kro = relative permeability to oil

• krg = relative permeability to gas
• krw = relative permeability to water
• k = absolute permeability
• ko = effective permeability to oil for a given oil saturation

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• kg = effective permeability to gas for a given gas saturation

• kw = effective permeability to water at some given water
• saturation

• For example, if the absolute permeability k of a rock is 200 md and the effective
permeability ko of the rock at an oil saturation of 80 percent is 60 md, the relative
permeability kro is 0.30 at So = 0.80.
• Since the effective permeabilities may range from zero to k, the relative permeabilities
may have any value between zero and one, or:
• 0 _ krw, kro, krg _ 1.0
• It should be pointed out that when three phases are present the sum of the relative
permeabilities (kro + krg + krw) is both variable and always less than or equal to unity.
An appreciation of this observation and of its physical causes is a prerequisite to a more
detailed discussion of two and three-phase relative permeability relationships. It has
become a common practice to refer to the relative permeability
• curve for the nonwetting phase as knw and the relative permeability for the wetting phase
as kw.

TWO-PHASE RELATIVE PERMEABILITY

• When a wetting and a nonwetting phase flow together in a reservoir rock, each phase
follows separate and distinct paths. The distribution of the two phases according to their
wetting characteristics results in characteristic wetting and nonwetting phase relative
permeabilities. Since the wetting phase occupies the smaller pore openings at small
saturations, and these pore openings do not contribute materially to flow, it follows that
the presence of a small wetting phase saturation will affect the nonwetting

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• phase permeability only to a limited extent. Since the nonwetting phase occupies the
central or larger pore openings which contribute materially to fluid flow through the
reservoir, however, a small nonwetting phase saturation will drastically reduce the
wetting phase permeability.

• presents a typical set of relative permeability curves for a water-oil system with the
water being considered the wetting phase. Figure 5-1 shows the following four distinct
and significant points:
Point 1
• Point 1 on the wetting phase relative permeability shows that a small saturation of the
nonwetting phase will drastically reduce the relative permeability of the wetting phase.
The reason for this is that the nonwetting phase occupies the larger pore spaces, and it is
in these large pore spaces that flow occurs with the least difficulty.
Point 2
• Point 2 on the nonwetting phase relative permeability curve shows that the nonwetting
phase begins to flow at the relatively low saturation of the nonwetting phase. The
saturation of the oil at this point is called critical oil saturation Soc.
Point 3

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• Point 3 on the wetting phase relative permeability curve shows that the wetting phase will
cease to flow at a relatively large saturation. This is because the wetting phase
preferentially occupies the smaller pore
• spaces, where capillary forces are the greatest. The saturation of the water at this point is
referred to as the irreducible water saturation Swir or connate water saturation Swi—
both terms are used interchangeably.
Point 4
• Point 4 on the nonwetting phase relative permeability curve shows that, at the lower
saturations of the wetting phase, changes in the wetting phase saturation have only a
small effect on the magnitude of the
• nonwetting phase relative permeability curve. The reason for the phenomenon at Point 4
is that at the low saturations the wetting phase fluid occupies the small pore spaces which
do not contribute materially to
• flow, and therefore changing the saturation in these small pore spaces has a relatively
small effect on the flow of the nonwetting phase. This process could have been visualized
in reverse just as well. It should be noted that this example portrays oil as nonwetting and
water as wetting. The curve shapes shown are typical for wetting and nonwetting phases
and may be mentally reversed to visualize the behavior of an oil-wet system. Note also
that the total permeability to both phases, krw + kro, is less than 1, in regions B and C.
The above discussion may be also applied to gas-oil relative permeability data, as can be
seen for a typical set of data in Figure 5-2. Note that this might be termed gas-liquid
relative permeability since it is plotted versus the liquid saturation. This is typical of gas-
oil relative permeability
data in the presence of connate water. Since the connate (irreducible) water normally
occupies the smallest pores in the presence of oil
Frontal Advance Equation
Buckley and Leverett (1942) presented what is recognized as the basic equation for
describing two-phase, immiscible displacement in a linear system. The equation is derived
based on developing a material balance for the displacing fluid as it flows through any
given element in the porous media:
Volume entering the element – Volume leaving the element

