Fundamentals of Basic Reservoir Engineering 2010

Fundamentals of Reservoir Engineering & Characterization 1
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RESERVOIR ENGINEERING
The purpose of Reservoir engineering is economic optimization of the development and
production of hydrocarbon reservoirs. This requires most representative solutions to the
following aspects:
Quantity of hydrocarbon in place
Recoverable hydrocarbons reserves
Rate of exploitation
The determination of these three quantities is the crux of reservoir engineering.
RESERVOIR
A reservoir is a porous and permeable subsurface formation containing hydrocarbon
accumulation. For a reservoir to be commercially exploitable, three basic requirements
must be fulfilled:
Sufficient void space generally called porosity to store oil and gas.
Adequate connectivity, i.e. permeability to allow hydrocarbon fluids movement
over large distances under pressure gradients.
Accumulation in a trap of impervious cap rock, which should prevent upward
migration of the oil and gas.

Accumulation of oil and gas in a reservoir
(After Reservoir and Production Fundamentals, Schlumberger, 1982)

l

RESERVOIR ROCKS
These rocks are generally sedimentary rocks. Sedimentary rocks are rocks made up of
sediments formed at the earths surface by debris or chemical precipitations.
Sedimentary rocks are classified into two groups: clastic (the rocks of detrital origin) and
non-clastic (sediments of biochemical or chemical precipitate origin.)
Clastics rocks
Rock type Particle diameter
Conglomerate Pebbles: 2 to 64 mm
Sandstone Sand: 0.06 to 2 mm
Siltstone Silt: 0.003 0.06 mm
Shale Clay: < 0.003 mm
Non-clastic
Rock type Composition
Limestone Calcite CaCo
3

Dolomite Dolomite Ca Mg( Co
3
)

Sandstone Reservoirs
These reservoir rocks consist of quartz (Silica SiO
2
). These quartz grains cemented
together form sandstone. Sandstones are very often stratified in a superimposed pattern.
This results from successive deposition at the shore-line or in the form of fluvial or
deltaic alluvia. A vertical cross section generally exhibits alternation deposits of sands,
shaly sands, silts and shales.

Sandstone reservoirs are the widest spread hydrocarbon pools.

Carbonate Reservoirs
The carbonate rocks limestone, dolomite, and chalk comprise about 20% of sedimentary
rocks. Limestone composed mainly of the mineral calcite is concentrated by
accumulation of the shells and skeletons of marine animals or by direct precipitation
from mineral saturated waters. Dolomite is the double carbonate of calcium and
magnesium. When dolomitization (replacement of calcium by magnesium) occurs,
shrinkage of matrix is observed. Matrix porosities and permeabilities of carbonate rocks
are typically low. But formation of vugs, channels, and other cavities add to storage
capacity.

The most prolific hydrocarbon bearing carbonates are highly fractured.

TRAPS
The trap is the place where oil and gas are barred from further movement. The
traps can be classified as
Structural traps: These traps are formed by uplifting and folding of the strata.
When viewed from above, the dome is circular in shape, whereas the anticline is
in an elongated fold.
Stratigraphic traps: In these traps, trapping is due to variation in facies, The rock
becomes impermeable laterally. Sandstone lenses, pinch outs and carbonate
reefs are some of examples.
Combination traps: A combination trap has a two or three elements
- a stratigraphic element causing the edge of permeability of the reservoir rock.
- a structural element causing the deformation that combines with the
stratigraphic element to complete rock portion of the trap
- a down dip flow of formation water increasing the trapping effect.
Examples: eroded anticlines, traps associated with salt dome,

Structural trap: oil and gas accumulation in a dome structure


Structural trap: oil and gas accumulation in an anticline

Oil accumulation in a stratigraphic trap formed by a change in permeability

Combination trap
Oil

RESERVOIR PRESSURE
Reservoir pressure is a dominant variable condition that affects every petroleum
reservoir. It is in the form of stored and available energy. It is one of the most important
parameters of reservoir engineering calculations.
The fluids confined in the pores of the reservoir rock occur under certain degree of
pressure, generally called reservoir pressure, fluid pressure or formation pressure. Since
all the fluids are in contact with one another, they transmit pressures freely, and
pressures measured on fluid are actually the pressures on all fluids. Reservoir pressure
unless otherwise stated is generally thought of as the original or virgin pressure the
pressure that existed before the natural pressure equilibrium of the formation has been
disturbed by any production. The original pressure can be measured directly only by the
first producing the well drilled into the reservoir, for the pressure begins to decline as
soon as oil and gas are withdrawn. When a producing well is shut in, the reservoir
pressure begins to rise. This rise is rapid at first, and then gradually slows until finally the
maximum pressure is reached. The maximum pressure is called the static bottom hole
pressure, the shut in pressure or static formation pressure. The normal pressure
distribution from surface through a reservoir structure is shown
below:

ABNORMAL PRESSURES
Under certain depositional conditions, or because of earth movements, close to reservoir
structure, fluid pressures may depart substantially from the normal range. Abnormal

pressures can occur, when some part of the overburden load is transmitted to the
formation fluids. Abnormal pressures corresponding to gradients of 0.8 psi/ft to 0.9 psi/ft
and approaching geostatic gradient (1.0 psi/ft) can be considered dangerously high.
RESERVOIR TEMPERATURE The
computation of primary recovery of hydrocarbon reservoirs is based on the assumption
that the reservoir temperature remains constant. Thus, hydrocarbon recovery during
primary phase is an isothermal process.
The average reservoir temperature is needed for laboratory analyses carried at reservoir
conditions. Determining reservoir fluid properties such as viscosity, density, formation
volume factor, and gas in solution, and reservoir rock-fluid interaction properties like
capillary, relative permeability and resistivity measurements require a value for reservoir
temperature. For EOR techniques such as chemical and miscible processes,
temperature affects the phase behavior of injected and produced fluids, and thus the
recovery. The feasibility of these processes must be determined by laboratory tests
carried out at reservoir temperature. In EOR processes that employ heat injection, such
as steam or in-situ combustion, the reservoir temperature is not constant and
hydrocarbon recovery is not an isothermal process.
Reservoir temperature is usually measured at the bottom of the well or wells in a
reservoir using a wireline temperature gauge. If a variation in temperature is detected
across a reservoir after correcting for depth, an average value can be used for the
constant reservoir temperature.

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TEXTURE
The rock texture is related to those properties of rocks that concerns with grain to grain
relations. Some of these properties are chemical composition, grain shape, grain
roundness, grain size, sorting and grain orientation. The rock texture influence porosity,
permeability, and the interstitial water saturation. Texture is studied by thin section
analysis and visual inspection of hand specimens.

GOOD SORTING POOR SORTING

(After Fundamentals of Core analysis, Core Lab, USA, 1989)

Porosity of a rock is the ratio of the pore volume to the bulk volume. In hydrocarbon
reservoirs, the pore volume is the space available for oil, gas and water storage.
Porosity is generally expressed as a percentage of bulk volume.
100 x
Vb
Vp
|
.
|
\
|
=
I II I

100 x
Vb
Vg Vb
|
.
|
\
|
=
Where Vp = pore volume
Vg = grain volume
Vb = bulk volume

Total or Absolute Porosity: It is the ratio of the volume of all the pores to the bulk
volume of the material, regardless of whether or not, all the pores are interconnected.

Effective porosity: It is the ratio of the interconnected pore volume to the bulk volume
of the rock. The value of this parameter is used in all reservoir engineering calculations.

(After
Fundamentals of Core analysis, Core Lab, USA, 1989)

Porosity types
Basic porosity falls into two classes; one that relates to fabric or texture of the rock and
other independent of it. Porosity in sands and sandstone varies primarily with grain size
distribution and grain shapes and packing. Porosity in carbonate rock is much more
variable in magnitude and depends largely on the post depositional processes of
dolomitization, dissolution or cementation.

The porosity types identified in sandstones and carbonate are as follows:
Fabric related pores are present at time of sediment accumulation and formed
later by fabric controlled.

Sandstones: Intergranular, Intragranular. Microporosity
Carbonates: Interparticle, Intraparticle. Intercrystalline

Independent of rock fabric
Fracture porosity both in sandstones and carbonates

These types are common in most of the reservoirs.

Sandstone Reservoirs: There are four basic types of porosity:
Intergranular porosity: The interstitial pore spaces between the sand grains are
the intergranular porosity which all sandstones possess initially. It ranges from
5% to 40%.
Intragranular porosity: It is a product of dissolution of soluble material, principally
carbonate particles, unstable rock fragments, feldspar and sulphate within the
formation.
Microporosity: Microporosity exists as small pores which are commonly
associated with clay minerals
Fracture porosity: It is generally artificially created in sandstones to improve the
deliverability of any reservoir.
The factors which control sandstone porosity are:
Mineralogical composition
Burial history
Grain size and sorting
Paleotemperature
Pressure history
Pore water composition
Carbonate cementation
Secondary porosity
Carbonate Reservoirs:
Interparticle: Carbonate with a grain supported framework has a large (30%-
40%) initial porosity.
Intraparticle: These pores are the body cavities which may become sites of
internal sedimentation and crystal filling.

Moulding: The cavities are formed by solution of shells or destruction of other
original components of the rock, creating moldic porosity.
Intercrystalline: Coarse dolomites may show intercrystalline porosity caused by
solution of non-replaced calcite.
Fracture porosity

Determination of porosity
The porosity is determined by core analysis or by well logging.
Core analysis
In porosity any two of Vp, Vb, Vg are determined. In core analysis, the cylindrical plugs
of either 1.0 inch or 1.5 inch diameter are cut from whole core and then first cleaned and
dried.
Measurement of bulk volume
Caliper method. The length and diameter of core plug is measured at different points
of the core and averaged values are determined.
V
b
=
4
2
l d

Measurement of the buoyancy exerted by mercury on the samples immersed
in it.

The mercury based methods are not used for rocks containing fissures or macropores
because of possibility of mercury penetration.
Measurement of pore volume
The pore volume can be measured:
Helium expansion in the interconnected pores
Measurement by weighing in a fluid filling the effective pores
Measurement by mercury injection

The grain volume can also be determined by Helium expansion method.
Effect of pressure on porosity
Porosity decreases with increasing net overburden pressure. Reservoir rocks experience
the lithostatic pressure and fluids pressure in the pores. The production of hydrocarbons

causes a decline in the fluid pressure in the pores resulting in compression of the rock,
until a new equilibrium is attained.

Averaging of porosity
Arithmetic averaging of thickness average porosity: This method is used in cases
when the reservoir rock shows large variation on porosity vertically but does not show
great variations in porosity parallel to the bedding planes.
Arithmetic Average porosity =
n
j

Thickness weighted porosity =
J
j j
h
h

Areal weighted or volumetric weighted average porosity: These averages are used
in cases where the porosity in one portion of the reservoir is greatly different from that in
another area because of sedimentation or depositional changes.
Areal weighted average porosity = 5
j
j j
A
A

Volumetric weighted average porosity =
j j
j j j
h A
h A

Where n = total number of core samples
h
j
= thickness of core sample j or reservoir area j

j
= porosity of core sample j or reservoir area j
A
j
= reservoir area j

GRAIN DENSITY
The grain density of a rock is defined as the weight of the rock (exclusive of the weight of
fluids contained in the pore space) divided by the volume of the solid rock material
(exclusive of pore space). The density varies with the mineral composition of the rock
and the state of hydration of the minerals. In complex lithologies containing inter-mixed
limestone, dolomite, sandstones, and heavy minerals, grain density will vary vertically
and horizontally. Even in formations described as homogeneous, measured densities
often vary considerably from published values for pure components as tabulated below.

Minor amounts of secondary cement, such as calcite or siderite, will cause grain
densities to exceed values shown in the table.

Component Approximate grain density (g/cm3)
Sandstone 2.65
Limestone 2.71
Dolomite 2.85-2.87
Anhydrite 2.98
Gypsum 2.3
Pyrite 5.0
Siderite 3.9
Clays 2.2-2.9

Grain density is important in core analysis on the account that it can be used as a quality
control check of the core analysis measurements themselves.

PERMEABILITY
Permeability is a measure of the capacity of formation to transmit fluids. Its unit is Darcy,
named after a French scientist Henry Darcy in 1856. One Darcy equals permeability that
will permit a fluid of one centipoise viscosity to flow at a rate of one cubic centimeter per
second through a cross-sectional area of one square centimeter when the pressure
gradient is one atmosphere per centimeter. Generally permeabilities are given in
millidarcies which is equal to (1/1000) of a Darcy. Its dimension is L
2
.

K A P P = Press. Differential, atm
q = ------------ A = Cross Sectional Area, cm
2

* L K = Permeability, darcy
q = Outlet Flow Rate, cc/sec
= Fluid Viscosity, cp
L = System Length, cm

P
q
A
L

Darcy law is used to determine permeability when the following conditions exist:
Laminar flow
No reaction between fluid and rock
One phase present at 100 percent pore space saturation.
The measured permeability at 100% saturation of a single phase is called the absolute
permeability of the rock.
The following terms are generally used to specify the permeability:
<1mD = Very low
1to 10 mD = Low
10 to 50 mD = Medium
50 to 200 mD =Good
200 to 500 mD = Very Good
>500 mD = Excellent

The factors which control magnitude of permeability are:
Shape and size of sand grains
Lamination
Cementation
Fracturing and solution

Permeability Anisotropy
Permeability is a directional quantity. The long axis of the grains aligns parallel in the
direction of maximum velocity during the process of sediments deposition, thus providing
the maximum cross-sectional area of the grains in a horizontal plane. This results in
highest permeability parallel to long axis of the grains.

In most of reservoir rocks, permeability like porosity is reduced by increase in net
overburden pressure.
Measurement of Permeability The permeability is measured by flowing a fluid of known
viscosity through a core plug of measured dimensions (A and L) and then measuring
flow rate q and pressure drop Ap. Darcy equation becomes
p A
L q
k
=

Absolute permeability is usually determined by flowing air through the core plug because
of its convenience and to minimize rock-fluid interaction.
In using dry gas in measuring the permeability, the gas volumetric rate q varies with the
pressure because the gas is a highly compressible fluid. Hence, the equation becomes
b g
sc
Lp
p p kA
Q
2
) (
2
2
2
1

=
Where k = absolute permeability, Darcies

g
= gas viscosity, cp
p
b
= base pressure ( atmospheric pressure), atm
p
1
= inlet pressure (upstream), atm.
p
2
= outlet (down stream), atm.
L = length of the core plug, cm
A = cross-sectional area, cm
2

Q
sc
= gas flow rate at standard conditions, cm
3
/sec.

Klinkenberg effect
Klikenberg (1941) compared the permeability results of measurements made with air as
the flowing fluid as well as with a liquid as the flowing fluid. He observed that the air
permeability is always greater than the liquid permeability. Klinkenberg postulated that
liquids had a zero velocity at the sand grain surface while gases exhibited some finite
velocity at the sand grain surface. And this slippage at the sand grain surface has
resulted in higher flow rate for the gas at a given pressure differential. Further, he also
found that as the mean pressure increased, the calculated permeability of the porous
medium decreased. The magnitude of Klinkenberg effect varies with the core
permeability and the type of gas used in the experiment. The resulting straight
relationship can be expressed as:
K
a
= K
L
+ b[1/p
m
]
Where K
a
= measured gas permeability
p
m
= mean pressure

K
L
= equivalent liquid permeability
b = slope of line
Further b = c K
L
where c is a constant which depends on the size of the pore openings
and is inversely proportional to the radius of capillaries.


Klinkenberg effect
A comparison of absolute permeability and Klinkenberg permeability is given below:
Gas Permeability, mD
(Ka)
Klinkenberg Permeability, mD
(K
L
)
Ratio of K
L
/ Ka
0.18 0.12 0.66
1.00 0.68 0.68
10.0 7.80 0.78
100.0 88.0 0.88
1000.0 950.0 0.95

Averaging of absolute permeabilities
An adequate understanding of permeability distribution is critical to the reservoir
performance prediction. Homogeneous reservoirs seldom exist. Because of existence of
small scale heterogeneities, laboratory measured core plug permeabilities needs proper
averaging for flow characteristics representation of the entire reservoir or its individual
reservoir units.
There are three commonly used techniques:
Weighted average permeability
Harmonic average permeability
Geometric average permeability
Weighted Average Permeability: Used to determine the average permeability of
layered parallel beds with different permeabilities.
G
a
s

P
e
r
m
e
a
b
i
l
i
t
y

Liquid permeability

=
=
=
n
j
j
n
j
j j
avg
h
h k
k
1
1

Where h
j
= thickness of layer j
K
j
= absolute permeability of layer j
Harmonic Average Permeability: Used to average permeabities where permeability
variations can occur laterally in a reservoir.
=
=
|
.
|
\
|
=
n
j j
n
j
j
av
k
L
L
k
1
1

Where L
j
= length of each bed
k
j
= absolute permeability of each bed
Geometric Average Permeability: Most representative averaging technique for a
heterogeneous formation:
=
=
n
j
j
n
j
j j
avg
h
k h
k
1
1
)) ln( (
exp
Where k
j
= permeability of core sample j
h
i
= thickness of core sample j
n = total number of samples
If the thickness of all the core samples is same, then the above equation becomes:
( )n
n avg
k k k k k
1
3 2 1
... =

SATURATION
Fluid saturation is defined as the fraction of pore volume occupied by a particular fluid.
Hence for reservoir fluids, mathematical expressions can be:
Oil saturation,
Volume Pore
oil of Volume
S
o
..
.. ..
=
Gas saturation,
Volume Pore
gas of Volume
S
g
..
.. ..
=

Water Saturation,
Volume Pore
water of Volume
S
w
..
.. ..
=
S
g
+ S
o
+ S
w
= 1.0
Determination of saturation
Fluid saturation in the laboratory is one of the least reliable reservoir property
measurements. Factors that are likely to introduce errors into these measurements
include invasion of the core by mud or mud filtrate during coring process, gas expansion
during core recovery, and handling of the core during preservation and measurement.
Some of the methods generally used for laboratory determination of fluid saturations are:

Soxhlet distillation extraction/Dean-Stark method: In this method, oil is removed from
the sample by extraction i.e. dissolved in suitable solvent; most commonly used toluene
and xylene. A mixture of 80%acetone+20% methanol is frequently employed. Water is
removed from the sample by distillation, then condensed to liquid which is caught in a
trap and measured.
Retort method. It is atmospheric distillation in which rock sample is heated in stages to
1200
o
F. All the reservoir fluids are vaporized. The most commonly used system employs
electric heating and counter-current cooling with water.

Averaging of saturation data
The representative averaging of saturation data requires that the saturation values be
weighted by both the interval thickness h
j
and interval porosity
j

=
=
=
n
j
j j
n
j
j j j
h
So h
So
1
1
=
=
=
n
j
j j
n
j
j j j
h
Sw h
Sw
1
1

=
=
=
n
j
j j
n
j
j j j
h
Sg h
Sg
1
1

Where the subscript j refers any individual measurement and h
j
represents the depth
interval to which
j
, So
j
, Sgj, Sw
j
apply.
WETTABILITY
Wettability is defined as the tendency of one fluid to adhere or spread on a solid surface
in presence of other immiscible fluids. The varying wetting characteristics of liquids for
the solid can be observed by placing small drop of three liquids namely mercury, oil and
water on clean glass plate.

The spreading tendency is expressed by measuring the angle of contact at the liquid-
solid interface. This angle is called the contact angle 0. Wettablity can be determined in
the laboratory by measuring the contact angle between a droplet of fluid and a flat
surface of mineral crystal. Wettability has profound influence on distribution of fluids in
the porous media and affects the ultimate recovery. Because of the attractive forces, the
wetting phase tends to occupy the smaller pores of the rock and non-wetting phase
occupies the more open channels.

In reservoirs, generally water is considered to be wetting fluid. However, the oil may be
wetting especially for limestones.
The laboratory studies have indicated that preferentially wettability of the rock is largely
controlled by the compounds adsorbed at the surface of the rock.

CAPILLARY PRESSURE
Surface and interfacial tension result from molecular forces that cause the surface of a
liquid to assume the smallest possible size and to act like a membrane under tension.


Capillarity is the rise or depression of liquids in a fine tube resulting from surface tension
and wetting preferences. Consider a capillary tube of radius r placed in large open
vessel containing water. The water will rise in tube, until the total force acting to pull
liquid upward is balanced by the weight of the column of liquid being supported in the
tube.
F
up
= 2r.
o
gw
. cos0
F
down
= r
2
.h. (
w
-
air
).g
Since density of air is negligible in comparison to density of water
F
down
= r
2
.h.
w
.g
At equilibrium F
up
= F
down

2r. o
gw
. cos0 = r
2
.h.
w
.g
o
gw
=
cos 2
. . .
w
g h r

In porous medium, even when two or more fluids are present at the same subsea
elevation and are in state of pressure equilibrium, they are not at the same pressure.
This is primarily because of differences in the mutual attraction between rock and fluids
(adhesion tension). This difference in pressure between two phases in equilibrium at the
same subsea elevation is the capillary pressure between two phases. The fluid with the
greatest tendency to wet the rock will have the lowest pressure.

Pc = p
nw
- p
w

The pressure excess in the non-wetting fluid is the capillary pressure, and this quantity is
a function of saturation.
Gas - Liquid system
P
c
=
r
gw
cos 2

h =
) (
cos 2
g w
gw
rg

Oil - Water System
P
c
=
r
ow
cos 2

h =
) (
cos 2
o w
ow
rg

Where
w
= water density, gm/cm
3

0
= oil density, gm/cm
3

o
gw
= gas-water surface tension, dynes/cm
o
ow
= oil-water surface tension, dynes/cm
r = capillary radius, cm
0 = contact angle
h = capillary rise, cm
g =- acceleration due to gravity, cm/sec
2

P
c
= capillary pressure, dynes/cm
2

Laboratory determination of capillary pressure data
Three methods are generally used for determination of capillary data on rock samples:
Purcells method/Mercury injection method: The core plug cleaned and dried
with pore volume determined is first subjected to vacuum after pore volume
determination. The mercury is injected into it in increasing pressure stages. At
each stage, the volume of mercury intruded is recorded. The capillary pressure
is the absolute pressure of mercury.

Restored state method: The core plug saturated with brine in placed on a porous
plate saturated with brine. Air is injected at increasing pressure stages. A

capillary tube is used to measure the volume of water expelled from the core.
The capillary pressure is the relative pressure of the air.

Centrifuge method: In the centrifuge method, an artificial gravity using the density
difference between the two fluids creates a capillary pressure gradient all along the
plug and thus a saturation variation from the top to the bottom.

Converting laboratory capillary pressure data to reservoir conditions
Since the laboratory measurements are not conducted using reservoir fluids, the lab
results must be corrected to reservoir condition using the relationship:
P
cRes
= P
cLab
(o
Res
/ o
Lab
)
Where
P
cRes
= capillary pressure at reservoir conditions, psi
P
cLab
= capillary pressure at laboratory conditions, psi

o
Res
= interfacial

tension at reservoir conditions, dynes/cm
o
Lab
= interfacial

tension at laboratory conditions, dynes/cm

Averaging of capillary pressure data
Leverett (1942) proposed a means of converting all capillary pressure data to a
universal curve using the dimensionless function of saturation known as J-
function,

k Pc
J
Sw
21645 . 0
) (
=
Where J(sw) = Leverett J-function
Pc = capillary pressyre, psi
o

= interfacial

tension dynes/cm
k = permeability, mD
= porosity, fraction
Each capillary pressure curve gives a J-function curve. The average J-curve is
generated. Using this curve, a Pc-Sw can be plotted for a given sample if its k and are
known.

.
The Leverett J-Function for unconsolidated sands (After Leverett,1941)

Initial saturation distribution in a reservoir
An important application of capillary pressure data relates to the fluid distribution in a
virgin reservoir. The capillary pressure - saturation data can be converted into height
saturation relation ship as given below:
h =

Pc 144

where Pc = capillary pressure,psia
A = density difference between wetting phase and non-wetting phase at
reservoir conditions, lb/ft
3
h = height above the free water level, ft


Distribution of saturation in the reservoir

The transition is the vertical thickness over which the water saturation changes 100%
saturation to irreducible water saturation, S
wi
.

The water oil contact is the uppermost depth in the reservoir where a 100% water
saturation exists. At free water level, there is zero capillary pressure from reservoir
engineering standpoint.
Irreducible water saturation
Irreducible water saturation is the minimum saturation that can be induced by
displacement. At this stage, the wetting phase becomes discontinuous. This minimum
saturation corresponds to smallest mean radius of curvature and maximum capillary
pressure.
Grain size has remarkable influence on irreducuible water saturation:

C
a
p
i
l
l
a
r
y

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

H
e
i
g
h
t

A
b
o
v
e

O
i
l
-
W
a
t
e
r

C
o
n
t
a
c
t


Effect of grain size on Irreducible water saturation

RELATIVE PERMEABILITY
Production of hydrocarbons involves simultaneous flow of two or three fluids in the
reservoir rock. In this multiphase flow, each fluid tends to interfere with the flow of the
others.

Absolute permeability relates to permeability with one fluid present at 100 percent
saturation. It is also called as specific permeability or base permeability.

Effective permeability is the permeability to a given phase when more than one phase
saturates the porous medium. The effective permeability is a function of saturation.

Relative permeability to a given phase is defined as the ratio of effective
permeability to the absolute or, in some cases, a base permeability. Relative
permeability is also a function of saturation.

Relative permeability =
ty permeabili Base
ty permeabili Effective
.

k
ro
=
k
k
o

k
rg
=
k
k
g

k
rw
=
k
k
w

It is a dimensionless term and generally reported in fraction or percentage.

For an oil-water reservoir, the base permeability, k is taken as effective permeability to
oil at irreducible water saturation. For a gas reservoir, the base permeability will be
effective permeability to gas in the presence of irreducible water.

Imbibition versus Drainage
In relative permeability studies, the terms imbibition and drainage are commonly
referred.
If the wetting phase is decreasing, that phase is draining and the curve is called a
drainage curve.
If the wetting phase is increasing or being imbibed during the test, the curve is referred
to as an imbibition curve.

Water Oil relative permeability curve
leaving In oil-water system, oil and water relative permeabilities are plotted as functions
of water saturation. At irreducible water saturation, Swi, the relative permeability to
water, k
rw
is zero and oil permeability with respect to oil k
ro
is a value less than unity. This
is due to reduction in oil permeability due to presence of water. At Swi, only oil can flow.
As water saturation increases, relative permeability to water increases and oil
permeabity decreases. The maximum water saturation is reached at the residual oil
saturation (Sor). Residual oil saturation is left in the smaller channels when the
interfacial tension causes the thread of oil to break; behind oil in droplets which tend to
assume spherical form and when gradient pressure is not sufficient to deform the bubble
enough to pass through the smaller pore openings.

0
0 S
wi
S
or
1
S
w

GasOil relative permeability curve
The gas relative permeability k
rg
remains zero until the critical gas saturation S
gc
is
reached. At S
gc
, there is enough accumulation of gas for its mobility. As gas saturation
increases, the gas relative permeability increases. The gas relative permeability will
achieve maximum value at residual oil saturation. The oil permeability decreases from
unity to lesser values as the gas saturation increases finally reaching a value of zero at
the residual oil saturation plus irreducible water saturation.
0
0 S
gc
S
org
1
S
g

Laboratory methods for measuring relative permeability
Two major laboratory methods have evolved to measure relative permeability. These are
referred to as the steady-state and nonsteady-state techniques.
k
rel

1
k
rel

1

STEADY STATE: The steady-state test, the older of the two methods, is made at low
flow rates. Most research groups prefer data obtained from this test. Two fluids are
injected simultaneously into a core sample and the water saturation is increased slowly.
This simulates the slow increase in water saturation that would occur in the formation
between the injection and producing wells. Saturation increase is monitored by
measuring the gain in weight occurring in the sample or by X-ray technique.

NONSTEADY STATE: The nonsteady-state technique uses viscous oil and is normally
made at a higher flow rate than that present in the reservoir. It is this higher rate that
sometimes yields pessimistic estimates of recovery from rocks of intermediate
wettability.

Normalisation and averaging of relative permeability data
There is a wide variation observed in relative permeability results of experiments
conducted on core plugs of a reservoir rock. To use this data for reservoir engineering
calculations, the proper averaging or normalization of relative permeability data obtained
on individual rock samples is essential so that the effects of different water saturations
and residual oil saturations are removed. The normalized relative permeability data is
then denormalised for different portions of reservoir as per the measured irreducible
water saturation and residual oil saturation.

The following steps are required for averaging of oil and water relative permeability
curves.
1. Starting with S
wi,
chose several values of S
w
and calculate S
w
* for each set of
relative permeability curve
S
w
* =
or wi
wi w
S S
S S

1

Calculate the normalized relative permeability for the oil phase at different water
saturation
k
ro
* =
Swi ro
ro
k
k
) (
3. Calculate the normalized relative permeability of the water phase at different
water saturation

k
rw
*=
or
S rw
rw
k
k
) (
4. Make a linear plot of the normalized k
ro
*, k
rw
* versus S
w
* for all the core samples.
Obtain a single pair of normalized relative permeability curve by selecting
arbitrary values of S
w
* and calculate the average of k
ro
* and k
rw
* using the
following relationships
(kr
o
*)
avg
=
=
=
n
j
j
n
j
j ro
hk
hkk
1
1
) (
*) (
(kr
w
*)
avg
=
=
=
n
j
j
n
i
j rw
hk
hkk
1
1
) (
*) (
Where n = total number of core samples
h
j
= thickness of sample j
k
j
= absolute permeability of sample j
6. Denormalise the average curve to reflect actual reservoir and conditions of S
wi

and S
or
; using the following equations:
wi or w w w
S S S S S + = ) 1 ( *
( k
ro
)
Swi
=
[ ]
=
=
n
j
j
n
j
j Swi ro
hk
k hk
1
1
) (
) (
( k
rw
)
Sor
=
[ ]
=
=
n
j
j
n
j
j Sor rw
hk
k hk
1
1
) (
) (

Where (k
ro
)
Swi
and (k
rw
)
Sor
are the average relative permeability of oil and water at
irreducible water saturation and residual oil saturation respectively.
WELL LOGGING
A well log is the continuous recording of the characteristics of the hole drilled formation,
as a function of depth.

Well logs are recorded at the various stages in well under drilling. The drilling is
interrupted during the log recording. The data is recorded and transmitted to the surface
instantaneously. Well logs are essential tools for enhanced reservoir evaluation.

Electric Logs
Spontaneous potential
The SP log is the difference in electric potential between a fixed electrode at the surface
and a moving electrode in the borehole. It is measured in millivolts, and there is no
absolute zero; only changes in potential are recorded.

Two types of potential may contribute to the SP effect. These are the electrochemical
potential (E
c
) and the electro kinetic potential (E
k
).

The electro kinetic potential (E
k
) is produced by the flow of mud filtrate through a porous
and permeable formation. The electrochemical potential (E
c
) results from the transfer of
ions from a more concentrated electrolyte (usually the uninvaded zone in the formation)
to a less concentrated electrolyte (usually mud in the bore hole).

The SP log is used in the identification of permeable beds and the location of their
boundaries, and for determination of formation water resistivity in the uninvaded zone
(R
w
).

A deflection is observed opposite the reservoir rock compared with a base line of the
shale. These deflections are due to different salinities of the reservoir water and the
drilling mud.

Resistivity log
Resistivity logs measure and record the resistance offered by the rocks surrounding the
bore hole to the passage of the electric current. A system of electrodes sends an electric
current into the formation. The apparent resistivity of the reservoir is measured in ohms
per meter. The resistivity logs may be divided into conventional or non focused devices,
focused tools and induction systems.

The Laterolog systems contain an array of electrodes to focus the survey current and
force it to flow laterally into the formations surrounding the borehole. The effective depth
of laterolog investigation is controlled by the extent to which the surveying current is
focused.

The induction log measures the conductivity of the rocks surrounding the borehole by
inducing an electric current through them. The tool consists of a transmitter and a
receiver coil. A constant, high frequency alternating current is sent through the
transmitter coils. This generates an alternating magnetic field which induces secondary
currents (also known as eddy currents) in the rocks surrounding the borehole. These
currents flow in circular paths coaxial with the transmitter coils through the surrounding
rocks. The resulting magnetic field, in turn induces signals in the receiver coils. These
signals are proportional to the conductivity of the formations from which resistivity is
derived and recorded on the log.

The resistivity recorded is a function of the porosity and saturation (water/hydrocarbons).
The rock matrices are insulating and the hydrocarbons have high resistivity, whereas the
resistivity of the water decreases with increasing salinity. The resistivity can differentiate
the water from hydrocarbons.

Empirical equations
m
a
Rw
Ro
F
= =

n
Rt
Rw
S
w
1
=

Where
Ro = resistivity of rocks 100% saturated with water of resistivity Rw.
F = formation factor
a = tortuosity coefficient
m = cementation factor
n = saturation exponent
Rt = calculated resistivity of rock at water saturation Sw.

Radioactivity Logs
Gamma ray log (GR)
This log records the natural radioactivity of formations. The radioactivity arises from the
presence of uranium(U), thorium(Th) and potassium (K
40
) in the rocks. These elements
continuously emit gamma rays, which are short bursts of high energy radiation similar to
x-rays. Gamma rays are capable of penetrating a few inches of rock, and a fraction of

those that originate close to the borehole traverse the hole and can be detected by a
suitable gamma-ray sensor. The detector gives a discrete electrical pulse for each
gamma ray detected, and the parameter logged is the number of pulses recorded per
unit of time by the detector. The GR log is useful in detecting shale beds. Non
radioactive minerals like coal may be detected by their characteristically low gamma
response. This log is used for correlation of formations in cased holes.

Neutron log
In neutron logging the formations surrounding the borehole are bombarded by high
energy neutrons from an artificial source carried on the device. Neutrons are electrically
neutral particles with a mass almost identical to that of a hydrogen atom. Upon leaving
the source the neutrons enter the formations and collide with nuclei in the rocks forming
the borehole wall. With each collision a neutron loses some of its energy. The amount of
energy lost per collision depends on the relative mass of the nucleus with which the
neutron collides. The greatest energy loss occurs when the neutron strikes a nucleus of
practically equal mass, ie. a hydrogen nucleus. Collisions with heavy nuclei do not slow
the neutron down very much. Thus the slowing down of neutrons depends largely on the
amount of hydrogen in the formation. The sonde emits fast neutrons which bombard the
formation giving rise to slow neutrons, The neutron count rates increase with decreasing
hydrogen content (low porosity in clean formations) and decrease with increasing
hydrogen content (high porosity in clean formations).

Formation Density Compensated (FDC) Log
The Formation Density Compensated (FDC) Log records the bulk density (pb) of the
formation surrounding the borehole. Gamma rays are beamed at the formations by the
source. These enter the formations and undergo multiple collisions with the electrons in
the frocks, as the result of which they energy and become scattered in all directions.
This is known as Compton scattering. Some of the scattered gamma rays return to the
borehole and are recorded by the detectors on the device. The intensity of the returned
radiation is proportional to the number of electrons in the formation, and provides a
measure of the electron density of the material. Electron density is approximately is
equal to the bulk density of the rocks and this is recorded in gm/cm
3
.

m f
D D D ) 1 ( . + =
Where D = total density read on log
D
f
= fluid density (filtrate)
D
m
= density of rock matrix

The Borehole Compensated Sonic Log (BHC)
The sonic or acoustic log provides a continuous record of the time taken, in milliseconds
per foot (sec/ft), by a compressional sound wave to travel through one foot of formation.
Known as the interval transit time, this is the reciprocal of the compressional wave
velocity (V
p
).
The velocity of sound through a given formation is a function of its lithology and porosity.
Dense, low porosity rocks are characterized by high matrix velocities (V
m
), while porous
and less dense formations are characterized by low V
m
, values.

m f
V V V

+ =
1 1
or
tm t t
f
+ = ). 1 ( .

Where At = travel time in the transmitter/receiver interval

Some other logs
Caliper log
This log system with arms furnishes the borehole diameter and helps in identifications of
caving, constrictions etc.

Dipmeter log
This is the simultaneous recording of four microlaterolog curves along four 90 degree
generating lines in a plane normal to the bore hole axis. The difference in the four curves
gives the value of dip and its direction.


Cement bond log (CBL)
This log system is a continuous cased hole recording of the amplitude of the acoustic
signal versus depth. The analysis of signals provides information on the presence and
bonding the cement to the casing and to the formation
In the presence of cement, the signal is weak because cement attenuates the
vibrations of the metal.
In the absence of cement, the casing vibrates freely generating a strong signal.

Cement Bond Log

sssrr1|r ||1|1 Is|zr|11r

Introduction

The chemistry of hydrocarbon reservoir fluids is very complex. Some estimates suggest
that perhaps 3,000 organic compounds can exist in a single reservoir fluid. These
compounds contain a variety of substance of diverse chemical nature that includes
hydrocarbons and non hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbons range from methane to substances
that may contain more than 100 carbon atoms. Non-hydrocarbons include substances
such as N
2
, CO
2
, H
2
S, S, H
2
O, He and even traces of Hg, etc.

The physical properties of these mixtures depend primarily on composition and
temperature & pressure conditions. Reservoir temperature usually can be assumed
constant, however as the oil and gas are produced, reservoir pressure decreases and
the remaining hydrocarbon mixtures change in composition, volumetric properties, and
phase behaviour. Understanding of this behaviour is very important for a petroleum
engineer as it is of prime consideration in the development and management of
reservoirs that would maximize the profits.

With this objective, this particular chapter on reservoir fluid behaviour would familiarize
the reader about reservoir fluid composition, phase behaviour properties, types of
reservoir fluid, various reservoir fluid characteristics and empirical methods for its
determination, various types of laboratory experiment, application of reservoir fluid
characteristics and equation of state. At the end of this chapter reader should be able to
apply these concepts in solving practical engineering problems.

Reservoir Fluid Composition

The empirical formula C
n
H
2n+h
S
a
N
b
O
c
can be used to classify nearly all compounds found
in crude oil. The largest portion of crude oil is composed of hydrocarbons with carbon
number n, ranging from 1 to about 60, and h numbers ranging from +2 for low molecular
weight paraffin hydrocarbons to -20 for high molecular-weight organic compounds.
1

Occasionally, sulphur, nitrogen and oxygen substitutions occur in high molecular weight
organic compounds with a, b and c usually ranging from 1 to 3.

Those hydrocarbons which contain only two elements, hydrogen and carbon are of two
types aliphatic and aromatic. Aliphatic hydrocarbons are further divided into alkanes
(C
n
H
2n+2
), alkenes (C
n
H
2n
), alkynes (C
n
H
2n-2
), and their cyclic analogs.

The series of straight chain alkanes show a smooth gradation of physical properties. As
molecular size increases, each additional CH
2
group contributes a fairly constant
increment to boiling point and specific gravity. The boiling and melting points of alkanes
are fairly low because of symmetrical nature of molecules. Chemically, alkanes are
unreactive at ordinary temperature. Hence, naturally occurring petroleum deposits
mainly consist of alkanes.

The physical properties of alkenes and alkynes are very much like the physical
properties of alkanes. However, because of double and triple bonds, alkenes and
alkynes are more reactive than alkanes. Hence, alkenes and alkynes are not usually
found in naturally occurring hydrocarbon deposits.

Cycloalkanes and cycloalkenes are about as reactive chemically as their open chain
analogs. Different members of cyclic group exhibit different chemical reactivities.
Aromatic hydrocarbons show gradation in their physical properties with increase in
molecular weight and they have the same stability as the carbon-carbon single bond
found in alkanes.

There are many families of organic compounds other than alkanes, alkenes, alkynes and
their cyclic analogs which, contains atoms other than carbon and hydrogen e.g. sulphur,
nitrogen and oxygen etc. Mercaptans, alkyl sulphides, aldehydes, ketones, resins and
asphaltenes belong to this category of organic compounds.

Following table lists classification of organic compounds according to functional groups.

Class of Compound Functional Group
Alkane
>C-C<

Alkene >C=C<
Alkyne -C C-
Alcohol -OH
Ether -O-
Halide F, Cl, Br, I
Aldehide
C
H
Ketone >C=O
Carbolylic Acid
C
OH
Amine -NH
2
Nitro Compound
+
N
O
-

Nitrile -C N
Organo Metallic
-C-Metal

Classification of Oil

As seen in the classifications of organic compounds, hydrocarbon liquids may be
composed of several thousands of components. A complete chemical analysis for the
identification and measurement of constituents is very difficult and expensive, if not an
impossible task. Less complete types of analyses are often not useful for determining its
physical characteristics. Difficulty in classifying oils by the chemical composition of their
constituents has led to widespread use of simpler, less technical classification. Few of
the classifications are given below;
1. Paraffins, naphthenes and aromatics as group (PNA): Chains of hydrocarbon
segments, branched(iso) or unbranched (normal) types of hydrocarbons are
termed as paraffins, Naphthenes are similar to paraffins with the exception of
containing one or more cyclic structures and aromatics are cyclic benzene type
of compounds (six carbon atoms ring).
2. Paraffin base, asphalt base and mixed base oil.
3. Classification based on
O
API of oil etc.


Highly detailed information on the constituents of reservoir fluid is of not very use in
exploration and production processes. Reservoir fluids are commonly identified by their
constituents individually to hexanes, and lumping all the compounds heavier than
hexane as C
7
+. A typical oilfield molar composition for reservoir fluid is given below;

Composition and Properties of Several Reservoir Fluids
**
Component Dry
Gas
Wet Gas Gas
condensate
Near
Critical
Oil
Volatile
Oil
Black Oil
CO2 0.10 1.41 2.37 1.30 0.93 0.02
N2 2.07 0.25 0.31 0.56 0.21 0.34
C1 86.12 92.46 73.19 69.44 58.77 34.62
C2 5.91 3.18 7.80 7.88 7.57 4.11
C3 3.58 1.01 3.55 4.26 4.09 1.01
i-C
4
1.72 0.28 0.71 0.89 0.91 0.76
n-C
4
0.24 1.45 2.14 2.09 0.49
i-C
5
0.13 0.64 0.90 0.77 0.43
n-C
5
0.5 0.08 0.68 1.13 1.15 0.21
C
6
0.14 1.09 1.46 1.75 1.61
C
7
0.82 8.21 10.04 21.76 56.40
Properties
Mc
7
+ 130 184 219 228 274
yC
7
+ 0.763 0.816 0.839 0.858 0.920
GOR,
scf/STB
105,000 5,450 3,650 1,490 300
0
API 57 49 45 38 24
y
g
0.61 0.70 0.71 0.70 0.63

** Type of reservoir fluids would be explained in the subsequent chapter.

Phase Behaviour
Hydrocarbon system exhibit multiphase behaviour over wide ranges of pressure and
temperatures e.g. Methane, often a predominant component of natural gases and
petroleum reservoir fluids, is a gas, nC
5
and hydrocarbons as heavy as nC
15
may be in
the liquid state, and normal paraffin heavier than nC
15
may be in the solid state at room
temperature. However, the mixture of these hydrocarbons may be in a gaseous or liquid
state at the pressures and temperatures often encountered in petroleum reservoirs. A
reservoir oil (liquid phase) may form gas (vapour phase) during depletion. The evolved
gas initially remains dispersed in the oil phase before forming large mobile cluster.

The mixture may also become solid at certain temperature and pressure (WAX). It has
also been found that in some hydrocarbon mixtures, when pressure is increased at
constant temperature, the liquid phase vaporizes.
Hence, it would be very pertinent to define phase. The term phase defines any
homogeneous and physically distinct part of a system which is separated from other
parts of the system by a definite bounding surface. A particular phase need not be
continuous. The terms vapour and liquid are referred to the less and the more dense
phases of a fluid at equilibrium. By definition liquid is a saturated entity in the presence
of vapour and vapour is a saturated entity in the presence of liquid.

The study of effect of variation in temperature and pressure on the physical
characteristics of the naturally occurring hydrocarbons to establish phase relationship is
termed as phase behaviour. Phase behaviour focuses only on the state of equilibrium,
where no changes will occur with time if the system is left at the prevailing constant
pressure and temperature. A system reaches equilibrium when it attains its minimum
energy level (minimum Gibbs energy level-it will be discussed later). The assumption of
equilibrium between fluid phases in contact in a reservoir is a valid assumption in most
engineering application. Fluids at equilibrium are also referred as saturated fluids, as we
observe during gas liberation below bubble point.

Hydrocarbon accumulations are invariably associated with formation water that exists in
the hydrocarbon zone as interstitial water, and as aquifers. The formation water has little
or no effect on the phase behaviour of hydrocarbons. Hence in phase behaviour study of
GOR
Pressure
Saturated
oil
Undersaturated Oil

hydrocarbon system we will be concentrating on the equilibrium of state of oil and
vapour.
Phase behaviour of a hydrocarbon mixture at reservoir and surface conditions is
determined by its chemical composition and the prevailing temperature and pressure.
The study of this phase behaviour is of prime importance for petroleum engineers as it is
of prime consideration in the development and management of reservoirs that would
maximize the profits.

Phase behaviour of a pure compound

The word pure refers to a single component system and is considered to be the
simplest type of hydrocarbon system and they are not found in nature. The idea behind
presenting the phase behaviour of a single component system is to develop a qualitative
understanding of the relationship between temperature, pressure and volume of pure
component which would provide an excellent basis of understanding of the phase
behaviour of complex hydrocarbon mixtures.
Pressure-Temperature Diagram: The phase behaviour of a pure compound is shown
by a pressuretemperature diagram as shown below;

The line BD in the above figure is the solid-liquid equilibrium line, which is also known as
the melting point curve. Line AB is the solid-vapour equilibrium line or the sublimation
curve. The line BC is commonly known as the vapour pressure curve, which separates
Critical Point
Vapour
Solid
Temperature
D
A
C
Triple Point
Liquid
Pressure
B

the liquid phase from the vapour phase. The locus of the point on this line represents
vapour and liquid phases which can coexist at equilibrium. Any fluid at any other
pressure temperature within this region is an undersaturated single phase. The fluid
above and to the left of the line BC is referred to as a compressed or undersaturated
liquid, whereas that below and to the right of this line is called a superheated vapour or
gas.

The point C is called critical point and the corresponding pressure and temperature is
called critical pressure and critical temperature respectively. All the differences between
the phases are reduced as the system approaches critical point. Since the term liquid
and vapour phase refers to more dense and less dense phases of a fluid at equilibrium,
the density of both liquid and vapour becomes equal at critical point, making it difficult to
distinguish between liquid and vapour phases. A typical plot of variation of saturated fluid
density with temperature is given below;

Pressure-Volume Diagram: The pressure-volume diagram of pure substance is shown
below

C Critical Point
Density
Temperature
Saturated Liquid
Saturated Vapour


Consider the compressed liquid at point A, at a temperature below the critical
temperature. The reduction of fluid pressure at constant temperature would increase its
volume. As the liquid is relatively incompressible the fluid expansion is small until the
vapour pressure is reached, at point B, where the first bubble evolves from the liquid.
This point is called bubble point. Further reduction of pressure would result in changing
the liquid into the vapour phase. For a pure substance the pressure remains constant
and equal to the vapour pressure, a consequence of phase rule, until the last drop of the
liquid vapourises. This point where the vapour is in equilibrium with an infinitesimal
amount of liquid is called the dew point.

