‫ قسم هندسة‬- ‫مستوى رابع‬

.‫النفط والغاز‬
Department of Oil & Gas Engineering
OGE 411: Reservoir Engineering III
Theoretical: 3 hours Practical: 2 hours Credit hours: 4 hours
Course Contents:
1- Introduction
2- Primary Recovery Mechanisms
3- Undersaturated oil Reservoirs
4- General Material Balance Equation
5- The MBE as an Equation of a Straight Line
6- Saturated Oil Reservoirs
7- Volatile-Oil Reservoirs
8- Predicting Oil Reservoir Performance
9- Decline Curve Analysis

Textbook: None
References:
1. B. C. Craft and M. F. Hawkins “ Applied Petroleum Reservoir Engineering”.
2. Tarek-Ahmed “Reservoir Engineering Handbook”.
3. Smith,; Applied reservoir engineering

Course Objectives:
The student should be able to:
1. Understand mechanics of oil and gas production (natural reservoir energies and
expulsion of fluids), and basic performance characteristics of various reservoir
types.
2. Derive components of material balance equation.
3. Perform MBE analysis of volumetric, gas cap drive, and water drive oil
reservoirs. Be able to propose recovery strategies to increase recovery factors.
4. Carry out an internal gas drive performance prediction as a function of pressure
and time.
5. Diagnose natural reservoir decline trends and perform a decline curve analysis.

What is the reservoir engineering?

Branch of petroleum engineering concerned with:
 Estimation of quantity of hydrocarbons in the reservoir (hydrocarbon-in-place).
 Determination of drive mechanisms.
 Estimation of recovery factor (reserves).
 Reservoir management to ensure maximum recovery.

What is a hydrocarbon reservoir rock?

 A petroleum reservoir is a rock capable of containing gas, oil or water.
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 The reservoir is the place (traps) where oil and/or gas are stored and accumulated.
The reservoir rock is porous and permeable, and the structure is bounded by
impermeable barriers which trap the hydrocarbons as shown in Figure 1.
 To be commercially productive it must have sufficient thickness, areal extent, and
pore space to contain an appreciable volume of hydrocarbons, and must yield the
contained fluids at a satisfactory rate when the reservoir is penetrated by a well.
 Sandstones and carbonates are the most common reservoir rocks.

Figure 1: A typical hydrocarbon reservoir

Primary Recovery Mechanisms

 The recovery of oil by any of the natural drive mechanisms is called primary
recovery. The term refers to the production of hydrocarbons from a reservoir without
the use of any process (such as fluid injection) to supplement the natural energy of the
reservoir.
 This discussion will be limited to reservoirs containing oil with an API gravity of 20
or greater. Bitumen, tar, and heavy oil-bearing reservoirs will not be considered.
 The overall performance of oil reservoirs is largely determined by the nature of the
energy, i.e., driving mechanism, available for moving the oil to the wellbore.
 There are basically six driving mechanisms that provide the natural energy necessary
for oil recovery:
• Rock and liquid expansion drive
• Depletion drive
• Gas cap drive
• Water drive
• Gravity drainage drive
• Combination drive
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Rock and Liquid Expansion

 At pressures above the bubble-point pressure, crude oil, connate water, and rock are
the only materials present.
 As the reservoir pressure declines, the rock and fluids expand due to their individual
compressibilities. The reservoir rock compressibility is the result of two factors:
• Expansion of the individual rock grains
• Formation compaction
 Both of the above two factors are the results of a decrease of fluid pressure within the
pore spaces, and both tend to reduce the pore volume through the reduction of the
porosity, then the crude oil and water will be forced out of the pore space to the
wellbore.
 Because liquids and rocks are only slightly compressible, the reservoir will
experience a rapid pressure decline.
 This driving mechanism is considered the least efficient driving force and usually
results in the recovery of only a small percentage of the total oil in place.