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= change in fluid volume

Consider a differential element of porous media, having a differential length dx, an area
A, and a porosity . During a differential time period dt, the total volume of water entering
the element is given by:
Volume of water entering the element = qt fw dt
The volume of water leaving the element has a differentially smaller
water cut (fw – dfw) and is given by:
Volume of water leaving the element = qt (fw – dfw) dt
Subtracting the above two expressions gives the accumulation of the
water volume within the element in terms of the differential changes of
the saturation dfw:
qt fw dt – qt (fw – dfw) dt = A*phi (dx) (dSw)/5.615
Simplifying:
qt dfw dt = A*phi (dx) (dSw)/5.615
Separating the variables gives:

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Flow Performances
Inflow Performance
• Inflow performance represents behavior of a reservoir in producing the oil through the
well. For a heterogeneous reservoir, the inflow performance might differ from one well to
another. The performance is commonly defined in term of a plot of surface production
rate (stb/d) versus flowing bottomhole pressure (P,,i in psi) on cartesian coordinate. This
plot is defined as inflow performance relationship (IPR) curve and is very useful in
estimating well capacity, designing tubing string and scheduling an artificial lift method.
For single-phase liquid flow, radial flow equation can be written as (for oil)

• Assuming all parameters but Pb.,. are constants in the equations above, it is also clear that
flowrate qb is linearly proportional to flowing pressure P„,. Therefore, for laminar flow
the plot cio versus P, on a cartesian coordinate must be linear. This is illustrated in Figure
6-76. Strictly speaking, it shows the behavior of single-phase liquid flowing over the
range of Pb.f. In actual cases, however, straight line IPR may be shown by reservoirs
producing at P, and P„,,. above the bubble point pressure Pb, and by strong water-drive
reservoirs. Productivity index, usually denoted by the symbol J, is commonly expressed
in practice for well performance. It is mathematically defined as
IPR

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

• where J is in stb/d/psi. The term (P, - P) is called pressure drawdown. Equa-tion (6-131a)
or (6-131b) can be rearranged to be used in estimating well produc-tivity index. By
knowing reservoir pressure Pr, it is possible to construct an oil 1PR curve from a single
flow test on a well. Or, due to thc linearity of liquid IPR curves, by conducting a two-
point flow test (two different flowrates while measuring the flowing bottomhole pressure)
on a well, the static reservoir pressure can be determined.
• The equations discussed above are derived from the laminar Darcy's law. In a case where
turbulent flow occurs, a modified equation should be used. The occurrence of turbulence
at the bottomhole may indicate too few open perfora-tions or too narrow fracture in
fractured well or other incorrect completion method applied. All these bring about
inefficient production operation because the high drawdown encountered results in
insufficient flowrate.

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

Tubing Performance

• A tubing performance may be defined as the behavior of a well in giving up the reservoir
fluids to the surface. The performance is commonly showed as a plot of flowrate versus
flowing pressure. This plot is called the tubing performance relationship (TPR). For a
specified wellhead pressure, the TPR curves vary with diameter of the tubing. Also, for a
given tubing size, the curves vary with wellhead pressure. Figure 6-78 shows the effect of
tubing size and wellhead pressure (31).
• For single-phase liquid flow, pressure loss in tubing can be determined using a simple
fluid flow equation for vertical pipe, or using some graphical pressure loss correlations
where available with GLR 0. Tubing performance curves are used to determine the
producing capacity of a well.
• By plotting IPR and TPR on the same graph paper, a stabilized maximum production rate
of the well can be estimated. Figure 6-78 shows the combined plots for determining the
flowrate. The larger the diameter of tubing, the higher the flowrate that can be obtained.
But there is a critical diameter limiting the rate, even lowering the well capacity. For a
specified tubing size, the lower the wellhead pressure, the higher the production rate.