The locus of the system bubble points at various temperatures, which separates liquid
phase from two phase forms the bubble point curve, whereas the locus of dew points of
the system which separates two phase from vapour phase forms dew point curve. This
is very important concept in numerical fluid modeling, as the point of intersection of
these two curves defines critical point of the system-a point of discontinuity in phase
identification. Mathematically, point of inflection of PV line at critical point is defined as ;

V
p
V
p
2
2
0
= =

This critical criterion was developed in 1873 by Vander Walls and is enforced in equation
of state.
Critical Point
C
E
D
B
A
Two Phase Region
T1
T2
T
C

T3
F
G
Pressure
Volume
Temperature : T1 < T2 <TC < T3


Principle of Corresponding States:
Real gases fail to obey the ideal gas equation exactly. For exactly one mole of an ideal
gas;
0 . 1 =
RT
PV

Plotting the experimentally determined value of (PV/RT) for exactly one mole of various
real gases as a function of pressure, P, shows a deviation from the ideality.

The deviation from ideal behaviour is large at high pressure and low temperature. The
reason for this deviation is the intermolecular force of attraction at elevated pressure.
Hence equation PV=RT is extended to real system by including a compressibility factor,
Z as
PV=ZRT
The compressibility factor depends only on the ratio of temperature to the critical
temperature, reduced temperature, T
r
and the ratio of pressure to critical pressure, the
reduced pressure, P
r
. This approach is based on a very important concept, known as the

principle of corresponding states, which states that substances behave similarly when
they are at the same relative proximity to their critical points.
Application of the corresponding state principle to the vapour pressure of pure
compounds, follows a similar trend. The logarithm of vapour pressure of pure
compounds approximately varies linearly with the reciprocal of temperature as shown
below;

i.e.

) (
) (
2
1
C
C
S
T
T
P
P
Log

=

where P
S
is the vapour pressure and E
1
& E
2
are constants for each substance. At the
critical point; P
S
/P
C
= T/T
C
=1, Hence E
1
= E
2

i.e.
)
1
1 ( ) (
1
r
S
r
T
P Log =

If the principle of corresponding state were exact, the vapour pressure curves of all the
compounds, plotted in the reduced form should have the same slope equal to E
1
falling
on the same line. In practice, this does not occur. The deviation of models based on the
two parameter corresponding states principle is due to differences in molecular
structures of various compounds, resulting in different intermolecular forces. Hence
necessity of a third parameter is felt, in addition to the reduced temperature and
pressure, which would concur to the molecular structure. The acentric factor (o) has
been accepted as the third parameter in generating generalized correlations, based on
the corresponding state principle, particularly those related to fluid phase equilibria. In
fact the vapour pressure of pure compounds can be reliably estimated using the Lee and
Kesler correlation, which is based on three parameter corresponding state.

) (
) 1 ( ) 0 (
f f
C
S
e
P
P
+
=

Where f
(0)
= 5.92714-6.09648/(T
r
) 1.28862 ln(T
r
) + 0.16934(T
r
)
6

f
(1)
= 15.2518-15.6875/(T
r
) 13.472 ln(T
r
) + 0.43577(T
r
)
6

Phase Behaviour of a Multicomponent Mixture

The phase behaviour of a multi component mixture is not as simple as that of a pure
component. It is more elaborate than that of a pure component. The complexity
compounds as component with widely different structures and molecular sizes comprise
the system. However, reservoir fluids are mainly composed of hydrocarbons with similar
structures. Hence their phase behaviour is not generally complex. Two important
differences between pure and multicomponent systems are (i) the saturated P-T diagram
is represented by a phase envelope rather than by a vapor-pressure curve as the
separation between bubble point and dew point increases with the contrast of system
component, and (ii) the critical temperature and critical pressure no longer define the
extent of the two phase region. Two phase can exist upto cricondentherm and
cricondenbar beyond critical temperature and critical pressure.

Pure Component Multicomponent

Pressure-volume diagram of a multicomponent reservoir fluid is schematically shown
below;

Contrary to a pure system, in a multicomponent system the system pressure decreases
during an isothermal expansion between its bubble and dew points. At the bubble point
(A), the composition of the liquid is essentially equal to the overall composition of the
mixture. However, the infinitesimal amount of gas which is liberated is richer in the more
volatile component. Similarly at the dew point the composition of the vapour is
essentially equal to the over all composition of the mixture with infinitesimal amount of
liquid is richer in the least volatile component.

Critical Point
Temperature
Liquid Solid
Pressure
Vapour

C
Two Phase
Pressure
Temperature
T2
T1
T3
A
B
Pressure
Volume

Phase diagram of a mixture is determined by its composition. Figure shown below is that
of ethane-heptane system. The critical temperature of different mixture lies between the
critical temperature of the two pure compounds. However, the critical pressure exceeds
the value of both components as pure, in most cases.

The greater the difference between the critical points of the two components, the higher
the mixture critical pressure would be.

Retrograde Condensation: In a multicomponent phase diagram as shown below,
vapour and liquid phases coexist at any pressure-temperature condition within the phase
envelope. The different liquid/mixture volumetric ratios are conventionally shown as
dashed lines which are called quality lines. The quality lines come very close towards
each other near critical point of the system. Hence small pressure or temperature
changes at a region near the critical point cause major phase changes.

If the reservoir hydrocarbon system is at point A, reduction of pressure for vapor like fluid
at point A, forms the first drop of liquid at point B. Further reduction of pressure will result
in further condensation, as indicated by quality lines. This phenomenon of condensation
with decrease in pressure is called retrograde condensation. The condensation will
cease at some point, point D, and the condensed phase will re-vaporize again. The
shaded region of the phase diagram is called retrograde region. This is an important
phenomenon which is generally observed in gas condensate wells.

Classification of Reservoirs and Reservoir Fluids
A typical phase diagram of a reservoir hydrocarbon system can be used to describe
various types of reservoir fluids. Identification of types of reservoir fluids is necessary
and must for production and reservoir engineer, as different types of fluid require
different approaches for exploitation.
How to classify reservoir types? Location of reservoir temperature on the phase diagram
can be used to classify reservoir fluids. There are five types of reservoir fluids; dry gas,
wet gas, gas condensate (retrograde gas), volatile oil and black oil.

Dry Gas
Dry gas is primarily composed of methane and some intermediates such as nitrogen and
carbon dioxide. A typical phase diagram of a dry gas is given below

As evident from phase diagram the phase envelop is relatively tight and mostly located
below the ambient temperature. A dry gas does not contain any enough of heavier
molecule to form hydrocarbon liquid at the surface. Gas remains in single phase from
reservoir to separator. Water, however may condense at surface condition due to
cooling effect.
Wet Gas
A wet gas exists solely as gas in the reservoir throughout the reduction in reservoir
pressure. However, liquid may form at separator due to its position within the phase
region. A typical phase diagram of wet gas system is given below;

Pressure
Temperature
Reservoir
Separator
Reservoir
Separator
C

The surface liquid is normally called as condensate. As no condensate is formed in the
reservoir, material balance equation for a dry gas is equally suitable for a wet gas.
Producing gas to condensate ratios are typically above 10,000 v/v.
Gas Condensate or Retrograde Gas
In a typical gas condensate reservoir the reservoir temperature lies between critical point
and cricondentherm. The gas will drop out liquid by liquid by retrograde condensation in
the reservoir, when the pressure falls below the dew point. A typical gas condensate
phase diagram is shown below;

The phase diagram of a retrograde gas is somewhat smaller than that for oils because of
presence of less heavy hydrocarbons. However, presence of heavy hydrocarbons
(compared to a wet gas system) expands the phase envelope relative to a wet gas
phase envelope. Material balance equation developed for dry gases can be used for a
gas condensate reservoir as long as the reservoir pressure remains above the dew point.
Lowering of reservoir pressure, below dew point, results in gas to form free liquid in the
reservoir. The liquid will normally not flow and can not be produced. Hence,
condensation and loss of valuable compounds in reservoirs could be avoided by
maintaining the reservoir pressure above the fluid dew point by gas recycling. A
compositional material balance method should be used for gas condensate reservoir
system where pressure has fallen below dew point.
Volatile Oil
Volatile oil contains relatively higher heavy molecules than a gas condensate system
that makes it to behave liquid-like at reservoir conditions. The phase envelope, as per
phase rule, is relatively wider than that of a gas condensate system, with a higher critical
temperature due to its larger concentration of heavy compounds.
Pressure
Temperature
C
Reservoir
Separator

A typical volatile oil phase diagram is shown below;

The vertical line shows the path taken by the isothermal pressure reduction during
depletion. A small reduction in the pressure below the bubble point causes the release of
a large amount of gas in the reservoir. Saturation pressure of volatile oils is high. Gases
produced below the bubble point, therefore, are quite rich and behave as retrograde
gases. The amount of liquid recovered from the gas constitutes a significant portion of
the total oil recovery. Compositional methods should be applied generally to study
volatile oil reservoirs.
Black Oil
Black oil is the most common type of oil reserves. It consists of wide variety of chemical
species including large, heavy, nonvolatile molecules. Therefore, its phase envelope is
the widest of all the types of reservoir fluids, with its critical temperature well above the
reservoir temperature. A typical phase diagram of black oil is shown below

Reserv
2
3
Separator
C
1
Pressure
Temperatu
Separato
Reservoir
Pressure
Temperature

In a black oil system the quality lines are broadly spaced at reservoir condition with
separator condition lying on relatively high quality lines. In atypical black oil system GOR
may decrease initially when the reservoir pressure falls below bubble point, as the
evolved gas remains immobile at very low saturation. The saturation pressure of black
oil is relatively low. Contribution of heavy compounds present in evolved gases in
reservoir to the total liquid recovery is not significant.

PVT Properties of Oil and Gas
Knowledge of PVT is the first step in the study of any oil field as the information helps in
evaluating reserves, developing optimum recovery plan, and determining the quantity
and quality of produced fluids. In fact PVT parameters are required in every aspect of
reservoir engineering. Hence, accurate and reliable phase behaviour and volumetric
data are essential elements for proper management of petroleum reservoirs.

Most commonly information from black oil PVT tests are the oil formation volume factor,
Solution GOR, gas formation volume factor, as they are used to simplify engineering
calculations. Specifically, they allow for the introduction of surface volumes of gas, oil
and water into material-balance equation. Hence it would help if these terms are defined.

Oil Formation Volume Factor: It is defined as the number of reservoir barrels of oil and
dissolved gas that must be produced to obtain one stock tank barrel of stable oil at the
surface condition. Its unit is reservoir barrel/stock tank barrel.
Solution Gas Oil Ratio: It is defined as the number of standard cubic feet of gas
produced with each stock tank barrel of oil that was dissolved in the oil in the reservoir.
Its unit is standard cubic feet/stack tank barrel.
Gas Formation Volume Factor: It is defined as volume in barrels that one standard
cubic foot of gas at the surface occupies as free gas in the reservoir. Its unit is reservoir
barrel/standard cubic feet.
Compositional studies are often conducted for gas condensate and volatile oil reservoirs,
where detailed informations on the fluid constituents are used to estimate fluid properties.
Only in special cases such as gas injection or miscible displacement, the compositional
approach is used for black oil reservoirs.
.
Methods of Obtaining PVT data : There are primarily three methods by which PVT
data are derived

1. Laboratory Measurements
2. Empirical PVT Correlations
3. EOS fluid Characterization

There are several PVT tests that are routinely conducted in the laboratory to study and
quantify the phase behaviour and properties of a reservoir fluid at simulated recovery
conditions.
Empirical correlations and charts, mainly reminiscence of days when hand calculations
were norm to predict PVT data, are still in vogue and much sought after.
A compositional phase behaviour model (EOS), can predict all the PVT data using only
the composition of the original reservoir fluid. However, the model first needs to be
evaluated and tuned against the measured PVT data prior to being used in reservoir
studies with confidence. With the advent of fast computers and robust algorithms
compositional data model are becoming very popular

Routine laboratory tests
The majority of laboratory tests are depletion experiments, where the pressure of the
single phase test fluid is lowered in successive steps. The reduction of pressure results
in formation of a second phase, except in dry and wet gas mixtures. Hence type of
laboratory experiment to be conducted also depends upon the type of reservoir fluid.
Determination of fluid compositions is an important test on all reservoir fluid samples.
The gas and liquid phases are commonly analysed by gas chromatography and
distillation respectively.

Laboratory Tests for Dry Gas: In a dry gas reservoir system, no phase change occurs.
Hence, its composition remains the same. The only PVT test required for a dry gas is the
pressure-volume relation at the reservoir temperature and determination of specific
gravity, gas formation volume factor and isothermal compressibility.
Specific gravity =
96 . 28
Mg
where Mg=molecular wt of gas

B
g
= 0.02827 (Z

T)/ P where Z is the compressibility factor, T
and P is the reservoir temperature and pressure

A typical gas formation volume factor graph is given below;


Isothermal Compressibility

T T g
P
Z
Z P P
v
V
C ) (
1 1
) (
1
=

Laboratory Tests for Wet Gas:

PVT tests for a wet gas at reservoir conditions are similar to those for a dry gas.
Separate, tests are, however, needed to determine the amount and properties of
produced fluids at the surface conditions. The formation volume factor of a wet gas is
defined as the volume of the gas at reservoir conditions required to produce one unit
volume of the stock-tank liquid. The molecular weight and specific gravity of produced
condensate are also measured in the laboratory.

Laboratory Tests for Black Oil:
The phase transition of undersaturated oil during depletion can be best depicted as
given below. Let the reservoir pressure assumed to be higher than the bubble point
pressure. As the well is opened, pressure drops and as per theory of line solution most
of the pressure drop occurs near to the well bore. Away from the well bore, at Zone A,
which is far away from the well bore, the pressure is still higher than the bubble point
pressure. Hence oil expands as a single phase liquid.
B
g

Pressure
B
g
Vs Pressure


The pressure at zone B, is just below the bubble point. Two phase region is formed.
However, the gas saturation is too small to allow its mobilization. The gas is assumed to
be in equilibrium with oil. This reservoir process is simulated in the laboratory at
reservoir temperature as constant composition flash vaporization. In the flash
vaporization the overall phase composition remains constant.

Zone C which is just ahead of the zone B, the gas bubbles coalesce together to form
bigger bubble, thereby, increasing gas saturation. Gas which was immobile in zone B,
now starts moving towards well bore in zone C. In the zone C the overall phase
composition doesnt remain the same as gas moves out of the mixture. This reservoir
process is simulated in the laboratory at reservoir temperature as differential
vaporization. A series of flash tests at surface temperatures are also carried out to
simulate surface condition phase separation.

Constant Composition Expansion Tests:

Constant composition expansion tests are carried out at reservoir temperature on gas
condensate or black oil to simulate the zone A and zone B as shown in above diagram.
The following important PVT properties are determined through these tests;
Saturation Pressure (bubble point or dew point)
Isothermal compressibility of the single phase fluid above bubble point.
Compressibility factor of gas phase
Total hydrocarbon volume as function of pressure.
Constant Composition expansion test can be schematically shown as following;


A typical PVT test data as reported by a laboratory for constant composition tests is
given below;
Pressure, psig Relative Volume Y function Density
Reservoir
pressure
---- ----
---- ---- ----
---- ----
Bubble Point
Pressure
----
---- ---- ----
---- ---- ----
Atmospheric
pressure
---- ----

Relative Volume is calculated as ratio of total volume at indicated pressure divided by
total volume at saturation pressure. Y dimensionless function is used to evaluate,
smoothen and extrapolate the laboratory data.
[ ] [ ]
b b t b
V V V p P P Y / ) ( / / ) ( =
Where P
b
= Bubble point Pressure, V
b
= volume at bubble point pressure and V
t
= total
volume at pressure P.
Following plot of pressure vs relative volume helps in determining bubble point pressure
and isothermal compressibility.

Oil
Hg
P
1
>P
b
P
2
>P
b
P
3
=P
b
P
4
<P
b
P
5
<P
b
P
6
<P
b

Hg
Gas
Oil
V
t


The slope of the curve above the bubble point is a measure of the isothermal
compressibility of oil
C
o
=
T
P
v
V
) (
1

Differential Liberation (Vaporization) Tests:
In the differential vaporization or liberation test, the oil pressure is reduced below its
bubble point at the reservoir temperature by expanding the system volume. All the
evolved gases is then removed at constant pressure by reducing the equilibrium cell
volume. This procedure is repeated in 10 to 15 steps down to the atmospheric pressure.
This type of liberation is characterized by a varying composition of the total hydrocarbon
system. The experimental data obtained from the test include:
Amount of gas in solution as a function of pressure
The shrinkage in the oil volume as a function of pressure
Properties of evolved gas including the composition of the liberated gas, the gas
compressibility factor, and the gas specific gravity.
Density of the remaining oil as a function of pressure
A typical data set for differential vaporization is given below;

Pressure Solution
GOR
Relative
Oil
Volume
Relative
total
volume
Oil
Density
Z
factor
B
g
Incremental
Gas gravity
Pb ---- ---- ---- ----
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
P
atm
---- ---- ---- ----
Gravity of residual oil at standard condition= ------
Pressure
Relative Volume
P
b

Bubble Point


Relative volume is defined as volume of oil at indicated pressure per volume of
residual oil at the standard condition
Relative total volume is defined as volume of total oil plus liberated gas at
indicated pressure per volume of residual oil at the standard condition.
B
g
is defined as the volume of gas at indicated pressure per volume at the
standard conditions.
The differential liberation test is considered to better describe the separation process
taking place in the reservoir and is also considered to simulate the flowing behaviour of
hydrocarbon system at conditions above critical gas saturation

The test is started from bubble point pressure and the pressure is depleted till the
system pressure becomes atmospheric pressure. The test procedure can be
schematically shown as below;

Separator Test

In the separator test, a known volume of the reservoir oil at its bubble point is flashed at
two or more stages, where the last stage represents the stock tank. For oils with high
gas in solution, more than one intermediate separator is often used. A field average
temperature is used for the separator tests. The experiment is carried out at number of
stages to determine the optimum field separation condition which gives lowest formation
volume factor and maximum stock tank oil. Operational limitation may, however, dictate
other pressure conditions in the field.

The behaviour of a reservoir oil during depletion is simulated by a combination of all
there types of tests discussed above. The reservoir oil remains single phase as long as
the pressure is above bubble point. The gas evolved just below the bubble point initially

Expelled Gas
Expelled Gas
Oil
Gas
P>P
b
P=P
b
P<<P
b
P<P
b

remains immobile in pores. These processes are simulated by constant composition
expansion test i.e. flash vaporization. The evolved gas begins to move away from the oil
as the gas saturation exceeds a critical value. The process then becomes similar to
differential liberation tests. A part of the gas, however, remains in contact with the oil in
well bore and their subsequent separation in the separator. A flash separation can only
simulate this process.
In material balance calculations and black oil simulation, the properties of fluid produced
at the surface are related to those at reservoir conditions by the results of separator tests,
and not those of differential liberation. The differential liberation test data are based on
the residual oil in the reservoir, whereas the volume factor and solution gas data are
based on the stock tank oil must be used in material balance equation and black oil
simulation. The corresponding values by differential test are almost always higher and
can lead to errors of 10 to 20% in the calculated oil in place and recoverable oil. Hence
following corrections are made in the B
o
and R
s
values.

Odb
ObF
OD O
B
B
B B =
Where B
ObF
= Flash formation volume factor at bubble point
B
Odb
= Differential formation volume factor at bubble point

|
|
.
|
\
|
=
Odb
ObF
Sid Sif S
B
B
Rsd R R R ) (
Where R
sif
= Solution GOR at Bubble point from flash
R
sid
= Solution GOR at bubble point from differential liberation

Constant Volume Depletion Test:

Constant volume depletion (CVD) experiments are performed on gas condensate and
volatile oil systems to simulate reservoir depletion performance and compositional
variation. It is commonly assumed that the condensate dropped out in pores remains
immobile. The depletion process is, therefore, simulated by CVD. The test consists of a
series of expansion followed by expelling the excess gas at constant pressure in such a
way that cell volume remains constant at the end of each stage. The expelled gas at
each pressure stage is collected and its composition, volume and compressibility factor
are determined. The condensate volume is also measured.

A schematic diagram of CVD test is given below


Laboratory Test for Volatile Oil

Pressure depletion in volatile oil is associated with high gas liberation. This gas phase
almost immediately becomes mobile. The differential test seems to simulate the process.
However, the mobile gas which is produced with oil behaves as a rich retrograde gas
and contributes significantly to the liquid production. None of the pressure depletion tests
commonly conducted in laboratories can simulate the fluid behaviour as occurs in the
field. Hence, PVT tests for volatile well are not well defined till now. However
compositional model after tuning with pressure volume data and amount of condensate
may mimic the phase behaviour to some extent.

Empirical Correlations

When a reservoir fluid study is unavailable, the engineer must rely on correlations to
estimate values of the physical properties of interest. The main properties which are
determined from empirical correlations are the bubble point, gas solubility, volume
factors, density, compressibility, and viscosity. The correlation typically matches the
employed experimental data with an average deviation of less than a few percent. It is
not unusual, however, to observe a much higher deviation when applied to other fluids.
There are many fluid property correlations. A number of these correlations have used
data of certain localities; hence, their application is limited. Some correlations have
received higher attention and acceptability than others. However no correlation has clear
superiority over other. Some of them have shown their reliability in various comparative
studies. Following table provides information on the range of data used in the
correlations to help selecting correlation for specific purpose.

Gas
Gas Gas
Gas
Condensate
P> P
dew
P= P
dew P< P
dew
P<< P
dew
Gas
Gas
Gas

Correlation Standing Lasater Vasquez-
Beggs
Glaso Marhoun
Pb, psia 130-7000 48-5780 15-6055 165-7142 130-3573
Temperature,
O
F
100-258 82-272 162-180 80-280 74-240
B
O
, bbl/STB 1.024-2.15 1.028-2.226 1.025-2.588 1.032-1.997
GOR,
SCF/STB
20-1425 3-2905 0-2199 90-2637 26-1602
O
API 16.5-63.8 17.9-51.1 15.3-59.5 22.3-48.1 19.4-44.6
S
g
0.59-0.95 0.574-1.22 0.511-1.351 0.650-1.276 0.752-1.367
Sep. Pressure,
psia
265-465 15-605 60-565 415
Sep. Temp.,
O
F
100 36-106 76-150 125

Before different correlations for the determination of physical properties are given, it is
advised to the reader to use only those empirical relations which satisfy the limitation
given in the above detail and also matches with the experimentally determined results.

Black Oil Physical Properties
Correlation for Bubble point Pressure

Bubble point pressure P
b
is defined as the highest pressure at which gas is first liberated
from the oil. The correlation to determine P
b
are based on the fact that bubble point
pressure is a strong function of solution GOR R
S
, gas gravity
g
, Oil gravity
O
API, and
temperature T

Standing correlations

Standing initially introduced a graphical correlation for determining the bubble point
pressure for Californian crude, and later expressed the graph by the following correlation

( )

|
.
|
\
|
= 4 . 1 10 2 . 18
83 . 0
a
g
s
b
R
P

Where
a = 0.00091T 0.0125 (
O
API)
P
b
= Bubble Point Pressure, psia
R
s
= Solution GOR, SCF/STB
T = Temperature,
O
F
McCain suggested to replace gas gravity with separator gas i.e. excluding the gas from
stock tank would improve the accuracy of the equation.

Limitations:
This correlation should be used with caution if non-hydrocarbon component are
also present.
A deviation of about 15% is expected from this correlation.

Vasquez and Beggs Correlation

Vasquez and Beggs pointed out that gas gravity depends upon separator pressure.
Hence, it used the gas gravity (
gn
) normalized to a separator pressure of 100 psig.

2
) 10 (
1
C
a
gn
S
b
R C
P
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
psia

( )( )

|
.
|
\
|
+ =

7 . 114
log 10 912 . 5 1
5 S
S
o
g gn
P
T API
Where
a = -C
3
(API)/(T+460), T in
O
F

Coefficient API30 API>30
C
1
27.64 56.06
C
2
0.914328 0.84246
C
3
11.172 10.393
T
S
= separator temperature,
O
F
P
S
= separator pressure, psia

This method has an absolute error of 12.7%.

Glasos Correlation

Glaso developed the correlation from studying 45 North Sea crude oil samples

[ ]
2
* *
) log( 30218 . 0 ) log( 7447 . 1 7669 . 1 ) log(
b b b
P P P + =

Where
*
b
P is a correlating number and is defined by

c O b a
g s b
API T R P ) ( ) ( ) / (
*
=
Glasos correction for correlating number to account for non-hydrocarbon component
and stock-tank-oil paraffinicity is not widely used. As large variation was observed in the
tuned equation of state model prediction with that of Glasos corrected and uncorrected
bubble points as shown in the Figure Below;


Paraffinicity is characterized by Watsons characterization factor.

Marhouns Correlation

Marhoun used 160 experimentally determined bubble point pressure from the PVT
analysis of 69 Middle Eastern oils to develop a correlation for estimating P
b
.

e d
O
c
g
b
s b
T aR P = psia
Where,
T = temperature,
O
R

O
= Stock tank oil Sp. Gravity

g
= Gas specific gravity
a = 5.38088E-3
b = 0.715082
c = -1.87784
d = 3.1437
e = 1.32657
An average absolute relative error of 3.66% is observed.

5. The Petrosky-Farshad Correlation

The gas solubility equation of Petrosky-Farshad can be solved for bubble point pressure
051 . 1391
) 10 (
727 . 112
8439 . 0
577421 . 0
=
X
g
S
b
R
P
psia
Where
X = (7.916E-4)(
O
API)
1.541
-(4.561E-5)(T-460)
1.3911
T = temperature,
O
R

6. Lasater Correlation
Lasater used mole fraction y
g
of solution gas in the reservoir oil as main correlating
parameter;
C
7
+ Watson Characterisation Factor
P
b,
psia PR EOS
Glaso uncorrected
Glaso Corrected


g
b
T
A P
= psia

Where T= temperature in
O
R

57246 . 0
17664 . 1
10 83918 . 0
g
y
y A
g
= when y
g
> 0.6

31109 . 0
08 . 1
10 83918 . 0
g
y
y A
g
= when y
g
> 0.6

1
133000
1
|
.
|
\
|
+ =
S
O
g
R
M
y

R
s
= GOR, scf/STB
M
0
= Stock tank oil molecular weight
M
0 =
9 . 5
6084
API

. Cragoe correlation

In summary significant variation will not be observed for most of the correlations for P
b
.
However, Lasater and Standing correlations are recommended for general use and as a
starting point for developing reservoir-specific correlation.

Correlation for Solution GOR

1. Standing Correlation

Standing correlation for solution GOR is given as follows;

2048 . 1
10 4 . 1
2 . 18

|
.
|
\
|
+ =
x
g S
P
R scf/STB

Where
X=0.0125 (
O
API)-0.00091(T-460)
T=temperature,
O
R
P = System Pressure, psia
g
=solution gas specific gravity

This equation is valid for application at and below bubble point pressure.

2. Vasquez-Beggs correlation

Vasquez-Beggs presented an improved empirical correlation for solution GOR using
5008 measured gas solubility data points. The correlation proposed is as follows


|
|
.
|
\
|
=
T
API
C p C R
o
C
gs S 3 1
exp
2

Where
( )( )

|
.
|
\
|
+ =

7 . 114
log 10 912 . 5 1
5 S
S
o
g gn
P
T API
C
1
0.0362 0.0178
C
2
1.0937 1.1870
C
3
25.7240 23.931
T
S
O
R
P
S

Sutton and Farashad evaluated this correlation and found that predicted value had an
absolute error of 12.7%.

3. Glasos Correlation

Glaso developed correlation from studying 45 North sea crude oil samples. The
proposed correlation is given below.

( )
2255 . 1
*
172 . 0
989 . 0
) (
) 460

|
|
.
|
\
|
=
b g S
P
T
API
R scf/STB
Where,
*
b
P is a correlating number and is defined by

x
b
P 10
*
=
and x =2.8869-[14.1811-3.3093log(p)]
0.5
T=temperature,
O
R
P = System Pressure, psia
g

Most of the other solution GOR correlations can be derived from bubble point
correlations as explained in Bubble point section.

Correlation for Formation Volume Factor

The oil formation volume factor of saturated oil has been correlated by a number of
investigators using the gas in solution R
S
, gas gravity, oil gravity and reservoir
temperature as the correlating parameters.


Standing initially presented a graphical correlation for estimating the oil formation volume
factor, and later expressed the graph by the following correlation.

B
O
=0.9759+0.00012[R
S
(
g
/
O
)
0.5
+1.25T]
1.2
bbl/STB

T=temperature,
O
R
O
= Specific gravity of oil
g
R
S
= Solution GOR, scf/STB
The correlation is based on Californian crude sample.

2. Vasquez-Beggs Correlation

Vasquez-Beggs developed a relationship for determining B
O
as a function of R
S
,
O
,
g

and T. The proposed correlation is based on 6000 measurements of B
O
at various
pressures.
[ ]
S
gs
S O
R C C
API
T R C B
3 2
0
1
) 520 ( 1 +
|
|
.
|
\
|
+ + =
bbl/STB
Where
( )( )

|
.
|
\
|
+ =

7 . 114
log 10 912 . 5 1
5 S
S
o
g gn
P
T API
T
S
O
R
P
S
T=temperature,
O
R
R
S
= Solution GOR
g

C
1
4.677E-4 4.670E-4
C
2
1.751E-5 1.100E-5
C
3
-1.811E-8 1.337E-9

3. Glasos Correlation

Glaso proposed the following relation based on North Sea crude oil
B
O
= 1.0+10
A
bbl/STB

Where
A= -6.58511+2.91329 log(
*
ob
B ) 0.27683 ( log(
*
ob
B ))
2

*
ob
B is a correlating number as is defined as
*
ob
B = [R
s
(
g
/
O
)
0.526
]+0.968(T-460)

T = temperature,
O
R
g
= solution gas specific gravity

O
= Specific gravity of Stock tank oil
4. Marhouns Correlation

Marhoun developed an equation for B
O
by the use of non-linear multiple regression
analysis on 160 experimental data points and is given as below;

B
0
= 0.497069+0.862963E-3 T+0.182594E-2 F+0.318099E-5(F)
2
bbl/STB
Where

c
O
b
g
a
S
R F =
a = 0.742390
b = 0.323294
c = -1.202040

5. Material Balance Equation

B
O
is defined as

O
g S O
O
R
B
0136 . 0 4 . 62 +
=

where p
O
=density of the oil at the specified pressure and temperature, lb/ft
3

g
= solution gas specific gravity

O
= Specific gravity of Stock tank oil
R
S

Error in calculating B
O
using material balance equation will depend upon the accuracy of
input variables (
g
,
O
and R
s
) and the method of calculating p
O
. All the correlations for
B
O
determination give approximately the same accuracy.

Sutton and Farshads comparative study of these correlation suggests that Standing
correlation is slightly better for B
ob
<1.4 and Glasos correlation is best for B
ob
>1.4.
The Standing and the Vasquez-Beggs correlations suggest that a plot of B
O
vs. R
S

should correlate almost linearly. Hence this plot should be used for checking the
consistency of reported PVT data from a differential liberation plot.

Correlation for isothermal Compressibility Coefficient for Crude Oil

Isothermal compressibility coefficients are required to solve many reservoir engineering
problems, including transient fluid flow problems; material balance equation and they are

also required in the determination of physical properties of undersaturated oil.
Compressibility is defined as;

T
O
p
v
V
C
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
1

Strictly speaking, the compressibility of an oil mixture is defined only for pressures
greater than the bubble point pressure. If oil is at bubble point pressure, the
compressibility can be determined and defined only for a positive change in pressure.
Implicit in the definition of compressibility is the fact that mass remains the same.
However, as the pressure is reduced below bubble point pressure gas comes out of oil
and as a result mass of the original system for which compressibility is to be determined
doesnt remain the same.

Compressibility Factor for Saturated Oil
Perrine introduced a definition for the compressibility of a saturated oil that include the
shrinkage effect of saturated-oil,
p
B
O
, and the expansion effect of gas coming out of

solution,
T
s
g
p
R
B
|
|
.
|
\
|

T
S
O
g
T
O
O
O
p
R
B
B
P
B
B
C
|
|
.
|
\
|
+ |
.
|
\
|
=
615 . 5
1 1

Compressibility Factor for Under Saturated Oil

1. The Vasquez-Beggs Correlation
After studying a total of 4036 experimental data point for compressibility. Vasquez-
Beggs gave following equation for undersaturated compressibility of oil

C
o
= A/p psi
-1

Where
A=10
-5
{5R
sb
+ 17.2(T-460)-1180y
gs
+12.61
O
API}
( )( )

|
.
|
\
|
+ =

7 . 114
log 10 912 . 5 1
5 S
S
o
g gs
P
T API
T = Temperature,
O
R
P = Pressure above bubble point, psia
R
sb
= Slolution GOR at the bubble point pressure
T
S
= Separator temperature,
O
R
P
S
= Separator pressure, psia

g
= Solution gas specific gravity


Standing gave a graphical correlation for undersaturated C
o
that can be represented by

+
=

938 . 12 ) )( 4 141 . 7 (
1 . 79 ) ( 004347 . 0
exp 10
6
b
b ob
O
P P E
P P
C

psi
-1

Where p
ob
= oil density, lbm/ft
3

Any of the above correlations can be used for C
0
determination. However, caution
should be exercised while calculating C
0
for volatile oil where C
o
> 20X10
-6
. In case of
volatile oil simple polynomial fit of the relative volume data, V
ro
= V
o
/V
ob
from a PVT
report should be used for an accurate C
o
rather than using correlations.
Polynomial fit should be done as follows;
V
ro
= A
o
+A
1
P+A
2
P
2

2
2 1
2 1
) 2 (
p A p A A
p A A
C
O
O
+ +
+
=

Correlation for Oil Viscosity

The live oil viscosity depends upon the solution gas content. Oil Viscosity decreases with
rising pressure as the solution gas increases, upto the bubble point pressure. There are
few empirical correlations to determine the viscosity of saturated and undersaturated
crude oil which accounts for the effect of dissolved gas and pressure on the viscosity of
dead oil.

Correlation for determining dead Oil Viscosity (
od
)

For empirical correlation, the dead oil viscosity is determined first. The dead oil is
defined at atmospheric pressure and at any fixed system temperature without dissolved
gas.

1. Beal Correlation

Beal presented a graphical correlation to determine dead oil viscosity, if the
o
API gravity
of the crude oil and the temperature are known. Standing presented this in the form of
mathematical equation for determining dead oil viscosity,
od
, at 14.7 psia and
temperature T, in
o
R;

a
API
od
T
E
|
.
|
\
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
+ =
260
360 7 8 . 1
32 . 0
53 . 4
cp

Where

|
|
.
|
\
|
+
=
API
a

33 . 8
43 . 0
10

2. Beggs and Robinson Correlation

Beggs and Robinson presented an empirical relation for dead oil viscosity based on 460
dead-oil viscosity measurement
1 10 =
x
od

where

163 . 1
) 02023 . 0 0324 . 3 (
10
T
x
API

=
Temperature T is in
o
F

3. Glaso Correlation

Glaso developed empirical relation for dead oil viscosity base on crude oil samples of
North Sea.
( )
a
API od
T E ) (log 10 141 . 3
444 . 3

+ =

Where
A = 10.313 log(T)-36.447
Temperature T is in
o
F

4. Kartoatmodjo and Schmidt Correlation

In its empirical form this correlation is a combination of all three previous ones and can
be expressed as;
) 9718 . 26 ) log( 7526 . 5 ( 8177 . 2
) (log( ) 8 160 (

+ =
T
API od
T E
Temperature T is in
o
F
Dead-oil viscosity is one of the most unreliable properties to predict with correlations
primarily because of the large effect that oil type (paraffinicity, aromaticity, and
asphaltene content) has on viscosity.

Correlation for determining live saturated Oil Viscosity
The original approach by Chew and Connaly for correlating saturated oil viscosity in
terms of dead oil viscosity and solution GOR is still widely used. Most of other
correlations have in fact used the same concept in development of the relationship;
Chew and Connally gave the empirical relation as follows
( )
2
1
A
od o
A = cp

This correlation is valid for GOR less than 1000 scf/STB. The functional relations for A
1

and A
2
reported by various authors differ somewhat, but most are best fit equations of
Chew and Connallys tabulated results

1. Beggs and Robinson Correlation

A
1
=10.715(R
S
+100)
-0.515
A
2
= 5.44(R
S
+150)
-0.338
2. Bergman
log(A
1
)= 4.768-0.8359 log(R
S
+300)

A
2
= 0.555 +
300
5 . 133
+
s
R

3. Standing

2
) 7 2 . 2 ( ) 4 4 . 7 (
1
10
s s
R E R E
A
+
=

S S S
R E R E R E
A
) 3 74 . 3 ( ) 5 1 . 1 ( ) 5 62 . 8 (
2
10
062 . 0
10
25 . 0
10
68 . 0

+ + =

4. Al-Khfaji et. Al.
This correlation extended the Chew-Connally correlation to high GOR (upto 2000
scf/STB)
4
0
3
0
2
0 1
0631 . 0 4065 . 0 5657 . 0 2824 . 0 247 . 0 A A A A A
O
+ + + =

4
0
3
0
2
0 2
01008 . 0 0736 . 0 07667 . 0 0546 . 0 894 . 0 A A A A A
O
+ + + =
Where A
O
= log
10
(R
s
)
R
S

Correlation for determining live undersaturated Oil Viscosity

Oil viscosity at pressure above the bubble point is estimated by first calculating the oil
viscosity at its bubble point and then adjusting the bubble point viscosity to higher
pressure.

1. Vasquez-Beggs Correlation

Vasquez-Beggs proposed follwing correlation for determining live viscosity above bubble
point pressure by analyzing 3593 data points

m
b
ob
P
P
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
0

Where

m= 2.6 P
1.187
EXP[-11.513-(8.98E-5)p]

2. Abdul-Majeed et. al. correlation
[ ] ) log( 11 . 1 2106 . 5
10
b
P p A
ob O
+
+ =
Where
) (log 0092545 . 0 001194 . 0 ) (log 89941 . 0 9311 . 1
2
S API API S
R R A + =
Gas Physical properties

A gas is defined as a homogeneous fluid of low density and viscosity without a definite
volume. Gas occupies the volume of its container without regards to its shape and size.
Knowledge of pressure-volume-temperature relationship and other physical and
chemical properties of gases is essential for solving problems in natural reservoir
engineering. Following section would provide few empirical relations to calculate
important gas properties.

1. Compressibility factor (Z)

The compressibility factor is an important variable used to calculate gas density and gas
formation volume factor. To determine this factor Standing and Katz used the law of
corresponding states and came out with a graphical method for determining Z factor
from pseudo reduced pressure and pseudo reduced temperature. The particular graph is
shown below;

This graph is still widely used in the oil industry because of its accuracy and simplicity.
Standing and Katz developed the z factor based on mixtures of hydrocarbon gases with
molecular weights less than 40.However, natural gases often contain non-hydrocarbon

components such as CO
2
and H
2
S etc. At non hydrocarbon gas content values below
5%, there is negligible effect on the Z factor. Higher concentration of non hydrocarbons
gases can cause substantial error when calculating z factor. Wichert and Aziz presented
a simple gas compressibility correction procedure to compensate for the presence of
CO
2
and H
2
S. This method suggests the following adjustment to the pseudo critical
properties used to determine Z factor from standing and Katz chart..

=
pc pc
T T
'

) 1 (
2 2
'
'
S H S H pc
pc pc
pc
y y T
T P
P
+
=
) ( 15 ) ( 120
0 . 4 5 . 0 6 . 1 9 . 0
2 2
s H s H
y y A A + =

2 2
CO s H
y y A + =

Where
T
pc
=Pseudo critical temperature,
o
R, P
pc
= pseudo critical pressure,
'
pc
T =corrected
pseudo critical temperature,
o
R,
'
pc
P =corrected pseudo critical pressure and s = pseudo
critical temperature adjustment factor.

Following three empirical equations have been widely used in the oil industry for the
determination of Z factor.
Hall Yarborough method
Dranchuk-Abu-Kassem
Dranchuk-Purvis-Robinson

These empirical equations require iterative processes to get the z factor. Hence, it is
best used through computer programming. In this section only solution of Hall-Yarborugh
method would be explained.
Hall Yarborough method proposed the following mathematical equation to calculate z
factor;
) ) 1 ( 2 . 1 exp(
06125 . 0
2
t
Y
t P
Z
pr

=
Where
P
pr
= Pseudo reduced pressure
T= reciprocal of pseudo reduced temperature, i.e. T
pc
/T

And Y is the reduced density which is obtained as the solution of following equation;

0 ) 3 ( ) 2 (
) 1 (
1 ) (
4 2
3
4 3 2
= +
+ + +
+ =
X
Y X Y X
Y
Y Y Y Y
X Y F
Where
] ) 1 ( 2 . 1 exp[ 06125 . 0 1
2
t t P X
pr
=
) 58 . 4 76 . 9 76 . 14 ( 2
3 2
t t t X + =
) 4 . 42 2 . 242 7 . 90 ( 3
3 2
t t t X + =
X4=(2.18+2.82t)

Procedure followed to solve the equation;

Step 1. An appropriate initial guess for Y
n
is made. Where n is an iteration counter.
An appropriate initial guess is given as
[ ]
2
) 1 ( 2 . 1 exp 0125 . 0 t t P Y
pr
n
=

Step 2: Initial value of Y is substituted in the function F(Y). Unless the initial value is the
correct solution the function will have non zero value.

Step 3: A new improved estimate of Y i.e. Y
n+1
is calculated from the following
expression

) (
) ( (
'
1
K
K
n n
Y F
Y F
Y Y =
+

Step 4; The procedure is repeated several times till absolute value of (Y
n
-Y
n+1
) becomes
smaller than 10
-12

Step 5: The correct value of Y is then used to evaluate z

Correlation for Gas viscosity

1. Lee et.al.

Lee et. al. presented a semi empirical equation to calculate gas viscosity. The equation
can not be used for sour gas is given below;

|
|
.
|
\
|
=

Y
g
g
X K
4 . 62
exp 10
4

cp
Where
) 19 209 /( ) 02 . 0 4 . 9 (
5 . 1
T M T M K
g g
+ + + =

g
M T X 01 . 0 ) / 986 ( 5 . 3 + + =
X Y 2 . 0 4 . 2 =

p
g
= Gas density at reservoir pressure and temperature,
lbm/ft
3
T = Reservoir Temperature,
o
R
M
g
= Apparent molecular weight of the gas mixture

2. Carr et. al.

This correlation requires the knowledge of the gas composition and the viscosity of each
component at atmospheric pressure and reservoir temperature

=
=
=
n
j
j j
n
J
J j j
ga
M y
M y
1
1

Where
n is the number of component in the gas
y
j
=mole fraction of component j

j
= viscosity of component j
M
j
=Molecular weight of component j

EOS Fluid Characterization

An equation of state is an algebraic expression that can represent the phase behaviour
of a multi-component mixture both in the two phase envelope and outside the phase
envelop i.e. outside the bimodal curve. The same EOS can be used to calculate the
properties of all the phase. Phase equilibriums are calculated with an EOS by satisfying
the condition of chemical equilibrium. For a two phase system, the chemical potential of
each component in the liquid phase must be equal to the chemical potential each
component in the liquid phase. A component material balance is also required to solve
vapour/liquid equilibrium problems. Solving phase equilibrium with an EOS is a trial and
error procedure, requiring considerable computation. With the advent of powerful
convergence techniques, nevertheless, solution of EOS has become robust and faster.

Before we deal with the subject on EOS, knowledge of few concepts like equilibrium
constant flash calculations etc. are must
Equilibrium Constant

For a multicomponent system, such as petroleum fluids, the composition, pressure, and
temperature uniquely define the system phase behaviour. The equilibrium constant K
i
, of

a component i is defined as the ratio of the mole fraction of the component in the gas
phase, y
i
, to the mole fraction of the same component in the liquid phase, x
i

K
i
= y
i
/x
i

For a real solution, the equilibrium constant are not only function of pressure and
temperature but also the composition of the hydrocarbon phases. In compositional
modeling, the engineering objective is to determine the physical properties of the
individual gas and liquid phases. Consequently, the equilibrium constants which indicate
partitioning of each component between the liquid and gas phases must be known.
Hence it is appropriate to introduce flash calculation, which is the workhorse of most
EOS application
Two-Phase Flash Calculation

The two-phase calculation consists of defining the amounts and composition of
equilibrium phases, given the pressure and temperature, and overall composition. An
inherent obstacle to solving the problem, is not knowing, whether mixture may exist as
single phases or split into two or more phases.

The two phase split calculation (Rachford-Rice procedure) can result in either a solution
yielding equilibrium phase composition or a trivial solution. Even when the results appear
physically consistent, a rigorous check of the solution with the phase stability test may
be required. Mathematically the two phase flash calculation is solved by satisfying the
equal fugacity and material balance constraint with a successive substitution or Newton
Raphson algorithm.

The component and phase material balance constraints state that n total moles of feed
with composition z
i
distribute into n
v
moles of vapour with composition y
i
and n
L
moles of
liquidwith composition x
i

The material balance constraint can be written as

n = n
v
+n
L

nz
i
= n
v
y
i
+n
L
x
i

Let F
V
= vapour mole fraction =
) (
V L
v
n n
n
+

Hence Z
i
= F
V
y
i
+ (1-F
V
) x
i

Additionally , the mole fraction of equilibrium phases and the overall mixture sum to unity


= = =
= =
n
i
i
n
i
i
n
i
i
Z x y
1 1 1

This constraint can be expressed as
0 ) (
1
=
=
n
i
i i
x y
Since k
i
= y
i
/x
i
H(F
v
) = =
=
n
i
i i
x y
1
) ( 0
) 1 ( 1
) 1 (
1
=
+
=
n
i i v
i i
k F
k z

The above equation is referred to Rachford-Rice equation. With feed composition and k
values known, the only remaining unknown is F
v
. H(F
V
) has asymptotes at F
v
=1/(1-k
i
).
This can be shown in the following graphs;

Muskat and McDowell proposed a solution to the phase split calculation by assuming C
i

= 1/(k
i
-1), wher C
i
= for k
i
=1. They proposed following form of the function H(F
v
)
H(F
v
) =
=
+
0
i v
i
C F
Z

Where
+
=
2
) (
i v
i
v
C F
z
F
h

Using modified regula falsi method solution converges for F
V.
Having solved for F
v, p
hase compositions in different phases are calculated as

1 ) 1 ( +
=
i v
i
i
K F
z
x

F
v
Min F
V
Max
H(F
v
)


1 ) 1 ( +
=
i v
i i
i
K F
k z
y

The composition calculation requires value of k
i
at the pressure, temperature, and
composition of each phase. There are several methods to determine phase equilibrium
constants, including use of charts. Recommended way, however, is to determine
through equation of state by rigorously checking for stability by minimum fugacity energy
constraint for individual component.

