LECTURE_5

Oil Recovery Calculations

Dr Muayad M. Hasan
2- The piston-like displacement theory
The theory of piston-like displacement is an extreme simplification of the
displacement problem of one fluid by another. It assumes that there is no displaced
fluid movement behind the front. In practical terms, this implies that the oil
saturation behind the front is at its residual value, S or and that the microscopic
displacement efficiency Ed = (1- S1i - Sor)/( 1- S1i).

Figure 5-1 summarizes the differences between the saturation profiles calculated by
the Bukley-Levertt theory and that of piston-like displacement.

Figure 5-1

𝑆1𝑙𝑖𝑚 − 𝑆1𝑖 1− 𝑆1𝑖 − 𝑆𝑜𝑟

Ed = Ed =
1− 𝑆1𝑖 1− 𝑆1𝑖

Oil Recovery Calculations

The main objective of performing oil recovery calculations is to generate a set of
performance curves under a specific water-injection scenario. A set of performance
curves is defined as the graphical presentation of the time-related oil recovery
calculations in terms of:
• Oil production rate, Q o

• Water production rate, Q w

• Surface water-oil ratio, WORs

1
• Cumulative oil production, N p

• Recovery factor, RF.

•Cumulative water production, W p.

• Cumulative water injected, W inj.

• Water-injection pressure, p inj.

• Water-injection rate, iw.

1- Displacement efficiency
Displacement efficiency is the fraction of movable oil that has been recovered from
the swept zone at any given time. Mathematically, the displacement efficiency is
expressed as:

Volume of oil at start of flood − Remaining oil volume

ED =
Volume of oil at start of flood
Soi ̅S
(Volume of oil at start of flood) ( ) − (Remaining oil volume) ( o )
Boi Bo
ED =
S
(Volume of oil at start of flood) ( oi )
Boi

or
S ̅
S
( oi )− ( o )
Boi Bo
ED= S …………………………………… (5-1)
( oi )
Boi

where
Soi = initial oil saturation at start of flood
Boi = oil FVF at start of flood, bbl/STB
̅So = average oil saturation in the flood pattern at a particular point during

the flood.

2
Assuming a constant oil formation volume factor during the flood life, Equation 5-
1 is reduced to:

̅o
Soi − S
ED = …………………………………….. (5-2)
Soi

where the initial oil saturation S oi is given by:

Soi = 1 – Swi − Sgi
However, in the swept area, the gas saturation is considered zero, thus:
S̅o = 1 − S̅w
The displacement efficiency ED can be expressed more conveniently in terms of
water saturation by substituting the above relationships into Equation 5-2, to give:

̅ w − Swi − Sgi
S
ED = …………………………………….. (5-3)
1 − Swi − Sgi

where
̅Sw = average water saturation in the swept area.

Sgi = initial gas saturation at the start of the flood.

Swi = initial water saturation at the start of the flood.
If no initial gas is present at the start of the flood, Equation 5-2 is reduced to:
̅ w − Swi
S
ED = …….………………………………….. (5-4)
1 − Swi

The displacement efficiency ED will continually increase at different stages of the

flood, i.e., with increasing S̅w. Equation 5-2 or 5-4 suggests that ED reaches its
maximum when the average oil saturation in the area of the flood pattern is reduced
to the residual oil saturation S or or, equivalently, when ̅Sw = 1 – Sor.

In general, oil recovery calculations are divided into two parts: (1) before
breakthrough calculations and (2) after breakthrough calculations. Regardless of the
stage of the waterflood, i.e., before or after breakthrough, the cumulative oil
production is given previously by Equation 2-1 as:
3
NP = Ns ED EA EV

where:

Np = cumulative oil production, STB

NS = initial oil in place at start of the flood, STB

ED = displacement efficiency

EA = areal sweep efficiency

EV = vertical sweep efficiency

As defined by Equation 5-4 when Sgi = 0, the displacement efficiency is given by:
̅ w − Swi
S
ED =
1 − Swi
̅ wBT − Swi
S
EDBT = ……………………………………… (5-5)
1 − Swi

where:

EDBT = displacement efficiency at breakthrough

̅SwBT = average water saturation at breakthrough

The cumulative oil production at breakthrough is then given by:

…………………………………. (5-6)

where:

(Np)BT = cumulative oil production at breakthrough, STB

EABT, EVBT = areal and vertical sweep efficiencies at breakthrough

Assuming EA and EV are 100%, Equation 5-6 is reduced to:

4
 …………………………………. (5-7)

Before breakthrough occurs, the oil recovery calculations are simple when assuming
that no free gas exists at the start of the flood, i.e., S gi = 0. The cumulative oil
production is simply equal to the volume of water injected with no water production
during this phase (Wp = 0 and Qw = 0).
Oil recovery calculations after breakthrough are based on determining E D at various
assumed values of water saturations at the producing well. The specific steps of
performing complete oil recovery calculations are composed of three stages:
1. Data preparation
2. Recovery performance to breakthrough
3. Recovery performance after breakthrough
Stage 1: Data Preparation

1. Express the relative permeability data as relative permeability ratio k ro/krw and
plot their values versus their corresponding water saturations on a semi-log
scale.
2. Assuming that the resulting plot of relative permeability ratio, k ro/krw vs. Sw,
forms a straight-line relationship, determine values of the coefficients a and b
of the straight line (see Example 4-1).
Express the straight-line relationship in the form given by Equation 4-5:

3. Calculate and plot the fractional flow curve f w, allowing for gravity effects if
necessary, but neglecting the capillary pressure gradient.
4. Select several values of water saturations between S wf and (1 – Sor) and
determine the slope (d fw/dSw) at each saturation. The numerical calculation of

5
 each slope as expressed by Equation 4-7 provides consistent values as a
function of saturation, or:

5. Prepare a plot of the calculated values of the slope (d fw/dSw) versus Sw on a

Cartesian scale and draw a smooth curve through the points.

Stage 2: Recovery Performance to Breakthrough (S gi = 0, EA, EV = 100%)

1. Draw a tangent to the fractional flow curve as originated from S wi and

determine:
• Point of tangency with the coordinate (S wf , fwf ).
• Average water saturation at breakthrough by extending the tangent line to f w
= 1.0.
• Slope of the tangent line.
2. Calculate pore volumes of water injected at breakthrough by using Equation
4-10:

3. Assuming EA and EV are 100%, calculate cumulative water injected at

breakthrough by applying Equation 4-11:

6
 or equivalently:

4. Calculate the displacement efficiency at breakthrough by applying Equation

5-5:

5. Calculate cumulative oil production at breakthrough from Equation 5-7:

6. Assuming a constant water-injection rate, calculate time to breakthrough from

the following Equation:

7. Select several values of injection time less than the breakthrough time, i.e., t

< tBT, and set:

8. Calculate the surface water–oil ratio WORs exactly at breakthrough by using

Equation 3-18:

7
where:

fwBT is the water cut at breakthrough (notice that f wBT = fwf ).

Note that WORS as calculated from the above expression is only correct when both
the areal sweep efficiency EA and vertical sweep efficiency EV are 100%.

Stage 3: Recovery Performance after Breakthrough (Sgi = 0, EA, EV = 100%)

The recommended methodology of calculating recovery performance after

breakthrough is based on selecting several values of water saturations around the
producing well, i.e., Sw2, and determining the corresponding average reservoir water
saturation for each Sw2. The specific steps that are involved are summarized below:

1. Select six to eight different values of S w2 (i.e., Sw at the producing well)

between SwBT and (1 – Sor) and determine (d fw/dSw) values corresponding to
these Sw2 points.
2. For each selected value of Sw2, calculate the corresponding reservoir water cut
and average water saturation from the following Equations:

3. Calculate the displacement efficiency ED for each selected value of S w2:

8
4. Calculate cumulative oil production N p for each selected value of S w2 from
Equation 2-1, or:
NP = Ns ED EA EV
Assuming EA and EV are equal to 100%, then:
NP = NS ED

5. Determine pore volumes of water injected, Q i, for each selected value of Sw2
from Equation 4-15:

6. Calculate cumulative water injected for each selected value of S w2 by applying

the following Equation:

Notice that EA and EV are set equal to 100%

7. Assuming a constant water-injection rate iw, calculate the time t to inject W inj
barrels of water by applying Equation 4-18:

8. Calculate cumulative water production W P at any time t from the material

balance equation, which states that the cumulative water injected at any time
will displace an equivalent volume of oil and water, or:

Solving for Wp gives:

9
 …………………………………. (5-8)

or equivalently in a more generalized form:

…………………………………. (5-9)

We should emphasize that all of the above derivations are based on the assumption
that no free gas exists from the start of the flood till abandonment.
9. Calculate the surface water–oil ratio WORs that corresponds to each value of
fw2 (as determined in step 2) from Equation 14-28:

10. Calculate the oil and water flow rates from the following derived
relationships:

Introducing the surface water–oil ratio into the above expression gives:

…………………………………. (5-10)

…………………………………. (5-11)

where:
Qo = oil flow rate, STB/day
Qw = water flow rate, STB/day
iw = water injection rate, bbl/day
10
 11.The preceding calculations as described in steps 1 through 10 can be organized
in the following tabulated form:

12. Express the results in a graphical form.

Example 5-1
The data of Example 4-1 are reproduced here for convenience:

Sw 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75
kro/krw 30.28 17.00 9.56 5.38 3.02 1.70 0.96 0.54 0.30 0.17 0.10
fw 0.062 0.105 0.173 0.271 0.398 0.541 0.677 0.788 0.869 0.922 0.956
dfw/dSw 0.670 10.84 1.647 2.275 2.759 2.859 2.519 1.922 1.313 0.831 0.501

µo 2.0 cp φ 25%
µw 1.0 cp h 20 ft
Bo 1.25 bbl/STB Swi 20%
Bw 1.02 bbl/STB Sor 20%
iw 900 bbl/day (PV) 775,779 bbl
Ns 496,449 STB EA, EV 100%

Predict the waterflood performance to abandonment at a WOR s of 45 STB/STB.

11
Solution
Step 1. Plot fw vs. Sw as shown in Figure 5-2 and construct the tangent to the curve.
Extrapolate the tangent to f w=1.0 and determine:

Figure 5-2. Fractional flow curve

12
 Swf = SwBT = 0.596
fwf = fwBT = 0.780
(dfw/dSw)swf = 1.973
QiBT = 1/1.973 = 0.507
̅SwBT = 0.707
Step 2. Calculate EDBT by using Equation 5-5:

̅ w − Swi
S 0.707 −0.20
EDBT = = = 0.634
1 − Swi 1 − 0.20

Step 3. Calculate (Np)BT by applying Equation 5-7:

(Np)BT = Ns EDBT = 496.499 × 0.634 = 314.780 STB

Step 4. Calculate cumulative water injected at breakthrough from Equation 4-11:

WiBT = (PV) QiBT = 775.779 × 0.507 = 393.198 bbl

Step 5. Calculate the time to breakthrough:

WiBT 393.198
t BT = = = 436.88 days
iw 900

Step 6. Calculate WORs exactly at breakthrough by applying Equation 14 28

Bo 1.25
WOR s = 1 = 1 = 4.34 STB/STB
Bw ( −1) 1.02 ( −1)
fWbt 0.78

Step 7. Describe the recovery performance to breakthrough in the following

tabulated form:

13
Step 8. Following the computational procedure as outlined for recovery performance
after breakthrough, construct the following table:

Step 9. Express graphically results of the calculations as a set of performance

curves, as shown in Figure 5-3.

Figure 5-3. Performance curves (Reservoir Engineering Handbook, 3E).

14