Choke Performance

• A choke can be installed at the wellhead or downhole to control natural flow or pressure.
Chokes are widely used in oil fields. Several reasons in installing chokes are to regulate
production rate, to protect surface equipments from slugging, to avoid sand problem due
to high drawdown or to control flowrate in order to avoid water or gas coning.
• There are two types of wellhead choke that are commonly used, positive chokes and
adjustable chokes. A positive choke has a fixed size in diameter so that it must be
replaced to regulate production rate. An adjustable choke permits gradual changes in the
size of the opening. Placing a choke at the wellhead can mean fixing the wellhead
pressure and thus flowing bottomhole pressure and production rate. For a given wellhead

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

pressure, by calculating pressure loss in the tubing the flowing bottomhole pressure can
be determined. If reservoir pressure and productivity index of the well are known, the
flowrate can then be determined using Equation 6-132. The rate of oil flowing through a
choke (orifice or nozzle) depends upon pressure drop in the choke, the inside diameters
of pipe and choke and density of the oil.

Flowilne Performance

• After passing through a choke installed at the wellhead, the oil flows through flowline to
a separator. If the separator is far from the wellhead and the pressure loss in the flowline
cannot be neglected, pressure-flowrate relationship for flowline can be generated similar
to tubing performance curves. Usually the separator pressure is specified.
• Then by using pressure gradient curves available for horizontal pipes or using a simple
horizontal fluid flow equation, the wellhead pressure or downstream pressure of the
choke or intake pressure of the flowline can be determined as function of flowrate. This
pressure-flowrate plot is useful in sizing the flowline. Figure 6-80 illustrates the
relationship between the wellhead pressure and flowrate for some different flowline
diameters. This plot is called flowline performance curve.

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

Gas Inflow Performance

• A mathematical expression commonly used to relate gas flowrate and flowing

bottomhole pressure is

• where q ,= gas flowrate in Mscf/d P, - shut-in reservoir pressure in psia P,, - flowing
bottomhole pressure in psia C - stabilized performance coefficient, constant n -
numerical exponent, constant Equation 6-139 was firstly introduced by Rawlins and
Schellhardt [32] in 1935 and is known as a back-pressure equation. From gas well test
data, plotting q versus (II - PL) on a log-log graph will give a straight line passing through
the data points, see Figure 6-83. This plot was made based on a stabilized four-point
test. The information that can be obtained from this plot is the absolute

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

Unit III

GAS IN PLACE

THE VOLUMETRIC METHOD

• Data used to estimate the gas-bearing reservoir PV include, but are not limited to, well
logs, core analyses, bottom-hole pressure (BHP) and fluid sample information, along with
well tests. This data typically is used to develop various subsurface maps. Of these maps,
structural and stratigraphic cross-sectional maps help to establish the reservoir’s areal
extent and to identify reservoir discontinuities, such as pinch-outs, faults, or gas-water

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

contacts. Subsurface contour maps, usually drawn relative to a known or marker

formation, are constructed with lines connecting points of equal elevation and therefore
portray the geologic structure. Subsurface isopachous maps are constructed with lines of
equal net gasbearing
• formation thickness. With these maps, the reservoir PV can then be estimated by
planimetering the areas between the isopachous lines and using an approximate volume
calculation technique, such as the pyramidal or trapezoidal method. The volumetric
equation is useful in reserve work for estimating gas in
• place at any stage of depletion. During the development period before reservoir limits
have been accurately defined, it is convenient to calculate gas in place per acre-foot of
bulk reservoir rock. Multiplication of this unit figure by the best available estimate of
bulk reservoir volume then
• gives gas in place for the lease, tract, or reservoir under consideration. Later in the life of
the reservoir, when the reservoir volume is defined and performance data are available,
volumetric calculations provide valuable checks on gas in place estimates obtained from
material balance methods. The equation for calculating gas in place is:

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

RECOVERY MECHANISM

• For a proper understanding of reservoir behavior and predicting future performance, it is

necessary to have knowledge of the driving mechanisms that control the behavior of
fluids within reservoirs. The overall performance of oil reservoirs is largely determined
by the nature of the energy, i.e., driving mechanism, available for moving the oil to the
wellbore. There are basically six driving mechanisms that provide the natural energy
necessary for oil recovery:
• Rock and liquid expansion drive
• Depletion drive
• Gas cap drive
• Water drive
• Gravity drainage drive
• Combination drive
• These driving mechanisms are discussed as follows.