The need for EOS rose when it was established that the equality of fugacity of each
component throughout all phases to be the requirement for chemical equilibrium in multi
component systems. , The fugacity coefficient
i
is defined as;

|
|
.
|
\
|
=
V
n V T
i
i
Z dV V RT
n
P
RT
j
ln /
1
ln
1
, ,

The fugacity coefficient can, therefore be determined from the above with an aid of
equation of state (EOS). Equation of states is basically developed for pure components.
However by employing some mixing rules to determine their parameters for mixtures, it
can be used for multi component mixtures. The mixing rules are considered to describe
the prevailing forces between molecules of different substances forming the mixtures. It
is the capability of EOS and the associated mixing rules determines the success of
phase equilibrium prediction.

Before deliberating on procedure for determining phase behaviour at different pressure
through equation of state, it would be pertinent here to deliberate on types of EOS.

Equation of States

Vander Waals first proposed the following equation of state by considering the
intermolecular attractive and repulsive forces;
( ) RT b v
V
a
P = |
.
|
\
|
+
2

Where, a/v
2
and b represent the attractive and repulsive terms respectively and v is the
molar volume. As the pressure approached infinity, the molar volume becomes equal to

b. Hence, b is also considered as an apparent volume of the molecules and is less than
molar volume v.

The above equation in terms of compressibility factor takes the cubic equation form;

0 ) 1 (
2 3
= + + AB AZ Z B Z
Where

The dimensionless parameter A and B are defined as

2
) (RT
aP
A

RT
bP
B

Hence Vander Waals type of EOS is referred as cubic EOS. A typical response of Van
der Waals EOS is shown below;

Based on the response equation of state can be divided into two main group: cubic and
non cubic. Cubic equation have three roots when T T
c
(Critical temperature) and only
one root when T> T
c.
At T=T
c
, there are three equal roots.

Following figure depicts the deficiency which most of the cubic equation of state exhibit.

Volume
Tc
T1
T3
Pressure


As can be seen the EOS are poor in predicting the under saturated liquid density.
Whereas, they can predict the gas phase volume and density remarkably well. A number
of EOS has been proposed by different authors. Notable among them are, Peng
Robinson (PR) EOS, Zudkevitch-Joffe modification of Redlih-Kwong (ZJRK) EOS,
Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) EOS etc.. However, none of them can be singled out as
the most superior equation to best predict all properties at all conditions. A number of
comparative studies have, however, showed that certain equations exhibit a higher
overall accuracy.

Peng Robinson (PR) EOS and Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) EOS take the general form
of ;

2 2
) 1 ( cb c vb v
a
b v
RT
p
+ +
=

When c=1, the above equation becomes the Peng Robinson (PR) EOS and when c=0, it
becomes the Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) EOS.

2 2
2 b vb v
a
b v
RT
p
+
= - PR EOS

vb v
a
b v
RT
p
+
=
2
- SRK EOS

C
Volume
Tc
T1
T3
Pressure
EOS
Observed

For pure components, the parameter a and b are expressed in terms of the critical
properties and accentric factor (o);

c
a a =
( )
c c a c
p RT a / =

C
T
T
k + = 1 ( 1

c c b
p RT b / =
Let A = ap/(RT)
2

B= bp/RT

By putting compressibility factor Z= pv/RT, THE general EOS becomes

[ ] ( ) [ ] 0 ) 2 1 ( ) ( ) 1 (
2 3 2 2 3
= + + + + B B c AB c B c i B A Z cB Z Z

For multi component system parameters a and b are defined using the following mixing
rule;

=
= j
j ij j
i
i i
a d x a x a ) 1 (
1

=
i
i i
b x b
where d
ij
is an empirically determined interaction coefficient.

Fugacity coefficient is given by

|
|
.
|
\
|
=
V
n V T
i
i
Z dV V RT
n
P
RT
j
ln /
1
ln
1
, ,

Solving and using EOS results in following general expression for fugacity

|
|
.
|
\
|
+
+
|
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
B Z
B Z
b
b
a
a d x a
B
A
B Z Z
b
b
i
j ij j i
i
i
1
2
1 2
ln
) 1 ( 2
1
) ln( ) 1 ( ln
T
The derivation is complicated and beyond the scope of the training programme.

Parameters
b a
, are determined from the critical condition.

At the critical point, the compressibility factor will have three real and equal roots.
(Z-Z
c
)
3
= 0
EOS c
1

2

a

b
Z
c
Peng Robinson 1
1- 2 1+ 2
0.45724 0.07780 0.307
SRK 0 0 1 0.42747 0.08664 0.333

The cubic EOS yields three real roots in the two phase region. The one having lowest z
factor is taken for liquid fraction and highest is taken for vapour phase. The in between z
factor is discarded.

To make the EOS more reliable in predicting liquid phase volume and densities,
Peneloux et.al proposed volume translation technique. A volume translation technique
modifies the molar volume of the system v predicted by the equation of state as follows;

V
cor
= v-c
=
i i
r x c
c i i
B t r = t
i
is the dimensionless individual translation value for each component.
c
c
b c
P
RT
B =
Volume translation is found to have no effect on the equilibrium conditions. Therefore, it
doesnt alter saturation pressure, saturation temperature, equilibrium composition etc.
However, it will modify the molar volumes, compressibility factors and densities of the
fluid.

Solution Algorithm for Phase Split Calculation through EOS

To know the mole fraction of a component i in the liquid and vapour phase,
compressibility factor for liquid and vapour at that pressure and temperature is must. To
determine the compressibility factor, Z, in the liquid or gas phase, the appropriate EOS
can be solved either by direct or iterative methods. These equations are cubic equations
that yield a single root in the single phase region and three real roots in the two phase
region. The largest root of the cubic equation corresponds to the vapour phase and the
smallest root corresponds to that liquid phase.
The following is the step by step procedure to calculate equilibrium constant and hence
split mole fraction in vapour and liquid phase;

1. The input data required for this calculation are the system pressure, p, temperature,
T and over all system composition.

2. The flash calculation is initialized by estimating a set of k values for each component
in the mixture.


( )( ) [ ]
( )
Pci
P
T T w
k
ci i Old
i
) / ( 1 1 37 . 5 exp +
= ---- Wilson Equation
3. With estimated k
i
value Rachford-Rice equation is solved for F
v
, with the search for
F
v
always lying between F
vmin
and F
vmax.

F
vmin
= 0
1
1
max
<
K
and F
Vmax
= 1
1
1
min
>
K

4. With the determined value of F
v
composition of each component in liquid and vapour
phase is determined. Now the next step would be know whether the determined
phase composition is stable or not.

5. Having calculate x
i
and y
i
, cubic equation is solved .
[ ] ( ) [ ] 0 ) 2 1 ( ) ( ) 1 (
2 3 2 2 3
= + + + + B B c AB c B c i B A Z cB Z Z

6. Out of the three roots, the middle z value is discarded. Lowest z value is designated
as liquid phase compressibility factor Z
L
and highest Z value is designated as vapour
phase compressibility factor, Z
V
. With the help of Z
L
and Z
V
liquid phase fugacity and
vapour phase fugacity is determined.
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
+
|
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
B Z
B Z
b
b
a
a d x a
B
A
B Z Z
b
b
L
L i
j ij j i
L L
i
Li
1
2
1 2
ln
) 1 ( 2
1
) ln( ) 1 ( ln
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
+
|
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
B Z
B Z
b
b
a
a d x a
B
A
B Z Z
b
b
V
V i
j ij j i
V V
i
Vi
1
2
1 2
ln
) 1 ( 2
1
) ln( ) 1 ( ln

7. Using fugacity value, new equilibrium constant, k, is determined

V
i
L
i
i
i New
i
x
y
k
= =
8. Following convergence criteria is tested

n
i
Old
i
New
i
k
k
1
12 2
10 ) 1 (

9. If the condition at step 7 is not satisfied. With the new k value the procedure from
step 3 is repeated. Till the condition is met

10. Following three types of converged solution we can get

a. A physically acceptable solution is found with o F
V
1. When F
v
=0 , it
correspondence to bubble point condition, when F
v
=1 it correspondence to
dew point condition when o F
V
1, it corresponds two phase condition.
b. A physically unacceptable solution is found, when F
V
<0 or F
v
>1, when the
calculated equilibrium constant satisfy the equal fugacity condition and the
mathematical material balance equation.
c. A so called trivial solution when k value equals one i.e. x
i
= y
i
=z
i

The solution a is usually correct solution. However, two phase condition stability should
be further analysed with the Gibbs tangent plane criterion for minima of Gibbs energy.
Gibbs tangent plane criterion is very complex and computer intensive and beyond the
scope of this training programme. The trivial solution at c should be checked with phase
stability test to find whether the mixture is in single phase.

Ws|| Issl |11ss1ls

Introduction

The aim of well testing is to get information about a well and about a reservoir.

Once the presence of hydrocarbon-bearing-formation is established and obtained its
porosity, thickness and hydrocarbon saturation. Well test analysis helps to get the
answer of three most important questions;

a. What is the volume of hydrocarbon in the reservoir system?
b. At what rate the available hydrocarbon fluid should be produced at the surface?
c. How much of the fluid can be recovered?

Besides it also provides information about following reservoir parameters;

1. Interwell flow capacity of a reservoir
2. static well pressure
3. Extent of well damage
4. Distance to nearest boundary
5. Detecting heterogeneity with in the pay zone.

Answer to the questions and information of reservoir parameters will establish the
commercial viability of the prospect and is the task of reservoir engineer.

Well test analysis is a branch of reservoir engineering. It uses the pressures and rates
under a standard condition for the determination of parameters which influences the fluid
flow through porous media e.g. permeability, fault, fluid contacts etc. Measuring the
variation in pressure versus time and interpreting them give data on the reservoir and
well.

There are few special pressure transient tests, which, can be used to determine the
areal extent of a reservoir and to estimate the volumes of fluid in place. In case of
composite systems like in-situ combustion, steam flooding or polymer flooding, these
1

well tests can accurately predict the swept zone parameters, enabling the engineers to
determine the efficacy of the processes. Pressure measurements can also be
interpreted to yield quantitative estimation of the well condition, so the efficacy of
stimulation treatments on well productivity can be evaluated.

Well tests do not directly provide estimates of permeability, well condition, pore volume
etc. Measurement must be analyzed and interpreted using a number of laws of fluid
mechanics to arrive at the desired result.

Diffusivity Equation

The fundamental basis of transient flow theory is the diffusivity equation, a differential
equation that must be satisfied when fluid flows through porous body under isothermal
conditions. When Darcys law is applied to continuity equation, an equation, which, is
developed from conservation of mass principle, it gets transformed to diffusivity equation
that governs the pressure distribution for flow through porous media. The derivation of
the equation is based on two laws and one equation of state which are;

Darcy law
p grad
k
V
=
It is assumed that Darcys law governs the fluid flow. Darcys law is not applicable
macroscopically throughout the flow period. It is applicable microscopically during the
time interval when the various parameters and flow rate can be considered constant.
The gravitational forces are neglected.

Material Balance

It is assumed that mass of fluid contained in the reservoir volume unit is equal to the
difference between the amount of fluid input and the output during the time interval.
0 ) ( = +
O
S
t
V

Equation of State

The gravity of the fluid varies with pressure and the variation is equivalent to the
compressibility of the fluid


T e
p
C ) (
1

The following section will derive first the continuity equation based on material balance.
Before that an attempt is made in the following section to derive a mathematical
formulation of what actually happens in a reservoir when a well is flowed, following
simple model and assumptions are needed. It is assumed that;

A vertical well of radius r
w
intercepts a horizontal formation of constant thickness
h and of infinite extent.
The formation is having uniform porosity and isotropic permeability K.
Constant viscosity .
Constant total compressibility C
t

The rock properties are not time dependent.
Under these conditions the flow is radial.
Let us assume two dimensional flow in the x-y plane and consider a control volume of
infinitesimal dimensions shown in fig. below. Let us assume that the dimensions of the
control volume are ox and oy with unit depth perpendicular to the plane of the paper. Let
us also assume that gravitational effect is negligible here.

Let G be the mass flux and G
x
and G
y
be the component of G in X and Y direction,
respectively.

The various equations reflecting the conservation of mass principle for the volume
element shown in fig above are;

Outflow=

(G
y + x y
y
Gy
)
+ (G
x + y x
x
Gx
)

y x
t

) (
(G
y + x y
y
Gy
)

(G
x + y x
x
Gx
)
y
y
x
y
x


Inflow =

Increase of Storage =

Application of the conservation of mass principle will yield

0
) (
=
t y
Gy
x
Gx

For three dimension space this equation can be written as

0
) (
=
t z
Gz
y
Gy
x
Gx

For steady flow the above equation can be written in vector notation as

0 = G

For constant density and no pore volume change in time (G = p.v) the above equation
can be written as;
0 = v Where v is the Darcy flow, normal to unit cross section area
of the flow. The above equation is called as continuity equation.
The appropriate differential equation is obtained by combining the continuity equation,
the flux (Darcy) Law, and an equation of state. Ignoring gravitational effects Darcy law is
given by
v = - p
k

Substituting this in the continuity equation we have

t y
p k
y x
p k
x
=
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
) (
---- eqn. (A)

Assuming constant compressibility we can write

x
p
c x
p
) (
1

Substituting this in eqn. (A) we get

t
p
c
y
p
x
p k
c
y
p k
y x
p k
x
|
|
.
|
\
|
+ |
.
|
\
|
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
) (
) (
2
2
x
y x
t

) (

The above equation is a non linear partial differential equation. If we ignore the second
degree term because of its very-very small value then becomes

t
p
c
y
p k
y x
p k
x
=
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
) (
) (

This equation is a linear equation provided that is a constant. If K and are constant,
then classical methods of solution can be used to obtain the pressure distribution. The
above equation, under these assumptions can be written as

t
p
k
c
y
p
x
p
) (
2
2
2
2

The above equation is popularly known as diffusivity equation and defines the movement
of fluid into, out of and through the rock pore spaces. The expression suggests that the
pressure disturbance or perturbation diffuses rather than propagates. Had the
perturbation effect propagated in the reservoir, the expression would have been the
second order differential equation versus time.

In a cylindrical coordinate system, the diffusivity equation is represented as;

t
p
k
c p
r r
p
r
r r
2
2
2
1
) (
1

In a radial system, to which most of practical field solutions are arrived at is given as
below;

t
p
k
c
r
p
r r
p
t

0002637 . 0
1 1
2
2
in field unit

The term
t
c
k
0002637 . 0
is called the diffusivity of the medium. It is a measure of how fast
the pressure perturbation will diffuse in the reservoir.
The same set of differential equation arises in many other contexts, and is not unusual to
obtain solution for flow through porous media by mere change in notation. The notable
other contexts are diffusion, diffusion and chemical reactions, and electrical problems
etc..
The solution of the above equation relies on the concepts of dimensionless pressure and
dimensionless time. The basic advantage of these groups is that they permit us to

understand the structure of the solution of interest without consideration of the specific
values of formation properties, fluid properties, or flow rates. The general solution of
diffusivity equation in dimensionless form is given as
) ( ) ( ) , (
0 D o D D D
r s BI r s AK s r p + =
Where;

s is the Laplace transform variable with respect to t
D
and I
0
(x) and K
o
(x) is the modified
Bessel functions of the first and second kind of order 0 respectively. A and B are
constants.

The line source solution of the above equation in the dimensionless form can be written
as

=
D
D
i D
t
r
E p
4 2
1
2

Using the following dimensionless factors;

)] , ( [
2 . 141
t r p p
qB
kh
p
i D
=

w
D
r
r
r =
t
r c
k
t
w t
D
=
2
0002637 . 0

Selecting a definition of dimensionless pressure is a difficult task. Basically the selection
depends on the wellbore condition-constant rate or constant well bore pressure.
Commonly used dimensionless groups follow from the seminal work of van Everdingen
and Hurst.

The general expression for pressure which is given as;

( ) )
4
(
4
,
2
kt
r
E
kh
qB
t r p p
i i

The above equation suggests that the whole reservoir is affected due to perturbation
created by flow of fluid. However, the practicality of the above expression lies in the fact
that it used to locate the compressible zone w.r.t time within the reservoir. The pressure
drop in the well mainly reflects the reservoir properties in the compressible zone.

That is what a well test enables us to i.e.;

characterize the average properties far away from the well
detect facies heterogeneity
identify permeability barriers.
define composite system

Before we delve on further on well test analysis it would be appropriate to define various
regime and type of flows. Based on their boundary condition of the flow the diffusivity
equation has been solved and solution has been provided w.r.t time.

Transient State Condition
Transient state which is also named as unsteady state as the condition at which rate of
change of pressure with respect to time at position with in the compressible zone due to
perturbation effect is not zero or constant.
Mathematically it can be expressed as
p = f (r,t)
) , ( t r f
t
p
=

Both are function of time and distance
Pseudo Steady State or Semi Steady State Condition

Its the condition which follows transient state. The compressible zone has reached to
the reservoir boundary (no flow boundary), and due to no support outside the boundary
of the reservoir in the form of fluid influx, the pressure declines linearly w.r.t time.
Mathematically this is defined as
0 =
r
p
at r= r
e
i.e. no influx
t Cons
t
p
tan =
for all r and t

Steady State Condition
In a steady state condition the pressure at every location in the reservoir remains
constant i.e. it does not change with time
Mathematically this can be expressed as
0 =
t
p
for all r and t
p= P
e
constant at r= r
e

Radius of Investigation
Since the pressure variation in a well test represents the properties of the part of
reservoir involved in the compressible zone. It is important to locate the compressible
zone and this is what is involved in the concept of radius of investigation. However,
caution should be exercised in finding out radius of investigation due to the fact that
radius of investigation is actually a circular system with a pseudo-steady pressure
distribution hence is not meant for locating compressible zone with in transient state
where pressure p and rate of change of pressure w.r.t. time is a function of time and
distance.

The expression for radius of investigation is given as;

t
i
c
kt
r
032 . 0 = in field units

Well Bore Storage
A well test begins with a change in production rates. Because the flow rate is usually
controlled at the well head, the compressible fluids in the wellbore do not allow an
immediate transmission of the pressure disturbance down to the surface. As a result of
compressibility of the fluid column, inequality in the surface and sandface flow rates
occurs resulting in accumulation of mass in the wellbore. The phenomenon is known as
wellbore storage. This can be graphically shown as below;

For a typical drawdown and buildup tests, the well bore storage phenomenon is known
as unloading and afterflow, respectively. In either case, during the initial stages of the
Well Head Flow Rate
Bottom Hole Flow
rate qB
q
t

Wellbore Storage Effect
Time

test, there is a variable rate at the sandface which invalidates the assumption of constant
production rate for which the solution of the diffusivity equation has been arrived.

Mathematical model
For a radial and constant flow rate in an infinitely large reservoir the flow model in
dimensionless pressure term can be given as;

D
D
D
D
D
D D
t
p
r
p
r
r r
1

Near to the well bore
1 ] [
1
=
=
D
r
D
D
r
p

However because of well bore storage effect the expression near to sand face becomes

D r
D
D
qsf
r
p
D
=
=1
] [
During the initial stages of well testing, the ratio of sand face flow rate and well head flow
rate from material balance and compressibility factor can be given as;

D
D
wD
D
wh
sf
qsf
dt
dp
C
q
q
= =1

where

2
894 . 0
w t
s
D
r c h
C
C
=
This makes the dimensionless pressure expression near to the well bore;
1
1
=
D
wD
D
r
D
D
t
p
C
r
p
D

In case of a drawdown test, the initially produced fluids are being unloaded from a well
bore with very or no flow at the sand face. That makes 0 ] [
1
=
=
D
r
D
D
r
p
a sense. i.e.
1 =
D
wD
D
t
p
C
Integrating and taking logs both side of equality, we get

D wD D
t p C log log log = +
in a dimensional form


C
qBt
p
24
=
Significance of the above relation is that, should the early data points (plotted in terms of
coordinates
D
p log and
D
t log ) exhibit a unit slope line, then most fluid produced
originates from the well bore. As the test progresses, the sand face rate is significantly
increased the term log p
wD
increases. As the storage effect diminishes log p
wD
is
described by the flow equation for constant production rate for a drawdown. For a build-
up similar methodology and expression exists.

Hence, it can be deduced that the deviation from unit slope line marks the end of well
bore storage effect. This is a very important observation for a reservoir engineer, as it
would be possible to devote more on quality data representing solution of flow model.
In a linear plot of del(p) vs. time, slope of the straight line is used to compute well bore
storage effect
i.e.

slope
qB
c
=
24

The straight line should pass through the origin. There can be several reasons for it not
to pass through the origin;
a shut in pressure error
a shut in time error

t
p

End of Well Bore
Storage

If such error happens, should be corrected by offsetting the data. However, caution
should be exercised in case of following cases;
Time duration between two consecutive measurements is very high.
Variable well bore storage due to gas
Fluid segregation in the well.

Skin Factor

Originally the skin factor response was introduced to incorporate the noted difference
between measured pressure response and predicted pressure response by diffusivity
equation model. The measured pressure responses were usually lower than the
predicted pressure. Van-Everdingen and Hurst suggested that the extra pressure drop
reflects a small region of low permeability (damage) around the well bore. In fact they
are credited for introducing the term skin factor to the oil industry.
Skin factor makes the vicinity of well bore characteristics different from those in the
reservoir as a result of drilling and well treatment operation. It reflects the connection
between the reservoir and the well. The difference in pressure drop in the vicinity of the
well bore can be interpreted in several ways;
By using infinitesimal skin and is defined by s. If
s
p is the pressure drop due
to skin
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
= 23 . 3 log 151 . 1
2
w t
wf i
r c
k
m
p p
S
in field units

qB
p kh
S
S
2 . 141
=
By finite Thickness Skin

K
S
K
r
s
r
w
K
s


W
S
S
r
r
k
k
S ln 1
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
Above equation shows that damage corresponds to a positive skin, and, improvement in
the flow due to well bore treatment corresponds to negative skin. It should be noted that
the negative value of skin may go upto maximum -5. Reporting of skin lower than this
value would have to be doubly sure by reservoir engineers from model verification.
Secondly, +ve skin are reported in the literature as high as +500. However, it is
cautioned that any value greater than +10 should be doubly verified from model
response.

Effective Radius

The effective radius method consists in replacing the real well with a radius r
w
and skin
by S by a fictitious well with radius r
ws

) exp( S r r
w ws
=

In case of a gravel pack, the effective radius of the well should normally fall between the
screen radius and the under reaming radius. An effective radius that is less than the liner
radius would mean that the gravel pack is particularly ineffective.

As, could be understood from previous section that the skin represented an additional
pressure drop located in the vicinity of the well bore. The additional pressure drop was
explained for understanding due to variation in permeability in an area near to the well
bore. However, the skin concept could be generalized in more practical aspects of well
bore flow phenomena. For example;
P real
P with effective radius
r
S r
W
K
s
< k

Skin can be used in representing pressure drop due to partial perforation
Inclination of a well improves the flow in the vicinity of the well bore, which can be
represented as negative skin.
It can be used as ve skin to represent the flow characteristic improvement in
hydraulically fractured well.
Injection of fluid (water or Polymer) into the reservoir creates a composite zone of
different mobility ratio. It causes additional pressure drop that can also
considered as skin.
In gas well, Darcy law breaks down at high velocity of flow. At high flow velocities,
pressure drop in porous media increases more than predicted linearly with
increasing rate. This extra pressure drop is accounted for by rate dependent skin.

Interpretation Methods

Well test can be effectively used to know reservoir flow characteristics, as the pressure
variation near a well bore reflects the reservoir properties in the compressible zone.
Hence well tests are used by reservoir engineers to know a number of reservoir flow
parameters which decides the exploration, development and exploitation of a reservoir.

A number of different methods are used to analyze a well test. However, they can be
classified broadly into two heads;

Methods using the Type curves
Conventional methods.

Inside each of the groups the above methods depend on the type of well, reservoir and
reservoir boundaries

Type Curves
Type curves are basically a graphical representation of the theoretical response during a
test of an interpretation model that represents the well and the reservoir being tested.
Most of the type curves are for drawdown well test response.

These type curves first appeared in seventies in the form of sets of curves using
dimensionless parameters. From 1983 on, type curve methods were greatly improved as

they were used in conjunction with the pressure derivative. With the advent of powerful
computers and programming use of Type curve has become very easy to use and
interpret. We would limit the introduction of Type curves only for vertical wells completed
in an infinite reservoir.

There are several kinds of Type curves commercially available. Few notable among
them are;
Agrawal et. al. Type curve
Mckinley Type curve
Earlougher and Kersch Type curves
Gringarten et. al. Type curve.

However, the most widely used Type curves in the oil industry is that of Gringarten et. al.
curves as they are most complete and practical to use. Hence a brief introduction about
Gringarten et. al. curves and methodology for use is given;

Gringarten et. al. Curves

Gringarten et. al. Type curve represents the variation in pressure versus time for a
specific reservoir-well configuration. It is calculated using an analytical model and
expressed in dimensionless variables. In the form of
)] , ( [
2 . 141
t r p p
qB
kh
p
i D
=

w
D
r
r
r =
t
r c
k
t
w t
D
=
2
0002637 . 0

2
894 . 0
w t
s
D
r c h
C
C
=


In a vertical well in an infinite homogeneous reservoir the dimensionless pressure
variations depend on three factors: time, wellbore storage and skin. i.e.
( ) S C t p p
D D D D
, , =

with Gringarten using the form below;
)) 2 exp( , ( S C
C
t
p p
D
D
D
D D
=

Interpretation Method

The interpretation method using type curves involves the following steps;
The pressure drop with respect to the initial pressure should be plotted on a
tracing paper lying on the type curve, using the same scale as that of Type curve.
Keeping the two coordinates axes parallel, the tracing paper is shifted to a
X axis

position on the type curve that represents the best fit of the measurement. Only
translational movement is allowed keeping the two grid parallel.
To evaluate reservoir parameters, a match point is selected anywhere on the
overlapping position of the curves, and the coordinates of the common point on
both sheets are recorded. Once the match is obtained, the coordinates of the
match point are used to compute formation flow capacity, kh and storavity
constant
t
C h . The specification of the type curve where the measured points
match, they correspond to a value of ) 2 exp( S C
D

( )
( )
M
M D
P
p
qB kh
= 2 . 141

( )
M
D
D
M
C
t
t
kh
C
|
.
|
\
|

=
000295 . 0

( )
D
D
C
S C
S
) 2 exp(
ln
2
1
=
What about Build-up Interpretation Using Type Curve?

Types curves were established for constant flow rate production i.e. drawdown. Hence
Type curve analysis for build-up should be done with caution.

In following condition only, type curve should be used to interpret build-up data.

Condition 1: Build-up duration should be very-very small compared to production
duration of the well.
Condition2 : Build-up duration should be smaller than the duration of the last production
period before shut-in.

Other than the above condition, it would be incorrect to use for Build-up interpretation
without incorporating certain changes. The effect of short production time can be seen
in a flattening out of the type curve, the build-up curve under the drawdown curve. Force
match between the build-up data and a draw down curve would result in a type curve
located too high on the set of curves and therefore in inaccurate results.


The most useful method of using drawdown type curves for build-up is Agrawals method.
It consists of plotting each measurement versus an equivalent time
e
t as defined below
instead of t .

p
e
t
t
t
t
=
1

There is a condition to be satisfied before which this equivalent time can be used in
Gringarten Type curve or any Type curve. The condition is; the semi-log straight line
should have reached during the previous drawdown before build-up.

Advantages of Type Curves lie in the fact that it allows the interpreter to make a
diagnosis about the type of reservoir and understand the flow regimes. It also allows the
interpreter to use the flow concept regime in a conventional interpretation method with
ease and confidence. However, assumption of constant well bore storage effect in a
Type curve puts severe limitation to the interpretation.

Conventional Method of Well Test Interpretation
This particular section will study the response of flow/pressure behaviour at constant
rate (drawdown) or when rate is zero (Build up).

Drawdown test
The solution of diffusivity equation in the transient pressure regime is given as;
Type curve from Type curve set
Type curve calculated
for a shut-in well


|
|
.
|
\
|
+ + = S
r c
k
t
kh
qB
p p
w t
wf i
87 . 0 23 . 3 log log
6 . 162
2

Hence, if pressure measured at the bottom of well bore is plotted against log of time, it
would result in a straight line with slope, m

kh
qB
m
6 . 162
= and
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
= 23 . 3 log 151 . 1
2
1
w t
hr i
r c
k
m
p p
S

This slope m can be used for calculating flow capacity, kh of a reservoir and skin. P
1hr
is
the pressure at 1hr from the start of drawdown test, read from the straight line equation.

Transient state is of short duration. If the test is extended and the compressible zone is
allowed to travel and reach the boundary of the reservoir, the flow regime changes to
pseudo steady state regime in absence of any support from the outer boundary. The
solution of pressure response in a drawdown test in a pseudo-steady state is given as;
+ + + = S
C r
A
kh
qB
t
hA c
qB
P p
A w t
wf i
87 . 0
2458 . 2
log log
6 . 162 234 . 0
2

The above equation suggests that a plot of pressure against time in the pseudo-steady
state region would result in a straight line whose slope is given as;

hA c
qB
m
t
234 . 0
=

hA is nothing but pore volume of the reservoir. If this is represented as V
p, then

m C
qB
V
t
p
234 . 0
= ft
3

This particular test is called Reservoir Limit Test (RLT). Point should be remembered
that RLT is valid for only for pseudo-steady state only and not for steady state. There are
different ways to calculate the pore volume in a steady state condition.

Build-up Test: Horners Method

Most of the information from a well test comes from the interpretation of a pressure
build-up. The reason is the fluctuation in the production rate which is inherent to the
production. Fluctuation may cause large variation in bottom hole pressure during draw
down test. This is not the case in a build-up test. In a build up test, the well is allowed to
flow at sufficiently large time to allow the flowing pressure almost constant.

Subsequently, the well is closed and the continuous recording of bottom hole shut in
pressure is done till the surface tubing shut-in pressure stabilizes.

The equation and analysis method was given by Horner.

The following expression for pressure is given ;
) log(
6 . 162
) (
t
t T
kh
qB
t p p
p
ws i
+
=

The value of pressure measured at the bottom is plotted versus the logarithm of
t
t T
p
+
,
on a graph, once the wellbore storage effect has ended a straight line with a slope of m
can be observed

kh
qB
m
6 . 162
=

This helps to know the flow capacity (kh) of the well. The thickness h is called the
effective thickness and is obtained by subtracting the noncontributing length from gross
thickness of the formation encountered in the well. Skin is determined from the following
expression;

|
|
.
|
\
|
+
+
+
= 23 . 3 log ) log( 151 . 1

2
1
w t
p wf Hr
r c
k
t
t T
m
p p
S

time
T
p
Pws
t

log of
t
t T
p
+
is considered negligible while determining skin through Horners method
and p
1Hr,
must be calculated from the Horner straight line at hr t 1 =

Extrapolated Pressure

If the slope of the Horners straight line is extrapolated at
t
t T
p
+
=1 (i.e. when t ),
the value of the pressure read, is called initial reservoir pressure (P
*
) in most initial tests,
where amount of fluid produced before shut-in is usually negligible compared with the
amount in place. The idea is that if the build-up would have been continued for infinitely
long time, the pressure would have stabilized to initial reservoir pressure. However,
when substantial amount of oil has been produced, the value of P
*
is not the reservoir
pressure existing at that point of time, rather this value is used to calculate the average
reservoir pressure. There are conditions, when the value of P
*
is found to be less than
average reservoir pressure

P ! So reservoir engineers should use this value with great
caution and understanding.

Miller Dyes and Hutchinson Method of Build-Up
Horner showed that build-up varies linearly with log(
t
t T
p
+
). When T
p
>>> t , the
term t T
p
+ can be approximated as
P
T . Physically it means that the pressure drop due
to previous production is neglected.

Hence the Horners equation becomes ) ln (ln
6 . 162
p ws i
T t
kh
qB
p p =

This equation was proposed by Miller, Dyes and Hutchinson and the particular method
of build up is called MDH method.

Pressure Shapes and Interpretation Methods in Various Characteristic Boundaries
When compressible zone created by the perturbation reaches reservoir boundary, it is
perceived as a characteristic response in the pressure at the well. This nature of the
response in the well bore pressure depends upon the characteristics of the boundary.
Few of the characteristic responses observed in different types of boundaries are
explained below;

Linear Sealing Fault

The boundary condition corresponding to linear fault is the linear no-flow boundary.
Linear sealing fault and disappearing facies, unconformities are few of the examples of
the characteristic boundaries. In such type of situation two different straight line
segments are seen with slopes having approximate ratio of 2:1 in the semi-log straight
line. The flow capacity and the skin should be calculated on the basis of first line.
However, P
*
should be calculated based on the second straight line in case of only one
fault. Flow capacity in both the drawdown and the build-up should be calculated based
on the following data;

m
qB
kh
6 . 162
=
Skin in drawdown
time
T
p
Pws
t
p

pMDH


|
|
.
|
\
|
+
= 23 . 3 log 151 . 1
2
w t
ihr i
r c
k
m
p p
S

Skin in build-up

|
|
.
|
\
|
+
= 23 . 3 log 151 . 1
2
1
w t
wf Hr
r c
k
m
p p
S

Gray suggested that the distance to the fault or barrier can be approximated using the
following equation.

t
t
c
t k
D
= 0328 . 0
Where;
D = Distance to the barrier or fault, ft
K = Formation permeability, mD
= Porosity, fraction
= Fluid viscosity, cP
c
t
=Total compressibility, psi
-1

=
t
t End of first straight line segment, hr
If the two barrier/faults are approximately the same distance, the characteristic doubling
of slope will not be seen in the plot. In such case after the initial straight line is seen, the
slope of the second line would increase to more than two times. In such case the second
line suggests presence of more than one fault.

In a type curve the derivative of the slopes goes up from 0.5 to 1.

Pressure Build-up Data from a Well Producing from a Long Narrow Reservoir
Such as Channel Sand
The pressure transient data collected from a well producing from a long narrow reservoir
as shown below have characteristics that show combination of radial flow and linear flow.
During radial flow the pressure varies as logarithm of time. In a linear flow the pressure
varies linearly with square root of time. The channel can be due to number cases such
as;
1. Two parallel sealing faults.
2. a sedimentary deposit channels.
3. two parallel lateral variations in facies. etc.

w
d

The channel is defined by its width w and by the distance, d, from the well to one of its
edges.

During a well test inside a channel, following characteristics in the pressure patterns are
observed;
A semi-log straight line with stabilization of derivative at 0.5 is observed.
As the compressible zone reaches the first edge of the channel, fault effect is
seen. The boundary has exactly the same effect as sealing fault in an infinite
reservoir. The slope of the line doubles. This is observed only when the well is
very off centered in the channel.
When the compressible zone reaches the two edges of the channel, it expands
linearly parallel to the edges of the channel. The pressure varies linearly with
square root time. Plot of pressure vs. t shows a straight line suggesting of a
channel.

A plot of P vs. t t t + should be made in case of build-up. If the late time data
becomes a straight line on this plot it along with doubling of slope in radial flow indicates
channel reservoir. P
*
is determined from the linear plot by extrapolating t t t +
to 0.

Linear flow is used to determine the width of the channel and the eccentricity of the well

The width of linear channel can be calculated by

t
c h
qBm
m
w
1
2
638 . 0
= ft :for a oil well
m
1
= slope of ( p
ws
vs.
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
t
t t
p
log ) psi/cycle
m
2
= slope of (p
ws
vs. t t t + )
q = oil flow rate, STB/D
B = oil formation volume factor, bbl/STB
H = net pay thickness, ft
C
t
= total compressibility, psi
-1


) 1 (
02 . 2
. 1
2 w
avg
S h
P qTZm
m
w
ft :for a gas well

Where
Q = Gas rate, mscf/day
T = Reservoir Temperature,
o
R
P
avg
= Average pressure in the neighborhood of the
well
Z = Gas deviation factor
S
w
= connate water saturation

Pressure Build-up Data from a Hydraulically Fractured Well

Natural fractures are distributed homogeneously in the reservoir. Artificially fractures are,
however, located in the vicinity of the well bore. They are created by the operations
carried out on the well. They are an effective technique for increasing the productivity of
damaged wells or wells producing from low-flow-capacity formation.

Fractures can be created both in vertical and horizontal direction. At depths of less than
1000m it is possible to create horizontal fractures. However, at great depths, the
overburden weight makes the fractures develop only along vertical planes.

Flow around an Artificially Fractured Well

The presence of an artificial fracture modifies the flows near the well bore considerable.
However because of the short distance extension of the fracture, these fractures have
finite conductivities, unlike natural fractures which have infinite conductivities.

In an artificially fractured well, initially, there is a fracture linear flow. This period is quite
short and is normally dominated by wellbore storage. Flow from the reservoir causes the
matrix to contribute to the flow of fluid to the fracture. This period is featured by linear
flows in both fractures and the formation and the fracture tip still has not affected the flow
behaviour of the well. These bilinear flow regimes are experienced only by fractures of
finite conductivity. Bilinear flow is followed by linear flow. During the start of this flow
period, the flow behaviour starts getting affected by the fracture tip. There is a linear flow
from matrix to the fracture. This flow is very often seen during testing of artificially
fractured wells. Finally, at, long times the pseudo-radial flow is reached by all fractured
systems regardless of the fracture conductivity or damage. The system developed for

the radial homogeneous system is equally applicable for interpreting data of this flow
period, albeit with minor modification.

u Lineur fIow in the fructure b iIineur fIow

c Lineur fIow in the fructure d Pseudo rudiuI fIow

Flow Model for Each Flow Pattern
a. Linear flow in the Fracture

The flow exists theoretically at the very beginning of the test. During this flow most of the
fluids produced at the well come from expansion in the fracture. The flow is linear. The
pressure varies linearly with t

The variation can be expressed as

Dxf
r
D
t
C
P
2
=

or

f t f
wf i
C k
t
wh
qB
p p
) (
128 . 8
=
Fracture
X
f


where

2
0002637 . 0
f t
Dxf
x c
kt
t
=

is the ratio of diffusivity inside the fracture and diffusivity in the reservoir.
And C
r
is the relative conductivity and is expressed as

k x
wk
C
f
f
r
=

The greater the relative conductivity of the fracture more effective and pronounce this
flow regime is seen on the plot. A fracture with relative conductivity of over 100 behaves
as if it had infinite conductivity. At low fracture conductivity, linear flow regime is not seen.
The concept of relative conductivity explains why the smaller the formation permeability,
the more effective the hydraulic fracturing is.
b. Bilinear Flow

It is called bilinear because it corresponds to two simultaneous linear flows;
an incompressible linear flow in the fracture
a compressible linear flow in the formation

Bilinear flow lasts as long as the ends of the fracture do not affect the flows. This
flow period occurs only in case of finite fracture conductivity cases and where there is no
well bore storage distortion. In this flow regime, the pressure behaviour is featured by
the linear relationship when data are plotted by using the p
w
and t
1/4
coordinates

4 / 1
4 / 1 2 /
) ( ) (
1 . 44
t
k c C h
qB
p
fW t
i
r f

=

The equation suggests that slope of the bilinear plot would lead to the estimation of k
f
w
and fracture half length. However, it should also be noted that determination of fracture
characteristics by this method requires knowledge of reservoir properties.

c. Linear Flow in the Formation

This flow is very often visible during testing of artificially fractured well. It is an integral
part of the conventional analysis methods of these tests. The flow regime occurs in the

fracture itself and in the formation proper. This type flow is exhibited by only highly
conductive fractures (C
r
> 100). This flow period if exists, should be used for calculation
of fracture properties. It is characterized by a linear variation of the pressure versus t
The flow is characterized by following expression

Dxf D
t p =
or
k x
t
c h
qB
p p
f
t
wf i
064 . 4
=
d. Pseudo Radial Flow

At long time and end of bilinear and linear flows, pseudo-radial flow regime starts. The
reason why it is called pseudo radial flow is that flow period is not fully radial (Russel and
Truitt). Nevertheless, all curves approach a common value of maximum slope which is
dependent on the length of the fracture penetration. Raghvan et. al. constructed a graph
of correction factors f
c
, which must be used to obtain the correct permeability factor.
i.e.
c H
f k k =

Russel-Truitt Method of Permeability Determination from Pseudo Radial Flow

Russel Truitt method for the determination of true permeability of the reservoir is given
below;

The graph is a plot between R=(Measured slope of build-up data/theoretical slope of
build up data) versus ( L
f
/D=fracture length/spacing between wells). A prototype of slope
is shown below and is not to the scale;

Procedure

R
L
f
/D
Russel-Truitt Plot for slope
Correction

For an oil well, the equation relating fracture length with reservoir test parameter is given
as;

R c h
qBm
m
L
t
f
1
2
638 . 0
=

where
L
f
= fracture length (tip to tip), ft
M
1
= slope of P
wf
Vs log t plot psi/cycle for drawdown
slope of P
ws
Vs log
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
t
t t
p
log plot psi/cycle for drawdown

M
2
= slope of the p
wf
vs t for drawdown
slope of the p
ws
vs t t t + for build up

R = Correction factor from Russel-Truitt plot

Steps to solve:

Step 1. : Assume an L
f
value
Step 2. : Calculate L
f
/D value
Step 3. : From the graph of Russel-Truitt calculate R
Step 4. : Calculate L
f
from the equation
Step 5 : The assumed value and the calculated value if found equal gives the correct
value of fracture length. Otherwise, repeat the iterative process.
Step 6: Put the value of R in following equation to know correct value of permeability of
the formation

1
6 . 162
m
R qB
kh

=

Flow Pattern in a Closed Reservoir

When the reservoir is limited by no-flow boundaries it is called closed reservoir i.e. when;
0 =
r
p
at r= r
e
i.e. no influx
t Cons
t
p
tan =
for all r and t

The beauty of this pseudo-steady state regime is that it helps to define the drainage area
of a well. Drainage area may be due to;
physical barriers: sealing faults, disappearing facies, etc.
production from neighboring wells: The boundary between two wells is
proportional to the pore volume drained by each well
Solution of diffusivity equation in the pseudo-steady state regime is given as below;

)
2458 . 2
ln(
2
1
ln
2
1
2
2
A w
DA D
C r
A
t p + + =
or

+ + + = S
C r
A
kh
qB
t
hA c
qB
p p
A w t
wf i
87 . 0
2458 . 2
log log
6 . 162 234 . 0
2

Where

A c
kt
t
t
DA
0002637 . 0
=

A = is the drainage area of the well
C
A
= is a shape factor that depends on the shape of reservoir and
the position of the well in it.
A table with shape factor corresponding to different well configuration is shown below;

Method to Calculate Shape Factor
As evident from the pseudo-steady state equation, a plot of pressure vs time on linear
scale would result in a straight line with slope m
L
as shown in the figure below;

The slope M
L
is used to determine the drainage area or the pore volume drained hA.

L t
hM C
qB
A
234 . 0
=

The value of C
A
can be calculated in the following way;
[ ] m P P
m
m
C
init hr
L
A
/ ) ( 303 . 2 exp 456 . 5
1
=

where,
m is from radial transient flow
and m
L
is determined from linear plot

C
A
value should be compared with the chart to find out the drainage shape.

Determination of Average Reservoir Pressure

When the compressible zone reaches real no-flow physical boundaries during build-up,
the pressure in the drainage area becomes uniform and constant. The pressure is called
the average pressure of the drainage area.

Matthews, Brons and Hazebroek (MBH) method
Matthews, Brons and Hazebroek calculated
A C
kt
t
t
p
pDA
0002637 . 0
= for various reservoir
well configuration and plotted against
m
P P
P
DMBH
) ( 303 . 2
*
= . One of the plot for

rectangular area is shown below;
Pressure
Slope=M
L
Elapsed time
P
init


Where
t
p
is the production time
P
*
is the extrapolated pressure from the semi log straight line
m= slope of the semi-log straight line
A= drainage area.

Steps to calculate average reservoir pressure

Step 1: From the known drainage area, t
pDA
is calculated

A C
kt
t
t
p
pDA
0002637 . 0
=
Step2 : From the curve shown above
m
P P
P
DMBH
) ( 303 . 2
*
= is calculated based on the

reservoir well configuration, which can be known from C
A
.

Step 3: From known m and P
*
average reservoir pressure is calculated.

Deitz Method to Calculate Average Reservoir Pressure

Following steps have been suggested for the calculation of average reservoir pressure.

Step 1: P
*
is calculated from semi-log staright line.
Step 2.: V
i
is calculated based on following equation

TOT
TOT i
i
Q
V Q
V =
Where,
V
TOT
can be calculated from geological structure map.
Q
TOT
is the total rate from the sand
Step 3: From V
i
area A can be calculate by dividing by average thickness.
Step 4: t
DA
can be calculated as follows

A C
kt
t
t
DA
0002637 . 0
=
Step 5: Value of
S
t i.e. start of pseudo-steady state time can be calculated from the
following equation;

DA A
S
s p
t C
t
t t
=
+

Step 6: The value of pressure at
S
t read from Horner plot gives the value of average
reservoir pressure.

P
*
P

Russel Method for BUP Interpretation

Some time well bore storage effect affects or distorts the Horner plot so that we dont get
the Horner straight line which is characteristic of radial flow. This makes the BUP
interpretation useless. Russel suggested a solution to this problem by following method.
Step-1 : Plot
t C
p
1
1
versus log of t
Where ) ( ) ( t P t p p
wf ws
=
Step 2: Vale of C should be chosen such that the plot we get a straight line

Step 3 : Slope of the straight Russel line would give the permeability value.

slope
qB
kh
6 . 162
=
Step 4: Skin should be calculated as follows

= 23 . 3
) (
log
)
1
1
(
) (
151 . 1
2
1
w t
wf hr
r C
k
slope
t C
P P
S

Horizontal Well Testing Procedures

Horizontal well testing is complex and on many occasions it is difficult to interpret.
Detailed discussion would require an exhaustive treatise. Hence, the discussion would
Correct C
C too small
C too large

be limited to only the fundamentals so that one can apply in solving actual field related
problem. There are four transient flow regimes that are theoretically possible with a
build-up or drawdown test in a horizontal well. They are as follows;

Early Time Radial Flow

The flow is radial and is equivalent to that of a fully penetrating vertical well in an infinite
reservoir.