Solution gas drive Mechanism

 In a solution gas drive reservoir, there is no gas cap or water drive. However, at least
two-thirds of all reservoirs have water at the bottom. If the volume of water is not
large (say less than 10 times the volume of the oil), then this water is often a “water
leg” and not contribute much to the reservoir energy.
 There are many solution gas drive reservoirs with water legs. The average water
saturation within the hydrocarbon pore volume is normally close to the irreducible
value.
 The initial reservoir pressure will either be above or equal to bubblepoint pressure.
assuming for the moment that the initial pressure is above the bubblepoint.
 With production, the reservoir pressure declines rapidly to the bubble-point. During
this period, all gas in the reservoir remains in solution and the relative permeability to
oil remains high since reservoir flow is one phase oil flow.
 This operating regime down to the bubble-point is often referred to as fluid-expansion
drive, and oil production is a result of the oil, rock, and connate water expansion.
 As pressure falls below the bubble-point pressure, due to no extraneous fluids or gas
caps are available to replace the produced oil, gas bubbles are liberated within the
pore spaces. These bubbles expand and force the crude oil out of the pore space as
shown in Figure 1.
 After the reservoir pressure has been reduced below the bubble-point pressure, gas
evolves from solution throughout the reservoir. Once the gas saturation exceeds the
critical gas saturation, free gas begins to flow toward the wellbore.
 As gas comes out of solution and builds a free gas saturation, the oil saturation
decrease. This causes a decrease in the oil relative permeability.
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 Notice in Figure 2 that there is a slight decrease seen in the producing GOR just
below the bubblepoint for a short time. This decrease results because free gas coming
out of solution in the reservoir but cannot flow until the critical gas saturation is
reached.
 As shown in Figure 2, gas-oil ratio increases to maximum and then declines due to
decreasing solution gas. With larger gas saturations, higher GOR’S are experienced.
 The oil rate declines fairly down to the bubbpoint due to the decrease in pressure as
shown in Figure 2. Below bubblepoint, the oil rate decreases because a free gas
saturation is being formed which causes the pressure to decline more slowly.
 The absence of a water drive means there will be little or no water production with
the oil during the entire producing life of the reservoir.
 Well behavior requires pumping at early stage.
 Ultimate oil recovery (less than 5% to about 30%).
 Depletion-drive reservoirs are considered the best candidates for secondary recovery
applications.
 In this type of reservoir, the principal source of energy is a result of gas liberation
from the crude oil and the subsequent expansion of the solution gas as the reservoir
pressure is reduced.
 This driving form may also be referred to by the following various terms: Solution
gas drive, dissolved gas drive, internal gas drive, volumetric drive, or fluid
expansion drive. This is the principal drive mechanism for approximately one-third
of all oil reservoirs in the world.

Figure 1: Solution gas drive reservoir

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Figure 2: Typical Performance – Solution-Gas Drive

Gas-Cap Drive
 Reservoir pressure is initially Below the BBP. Natural gas cap overlays oil zone
as shown in Figure 3.
 Oil production causes expansion of oil in reservoir.
 Due to the ability of the gas cap to expand, the reservoir pressure falls slowly and
continuously. And Gas dissolved in oil liberates continuously as pressure falls.
 At critical gas saturation gas begins to flow and/or gas-oil contact may reach the
well. As the expanding gas cap reaches the producing intervals of wells, the gas-
oil ratio from the affected wells will increase to high values as shown in Figure 4.
 Because of effects of gas-cap expansion on maintaining reservoir pressure, gas-
cap-drive reservoirs tend to flow longer than depletion-drive reservoirs.
 Absent or negligible water production.
 The natural energy available to produce the crude oil comes from the following
two sources: a) Expansion of the gas-cap b) Expansion of the solution gas as it is
liberated.
 This reduction in pressure can leave up to 50% of the reservoir fluids in the
formation before enhanced recovery methods are employed.
 Medium Ultimate oil Recovery (from 20% to 40%).
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Figure 3: Gas-cap-drive reservoir.

Figure 4: Typical Performance – Gas-Cap Drive

Water Drive
 Many reservoirs are bounded on a portion or all of their peripheries by water
bearing rocks called aquifers as shown in Figure 5.
 Oil production causes expansion of oil in reservoir.
 Expansion of this water to replace flowing oil will produce a less powerful, but
longer enduring drive than a gas drive.
 The water drive is the result of water moving into the pore spaces originally
occupied by oil, replacing the oil and displacing it to the producing wells as
shown in Figure 6.
 Reservoir pressure stabilizes at a high level and little change in the producing gas-
oil ratio during the life of the reservoir as shown in Figure 7. This is especially
true if the reservoir does not have an initial free gas cap.
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 Water production starts early and increases to appreciable amounts.

 Water drives can produce up to 70% of the reservoir fluids before enhanced
recovery methods need to be used.
 High Ultimate oil Recovery (35% to 75%).

Figure 5: Aquifer geometries.

Figure 6: Reservoir having artesian water drive.

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Figure 7: Typical Performance – Water Drive

Gravity Drainage Drive

The mechanism of gravity drainage occurs in petroleum reservoirs as a result of
differences in densities of the reservoir fluids as shown in the Figure 8.

Figure 8: Initial fluids distribution in an oil reservoir

Combination-Drive
 Some reservoirs have a combination of a gas drive acting downwards and a water
drive acting upwards on the reservoir to displace the oil toward the producing wells as
shown in Figure 9.
 Reservoir pressure is cushioned by both gas expansion and water influx.
 Oil, gas, and water rates depend on which drive is dominant.
 Good Ultimate Recovery can be attained.
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 To maintain production rates and percentage recovery, some enhancement to the

natural drives is incorporated by adding either water or gas to the reservoir. The
source of water or gas may be from another well, or that previously recovered from
the same well and pumped back down to replenish the reservoir.