Rock and Liquid Expansion

• When an oil reservoir initially exists at a pressure higher than its bubble- point pressure,
the reservoir is called an undersaturated oil reservoir. At pressures above the bubble-
point pressure, crude oil, connate
• water, and rock are the only materials present. As the reservoir pressure declines, the rock
and fluids expand due to their individual compressibilities. The reservoir rock
compressibility is the result of two factors:
• Expansion of the individual rock grains
• Formation compaction

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

• Both of the above two factors are the results of a decrease of fluid pressure within the
pore spaces, and both tend to reduce the pore volume through the reduction of the
porosity.
• As the expansion of the fluids and reduction in the pore volume occur with decreasing
reservoir pressure, the crude oil and water will be forced out of the pore space to the
wellbore. Because liquids and rocks are only slightly compressible, the reservoir will
experience a rapid pressure decline. The oil reservoir under this driving mechanism is
characterized by a constant gas-oil ratio that is equal to the gas solubility at the bubble
point pressure. This driving mechanism is considered the least efficient driving force and
usually results in the recovery of only a small percentage of the total oil in place.

The Depletion Drive Mechanism

• This driving form may also be referred to by the following various
terms:
• Solution gas drive
• Dissolved gas drive
• Internal gas drive
• In this type of reservoir, the principal source of energy is a result of gas liberation from
the crude oil and the subsequent expansion of the solution gas as the reservoir pressure is
reduced. As pressure falls below
• the bubble-point pressure, gas bubbles are liberated within the microscopic pore spaces.
These bubbles expand and force the crude oil out of the pore space Cole (1969) suggests
that a depletion-drive reservoir can be identified by the following characteristics:

• Characteristics Trend
• Reservoir pressure Declines rapidly and continuously
• Gas-oil ratio Increases to maximum and then declines
• Water production None
• Well behavior Requires pumping at early stage
• Oil recovery 5 to 30%

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

Gas Cap Drive

• Gas-cap-drive reservoirs can be identified by the presence of a gas cap with little or no
water drive as. Due to the ability of the gas cap to expand, these reservoirs are
characterized by a slow decline in the reservoir pressure. The natural energy available to
produce the crude oil comes from the following two sources:
• Expansion of the gas-cap gas
• Expansion of the solution gas as it is liberated
• Cole (1969) and Clark (1969) presented a comprehensive review of the characteristic
trends associated with gas-cap-drive reservoirs. These characteristic trends are
summarized below:
Reservoir pressure:
• The reservoir pressure falls slowly and continuously. Pressure
tends to be maintained at a higher level than in a depletion drive
reservoir. The degree of pressure maintenance depends upon the
volume of gas in the gas cap compared to the oil volume.
Water production:
• Absent or negligible water production. (Reservoirs, SPE, 1969.)
Gas-oil ratio:
• The gas-oil ratio rises continuously in up-structure wells. As the
expanding gas cap reaches the producing intervals of
upstructure wells, the gas-oil ratio from the affected wells will
increase to high values.
Ultimate oil recovery:
• Oil recovery by gas-cap expansion is actually a frontal drive
displacing mechanism that, therefore, yields a considerably
larger recovery efficiency than that of depletion-drive
reservoirs. This larger recovery efficiency is also attributed to
the fact that no gas saturation is being formed throughout the
reservoir at the same time. Figure 11-4 shows the relative

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

positions of the gas-oil contact at different times in the

producing life of the reservoir.