Intermediate Time Linear Flow

A horizontal well will generally be long compared to the formation thickness; a period of
linear flow may develop once the pressure transient reaches the upper and lower
boundaries.

Late Time Radial Flow

If the horizontal well length is sufficiently small as compared to the reservoir size, a
second radial flow known as a pseudo-radial flow will develop at late times.

Late Time Linear Flow

This flow period occurs when the pressure transient reaches the lateral extremities of the
reservoir. The intermediate time linear flow and late-time linear flow period develops only
for reservoir of finite width. The identification of these flow regimes is critical to the
proper interpretation of a horizontal well test.

Pressure Response Equations for Different Flow Regime

Early time Radial

+
|
|
.
|
\
|
= s
r C
t k k
L k k
qB
P P
w t
y v
y v
wf i
868 . 0 23 . 3 log
6 . 162
2
for Drawdown

+ |
.
|
\
|
+
=
1
log
6 . 162
t
t T
L k k
qB
P P
W y Z
ws i
for BUP

Where

S
r C
K K
t
L C
t k
K
K
h
L
w t
y v
w t
x
X
v
869 . 0 227 . 3 log ) log( 023 . 2 log
2 2
1
+ +
|
|
.
|
\
|

|
|
.
|
\
|
=

Intermediate Time Linear FLow

+ +
|
|
.
|
\
|
= ) (
2 . 141 128 . 8
S s
K K L
qB
C K
t
Lh
qB
P P
Z
V y
t y
wf i
for Drawdown

Where 838 . 1 180 ln ln 25 . 0 ln |
.
|
\
|

|
|
.
|
\
|
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
h
Z
Sin
K
K
r
h
S
w
V
y
w
Z

=
3
128 . 8
t y
ws i
C K
t
hL
qB
P P for Build-up
Where

|
|
.
|
\
|
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
= 023 . 2 log
6 . 162
2
3
L C
t k
k k h
qB
t
x
y x

Late Time Radial Flow

+ +
|
|
.
|
\
|
= ) (
2 . 141
] 023 . 2 [
6 . 162
2
S s
K K L
qB
L C
t k
h k k
qB
P P
Z
V y t
x
y x
wf i
for drawdown

|
.
|
\
|
+
=
t
t T
h k k
qB
P P
y x
ws i
log
6 . 162
for Build Up

Late Time Linear FLow

) (
2 . 141
2
128 . 8
S S S
k k L
qB
c k
t
h x
qB
P P
z x
v y
t y e
wf i
+ + + =

for Draw down

= ) (
128 . 8
t t
C K hh
qB
P P
t y x
ws i
for Build-up

Gas Well Testing

The gas well testing differs from a well testing fundamentally. The basis on which the
diffusivity equation was derived doesnt hold good for gas. Unlike oil, gas viscosity and
compressibility vary widely with pressure. Darcy equation for gas flow can be written as;
p
Z
p
r
r
TP
khT
q
R
Wf
P
P g
w
e
SC
sc
g
=
2
) ln(
2

The general trend for
Z
p
g
versus pressure is given as follows;

Region I :
Region I which is less than 2000 psi, the pressure function
Z
p
g
shows linear
relationship with pressure. Hence
Z
g
1
can be taken as constant at low pressure, in
that case

Z
P P
p
Z
p
g
wf R
P
P g
R
wf

2 2
2

=

Hence Darcy equation for gas at low pressure <2000 psi becomes

( )
) 75 . 0 (ln(
703 . 0
2 2
s
r
r
Z T
P P kh
q
w
e
g
wf R
g
+

At high velocity flow Forcheimer modified the above Darcy equation to include the rate
dependent skin
Z
p
g

P, Psi
I
III
II
2000 3000


( )
) 75 . 0 (ln(
703 . 0
2 2
s Dq
r
r
Z T
P P kh
q
w
e
g
wf R
g
+ +

Region II

In region II, where the pressure is in between 2000 to 3000 psi the pressure function
shows distinct curvature. In this region, the concept of pseudo pressure should be used.
Pseudo pressure is defined as ;

= P
Z
P
P
g
2
) (
Flow equation becomes

( )
) 75 . 0 (ln(
703 . 0
s Dq
r
r
T
kh
q
w
e
wf R
g
+ +
=

Region III
Which is a high pressure region, higher than 3000 psi, the pressure function
Z
p
g
is
constant. Hence
) (
2
2
wf R
g
P
P g
P P
Z
P
p
Z
p
R
wf
=

Darcy equation becomes

( )
) 75 . 0 (ln(
406 . 1
s Dq
r
r
T
P P
Z
P
kh
q
g
w
e
wf R
g
g
+ +
|
|
.
|
\
|
=

Hence, while interpreting gas well test data, use of correct type of pressure function
must be remembered.

Absolute Open Flow Potential

To know the absolute open flow potential (AOFP) of a gas well is one of the most
important parameter for predicting gas production profile. The AOFP is defined as the
theoretical production flow rate of a well reached with the bottom hole pressure equal to

atmospheric pressure. This measurement is done in the pseudo-steady state region.
Well is allowed to flow through three different gas rates. AOFP is calculated in the
following way;

In the pseudo-steady state region, the flow equation can be expressed as

1. Pressure less than 2000

2 2 2
g g Wf R
Bq Aq P P + =
Where
+ = s
r
r
kh
Z T
A
w
e
g
75 . 0 ln
703 . 0

D
kh
Z T
B
g
703 . 0
=
2. Pressure greater than 3000

2
g g Wf R
Bq Aq P P + =

Where

+ = s
r
r
khP
Z T
A
w
e
Avg
g
75 . 0 ln
406 . 1

D
khP
Z T
B
Avg
g
.
406 . 1
=

2
wf R
avg
P P
p
+
=

3. Pressure in between 2000 to 3000 psi

2
) ( ) (
g g wf R
Bq Aq P P + =

Where

+ = s
r
r
kh
T
A
w
e
75 . 0 ln
703 . 0

D
kh
T
B
703 . 0
=


AOFP is defined as

B
B A A
AOFP
a
2
) ( 4
2
+ +
=

Composite System

In-situ combustion process, steam flooding process, polymer flooding process etc., give
rise to composite system, where mobility contrast exist within the reservoir. A steam
flood or in-situ combustion process is modeled as a two-region reservoir, with an inner
swept region surrounding the injection well and an infinitely large unswept region beyond
the front. Figure below shows a typical composite system.

Mobility contrast which exists in between the region I & II is used to model the fluid flow
in such type of composite system. This acts as basis for determination of the swept
volume using pressure transient model. The swept volume adjacent to an injection well
is considered to have both well bore storage and a skin effect. This swept volume has
different permeability, porosity and compressibility of the reservoir fluid then the zone II
ahead of it. A complication of non uniform temperature i.e. adiabatic condition does arise
while modeling a combustion system or a steam flooding, which is just opposite to the
assumption used for derivation of diffusivity equation. In an in-situ combustion process
the temperature in the region adjacent to the well bore will be that of injected air whereas
near to the combustion front it would be as high as 1000
0
F whereas, in case of steam
flood temperature adjacent to well bore, the temperature would be that of steam while,
that of farthest away near to outer boundary of the swept region, it would be equal to the
reservoir temperature. The solution to modeling such type of problem is found by
assuming swept region to exist at some mean temperature.

I
II
Well Bore
Top View

Modeling of the Fluid Flow in a Composite System

In any composite system, as explained in the previous paragraph, there will be swept
region from the injection sand face to the displacement front as shown in fig above.
Region-I will be dominated by the injected fluid which can be steam in case steam
flooding, injected air in case of forward in-situ combustion or polymer slug in case of
polymer flooding. Region-II is the zone representing the zone ahead of the displacement
front.
Modeling of the fluid flow in a composite system includes following assumptions;

1. The formation is horizontal, uniform thickness and is homogeneous.
2. The front is of infinitesimal thickness in the radial direction.
3. Flow is radial, and gravity and capillarity effects are negligible.
4. During the well test (Fall-off or Injectivity test) the front is considered to be
stationary.
5. The region behind the front contains only gas in case of in-situ combustion or
steam in case of steam flooding.
6. The fluid is slightly compressible.
The diffusivity equation derivation methodology is same as that of homogeneous system
as explained earlier while, deriving the expression for homogeneous system. In
dimensionless form, the diffusivity equation for two different regions can be written as
shown in the following paragraphs. The reason why the diffusivity equation is written in
dimensionless form is that, it permits to understand the structure of the solutions of
interest without consideration of the specific values of formation properties, fluid
properties or flow rate. The objective here is to obtain a solution that contains no
parameters.
Region-I

D
D
D
D
D
D D
t
P
r
P
r
r r
1 1
1
--- (1)

Region-II

D
D
D
D
D
D D
t
P
r
P
r
r r
2 2
1
--- (2)
Where :-

P
D1
= ) (
2
1
1
1
P P
qB
h k
i

& P
D2
= ) (
2
2
2
2
P P
qB
h k
i

2
1 1
1
1
W t
D
r C
t k
t

= & r
D =
W
r
r

2 1
)
`
)
`
=
t t
c
k
c
k

Eqn. 1 and 2 along with initial and boundary conditions, can be solved analytically in
cylindrical coordinates using, Laplace inverter to generate dimensionless bottom hole
pressure data, P
wd
,

as a function of dimensionless time, t
D
. The simulation of P
wf
function
against time t shows a semi log straight line on a semilog plot for region I (Swept
region) followed by a break at the front with another straight line having different slope
for region-II. The semilog slope of the first line as shown in fig below gives an idea
about the permeability and skin of the swept zone.

m
qB
kh
6 . 162
=
and
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
|
.
|
\
|
= 23 . 3 log 1513 . 1
2
1
w t
hr w
r c
k
m
P P
s

Where m is the slope and P
1hr
is the extrapolated pressure at one hour shut-in time for
the semilog straight line. The parameter B, , and C
t
corresponds to rock and fluid
properties in the swept volume and r
w
is the radius of the well.

After the semilog straight line, the system starts to react to the radial discontinuity at a
distance where the front lies or where the mobility contrast is highest. The zone near to
front behaves like an impermeable boundary due to the high mobility contrast. As a
result pressure rises above the semilog straight line as seen in fig above. During the

transition period, the system behaves or approximates pseudo steady state flow as
shown by the Cartesian plot in fig.below . This region of pseudo steady state can be
used to calculate the swept zone rock pore volume. The pore volume is related to the
slope of the pseudo steady state Cartesian straight line as follows;

m C
B I
V
t
g a
*
* * 234 . 0
=
Where I
a
is injection rate, B
g
is the air or steam formation volume factor, C
t
is the total
compressibility of the swept region and m is the Cartesian slope. The above calculation
of swept region for in-situ combustion or steam flooding is easy said than done. Because,
the above calculation is for isothermal condition whereas, in in-situ combustion or steam
flooding the process is non-isothermal. To solve for the swept pore volume, permeability
and skin formation volume factor B
g
and the total compressibility C
t
which are
temperature and pressure dependent, have to be estimated from the average pressure
and average temperature of the swept zone(region-I). Once the swept volume is known,
calculation of the fuel concentration for a combustion process or the cumulative heat
loss from a steam flood is possible.

Procedure for calculation of K, s and fuel concentration in a swept zone (In-situ
combustion process)

The basic procedure is to calculate the average reservoir pressure, temperature and the
swept volume simultaneously. Also the permeability thickness, and skin factor, s, can not
be calculated because the air properties, B
g
and C
g
are not known until the average
reservoir temperature and pressure is found. The procedure for in-situ combustion
process is explained as given below;
Pressure
Slope=M
L
Elapsed time
P
init


Plot the pressure and time data on a semi-log and Cartesian plot.
Estimate the average reservoir pressure behind the front from the early time
flattening of the semi-log plot.
From the Cartesian slope find out the slope of pseudo-steady state straight line,
m
1
.
Calculate dimensionless time, t
2
for in-situ combustion process from the
following formula;

( )
t
C h
K
t
b OB
OB
b
2
2
) 1 (
2
|
|
.
|
\
|
=

where K
OB
= overburden thermal conductivity
h = Thickness of the pay zone, ft
= Thermal diffusivity of the cap rock
t = total injection time

b
C) ( = effective specific heat of the swept region.
Calculate thermal heat efficiency as follows

+ = ) ( 1
2 1
) (
2
2
2
2
2
t erfc e
t
t
t E
t
h

Assume average temperature behind the front
Find B
g
and C
g
.
Calculate swept volume as follows

g
g a
C m
B I
V
1
=
Calculate total volume behind the front
V
V
b
=
Calculate the average temperature,
T as follows

r b
f a a
aF
c
a h
f
C V
T T C
F
H
t I E
T T
) )( 1 (
) ( ) (

+
+ =

Assume different average temperature and repeat the process till the subsequent
swept volume do not change
With the value of B
g
and C
g
calculate permeability thickness and skin


m
qB
kh
6 . 162
=

+
|
|
.
|
\
|
|
.
|
\
|
= 23 . 3 log 1513 . 1
2
1
w t
hr w
r c
k
m
P P
s

Calculate fuel concentration

1
V F
t I
C
aF
a
m
= where F
aF
is air fuel ratio.

Procedure for calculation of K, s and cumulative heat loss in a swept zone (Steam
flood process)

An important factor for a steam flood is the amount of heat that has been lost to the
overburden. Knowledge of the steam swept volume from a pressure transient well test
enables calculation of the heat loss. The procedure for the steam flood is simpler than
the in-situ combustion because the average reservoir temperature is known.
Plot the pressure-time data on a semi log graph and Cartesian graph.
Find the average reservoir pressure behind the front from early time flattening of
the semi log curve. From the steam table estimate the average swept zone
temperature. Find the slope of the early time semi log straight line. Calculate
the permeability thickness in the swept region

m
qB
kh
6 . 162
=
From the semi log graph calculate the skin factor

+
|
|
.
|
\
|
|
.
|
\
|
= 23 . 3 log 1513 . 1
2
1
w t
hr w
r c
k
m
P P
s

From the Cartesian plot find the slope m
1
of the pseudo steady state straight line
Calculate swept volume, V
1

g
gs s
C m
B I
V
1
1
=
Heat loss can be calculated as follows

( )
[ ]
s w w s
T
h
H H t q
V H
E
+
=
) 1 (
1

where =Steam quality
q
s
= steam feed water
H = Enthalpy

( H )
T
= Total heat content of the swept zone
This brings to an end to the well test concept applied to the in-situ and steam flooding
processes. It is evident from the above analysis that the pressure transient fall off well
test of thermal injection wells based on the above mentioned model produces potentially
useful results. However, it is pertinent to mention here that the accuracy of the result will
depend upon how accurately we identify the transient and pseudo steady state period in
the swept zone. The case mentioned above is an ideal one. Accurate determination of
different region requires derivative analysis of the pressure w.r.t. time.

MANAGEMENT OF OIL WELL TEST

After having discovered oil/gas pool, it becomes critical to know reliable information
about in Situ reservoir conditions. A proper understanding of the reservoir and fluid
properties is essential for cost effective and efficient development planning. Having
spent enormous amount on exploratory and a. delineation drilling activity to prove up the
reserves, it is negligible to leave the well without establishing data that will be required
for planning the exploitation of the reserves. There ate numerous cases where operators
have had to reenter or redrill a well or, worse still, have installed ill-designed facilities
and preceded with an uneconomic development as a result of inadequately planned,
insufficiently long, poorly supervised or misinterpreted well tests. It is pertinent here to
note the difference between conventional major fields and frontier marginal fields is that
large capital investment has to be made for frontier/marginal fields development based
almost completely on exploration and delineation well data. While the conventional field
development cases, the data can be refined in a phased manner using the latest drilling
and production results and for frontier marginal field development cases require a
commitment to spend majority of funds long before any production history is available. It
amounts to that the data obtained from exploration and appraisal wells must be
comprehensive and of the best quality possible.

WELL TESTS GENERAL

Well testing is a process used by the petroleum industry to solve problems and answer
questions related to the operations and economic evaluation of hydrocarbon reservoirs
and their associated wells. Two general conditions exist within the industry with respect
to the nature of well testing activities.

One most popular connotation in terms of the type and frequency of test occurrence, is
that a well test is an observation of a well's productivity i.e. production or injection rate as
a function of bottom hole or surface flowing pressure.
The second connotation of well testing, as seen mainly through the eyes of engineering
segment of the industry is that a well test is a definition and quantification of the
parameters which control a well's productivity, i.e. static drainage. area, pressure,
permeability, skin, etc. The advantages of second approach to well testing includes:

The ability to determine the accuracy of a well's observed productivity.
The ability to determine the stability of a well's observed productivity.
The ability to determine the impact of changing the parameters which control the
productivity of a well or an entire reservoir.
RESERVOIR ROCK PROPERTIES

Well tests can give reliable estimates of reservoir rock properties such as :
Capacity (Kh) : For predicting well productivity, estimating net pay open to flow,
correlating with core data, predicting reservoir stratification and establishing fracture,
stimulation requirements.

Skin(s) : used for estimating well Bore damage and essential for predicting well
productivity and evaluating stimulation potential and results.

Drawdown (Delta P) : used for defining productivity index of the well and evaluating well
bore conditions.

Production Characteristics: These are needed for production forecasting, designing
well completions and sizing top side facilities in particular the following data is needed.

Inflow Performance Curve or Absolute Flow Potential: For gas wells essential for
production forecasting.
Tubing Performance Curve: needed to size production tubing and gathering
system.
Sand Production: Important in designing production and injection well
completions specifically gravel packs.

Potential Problems: Waxes, sulphur, scaling, corrosion, and hydrates needed for
designing well completions and facilities.

The types of information available from pressure transient tests along with
economicaJ1y significant benefits of obtaining this information are presented in Tables.
Most of these tests are of productivity observation variety, but could be easily and
economically converted to pressure transient test variety with significant potential value
to the industry.

To recapitulate and summarize what has been talked of in the preceding sections, the
data generated from well tests and their utility is summed up below.
DATA REQUIREMENT AND DATA GENERATED FROM WELL TESTS

Most of the data required for evaluation and valuation of a reservoir would be generated
from well tests. The main data requirement expected from a production test programme
is summarized below with their utility and relative importance of such data.

FLUIDS
It is of utmost importance to identify and obtain representative samples of fluid contents
of the reservoir be they oil, gas, condensate or water. These are needed for geological
modeling, predicting fluid contacts, recovery prediction, and formulation of reservoir
depletion plan, production facility design and PVT behavior of the reservoir fluids.

RESERVOIR BOUNDARIES AND HETEROGENITIES

Comprehensive well test data sometimes can provide valuable information about nature
and size of the reservoir being tested. Specific information obtainable from well tests is
fractures, limit of reservoir like pinch outs, nearby gas cap, nearby faults, nearby aquifer,
stratification and inter-block communication. These are the areas of uncertainty can
usually be estimated by an extended production testing by investigating for several days.
When there is doubt about the size of the reserves, extended production testing is the
only answer to gain confidence on the reserves for development decision.

COST EFFECTIVENESS AND PROPOSED MANAGEMENT OF WELL TESTS
It is frequently impractical and not at all times to get all of the data indicated above owing
to various logistic problems. Certain guidelines as per their rank in importance is
indicated in Table. A technical recommendation and management decision has to be
made as to whether to spend the time and money needed to obtain certain items of
information. The recommendations have to be purely based on the need of the situation.
For instance a reservoir boundary is suspected from seismic and other geological
information which is critical to estimate minimum reserves size needed for development,
an extended test should be considered. It would be difficult to calculate cost
effectiveness for petroleum engineer to quantify the cost of not knowing the correct
reservoir fluid compositional analysis, because this missing data will have an impact on
the recovery predictions. The depletion plan the facilities design and ultimately on the
project cash flow. The development plan may turnout to be either too optimistic or
pessimistic. The facilities accordingly will be either under designed or over-designed.
This situation would result into non-optimization
of exploitation strategy. Now-a-days, sophisticated computer modeling tools are
available which would help ' in checking sensitivity of the project cash flow to certain key
assumptions. This can help to quantify cost effectiveness of obtaining certain data but
will not provide the total answer. The bad development would mean recovering less oil
and gas than what would have been expected but how much and at what cost? Under
these conditions, a judicious decision has to be taken depending on the situation, as to
what data is a must and rank remaining information as needs. Thus meeting the
requirement of cost effectiveness.

The problems arise for testing sour oil/gas wells because of concern associated with
high costs and risks in testing. Normally, there will be reluctance to test these wells even
if they are tested, the duration will be for a short time because the completions might not
be designed to overcome the bad effects,. This situation would result into missing of vital
reservoir information which would result into more assumptions.

TESTING GUIDELINES
Having been convinced of the importance of the data generated from well tests, the
following guidelines are given for obtaining the data through various means.

WIRELINE FORMATION TESTING
The repeat formation tester (RFT) is a well tried and proven testing tool which can
provide valuable information quicker at less time than DST or conventional production
tests. The pressures are very useful in identifying different reservoirs, depletion levels of
the reservoirs and geological zones.

DRILLSTEM AND SHORT TERM PRODUCTION TESTING
It is a short term test conducted in a well. These can be run in open hole under
cemented casing under tubing and permanent packers. Successful well testing in frontier
wells consists of finding the correct balance between two opposing needs - obtaining
maximum collection of relevant data with minimum amount of expensive rig and support
costs.

FLOW AND BUILD-UP PERIODS
Adequate pretest planning is required for estimating number and length of flow and
build-up periods. If log, core, wire line formation test or nearby offset well data is
sufficient, flowing and build-up periods can be specifically specified using fluid flow
equation, i.e. by determining stabilization time. While designing the test period the
following should be kept in mind.

The time required to eliminate well bore storage effects for both drawdown and
build-up testing.
The time required for semi-log analysis techniques to be applicable.
The time when flow conditions change from transient to semi-steady-state,
expected flow rates under both flow regimes and radius of investigations at
different times.
In the absence of any specifically designed tests, the following guidelines are suggested.

Initial flow of 15-30 minutes is required to allow equalization of the filtrate invaded
zone back to static reservoir pressure.
It should be followed by 1.0 to 2.0 hours shut-in to" obtain reliable estimates of
initial reservoir pressure and temperature gradients should be seen.

Clean up period should continue until the tubing head pressures and
temperatures, gas-oil ratios, water rate are reasonable stable.
If high drawdown are required to get intended test rates the choke size should be
progressively increased to safeguard against sand production.
Highly productive zones can be produced at high rates immediately to obtain
high tubing head temperatures to minimize hydrate formation and to accelerate
clean-up.
Clean-up rate should be more than the planned test rates to facilitate opening up
of maximum number of perforations.
The response of the well to choke sizes should be well conceived during clean
up, so that a suitable choke size can be chosen before putting the flow through
separators.
Frequent changes of chokes should be avoided which would make analysis
difficult if not useless.

OIL WELL TESTING

Three flow periods are ideal to maximize reservoir data if there is time
constraint, two rates may be adequate.
The drawdown to be created should be up to 40% - 50% of reservoir
pressure.
At least four hours of stabilized flow rate should be adequate to get reliable
data.
If specific information is needed like sand failure, casing, etc. the drawdown
should be higher to know the sensitivity of drawdown to sand cut.
If due to operational constraints, the pressure. Build-up study is not amenable
for Horners Method, data should be interpreted by log-log curve matching
technique to get the feel of reservoir properties.
GAS WELL TESTING

Gas well testing should be essentially multi-rate flow tests (4 chokes) to obtain
reasonable estimates of flow performance and rate dependent skin effect.

Flow after flow tests or Back-Pressure tests be preferred if the reservoir
permeability is large.
Modified isochronal be chosen if permeability is low.
The build-up time should be approximately twice the cumulative flow time of flow
and clean up time.
If enough details available the time needed for applying semi-log analysis
technique can be applied.
If possible, the well should be dosed-in down hole to minimize well bore storage
effects.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
Well test engineering is the process of successfully deriving useful valuable information
from well tests in the form of problem diagnosis and or reservoir valuation. The tasks
required to perform well test engineering can be grouped into three categories:

l. Planning and Designing
2. Monitoring and Control
3. Interpretation and Diagnosis.

These activities have to be carefully and judiciously planned, executed and Interpreted,
the task of finding a model which adequately represents the physical situation existing in
the wells and reservoirs being tested and quantifying the parameters which are critical
parameters in planning,
development, predicting reservoir depletion and managing the reservoir during the
producing life to get best out of the reservoir.

To conclude, well tests would be able to generate very useful information by which the
"Definition" and "Evaluation" of the reservoir could be accomplished in a very meaningful
manner thereby leading to draw a rational development strategy. As it is amply clear that
reservoir is unbelievably complex and impossible to define completely, to arrive at a
diagnosis of the system, one has to rely on

A few physical deterministic facts.
Production statistics often of doubtful reliability.

Samples representing approximately one billilanths of the reservoir.
Statistical averaging techniques (often misapplied)

Stylized mathematical equations derived from assumptions which may only remotely
represent reservoir conditions. Because of tilt: above limitations, the results of the
reservoir engineering calculations would be of probabilistic nature. It should be the effort
to get as much as
Deterministic values, so the assumptions would be fewer. To work in this direction and
achieve the objective of accomplishing more reliable and maximum data, properly
planned well tests is the only answer. Whatever data that is considered for defining and
evaluating the reservoir, should bear reality so that the success of the venture would not
be jeopardized.

RESERVOIR FLUID SAMPLING
OBJECTIVE OF RESERVOIR FLUID SAMPLING:
Objective of reservoir fluid sampling is to get oil & gas in the same composition and state
in which it exist in the reservoir. The specific procedure used to obtain representative
fluid depends upon the composition of fluid, its state and the mechanical equipment
used at well site. Obtaining a proper sample is as important as subsequent laboratory
tests, yet a few engineers understand the advantages & the limitations of the several
methods that are commonly used in the sample.

It may be well to consider several general facts involved in getting sample of oil & gas
that are representative of reservoir fluids. In the first place there is no assurance that any
sample obtained from one well is representative of the fluid throughout the reservoir.
Theoretically the effective gravitational force of earth causes differences in composition
of oil lying at different elevations within a reservoirs (compositional variation due to
gravity segregation). Also, the reservoir fluid may vary in composition between the
locations having same structural elevations because of moment of rock strata
comprising the reservoir during geologic time. Both kinds of compositional variation have
been observed in oil field. When reservoir is relatively small if properly taken sample
from one well can be representative of entire reservoir but if the reservoir is large and
complex, samples from several wells may be required. Large variations in fluid

composition often occurs in a very thick formation, in areally large reservoirs or in
reservoirs subject to recent tectonic disturbances. A fluid sampling program is therefore
to be planned to collect sufficient reservoir fluid samples from different area alongwith
trapping depth in reservoir to know the fluids behaviour in the entire reservoir. When
the objective is to obtain sample of original reservoir fluid, it is important to take sample
in the earliest production life of the reservoir or atleast before the formation pressure has
dropped below the reservoir fluids saturation pressure.

The other important thing is to know to what extent the fluid in the tubing is
representative of reservoir fluid in the region of the well being sampled. This is very
important factor because all the methods make use either directly or indirectly of fluids
obtained from the well tubing. Two reasons why the fluid flowing in the tubing might not
be representative of reservoir fluid are:

1) Dual completion and simultaneous production of fluids of different zone from same
string.
2) Presence of liquid and gas in intimate contact in the same zone may result in two-
phase flow and result into non-representative sampling.

CONDITIONING OF THE WELL FOR SAMPLING:

The objective of well conditioning is to replace the non-representative reservoir fluid
located around the wellbore by displacing it into the well with original reservoir fluid from
the more distant parts of the reservoir. Simply shutting-in the well to restore the pressure
around the well bore will not necessarily bring the fluid in the affected area to its original
condition or composition. It is necessary to flow the well at a low flow rate to allow the
altered oil to be displaced by representative reservoir oil.
Conditioning the well before sampling is almost always necessary and is especially
important when the reservoir fluid is saturated at prevailing reservoir pressure. This is
because the reduction in pressure around well bore, which results from producing the
wells, can alter the fluid composition before it reaches the well bore and well string.

Conditioning of flowing oil wells:

To collect representative reservoir fluid from a selected oil well it is necessary that the
well should be new with minimum gas saturation and should not be producing free water.
Before collecting the sample it is necessary to see that the well is producing with the
flowing bottom hole pressures much above the saturation pressure so that there is no
change in the state or composition of in- place oil. A flowing well must be subjected to
reduction in flow rates by a multi-bean test (by systematic reduction of bean sizes). A
stabilized oil & gas rates, water-cut and bottom sediments should be recorded with each
bean.
When the gas-oil ratio remains constant after the first reduction in flow rate bean size),
flow of an undersaturated oil into well bore is indicated. This means that there is no
change in phase state and composition of in-place reservoir oil entering into tubing. In
this event the well can be considered to be conditioned.
When gas oil ratio decreases after rate reduction, the presence of the gas saturation in
the formation around wellbore is indicated. The gas saturation can results from a) coning
of gas cap gas into oil bearing formation around the well bore; b) flowing bottom hole
pressure being less that saturation pressure. In this condition the well is conditioned by
reducing the producing rate by stages. The stage-wise reductions in flowing rate is
continued until minimum stabilized GOR is reached and when further reduction in rate
do not affect the gas oil ratio this indicates that the non-representative oil around the
wellbore has been replaced by representative in-place oil flowing in from a greater
distance in the reservoir and the well can be assumed as conditioned for sampling.
When the gas-oil ratio increases after rate reduction, the simultaneous production of a
gas from a gas bearing zone and oil from an oil-bearing zone is indicated. The increased
gas-oil ratio could be caused by subsidence of an oil zone. Although a representative
sample of the reservoir oil can often be obtained, it is better to use a well which does not
indicate oil coning, because it is difficult to determine when the well is adequately
conditioned.

Conditioning Gas-Condensate wells:
The procedure for conditioning a gas-condensate well prior to sampling is based upon
interpreting the changes in the gas-condensate ratio that result from reducing the
producing rate in a series of steps. When the pressure on a gas condensate type fluid
is reduced below its dew point pressure, a liquid phase is formed. As a result the vapour

phase, which is the fluid produced, will have a lower concentration of condensable
hydrocarbon. This loss of condensable hydrocarbon results initially in an increase in the
producing gas-oil ratio. Since the largest part of the pressure drop occurs in the area
close to the wellbore, retrograde liquid saturation in that area can build-up enough to
allow the liquid to become mobile. This mobile liquid can cause unpredictable but
significant short-term changes in the gas-condensate ratio to accompany changes in the
producing rate.

The well is conditioned by placing it on a producing schedule consisting of a series of
successively lower rates. After each rate reduction, flow is continued until the gas
condensate becomes stabilized. The trend of the stabilized gas-condensate will
generally be found to decrease as the rate is decreased. The well is considered to be
conditioned when the stabilized gas-oil ratio does not change when the producing rate
changes.

Conditioning wells producing a near critical fluid:
The reservoir which contains a near critical reservoir fluid presents specially difficult
problems in well conditioning. When the pressure on this type of fluid drops below
saturation pressure, usually both of the phases which form are mobile and therefore,
flow the well. The rates of production of the two phases, however, are usually in the
production that results in a well effluent which is not the same as the reservoir fluid
composition. The well effluent can contain either too much or too little gas in combination
with the liquid hydrocarbon phase.

Conditioning the well is accomplished by flowing at a succession of slower rates for the
purpose of removing the non-representative hydrocarbon phases. The problem lies in
determining when the non-representative fluids have been produced. Production from
near-critical reservoir, however, often will exhibit a relatively small change in gas oil ratio
even though the well effluent has undergone significant changes in composition. When
early production information indicate a near-critical reservoir field, sampling should be
conducted as soon as possible after the well has been completed. Samples taken after
the reservoir pressure has declined only a small amount below original saturation
pressure are in many cases, virtually useless for determining the original reservoir fluid

properties and cannot be used in laboratory tests designed to predict fluid properties at
later stages of reservoir depletion.

FLUID MEASUREMENTS DURING THE WELL CONDITIONING:
Well conditioning involves bottomhole pressure and temperature measurements and
repeated measurements of tubing pressure and temperature, the rates of oil, gas &
water flow through the separator, separator pressure & temperature, stock tank oil
production and bottom sediments & water production rate.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUES:
There are essentially three sampling techniques for obtaining reservoir fluid samples for
analysis of pressure, volume and temperature (PVT ) relations.
These are commonly known as:

1. Bottom hole sampling (Sub-surface sampling)
2. Recombination sampling (Surface sampling)
3. Split-stream sampling (well head sampling)

Sub-Surface Sampling Method (B.H.S.method)
The sub-surface method consists of lowering a sampling device, usually called a
Bottom Hole Sampling down the well to a pre-selected depth. A sample of the fluid at
that depth is trapped in a pressure tight section of the sampler. The sampler is brought
to the surface where the sample is transferred to a suitable container for conveyance to
the laboratory.

Different types of sampler used for bottom hole sampling are:
1) Ruska Subsurface Sampler
2) Flopetrol type sampler
3) Leutart type sampler
4) Kuster type sampler
5) Oil-Phase single phase bottom hole sampler

After the well has been conditioned for subsurface sampling, the location of water level
will be estimated by plotting the pressure as determined from the pressure survey,
versus depth and sampling point will therefore be selected, steps towards well
preparation must be followed prior to the performance of sampling routines. The
procedure for preparing the well indicates that it should have been producing with a
stabilized gas oil ratio. It also suggests that the well be as new as possible, so as to
minimized free gas saturation.

Three representative bottom hole samples of 600 cc should be trapped. A schematic
well testing and sampling diagram of an oil well is given in Fig.1. As per schematic
diagram the subsurface samples are trapped after shut-in gradient survey. The gradient
survey indicates the oil-gas and oil-water contacts in the tubing. After the gradient survey
the samplers are lowered upto the desired depth and samplers are trapped by Crack
Opening process to get the most representative samples. Duplication of samples is
always recommended for comparison purpose and to provide one good sample if the
container leaks during transportation. It is recommended to trap three samples at a time
for better accuracy.

Surface Sampling Method:
This method is generally satisfactory for nearly all types of reservoir fluids. It is based on
the fact that when the well is producing in a steady state flow condition, the fluid at the
surface condition is representative of the fluid in Bottom hole condition near the
perforation. Therefore, the sampling can be carried out at the surface.

It consists of taking samples of equilibrium oil or condensate and gas from conventional
field separator while making accurate measurements of separator oil and gas producing
rates, which prevail at the time of sampling. One separator is usually used but when
multistage separator is used the samples are collected from the high-pressure separator.

The separator gas and oil /condensate samples are subsequently recombined in
laboratory to produce the reservoir fluid and the accuracy of field gas-oil ratio or gas-
condensate measurements as the case may be. The oil/condensate and gas samples
should be taken at the same time to ensure that the separation parameters did not

change during sampling. The recombination method of sampling is as good as the
bottom hole sampling techniques for reservoirs where flowing bottom hole pressures
exceed the bubble point pressures in case of oil reservoirs.
Split-Stream Sampling Method
The split-stream sampling method is primarily used in sampling of gas condensate wells.
A smaller diameter tube is inserted in the middle of flow stream. Part of the flow is
diverted to this tube into either an auxiliary separator or sampling bottles. In most cases,
this sample is obtained by inserting the tube in the tubing to a depth of 8 or 10 ft below
the surface or the flow stream just upstream of the separator. The split-stream method of
sampling loses its accuracy with high liquid content fluids. It is difficult to ensure the
proper entry of gas and liquid into the sampling fluid for high flowing liquid-gas ratio.

WIRELINE OPERATIONS & SURFACE HOOKUP

Basically the surface hook-up consist of the following:-

1. Lubricator Assembly complete with stuffing Box.
2. Blow out Preventor
3. Miscellaneous items such as Floor blocks, Weight Indicator, Line Wiper,
Tool Trap etc.

STUFFING BOX AND SHEAVE WHEEL The wire is passed over the stuffing box
sheave and through packing in the Stuffing box. These
stuffing boxes are composed of a steel body with a quick union at the lower end and
packing
at the upper end. A pulley support of strong
light alloy is mounted on low friction bearings
and can turn 3600 around the stuffing box axis.
A large diameter pullet, which reduces fatigue
Stress in the line, revolves on a double ball
Bearing.

To Thread the wire initially through the packing, the following procedures should be
followed:
Thread the blow out plug retainer, blow out plug and then the packing.
Place the packing, blow out plug and plug retainer into the stuffing box.
Pull approximately 10 wire and cut before threading the stuffing box for normal
use.
Make up the plug retainer not to compress the packing around the wire in the
stuffing box. Adjustments may have to be made during the course of operations.

LUBRICATOR ASSEMBLY

Lubricator assembly for normal operations consist of three
sections of 8 feet each joined by self aligning unions. The top of this
lubricator riser has a self aligning unions to accommodate stuffing
box and at the bottom to connect with 3 O.D. lower riser sections.
One release valve is attached at the bottom section. The lubricator
clamp is fastened approximately 1/3 of the way up the centre
section. The wire line clamp is fastened to the lower end of
lubricator.

TOOL TRAP

Tool trap is placed between well head adopter and B.O.P. It prevent the tool loss during
any snapping of the wire line in the lubricator during pulling out process.

BLOW OUT PREVENTOR

The BOP is hoisted by means of block and tackle suspended from the Gin pole and
lowered into position on the tree connection. Manually operated or Hydraulically
operated B.O.P.s are available. The blind rams pressed against the piano wire
sufficiently to seal off any pressure below the rams. If need be, pressure can be
equalized above and below the rams. It is important that the two rams be operated
simultaneously.

TELESCOPING GIN POLE
Gin pole is used to raise the lubricator to the top of the wire line B.O.P. maintaining this
position while breaking off and making up operations. It is very important that the gin
pole be
I. Securely fixed at bottom.
II. Be properly bound to the tree with load binder and chain.
III. Kept vertical all times.
Rope blocks and rope are used to obtain the mechanical advantage to lift and lower the
lubricator with ease. For a mechanical advantage of 3:1 or 4:1, normally a block of two
pulleys is used.

LOAD CELL: The load cell senses the weight of the "pull" which includes the combined
weight of the suspended Wireline in the well, the tool string and the "drag". These can be
used with UNITED 's Gauges and measuring meters.


WEIGHT INDICATORS:

During wire line jobs, it is necessary to load the measuring line to its maximum safe load.
Among the various types that have been developed are:

Mechanical
Hydraulic
Electronic

These instruments are calibrated in pounds and indicate the total load or line tension at
the point on the line which actuates the weight indicator. On the downward trip, the
weight indicator should be watched for the following reasons:

Indicates weights of the tools and wire in the hole until fluid level is passed when
there will be slight lessening of weight and also a definite reduction in velocity.
Fluid level in tubing can be ascertained.
Complete loss in the weight indicate the following:

1. Parted wire
2. Indicator failure
3. Running into an obstruction in tubing.

The Gauges registers the weight as sensed by the Load Cell and available in
following scales.

English Metric
0 to 2,000 lbs 0 to 1,000 kg
0 to 4,000 lbs 0 to 2,000 kg
0 to 6,000 lbs 0 to 3,000 kg
0 to 10,000 lbs 0 to 5,000 kg
FLOOR BLOCK or HAY PULLEYS :
Floor block is necessary to bring the measuring line down to a position where it may be
handled with ease (Horizontal) from the tree to the wire line unit as well as bringing the
point of pull from the top of lubricator to the base of the lubricator. These are available in
following sizes.
7-in. Sheave
12-in. Sheave
16-in. Sheave

WIRE LINE CLAMP:
The wire line clamp is used to clamp the wire line without damage while raising or
lowering the lubricator or may be used during fishing operations to hold wire showing
through the B.O.P.

MEASURING DEVICE:
One of the very important wire line accessories that is always used when performing any
type of wire line work is the measuring device. The reasons for its importance is that
operator must know the location of his tool with relation to the well head. The lubrication
of the tool as it approaches the well head when being pulled out is of utmost importance
so that operator can slow down its speed and bring it to a stop before running into well
head stuffing box, possibly breaking the measuring line, resulting into a fishing job and
perhaps damage the down hole equipment.
A very common design of mechanical device that has proved very accurate, rugged and
reliable is one in which the line is held in slippage free contact with an accurately ground,
hardened measuring wheel driving a counter or odometer which registers in linear units
the length of measuring line which has contacted the measuring wheel. The measuring
device is normally mounted on a movable support so that it is free to move vertically
and laterally guided by the measuring line as it is unspoiled from a reel on its way to the
well head.

WELL HEAD ADOPTER

Well head adopter is placed over the X-mas tree by
removing of the bull plug. Lower end is compatible
with flange of the tree & threaded portion facilitate
the connection of B.O.P. or lubricator by hand union
connection.

WIRE LINE TOOLS

The wire line tool string is necessary for sufficient surface control of the running, pulling
and operation of the down hole tools. They can be on solid steel measuring line. As
assembly of tools is used to deliver surface controlled impact either upward or downward
to lock or unlock controls set in the well.

The wire line tools are means of:

Attaching the subsurface controls to the wire line socket.
Adding the weight required to sink the tools in different gravity well fluids with the
stem.
Securing a hammering effect with jars.
Obtaining flexibility through the knuckle joint.
Attaching the required running or pulling tools.

Wire line tools generally consist of :

Rope socket, Stem, Jars, Running or pulling tool, Paraffin scratcher and cutter,
Impresson block, Go devils, Hydrostatic baler, Spear or wire retriever, blind box.

ROPE SOCKET:

1 rope socket is designed to connect the slick line 0.092, 0.082
to the down hole string. The following procedure is recommended
for tying knot.

Take the wire already threaded through stuffing box. Pull
the wire by 15 feet to enable plenty of wire to work
with(Ensure to kink or sharp bend occurs)
The rope socket body, spring and then thimble are threaded
onto the wire.
The spool is then held firmly in vice or clamp
The free end is then passed behind the spool and tension is
held on the main wire.
The free end is then wrapped tightly around the tensioned
end until 8 -10 turns are made.
The erection of wrap should be suddenly reversed and free
end turned from side to side till fatigue effect breaks off
close to the knot.
The knot is complete, pull the wire through the rope socket until the spring,
thumble, spool are uptight inside the body.

STEM

(Roller Stem)

Lead Filled Stem

The wire line stem is supplied in three different lengths of 2, 3 & 5. The function
of the stem is to add a moving mass to accurate the action of jars. The effectiveness of
the impact delivered by the jars may be increased by increasing total weight of stems
used. The stems is available in three different category as per the need of the
operations.
Solid bar stem.
Roller stem.
Lead filled stem.

HYDRAULIC JARS

Hydraulic jars are designed for upward jarring. The impact of the stroke is
proportional to the strain of the wire line and to the weight of the stem used. Since
hydraulic jar do not permit, downward jarring, mechanical jars are run in conjunction with
hydraulic jars. Hydraulic jar is placed between stem and mechanical jars.

MECHANICAL JARS
Mechanical jars are of spang type or tubular type. The jar utilizes the weight of the stems
connected immediately above it to deliver effective jarring impacts to the tool or
equipment below it . The jarring impact can be delivered both upward & downward. The
effectiveness of the impact largely depends on the weight of the stem and length of the
stroke used: however the size and straightness of tubing, size and depth of tool, density
and viscosity of fluid in tubing, well pressure are factors must be considered. Tubular
jars are mainly used during fishing for wire lost in the hole.

KNUCKLE JOINT

Knuckle joint has a ball swivel action in its mid section. Its purpose is to provide flexibility
to the string of tools and also to enable the tools to pass through crooked tubing or
deviated well. The knuckle joint is usually placed below the jars. In extreme crooked
tubing, knuckle joint may be used in between stem and jar and also below the jar.

PARAFFIN CUTTER:

Paraffin cutter is circular at base with a sharp cutting edge and is primarily used to
remove paraffin and scale deposits from the tubing wall. The outside diameter is tubing
drift and can be used to gauge tubing. Paraffin cutter is lowered after allowing the well to
flow through choke. The tool allows wax to flow through when cut from the walls of
tubing.

PARAFFIN SCRATCHER:
Paraffin scratcher is usually a 5/8 rod with small hole spiraled around the rod so that
wire may be inserted horizontally to ensure that the walls of the tubing are clean and full
gauge, the paraffin cutter is run after the scratcher.

IMPRESSION BLOCK:
Impression block is simply a lead filled cylinder with a pin through the leaded section to
prevent loosing the lead. A downward tap against fish will give an impression of the fish
top. This impression helps operator to identify the type of the tool to be used for fishing.
Be sure impression block is made with one pouring of lead. When no imprint is made on
lead, it is assumed that the blocked section in tubing is sand.

SETTING UP OF WIRE LINE UNIT
On arrival at the well, the unit should be positioned in the following manner:

The operator must be able to see the stuffing box and floor block from wire line
unit controls.
If in truck mounted unit, the truck should be braked and substantial chocks
should be placed behind the rear wheels to prevent movement of unit while in
operation.

Once the rope socket is made and lubricator sections are assembled, string of tools are
connected and passed through the bottom end of the lubricator so that tool top is visible
at the other end of lubricator. The rope socket is made up on the tool string. Any free
wire between the rope socket and stuffing box is then drawn carefully back through the
stuffing box until the self aligning union can be made up to join the stuffing box to the top
of the lubricator( at no stage wire should get crimped or bent). The wire is then brought
out side the lubricator and clamped.

Gin pole assembly helps in hoisting the lubricator on top of the BOP. The Gin pole
assembly is mounted in the following ways:-

Ensure first that the telescopic section slide freely within one another.
Make sure that the pulleys and hoisting rope are unraveled and ready for use.
Hook the top pulley back to the eye in the top section of the Gin pole.
Place the Gin pole in the vertical position ensuring that the base of the Gin pole
is resting over any of the nuts in the cross flange. Gin pole should not obstruct
operation of any valve.
Then it must be securely chained and boomed.
The Gin pole is then extended ensuring that the extended sections are securely
pinned to prevent sudden retraction when loaded with the lubricator weight.
The lubricator pulley should be maintained at ground level and then connected
to the clamp in the lubricator.

The lubricator complete with stuffing box and tools is then hoisted by pulling the free end
of the rope. The lubricator is hoisted to its vertical position above the BOP next the floor
block is shackled to the weight indicator transducer. The weight indicator transducer is
chained securely to the tree. The floor block should be close to the foot of tree.

With the floor block in place, the wire is passed through it and the wire is tensioned by
wire line unit taking up the slack wire. The wire line clamp is removed carefully. The bore
of the lubricator is then pushed off centre by the helper so that the gentle release of the
break on the unit will lower the string to the tubing hanger flange and odometer on the
unit is made Zero-Zero.

