Department of Petroleum Engineering

Semester 7

GAS RESERVOIR
International
University Of
ENGINEERING
Chapter 1
Technology
Twintech
Basics

Prepared by
Eng: Mohammed alsanhani
COURSE CHAPTERS:
Basics
Dry gas reservoirs
Wet Gas Reservoirs
Gas – Condensate Reservoirs
Gas Well Testing
Transient Testing

References:
1. Gas Reservoir Engineering by W. John Lee, ISBN: 1555630731.
2. Gas Production Operations by Dale Beggs, ASIN: B001O78FVY.
3. Fundamentals of Gas Reservoir Engineering by JACQUES HAGOORT.
4. Gas Well Testing Handbook by Amanat Chaudhry, ISBN: 0750677066.
5. Natural Gas Production Engineering by Chi U. Ikoku, ISBN:
0894646397.
INTRODUCTION
 Reservoir Engineering is the petroleum
engineering discipline that is concerned with the
recovery of hydrocarbons from subsurface
hydrocarbon bearing rock formations, commonly
referred to as reservoirs.

 Gas Reservoir Engineering is the branch of

reservoir engineering that deals exclusively
with reservoirs of non-associated gas..
PROPERTIES OF NATURAL GASES
 Natural gas occurs in subsurface rock formations in
association with oil (associated gas) or on its own (non-
associated gas). Roughly 60 per cent of the natural gas
reserves is non-associated.
 · A gas is defined as a homogeneous fluid of low
viscosity and density that has no definite volume but
expands to completely fill the vessel in which it is placed.
 · Generally, the natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbon
and nonhydrocarbon gases. The hydrocarbon gases that
are normally found in a natural gas are methanes, ethanes,
propanes, butanes, pentanes, and small amounts of
hexanes and heavier. The non-hydrocarbon gases (i.e.,
impurities) include carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and
nitrogen.
PROPERTIES OF NATURAL GASES
 Knowledge of pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) relationships and
other physical and chemical properties of gases are essential for
solving problems in Gas Reservoir Engineering. These properties
include (

• Apparent molecular weight, Ma

• Specific gravity, γg
• Compressibility factor, z
• Density, ρg
•Isothermal gas compressibility coefficient, cg
• Specific volume, v
• Gas formation volume factor, Bg
• Gas expansion factor, Eg
• Viscosity, μg
 Note: we will study only some of these properties that will be
needed in gas reservoir engineering course.
BEHAVIOR OF IDEAL GASES
Perfect gas law (Boyle and Charles law):

Where p1, V1, and T1 are the pressure, volume, and temperatures of gas state 1
And p2, V2, and T2 in state 2.

Substituting values of standard condition in above equation:

This relationship for perfect gases is called the ideal gas law and is expressed
mathematically by the following equation:
pV = nRT (1)
Where,
p = absolute pressure, psia
V = volume, ft3
T = absolute temperature, °R
n = number of moles of gas, lb-mol
R = the universal gas constant which has the value 10.730 psia ft3/ lb-mol °R
BEHAVIOR OF IDEAL GASES
Perfect gas law (Boyle and Charles law):

Where p1, V1, and T1 are the pressure, volume, and temperatures of gas state 1
And p2, V2, and T2 in state 2.

Substituting values of standard condition in above equation:

This relationship for perfect gases is called the ideal gas law and is expressed
mathematically by the following equation:
pV = nRT (1)
Where,
p = absolute pressure, psia
V = volume, ft3
T = absolute temperature, °R
n = number of moles of gas, lb-mol
R = the universal gas constant which has the value 10.730 psia ft3/ lb-mol °R
BEHAVIOR OF IDEAL GASES
The number of pound-moles of gas, i.e., n, is defined as the weight of the gas m
divided by the molecular weight M, or:

Where:
m = weight of gas, lb
M = molecular weight, lb/ lb-mol

Since the density is defined as the mass per unit volume of the substance,
Equation 3
can be rearranged to estimate the gas density at any pressure and temperature:
,Where
Ma = apparent or average molecular weight of a gas mixture, lb/ lb-mol
Mi = molecular weight of component i in the gas mixture, lb/ lb-mol
yi = mole fraction of component i in the gas mixture
Specific Gravity
The specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the gas density to that of the air. Both
densities are measured at the same pressure and temperature, usually the standard
conditions. Symbolically,
 BEHAVIOR OF REAL GASES