The Water-Drive Mechanism

• Many reservoirs are bounded on a portion or all of their peripheries by water bearing
rocks called aquifers. The aquifers may be so large compared to the reservoir they adjoin
as to appear infinite for all practical purposes, and they may range down to those so small
as to be negligible in their effects on the reservoir performance. The aquifer itself may be
entirely bounded by impermeable rock so that the reservoir and aquifer together form a
closed (volumetric) unit. On the other hand, the reservoir may be outcropped at one or
more places where it may be replenished by surface water as shown schematically in
• It is common to speak of edge water or bottom water in discussing water influx into a
reservoir. Bottom water occurs directly beneath the oil and edge water occurs off the
flanks of the structure at the edge of the oil. Regardless of the source of water, the water
drive is the result of water moving into the pore spaces originally occupied by oil,
replacing the oil and displacing it to the producing wells.
• Cole (1969) presented the following discussion on the characteristics that can be used for
identification of the water-driving mechanism:

Characteristics Trends
• Reservoir pressure Remains high
• Surface gas-oil ratio Remains low
• Water production Starts early and increases to appreciable amounts
• Well behavior Flow until water production gets excessive
• Expected oil recovery 35 to 75 percent

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

The Gravity-Drainage-Drive Mechanism

• The mechanism of gravity drainage occurs in petroleum reservoirs as a result of
differences in densities of the reservoir fluids. The effects of gravitational forces can be
simply illustrated by placing a quantity of
• crude oil and a quantity of water in a jar and agitating the contents. After agitation, the jar
is placed at rest, and the more denser fluid (normally water) will settle to the bottom of
the jar, while the less dense fluid (normally oil) will rest on top of the denser fluid. The
fluids have separated as a result of the gravitational forces acting on them. The fluids in
petroleum reservoirs have all been subjected to the forces of gravity, as evidenced by the
relative positions of the fluids, i.e., gas on top, oil underlying the gas, and water
underlying oil. The relative positions of the reservoir fluids .
• Due to the long periods of time involved in the petroleum accumulation-and-migration
process, it is generally assumed that the reservoir fluids are in equilibrium. If the
reservoir fluids are in equilibrium, then the gas-oil and oilwater contacts should be
essentially horizontal. Although it is difficult to determine precisely the reservoir fluid
contacts, best available data indicate that, in most reservoirs, the fluid contacts actually
are essentially horizontal. Gravity segregation of fluids is probably present to some
degree in all petroleum reservoirs, but it may contribute substantially to oil production in
some reservoirs. Cole (1969) stated that reservoir operating largely under a gravity
drainage producing mechanism are characterized by:
Reservoir Pressure
• Variable rates of pressure decline, depending principally upon the amount of gas
conservation. Strictly speaking, where the gas is conserved Initial fluids distribution in
an oil reservoir. and reservoir pressure is maintained, the reservoir would be operating
under combined gas-cap drive and gravity-drainage mechanisms. Therefore, for the
reservoir to be operating solely as a result of gravity drainage,
• the reservoir would show a rapid pressure decline. This would require the upstructure
migration of the evolved gas where it later would be produced from structurally high
wells, resulting in rapid loss of pressure.
Gas-Oil Ratio

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

• Low gas-oil ratio from structurally low wells. This is caused by migration of the evolved
gas upstructure due to gravitational segregation of the fluids. On the other hand, the
structurally high wells will experience an increasing gas-oil ratio as a result of the
upstructure migration of the gas released from the crude oil.
Secondary Gas Cap
• Formation of a secondary gas cap in reservoirs that initially were undersaturated.
Obviously the gravity-drainage mechanism does not become operative until reservoir
pressure has declined below the saturation
• pressure, since above the saturation pressure there will be no free gas in the reservoir.

Water Production
• Little or no water production. Water production is indicative of a water drive.
Ultimate Oil Recovery
• Ultimate recovery from gravity-drainage reservoirs will vary widely, due primarily to the
extent of depletion by gravity drainage alone. Where gravity drainage is good, or where
producing rates are restricted to take maximum advantage of the gravitational forces,
recovery will be high. There are reported cases where recovery from gravity-drainage
reservoirs has exceeded 80% of the initial oil in place. In other reservoirs where depletion
drive also plays an important role in the oil recovery process,
• the ultimate recovery will be less.

The Combination-Drive Mechanism

• The driving mechanism most commonly encountered is one in which both water and free
gas are available in some degree to displace the oil toward the producing wells. The most
common type of drive encountered, therefore, is a combination-drive mechanism.