The tools for the particular wire line job to be under taken are attached to the bottom of
the standard string of tools. The complete set of the tools are raised into the lubricator
and the end of the lubricator is lowered into the top of BOP and self aligning union is
made up. The bleed valve is slowly opened ensuring no sudden pressure surge is
placed in the lubricator. When the pressure is equalized between tubing and lubricator,
the master valve can be opened rapidly. At this point high lubricating oil is applied to the
wire on the spool and also the wire leading up to floor sheave- this lubricates the stuffing
box packing facilitating easy passage of wire.

At this point weight indicator should be adjusted to Zero. Going down the hole should be
steady, keeping watchful eye on weight indicator. The unit should be braked immediately
at the point of any obstruction so as to avoid coiling up or kink in the wire. The weight of
the string of tools should be accurately noted before latching on any fishing neck in the
mandrel or D-nipple. Loss in weight or gain in weight gives an indication whether the
equipment is set in the nipple or retrieved out of the nipple. Any substantial loss in
weight is alarming as it indicates loss of complete or part of the string of tools.

WIRELINE WINCHES
Wire line winches generally use the hydraulic circuit and are packed in two separate
sections. One skid contains wireline reel and controls, and other section diesel engine,
hydraulic pump and tanks. The hoses with quick couplings connect the two sections.
To operate the unit proceed as follows:
1. Place control valve in stop position.
2. Move reel select lever to the front or rear position as desired.
3. Shift 4-speed transmission to desired gear.
4. Release the brake lever from reel being used.
5. Control forward or reverse movement of the selected reel by mean of reel
control valve.
6. Adjust tension on wireline by means of system pressure knob on panel. This
relief valve can be set at a low pressure and then the wireline can be fed into
the hole which operator maintains the control valve in up position. The control
valve works as an effective brake system and the operator can slowly increase
the system pressure setting as more wire feeds into the hole.
7. Adjust engine throttle to suit load conditions.


Truck Mounted Wire-line Unit

Slick line units designed and built for all sizes of wire such as 0.082", 0.092",
0.108" and 3/16" diameters.
Steardy pipe cage with compact and heavy-duty base skids and suitable lifting
eyes.
Line speed available from 2700 ft/min at surface to 1200 ft/min. at 20,000 ft.
Also, line pull available from 2800 lbs at surface to 5500 lbs at 20,000 ft.
Smooth and reliable hydraulic open and closed loop system as per customer's
choice.
Level wind feature allows the operator to guide incoming line evenly on the reel.
Pressure compensated hydraulic control to maintain the drum R.P.M. at varying
loads.
Precision RPM control from the operator console.
Pressure compensation feature which ensures that line speed will remain same
regardless of changes in load.
Isolating valve in the suction line for trouble free maintenance.
Suitable relief valves provided in the hydraulic system to avoid accident.
Fail safe break to stop the drum automatically in the event of any failure in the
hydraulic system or engine shut down.
Triplex roller chain drive for smooth transferring of power to the reel drum.
Single lever system for raising, lowering or stopping in the well if required.
Positive breaking of wireline tool is effected when the operation lever is in
neutral position.
Lock system to keep drum in steady position for long time in lowered condition
of instrument.
Quick release coupling for easy mounting of hydraulic hoses.
Dual brake band to act on both sides of the drum which can be operated by
hand or by foot as the convenience of the operator.

WIRELINE SERVICE TOOLS
PARAFFIN SCRATCHERS: Paraffin scratchers are wire line service tools used in
flowing wells to loosen paraffin from the tubing string I.D. Paraffin scratchers consist of a
rod with a fishing neck and a pin thread connection on the upper end. Holes
perpendicular to the center line are drilled through the rod below the fishing neck.

Required length of 0.092 diameter wire are inserted through the holes to form a brush-
like tool. The length of the wire can be easily changed to accommodate different tubing
I.D.s.

IMPRESSION BLOCK: Impression block are wire line service tools used to take
impression of objects in the tubing string. Impression block consist of a steel housing
with a pin thread connection and a fishing neck on the upper end and a molded lead
insert held in the lower end by steel pins. These tools are mainly used during fishing to
determine the shape and position of the object being retrieved.

WIRELINE GRABS: Wireline grabs wire line service tools used to retrieve wireline from
the tubing string. Wireline grabs consist of a housing with a fishing neck and a pin thread
connection on yhe upper end and either two or three flexible, barbed prongs on the
lower end. The wireline grab O.D. corresponds to the driff diameter of the tubing string.

WIRELINE SAFETY
Lubricator and Stuffing Box:
1. The packing nut of stuffing box should not be very loose as it will start leaking.
Tighten it to the limit that wire needs some pull to go across it.
2. Make up all unions completely, and ensure that the O rings are not damaged
before making up a union.
3. Needle Valve: Ensure that it is open before installing lubricator or while removing
it.
4. Never climb or hammer a lubricator when it is under pressure.
5. Never stand below the lubricator while rigging up/ down, always clamp the wire.
6. Open Crown valve slowly till lubricator is pressurized.
7. All tool string and control devices/ pressure bombs should be accommodated in
the lubricator.

BLOW OUT PREVENTOR (BOP):
1. Check ram movement before installing. you need to use it for emergency and a
jammed ram then is not desirable.
2. Install pup-joint on well top adaptor. fit BOP, close ram, crack open crown valve
and check for leakage in pup-joint connection and across rams.

3. Always use equalizer valve to equilise across rams. Attempts to open rams shall
damage the ram elements which shall not seal against pressure later.

WIRELINE WINCH:
1. Ensure that the reel skid is properly secured before undertaking a wireline job.
2. Check the condition of the wire. Corrosion & pitting will render it weak and may
snap while doing the job.
3. Never get rough trying to engage gears- you may end up breaking the gear pin or
gear.
4. Keep the reel skid clean & free of rags, hand tools etc.
5. Ensure that depth meter is working okay.
6. Dont leave wireline unit unattended while pulling out or running in.
7. Take care of moving parts it can be dangerous especially with loose clothings.
8. Prior to starting the engine check:

A. Engine Oil
B. Diesel
C. Hydraulic Oil
D. Hose connections are properly made up
9. After finishing a job ensure that wire or drum is coated with grease to avoid
corrosion.

WEIGHT INDICATOR:
i. Check the gap of the load cell.
ii. Ensure it is securely tied to rigid place with stronger rope.
iii. Check for its working off the indicator before proceeding with the job.

WIRELINE:
i. When cutting wire make sure that neither end can fly out.
ii. When leaving wireline string in hole, close BOP, clamp the wire & put markers on
the wire between well head & winch.
iii. Make sure that there is enough wire on the drum to reach the total depth of the
well.

GENERAL PRACTICES TO BE FOLLOWED:
Write down length, OD & description of the components of strings prior to running
in.
When running in a well for the first time check string weight frequently.
While scaling X-mas tree your foot hold and hand holds before going up. Never
stand or grasp valve handles they may turn.
When releasing pressure from lubricator turn head away and open your mouth to
prevent damage to your ear drums.
Before closing the crown valve after pulling out ensure that the string is in
lubricator.
Count the number of turns to close the valve.
Dont bleed it from lubricator, it shall spray all around, check bleeding
arrangement lest it may lead to fire. Prefer a long bleed pipe away from the rating.
Inform concerned process complex about closure and opening details.
Advice concerned people for not closing master/ crown valves when bottom hole
survey is in progress.
Total Well Management II
A Methodology for Maximizing Oil Production and Minimizing Operating Costs.
Oilfield operators continually need to verify that their wells are being produced at the
optimum capacity and in a cost effective manner. An integrated analysis of the pumping
system is required to reduce operating costs, increase oil production and increase net
income. The integrated analysis of the pumping system must include the performance
and interaction of all the elements: the prime mover, surface equipment, well bore
equipment, down hole pump, down hole gas separator and the reservoir. This integrated
analysis methodology is called Total Well Management, TWM. The TWM analysis is
made based on data obtained at the surface without entering the well bore and yields an
accurate representation of the conditions that exist on the surface, within the well bore
and within the reservoir. TWM examples of rod pumped wells, ESP pumped wells, PC
pumped wells and other well analyses are presented.
Echometer Digital Well Analyzer
Acoustic Liquid Level Instrument
Pressure Transient Tester

Dynamometer
Motor Power/Current Analysis

The Well Analyzer is a portable computerized instrument for obtaining a complete
well analysis.
The Well Analyzer is an integrated artificial lift data acquisition and diagnostic system
that allows an operator to maximize oil and gas production and minimize operating
expense. Well productivity, reservoir pressure, overall efficiency, equipment loading and
well performance are derived from the combination of measurements of surface
pressure, acoustic liquid level, dynamometer, power and pressure transient response.
This portable system is based on a precision analog to digital converter controlled by a
notebook computer with Windows-based application. The Well Analyzer acquires,
stores, processes, displays and manages the data at the well site to give an immediate
analysis of the well's operating condition.

Acoustic Liquid Level Tests : The Echometer Well Analyzer is used in conjunction
with a gas gun/microphone assembly to determine the liquid level depth in a well.
Normally, the liquid level depth is determined in the casing annulus, but also, the liquid
level depth can be measured inside tubing in gas wells. An acoustic pulse is generated
at the surface of the well. The acoustic pulse travels through the gas and is reflected by
changes in area including
tubing collars and the
liquid level. The
software automatically
processes this acoustic
data to determine
liquid level depth.
Concurrent with the
acoustic liquid level
depth measurement,
an initial and two-
minute build-up casing
pressure tests are
performed. The casing
pressure build-up
measurement allows calculation of the casing annulus gas flow rate and the gradient of
the gaseous liquid column if free gas is bubbling up through the liquid. Software
calculates the producing bottomhole pressure, maximum production rates, pump intake
pressure, casing annulus gas flow rate and other parameters. This single-shot acoustic
liquid level depth test is displayed as shown so the operator can visualize and
understand the performance of the well.
Pressure Transient Tester
The Well Analyzer can be used with special software to obtain pressure buildup data.
The operator programs the Well Analyzer to acquire data at a specified rate in either
shots per hour or shots per log time cycle. Advanced analog to digital converters,
precision pressure sensors and reliable remote fire gas guns allow acquisition of

accurate data, which is
used to calculate
bottomhole pressures.
Numerous diagnostic
and analysis plots are
available including
casing pressure vs. time,
liquid level vs. time,
bottomhole pressure vs.
time, log-log with
derivative, Horner plot,
MDH plot and radial flow
type curves. Real time
viewing of the data insures that the wells are returned to production as soon as the test
objectives have been reached.
Dynamometer
A dynamometer analysis
allows an operator to
determine the loadings
and performance of a
beam pump system. Rod
loadings, beam loadings,
gear box loadings, pump
performance and
downhole gas separator
performance can be
determined. An easy-to-
install compact polished
rod transducer is
attached to the polished rod below the carrier bar in a few seconds. The polished rod
transducer offers safe and easy acquisition of load and position data with sufficient
accuracy for most analysis. A quantitative horseshoe load cell that is installed between

the carrier bar and the polished rod clamp allows the acquisition of load with precise
accuracy. An accelerometer within the transducers provides a reliable technique to
determine polished rod position. With both dynamometers, a surface dynamometer card
and a downhole pump card are calculated and displayed. Traveling valve and standing
valve tests can be performed. When using a horseshoe transducer, a permissible load
diagram and torque analysis are available. A motor current sensor allows acquisition of
motor current data with the dynamometer data for balancing and motor size and motor
performance analysis.
Motor Power Analysis
motor power/current sensor measures both power and current. The power and current
data is processed to determine electrical costs, overall electrical efficiency, gear box
torque, power factor, motor loading and other electrical parameters. The minimum size
motor is recommended. To balance a well, the operator simply inputs the weight of the
counter-weights to be moved and the program calculates the distance that the counter-
weights should be moved. For examples of power and torque analyses.as Gun /
Microphone Assemblies
The Echometer Well Analyzer can be used with a variety of gas guns/microphone
assemblies. The gas gun generates an acoustic pulse which travels down the casing
annulus gas and is reflected by collars and the liquid level. The reflected acoustic pulse
is converted into an electrical signal by the gas gun microphone. A remote fire gas gun is
normally supplied with the Well Analyzer and is necessary for unattended pressure
transient data acquisition. A manual fire 1,500 PSI compact gas gun can be operated in
the explosion or implosion mode. High pressure gas from the well can be released into
the compact gas gun to create the initial pulse so that an external gas supply is not
required. 5,000 and 15,000 PSI gas guns are available for high-pressure applications.
Precision pressure transducers with a wide range of pressure ratings are available for
use with the various gas guns

Data Processing
All well data and acquired data are stored on the Well Analyzer notebook computer. The
acquired data can be recalled, viewed and analyzed in conjunction with the well data to
perform a complete well analysis. The analysis can be printed. Software can be loaded
on office computers to allow viewing of field data. The software can be downloaded from
the web if desired.
Specifications and Dimensions
The Well Analyzer is a state-of-the-art instrument using sigma-delta analog to digital
converters, precision sensors, shielded cables and user-friendly Windows software. The
total weight of the complete Well Analyzer system is 75 lbs. (35 Kg). The complete Well
Analyzer system is shipped in two packages having approximate dimensions of 20" x
20" x 20" each. The instrument is compact, rugged and designed to be used in hot, cold,
humid and dry conditions. Additional information about dimensions and weights can be
supplied depending upon the particular options desired.

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Drive mechanisms are the ways in which the oil and gas can be displaced and produced
in a reservoir. Primary recovery refers to production of hydrocarbons by any of the
natural drive mechanisms (also referred as natural energy) existing in the reservoir.

Gas and oil reservoirs behave differently depending on the phase in which the fluid
occurs at the existing pressure and temperature of the reservoir upon discovery, during
depletion and upon abandonment. Their drive mechanisms are different.

Reservoir oil is a mixture of the heavier hydrocarbon components (Heptane+) which are
normally liquid at atmospheric condition, and production results from a mechanism
utilizing existing pressure.

Reservoir gas is a mixture of the lighter components and is producible on the merits of
its non-ideal gas behavior and sometimes of the limited water drive.

OIL RESERVOIR
Oil can be recovered from the pore space of rock only to the extent that the volume
occupied by the oil is replaced with a like volume. Several mechanisms are possible:

Expansion of undersaturated oil above the bubble point
Expansion of the rock and of connate water
Expansion of gas released from solution in the oil below the bubble point
Invasion of the original oil bearing reservoir by the expansion of the gas from a
free gas cap.
Invasion of the original oil bearing reservoir by the expansion of the water from
an adjacent or underlying aquifer.
Since all replacement processes are related to expansion mechanism, a reduction in
pressure in the original oil zone is essential. Assuming constant temperature and
composition, the solubility of natural gas in the crude oil in a reservoir is dependent on
pressure, the quantity of gas in a solution increases with increasing pressure.

A crude oil is said to be saturated with gas at any temperature if upon slight reduction of
pressure, some gas is released from solution.

Categories of drive mechanisms
Solution or dissolved gas drive or depletion drive
Gas cap drive
Water drive
Combination drive
Gravity drainage drive
Liquid expansion and rock compaction drive
Where one drive mechanism is dominant, the reservoir may be said to be operating
under a particular drive.
SOLUTION OR DISSOLVED GAS DRIVE OR DEPLETION DRIVE RESERVOIRS
Gas flows more easily than oil because of its low density, less viscosity and does not
adhere to the pore space surfaces in the rock. Once gas starts to flow, pressure drops
faster and more amounts of gas is formed from lighter hydrocarbons in the liquid. With
small additional amounts of oil produced from the reservoir, small additional increases in
gas space are created. Gas thus flows much more easily while oil flows with greater
increasing difficulty. More often, recovery during this primary process is only some few
percent.

Dissolved gas drive reservoir
(After Clark, N.J., Elements of Petroleum Reservoirs, SPE, 1969)

The depletion drive mechanism is characterized by a rapid pressure decline to oil bubble
point pressure at which pressure free gas is evolved in the reservoir.

In brief, the characteristic trends occurring during the production life of dissolved gas
drive reservoir can be summarized as:
Characteristics Trend
Reservoir pressure Declines rapidly and continuously
Surface Gas-Oil ratio First low , then rises to maximum and then drops
Water production None
Well behavior Requires pumping at early stage
Expected Oil recovery 5 to 30%

Production data of a solution gas drive reservoir
Negligible or no water is produced from a dissolved gas reservoir because they are
geologically closed reservoirs filled with oil and non-producible connate water.

Development scenarios
Well may be spaced on a regular pattern with low structural relief formed by pinch out or
faulting.
Completion interval should be low.

With high relief structures, regular patterns with wells placed down dip in order to allow
gas cap to form and oil to segregate by gravity.
Factors influencing depletion drive performance
The factors which modify depletion drive performance and its ultimate recovery are:
Reservoir pressure
Reservoir fluid viscosity
Gas in solution in reservoir oil
Presence of connate water phase
Practice of gas recycling and injection ratio
Presence and formation of gas cap and its expansion
Well spacing
GAS CAP DRIVE RESERVOIRS
Gas cap drive reservoirs are characterized by the presence at the top of structure a
relatively large gas cap, underlain by oil. In natural drive, the gas cap expansion is the
result of reservoir pressure decline. As the oil state is very close to saturation, free gas is
evolved through out the oil zone by liberation of dissolved gas from the oil. This is an
important phenomenon which conditions actually the efficiency of this drive. Effectively in
large gas cap reservoirs, the liberation of dissolved gas is really placed at gas oil contact
and does not affect the whole oil zone. In such cases, the gas cap drive is frontal drive,
relatively stable whether gravity segregation is efficient or not.

Gas cap drive reservoir

Gas drive is generally unstable because of viscous fingering developed by the relatively
high mobility of gas versus oil.
For small gas cap reservoirs, the liberation of dissolved gas takes place through out the
entire oil zone, leading to a combination of solution gas and frontal drive. With poor
gravity segregation effects, the producing gas oil ratio increases sharply creating more
rapid pressure decline and more free gas in the oil zone.
For the reasons, recoveries by gas cap drive are between 20% to 40% depending on the
size of gas cap, the effectiveness of gravity segregation and limitation of producing rates
(gravity segregation and gas encroachment by coning are effectively rate sensitive).
In brief, the characteristic trends occurring during the production life of gas cap gas drive
reservoir can be summarized as:

Production data of a gas cap drive reservoir
Reservoir pressure Declines slowly and continuously
Surface Gas-Oil ratio Increases in values of gas oil ratio with the
advancement of gas cap in the producing intervals of up-
structure wells
Water production Nil or negligible
Expected Oil recovery 20% to 40%

WATER DRIVE RESERVOIRS
It was expected during a long period in the petroleum industry that water drive natural
or forced was the most efficient drive mechanism. If a reservoir is underlain by, or is
continuous with a large body of water saturated rock (an aquifer), then reduction
in pressure in the oil zone will cause a reduction in pressure in the aquifer.

An efficient water driven reservoir requires a large aquifer body with a high degree of
transmissivity allowing large volumes of water to move across the oil-water contact in
response to small pressure drop.

Water drive reservoir
The degree to which reservoir pressure is maintained in a water drive reservoir depends
upon the relation between rate of oil, gas and water production and rate at which the
water at which water can advance through the aquifer and through the reservoir rock
both bottom water and edge water.
In brief, the characteristic trends occurring during the production life of water drive
reservoir can be summarized as:

Reservoir pressure Remains high
Surface Gas-Oil ratio Remains low
Water production Starts early and increases continuously
Expected Oil recovery 35% to 75%

Production data of water drive reservoir
Basic development scenarios
Wells may be spaced in a regular pattern in thick, but low angle dipping beds.
Completion intervals should be high on structure to permit long producing life while oil is
being displaced updip.

Wells may be spaced in an irregular pattern in thin, but high angle dipping beds.
Completion intervals should be high on structure to avoid encroachment of water from
downdip.
COMBINATION DRIVE MECHANISM
In principle. Oil reservoirs can be classified according to their geological information or
producing mechanism. In reality, reservoirs are seldom found which can be made to fit
exactly into either type of classification discussed above. The most commonly observed
production mechanism is the case in which both water and free gas are available to

some degree to enter the reservoir and displace oil towards the well as production
occurs.

Combination drive reservoir
GRAVITY DRAINAGE-DRIVE MECHANISM
Gravitational segregation or gravity drainage by itself can be classified as a drive
mechanism. However, it is considered rather as a modification of all types of drives.
After the reservoir has been put on production and fluids natural distribution is disturbed,
gravitational segregation is the tendency due to the force of gravity for gas, oil and water
to return to a distribution in the reservoir according to their densities. Gravity drainage
can play a major role in the oil recovery from a reservoir.

In brief, the characteristic trends occurring during the production life of reservoir
operating largely under gravity drainage producing mechanism can be summarized as:

Reservoir pressure Variable pressure decline mainly governed by gas
conservation.
Surface Gas-Oil ratio Low in structurally low wells and high in structurally high
wells,
Water production Nil or Negligible

Expected Oil recovery Varies widely. High in cases of good gravitational
segregation and well producing rates tuned to derive
maximum advantage of gravitational forces.

Oil saturation near the well bore plays major role in exploitation of gravity drainage
reservoir. Near well bore high oil saturation helps in better ultimate recovery.

LIQUID EXPANSION DRIVE
In the initial producing stage of undersaturated reservoirs, though of minor importance,
liquid expansion is the only natural source of available energy.

COMPACTION DRIVE
When a reservoir is put on production, there is an increase in the difference between
overburden pressure and pore pressure. The effect is reduction in pore volume of the
reservoir. Only in cases, where formation compressibilities are high, significant oil
recovery by compaction drive can happen.
t1|1mslr|s sssrrs |sl|mzl|11
| zlsr|z| Iz|z1ss
ESTIMATION OF RESERVES
INTRODUCTION:
Estimation of in place oil and gas reserves is the most important phase of the activity
which forms the basis of all future actions. The reserve estimates dictate actions to be
taken by the company ,leading institutions and private investors. Many petroleum
engineers spend major part of their professional lives , developing estimates of reserves
and production capabilities, along with new methods and techniques for improving these
estimates.
OBJECTIVE OF RESERVE ESTIMATES :
The objective of stock taking of reserves is mainly for national strategic planning. This
exercise is not only done for existing oil and gas fields for short term commitments ,but
also carried out for new discoveries or in new promising structures on prognosticated
basis for long term planning.
TIME OF ESTIMATION:
The process of estimating oil and gas reserves for a producing field continues
throughout the life of the field. There is always uncertainty in making such estimates.
The level of uncertainty is affected by the following factors:
1. Reservoir type,
2. Source of reservoir energy,
3. Quantity and quality of the geological, engineering, and geophysical
data,
4. Assumptions adopted when making the estimate,
5. Available technology, and
6. Experience and knowledge of the evaluator.
The magnitude of uncertainty, however, decreases with time until the economic limit is
reached and the ultimate recovery is realized. Since more & more information
accumulates during the life of a property ,the reserve estimates become correspondingly
6
accurate. The periods of time during which reserves are estimated to design specific
type of plan are :
1. Prior to drilling and development;
2. Just after drilling and completion;
3. At-least after one year production data is available;
4. When the production is declining;
5. At matured depletion.

METHODS OF ESTIMATION :
The oil and gas reserves estimation methods can be grouped into the following
categories:
1. Analogy,
2. Volumetric,
3. Decline analysis,
4. Material balance calculations for oil reservoirs,
5. Material balance calculations for gas reservoirs,
6. Reservoir simulation.
In the early stages of development, reserves estimates are restricted to the analogy and
volumetric calculations. The analogy method is applied by comparing factors for the
analogous and current fields or wells. A close-to-abandonment analogous field is taken
as an approximate to the current field. This method is most useful when running the
economics on the current field; which is supposed to be an exploratory field.
The volumetric method, on the other hand, entails determining the areal extent of the
reservoir, the rock pore volume, and the fluid content within the pore volume. This
provides an estimate of the amount of hydrocarbons-in-place. The ultimate recovery,
then, can be estimated by using an appropriate recovery factor. Each of the factors used
in the calculation above have inherent uncertainties that, when combined, cause
significant uncertainties in the reserves estimate.
As production and pressure data from a field become available, decline analysis and
material balance calculations, become the predominant methods of calculating reserves.
These methods greatly reduce the uncertainty in reserves estimates; however, during
early depletion, caution should be exercised in using them. Decline curve relationships
are empirical, and rely on uniform, lengthy production periods. It is more suited to oil
wells, which are usually produced against fixed bottom-hole pressures. In gas wells,
however, wellhead back-pressures usually fluctuate, causing varying production trends
and therefore, not as reliable.
The most common decline curve relationship is the constant percentage decline
(exponential). With more and more low productivity wells coming on stream, there is
currently a swing toward decline rates proportional to production rates (hyperbolic and
harmonic). Although some wells exhibit these trends, hyperbolic or harmonic decline
extrapolations should only be used for these specific cases. Over exuberance in the use
of hyperbolic or harmonic relationships can result in excessive reserves estimates.
Material balance calculation is an excellent tool for estimating gas reserves. If a reservoir
comprises a closed system and contains single-phase gas, the pressure in the reservoir
will decline proportionately to the amount of gas produced. Unfortunately, sometimes
bottom water drive in gas reservoirs contributes to the depletion mechanism, altering the
performance of the non-ideal gas law in the reservoir. Under these conditions, optimistic
reserves estimates can result.
When calculating reserves using any of the above methods, two calculation procedures
may be used: deterministic and/or probabilistic. The deterministic method is by far the
most common. The procedure is to select a single value for each parameter to input into
an appropriate equation, to obtain a single answer. The probabilistic method, on the
other hand, is more rigorous and less commonly used. This method utilizes a distribution
curve for each parameter and, through the use of Monte Carlo Simulation; a distribution
curve for the answer can be developed. Assuming good data, a lot of qualifying
information can be derived from the resulting statistical calculations, such as the
minimum and maximum values, the mean (average value), the median (middle value),
the mode (most likely value), the standard deviation and the percentiles.
The probabilistic methods have several inherent problems. They are affected by all input
parameters, including the most likely and maximum values for the parameters. In such
methods, one can not back calculate the input parameters associated with reserves.
Only the end result is known but not the exact value of any input parameter. On the
other hand, deterministic methods calculate reserve values that are more tangible and
explainable. In these methods, all input parameters are exactly known; however, they
may sometimes ignore the variability and uncertainty in the input data compared to the
probabilistic methods which allow the incorporation of more variance in the data.
A comparison of the deterministic and probabilistic methods, however, can provide
quality assurance for estimating hydrocarbon reserves; i.e. reserves are calculated both
deterministically and probabilistically and the two values are compared. If the two values
agree, then confidence on the calculated reserves is increased. If the two values are
away different, the assumptions need to be reexamined.
PROCEDURES FOR ESTIMATION AND CLASSIFICATION OF RESERVES
The process of reserves estimation falls into three broad categories: volumetric, material
balance and decline analysis. Selection of the most appropriate reserves estimation
procedures depends on the information that is available. Generally, the range of
uncertainty associated with an estimate decreases and confidence level increases as
more information becomes available and when the estimate is supported by more than
one estimation method. Regardless of the estimation method(s) employed, the resulting
reserves estimate should meet the certainty criteria in Definitions of Reserves.
Volumetric Methods
Volumetric methods involve the calculation of reservoir rock volume, the hydrocarbons in
place in that rock volume and the estimation of the portion of the hydrocarbons in place
that ultimately will be recovered. For various reservoir types at varied stages of
development and depletion, the key unknown in volumetric reserves determinations may
be rock volume, porosity, fluid saturation or recovery factor. Important considerations
affecting a volumetric reserves estimate are outlined below:
Rock volume may simply be determined as the product of a single well drainage area
and wellbore net pay or by more complex geological mapping. Estimates must take into
account geological characteristics, reservoir fluid properties and the drainage area that
could be expected for the well or wells. Consideration must be given to any limitations
indicated by geological, geophysical data or interpretations as well as pressure depletion
or boundary conditions exhibited by test data.
# Elevation of Fluid Contacts - In the absence of data that clearly defines fluid contacts,
the structural interval for volumetric calculations of proved reserves should be restricted
by the lowest known structural elevation of occurrence of hydrocarbons (LKH) as defined
by well logs, core analyses or formation testing.
Porosity and fluid saturation and other reservoir parameters determined from logs and
core and well test data.
Recovery factor - based on analysis of production behavior from the subject reservoir, by
analogy with other producing reservoirs and/or by engineering analysis. In estimating
recovery factors, the evaluator must consider factors that influence recoveries such as
rock and fluid properties, hydrocarbons-in-place, drilling density, future changes in
operating conditions, depletion mechanisms and economic factors.
The volumetric estimation of hydrocarbon reserves is done by using the following
formulae:
For inplace oil reserves in tonnes

Bo
Gr Sp So h A
Q
. . . . . .
=
For inplace free gas reserves in m
3

|
.
|
\
|
|
.
|
\
|
+
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
z t
t
P
P
Gr Sp S h A Q
s
s
g
1
273
273
. . . . . .
For inplace solution gas reserves in m
3

Bo
R Gr Sp So h A
Q
s
.. . . . . .
=
Where Q= Quantity of hydrocarbon
A= Area of the pool in square meters
h = Average thickness of the pool in meter
= Porosity of the reservoir rock, fraction
S
o
=Oil saturation, fraction
S
g
=Gas saturation, fraction
B
o =
Formation volume factor of oil
P = Reservoir pressure, Kg/cm
2
P
s
= Standard pressure, Kg/cm
2
t
s
= Reservoir temperature,
0
c
Z = Compressibility factor of gas at pressure P
R
s
= Solution gas oil ratio m
3
/tonne.
To evaluate the recoverable part of the hydrocarbon reserves, the recovery factor will
have to be introduced in the above formulae. The recovery factor depends on the
operative drive mechanism in the pool and the production technique adopted therein.
For the calculation of oil and gas reserves by volumetric method, it is essential to
determine the average values of different reservoir parameters needed for these
calculations. Some of the parameters determined in the early stage of exploration are
likely to change with time. However, more reliable data are obtained from delineation
wells.
Preparation of Maps and Calculation of rock volume
After completion of detailed layer wise correlation of the zone of interest, the following
well wise parameters need to be determined:
Top and bottom of the zone
Total (Gross) thickness
Effective thickness (Permeable part)
Hydrocarbon saturation part of the effective thickness (Pay thickness)
Level of fluid contacts
Effective porosity of the zone
Percentage of hydrocarbon saturation
Structure Contour Map
A structure contour map showing lines connecting points of equal elevation on the top of
a marker bed, depicts the geological structure. The estimated top and bottom elevations
at mean sea level of the zone of interest in each well is tabulated for the preparation of
structure map at the top and bottom of the zone. For inclined wells the necessary
correction of the vertical shortening is to be applied.

Structure map on Top of Pay sand
Fluid contacts
For assessing the limits and the thickness of hydrocarbon saturation part of the reservoir,
it is necessary to find out fluid contacts i.e. oil - water, gas - oil and gas - water
contacts.
The fluid contacts in a highly porous and permeable formation are generally distinct, but
it is not clear in fine grained low permeability formation.
Oil Water contact
The level below which the oil bearing formation is saturated with water is known as the
oil - water contact of that formation.
In reality, all the wells drilled in the oil bearing formation do not exhibit oil water contact.
Normally the procedure is to assume oil water contact to be horizontal plane. Thus, if the
sub sea level of the contact can be determined in several wells, it is possible to extend
the contact the reservoir to the sections where the contact is ill defined. This contact is
drawn on structure contour map to define the boundaries of the oil zone.
Tilted oil - water contact
There are cases where the oil water contact in a reservoir is not a horizontal plane. The
OWC may be tilted due to:
If the water zone is in a dynamic state
If the formation is highly heterogeneous in porosity and permeability
The most important factor is the horizontal permeability which could cause a tilted OWC.
This type of tilt in water table occurs due to formation of a considerably thick transition
zone in the region of fine grains and low permeability.
This concept, coupled with the study of formation pressures in different wells will help to
eliminate many of the faults generally, shown in the structure contour maps to adjust all
OWC data along horizontal planes.
Edge water system
Where OWC is encountered only in the down dip (flank) wells and not in the up dip
(crestal) wells. Presence of edge water in the formation necessitates in marking of outer
and inner oil water contacts.
Tracing the averaged OWC on the structure contour map drawn at the top of the
formation is defined as the outer oil water contact. Plotting the level of OWC on the
structure contour map drawn at the top of the formation is defined as the outer oil water
contact. Plotting the level of OWC on the structure contour map drawn at the bottom of
the formation and tracing the same line on the structure contour map drawn at the top of
the formation is defined as the inner oil water contact. This should be traced off with
appropriate symbol to prevent confusion.

Edge Water System
Bottom water system
Where OWC is encountered in the entire flank as well the crestal wells of the formation.
The generalize OWC is plotted on the structure contour map drawn at the top of the
formation and there is only one OWC in this system as all the oil bearing areas has the
presence of water below it. The structure contour map at the bottom of the formation is
not drawn in this case.

Bottom Water System
Gas-Oil and Gas-Water contact
In a formation where the oil or water is overlain by gas, gas - oil or gas - water contacts
are observed. Like oil-water contacts, the gas - oil and gas - water contacts can also be
edge or bottom type and are to be drawn on structure contour maps the same way as
discussed for the oil water contacts.
A common fluid contact
If several beds in a multilayered producing horizon have a common oil-water, gas-water
contact, the entire horizon can be counted as a single unit and its reserves can be
estimated accordingly.
The same oil water contact for several strata or horizons indicates a hydrodynamic
continuity which may either be due to pinch out of the shale layers or existence of
fractures within shales permitting fluid communication. The presence of a single oil -
water or gas - oil contact of course does not eliminate the necessity of careful study of all
the present features in individual beds.

Areal Extent of Oil-Pool
The concept of the nature of trap (structural, stratigraphic or combination type) will help
to a great extent to define the pool limit. From the study of all the reservoir types, this
has been concluded that hydrocarbon reservoirs are essentially bounded by four ways:
- pinch out or disappearance of the formation
- facies change or loss of permeability
- faulting
- fluid contact
One or any combination of these four phenomena may act as the limiting factor.

Iso-pach (Gross Thickness) Map
The total thickness (sand-shale) of the unit encountered in all the wells or adjacent to the
field is tabulated. The isopach map is drawn connecting the same gross thicknesses of
different wells indicates depositional pattern.
Iso- Effective Thickness Map
The term effective thickness generally means the total thickness of the permeable layers
of a formation. For the calculation of reserves and drawing up a production plan, the
effective thickness of the productive formation has to be assessed. In determining
effective thickness, the layers which do not exhibit the reservoir characteristics are
deducted from the total thickness of the formation. Though laborious, but accuracy of the
reserves estimation is dependant on this parameter to a considerable extent. Hence it is
desirable that effective thickness of each well is carefully determined from the study of
all available geological and well data.
After tabulating the well wise effective thickness data for the entire well in or adjacent to
the field, an iso-effective thickness map is drawn by connecting the same effective
thickness values. The isopach map should form as a guide map for drawing of this map.
This map helps in establishing the sand geometry of the zone interest.

Iso-pay map
Bottom water case: From the field structure contour map, the OWC and other pool
limits are traced on a blank field map. The OWC is labeled as zero as it will be line of
zero oil sand thickness. The thickness contours taking a trend from the iso effective
thickness map shall nearly follow the structure contours ie, maximum at the crest and
declining towards the flanks.
Edge water case
The pool limits and OWC (inner and outer) from structure contour map are traced on a
blank field map and the outer OWC is labeled as Zero as it is a line of zero oil sand
thickness.

As the total net sand (effective thickness) and net oil-sand (net pay or oil-saturated
column) for wells inside the inner oil-water contact are identical, the total net sand
(effective thickness) contours and the final net oil-sand isopachous (isopay) should be
identical in this area. Super impose the blank map over the total net sand map (effective
thickness map) previously prepared and trace off all contours that lie inside the inner oil-
water contact. This is the most important part of the final isopay map. The contours in
the oil-water wedge will more or less parallel structure contours and data from wells in
the wedge fill into them. It will be seen that where a contour crosses the inner oil-water
contact it makes an abrupt turn towards the next numerically high contour. While
preparing the oil sand isopach (isopay) map, the oil - gas wedge zone should be taken
into consideration in the same way as the water-oil wedge zone while calculating the
value of the isopay (oil sand/gas sand thickness) contours. Should the reservoir be so
shaped that in some parts of field, the entire thickness of the same is in the gas cap, the
total net sand contours may still be used to find out net pay or oil/gas saturated
thickness contours.


Iso-pay map
Calculation of Net Hydrocarbon Saturated Rock Volume
Preparation of the isopach, isoeffective thickness and the isopay maps of the reservoir is
followed by planimetering the areas between the isopay lines of the isopay map of the
reservoir, to obtain the volume.

The assessing of volume of the rock body by three methods can be used.
1. Trapezoidal rule: The volume of a trapezoid is

) (
2
1 +
+ =
n n
A A
h
Volume
Or a series of successive trapezoids
2
) 2 .... 2 2 (
2
1 2 1 0
n n
n n
A h
A A A A A
h
Volume + + + + + + =

Where:
h = Isopay contour interval
A
o
= area enclosed by the zero isopay line
A
1
, A
2
, A
3
, A
n
= Areas enclosed by successive isopach lines
h
n
= average thickness above the top of maximum thickness isopach line.

2. Pyramidal rule: The volume of the frustum of a pyramid is given by :
( )
1 1
.
3
+ +
+ + =
n n n
A An A A
h
V
Where:
V = volume between n and n + 1 contours.
h = interval between the isopach lines
A
n
= area enclosed by the lower isopach lines
A
n + 1
= area enclosed by the next higher isopach line

This equation is used to determine the volume between successive isopay lines and the
total volume is the sum of these separate volumes.
For better accuracy, the pyramidal formula should be used. Because of its simpler form
the trapezoidal formula however, is commonly used, though it introduces an error of 2 %
when the ratio of successive areas is 0.5. Therefore, a commonly adopted rule in
unitization programs is, whenever the ratio of the areas of any successive isopay lines is
smaller than 0.5, the pyramidal formula should be applied.

Graphical Method
The rock volume can also be obtained by plotting a graph of areas enclosed by contours
of the structure maps on top and bottom of the formation. The areas plotted as a function
of depth. The area enclosed by the two resulting curves represents the gross volume of
hydrocarbon bearing rocks. The gross rock volume is determined by graphical and
numerical integration of the area between the two curves or by planimetering. This
method does not assume any fixed relationship between each contour as in the case of
the trapezoidal or pyramidal rules.

Sometimes it is considered desirable to know the rock volume distribution as a function
of depth. This can be done by dividing the area between two curves into smaller
segments and calculating the area for each little segment A
0
, A
1
, A
2.
etc. The cumulative
volume distribution with depth can be expressed in terms of rock volume above or below
a given depth depending on whether gas cap or water drive is the predominant source of
energy.

EVALUATION OF RESERVOIR PARAMETERS
Average porosity
In volumetric reserves calculation the average porosity of the producing horizon is an
important factor. To arrive at an average value of porosity it is necessary to evaluate first
the average porosity of the formation in an individual well. That is each value of porosity
is assumed to represent the interval from which the sample was taken. If all the intervals
sampled from well are of uniform thickness, the weighted average and arithmetic
average are identical. If the intervals differ in both thickness and value of the porosity,
then the two averages differ.

The thickness weighted average porosity is about one percent higher that the arithmetic
average. The summation of (A h) is the porosity or volume capacity of the section.

Determination of average value of hydrocarbon saturation in the reservoir
Hydrocarbon saturation can be obtained from laboratory and electrolog analysis. For use
in volumetric estimation of hydrocarbon reserves, the weighted average hydrocarbon
saturation is to be assessed. In evaluation of hydrocarbon saturation also (1)
Arithmetic weighted average, (2) Area weighted average and (3) Volumetric weighted
average techniques are used. If sufficient data are available, the most efficient method
of averaging the value is volumetric. The objective can be achieved by superimposition
of Isopay and Isosaturation map and then calculating the saturation value for each block.
At the final stage, the value is obtained by dividing the product of the total pore and total
hydrocarbon volume by total pore volume.
This method can be effectively used only when there sufficient data points uniformly
spread over the field. If only a few data points are available, arithmetic or area weighted
average method will be more useful.
Reservoir pressure: Reservoir pressure is an important parameter in determining fluid
volume, unlike reservoir temperature, reservoir pressure is a variable in most reservoir
processes. A distinction is thus made between initial reservoir pressure and the pressure
attained after production from the reservoir.

Initial pressure: The earliest pressure observations are usually made during drill-
stem tests. DST pressure record may include a closed in pressure prior to the fluid flow.
These observations are excellent source of data on initial reservoir pressure.
The most reliable initial pressure records are obtained from pressure buildup tests on
early wells which are produced until cleared of completion fluid and then closed in for
pressure recording.

Initial reservoir pressure can be verified and in some instances, determined from
correlation of pressure and production history of the reservoir. For a gas reservoir, a P/Z
plot is linear with cumulative gas production.

Reservoir Temperature
Reservoir temperature is required for planning many operations in the wells. These are
measured with maximum thermometers after temperature equilibrium is reached. This
condition is attained if sufficient time is given (24 or 48 hrs). With several readings
against different sands, a standard temperature curve can be prepared for the field.

The reservoir temperature is constant over the life of a reservoir. Average reservoir
temperature in low relief reservoirs can be determined at the volumetric mid point of the
reservoir. In reservoir of considerable relief the effect of temperature variations can be
taken into account by considering temperature gradient.

If measured temperature data are not available, regional geothermal gradient can be
utilized to find out the reservoir temperature from the following relation:
T= Surface temp.
0
C +gt (h)
Where,
T = Formation temperature at depth h
h = Depth from surface, 100m.
gt = Geothermal gradient
0
C/100 m.
Formation Volume Factor
This parameter is very important for both volumetric and material balance reserve
estimation.
For volumetric reserve estimates, FVF (flash) at initial reservoir pressure is utilized.

Gas Compressibility Factor (Z)
The accurate estimation of gas compressibility factor (Z) is very important for estimation
of free gas reserves. As the gas deviation factor varies usually between 0.7 to 1.2, it has
got a great bearing on the assessed gas.
Solution Gas-Oil Ratio and Specific Gravity of Reservoir Fluids
Solution gas-oil ratio is an important parameter for the estimation of solution gas
reserves. The gas in solution normally refers to the total amount of gas that is liberated
while bringing the oil from reservoir conditions to stock tank conditions and is reported in
cubic meters of stock tank oil. This parameter can therefore be determined from surface
measurements through separators and from PVT samples in the laboratory either by
flash or differential liberation process.

Flash GOR is used for estimation of solution gas reserves.

The specific gravity of the reservoir fluids, gas and oil is also important parameters for
reserve estimates. It is determined in the laboratory from PVT samples under standard
pressure and temperature conditions. Specific gravity of oil and gas is also determined
using surface oil and gas samples. These values should be compatible with specific
gravity values determined by PVT analysis.
PERFORMANCE TECHNIQUES :
These methods are mainly used during development stage and during producing life of
the reservoir. As new wells are drilled the volume and geometrical distribution of the
reservoir becomes more accurately defined as well as the reservoir porosity and
saturation values .On the other hand ,fluid withdrawals and injection into the reservoir
and the corresponding changes in fluid interfaces must be accounted for as the
inventory of reserves is continuously updated whether the amount of hydrocarbon
reserves is estimated by computer as in : Field Studies or manually ,the procedures are
the same in principle. Obviously , the trend in reservoir studies is towards numerical
simulation on which not only the static inventory of reserves is kept ,but which can
predict future behaviour of a field. Using the performance data ,the reserves can be
studied by the following three methods :

A. Material Balance approach
B. Numerical Simulation Technique;
C. Decline Curve Analysis
INITIAL IN-PLACE ESTIMATION USING MATERIAL BALANCE EQUATIONS :
The material balance equation was first presented in 1936 by Schilthuis. When properly
applied, it can be used for;
Estimating initial hydrocarbon in place
Predicting future reservoir performance
Predicting ultimate hydrocarbon recovery under various types of primary drive
mechanism.

Though the material balance equation is of zero order, by introducing the rate term we
one can add time dimension to it.
Material balance methods of reserves estimation involve the analysis of pressure
behavior as reservoir fluids are withdrawn, and generally result in more reliable reserves
estimates than volumetric estimates. Reserves may be based on material balance
calculations when sufficient production and pressure data is available. Confident
application of material balance methods requires knowledge of rock and fluid properties,
aquifer characteristics and accurate average reservoir pressures. In complex situations,
such as those involving water influx, multi-phase behavior, multilayered or low
permeability reservoirs, material balance estimates alone may provide erroneous results.

Therefore, if sufficient pressure production performance data are recorded and PVT data
describing the reservoir fluid behaviour are available ,the amount of oil or gas in place in
a reservoir , can be computed by Material Balance Method. The method is based on the
premise that the pore volume (Pv)of a reservoir remains constant or changes in a
predictable manner with the reservoir pressure drop ,as oil ,gas and/or water are
produced.

It is important that calculations at several pressure withdrawal points must yield
consistent results. The successful application of this method requires an accurate
history of the average pressure of the reservoir ,reliable oil, gas and water production
data ,and PVT data on reservoir fluids.

The most frequently used material balance equations are given below with reference to
the type of reservoir. The unknowns are also indicated .The unknown other than in place
reserves , have to be determined by independent means.

1. Oil Reservoir with Gas Cap and active water drive :
Np( Bt+Bg (Rp-Rsi)-(We-Wp)
N = ----------------------------------------
m/Bgi(Bg) + (Bt-Boi)

Unknowns - N, We, m
2. Oil Reservoirs With gas cap ,no active water drive ( We=0):
Np( Bt +Bg(Rp-Rsi) +Wp
N= --------------------------------
m/Bgi ( Bg-1) +(Bt-Boi)

Unknown - N, m
3. Initially under-saturated oil reservoir in the active water drive (m=0):
(i) Above Bubble Point
( Np(1+p Co) - (1-Sw)
N= -----------------------------------
P( Co+Cf - Sw( Co-Cw)

Unknown - N .