.Ppc, Tpc = pseudo-critical pressure and temperature, respectively

Pci = critical pressure of component i in the mixture, psia
Tci = critical temperature of component i in the mixture, °R
b) Pseudo-Critical Properties from Gas Gravity
In cases where the composition of a natural gas is not available, the pseudo-
critical properties, i.e., Ppc and Tpc, can be determined solely from the
specific gravity of the gas mixture. Brown et al. (1948) presented a graphical
method for a convenient approximation of the pseudo-critical pressure and
pseudo-critical temperature of gases when only the specific gravity of the
gas is available. The correlation is presented in Figure 2-2.

Standing (1977) expressed this graphical correlation in the following

mathematical forms:
 Determination of Compressibility Factor of Gas Mixtures
Studies of the gas compressibility factors for natural gases of
various compositions have shown that compressibility factors can
be generalized with sufficient accuracies for most engineering
purposes when they are expressed in terms of the following two
dimensionless properties:

p = system pressure, psia

ppr = pseudo-reduced pressure, dimensionless
T = system temperature, °R
Tpr = pseudo-reduced temperature, dimensionless
Based on the concept of pseudo-reduced properties, Standing and
Katz (1942) presented a generalized gas compressibility factor
chart as shown in Figure 2.3

Fig. 2.3 The Z−factor correlation chart of Standing and Katz11

 Example 3
A gas reservoir has the following gas composition: the initial
reservoir pressure and temperature are 3000 psia and 180°F,
respectively.
Step4: determine the Z- factor from figure 2.3
Z=0.85
Where, z is the compressibility factor of the gas mixture at prevalent pressure
and temperature conditions
 Example 4

Assuming real gas behavior,

calculate
(1)the density of the gas
phase under initial reservoir
conditions.
(2) Compare the results with
that of ideal gas behavior.

Solution:
 Step4: determine the Z- factor from figure 2.3
Z=0.85

(2) Calculate the density of the gas assuming an ideal gas behavior:
Gas Formation Volume Factor (Bg)
The gas formation volume factor is defined as the actual volume occupied by a
certain amount of gas at a specified pressure and temperature, divided by the
volume occupied by the same amount of gas at standard conditions. In an
equation form, the relationship is expressed as:
 In other oil field units, the gas formation volume factor can be expressed in bbl/SCF, to give

So the gas flow rate in SCF/day can be obtained by multiplying the gas flow rate in
.(ft3/day) by the gas expansion factor Eg as expressed in SCF/ft 3

Q (SCF/day) = Q (ft3/day) × Eg (SCF/ft3)

Example 7
A gas well is producing at a rate of 15,000 ft3/day from a gas reservoir at an
average pressure of 2,000 psia and a temperature of 140°F. The specific gravity
is 0.72.
Calculate the gas flow rate in SCF/day.
Solution Step 1. Calculate the pseudo-critical properties:
BOTTOM HOLE STATIC PRESSURE
PRACTICE
Using the Average Temperature & Z factor method.
The fluid property and well data are given below:

Gas specific gravity = 0.76 , Ppc = 667 psia, Tpc = 408 Rº ,

Pts = 2200 psia Tts = 20 Fº , Tws = 200 Fº , L= 8000 ft ,
angle = 0º (vertical well)

CALCUALTE:
1) Static Bottom Hole Pressure (NOTE: do only initial & second
Iterations)
2) The True Vertical Depth (TVD) of the well if the angle = 30º
(slant well)
ANSWERS
1) Pws = 2640 psia
P¯= 2420 psia , T¯= 570 Rº
Ppr = 3.62 , Tpr = 1.397 = 1.4
Z¯= 0.705 , S = 0.567 , Pws = 2921.09 psia
Second Iteration:
P¯= 2560.5 psia Ppr= 3.84 , Tpr= 1.397=1.4
Z¯= 0.71 , S = 0.563 , Pws = 2915.25 psia

2) TVD= 8000 x cos(30) = 6928.2 psia