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

UNIT IV

MATERIAL BALANCE EQUATION

The material balance equation (MBE) has long been recognized as one of the basic tools
of reservoir engineers for interpreting and predicting reservoir performance. The MBE,
when properly applied, can be used to:
• Estimate initial hydrocarbon volumes in place
• Predict future reservoir performance
• Predict ultimate hydrocarbon recovery under various types of primarydriving mechanisms.

derived by conveniently introducing the parameter m into the relationship

as follows:
Defining the ratio m as:

Solving for the volume of the gas cap gives:

Initial volume of the gas cap = G Bgi = m N Boi
The total volume of the hydrocarbon system is then given by:
Initial oil volume + initial gas cap volume = (P.V) (1 Swi)
N Boi + m N Boi = (P.V) (1 Swi)

Treating the reservoir pore as an idealized container as illustrated in

Figure 11-14, volumetric balance expressions can be derived to account
for all volumetric changes which occurs during the natural productive

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

life of the reservoir.

The MBE can be written in a generalized form as follows:
Pore volume occupied by the oil initially in place at pi
+
Pore volume occupied by the gas in the gas cap at pi
=
Pore volume occupied by the remaining oil at p

Pore volume occupied by the gas in the gas cap at p

+
Pore volume occupied by the evolved solution gas at p
+
Pore volume occupied by the net water influx at p
+
Change in pore volume due to connate water expansion and pore
volume reduction due to rock expansion
+
Pore volume occupied by the injected gas at p
+
Pore volume occupied by the injected water at p (11-2)
The above nine terms composing the MBE can be separately determined
from the hydrocarbon PVT and rock properties, as follows:
Pore Volume Occupied by the Oil Initially in Place
Volume occupied by initial oil in place = N Boi (11-3)
where N = oil initially in place, STB
Boi = oil formation volume factor at initial reservoir pressure pi,
bbl/STB

Pore Volume Occupied by the Gas in the Gas Cap

Volume of gas cap = m N Boi (11-4)
where m is a dimensionless parameter and defined as the ratio of gas-cap

36
 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

volume to the oil zone volume.

Pore Volume Occupied by the Remaining Oil
Volume of the remaining oil = (N Np) Bo (11-5)
where Np = cumulative oil production, STB
Bo = oil formation volume factor at reservoir pressure p, bbl/STB
Pore Volume Occupied by the Gas Cap at Reservoir Pressure p
As the reservoir pressure drops to a new level p, the gas in the gas cap
expands and occupies a larger volume. Assuming no gas is produced
from the gas cap during the pressure decline, the new volume of the gas
cap can be determined as:

Pore Volume Occupied by the Evolved Solution Gas

This volumetric term can be determined by applying the following
material balance on the solution gas:
volume of the evolved=
solution gas
volume of gas initially
in solution
+
volume of gas
produced
+
volume of gas
remaining in solution

Connate water expansion = [(pore volume) Swi] cw ⊗p

Substituting for the pore volume (P.V) with Equation 11-1 gives

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

Pore Volume Occupied by the Injection Gas and Water

Assuming that Ginj volumes of gas and Winj volumes of water have been injected for pressure
maintenance, the total pore volume occupied by the two injected fluids is given by:
Total volume = Ginj Bginj +Winj Bw

PVT

These multicomponent pressure-temperature diagrams are essentially

used to:
• Classify reservoirs
• Classify the naturally occurring hydrocarbon systems
• Describe the phase behavior of the reservoir fluid
To fully understand the significance of the pressure-temperature diagrams,
it is necessary to identify and define the following key points on these diagrams:

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

Cricondentherm (Tct)—
• The Cricondentherm is defined as the maximum temperature above which liquid cannot
be formed regardless of pressure (point E). The corresponding pressure is termed the
Cricondentherm pressure pct.