(ii) Below Bubble Point :
Np( Bt+Bg ( Rp-Rsi) _(We-Wp)
N = -------------------------------------
(Bt-Boi)
Unknown - N,We.
4. Initially Under-saturated reservoir ,no active water (We=0)
(i) Above Bubble point :
(Np(1+PCo)+ (1-Sw)
N= -----------------------------
P (Co +Cf Sw ( CO-Cw)
Unknown N.
(ii) Below bubble point
Np(Bt +Bg (Rp-Rsi)+Wp
N = ------------------------------
Bt-Boi
Unknown - N
5. Gas Reservoirs with active water drive
Gp.Bg _ (We-Wp)
GR = -----------------------
( Bg- Bgi)

Unknown- GR, We.
6. Gas Reservoirs with no active water drive :
GpBg +Wp
GR = ---------------
Bg-Bgi

Unknown - GR

Where :
Bg= Gas FVF,Vol/Vol
Bo = Oil FVF ,RB/STB ( Res.m3/std.m3)
Bt = Bo+ ( Rsi-Rs)Bg,RB/STB
Cf = Compressibility factor for reservoir rock,Vol/Vol/psi
Co = Compressibility factor for oil ,Vol/Vol/psi
Cw= Compressibility factor for water ,Vol/Vol/psi
GR = Reservoir gas in place ,SCF( Std.m3)
Gp= Cumulative gas produced ,SCF (Std.m3)
i = Initial conditions
m = Ratio of gas cap volume to oil zone volume
N = Reservoir oil in place ,STB ( Std.m3)
Np = Cumulative oil produced ,STB (Std.m3)
Rs = Solution GOR,SCF/STB (Std.m3/Std.m3)
Sw = Interstitial water saturation,fraction of pore volume
We = cumulative water influx ,bbl(m3) and
Wp = Cumulative water produced ,bbl.(m3)

RESERVOIR SIMULATION :
Estimation of reserves in any hydrocarbon reservoir is essentially a two-stage process.
In the first phase volumetric reserves are estimated by plani-metering the base maps-
structure contour, oil pay/gas pay thickness ,porosity, saturation .In the next phase the
volumetric in-place are modified ( if need be ) after watching the performance of the field
in terms of reservoir pressure, producing GORs and water cuts etc. The in-place are
revised upwards or reduced depending on whether the performance of the reservoir ( in
terms of pressure, GOR, water cut ) is better or worse with respect to a certain reserve
base estimated volumetrically.

The same philosophy is carried over in reservoir simulation. The volumetric phase of
reserve estimation is termed as Initialization. The inputs required for this phase are the
base maps-structure contours hydrocarbon pay thickness ,porosity, saturation . These
are discretized and read as input data to each simulation grid. Next the relevant PVT
data are read in the form of PVT tables . Transition zones are defined in terms of
capillary pressure curves. Volumetric reserve estimation then becomes simply an
arithmetic sum of the in-place hydrocarbons in each grid block. Sealing faults and fault-
blocks with different fluid contacts can also be defined in the simulation models. Layering
in the vertical direction can be made to conform with Geological Layers ,and further sub-
divided into still sub-layers depending on desired accuracy of modeling flows in the
vertical direction. It is possible to obtain a summary of layer-wise / block-wise reserves at
the end of the initialization process. These can be cross checked with volumetrically
estimated reserves ( obtained by plani-metering ). The two are generally found to be in
agreement.

The second stage of confirming volumetrically estimated reserves is termed as history
matching. Wells are defined in the reservoir and oil production rate assigned to them as
per their actual performance. The simulator then produces a response in terms of
calculated reservoir pressure, GOR, water cut which is compared with the actual
performance of these wells. This process is called history matching. Attempts are made
to match the history by adjusting the level of aquifer support, the transmissibilities,
shapes of relative permeabilities etc. If after all these changes a satisfactory history
match is not obtained the validity of the volumetrically estimated reserves is in question
and suitable local and global modification to these reserves is made.

Computer reservoir modeling can be considered a sophisticated form of material
balance analysis. While modeling can be a reliable predictor of reservoir behavior, the
input rock properties, reservoir geometry and fluid properties are critical. Evaluators
must be aware of the limitations of predictive models when using these results for
reserves estimation.

The portion of reserves estimated as proved, probable or possible should reflect the
quantity and quality of the available data and the confidence in the associated estimate.

Production Decline Methods
Production decline analysis methods of reserves estimation involve the analysis of
production behavior as reservoir fluids are withdrawn. Confident application of decline
analysis methods requires a sufficient period of stable operating conditions after the
wells in a reservoir have established drainage areas. In estimating reserves, evaluators
take into consideration factors affecting production decline behavior, such as reservoir
rock and fluid properties, transient versus stabilized flow, changes in operating
conditions (both past and future) and depletion mechanism.
Reserves may be assigned based on decline analysis when sufficient production data is
available. The decline relationship used in projecting production should be supported by
all available data.

The portion of reserves estimated as proved, probable or possible should reflect the
confidence in the associated estimate.

METHOD :
In decline curve analysis a varying characteristics of the well performance that can be
measured easily is selected as a variable to produce a trend curve and the cumulative
production or time are selected as independent variables and plotted as abscissas. For
extrapolation the dependent variable ( such as rate, pressure or water cut ) need to be a
continuous function of the independent variable and change in some uniform definable
manner. By plotting the values of this continuously changing dependent variable as
ordinates against the values of the independent variable as abscissas, and graphically or
mathematically extra-polating the apparent trend until a known end point is reached, one
can estimate the remaining reserves or the remaining life for a reservoir. For oil reserves
these plots are usually the logarithm of the producing rate Vs time. The two essential
requirements to use this method are (i) undisturbed production from the well and (ii)
producing the well at capacity.

Reserves Related to Future Drilling and Planned Enhanced Recovery Projects
The foregoing reserves estimation methodologies are applicable to recoveries from
existing wells and enhanced recovery projects that have been demonstrated to be
economically and technically successful in the subject reservoir by actual performance
or a successful pilot. The following criteria should be considered when estimating
incremental reserves associated with development drilling or implementation of
enhanced recovery projects. In all instances, the probability of recovery of the
associated reserves must meet the certainty criteria contained in Definitions of Reserves.
Additional Reserves Related to Future Drilling
Additional reserves associated with future drilling in known accumulations may be
assigned where economics support and regulations do not prohibit the drilling of the
location.

Aside from the criteria stipulated in Definitions of Reserves, factors to be considered in
classifying reserves estimates associated with future drilling as proved, probable or
possible include:
Whether the proposed location directly offsets existing wells or acreage with proved or
probable reserves assigned, and
The expected degree of geological continuity within the reservoir unit containing the
reserves, and The likelihood that the location will be drilled.

In addition, where infill wells will be drilled and placed on production, the estimator must
quantify well interference effects, that portion of recovery which represents accelerated
production of developed reserves, and that portion which represents incremental
recovery beyond those reserves recognized for the existing reservoir development.
Reserves Related to Planned Enhanced Recovery Projects:
Reserves that can be economically recovered through the future application of an
established enhanced recovery method may be classified as follows:
Proved reserves may be assigned to planned enhanced recovery projects when the
following criteria are met:
Repeated commercial success of the enhanced recovery process has been
demonstrated in reservoirs in the area with analogous rock and fluid properties, the
project is highly likely to be carried out in the near future. This may be demonstrated by
factors such as the commitment of project funding, and Where required, either regulatory
approvals have been obtained, or no regulatory impediments are expected, as clearly
demonstrated by the approval of analogous projects.
Probable reserves may be assigned when a planned enhanced recovery project does
not meet the requirements for classification as proved, however, the following criteria are
met:
The project can be shown to be practically and technically reasonable, and Commercial
success of the enhanced recovery process has been demonstrated in reservoirs with
analogous rock and fluid properties, and it is reasonably certain that the project will be
implemented.
Possible reserves may be assigned when a planned enhanced recovery project does not
meet the requirements for classification as proved or probable, however, the following
criteria are met:
the project can be shown to be practically and technically reasonable, and commercial
success of the enhanced recovery process has been demonstrated in reservoirs with
analogous rock and fluid properties but there remains some doubt that the process will
be successful in the subject reservoir.

VERIFICATION OF RESERVES ESTIMATES
A practical method of verifying that reserves estimates meet the definitions and
guidelines is through periodic reserves reconciliation of both entity and aggregate
estimates. The tests described below should be applied to the same entities or groups of
entities over time, excluding revisions due to differing economic assumptions:
Revisions to proved reserves estimates should generally be positive as new information
becomes available.
Revisions to proved plus probable reserves estimates should generally be neutral as
new information becomes available.
Revisions to proved plus probable plus possible estimates should generally be negative
as new information becomes available.
These tests can be used to monitor whether procedures and practices employed are
achieving results consistent with certainty criteria contained in Definitions of Reserves. In
the event that the above tests are not satisfied on a consistent basis, appropriate
adjustments should be made to evaluation procedures and practices.

The Nature and Purpose of Estimating and Auditing Petroleum Reserves:
Estimates of Reserves Information are made by or for Entities as a part of their ongoing
business practices. Such Reserves Information typically may include, among other
things, estimates of (i) the reserves quantities, (ii) the future producing rates from such
reserves, (iii) the future net revenue from such reserves, and (iv) the present value of
such future net revenue. The exact type and extent of Reserves Information must
necessarily take into account the purpose for which such Reserves Information is being
prepared and, correspondingly, statutory and regulatory provisions, if any, that are
applicable to such intended use of the Reserves Information. Reserves Information may
be limited to Proved Reserves or may involve other categories of reserves as
appropriate to the estimate.

Estimating and Auditing Reserves Information in Accordance With Generally
Accepted Engineering and Evaluation Principles
The estimating and auditing of Reserves Information is predicated upon certain
historically developed principles of geo-science, petroleum engineering, and evaluation
methodologies, which are in turn based on principles of physical science, mathematics,
and economics. Although these generally accepted geological, engineering, and
evaluation principles are predicated on established scientific concepts, the application of
such principles involves extensive judgments by qualified individuals and is subject to
changes in (i) existing knowledge and technology; (ii) fiscal and economic conditions; (iii)
applicable contractual, statutory, and regulatory provisions; and (iv) the purposes for
which the Reserves information is to be used.

The Inherently Imprecise Nature of Reserves Information
The reliability of Reserves Information is considerably affected by several factors. Initially,
it should be noted that Reserves Information is imprecise due to the inherent
uncertainties in, and the limited nature of, the accumulation and interpretation of data
upon which the estimating and auditing of Reserves Information is predicated. Moreover,
the methods and data used in estimating Reserves Information are often necessarily
indirect or analogical in character rather than direct or deductive. Each person estimating
and auditing oil and gas Reserves Information is encouraged to exercise his or her own
judgment concerning the matters set forth in these Standards. Reserves Information are
required, in applying generally accepted petroleum engineering and evaluation principles,
to make numerous unbiased judgments based upon their educational background,
professional training, and professional experience. The extent and significance of the
judgments to be made are, in themselves, sufficient to render Reserves Information
inherently imprecise.
The Need for Standards Governing the Estimating and Auditing of Reserves

Information
The adoption of these Standards fulfills at least three useful objectives.

First, although some users of Reserves Information are cognizant of the general
principles that are applied to databases in the estimation of Reserves Information, the
judgments required in estimating and auditing Reserves Information, and the inherently
imprecise nature of Reserves Information, many users of Reserves Information continue
to fail to understand such matters. The adoption, publication, and distribution of these
Standards should enable users of Reserves Information to understand these matters
more fully and therefore place the appropriate level of confidence on Reserves
Information.

Second, the wider dissemination of Reserves Information through public financial
reporting, such as that required by various governmental authorities, makes it imperative
that the users of Reserves Information have a general understanding of the methods of,
and limitations on, estimating and auditing Reserves Information.

Third, as Reserves Information proliferates in terms of the types of information available
and the broader dissemination thereof, it becomes increasingly important that Reserves
Information be estimated and audited on a consistent basis by competent, well-trained
professional geoscientists and engineers. Compliance with these Standards is a method
of facilitating evaluation and comparisons of Reserves Information by the users thereof.

In order to accomplish the three above-discussed objectives, following points are
included in these Standards (i) definitions of selected terms pertaining to the estimation
and evaluation of Reserves Information, (ii) qualifications for persons estimating and
auditing Reserves Information, (iii) standards of independence and objectivity for such
persons, (iv) standards for estimating reserves and other Reserves Information, and (v)
standards for auditing reserves and other Reserves Information. Although these
Standards are predicated on generally accepted geo-science, petroleum engineering,
and economic evaluation principles, it may in the future become necessary, for the
reasons set forth in to clarify or amend certain of these Standards. Accordingly, the
Society, as a part of its governance process, will periodically review these standards and
determine whether to amend these Standards or publish clarifying statements.
Note that these Standards apply independently of the classification system and
associated guidelines adopted by the entity; the reference system should be clearly
identified.

DEFINITIONS OF RESERVES
The determination of oil and gas reserves involves the preparation of estimates that
have an inherent degree of associated uncertainty. Classifications of proved, probable
and possible reserves have been established to reflect the level of these uncertainties
and to provide an indication of the probability of recovery.
The estimation and classification of reserves requires the application of professional
judgement combined with geological and engineering knowledge to assess whether or
not specific reserves categorization criteria have been satisfied. Knowledge of concepts
including uncertainty and risk, probability and statistics, and deterministic and
probabilistic estimation methods is required to properly use and apply reserves
definitions. These concepts are presented and discussed in greater detail within the
guidelines that follow this section.
The following definitions apply to both estimates of individual reserves entities and the
aggregate of reserves for multiple entities.
RESERVES CATEGORIES
Reserves are estimated remaining quantities of oil and natural gas and related
substances anticipated to be recoverable from known accumulations, from a given date
forward, based on:
Analysis of drilling, geological, geophysical and engineering data,
The use of established technology, and
Specified economic conditions, which are generally accepted as being
reasonable and shall be disclosed.

Reserves are classified according to the degree of certainty associated with the
estimates.
Proved reserves are those reserves that can be estimated with a high degree of
certainty to be recoverable. It is likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will
exceed the estimated proved reserves.
Probable reserves are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered
than proved reserves. It is equally likely that the actual remaining quantities recovered
will be greater or less than the sum of the estimated proved plus probable reserves.
Possible reserves are those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered
than probable reserves. It is unlikely that the actual remaining quantities recovered will
exceed the sum of the estimated proved plus probable plus possible reserves.

DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION STATUS
Each of the reserves classifications (proved, probable and possible) may be divided into
developed and undeveloped categories.

Developed reserves are those reserves that are expected to be recovered from existing
wells and installed facilities or, if facilities have not been installed, that would involve a
low expenditure (e.g. when compared to the cost of drilling a well) to put the reserves on
production. The developed category may be subdivided into producing and non-
producing:
Developed producing reserves are those reserves that are expected to be recovered
from completion intervals open at the time of the estimate. These reserves may be
currently producing or, if shut-in, they must have previously been on production, and the
date of
resumption of production must be known with reasonable certainty.
Developed non producing reserves are those reserves that either have not been on
production, or have previously been on production, but are shut-in, and the date of
resumption of production is unknown.
Undeveloped reserves are those reserves expected to be recovered from known
accumulations where a significant expenditure (e.g. when compared to the cost of
drilling a well) is required to render them capable of production. They must fully meet the
requirements of the reserves classification (proved, probable, possible) to which they are
assigned.
Discovered
Resources
I
---------------------------------------------
I I
Recoverable Unrecoverable
Resources Resources
( Ult.Reserves ) ( As of Date )
I I
I I
------------------ -----------------------
I I I I
Cumulative Reserves Contingent Unrecoverable
Production ( Future Resources Resources
Production) ( Rec. and ( Unrec.
Unecon.) Unecon.)

Fig. : Discovered Resources
In multi-well pools it may be appropriate to allocate total pool reserves between the
developed and undeveloped categories or to subdivide the developed reserves for the
pool between developed producing and developed non-producing. This allocation should
be based on the estimators assessment as to the reserves that will be recovered from
specific wells, facilities and completion intervals in the pool and their respective
development and production status.
LEVELS OF CERTAINTY FOR REPORTED RESERVES
The qualitative certainty levels contained in the definitions are applicable to individual
Reserves Entities, which refers to the lowest level at which reserves calculations are
performed, and to Reported Reserves, which refers to the highest level sum of individual
entity estimates for which reserves estimates are presented. Reported Reserves should
target the following levels of certainty under a specific set of economic conditions:
At least a 90% probability that the quantities actually recovered will equal or exceed the
estimated proved reserves.
sum of the estimated proved plus probable reserves.
sum of the estimated proved plus probable plus possible reserves.

A quantitative measure of the certainty levels pertaining to estimates prepared for the
various reserves categories is desirable to provide a more clear understanding of the
associated risks and uncertainties. However, the majority of reserves estimates will be
prepared using deterministic methods that do not provide a quantitative measure of
probability. In principle, there should be no difference between estimates prepared using
probabilistic or deterministic methods.

UNCERTAINTY IN RESERVES ESTIMATION
Reserves estimation has characteristics that are common to any measurement process
that uses uncertain data. An understanding of statistical concepts and the associated
terminology is essential to understanding the confidence associated with reserves
definitions and classifications.

Uncertainty in a reserves estimate arises from a combination of error and bias:
Error is inherent in the data that are used to estimate reserves. Note that the term Error
refers to limitations in the input data, not to a mistake in interpretation or application of
the data. The procedures and concepts dealing with error lie within the realm of statistics
and are well established.
Bias, which is a predisposition of the evaluator, has various sources that are not
necessarily conscious or intentional.

In the absence of bias, different qualified evaluators using the same information at the
same time will produce reserves estimates that will not be materially different,
particularly for the aggregate of a large number of estimates. The range within which
these estimates should reasonably fall depends on the quantity and quality of the basic
information, and the extent of analysis of the data.

DETERMINISTIC AND PROBABLISTIC METHODS
Reserves estimates may be prepared using either deterministic or probabilistic methods.

Deterministic Method
The deterministic approach, which is the one most commonly employed worldwide,
involves the selection of a single value for each parameter in the reserves calculation.
The discrete value for each parameter is selected based on the estimators
determination of the value that is most appropriate for the corresponding reserves
category.

Probabilistic Method
Probabilistic analysis involves describing the full range of possible values for each
unknown parameter. This approach typically consists of employing computer software to
perform repetitive calculations (e.g. Monte Carlo Simulation) to generate the full range
of possible outcomes and their associated probability of occurrence.

Comparison of Deterministic and Probabilistic Estimates
Deterministic and probabilistic methods are not distinct and separate. A deterministic
estimate is a single value within a range of outcomes that could be derived by a
probabilistic analysis. Ideally, there should be no difference between Reported Reserves
estimates prepared using deterministic and probabilistic methods.
Application of Guidelines to the Probabilistic Method
The following guidelines include criteria that provide specific limits to parameters for
proved reserves estimates. For example, volumetric estimates are restricted by the
lowest known hydrocarbon (LKH).Inclusion of such specific limits may conflict with
standard probabilistic procedures, which require that input parameters honour the range
of potential values.

Nonetheless, it is required that the guidelines be met regardless of analysis method.
Accordingly, when probabilistic methods are used, constraints on input parameters may
be required in certain instances. Alternatively, a deterministic check may be made in
such instances to ensure that aggregate estimates prepared using probabilistic methods
do not exceed those prepared using a deterministic approach including all appropriate
constraints.

AGGREGATION OF RESERVES ESTIMATES
Reported Reserves are typically comprised of the aggregate of estimates prepared for a
number of individual wells, reservoirs and/or properties/fields.

When deterministic methods are used, Reported Reserves will be the simple arithmetic
sum of all estimates within each reserves category. Evaluators and users of reserves
information must understand the effect of summation on the probabilities of estimates.
The probability associated with the arithmetic sum for a number of individual
independent estimates is different from that of the individual estimates. Arithmetic
summation of independent high probability estimates will result in a total with a higher
probability; arithmetic summation of low probability estimates will yield a total
with a lower probability.

As the definitions and guidelines require a conservative approach in the estimation of
proved reserves, the minimum probability target for proved Reported Reserves will be
satisfied with a deterministic approach as long as there are enough independent entity
estimates in the aggregate. Where a very small number of entities dominate in the
Reported Reserves, a specific effort to meet the probability criteria may be required in
preparing deterministic estimates of proved reserves. Since proved plus probable
reserves prepared by deterministic methods will approximate mean values, the
probability associated with the estimates will essentially be unaffected by aggregation.

When probabilistic techniques are used in reserves estimation, aggregation is typically
performed within the probabilistic model. It is critical that such models appropriately
include all dependencies between variables and components within the aggregation.
Where dependencies and specific criteria contained in the guidelines have been treated
appropriately, reserves for the various categories would be defined by the minimum
probability requirements, subject to the considerations provided in the following
paragraphs.

Reported Reserves for a company will typically not be the aggregate results from a
single probabilistic model since reserves estimates are used for a variety of purposes
including planning, reserves reconciliation, accounting, securities disclosure and asset
transactions. These uses will generally necessitate tabulations of reserves estimates at
lower aggregation levels than the total Reported Reserves. For these reasons, and due
to the lack of general acceptance of probabilistic aggregation up to the company level,
reserves should generally not be aggregated probabilistically beyond the field (or
property) level.

Statistical aggregation of a tabulation of values, which does not result in a
straightforward arithmetic addition, is not accepted for most reporting purposes.
Consequently, discrete estimates for each reserves category resulting from separate
probabilistic analyses, which may, as appropriate, include aggregation up to the field (or
property) level, should be summed arithmetically. As a result, Reported Reserves will
meet the probability requirements in Section 1.4 regardless of dependencies between
separate probabilistic analyses and may be summed with deterministic estimates within
each reserves category.

It is recognized that the foregoing approach imposes an additional measure of
conservatism when proved reserves are derived from a number of independent
probabilistic analyses since the sum of independent 90 percent probability estimates has
an associated probability of greater than 90 percent.
Nonetheless, this is considered to be an acceptable consequence given the need for a
discrete accounting of component proved estimates.
Conversely, this approach will cause the sum of proved plus probable plus possible
reserves derived from a number of probabilistic analyses to fail to meet the 10 percent
minimum probability requirement. Given the limited application for proved plus probable
plus possible Reported Reserves, this is also considered to be an acceptable
consequence.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CLASSIFICATION OF RESERVES
The following general conditions must be satisfied in the estimation and classification of
reserves:
Drilling Requirements
Proved, probable or possible reserves may be assigned only to known accumulations
that have been penetrated by a well-bore. Potential hydrocarbon accumulations that
have not been penetrated by a well-bore may be classified as Prospective Resources.

Testing Requirements
Confirmation of commercial productivity of an accumulation by production or a formation
test is required for classification of reserves as proved. In the absence of production or
formation testing, probable and/or possible reserves may be assigned to an
accumulation on the basis of well logs and/or core analysis which indicate that the zone
is hydrocarbon bearing and is analogous to other reservoirs in the immediate area that
have demonstrated commercial productivity by actual production or formation testing.
Economic Requirements
Proved, probable or possible reserves may be assigned only to those volumes which are
economically recoverable. The fiscal conditions under which reserves estimates are
prepared should generally be those which are considered to be a reasonable outlook on
the future. If required by securities regulators or other agencies, constant or other prices
and costs also may be used. In any event, the fiscal assumptions used in the
preparation of reserves estimates must be disclosed.

Undeveloped recoverable volumes must have a sufficient return on investment to justify
the associated capital expenditure in order to be classified as reserves as opposed to
Contingent Resources.

Regulatory Considerations
In general, proved, probable or possible reserves may be assigned only in instances
where production or development of those reserves is not prohibited by governmental
regulation. This provision would, for instance, preclude the assignment of reserves in
designated environmentally sensitive areas. Reserves may be assigned in instances
where regulatory restraints may be removed subject to satisfaction of minor conditions.
In such cases, the classification of reserves as proved, probable or possible should be
made with consideration given to the risk associated with project approval.

ESTIMATION OF RECOVERY FACTORS
Knowledge of recoverable reserves is important because it serves as a guide to sound
development of reservoirs. Before applying secondary recovery techniques it is
important to estimate the primary recoverable oil and the expected gain by application of
the secondary recovery technique. Careful and detailed prediction of performance to be
expected permits judicious design of injection facilities and production handling facilities
as well as to maximize the economic gains.

The primary oil recovery can be estimated byb:
- Volumetric method
- Material balance equation
- Graphical and decline curve analysis
- Empirical methods.

The volumetric method of estimating recoverable reserves is based on applying a
recovery factor to volumetrically estimated in place volumes. The form of the recovery
factor depends upon the producing drive mechanism of the reservoir. In case of
solution gas drive reservoir the recoverable oil will be equal to the original oil-in=place
minus the oil remaining in the reservoir at abandonment.

1-Sw 1-Sw-Sg
Np = Ah 4 (-------- - ----------- )
Soi Bo

( 1-Sw-Sg )
And Recovery factor = 1- ------------ x Boi
(1-Sw)

where Sw = Initial water saturation
Sg = gas saturation in the reservoir at abandonment pressure
Boi = Oil formation volume factor at initial reservoir pressure ( bubble point pressure )
Bo = Oil formation volume factor at abandonment pressure.

The above recovery applies to oil recovered below bubble point pressure. If reservoir
pressure greatly exceeds the bubble point pressure, additional oil recovery due to
compressibility of oil ,water and rock will have to be accounted.

In the above equation, the free gas saturation oil abandonment Sg is difficult to estimate.
C.R. Smith recommends a value of 0.25 as a first approximation for oil with solution
GOR of about 100V/V and oil gravity for 30 to 40 API. The Sg would decrease with
decrease in oil gravity or solution GOR.

Wahl et.al. have presented a series of charts from which the recovery factor for
reservoirs operating under depletion drive may be estimated. Data on bubble point
pressure oil formation volume factor ,oil viscosity , solution GOR are required for using
these charts. The charts are based on material balance equation calculation technique
and use a correlatior for relative permeability data .
Krg/ Kro =c ( 0.0435 -0.4556)

Where c = 1-Sgc-Sw-So)/So-C
Sgc = critical gas saturation
C= Constant (= Residual oil saturation ?) usually 0.25

In case of reservoir under water drive where there is no appreciable decline in reservoir
pressure ,water influx is either parallel to the bedding planes as in thin steep dipping
beds with water drive ,or upward as in case of bottom water drive. The recovery by
active water drive then is :

Ah4(1-Sw-Sor)
Np = -------------------
Boi
( 1-Sw-Sor)
And recovery = --------------
(1-Sw)
where Sor is the residual oil saturation remaining after water displacement .Since the
reservoir pressure is maintained nearl atits original value ,no free gas saturation
develops and also the oil volume factor at abandonment remains Boi.
The volumetric method of recovery factor estimation can be used even in very early
stage of development of the field. However, it is dependent on the accuracy of
estimation of Sor.
The residual oil saturation is actually dependent on efficiency of displacement .Factors
influencing displacement efficiency are displacing displaced fluid mobility ratio, the
reservoir dip, throughput rates ,and the heterogeneity of the reservoir rock. Residual oil
saturations reported from core analysis of cores taken with a water base drilling fluid is a
reasonable estimation of Sor. However, it is recommended that this saturation value be
corrected by multiplying with Bo to account for displacement by expansion of solution
gas since the pressure on the core is reduced to atmospheric pressure. In case of water
injection correction for un-swept area has to be accounted by introducing the sweep
efficiency term.
Craze and Buckley made reservoir analysis of some 103 fields of which 70 were
produced wholly or partially under water drive conditions. The residual oil saturations
range from 17.9 to 60.9 percent of pore space.Arps related the sor data to reservoir oil
viscosity and permeability as given below :

Reservoir Oil Viscosity,cp Sor,%
0.2 30.0
0.5 32.0
1.0 34.5
2.0 37.0
5.0 40.5
10.0 43.5
20.0 46.5
Further since the trapped oil is controlled by pore open sizes, a correction of the Sor
trend is incorporated as a deviation dependent on permeability.
Reservoir Permeability,md Deviation of Sor,%

50 +12.0
100 +9
200 +6
400 0
500 -0.2
1000 -1.0
2000 -4.5
5000 -8.5
Since the Craze-Buckley data was arrived at by comparing recoveries from the reservoir
as a whole the residual oil calculated by this method includes sweep efficiency ,effect of
well location ,by-passing of some of the oil ,and the abandonment of some fields before
flooding in all the zones is completed owing to excessive water oil ratios.
The material balance technique can be used only if sufficient pressure production data is
available .It is used in conjunction with GOR and saturation equations. Representative
relative permeability data is required, and aquifer parameters ,in case of water
drive ,have to be judiciously decided. Fluid properties may be available from analysis.
The method can be used only after sufficient production history has been generated.
Too many unknowns ,like size of gas cap ,nature of water influx representative reservoir
pressure ,relative permeability etc. effect the accuracy of the calculations.
The decline curves are used when extensive production history is available. The method
is based on establishing mathematical relation for the trend of a reservoir parameters,
like oil rate, and extrapolating it to a pre-decided limit.
The method is considered quite accurate and requires little other information. But it is
useful only towards the declining stage of the reservoir. The method assumes that the
operating conditions of the wells do not change an that the true decline in the reservoirs
production capability is observed in the performance data.
J.J.Arps has suggested the utility of estimation of recoverable reserves early in the stage
of development. While detailed mathematical modeling of a specific field would be
fortuitous ,the early estimates provide a basis for capital investments planning .Craze-
Buckley, Guttrie-Greenberger and J.J. Arps have made significant contributions in
developing empirical correlations for estimation of oil recovery.
Guthrie and Greenberger have made a statistical study of the Craze and Buckley data
on water drive fields which resulted in the empirical relations.:
RF =0.11403 + 0.2719 log K +0.25569Sw+0.1355 log o -1.5380 4
-0.00035h
where RF = Recovery factor fraction
K = Permeability,md
o = Oil Viscosity ,cp
h = net pay thickness ,ft.
The equation is based on a statistical analysis of the performance of a number of water
drive fields, the effect of well spacing, production rate, heterogeneity of the formation
and pore-to-pore displacement efficiency have been included.

The committee headed by J.J. Arps after analyzing the performance of various fields
gave the following relations for both depletion and water drive reservoirs.
The depletion drive :
RE = 41.815 [ 4(1-Sw)/B ] ^0.1611( K/ ob)^ 0.0979 .
(Sw)^ 0.3722 . (Pb/Pa) ^ 0.1741.

Where RE = recovery efficiency below bubble point in percent
4 = porosity ,fraction
K = permeability,darcy
ob = viscosity of oil ,cp at Pb
Pb = bubble point pressure.
B = FVF at Pb
Pa = Abandonment pressure.
RECOVERY ABOVE Pb ( Depletion Drive )
RE = n/N = Bb-Boi /Boi

Where
n = Oil produced;
N= IOIP
Boi = FVF at Pi
Bo = FVF at Bc
Co = -1/V.dV/dP = -1/B.dB/dP;

Or log B = -CoP+ const.
When B= Boi ,P=Pi
B= Bb, P=Pb
Then Bb-Boi/ Boi = Co (Pi-Pb)
RE =n/N = Co (Pi-Pb)
For Water drive reservoirs :
RE = 54.898 [ 4(1-Sw)/Boi]^0.4222. ( K wi/oi)^ 0.077
(Sw)^-0.1902. (Pi/Pa)^-0.2157

The formula gives practical recovery factors.

MATERIAL BALANCE METHOD :
In the simplest form, the material balance can be written as :
Initial Volume= Volume remaining + Volume produced
Few terms are explained here for better understanding.
Oil Formation Volume Factor (B
o
): It is defined as the number of reservoir barrels of
oil and dissolved gas that must be produced to obtain one stock tank barrel of stable oil
at the surface condition. Its unit is reservoir barrel/stock tank barrel of oil.
Solution Gas Oil Ratio (R
S
): It is defined as the number of standard cubic feet of gas
produced with each stock tank barrel of oil that was dissolved in the oil in the reservoir.
Its unit is standard cubic feet/stack tank barrel.

Gas Formation Volume Factor (B
g
): It is defined as volume in barrels that one
standard cubic foot of gas at the surface occupies as free gas in the reservoir. Its unit is
reservoir barrel/standard cubic feet.

The Material Balance Equation :
After the start of production, let the reservoir pressure drops from P
i
to current pressure
of P(say). During this p drop in pressure, if the reservoir is allowed to expand
underground, the total expansion plus any natural water influx must equal the volume
expelled from the reservoir as production, as the reservoir is not allowed to expand.
Hence,
Underground withdrawal(rb) = Expansion of the system (rb) + cumulative water
influx (rb)

1. Underground withdrawal

If the cumulative volumes of produced fluid measured are
N
P
= Cumulative oil (stb)
W
P
= Cumulative water (stb)
G
p
= Cumulative gas (scf)
And
R
p
= cumulative gas (scf)/cumulative oil (stb) =
P
P
N
G
(scf/stb) . This is the cumulative
GOR sice the start of production.

Oil + dissolved gas = N
P
B
o
(rb)
Water = W
P
B
W
(rb)
Free gas = N
P
(R
P
-R
S
)B
g

The cumulative under ground withdrawal is therefore;

( ) [ ]
W P g S P O P
B W B R R B N + + (rb)

2. Expansion of The System

Oil System
Change in the volume of underground oil when the pressure drops by p
N(B
O
-B
oi
) (rb)
Amount of gas liberated is
N(R
Si
-R
S
) (rb)
The total change in volume of oil i.e. expansion will be
N[ (B
O
-B
oi
) + (R
Si
-R
S
)B
g
] (rb)
Gas Cap expansion;
The initial HCPV of the gas is

gi
Oi
B
B
mN (scf)
At reduced pressure p, it occupies reservoir volume of

gi
g
Oi
B
B
mNB (rb)

The Gas cap expansion can be given as

|
|
.
|
\
|
1
gi
g
Oi
B
B
mNB (rb)
Connate Water Expansion
p V C dV
W W w
= where V
W
is the total volume of water

WC
WC
WC W
S
S
HCPV
PVS V
= =
1

The total HCPV defined as

WC
WC W Oi
W
S
P S C NB m
V
+
=
1
) 1 (
(rb)

Pore Compaction

As fluids are produced and the pressure declines the entire reservoir pore volume is
reduced

WC
f Oi
f
S
p C NB m
P PV C PV
+
= =
1
) 1 (
) ( ) ( (rb)
Water Influx

If pressure drop results in influx of We (STB) of water or W
e
B
W
(rb)

Adding this one gets

[ ] ( ) [ ]+ + = + +
g S Si Oi O W p g S P O P
B R R B B N B W B R R B N ) ( ) (

W e
WC
f W W Oi
gi
g
Oi
B W
S
p C S C NB m
B
B
mNB +
+ +
+
|
|
.
|
\
|
1
) ( ) 1 (
1

The above equation is called the material balance equation.

To condense the material balance into more understandable form Havlena and Odeh
employed following methods

( )
W fw g O
WeB E mE E N F + + + =

In which
[ ]
W p g S P O P
B W B R R B N F + + = ) (
( )
g S Si Oi O O
B R R B B E ) ( + =

|
|
.
|
\
|
= 1
gi
g
Oi g
B
B
B E
( )
Wc
f WC W
Oi fw
S
p C S C
B m E
+
+ =
1
) (
1

Material Balance Above the Bubble Point

p C NB B W B N
effective Oi W P O P
= +

where

wc
f WC W O O
effective
S
C S C S C
C
+ +
=
1

Material Balance for Depletion Below Bubble Point

Once the pressure falls below the bubble point , solution gas is liberated from the oil.
Morris Muskat presented the performance prediction of a depletion below bubble point
pressure.
Let us consider an initially gas saturated reservoir from which N
P
stb of oil has been
produced. Then the oil remaining in the reservoir would be

N
remaining
= N-N
p
=
O
O
B
VS

Where V is the pore volume (rb0. The change in this volume with pressure is

P
B
B
S
V
P
S
B
V
P
N
O
O
O O
O
R
2
1

The total volume of dissolved and free gas in the reservoir is;
G
r
= ( )
g
Wc O
O
S O
B
V
S S
B
R S
V + 1
Its change in volume with pressure is given by

|
|
.
|
\
|
p
B
B
S S
p
S
B p
B
B
S R
p
S
B
R
p
R
B
S
V
p
G
g
g
wc o O
g
O
O
O S O
O
S S
O
O r
2 2
) 1 ( 1

Hence producing GOR expression can be given as;

p
B
B
S
p
S
B
p
B
B
S S
p
S
B p
B
B
S R
p
S
B
R
p
R
B
S
R
O o O
O
g
g
WC o O
g
O
O
O S O
O
S S
O
O
=
2
0
2 2
1
) 1 ( 1

The producing GOR can be approximated with Darcys law for GOR

S
g ro
O O
g
rg
R
k
B
B
k
R + =

The above two equation can be equated to give

g
O
ro
rg
g
g
Wc O O
g
o
ro
rg
O
O S
O
g O
o
k
k
p
B
B
S S
p
B
k
k
B
S
p
R
B
B S
p
S
1
) 1 (

The above equation can be calculated for change in S
O
for depletion below bubble point.
At any stage of depletion the oil saturation is related to recovery in following way

) 1 (
) (
wc
Oi
O P
O
S
NB
B N N
S
=
Giving

o
oi
WC
O P
B
B
S
S
N
N
=
1
1

Material Balance Method in a Gas Reservoir
The initial gas in place can be determined without even knowing A, h, or S
W
provided
enough pressure production history is available. This can be done due to following
relationship;
As per mole balance on the gas;
Moles of gas produced = Initial moles of gas - moles of gas remaining
As per real gas law following substitution can be done in the above relation;

[ ]
ZRT
W W V P
RT Z
V P
RT
G P
p e
i
i
SC
P SC
) (
=
Assuming no water production for a volumetric reservoir the above relation reduces to;
V
ZT
P
V
T Z
P
T
G P
i
i
SC
P SC
|
.
|
\
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
Or

P
SC
SC
i
i
G
V T
T P
Z
P
Z
P
|
|
.
|
\
|
=

The above equation is an equation of straight line in terms of (P/Z) vs G
P

Havlena-Odeh Interpretation

Havlena Odeh expressed the material balance in terms of gas production, fluid
expansion, and water influx as;

Underground withdrawal = Gas Expansion + Water expansion/pore compaction +
water influx

=>
With water influx
Without influx
Gas produced
P/Z
GIIP

( )
( )
W e
WC
f WC W
gi gi g w p g p
B W p
S
C S C
GB B B G B W B G +
+
+ = +
1

F = G (E
g
+ E
f,w
) + W
e
B
W

Where;

F= Underground fluid withdrawal= G
P
B
g
+ W
P
B
W

E
g
= Gas expansion=B
g
- B
gi
E
f,w
= Water and rock expansion =
( )
wi
f Wi W
gi
S
C S C
B
+
1

Defining Drive Mechanism

Dake (1994) presented an excellent discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the
material balance equation as straight line. The Havlena-Odeh equation can be
expressed as following equation;

w f o
W e
w f O
E E
B W
N
E E
F
, ,
+
+ =
+
for oil reservoir

w f g
W e
w f g
E E
B W
G
E E
F
, ,
+
+ =
+
for gas reservoir

The classical approach to find out the type of drive mechanism, is to plot the right hand
side expression of oil reservoir/gas reservoir as shown in the above equation against oil
production/gas production. Dake suggested that typically two type of trend is observed.
In a particular case all the points of
w f O
E E
F
,
+
or
w f g
E E
F
,
+
may lie on a
horizontal straight line, as shown in the plot as trend line A. Line A on the plot implies
that the reservoir can be classified as a volumetric reservoir, i.e. W
e
=0. This defines
purely depletion type of reservoir. The energy for production from the reservoir purely
derives from the expansion of the rock, connate water and the oil. Furthermore, the
ordinate value of the plateau determines the initial oil in place N, or initial gas in place
GIIP.

Alternately the values of the ordinate term as shown in the plot below may rise as
illustrated by the trend B and C. Both the curve suggest of aquifer energy. Plot C
represents an active aquifer, whereas plot B represents weak reservoir. However, it
should be remembered that the trend is highly rate dependent. Higher rate than the
water influx into the reservoir may lead to dipping of the trend suggesting otherwise low
strength reservoir, whereas lower withdrawal rate than aquifer influx may suggest active
water drive reservoir. Hence, it may give wrong impression. The conclusion should be
made based on other reservoir parameters viz. aquifer volume, K
V
/K
h
ratio, water
production trend etc.

Abnormally Pressured Gas Reservoir

High pressured gas reservoirs, usually do not show the typical straight line relationship
between P/Z and gas production value. It is generally observed that they typically exhibit
two slopes. The second slope is steeper than the first slope. The initial/first slope is due
to gas expansion and significant pressure maintenance brought about by formation
compaction, water expansion. Hence, GIIP calculated from the first slope would be
erroneously very high. At approximately normal pressure gradient, the formation
compaction is essentially complete and the reservoir assumes the characteristics of
normal gas expansion reservoir. This accounts for the second slope.

Roach (1981) proposed a graphical technique for analyzing abnormally pressured gas
reservoirs. He put forward following equation for determining GIIP
=(1/G) * -E
R

Where;
N
P
or G
P
A
B
C
w f
E E
F
,
+


( )
( ) P P
Z
P
Z
P
i
i
i
|
.
|
\
|
=
1 /

and

( )
) (
/
P p
Z P
Z
P
i
i
i
|
|
.
|
\
|
=

|1|z1ss1 || ss1rsr
Technology to increase oil recovery from a porous formation beyond that obtained by
conventional means. Conventional oil recovery technologies produce an average of
about one-third of the original oil in place in a formation. Conventional technologies are
primary or secondary. Primary technologies rely on native energy, in the form of fluid
and rock compressibility and natural aquifers, to produce oil from the formation to wells.
Secondary technologies supplement the native energy to drive oil to producing wells by
injecting water or low-pressure gas at injection wells. The target of enhanced recovery
technologies is that large portion of oil that is not recovered by primary and secondary
means.
Many of the challenges encountered by secondary technologies are identical to those
encountered by enhanced recovery technologies. Those challenges include reducing
residual oil saturation, improving sweep efficiency, fitting the technology to the reservoir
heterogeneities, and minimizing up-front and operating costs.
Residual oil remains trapped in a porous rock after the rock has been swept with water,
gas, or any other recovery fluid. The residual oil saturation is the percentage of the pore
space occupied by the residual oil. The residual oil saturation depends on the pore size
distribution and connectivity, the interfacial tension between a recovery agent and the oil,
the relative wettability of the rock surfaces with respect to the recovery agent and the oil,
the viscosity of the fluids, and the rate at which the fluids are moving through the rock.
The sweep efficiency specifies that portion of a reservoir that is contacted by a recovery
fluid. Sweep efficiency increases with volume of injected fluid. It also depends on the
pattern of injection and production wells in a formation, on the mobility of the oil and the
recovery fluid, and on heterogeneities in the formation.
A wide variety of processes have been considered for enhancing oil recovery: thermal
processes, high-pressure gas processes, and chemical processes. Specifically, low
residual oil saturation can be obtained by selecting a recovery fluid that provides a very
low interfacial tension between the oil and the fluid. With very low interfacial tension, the
I
capillary number is large. And high sweep efficiency can be obtained by selecting a
recovery agent with low mobility or by increasing the mobility of the oil.
Different Phases in Field Development
There are broadly three phases in the development of a field. The phases are defined
as;
Primary recovery phase
Secondary recovery phase
Tertiary recovery phase

Primary Recovery Phase

Primary oil recovery phase describes the production of hydrocarbons under the natural
driving mechanism present in the reservoir. The sources of natural reservoir energy are
fluid and rock expansion, solution gas drive, gravity drainage, and the influx of water
from aquifers. Based on the principal source of reservoir energy, the reservoirs are
classified as (1) Water drive, (2) solution gas drive, (3) fluid expansion, (4) gas-cap drive,
and (5) gravity drainage. These natural sources of energy displace oil towards the
producer without supplementary help from injected fluids such as water or gas.

Secondary Recovery Phase
Lack of sufficient natural drive in most reservoirs has led to the practice of
supplementing the natural reservoir energy by introducing some form of artificial drive,
the most basic method being the injection of gas or water.
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Q
O
Time
Water flooding, called secondary recovery because the process yields a second batch of
oil after a field is depleted by primary production
The practice of Water flooding apparently began accidentally as early as 1890, when
operators realized that water entering the productive formation was stimulating
production. The practice of Water flooding expanded rapidly after 1921. The earlier slow
growth of Water flooding was due to several factors. The oil demand was less and
impact of Water flooding on oil production was immense. However, after 1921 demand
of oil picked up and interest for Water flooding grew many folds. Gas injection developed
about the same time as the Water flooding and was a competing process in some
reservoirs.
Water or gas is pumped into the reservoir to produce more pressure on the oil, when
natural pressure is too low to bring the oil to the well. Typical recoveries are 25-45%
after primary recovery (average 32%) of the total oil in place.
The four basic possibilities in such recovery are:
Mining
Squeezing
Pushing
Sucking
Mining involves removing the oil bearing rock from its position several hundreds or
thousands of feet below the surface of the earth. It is brought to the surface for
processing as an ore. This method proved to be uneconomical because of the
concentration of ore is low and the depths of most deposits make mining difficult.
Squeezing has to do with the pressing out the oil from the rock by force.
Pushing is the most successful secondary recovery. This is done by displacing the oil
from the rock with some other substance.
Sucking is a type of variation of pushing. The air in the atmosphere is used as a pusher.
The primary techniques are supplemented by the injection of water or gas in the
secondary recovery technique. They do not displace all of the oil. That which is trapped
by capillaries force in the pores is called residual oil.

WATERFLOODING:
In a water flood, water is injected in a well or pattern of wells to displace oil towards
producer. Initially, oil alone is produced as the part of the reservoir at the irreducible
water saturation is swept. When the leading edge of the capillary transition zone reaches
the producer breakthrough occurs (the first appearance of water in the produced
fluids).After breakthrough, both oil and water are produced and the watercut increases
progressively. Eventually the trailing edge of the capillary zone reaches the producer
and only water is produced. Because water is readily available and inexpensive, the
oldest secondary recovery method is water flooding, pumping water through injection
wells in to the reservoir.
The water is forced from injection wells through the rock pores, sweeping the oil ahead
of it towards production wells. This is practical for light to medium crude. Over time, the
percentage of water in produced fluids-the water cut-steadily increases. Some wells
remain economical with water cut as high as 99%.But at some point, the cost of
removing and disposing of water exceeds the income from oil production and secondary
recovery is then halted. While deciding suitability of a candidate reservoir for Water
flooding following reservoir characteristics should be considered;

Flood Pattern
The areal geometry of the reservoir will influence the location of wells and that will
essentially decide the flooding pattern (injection-production well arrangements) to be
used if the reservoir is to be produced through water-injection practices. The commonly
used flood patterns are given in the following figures;

The characteristics of the different flood patterns are given in the following table.

