PETROLEUM RESERVOIR

SIMULATION
Lecture
Lecture 2 - Drive mechanisms and reserves

Dr RICHARD
WHEATON

29/09/2014

ENG692

Hydrocarbons in Place

Hydrocarbons in place

Hydrocarbon pore volume

Hydrocarbon pore volume is determined from the geological and

petrophysical input. Where we have limited data in early field life we
will take single values for reservoir area and average values for net
thickness, porosity and water saturation so that:

V= 7758 A hv (1 Sw)

Where
V = HPV - RB
A = area (average) -acres
hv = net thickness = h . NTG - ft
= porosity
Sw= water saturation
NTG = net to gross
7758 is the conversion factor bbl/acre-ft
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Oil in Place

Using the above equation for hydrocarbon pore volume,

Stock Tank Oil in place is given in field units by:
N = 7758 A hv (1 Sw)/Boi
Where
N = Stock Tank Oil Initially In Place (STOIIP) -stb (stock tank
barrels)
A= area in acres
hv = net thickness = h . NTG in feet
Boi the initial oil formation volume factor in Rb/stb
7758 is the conversion factor bbl/acre-ft
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Gas in place

For gas in place:

G = 7758 A hv (1 Sw)/Bgi
Where
G = Gas in Place (GIP) in scf
A =area in acres
hv = net thickness = h . NTG in feet
Bgi = the gas formation volume factor in Rb/Scf
7758 is the conversion factor bbl/acre-ft

Now standard conditions are pb = 14.7 psi and Zb = 1, T is in

(=60oF+460)
so that

Rankin

Bgi = 0.0283 T Z/p (res bbl/scf)

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Gas deviation factor

Reserves

Reserves are simply the oil or gas in place times the

recovery factor (RF) so that
for an oil reservoir:
R = 7758 A hv (1 Sw)/Boi .RF stb

And for a gas reservoir

R = 7758 A hv (1 Sw)/Bgi . RF scf

Gas Fields

Drive mechanisms & Recovery Factors

for various field types

Dry and Wet Gas reservoirs

Gas is highly compressible so that the drive mechanism

here is gas expansion. The total recoverable reserves will
depend on the initial pressure, reservoir properties, the final
abandonment pressure and the PVT properties. Gas
reservoirs have high recovery factors typically between
65 -95%

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Dry gas, wet gas and gas condensates

In field units
Dry gas

Wet gas
Ql = Qg /lgr

Gas condensate
Qc = Qg/cgr (cgr = condensate/gas ratio = 1/ gas
condensate GOR)

(lgr = liquid/gas ratio)

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Gas field developments

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Gas well decline examples dry gas

Factors in decline: permeability, formation thickness, viscosity,

initial pressure,
volume in place, bottom hole pressure
We are making considerable simplifications here and ignoring
Spreadsheet : gas decline-sv
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water ingress

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Gas well decline - Wet gas

quid production rate will follow gas rate since there is no liquid dropout in the res
ctors: as for dry gas + GOR input
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Gas well decline gas condensate

This is more difficult to model without a full numerical
simulation, however an approximation is possible if we have a
dew point and a GOR above the dew point and assume some
linear gradient in GOR with decreasing reservoir pressure

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Gas condensate field development

Straight depletion of gas condensate fields would not normally be

considered a reasonable development option. Gas recycling would
be a normal development. Here we attempt to keep the reservoir
above the dew point pressure for as long as possible by reinjecting some or all of the dry gas following the separation
process in the surface facilities
Recovery factors are difficult to predict for gas condensate fields
but liquid recovery of > 40% can be achieved and final blowdown
may result in gas recovery of 70-80%.
Because liquids are the more valuable product this liquid recovery
is normally the most important figure.

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Problems with gas fields water advance

An important factor in determining the recovery factor in

gas fields is the possible 'watering out' of wells. This will
depend on the presence of layered high permeability layers
that result in what are called 'stringers' of water advancing
ahead of the main aquifer advance as pressure decreases

A similar problem is water 'coning' where local pressure

gradient around a producing well sucks up water from the
aquifer. For this reason wells are normally completed well
above the gas water contact.

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Oil Fields

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Oil fields drive mechanisms and reserves

Material balance enables us to predict oil field reserves as a

function of pressure.

However, production as a function of time is much more

difficult to model by analytical methods. Numerical
simulation is necessary even early on except for
waterflooding of under-saturated reservoirs where methods
discussed in a later lecture are valuable.
This is mainly because of factors such as aquifer pressure
support or gas cap pressure support for saturated
reservoirs which cannot easily be included in analytical
methods.