Cricondenbar (pcb)—
• The Cricondenbar is the maximum pressure above which no gas can be formed regardless
of temperature (point D). The corresponding temperature is called the Cricondenbar
temperature Tcb.
Critical point—
• The critical point for a multicomponent mixture is referred to as the state of pressure and
temperature at which all intensive properties of the gas and liquid phases are equal (point
C). At the critical point, the corresponding pressure and temperature are called the critical
pressure pc and critical temperature Tc of the mixture.

Phase envelope (two-phase region)—

• The region enclosed by the bubble- point curve and the dew-point curve (line BCA),
wherein gas and liquid coexist in equilibrium, is identified as the phase envelope of the
hydrocarbon system.
Quality lines—
• The dashed lines within the phase diagram are called quality lines. They describe the
pressure and temperature conditions for equal volumes of liquids. Note that the quality
lines converge at the critical point (point C).
Bubble-point curve—
• The bubble-point curve (line BC) is defined as the line separating the liquid-phase region
from the two-phase region.
Dew-point curve—
• The dew-point curve (line AC) is defined as the line separating the vapor-phase region
from the two-phase region. In general, reservoirs are conveniently classified on the basis
of the location of the point representing the initial reservoir pressure pi and temperature T

39
 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

with respect to the pressure-temperature diagram of the reservoir fluid. Accordingly,

reservoirs can be classified into basically two types. These are:
• Oil reservoirs—If the reservoir temperature T is less than the critical temperature Tc of the
reservoir fluid, the reservoir is classified as an oil reservoir.
• Gas reservoirs—If the reservoir temperature is greater than the critical temperature of the
hydrocarbon fluid, the reservoir is considered a gas reservoir.

Unit V

Drawdown Test
A pressure drawdown test is simply a series of bottom-hole pressure measurements made
during a period of flow at constant producing rate. Usually the well is shut-in prior to the flow
test for a period of time sufficient to allow the pressure to equalize throughout the formation, i.e.,
to reach static pressure. A schematic of the ideal flow rate and pressure history. The fundamental
objectives of drawdown testing are to obtain the average permeability, k, of the reservoir rock
within the drainage area of the well and to assess the degree of damage of stimulation induced in
the vicinity of the wellbore through drilling and completion practices. Other objectives are to
determine the pore volume and to detect reservoir inhomogeneities within the drainage area of
the well. During flow at a constant rate of Qo, the pressure behavior of a well in an infinite-
acting reservoir (i.e., during the unsteady-state flow period).

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

Pressure Buildup Test

The use of pressure buildup data has provided the reservoir engineer with one more useful tool in
the determination of reservoir behavior. Pressure buildup analysis describes the build up in
wellbore pressure
with time after a well has been shut in. One of the principal objectives of this analysis is to
determine the static reservoir pressure without waiting weeks or months for the pressure in the
entire reservoir to stabilize. Because the buildup in wellbore pressure will generally follow some
definite trend, it has been possible to extend the pressure buildup analysis to determine:
• Effective reservoir permeability
• Extent of permeability damage around the wellbore
• Presence of faults and to some degree the distance to the faults
• Any interference between producing wells
• Limits of the reservoir where there is not a strong water drive or where
the aquifer is no larger than the hydrocarbon reservoir Certainly all of this information will
probably not be available from any given analysis, and the degree of usefulness or any of this
information
will depend on the experience in the area and the amount of other information available for
correlation purposes. The general formulas used in analyzing pressure buildup data come from a
solution of the diffusivity equation. In pressure buildup and drawdown analyses, the following
ssumptions, with regard to the reservoir, fluid and flow behavior, are usually made:

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 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

Radial Flow of Slightly Compressible Fluids

Craft et al. (1990) used Equation 6-18 to express the dependency of the flow rate on pressure for
slightly compressible fluids. If this equation is substituted into the radial form of Darcy’s Law,
the following is obtained:

where qref is the flow rate at some reference pressure pref. Separating the variables in the above
equation and integrating over the length of the porous medium gives:

or:

42
 PE 501 RESERVOIR ENGINEERING II

where qref is oil flow rate at a reference pressure pref. Choosing the bottom- hole flow pressure
pwf as the reference pressure and expressing the flow rate in STB/day gives:

43