Pattern P/I
Regular
P/I
Inverted
d/a E
A
, %
Direct Line Drive 1 - 1 56
Staggered Line
Drive
1 - 1 76
4-Spot 2 1/2 0.866 -
5-Spot 1 1 1/2 72
7-Spot 1/2 2 0.866 -
9-Spot 1/3 3 1/2 = 80
P = number of Production wells
I = number of injection wells
d= distance from an injector to the line containing two producing wells
a = distance between wells in line in regular pattern
EA = Areal sweep efficieny at water break through for
W
/
O
= 1
Mobility Ratio
Mobility ratio, which is the ratio of the displacing phase and the displaced phase, is an
important parameter for the selection of water flooding process. Mobility ratio less than 1
suggests that the water moves slower than the oil. This leads to piston type of
displacement leading to better sweep efficiency than cases where mobility ratio is
greater than 1. Low oil viscosity is preferred for water flooding. The reason is; at
abandonment areal sweep efficiency would be very high.
Mobility ratio = mobility of water in the water contacted portion / mobility of oil in
the oil bank

O
ro
W
rw
K
K
M
=
Recovery Efficiency
A simplistic model for estimating overall recovery involves factoring the recovery
efficiency into individual process efficiencies.
E
R
= E
A
* E
V
* E
D
* E
M
Where;
E
R
= Overall recovery efficiency
E
A
= areal sweep efficiency
E
V
= Vertical sweep efficiency
E
D
= Displacement efficiency
E
M
= mobilization efficiency
Areal Sweep Efficiency
It is defined as the fractional area of the field that is invaded by an injected fluid. The
major factors determining areal sweep are fluid mobility, pattern type, areal
heterogeneity, extent of field development, and total volume of fluid injected.
Vertical Sweep Efficiency
It is defined as the fraction of the vertical section that is contacted by injected fluids and
is primarily a function of the vertical heterogeneity and the degree of vertical segregation.
Displacement Efficiency
It is the fraction of the mobile oil in the swept zone that has been displaced and is a
function of the volume injected, the fluid viscosities and the relative permeability curves
of the rock. Displacement efficiency will continually increase with increasing water
saturation in the reservoir. Buckley and Leverett developed a well established theory
called frontal displacement theory to determine the relation ship between the increase in
the average water saturation in the swept area as a function of cumulative water injected.
The theory will be discussed in the subsequent section.
Mobilization Efficiency
It is defined as the fraction of the oil in place at the start of a recovery process that
ultimately could be recovered by that process and is given as

oi
oi
of orp
oi
oi
M
B
S
B S
B
S
E
/
=

S
oi
= oil saturation at start of project
B
oi
= Oil formation factor at start of project
S
orp
= residual oil to process
B
of
= Oil formation volume factor at the end of process
Buckley and Leverett Theory of Frontal Displacement

The Buckley and Leverett model was developed by application of the law of
conservation of mass to the flow of two fluids (Oil + Water) in one direction. The classic
theory consists of two equations;

Fractional Flow Equation
Frontal Advance Equation

The following three assumptions are made while deriving the frontal displacement
expression.

1. Incompressible flow
2. Fractional flow of water is a function of only water saturation
3. No mass transfer between phases takes place.

For a linear system mass flux rate in x direction both for oil and water can be written as;

( ) ( )
O O ox O
S
t
u
x
for oil

( ) ( )
W W Wx W
S
t
u
x
for water

The above equation can also be written in volumetric form as;

( ) ( )
O O o O
S
t
A q
x
for oil

( ) ( )
W W W W
S
t
A q
x
for water

In the Buckley-Leverett model, water and oil are considered incompressible and thus p
O

and p
W
are constant. Hence the above equation becomes;

t
S
A
x
q
O O


t
S
A
x
q
W W

The sum of above two equations gives;

( )
W O
W O
S S
t
A
x
q q
+
+

) (

Since S
O
+S
W
=1.0
0
) (
=
x
q q
W O

or
q
O
+q
W
=q
t
= constant

Saturation q
O
and q
W
vary with distance x. However, because of oil and water are
assumed to be incompressible, the total volumetric flow rate at any time t is constant for
every position of x in the linear system.

The fractional flow of a phase is defined as the volume fraction of the phase that is
flowing at x, t.

For oil and water phases;

W O
O
O
q q
q
f
+
=

W O
W
W
q q
q
f
+
=
=>

t
S
q
A
x
f
W
t
W

The water saturation in a porous rock is a function of distance and time

Hence,
) , ( t x S S
W W
=
or
dt
t
S
dx
x
S
S
x
W
t
W
W
|
.
|
\
|
+ |
.
|
\
|
=
To know the value at particular instant of water saturation S
W
we can put dS
w
= 0

=>
t
W
x
W
S
x
S
t
S
dt
dx
W
|
.
|
\
|
|
.
|
\
|
= |
.
|
\
|

The term
W
S
dt
dx
|
.
|
\
|
is the velocity at which the saturation, S
W
, moves through the porous
media.

F
W
happens to be a function of saturation hence;

t
W
t
W
W
t
W
W
x
S
S
f
S
f
|
.
|
\
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
|
|
.
|
\
|

=>

t
W
W t
S
S
f
A
q
dt
dx
W
|
|
.
|
\
|
= |
.
|
\
|

The above equation is called Buckley-Leverett equation, which states that in a linear
displacement process, each water saturation moves through the porous rock at a
velocity that can be computed from the derivative of the fractional flow with respect to
water saturation. For two-phase flow, the total flow rate q
t
is essentially equal to the total
injection rate, i
W

W
W S
W
W W
S
S
f
A
i
dt
dx
|
|
.
|
\
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
= |
.
|
\
|
615 . 5

Where;
I
W
= water injection rate, bbl/day
A=cross sectional area, ft
2

The total distance specified water saturation will travel during a total time t,

( )
W
W
S
W W
S
dt
df
A
t i
x |
.
|
\
|
|
|
.
|
\
|
=
615 . 5

Where;
t= time, day
(x)
Sw
= distance from the injection for any given saturation S
W
, ft
Tertiary Recovery/EOR Phase
Tertiary recovery involves injecting other gases (such as carbon dioxide), or heat (steam
or hot water) to stimulate oil and gas flow to produce remaining fluids that were not
extracted during primary or secondary recovery phases. Typical recoveries are 5-20% of
OIP after primary and secondary recovery (average13%).The third type of recovery is
tertiary or enhanced. This can sometimes be achieved if the viscosity of the oil is
lowered so that it flows more easily, either by heating the oil (by injecting steam, for
example) or by injecting chemicals into the reservoir. The tertiary recovery is also a
supplementation of natural reservoir energy; however it is defined as that additional
recovery over and above what could be recovered from primary and secondary recovery
methods. Various types of tertiary or EOR recovery processes are given as follows;
EOR Processes

Thermal EOR
Processes
Chemical
EOR
Miscible EOR
Processes
Immiscible
EOR
Microbial EOR
Processes
In-situ
combustion
Air injection
Steam
flooding
Alkali-
Surfactant-
Polymer
Polymer

Hydrocarbon
miscible
CO2 miscible
N2 miscible
Flue gas

Hydrocarbon
immiscible
CO2
immiscible
N2
immiscible
Flue gas

Consortium
of Bacteria
used for
insitu
generation of
suphonates,
CO2,etc. for
profile
modification

As evident from the above other than Water flooding process, all other natural reservoir
energy supplementation processes have been considered as EOR process. Broadly,
EOR are essentially designed to recover oil, commonly described as residual oil.

Within a broad context, the applicability of the assortment of IOR and EOR technologies
depends by and large on two factors: the API gravity of the oils and the depth of the
reservoirs. In reality, the proper technical selection parameters are the oil viscosity and
the reservoir pressure. These, however, are related empirically to oil gravity and
reservoir depth, respectively.

Enhanced Oil Recovery
The ever increasing demand of hydrocarbon has led to vigorous E&P efforts in finding
new oil reserves. Newer oil reservoirs discovered are in general found to be less efficient
than their predecessors, making future recovery efficiency abysmally low. Conventional
exploitation methods in these reservoirs in general do not perform well. In physical
sense lot of oil remain In-situ. This has led to R&D efforts for improving recovery of oil,
producible beyond primary and secondary methods.
In the last decade or so, many techniques have been investigated in the laboratory to
improve the technology and methods for development and production of oil reservoirs
beyond primary and secondary recovery processes. These techniques for improving the
recovery beyond primary and secondary process have got its appellation Enhanced Oil
Recovery.
An Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) process involves supplementation of natural reservoir
energy externally to produce incremental oil that cannot be produced techno-
economically by conventional means.
Application of an EOR process in a particular reservoir involves four important steps- (i)
identification of suitable EOR process, (ii) laboratory studies, (iii) pilot testing, and (iv)
commercialization. Selection of the appropriate EOR process is the single most crucial
factor for success of any EOR project.
There is not a single process that can be considered a cure-all for recovering additional
oil from all types of reservoirs. Each process has its specific application, as they not only
depend upon reservoir rock and fluid properties but also on past production history.
Crude oil recovery by EOR processes is rather difficult and high risk operation, and the
likelihood of its success is influenced by a great many factors. However, technical and
economic criteria still dictates the selection of a process. The problem faced by the
reservoir engineer is to identify all the EOR process applicable to a candidate reservoir
or to check the suitability of a particular process in the light of all information available
about the reservoir under study. Prior information on reservoirs similar to the candidate
reservoir may also influence the choice of an EOR method. This leads to crucial need for
experts in this area of EOR process selection.
To understand the type of EOR processes and the range of reservoir rock and fluid
parameters suited for the process, the processes are discussed one by one.

In this process, steam is continuously introduced into an injection well. When steam is
injected into the reservoir, heat is transferred to the oil bearing formation, reservoir fluids
and some of the adjacent cap and base rock. The heat reduces the oil viscosity. This
increases the mobility of oil. As the steam loses heat energy it condenses to yield a
1.1a Steam Flooding Process

1.1 Thermal EOR Process
mixture of steam and hot water. Because of pressure gradient towards producing well,
an oil bank is formed ahead of steam zone. This enables the immobile oil to get
produced from the reservoir. In general steam reduces the oil saturation in the steam
zone to very low value (about 10%. Some oil is also transported by steam distillation.

Technical Screening Guidelines
Crude Oil
Gravity : <36
o
API
Viscosity : > 20cP
Composition: Not critical but some light ends for steam distillation will help.
Reservoir
Type of formation : Sand or sand stone with high porosity and
Permeability preferred
Net Thickness : >15 feet
Average permeability : >10mD
Depth : 300-5000 ft
Temperature : Not Critical
Limitations :
Oil saturation must be high, and the pay zone should be more than 15ft thick to
minimize the heat losses to adjacent formations.
Lighter, less viscous crude oils can be steam flooded, but normally they are not if
reservoir responds to an ordinary water flood.
Steam flooding is primarily applicable to viscous oil in massive, high permeability
sandstones or unconsolidated sands.
Steam flooded reservoirs should be as shallow as possible as long as pressure
for sufficient injection rates can be maintained. This is to avoid excessive heat
losses in the well bore.
Steam flooding is not normally used in carbonate reservoir.
Cost per incremental barrel of oil is high.
Low percentage of water-sensitive clays is desired for good injectivity.
Adverse mobility ratio and channeling of steam may make this process
unattractive.

This process involves starting a fire in the reservoir and injecting air to sustain the
burning of some of the crude oil, usually in combination with water. A combustion front is
formed at which the injected air burns a small portion of the reservoir oil. The process
combustion can be achieved through low temperature oxidation and high temperature
oxidation. Low temperature oxidation is suited for light oil. Hot flue gas and steam
resulting from combustion and water vaporization displace the oil ahead of the
combustion front. Vaporization of the light ends and thermal cracking also occur. Ahead
of the combustion front, the vaporized light ends condense, providing some assistance
to displacement by solvent dilution of the virgin crude.

1.1 b In-situ Combustion Process
Crude Oil
Gravity : <48
o
API
Viscosity : < 100cP
Composition: Some asphaltic components to aid coke deposition.
Reservoir
Type of formation : Sand or sand stone with high porosity and
permeability preferred
Net Thickness : >15 feet
Average flow capacity : > 20 mD-ft
Depth : > 500 ft
Temperature : 150
o
F preferred
Limitations
The process will not sustain if sufficient coke is not deposited.
Excessive deposition of coke will lead to low advancement of combustion front
and eventually killing of the process in the presence of sufficient quantity of air.
Oil saturation and porosity must be high to minimize heat loss to rock.
Produced flue gases can pose environmental problem.
Operation problems such as severe corrosion caused by low pH hot water,
increased sand production, pipe failures as a result of high temperature and
adverse mobility ratio makes this process complicated and difficult.
Heterogeneous formation can result in poor sweep efficiency.

The process also called as micellar or micro emulsion flooding, consists of injecting a
slug that contains surfactant, co-surfactants, oil, water and other chemicals. The function
of the surfactant is to reduce oil/water interfacial tension, but it may also cause
interphase mass transfer of reservoir oil and water. Both the interphase mass transfer
and reduction of IFT increase recovery of oil. Surfactant slug is often followed by
polymer thickened water to improve sweep efficiency.
1.2 Chemical EOR Process
1.2a Alkali Surfactant Polymer Process

In surfactant flooding, surfactant molecules generally are injected along with water to
reduce the oil/ water interfacial tension (IFT), which reduces capillary forces that may
trap oil in rock pores . Normally in chemical flooding processes, inclusion of a viscosifier
(usually a water-soluble polymer) is required to provide an efficient sweep of the
expensive chemicals through the reservoir

Crude Oil
Gravity : > 20
o
API
Viscosity : < 100 cP
Composition: Light intermediates are desirable
Reservoir
Type of formation : Sand stone preferred
Net Thickness : > 10ft
Average permeability : > 10mD
Depth : 950 to 9000 ft( temperature!)
Temperature : <200
o
F
Limitations
Adsorption of chemicals can be detrimental to the process.
High temperature leads to degradation of chemicals.
Best results are obtained when alkaline material reacts with crude oil. The oil
should have acid number more than 0.2 mg KOH/g of oil.
High amounts of anhydrite, gypsum or clays are undesirable.
Formation water chloride of < 20,000 ppm and divalent ions (Ca
++
and Mg
++
)
<500 ppm are desirable.
High heterogeneity may lead to the failure of the process.
Vertical fractures may lead to gravity segregation.

The objective of polymer flooding is to provide better displacement and volumetric
sweep efficiencies during a water flood. They do not lower the residual oil saturation.
They improve recovery by increasing the viscosity of water, decreasing the mobility of
water, contacting a large volume of the reservoir and reducing the injected fluid mobility
to improve aerial and vertical sweep efficiencies. Because, polymer flooding inhibits
fingering, the oil displacement is more efficient in the early stages as compared to a
conventional water-flood.

Crude Oil
Gravity : > 15
o
API
Viscosity : <200 cP
Composition : Not critical
Reservoir
Type of formation : Sand stone preferred
Net Thickness : > 10ft
1.2b Polymer Process

Average permeability : > 10mD
Depth : < 9000 ft( temperature!)
Temperature : < 229
o
F

Limitations and Facts
There are two types polymer synthetically produced polymers (Acrylamide
type) and bio-polymers (Xanthum gum).
Factors which degrade polymers are salinity, temperature, time, shear rate
and presence of divalent ions.
Bio-polymers suffer from bacterial degradation and cause well bore plugging.
Polymers may be ineffective in a mature water flood because of low mobile
oil saturation.
High adsorption on reservoir rock may kill the process.
Optimum temperature is a key selection criterion for polymers. Clay increase
polymer adsorption.
If oil viscosities are high, a higher polymer concentration is needed to achieve
the desired mobility control.
Some heterogeneity is acceptable but for conventional polymer flooding,
reservoirs with extensive fractures should be avoided.
1.3. EOR by Gas Injection Processes:
Gas Injection is the second largest enhanced oil recovery process, next only to thermal
processes used in heavy oil fields. The residual oil saturations in gas swept zones have
been found to be quite low, however, the volumetric sweep of the flood has always been
a cause of concern. The mobility ratio, which controls the volumetric sweep, between the
injected gas and displaced oil bank in gas processes, is typically highly unfavorable due
to the relatively low viscosity of the injected phase. This difference makes mobility and
consequently flood profile control the biggest concerns for the successful application of
this process.

Hydrocarbon miscible flooding consists of injecting light hydrocarbons through the
reservoir to form a miscible flood. The process recovers crude oil by generating
1.3.a Hydrocarbon Miscible Flooding

miscibility (in the condensing and vaporizing gas drive), increasing oil volume by swelling
and decreasing the viscosity of oil. Three different methods of attaining miscibility are
used. One method uses about 5% PV slug of liquefied petroleum gas such as propane,
followed by natural gas or gas and water. A second method called enriched(condensing)
gas drive , consists of injecting 10 to 20% PV slug of natural gas that is enriched with
ethane through hexane(C
2
to C
6
) , followed by lean gas and possible water. The
enriching components are transferred from gas to the oil. The third method, called High
pressure (Vaporizing) gas drive, consists of injecting lean gas at high pressure to
vaporize C
2
to C
6
components from the crude oil being displaced.

Mechanisms:
Hydrocarbon miscible flooding recovers crude oil by:
Generating miscibility (in condensing and vaporizing gas drive).
Increasing the oil volume (swelling).
Decreasing the viscosity of the oil.

Different tyoes of HC gas displacement are depicted below.

LPG Injection

Rich Gas Injection

Lean Gas Injection
Technical Screening Guides:
Crude Oil
Gravity >35
o
API
Viscosity <10 cp
Composition High percentage of light hydrocarbons (C
2
-C
7
)
Reservoir
Oil Saturation >30% PV
Type of Formation Sandstone or carbonate with a minimum of
fractures and high permeability streaks.
Net Thickness Relatively thin unless formation is steeply dipping.
Average Permeability Not critical if uniform
Depth >2,000 ft (LPG) to >5,000 ft ( High Pressure Gas)
Temperature Not critical

Limitations:
The minimum depth is set by the pressure needed to maintain the generated
miscibility. The required pressure ranges from about 1,200 psi for LPG
process to 3,000-5,000 psi the High Pressure Gas drive, depending on the oil.
A steeply dipping formation is very desirable to permit some gravity
stabilization of the displacement that normally has an unfavorable mobility
ratio.

Problems:
Viscous fingering results in poor vertical and horizontal sweep efficiency.
Large quantities of expensive products are required.
Solvent may be trapped and not recovered.

This process is carried out by injecting large quantities CO
2
(15% or more of the
hydrocarbon pore volume) into the reservoir. Miscible displacement by carbon dioxide is
similar to vaporizing gas drive. The only difference is a wider range of components; C
2
to
C
30
are extracted. As a result, CO
2
flood process is applicable to a wider range of
reservoirs at lower miscibility pressure than those for the vaporizing gas drive. CO
2
is
generally soluble in crude oils at reservoir pressures and temperatures. It swells the net
volume of oil and reduces its viscosity even before miscibility is achieved by vaporizing
gas drive mechanism. As miscibility is approached as a result of multiple contacts both
the oil phase and the CO
2
phase can flow together because of lower interfacial tension.
CO
2
can be recycled by extracting it from the crude at the surface.

1.3.b CO
2
Flooding (Miscible & Immiscible)

Mechanisms:
CO
2
flooding recovers crude oil by:
Generation of miscibility.
Swelling of crude oil.
Lowering the viscosity of the oil.
Lowering the interfacial tension between oil and the CO
2
oil phase in the near-
miscible regions.
Crude Oil
Gravity >26
o
API
Viscosity <15 cp (preferably < 10 cp)
Composition High percentage of intermediate hydrocarbons (C
5
-
C
20
), especially C
5
-C
12

Reservoir
Type of Formation Sandstone or carbonate with a minimum of fractures
and high permeability streaks.
Average Permeability Not critical if sufficient injection rates can be
maintained.
Depth Deep enough to allow high enough pressure (> about
2,000 ft), pressure required for optimum production
(sometime called minimum miscibility pressure,
MMP).
Temperature Not critical but pressure required increases with
temperature.
Limitations:
Very low viscosity of CO
2
results in poor mobility control.
Availability of CO
2

Problems:
Early breakthrough of CO
2
causes several problems.
Corrosion in producing wells.
The necessity of separating CO
2
from saleable hydrocarbons.
Re-pressuring of CO
2
for recycling.
A high requirement of CO
2
per incremental barrel produced.

Nitrogen gas flooding oil recovery method uses the inexpensive non hydrocarbon gas
nitrogen to displace oil in system which might be miscible or immiscible depending upon
the pressure and oil composition. Because of their low cost, large volumes of these
gases may be injected. The process recover oil by vaporizing the lighter component of
the crude oil and generating miscibility if the pressure is high enough, providing a gas
drive where a significant portion of the reservoir volume is filled with low cost gases.
Higher miscibility pressure required compared to all other gases.
Mechanisms:
Nitrogen and flue gas flooding recover oil by:
Vaporizing the lighter components of the crude oil and generating miscibility if
the pressure is high enough.
Providing a gas drive where a significant portion of the reservoir volume is
filled with low-cost gases.
Crude Oil
Gravity >24
o
API (>35 for nitrogen)
Viscosity <10 cp
Composition High percentage of light hydrocarbons (C
1
-C
7
)
Reservoir
Type of Formation Sandstone or carbonate with few fractures and
high permeability streaks.
Average Permeability Not critical
Depth >4,500 ft
Temperature Not critical
Limitations:
Developed miscibility can be achieved with light oils and at high pressures;
therefore, deep reservoirs are needed.
1.3.c Nitrogen Gas Flooding (Miscible and Immiscible)

A steeply dipping formation is very desirable to permit some gravity
stabilization of the displacement that normally has an unfavorable mobility
ratio.
Problems:
Viscous fingering results in poor vertical and horizontal sweep efficiency.
Corrosion can cause problems in the flue gas method.
The non-hydrocarbon gases must be separated from the saleable produced gas
1.3.d Water Alternate Gas injection (WAG):-
WAG means that water and gas are alternately injected into one and the same well. A
WAG project exploits the good microscopic displacement arising from gas injection at
the same time as the water improves the mobility ratio. The best effect is obtained when
gravitation is insignificant, i.e. in reservoirs that are thin or have low permeability. It is
also expected that the pressure increase caused by water injection prior to the WAG
process, can give virtual miscibility between oil and gas, thereby improving oil
recovery. Water flooding, gas injection and water-alternating-gas injection (WAG) are
well-established methods for improving oil recovery. In reservoirs that have been water
flooded, it is still possible to recover a significant part of the remaining oil by injecting gas
alternately with water. Gas can occupy part of the pore space that otherwise would be
occupied by oil, thereby mobilizing the remaining oil. Water, injected subsequently, will
displace some of the remaining oil and gas, further reducing the residual oil saturation.
Repetition of the WAG injection process can further improve the recovery of oil.

Simultaneous water and gas injection (SWAG):
SWAG is similar to WAG except that water and gas injection takes place simultaneously.
SWAG experiments are performed with different SWAG (gas-water) ratios. The water
and gas are observed to flow simultaneously in the pores with water creeping on the
pore walls and gas moving in the pore centers. It is observed that residual oil ganglia are
sandwiched between gas-oil and water-oil menisci from opposite directions and the oil
was squeezed out as a result of very conductive oil layers. It is also noted that recovery
due to SWAG was Independent of the SWAG ratio.
1.4. Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery Process
In present energy scenario overall world have need of cheaper energy source. For
fulfilling the demand of energy it is necessary to utilize optimum petroleum energy
source present in subsurface reservoir. For this we can do enhanced oil recovery using
microbes. Microbial EOR process is an in-situ process which is more advantageous than
injection approach. Product formed to aid in oil release are biological organism, they will
gone through biodegradation.

Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) relies on microbes to ferment hydrocarbons
and produce a byproduct that is useful in the recovery of oil. MEOR functions by
channeling oil through preferred pathways in the reservoir rock by closing/ plugging off
small channels and forcing the oil to migrate through the larger pore spaces. Nutrients
such as sugars, phosphates, or nitrates frequently must be injected to stimulate the
growth of the microbes and aid their performance. The microbes generate surfactants
and carbon dioxide that help to displace the oil.
Microbial growth can be either within the oil reservoir (in situ) or on the surface where
the by-products from microbes grown in vats are selectively removed from the nutrient
media and then injected into the reservoir. For in situ MEOR processes, the
microorganisms must not only survive in the reservoir environment, but must also
produce the chemicals necessary for oil mobilization.

WELL SELECTION CRITERIA FOR MEOR
THE TECHNIQUE INVOLVES:
INJECTION OF TBHA MICROBIAL CONSORTIUM ALONG WITH NUTRIENTS IN THE
RESERVOIR
INCUBATION OF THE CONSORTIUM.
GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF USEFUL METABOLITES (ACIDS,
BIOSURFACTANTS.
INCREASE MOBILITY OF CRUDE OIL TOWARDS WELLBORE.
CURRENTLY APPLIED IN HUFF AND PUFF MODE.
PARAMETER RANGE
Formation Sandstone
Depth <8000 ft.(2400m)
Temperature <90
0
C
Pressure <300kg/cm2
Reservoir rock properties >50md
API gravity of crude oil <20cp
Water cut 30-90%
PH 4-9
Residual oil saturation >23%
Salinity <10%
TARGET STRIPPER WELL/LOW PRODUCER.

Mechanisms of MEOR and potential microbes

S. NO METABOLITES ACTION
1 Acids Improving porosity and permeability
2 Gases(CO2, CH4) Increasing pore pressure, oil swelling,
Viscosity reduction
3 Solvents Dissolution of oil
4 Surfactant Reducing IFT between oil and water
5 Polymer Mobility control
Conclusions:
Secondary and enhanced oil recovery is applied to a large number of reservoir types,
except for very active water drive oil reservoirs, and dry & wet gas reservoirs. The
present trend is towards earlier application (better net present worth) although this
does not represent the optimum recovery anticipated. Yet a sufficient production
record (one to three years) is often necessary to gain minimum knowledge of the
reservoir.

As a rule, a number of injection patterns are investigated by simulation as a function
of :
The type of energy injected: water or gas, enhanced processes or steam or
combustion for heavy oil.
The volume of fluid injected.
The well pattern.

And a comparison is made among these various arrangements, with a study on primary
recovery as a reference.

Fundamentals of Reservoir Engineering & Characterization
249
|| | |zs ||s|1 srs|11ms1l

DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR OIL & GAS RESERVOIRS
Need for Planned Development and Operation
In order to continue to make available at reasonable cost to the consumers an ample
supply of petroleum to meet future needs, it is essential that development and operation
of newly discovered reserves is conducted with maximum efficiency and economy. A
tremendous incentive also exists to increase the ultimate recovery of oil from reserves
already discovered and developed ,as well as from those yet to be discovered ,rather
than to dissipate those reserves through inefficient production practices. In developed
fields, where finding costs have already been spent ,application of more efficient
production practices may result in additional oil at reduced unit cost. Thus management
concepts as applied to reservoir development and production ,are a business necessity.

Fortunately, advances in technology have provided and are continuing to make available
an expanding knowledge regarding the physical mechanism of oil and gas recovery.
From this knowledge improved practices emanate and become integrated into field
operation. Utilization of more efficient methods in modern development and production
requires early planning and accumulation of sufficient information on the reservoir to
permit an intelligent decision as to the recovery procedure to be employed. To this end,
the development of the newly discovered oil or gas reservoir demands that a planned
programme for the location and spacing of development wells be initiated at the outset.
This programme has as its goal the efficient utilization of wells to achieve maximum
recovery at reduced cost. Improved completion practices and wider well spacing result in
more effective use of wells, in lower development costs and in avoidance of
unnecessary drilling. The planned development program on wider spacing means
conservation in a very real sense-the minimizing of waste of material ,manpower ,and
capital.
FIELD DEVELOPMENT APPROACHES
Exploratory efforts result into identification of prospective structures or oil and gas
accumulation. Presence or absence of oil and gas accumulation is proved by drilling and
8

250
the extent of accumulation by delineation campaign. The discoveries thus made vary in
proportion from major to minor fields. Planning the field development would follow. Any
exploitation strategy should be such that it is most economical in order to make the
investment most meaningful and fruitful. Statistically speaking major field discoveries are
made in the early stages of exploration in a new area and also achieved with less effort.
With the advancement of time, the rate of discovery of major fields assume a diminishing
trend. This situation is same not only in India but also the rest o the world. In Indian
context ,in Cambay basin ,after the discovery of Ankleshwar, Cambay, Kalol, Nawagam,
Sanand, Kadi ,Balol-Santhal which have been discovered over a span of 10-15 years.
After that there has not been any substantial addition to the major fields except Gandhar
in 1983.Though there are several discoveries ,but the fields are of limited nature.
Similarly , in Upper Assam Basin Lakwa, Geleki, Rudrasagar, Lakhmani,
Naharkatia ,Borholla-changpang are the major fields in the past. After that smaller fields
have been discovered .The offshore venture is no exception. The first discovery was
super giant Mumbai High field, followed by Heera, Bassein and Panna. Besides these
there are small fields like R-7,R-8, R-9, R-12, R-13 ,D-18 etc.

EXPLOITATION APPROACH :
As the amount of exploration efforts put in the discovery of fields is quite substantial and
hence requires an all out effort to evolve means to exploit all the fields economically. The
concept needs to be discussed under two heads i.e. On-land fields and Offshore
discoveries. Though the basic concepts of exploitation are similar but approaches are
different. There is no difficulty to exploit major fields which have got substantial in-place
and recoverable reserves. By adopting normal production practices they can be
exploited economically and the investments are appreciated. Such fields are termed as
Easy-To-Discover and-Produce .Major fields designated above fall under this
category and it is always the case to give priority to such fields for development. The
minor fields are commonly called as Marginal Fields including isolated pools. A
marginal field /isolated pool can be termed as marginal because of variety of reasons
like limited size, remote location, or poor reservoir properties . The development of these
resources must depend on real increases in oil and gas values or technical solutions
involving lower costs and accelerated revenues through early production startup and

251
high reservoir depletion rates. These are those fields whose economic returns are of
questionable nature.
THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN: PROCESS AND CONTENT
The Development Plan is the support document for development and production
authorisations and should provide a brief description of the technical information on
which the development is based. The document should provide a summary of the
operators understanding of the field although any background information should be
available should the Department require more detail.

Licensees are jointly and severally responsible for the Development Plan, which must
represent a single view of all the Licensees. An operator is usually appointed to be
responsible for the production of the Development Plan and to ensure that all necessary
consents and authorisations are obtained. It is usual for the Department to conduct
discussions with the operator as the representative of all the Licensees.

The following are suggested section headings together with the topics that should be
addressed.

FIELD DESCRIPTION
The description should be in summary form and only a brief statement, table or map of
the results provided with references to more detailed company-held data where
appropriate. Licensees are encouraged to submit only those maps, sections and tables
necessary to define the field adequately but should include at minimum a table of in-
place hydrocarbon volumes, a representative cross-section and top structure maps for
each reservoir. Maps should be in subsea depth at appropriate scales and include co-
ordinates in the United Kingdom National Grid.

Seismic Interpretation and Structural Configuration
A brief summary of the extent and quality of the seismic survey and the structural
configuration of the field should be presented using appropriate figures and maps.

Geological Interpretation and Reservoir Description

252
The stratigraphy of the reservoirs, facies variations, the geological correlation within the
reservoir and any other relevant geological factors that may affect the reservoir
parameters (both vertically and horizontally) and thereby influence reservoir continuity
within the field should be described in summary form. Figures and maps should be
provided where appropriate. The geological data provided should reflect the basis of
reservoir subdivision, and correlations within the reservoir, and should include the
relevant reservoir maps on which the development is based.
Petrophysics and Reservoir Fluids
A brief summary of the key field petrophysical parameters should be presented
incorporating log, core and well test data. A summary of the field PVT description should
be included.
Hydrocarbons-In-Place
The volumetric and any material balance estimates of hydrocarbons-in-place for each
reservoir unit should be stated together with a description of the cause and degree of
uncertainty in these estimates. The basis of these estimates should be available and
referenced.

Well Performance
The assumptions used in the Field Development Plan for the productivity and injectivity
of development wells should be briefly stated. Where Drill Stem or Extended Well Tests
have been performed the implications of these on production performance should be
given. The potential for scaling, waxing, corrosion, sand production or other production
problems should be noted and suitable provision made in the Field Management Plan.
Reservoir Units and Modelling Approach
Where the reservoir has been subdivided for reservoir analysis into flow units and
compartments the basis for division should be stated. A description of the extent and
strength of any aquifer(s) should be given. The means of representing the field, either by
an analytical method, some form(s) of numerical simulation, or by a combination of these
should be briefly described..
Improved Recovery Techniques
A summary of the alternative recovery techniques considered and the reasons for the
final choice is required.
Reservoir Development and Production Technology

253
The chosen recovery process should be described and the optimisation method
summarised, including reference to the potential for artificial lift and stimulation. Any
limitations on recovery imposed by production technology or by the choice of production
facility or location should be indicated. Remaining uncertainties in the physical
description of the field that may have material impact on the recovery process should be
described and a programme to resolve these should appear in the Field Management
Plan (Section 3.7).
DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT PLAN
The purpose of this section is to briefly set out the form of the development, describe the
facilities and infrastructure, and establish the basis for field management during
production. Where a particular topic is not relevant to a development it should be omitted.
Preferred Development Plan, Reserves and Production Profiles
This section should describe the proposed reservoir development indicate the drilling
programme, well locations, expected reservoir sweep and any provision for a better than
expected geological outcome. An estimate of the range of reserves for each reservoir
should be given (excluding fuel and flare) with a brief explanation of how the uncertainty
was determined and explicit statements of probability where appropriate. The assumed
economic cut-off should be stated. Expected production profiles, for total liquids, oil, gas,
gas usage and flare, associated gas liquids and produced water for the life of the field
are required. Where fluids are to be injected, annual and cumulative injection profiles
should be provided. Quantities can be provided in either metric units or in standard oil
field units (but with conversions to metric equivalents provided). Information to allow
calculation of sales quantities should be provided. The anticipated date for Cessation-of-
Production, together with the underlying assumptions, should be provided.
Drilling and Production Facilities
The drilling section should briefly describe the drilling package and well work-over
capability, and should include a description of the proposed well completion.
Process Facilities
A brief description of the operating envelope and limitations of the process plant should
be provided. The use and disposal of separator gas should be described.
The section should also include:
A summary of the main and standby capacities of major utility and service
systems, together with the limitations and restrictions on operation.

254
A summary of the method of metering hydrocarbons produced and utilized.
A brief description of systems for collecting and treating oil, water and other
discharges.
A brief description of any fluid treatment and injection facilities.
A brief description of the main control systems and their interconnections with
other facilities.
Costs
Cost information is not required at present.
Field Management Plan
A brief review is required that sets out clearly the principles and objectives that the
Licensees will hold to when making field management decisions and conducting field
operations and, in particular, how economic recovery of oil and gas will be maximised
over field life. The rationale behind the data gathering and analysis proposed in order to
resolve the existing uncertainties set out in Section 2 and understand dynamic
performance of the field during both the development drilling and production phases
should be outlined.
The potential for workover, re-completion, re-perforation and further drilling should be
described. Where options remain for improvement to the development or for further
phases of appraisal or development, the criteria and timetable for implementing these
should be given.
ECONOMIC EVALUATION
For choosing one of the variants for development of the field, investment analysis for
each of the variants is made. The economic parameters analyzed are:
Net preset value
Payback period
Internal Rate of Return

Net present value is the cumulative present day value (PDV) of profits of the entire
project. It takes into consideration the capital investment and operating expenses
incurred and the receipts during the life of the project, all values discounted in terms of
present day value.
Payback period is the time when the project would breakeven in terms of present day
value of investment and receipts. After the payback period, the project turns profitable.

255
Internal rate of return indicates the rate of return the investment made annually in terms
of present day value of investments and receipts. This parameter compares the
investment return in terms of other available alternative investment avenues.
While discussing the investment analysis, sensitivity analysis is also made in respect of
certain critical parameters like cost of products, production variations. The sensitivity
analysis measures the viability.

Considering both technical and economic aspects, the techno - economically
optimal variant is chosen for development of field.

FIELD DEVELOPMENT A COOPERATIVE EFFORT :
The stakes involved in a continuous ample supply of oil and gas make it imperative that
engineers, geologists, operators ,and regulatory agencies cooperate in promoting and
maintaining a sound, vigorous policy of oil and gas field development.

In the development of newly discovered oil or gas reservoir ,the exercise of good
practice demands the multi-disciplinary cooperative effort of the involved operators and
the regulatory agency in the initial planning of a controlled drilling programme to provide
a suitable number of wells and a proper well spacing pattern for efficient recovery.

The prevention of waste in the production of oil and gas from the reservoir likewise is a
cooperative process. Each individual operator has an obligation to develop and operate
his property so as to prevent waste and respect the rights of his neighbours. The
operator further has an incentive for prevention of waste in the reduced costs and
greater ultimate income resulting from increased recovery.

ONSHORE FIELDS DEVELOPMENT :
The advantage with the onshore fields is that the exploratory / delineation wells drilled on
the structure can be utilized for exploitation if they are suitably located. The factors
governing such fields are :

In place reserves .
Type of accumulation oil or gas.

256
Recoverable reserves oil and gas.
Area of accumulation.
Number of exploitation wells needed to drain the accumulation.
Transportation considerations to the consumer point.
Accelerated production of oil and gas.
Type of crude i.e. sweet or sour.
Reduced life of the field for early payout of the investment.
Gas utilization avenues.
Logistics associated with land acquisition and its viability for drilling.
Number and mode of exploitation objects.
Economics at national and international price of crude oil.

The exploitation of these fields ,if they can not sustain permanent structure like pipelines,
GGS, then normally semi-permanent installations are resorted to by constructing well
head installations at the proximity and the crude oil is transported by tankers. The well
head installation have provision for full monitoring of produced fields. There will be cost
escalation if the crude oil is sour. The well completion and other supporting equipment
are to be sour proof. It is desirable to group marginal fields if they fak=ll in proximity to
each other ,so that the investment on the mini GGS and other equipment can be shared
by these fields. Many a times ,it works out very economical. All these installations should
have such equipment which can be retrieved and reused at other locations. It may not
always be economical to go in for secondary recovery for such fields because of
prohibitive costs. As such they normally be exploited as efficiently as possible under
primary recovery mechanisms. Further , most of these fields ,economics can be
considerably improved by adopting Produce while in delineation by adopting mobile
production systems. Early returns on the investment would improve considerably in
terms of present day value and would reduce payout period. Already in ONGC,
development of some of the marginal onshore fields has been initiated. The exploitation
has been commenced from fields like Kaikalur, Narimanam and Kovilkalappal by means
of a mini well head installation and transportation of crude oil by tankers. These fields
are situated in SRBC. Plans are on hand to put Ravva shallow water offshore field on
EPS and by adopting aggressive exploitation strategy. The plan is to put the field on
stream by 1991 by installing tetrapod and transportation of crude oil by shuttle tankers.

257
In western region ,production of similar type was adopted in fields like Wasna, S. Malpur,
Dabka, Dahej,Padra, Limbodra and Langhnaj etc.

By resorting to these innovative technology ,it has become possible to exploit marginal
fields . EPS is drawing attention because of dual advantage of earning early revenues
from newly discovered fields as also for an early delineation of the fields. It is easier to
develop a gas field ,but the problems are multi-ferrous. Gas requires a pipe-line and a
consumer .Normally, if the gas reserves are low ,maintaining a longer plateau
compatible with the consumers requirement will not be possible. Under these conditions
it is desirable and appropriate to time the producers in phased manner from the same
field or from other fields in proximity such that reasonable length of plateau is
maintained. Alternately, if it is not possible, the associated gas produced from nearby
fields/wells may be supplemented to meet the gas commitment. Baramura field which
came under this category has been put on stream. Similar efforts have brought some
marginal fields on stream in SRBC by providing common gas production capsule for
Razole and Narsapur fields.

In order to design the development strategy for onshore fields the consideration is given
for :
Geo-technical aspects of the field;
Economic Aspects ;
The regulatory Aspects

GEO TECHNICAL ASPECTS :
The parameters which need to be considered for this include :
Depth of the reservoir;
The pressure /temperature of the reservoir;
Rock and fluid properties;
Reservoir Volumes;
Reservoir Drive mechanism;
Single layer/ multilayered pay zones;
Besides this availability of technologies / facilities also need to be taken into account
Conventional Wells ;

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High tech wells ( Horizontal wells, multi-laterals,MWD, under-balanced drilling etc.)
Well intervention equipments;
Artificial lift system;
Source of water for pressure maintenance ;
Surface handling facilities and crude oil/gas transportation .

The rock and fluid properties which affect the designed strategy for field development
include :

Reservoir rock permeability Good versus tight layers;
Composition of fluids : light oil /heavy oil; sweet/ sour API gravity.
PVT / phase behaviour ( saturated / under saturated reservoirs, bubble point
pressure, solution gas );
Bubble point pressure-requirement of pressure maintenance.

THE ECONOMIC ASPECTS :
Economics related parameters which influence the decision making process of field
development includes:
Price of crude oil /gas;
Capex ( Well cost, Surface Equipment )
Opex ( Crude processing, handling, transportation &maintenance
of wells & equipments)
Revenue;
Taxes ;
NPV;
IRR;

Similarly the regulatory aspects which ought to be considered into :

Guidelines set forth by Govt. / regulatory bodies need too be adhered to;
Central ground Water board ,pollution control Board, DGMS,DGHs directives are to
be followed.
Effluent disposal norms;

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Conservation of forest and environment ( Flors and fauna )

The following aspects related to life cycle of the field also deserve consideration during
deciding strategy for field development :
Initial stage New field- Initial development scheme;
Mid Stage Development / review of development scheme;
Mature stage Achieved plateau and declining stage fields-EOR /IOR methods etc.
THE STRATEGY OF FIELD DEVELOPMENT FOR ONSHORE FIELDS :
The strategy of field development generally includes any /all of the following inputs as
inputs for achieving maximum possible recovery :
Infill drilling;
Pressure maintenance- Water /Gas injection
EOR;
Stimulation ( Hydro fracturing / acid/ steam etc.)
Single / Multiple completions;
Artificial Lift ( Gas lift/ SRP/ ESP )

OFFSHORE FIELDS EXPLOITATION :
Offshore venture ,it goes without saying, that the investment stakes are high. Every
effort needs to be made to make the exploitation economically viable. The disadvantage
with the offshore exploratory /delineation drilling is that the wells drilled under these
categories are expandable type and can not be used as producers unless they are
planned initially by completing them with a template. Normally, separate wells are drilled
to exploit the reserves. This is mainly due to uncertainty which is the enemy of offshore
field development. The conventional type of development of major offshore field is by
installing permanent platforms ,permanent process facilities and crude transportation
through under water pipelines. All these installations are non-retrievable and involve
heavy financial investments that can only be sustained by major oil and gas fields.
Economics will deteriorate, if conventional methods are adopted for marginal fields. In
addition to the parameters applicable for on-and marginal fields, the following aspects
would govern he exploitation:

Water depth

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Subsurface soil conditions
Environmental conditions
Number of wells requirement
Producing life of the pool
Production options availability
Dept of the prospect
Well completion, single, multiple ,sub-sea.

Uncertainty is the great enemy of marginal field development. The principal areas where
uncertainties occur are in capital cost of development and the productivity . It has been
the experience that, severe capital cost over-runs the original estimates. Such levels of
over expenditure can not be tolerated in a marginal field development. Likewise, the
degree of confidence in marginal field than in the larger and more profitable
accumulations. This creates problems since commitment to costly delineation drilling
and data collection is hard to make when the developed field may give limited returns.
Under these conditions, the assessors left with minimal options in conceptualizing the
reservoir. An early understanding of reservoir rock and fluid characteristics is of utmost
importance as the decision for installing platform location will be decided. The platform
location should be located at a place from where most part of the productive area is
tapped, and is able to yield best productivities . This is only possible when major effort is
made on data acquisition from limited wells.

Several innovative production systems have been developed in the world for exploitation
of the marginal fields. There is no unique system which can satisfy all the marginal fields.
The technical solutions are frequently termed as novel since they must incorporate
features not presently found in the majority of offshore developments. A marginal field
development is ,however , characterized by the requirement of the field and
development planning through technical and economic evaluation of a wide range of
development options prior to the initiation of detailed engineering.

The issues in future field development concepts are defined here as basic , essential
points in question when making the primary decision of whether to develop a prospect or
not. When a prospect is declared commercial ,this is the culmination of a complex

261
decision making process which can involve political factors and preference engineering
as well as basic technical and economic evaluation. The extent to which commerciability
is linked to the utilization of a specific development concept depends on the size and its
location, as well as current and forecasted prices, costs, product marketability and
values. One are which fall between 100m and above requires detailed attention to
improving the overall economic performance of future development. This will include low
cost development concepts ,whether conventional or novel, improved recovery of
reserves in place and minimization and control of cost escalation and project delays
which will adversely affect economics. This can only be achieved during pre-project and
conceptual design phase through increased effort and attention to investigating
alternative development options and to fully defining the preferred development
concepts , including design for construction , fabrication ,hook up and commissioning
prior to commitment to detailed engineering.

DEVELOPMENT DECISIONS :
The following points are usually taken into account for deciding whether a prospect is to
be developed or not to develop:

1) Whether the concepts available or proposed technically are feasible and to what
extent novel or unproven technology involved.
2) Are such concepts acceptable with respect to safety and regularity
requirements?( Current and those anticipated in the future).
3) Given the proposed concept ,is the prospect commercial and what are the
relative merits /disadvantages and associated risks of the alternatives ?
4) The economic evaluation would be needed at regulatory national price and
international price of crude oil.
5) The exploitation feasibility would be better understood by judicious evaluation of
such factors.
6) The political and national considerations involving factors like import
environment , political relations with neighbouring countries . Technology of
producing oil from Marginal fields.

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Off late, oil industry is experiencing a glut in the International market. The main reason
for this is the availability of excessive produced oil. The effect of this is already felt in the
International market and the oil prices have been registering a downward trend. This
situation is going to have an impact on the oil industry and the same is felt in the
International market. Already the prices of drilling and other equipment has registered a
decline and there is availability of equipment on easy terms unlike earlier times. By
availing this opportunity it would be possible to make exploitation of marginal fields a
conceivable venture.

In the long run ,as-easy-to-find-and-produce reservoirs diminish ,one has to look the
marginal fields for their exploitation. The Early Production System has come into
prominence as most of the operators like to have their finds exploited at the earliest. The
early production concept aims at shortening the field development time and
hastening ,the investment recovery which is important in rendering profitable exploitation
of marginal fields.
In most cases ,marginal fields require storage capacity and loading system because of
long distance from coast or large offshore facilities does not justify use of submarine
pipeline transportation.

REQUIREMENT OF EARLY PRODUCTION SYSTEM:
Drilling the production wells and fabricating the platform at the same time.
Using a topside facility fully equipped onshore, thus minimizing the time lag from
installation to production start-up.
Providing required storage facility.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF PRODUCTION SYSTEM:
The criteria adopted for selection of any particular method for early production system
depends upon the following considerations :
Water depth
Environmental conditions
Sea bottom soil characteristics
Distance from shore
Anticipated qualities of oil and gas production
CONCEPTS OF EARLY PRODUCTION SYSTEM:

263
For an early production system the following facilities re to be created on the platform :
Production wells along with safety features.
Collection of well fluid upto production facilities.
Oil/gas separation facilities.
Oil storage facilities.
Oil transportation facilities.