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Under-saturated Oil Fields

Liquid expansion drive

Expansion of original oil between initial pressure(pi) and p(bubble point)
will provide a drive for production. Since the compressibility of liquids is
small, recovery from oil expansion is normally very small (< 5%) and
only if
initial reservoir pressure is very much higher than bubble point pressure
will significant recovery due to this drive be possible.
Solution Gas drive
There are two components here
Expansion of original oil between pi and p
Expansion of liberated gas, normally the major effect
Recovery Factors from Solution Gas Drive may typically be around 25 35 %.

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Under-saturated Oil Fields

It is important what happens to the released gas.

Gas evolved around the well as pressure drops can:

1.Remain immobile close to well
2.Migrate into well and be produced
3.Travel upwards to form or add to and existing gas cap
Migration into the well will reduce recovery (losing some of the gas expansion
drive) and also disposal of unwanted gas can be a serious problem
We have a relationship of cumulative oil production to pressure, therefore to
relate oil rate to time we have to have a relationship of pressure to time

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Water-flooding
Waterflooding is a major development method for oil reservoirs. Water is
injected from some wells to maintain reservoir pressure as oil is
produced from others. The aim is to position injection and production
wells such that we 'sweep' the oil towards the producing wells.
Recovery factors can be as high as 60% but will depend on sweep
efficiency both, areal and 'locally' with respect to rock/fluid properties
ET = ER/F * EA
where ET is total sweep efficiency
EA = areal efficiency depends on the extent of the contact of the
advancing water front with the formation. It will depend on the level and
type of heterogeneity in the reservoir. For example high permeability
layers connected between injectors and producers will reduce E A as
water preferentially flows through these layers and has a poorer sweep
of the lower permeability areas.

ER/F = rock/fluid dependent sweep efficiency. This will depend on

wettabilities, relative permeabilities (particularly residual oil saturation)
and fluid viscosities. It assumes a locally homogeneous type behaviour.
Understanding of areal sweep efficiency only comes with detailed
appraisal, analysis of production data and detailed numerical modelling.
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Water-flooding

Various well layout patterns are used to maximise recovery,

some examples are shown below:

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Water-flooding

Water is normally injected at a rate that will maintain

reservoir pressure
We therefore have a constant oil rate plateau until water
breaks through to the production wells

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Saturated Oil Fields

These are oil reservoirs with a gas cap. Issues are basically
the same as for under-saturated oil fields but now we have an
additional drive mechanism in the expansion of the gas cap
potentially driving oil towards producing wells. There is
however the possibility of gas coning down to the wells.

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Summary of Recovery factors

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Plateau production

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Enhanced oil recovery

General
Recovery factors in oil reservoirs can be between 20 - 60% , the higher figure
normally depending on waterflooding (known as secondary recovery). Thus 40
- 80% of the oil in place can be left behind mainly due to high oil viscosities
(heavier oils), high residual oil saturation (a function of oil-water-solid
interfacial forces) and poor areal sweep efficiency. A number of enhanced
recovery methods, known as tertiary recovery methods, can help to overcome
these problems.
Gas injection
Injected gas can be produced gas, either processed or unprocessed or gases
such as CO2 or nitrogen or mixtures on produced gas and CO 2.
Gas injection or Water Alternating Gas (WAG) injection is the most widely used
EOR method. Like water injection, gas injection keeps reservoir pressure
higher, which will on its own increase deliverability. Sweep efficiency can be
improved particularly in high relief reservoirs where gravity drainage can be
significant (ie. with gas injected higher in the reservoir the gravity effect (oil
heavier than gas) can help drive oil to lower production wells. WAG can give
more control on sweep of oil towards producers. Swelling of the oil and
vaporisation of oil components can both help recovery
Gas injection is classified as either miscible or immiscible gas injection.
Miscible gas injection (where the gas mixes or partially mixes with the oil) can
reduve oil viscosity, reduce oil/gas interfacial tension and change wetting
properties such that residual oil saturation is reduced.
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Enhanced Oil recovery

Miscible Solvents - surfactants
Injection of surfactants can reduce oil/water interfacial tension and
thus reduce residual oil saturation and hence increase oil recovery.
Thermal Methods
There are two thermal enhance oil recovery methods, steam flooding
and fire flooding.
Steam flooding heats the oil, reducing its viscosity and vaporizing part
of the oil and thus decreasing the mobility ratio.
Fire flooding involves the injection of air with subsequent ignition and
combustion. As the fire burns the fire front moves towards the
production wells, heating the oil and reducing its viscosity.
Economics
All of the above methods add to the costs of producing the oil and oil
prices and the cost of injctants such as surfactants or CO2 will need to
be taken into account when looking at the feasibility of any EOR
project. Numerical simulators are available which cover all of the
above methods.
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