WELL COMPLETIONS :
The choice available for completion of wells is either conventionally or by sub-sea type
depending upon the location and connected to the production facilities by means of sub-
sea flow-lines.

TEMPLATE VS SATELLITE FOR DEVELOPMENT :
A number of factors have to be considered while making a choice between satellite wells
and template development.

TEMPLATE:
The construction of a template requires early investment and presents a complicated
engineering problem. All equipments installed on the sea bed has to be suitable for a
long maintenance free life, the control system must be reliable and allow the necessary
operational flexibilities and a template necessitates very accurate construction to
accommodate the later connection of wells and flow lines. There is no flexibility in
changing the well location.
The multi-well template option reduces both congestion on the seabed and in the flow
line installation programme. There would be advantages like commingling / flow line
bundling and sharing service and control lines reduce number of lines. In this
regards ,there are likely to be cost and operational advantages for template drilled wells.
As already stated there is complexity in control system and in mechanical components.
Both advantages and disadvantages of multi-well template system tend to increase as
more wells are concentrated in one template.
SATELLITE :
The wells may be drilled directly above the largest area in the reservoir ,there is flexibility
in changing the location .The well is independent of others ,although seabed congestion

264
is generated by individual flow line /control conduits at each well. The installation of
single satellite wells is simpler ,with a minimum amount of equipment to be placed on
seabed. A disadvantage of satellite well is the high cost of flow and control lines
associated with each well and the mooring problems around the central platform created
by the lines on the seabed ,converging on the platform.

WELL SPACING
The subject of well spacing is one of vital importance to the petroleum industry. The well
itself plays a significant role in the development of oil and gas reservoirs and in control of
the recovery process. Maximum utilization of wells, then, becomes an integral part of
sound operating practices. Efficient exploitation of oil and gas reserves demands that
careful choice of well location and well spacing be made.

The role of the well in reservoir development and control brings into focus the subject of
proper well spacing. From the wealth of information accumulated to date in the field and
in the laboratory on the basic principles of reservoir behaviour, certain concepts have
emerged regarding the spacing of wells and their influence in the recovery picture.

WELL SPACING UNDER UNREGULATED PRODUCTION:
Prior to advent of efficient oil recovery practices ,unregulated production tendency
prevailed, and the attention of operators was focused on the well as a source of oil. With
the discovery of a new pool ,development was intense ,and close spacing became the
common practice. Dense drilling was also accompanied by production of each well at
capacity ,with little attention being given to efficient reservoir operation. Underground
waste became inevitable in this competitive race to capture oil. The drilling of an
excessive number of unnecessary wells compounded the waste in labour, materials and
development costs.

WELL SPACING UNDER CONTROLLED PRODUCTION:
Operators gradually became aware that uncontrolled production resulted in economic
waste and in loss of otherwise recoverable oil. It has been established that the amount
of oil which may be recovered from an oil reservoir is a widely varying quantity and
depends not upon close well spacing but upon (1) the particular conditions imposed by

265
nature on the underground structural trap.,(2) the properties of the contained fluids, and
(3) the controls exercised by the operator in its development an operation. It is now
recognized that the oil reservoir can be controlled to yield increased ultimate recovery
and that the wells serve principally as a means through which this control may be
exercised. Hence, operators have relegated the individual well to the background as a
source of oil and have shifted their emphasis o the reservoir.

However, wells do have three important functions in the development and operation of
an oil or gas reservoir:

1. That of providing conduits to the surface for the production of oil ,gas, and water.
2. That of providing access to the reservoir to obtain information concerning the
characteristics of the reservoir and its contained fluids
3. That of serving as a means by which a natural recovery mechanism or an induced
programme of gas or water injection may be observed an controlled during the fields
productive life to obtain effective flushing of oil from the rock.

It is apparent ,then that wells must be properly located to meet the geometric and
stratigraphic configurations of the reservoir and to permit effective use of the reservoir
producing mechanism. With meeting these conditions ,the ultimate oil recovery is
essentially independent of well spacing.

GOOD PRACTICE :
The oil industry generally has come to recognize that there is such a thing as good
practice in the development and production of oil and gas reservoirs. Through
cooperative effort ,much has been done to promote good practice based upon sound
fundamental principles. This effort, within the framework of conservation laws adopted to
control the drilling of wells, the rte of oil and gas production ,and other factors that affect
the efficient recovery of oil ,has evolved into the workable system of present day
conservation.

Application of good practice requires that each field be given individual technical study.
Certain general principles governing the efficient exploitation of oil fields have been

266
recognized ,but these principles can serve only as a guide in the solution of the specific
problem. Only by obtaining adequate information on the producing zone ,its contents
and the pressure and production behaviour of both the reservoir and its wells can an
intelligent geological and engineering analysis be made. There is no substitute for
factual data. A sound analysis based on facts is essential to proper control and efficient
operation.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW RESERVOIR :
The discovery of a new oil reservoir presents to the geologist ,engineer, and operator a
challenging problem in planning a sound well spacing programme early in the
development stage to achieve maximum efficiency in recovery with a minimum number
of wells. Planning such a programme requires the early accumulation of factual data
necessary to determine the proper well spacing for each field. The importance of
obtaining field rules during the early development period that provide for proper spacing
cannot be overemphasized. The establishment of field rules that might encourage or
lead to the drilling of unnecessary wells should be avoided. Unnecessary wells burden
the industry with excessive capital investment ,promote waste by creating a pressure for
allow-ables beyond the range of efficient producing rates ,and endanger the correlative
rights of operators who have confined their drilling to wells necessary for efficient
operation.

Early planning of a sound programme inherently places a mutual responsibility upon the
operator and the regulatory body-upon the operator to obtain sufficient data to make a
reasonable accurate appraisal and upon the regulatory body to promulgate ,in the light
of those facts ,the field rules to promote maximum reservoir efficiency. Maximum effort
should be directed toward the early accumulation of as much pertinent data as possible
in order that adequate technical information regarding proper spacing may be available.

It is prudent ,then to employ wide initial spacing in the development of a new reservoir to
permit early determination of the areal extent and geological characteristics of the pool,
the amount of oil and gas reserves ,the properties of the reservoir rock and its contained
fluids, and the nature of the producing mechanism . Early knowledge of these factors will
permit the strategic location of infill wells ,if needed, and the determination of whether

267
the natural recovery mechanism should be augmented by the injection of gas or water
for efficient recovery. It will also permit an early determination of the need for field-wide
unitization and will aid in the ultimate accomplishment of unitization.

Initial development on the widest feasible spacing is not only sound from an engineering
and geological viewpoint but best serves the public interest from the standpoint of sound
conservation. This view is shared by a majority of those in industry who have studied the
matter.
Therefore, as conclusion it can be said that:

For proper reservoir control in new fields, it is important to determine as promptly as
possible the structure, the reservoir characteristics ,the extent of the reservoir , the
magnitude of the reserves ,the primary reservoir energy source ,and the type of reservoir
control which will permit the greatest recovery. These data can best be determined by
drilling new fields on the widest possible spacing pattern .Wide-spacing development
programmes afford information that may be used to locate the most advantageous
structural position or the drilling of future infill wells and eliminate the expense of drilling
many unnecessary wells. Each reservoir presents a separate problem in the
determination of the well-spacing pattern.
RATE OF PRODUCTION :
Efficient recovery of oil from the reservoir demands a basic working knowledge of fluid
mechanisms and of the specific processes by which oil is recovered . The task then lies
in applying this knowledge to each reservoir. This application requires that the individual
characteristics of the reservoir be recognized ,that the process best suited to the
particular reservoir be chosen, and that the reservoir be so operated as to yield
maximum possible ultimate oil recovery.

Therefore, the following approach be adopted as soon as possible after the discovery of
each new reservoir. First, the type of drive naturally available and its relative
effectiveness to recover oil should be determined early. Early identification of the type of
drive requires that sufficient data on the reservoir and fluid properties and on the
pressure behaviour be accumulated to make a reasonably accurate appraisal.

268
With such information a choice can be made early as to the recovery technique to be
employed whether to take full advantage of the natural drive present ,whether to
supplement the natural drive ,or whether to modify it completely by gas or water injection
or by employing one of the more recently developed techniques such as enriched gas
drive ,in-situ combustion ,etc. The earlier a choice is made between whether to operate
with an expanding gas cap or with a water drive ,the lower will be the total development
and operating costs and the greater will be the ultimate net return. In the development
aspect , the arrangement , location, and manner of completion of the wells must be
different for efficient control of a gas-cap drive than for efficient control of a water drive.
Under either drive it is usually desirable to conduct the operation at a high level of
reservoir pressure to avoid dominance of the depletion by dissolved gas drive. This
means starting the operation as early in the life of the pool as possible ,before serious
decline in reservoir pressure has taken place.

REQUIREMENT FOR PROPER CONTROL OF RESERVOIR PERFORMANCE
Efficient recovery of oil depends upon the degree to which the advancing gas or water
invades the entire reservoir and upon the uniformity with which the gas or water
displaces or flushes oil from all portions of the reservoir rock behind the advancing front.
The basic requirement for proper control of an oil reservoir may be summarized as :

I. An efficient dominant mechanism for the recovery of oil must be chosen. The recovery
mechanism may be solely the natural drive , if reservoir conditions are favourable ,it
may be augmented or supplemented by injection of gas or water ,or it may be modified
to create a completely new drive by injection of gas or water.
II. The dominant mechanism must consist in the progressive advance of gas or water
throughout the entire reservoir ,with the invading fluid displacing oil ahead of it to the
producing wells.
III. The boundary between the invaded and un-invaded portions of the reservoir must be
sharply defined and at all times reasonably uniform.
IV. Throughout the invaded portion of the reservoir ,oil should be flushed uniformly
regardless of variations in the texture of the producing formation. There must be no
trapping or bypassing of highly oil-saturated zones behind the advancing gas or water
front.

269
V. Excessive dissipation of gas or water must be avoided.
VI. Well should be so located and so completed as to permit adequate control of the
movement of the advancing gas or water for effective displacement of the oil.
VII. The reservoir pressure must be maintained throughout the recovery process at a
sufficiently high level to prevent excessive release of gas from solution.

CONTROL OF RATE OF PRODUCTION
Efficient recovery of oil from a reservoir is not obtained by chance ; it is accomplished
only by careful and deliberate action on the part of the operator. Experience has proved
that one of the most essential factors in meeting the requirement for efficient oil recovery
is control of the rate of production. Technical studies and observance of field behaviour
have shown that excessive rates of oil production lead to rapid decline in reservoir
pressure, to premature release of dissolved gas ,to irregular movement of the gas or
water displacement fronts ,to dissipation of gas and water ,to trapping and bypassing of
oil and , in extreme cases ,to a dominance of the entire recovery by inefficient dissolved
gas drive. Each of these effects, resulting from excessive withdrawal rates, reduces the
ultimate recovery of oil. It is generally recognized that the most effective method of
controlling the displacement mechanism for increased ultimate oil recovery is to restrict
the oil production rate.
Control of the rate of oil production alone will not necessarily suffice to ensure production
by a displacement drive. It is necessary also to control the progressive movement of the
displacing gas or water and to prevent their premature dissipation. Excessive production
of gas and water not only impairs the effective displacement of oil but leads to an actual
loss in ultimate recovery. Conservation measures taken to prevent waste of gas and
ineffective use of available water drive are essential adjuncts to proper control of
reservoir performance.

MAXIMUM EFFICIENT RATE
Definition : The ultimate oil recovery from most pools is directly dependent on the rate of
production. This dependence is such that for a chosen dominant mechanism for each
reservoir there is a maximum rate of production that will permit reasonable fulfillment of
the basic requirements for efficient recovery. Increase in the rate of production beyond
the maximum commensurate with efficient recovery will usually lead to rapidly increasing

270
loss of ultimate recovery. Reduction in rate below this maximum will not materially
increase the ultimate oil recovery. From these considerations there has developed the
concept of the Maximum Efficient Rate of production, commonly referred to as MER.
The maximum efficient rate for an oil reservoir is defined as the highest rate that can be
sustained for an appreciable length of time without damage to the reservoir ,and which if
exceeded would lead to avoidable underground waste through loss of ultimate oil
recovery.

GENERAL CRITERIA FOR DETERMINATION OF MER :
The concept of MER has a sound basis as an engineering principle in reservoir
technology. The MER is not an invariable characteristic of a reservoir but is dependent
on the recovery mechanism employed as well as on the physical nature of the
reservoir ,its surroundings ,and its contained fluids. For the same reservoir it will be
different for one recovery process than for another, and for the same mechanism the
MER may vary with the degree of depletion. It is possible through technical study of the
reservoir and its behaviour to determine the MER ,provided adequate geologic and
operating information on the reservoir is available.

In establishing the maximum efficient rate for a reservoir ,two independent physical
conditions must be satisfied:
A. The rate must not exceed the capabilities of the reservoir.
B. The individual well rate must not be excessive.
A third condition ,this one economic ,must also be satisfied : the individual well rte must
not be so low as to prohibit profitable operation.

In the early stages of development of a new field ,the MER is usually limited by the
efficient rate for the individual wells. After development is essentially complete ,there is
usually a sufficient or even an excessive number of wells to produce in the aggregate
the reservoir MER without simultaneously exceeding the capabilities of the individual
wells to produce efficiently. Hence, in the later stages of development, the controlling
limitation on the MER becomes the reservoirs efficient capacity. In any case, the
smaller of the two capacities ,either of the reservoir or of the individual wells ,fixes the
MER for the field.

271

MAXIMUM EFFICIENT RATE FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF RESERVOIR :
Dissolved gas-drive Reservoirs When a reservoir is operated under a dissolved-gas
drive ,the only displacing agent utilized is the gas released from solution ,with no other
source of gas and no water being effectively employed. This type of drive is inefficient
because the dissolved gas is released everywhere throughout the reservoir, is not
segregated ( in reservoirs having flat structures or where the force of gravity is not
utilized to permit effective segregation of gas upstructure),and cannot be prevented from
escaping through the producing wells during production operations. Both the rate of oil
flow and the ultimate oil yield depend primarily on the degree of exhaustion of the gas.

The determination of MER must take into consideration the following three classifications
of dissolved gas drive reservoirs :
Class1 . Those reservoirs in which there is potentially available free gas or water that
might , under different operating conditions ,be employed to change the dominant
recovery mechanism to a more efficient type of drive.
Class2. Those reservoirs in which no free gas or water is potentially available but whose
physical properties and fluid characteristics are favourable for segregation of gas within
the reservoir.
Class3. Those reservoirs having no displacing fluid potentially available other than
dissolved gas and whose characteristics are unfavourable as to permit no reasonable
modification of recovery efficiency through control of rate of production .

Pools in class 1 are those which initially contained sufficient free gas to provide a gas-
cap drive ,or into which sufficient influx of water could take place if operating conditions
were properly modified. These pools operate by dissolved-gas drive most frequently as a
result of improper reservoir control. This may entail (1) dissipation of free gas through
production of gas-cap wells or upstructure wells having high gas-oil ratios;(2) dissipation
of water through excessive production of water by edge wells; (3) excessive rates of oil
production ,such that oil is depleted by dissolved-gas drive substantially faster than oil
can be replaced by migration ahead of an expanding gas cap or advancing water. The
MER of class 1 reservoir is the rate that will permit a more efficient mechanism to

272
replace the dissolved gas drive mechanism ;it is the MER of the substituting
mechanism.

Class 2 pools operate under dissolved gas drive because the sole displacing agent
naturally available is dissolved gas. However, pools in this category have physical
structures , reservoir-rock properties ,and oil viscosities that are favourable for the
employment of gas or water in an efficient manner as a displacing fluid. In these
reservoirs the less efficient dissolved-gas drive may be completely modified by the
injection of gas or water. Under this type of operation the MER would then be the MER
of a gas-cap drive or water drive mechanism employed. A third alternative would be to
use only the dissolved gas naturally available within the reservoir but to operate the
reservoir in such a manner that the force of gravity is utilized to permit effective
segregation of the liberated gas in the upper portion of the reservoir .In this type of
operation the rate of production is reduced to a sufficiently low value so that movement
of oil down-structure is brought about by gravity ,rather than pressure gradient ,and the
gas released from solution moves up-dip where it can be retained as a secondary gas
cap to displace additional oil.

Dissolved gas-drive pools in class 3 have reservoir and fluid characteristics so
unfavourable that reduction in rate of oil production would have no appreciable effect on
ultimate oil recovery. Reservoirs placed in this category may have thin formations of little
structural relief, low formation permeability, high oil viscosity, or extreme lenticularity or
irregularity of the producing formation. For pools having no free gas cap ,no potential
water drive ,and physical conditions that prevent segregation of fluids by gravity, it has
not been demonstrated that reduction in rate of production can bring about any
improvement in the recovery efficiency. It is doubtful, according to current understanding,
that a pool of this sort has an MER.

Gas-cap-drive Reservoirs .An efficient gas-cap drive requires continuous maintenance ,
throughout the recovery process, of a distinct segregation between an enlarging gas-
invaded zone containing reduced oil saturation and a shrinking oil zone containing high
oil saturation. The recovery efficiency of this mechanism is very sensitive to the rate of
oil production for two reasons: (1) gas is not an effective oil displacement agent, and (2)

273
without any restraining factors, encroachment of free gas through the oil zone would
take place through only the most permeable channels, leaving the oil un-displaced in the
remainder of the formation. At high rates of production the pressure gradients caused by
flow of oil dominate the fluid movements in the reservoir, and the reservoir fluid
characteristics. Excessive rates lead to rapid encroachment of free gas throughout the
oil zone with relatively low displacement efficiency. Segregation of free gas under these
conditions is impossible, the entire free gas content is dissipated, the reservoir pressure
is rapidly lowered, and the recovery process reverts to the less efficient dissolved-gas
drive.
An efficient rate of production under gas-cap drive must be a rate such that gravity will
dominate the oil flow to maintain continuously an advancing gas front behind which the
oil saturation will be reduced to a satisfactory low value in regions of low as well as high
permeability. The recovery must be conducted at such a rate that oil migrates into the
lower portions of the reservoir by gravity drainage instead of being compelled to migrate
by expanding gas forcing its way into the oil zone in response to a pressure differential
between high pressure in the gas cap and low pressure in the oil zone. The pressure in
the oil zone actually should remain higher than the pressure in the gas-cap, with free gas
merely expanding to fill space vacated by the oil migrating downward. The chief function
of the gas is to maintain the pressure level at which gravity drainage proceeds. The
higher the pressure, the lower is the oil viscosity and the more rapid the drainage.

At sufficiently low rates of production ,a gas-cap drive of this sort is capable of yielding
very high recovery efficiency. Determination of the MER requires quantitative calculation
of the relationship between rate of production and the amount of residual oil saturation in
all parts of the reservoir at various successive stages of depletion. The MER is directly
dependent on the formation permeability ,the permeability distribution ,the relative
permeability saturation relationships to gas and oil ,the angle of formation dip, the
fluidity of oil, and the size of the gas cap available to maintain pressure and act as the
displacing medium. Since low oil viscosity is desirable ,there is an advantage to
conducting the drainage at the highest possible level of reservoir pressure. Return of all
produced gas to the crest of the structure often assists maintenance of pressure. To
achieve a uniform advance of the gas-oil contact ,it is necessary that wells be properly
located and completed on the structure ,that upstructure wells be progressively shut in

274
as they go to gas ,and that oil be selectively produced from wells completed in the lower
portions of the reservoir. It is desirable that individual well rates be restricted to minimize
coning and fingering of gas.

Water-drive Reservoirs. Determination of the MER for a normal water-drive reservoir
requires that certain criteria for efficient operation under this type of drive be taken into
account. The first of this criteria is the reservoir pressure. The reservoir pressure one of
the most direct and useful indications of production efficiency ,serves in a water drive
field to indicate quantitatively the degree to which water influx is able to keep pace with
withdrawals. A proper level of reservoir pressure must be maintained throughout the
production history. This pressure level is usually taken to be one that will not permit
dissolved gas to be released in sufficient quantity to build up within the oil zone a free
gas saturation large enough to allow a flow of the liberated gas.

To determine the MER for a water-drive field ,it is thus first necessary to estimate the
rate of oil production ,together with the attendant production of gas and water, that will
maintain the pressure at the required pressure throughout the life of the field. The MER
determination requires basically a quantitative relationship between the reservoir
pressure and the rate of water influx.
The MER for a water drive reservoir must also be such a rate that provides reasonably
uniform advance of the water oil interface and uniform flushing of the oil behind that
interface in the regions invaded by water. Control of the uniformity of the advancing
water front ,as in the case of the advancing gas front ,is dependent upon the balance
between the component of gravity in the direction of flow and the pressure gradients
induced by flow.
Thus, the MER of production for a water-drive field involves ,the following aspects:
1. Control of the rate of oil withdrawal to such a degree that the oil may be
volumetrically replaced by water at a desirable level of reservoir pressure.
2. Control of oil withdrawal such that the force of gravity may keep reasonably uniform
the advancing water-oil interface.
3. Control of the rate of water advance such that dvantage may be taken of capillary
effects that allow water to penetrate and expel oil from the tight sands as well as the

275
more permeable sands ,thereby flushing oil uniformly from all portions of the
formation as the water-oil interface advances.
4. Control of the production of water and gas to prevent their premature dissipation and
ineffective use.
PRESSURE MAINTENANCE
Significance of Pressure in Reservoir Management :
Source of energy in the reservoir
An ideal monitoring tool.
Controls drilling procedure.
Affects surface facilities designing.
Recovery factor.
Deciding EOR technique.
NEED FOR PRESSURE MAINTENANCE :
Why Pressure Maintenance ?
Energy depletion with time and production.
Lesser oil recovery.
Gas Bypassing
Problem in drilling infill wells
Difficulty in further development of the field.
Requirement of artificial lift.

ADVANTAGES OF PRESSURE MAINTENANCE :
Better displacement and areal sweep efficiencies.
Utilization of dissolved gas
Low viscosity of oil.
More self flowing wells.
Higher API gravity of oil.
Delayed artificial lift requirement.
Facilitates future infill drilling programme.
Disposal of produced water.

OPTIMUM RESERVOIR PRESSURE FOR PRESSURE MAINTENANCE :
Bubble point pressure.

276
Critical gas saturation.
Formation volume factor.
Oil swelling

To maintain pressure just below bubble point pressure.
Pressure Options :
In homogeneous reservoirs ,maximum oil recovery can be expected if
flooding is initiated when the bubble point pressure has been reached.
This is because high free gas saturation in residual oil and favourable oil
viscosity.
However, heterogeneous causes the optimal pressure for the highest
recovery to be lower than bubble point pressure.
In case of low bubble point pressure, by the time it is reached the production
rates may have declined substantially making a water flood unattractive.
Under such situations water flood may be initiated much before the bubble point
pressure is reached.

WHY WATER INJECTION ?
Mainly the following two aspects are involved in water flooding :
To maintain the reservoir /to restrict the decline in reservoir pressure .
To push the oil towards the producing wells.
Why water is preferred for Pressure Maintenance :
o Cheap and easy availability.
o No damage to the formation.
o Low compressibility.
o High density.
o Favourable mobility ration.
o Easy to inject.
PRODUCTION POTENTIAL OF A WELL
For developing a field, it is necessary to know the production potential of a well i.e., the
optimal rate at which a well can be produced. The production potential of a well is
governed by Darcys law, which states that

277
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.
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=
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Where, J = Productivity index, STB/day/psi
k
o
= effective permeability to the oil, mD
h = thickness, ft
The productivity index is a constant characteristic of the well and is critical parameter
which determines the number of wells needed to exploit the reservoir for a given
withdrawal rate.

Efficient reservoir production also demands efficient operation of the wells tapping the
reservoir. The maximum efficient rate for a reservoir cannot exceed the combined
efficient rates of the individual wells. Thus the determination of the efficient capacity of a
reservoir to produce makes it imperative that an investigation of the capabilities and
limitations of each well to produce its proportionate share be conducted. One of the most
useful tools in determining the productive capacity of a well is the flow test. From the
flow test productivity index and specific productivity index of the well are determined.
These data give directly the total pressure drop and the pressure drop per unit of
formation section to a well during flow at a given production rate The productivity test
permits quantitative evaluation of the maximum rate at which a well may be produced to
avoid excessive localized pressure drops around the well, to maintain high oil
saturation ,and to prevent or minimize fingering or coning of gas and water into the well.

APPLICATION OF NEW TECHNIQUES IN FIELD DEVELOPMENT :

278
The technological advancement is going on all around to overcome difficult situations
and environments there by achieving improvement in recovery with accelerated
production from reservoirs. The techniques that have come up recently are :
o Infill drilling
o Cluster drilling
o Horizontal drilling.

INFILL DRILLING TECHNOLOGY :
Infill drilling concept is applicable to old fields which have been on production for
long .As a result of differential depletion of the reservoir caused due to reservoir
heterogeneity or any other reason ,oil islands are left unswept in the reservoir. The infill
drilling in the unswept part of the reservoir would enable to improve and accelerate
recovery process.
The objectives of infill drilling are :
Increase in ultimate recovery from judiciously selected reservoirs.
Improvement in per well recovery attractive under current economic considerations.
Delineate and minimize pay discontinuity in heterogeneous reservoirs.
Determine size, shape and orientation of fractures.
Determine oil productivity and potential of close grid locations.
Evaluate remaining oil saturation to operative drive mechanism.
Concepts ,analysis and confirmation of simulated data.
Development of shale gas reservoirs.
Exploitation of heavy and extra heavy crude reservoirs.
Monitoring EOR pilots.
Accelerated oil production for quick return when warranted.
To sweep unswept zone ,tapping of untapped traps.
Recovery of Wedge edge oil.
Improve areal sweep by minimizing poor geometry effects caused by original well
arrangement and/or initial injection-production well selection.
To eliminate possible adverse effects on prior injection imbalance.

CLUSTER DRILLING :

279
This is a technique of drilling number of wells from one surface location. Operations are
carried out by shifting a part of the rig equipment especially derrick ,its substructure and
prime movers from one well mouth to the other leaving mud system , pumps, generators
etc. at the same place and the wells are drilled directionally. Normally one well will be
vertical and others are directional.

Clusture drilling is a common drilling practice in offshore. This has also become a
proven technique for on-land fields. Four to five well cluster are presently being drilled in
Lakwa, Geleki, Borholla, fields in E.R. successfully. This technique is applicable in hilly
terrain. This is cost effective too as in cluster drilling on every subsequent well of cluster
only a part of the rig is shifted and complete derigging/ rigging up construction of new
approach roads, new foundations and laying of long pipelines etc. is avoided. Further a
field posing logistic problems due to environment conditions or difficult terrain, cluster
drilling has emerged as the most efficient and economic method of development drilling
technique, world-over.
MERITS AND DEMERITS OF CLUSTER DRILLING :
MERITS :
An overall reduction in well cost is obtained due to reduction in the cost of :
foundation work and land acquisition;
approach roads;
rig building operations
transportation of equipment and material;
pipelines ( oil and gas pipelines, and water lines )
mud chemicals etc.
Rig days are saved in shifting of masts and substructure.
Rig cycle speeds are improved due to saving in the rig building
days.
Field can be put on production quickly.

DEMERITS :
o Length of the well bore increases which results in additional
o expenditure on drilling operations and tubing cost.
o More pressure losses occur in flowing wells due to increased tubing

280
o length of a directional well.
o Slows down pace of oil production because nearby drilled wells of a
o cluster are kept in subdued condition till all the wells of a cluster are
drilled. This is because simultaneous production is not desirable from safety point
of view.

HORIZONTAL DRILLING CONCEPT :
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
Horizontal wells are a controlled, directional completion technique for exploiting
unrecovered mobile hydrocarbons in existing fields. These reserves usually remain
because the reservoirs heterogeneity has prevented efficient development using vertical
wells. The primary screening tool is recovery efficiency as measured by the percentage
recovered of original oilin-place (OOIP) or original gas-in-place (OGIP). Screening is
carried out by reservoir characterization, followed by reservoir simulation.
The advantages of horizontal wells include higher productivity and a larger drainage
area per well. In Texas and Louisiana, horizontal wells in the Austin Chalk have become
attractive because of the relatively rapid payout from good initial production rates. The
disadvantages include higher drilling costs and greater mechanical risks. The economic
success rate in the US is about 60%, with failure usually occurring as a result of high
drilling/completion costs, formation damage, reservoir heterogeneity, or insufficient
geological characterization.
Insights
Horizontal wells are typically grouped in three categories and referred to as short-,
medium-, and largeradius wells depending on build rate.
Short-radius wells have a radius of curvature between 20 to 60 ft, a bit size less than 6-
3/4 in., and a drainhole length up to 1,000 ft. Medium-radius wells have a radius of
curvature between 200 to 1,500 ft., a bit size less than 8-1/2 in., and a drainhole length
up to 1,500 ft. Large-radius wells have a radius of curvature greater than 1,500 ft, a bit
size greater than 8-1/2 in, and a drainhole length up to 15,000 ft.

281
Short-and medium-radius wells can be completed open hole or with slotted liners. Long-
radius wells are typically completed with slotted liners or casing.
There are four basic completion approaches: openhole, slotted liner, cased, or hybrid
completions.
I. Open-hole completion, which requires a stable hole, has several advantages: it
preserves options after the well has been produced and evaluated, it is the easiest and
least expensive on which to perform selective stimulations, and it provides the best
production logs. In general, completions other than open hole are to preserve the
integrity of the hole (guard against collapse and sand production) and to allow zones to
be shut off.
II. Slotted liners are desirable in many cases for sand control and hole support.
III. Cased completions are used by operators to allow more flexibility for shutting off
selected zones after production has begun.
IV. Hybrid completions take advantage of the many drilling technologies available today.
Since large sections of the formation are exposed to drilling mud (with potential
damage) during horizontal drilling, horizontal wells lend themselves to underbalanced
drilling (UBD) methods.
Among its advantages, UBD can minimize formation and environmental damage, reduce
sticking in the differential drillstring, and lessen circulation losses. Gravity-induced mud
invasion of fractures also tends to be reduced. Disadvantages of UBD include the cost of
extra equipment and rig time, pipe connections, and mechanical problems including
sticking, bit jetting and flushing, and mud-pulsed logging. In addition, hole collapse is
possible.
The best UBD technique currently available utilizes coiled-tubing drilling, since it
minimizes most of the problems listed above. As a result, some drilling costs may
ultimately be reduced. The disadvantages of coiled tubing drilling include decreased
directional control, limited casing and bit size, associated costs, and pressure
monitoring.
Multilateral horizontal wells access several target zones in the same well. Potential
problems include: achieving an effective kickoff from the previous leg, formation damage

282
from mud, and slower cleanup. Once a well begins producing, it is also difficult to
allocate production to specific pay zones.
Enhanced oil recovery applications of horizontal drilling include heavy oil reservoirs and
steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). In contrast to vertical wells using thermal
processes, the benefits of SAGD are increased oil productivity for the number of
required wells, higher production volumes compared to injected steam volumes, and
more ultimate recovery of oil in place. However, SAGD may not be applicable to
reservoirs with low absolute vertical permeability.
LESSONS LEARNT:
Horizontal wells have been effectively applied to naturally fractured reservoirs. In
addition, horizontal drilling is used in reservoirs that are layered or have problems with
water or gas coning, gas storage reservoirs, waterflood and enhanced oil recovery
operations, and heavy oil reservoirs. They now are used in the Austin Chalk of Louisiana
and Texas, as well as North Dakotas Red River Formation. Horizontal drilling is being
applied in the heavy oil steam floods in California, waterfloods and CO 2 floods in west
Texas, and a variety of carbonate and sandstone reservoirs across
The objectives of horizontal drilling :
Improved productivity in tight reservoirs ,thin beds, soft formation and thin oil column
reservoir which are entrapped between gas cap and bottom water.
Exploitation of fractured reservoirs.
Improvement in per well cost by reducing number of development wells.
To overcome the logistic problem such as key location , located below river bed/
thickly populated area/ hilly terrain area etc.
Improvement in enhanced oil recovery by improving injectivity in steam injection
projects.
Greater dispensing of withdrawals through overcoming the problem of pressure sinks
at a single point.
To overcome problems of deformation of oil/ water and oil/gas interface thereby
delaying water/gas breakthrough.
Exploitation of heavy oil overcome the problem of adverse mobility.

283
Characterization of reservoirs to know the dimension / direction and occurrence of
heterogeneity in some specific areas.
Effective exploitation of :

Naturally fractured reservoirs.
Oil reservoirs sandwiched between gas and water.
Thin reservoir.
Reservoir with good vertical permeability.
DRAIN HOLE DRILLING :
This is also a recent innovation in drilling technology ,which has already been
implemented successfully in many fields. The technique involves cutting a window in
already existing well and drilling horizontally through it. The process requires highly
specialized equipment and technology. The turning radius in this type of drilling is very
low. Typically only few tens of feet. However, the horizontal length of the drain hole ,that
can be achieved is generally in the range of 100-150 mts.
The drain hole enjoys all the benefits of horizontal wells with the exception of productivity
restrictions imposed by drain hole length. However, it has an added advantage of
utilizing already existing wells which might have been abandoned for various reasons.
Obviously these are cheaper than new horizontal wells.

RESERVOIR SIMULATION
Reservoir simulation, or modeling, is one of the most powerful techniques currently
available to the reservoir engineer. Modeling requires a computer, and compared to
most other reservoir calculations, large amounts of data. Basically, the model requires
that the field under study be described by a grid system,
usually referred to as cells or grid blocks. Each cell must be assigned reservoir
properties to describe the reservoir. The simulator will allow us to describe a fully
heterogeneous reservoir, to include varied well performance, and to study different
recovery mechanisms. Additionally, due to the amount of data
required, we often will reconsider data which had previously been accepted. To make
the model run, we perturb the system (usually by producing a well) and move forward in
time using selected time intervals (time steps). The main type of results that we gain
from a model study are saturation and pressure distributions at various times ; quite

284
frequently, these variations will indicate what the primary drive mechanism is at any
given point in time.

On the other hand, modeling requires a computer with a fair amount of memory and a
great deal of engineering time; you cannot do a model study in an afternoon! It takes
time to locate the data, modify it to fit your grid system, enter it and then to actually run
the model. Minimum time for a very simple study is a week; average time is probably
from 3 to 6 months; large and/or complex studies may encompass years. In short, it
takes much more effort on your part to interpret the results of a simulator and as a result,
small screening models may be used to evaluate key parameters while larger models
would simulate
an entire field in detail. As the field is developed and more data becomes available,
intermediate models are often developed for specific regions or recovery processes in
the field; these models may be called scalable models, but changing the grid presents
additional problems. To be able to decipher what the model is telling you, you must first
define the problem. Simply running a study to model a field is not good enough; you
must decide ahead of time what questions you are trying to answer. Some typical
questions might be:
What type of pattern should be used for water injection?
Should a well be drilled in a certain location?
How would rate acceleration affect the ultimate recovery?
What is the effect of well spacing?
Is there flow across lease lines?
Will the oil rim rise to saturate the gas cap?
Should gas injection be considered? If so, for how long?
Should water injection be considered? If so, at what rates?
Once we have decided what questions need to be answered, we can construct
the model grid.
Types of Models
There are five types of models, depending on the grid selected, that may be used
(although the first two types are used minimally today):
One-dimensional horizontal
One-dimensional vertical

285
Areal (two-dimensional)
Cross-sectional (two-dimensional)
Three-dimensional
Additionally, the coordinate system, number of components (or phases) and treatment of
the flow equations yield a large number of simulation
possibilities. The most common coordinate system in use is that of Cartesian
(rectangular) coordinates.
A one-dimensional (1-D) model may be used to define a bottom water drive, determine
aquifer activity, yield an accurate material balance or as a screening tool prior to a large
complex study. Gravity drainage may be simulated using a 1-D vertical model.
Sensitivity studies may be conducted and interpreted rapidly using 1-D models; these
studies might include the effects of vertical permeability, injection rate, relative
permeability, residual oil saturation, reservoir size, etc. This information would be
extremely useful in more complex studies. Individual well behavior cannot be modeled
using a 1-D model; however, field behavior may be approximated. Trying to match
production history of individual wells using a 1-D model is both fruitless and time
consuming. 1-D models are seldom used extensively today.

There are two types of two-dimensional (2-D) Cartesian models; the most common is
the areal model. Strictly speaking, an areal model should be used only if there will be
very little vertical movement of fluids as in a thin sand; however, the areal model is also
employed for thick sands when no great differences in permeability exist (i.e.,
permeability layering). Dip can be incorporated in an areal model, although water under
running or gas overriding may not be in its proper perspective if permeability layering
exists. The effects of varying well patterns, both in type and spacing may be studied with
an areal model.
The other type of 2-D cartesian model, the cross-sectional model, is often used to
simulate a slice of a field. It will show vertical and horizontal movement, but is not useful
for determining well patterns. Its greatest usage is in determining completion intervals
and stratification effects. Usually, when orienting a cross-sectional model (commonly
called an X-Z model), the cross-section is taken parallel to the fluid movement (up or
down dip). This type of model is used for thick, layered reservoirs, water under running,
gas segregation, or a series of reservoirs co-mingled in the well bore.

286
The three-dimensional (3-D) model can handle any and all of the previous types of
studies; however, the computer time and interpretive engineering time are greatly
increased over that required for 2-D models. A 3-D model must be used when fluid
migration is expected parallel to the strike of a thick steeply
dipping bed (i.e., fluids will flow up dip and across dip). If a typical section of a field
cannot be determined for use in a 2-D model, then a 3-D model is required; however,
finely modeling the area of concern and lumping the remainder of the field into a few
large cells may save considerable time and money as shown
in the windowed model (Fig. 3.29, p. 24, M-13). Once again, you must define your
problem before you start to model it.
The second type of coordinates employed in simulation is the radial (R-Z-) or
cylindrical system and may exist in one to three dimensions. Radial systems in two
dimensions (R-Z) are sometimes referred to as coning models based on their early
applications for studying the effects of coning phenomena. They are single well models
designed to study individual well effects; additional wells may be included, but they will
not exhibit the performance shown in actual production. Coning models are fully implicit
in order to handle the rapid saturation changes that occur near the well bore. Field
studies (whole or partial) may also be performed using a cylindrical system, but this
application has found limited use. Aquifers may be simulated in radial models by use of
a water injection well in the
outer block; this technique works well for strong aquifers but may present problems with
weaker water drives. Radial models may be used to study coning, shale breaks, well
tests, vertical permeability effects, heterogeneity, and to determine maximum producing
rates; however, when studying coning, after shut-in, the cone will fall in a simulator
without hysteresis; whereas in reality, the cone will not completely drop and imbibition
effects will greatly inhibit future production.
Black oil (or Beta) models consist of three phase flows: oil, gas, and water, although
additional gas or aqueous phases may be included to allow differing properties. These
models employ standard PVT properties of formation volume factors and solution gas
and are the most common type of simulator.
Compositional simulators are similar to black oil models as far as dimensions and
solution techniques are concerned; here, the similarity ceases, for while volume factors

287
and solution gas effects are employed in a black oil model, a compositional model
employs Equations of State (EOS) with fugacity constraints,
and uses equilibrium values, densities and several varying components (including non-
hydrocarbons). Considerable time is required in the phase package (i.e., matching lab
data with simulator requirements) before the actual model can be run. It is reasonable to
state that this type of model requires additional expertise to be useful.
Finally, treatment of the model equations yields either an IMPES (implicit pressure,
explicit saturation) formulation, a fully implicit formulation, or some combination
thereof. Very simply, an IMPES model is current in pressure and solves for saturations
after pressures are known while a fully implicit model solves for both pressures and
saturations simultaneously. Rapid saturation changes require fully implicit models. The
semi-implicit treatment is a combination which attempts to estimate what saturations will
exist at the end of the time step.
1.2. Data Requirements
Variables required for assignment to each cell (location dependent):
Length
Width
Thickness
Porosity
Absolute permeabilities (directional)
Elevation
Pressure(s)
Saturations
Variables required as a function of pressure:
Solution gasoil ratio
Formation volume factors
Viscosities
Densities
Compressibility
Variables required as a function of saturation:
Relative permeability
Capillary pressure
Well data:

288
Production (or injection) rate
Location in grid system
Production limitations
Lengths are normally obtained by superimposing a grid system on a field map and
measuring the appropriate distances. These increments are usually denoted using the
variable Ax with the subscript i referring to the cell location by column (running from left
to right). The standard practice of overlaying a grid on a map is used for one-
dimensional (both horizontal and vertical), areal and three-dimensional models. For
dipping reservoirs, the aerial distances will be shorter than the actual distances between
the wells. Usually, this discrepancy is not apparent due to the available accuracy of
several of the reservoir descriptive parameters, particularly for dip angles of less than
10; however, the variation may be corrected using pore volume and transmissibility
modifiers or as an input option in some simulators. The actual length is r = x/cosO.
Widths are measured in the same manner as lengths and the same discussion applies.
Note that the widths in a cross sectional model need not be constant. Widths are
denoted as Ay with a subscript j and are sequenced by rows from rear to front (top to
bottom in an areal model).
Thickness values are obtained from seismic data, net isopach maps (for areal and 3-D
simulations), well records, core analysis and logs (for cross-sectional models).
Thicknesses in an areal model may vary with each cell and are denoted as Az. For
layered models the subscript k is employed to denote the layers; they are sequenced
from top to bottom. For areal considerations (including 3-D), thickness values may be
obtained by superimposing a grid on a net pay isopach. Obviously, thickness values may
also be obtained by subtracting the bottom of the formation from the top of formation
when these maps are available; at this point, gross pay is known and must then be
reduced to net pay. Note that unless a net-to-gross input option is employed, thickness
must be a net pay. When constructing a cross-sectional model using well records and
logs, the actual distance between cell centers (centroids) is employed; however, the
pore volumes calculated in this instance are in error when (vertical) net pay is used since
they are calculated based on (length width net pay porosity).

289
Reservoir Simulation & History Matching Workflow
Enabling our engineers to give real insight into past and future reservoir
performance

290
SIMULATION STUDIES
Reservoir simulation process has been divided into three stages :

1. Initiation
2. History Matching
3. Predictions.

Each stage needs to be satisfied with positive results before jumping over to next stage.
However intermediate stage of history matching is most tedious part of simulation
studies.

INITIATION :
1. Make a data checking run and proceed further with the following steps :

A. Check initial fluid volumes in place and compare with volumetric
B. Calculations.
C. Check all reservoir property maps and input data. Dont rely on data checking
routines supplied with the model to uncover all errors.

1. Make an equilibrium run with flow rates on all wells set. To zero. This should
simulate the history plus prediction period. Large time steps ( one year or more )can
be used. Check that the model is equilibrated properly. A reservoir is usually in a
static state before the first wells come on stream. A zero rate simulation is made to
assure the initial and final states are he same..

HISTORY MATCH AND PREDICTION:
The reservoir engineering continues to play an important role in the later stages of the
field developments. In fact the available data on the performance of the field serves as
feed back to the model and it helps in making the simulation more in accordance with
the real system. The knowledge about the performance of the field helps one to narrow
down the uncertainty and limits on various parameters so as to update our information
about the reservoir. This leads to more meaningful conclusions about the reservoir
performance in future. At this stage models can help us to make the decisions like :

291

1. Desirability and locations of new wells.
2. Optimum production rates of the existing wells for maximizing recovery.
3. The extent of natural energy mechanisms for driving the fluid and necessity of
supplementing it by various ways and so on.

The model in these later stages is constrained by the known performance . The model
must reproduce the behaviour over the known period. This is achieved by varying the
reservoir parameters within the admissible range. This leads to the perfection of
information regarding the reservoir .This predictions based on the history matching are
more reliable for longer history match. History matching is the process of matching the
model results to the actual field performance for the past.

The steps involved in conducting a reservoir simulation study whether it is quantitative or
qualitative are depicted schematically below :

DATA PREPARATION --PREDITION RUNS --- ANALYSIS RESULTS
I I I
I I I
SENSITIVITY RUNS I
I I
I I
I I
I--------------HISTORY MATCH

The variables in a reservoir model may be classified as state variables input parameters
control variables and output ,performance or response variables. The input parameters
are the rock properties and empirical data such as relative permeability ,capillary
pressure and PVT data. The state variables are those that determine the state of the
system at any time in a numerical simulator these are the pressure saturation
distributions .The control variables are the injection or production rates or a sand face
pressure. The response variables are production rates or average reservoir pressures,
WOR,GOR , etc.

292
UNCERTAINTY OF THE RESERVOIR DATA:
The input parameters have some uncertainty in their values. Some reservoir data are
known with accuracy are referred to as determinates and will not be adjusted during a
history match. For example, it is usually valid to assume that the fluid properties below
the bubble point ( Bo, Bg, Rs, g, o) are determinates for a reservoir that is single
connected unit and if careful measurements were made. The bubble point pressure Pb,
is assumed to be a determinate only if reliable sampling procedures were used.

The reservoir formation properties ( e.g. ,K ,Kr, Pc ,Cr ) are measured where the well
penetrates the reservoir. Even then the measurements are subject to significant errors.
The values of the formation properties within the reservoir between wells are inferred
from geological and petrophysical correlations. Thus, the distribution of formation
properties usually has a large degree of uncertainty. The limits of uncertainty depend on
the accuracy of measurements and the geological and the petrophysical correlations.
Generally, however, these are regarded as indeterminate. The hydrocarbon pore volume
and the aquifer size (if any ) are often regarded as indeterminate.
The reservoir performance variables themselves may be subject to significant error. The
oil production rates are usually measured accurately but the water and gas may have
been estimated from occasional water cut and GOR measurements. The well rates
usually have large fluctuations with time .These short time fluctuations must be
smoothed as averaged rates specified over finite interval of time.

PREDICTIONS
After history matching it is assumed that the reservoir is well modeled. Predictions runs
can be done to study the behaviour of the reservoir in the future, for example under
natural depletion .Other projects can be added to the simulation study e.g. water or gas
injection .Comparisons of the runs must lead to the best scheme of field development.
Prediction runs under natural depletion lead to :
o know in which well and layer ,it will be necessary to perform a work over .
o know the final recovery with existing wells at different production rates.
o Know the final recovery by drilling wells in the unswept areas.

Before, starting simulation runs this procedure should be followed :

293
1) Material balance with field data to get an idea of the amount of fluid in place.
2) Review of all field data i.e. production, decline, water-oil and gas-oil ratios.

The review of production data often gives some ideas for future modifications of the
initial model, for instance it will be important or not to change permeabilities in an area,
to lower some blocks in a zone badly defined to modified some well relative permeability
curve, etc.

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Fundamentals of Reservoir Engineering & Characterization 1

, and the expansion effect of gas coming out of

---- eqn. (A)

for all r and t

032 . 0 = in field units

= 23 . 3 log ) log( 151 . 1

ft :for a gas well

for all r and t

= . One of the plot for

= is calculated based on the

for Draw down

versus pressure is given as follows;

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