Gas cap

Oil

Water

Figure 9: Combination-drive reservoir

Under-Saturated Oil Reservoirs

 An undrsaturated-oil reservoir is on that has no initial gas cap because the oil is not
fully saturated with all the gas that it could contain at the initial temperature and
pressure.
 Undersaturated oils can contain significant amounts of dissolved gas or be quite dead,
containing very little dissolved gas. Dead oils have very low primary recovery factors
unless a strong natural water drive exists or gravity drainage becomes important in a
highly permeable reservoir.
 When undersaturated-oil reservoirs are produced under primary depletion with no
water drive, the pressure declines very rapidly until bubble point pressure is reached.
Then, as gas starts coming out of solution and forming a secondary gas phase in the
reservoir, the pressure declines more slowly. This occurs because the compressibility
of the single phase above the bubble point is much lower than two-phase
compressibility below the bubble point.
 Above the bubble-point, compressibility of a typical black oil is 5 10 6 to
15 10 6 psi 1 ; below the bubble point, the total compressibility typically is more
than 100 10 6 psi 1 .
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 All undersaturated-oil reservoirs are candidates for water flooding unless they have a
strong natural water drive. Water flooding is by far the most common means of
enhancing the recovery from undersaturated-oil reservoirs. It is more effective, if the
waterflood is started while the pressure is still above the bubblepoint.
 An undersaturared-oil reservoir can be described as volatile if the gas that comes out
of solution contains significant quantities of volatile liquids. Normally, such oils
contain more than 500 scf/STB of dissolved gas, Rsi, and the liquid content of the gas
phase, Rvi, would be more than 20 STB/MMscf.

Estimating Initial Oil in Place for Under-Saturated Oil Reservoirs

One of the first tasks of the reservoir engineer is to determine the original oil and
original gas in place under the prevailing reservoir mechanisms.
The following methods are used to estimate initial oil in place:
 Volumetric method
 Material Balance Equation

Volumetric Method
 The volumetric method for estimating oil in place is based on log and core analysis
data to determine the bulk volume, the porosity (), and the fluid saturations, and on
fluid analysis to determine the oil volume factor (Bo).
 In many oil reservoirs, particularly during the development period, the bulk volume is
not known. In this case it is better to place the reservoir calculations on a unit basis,
usually one acre-foot of bulk reservoir rock, and the volumetric calculations as
follows:
1. Under initial conditions one acre-foot of bulk reservoir rock contains

Bulk volume = A h (acre-feet)

Pore volume= A h (acre-feet)
Reservoir oil volume = A h (1 - Swi) (acre-feet)
=7758 A h (1 - Swi) ([Link])
= 7758(1-Swi) (bbl/ac-ft)
N (IOIP) in STB = 7758(1-Swi)/ Boi (STB/ac-ft)
Where,
7758 barrels is the equivalent of one acre-foot.
A= reservoir area (acres).
h = reservoir thickness (ft).
= rock porosity (fraction).
Swi = initial water saturation (fraction).
Boi = Oil formation volume factor at Pi, bbl/STB.
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Example:
Given:  = 0.20, Swi = 0.20, Boi = 1.24 bbl/STB
Calculate stock tank oil in place?
Solution:
7758  (1-Swi ) 7758  0.20  (1-0.20)
Stock tank oil in place =  1001 STB / ac  ft
Boi 1.24

2. With continued production, reservoir pressure drops but still above BBP:
 Oil and water saturations remain constant.
 Oil expands to fill void left by produced oil (Np) as shown in Figure 1.
 Oil FVF at current P (P > BBP) is Bo.

Oil volume = A h (1 - Swi) (acre-feet)

= 7758 A h (1 - Swi) (res. bbls)
= 7758(1 - Swi) (bbl/ac-ft)
= 7758  (1 - Swi) / Bo (STB/ac-ft)
Recovery factor = Production / IOIP = Np / N

Oil

Figure 1: Oil expands to fill void left by produced oil

3. If reservoir pressure drops below BBP, gas evolves in reservoir and there is no
water influx to replace the produced oil (We = 0, Wp = 0) as shown in Figure 2:
 Water saturation remains constant.
 Both oil and gas expand to fill void left by produced oil.
 Oil and gas FVF (Bo and Bg) and Sg at abandonment pressure = P.
 12

Evolved solution
gas

Oil Oil

Figure 2: Gas evolves in reservoir and there is no water influx

Then at Abandonment conditions one acre-foot of bulk reservoir rock contains:

Reservoir oil volume = 7758 A h 1 - Swi - Sg) ([Link])
= 7758(1 - Swi - Sg) (bbl/ac-ft)
Stock tank oil (oil remaining in the reservoir) = 7758(1 - Swi - Sg)/ Bo (STB/ac-ft)
Then the recovery in stock tank barrels per acre-foot is
 (1  S wi ) (1  S wi  S g ) 
Recovery of oil (Recovery)= 7758    (STB/ac-ft)
 oi o 
(1-Swi  S g ) oi
Fractional recovery (Recovery factor) =1- 
(1  S wi ) o
Bo: Oil formation volume factor, at P, bbl/STB
Sg : Gas saturation, (fraction)

Example:
Given the following data:
Pi = 2780 psi Boi = 1.29 bbl/STB = 21% Swi = 20%
P = 2430 psi Bo = 1.214 bbl/STB Sg = 13%
Estimate:
• IOIP in STB /acre-ft.
• The recovery factor assuming the reservoir is under volumetric control.

Solution:
IOIP = 7758  (1 – Swi)/ Boi =7758  0.21  (1 - 0.2) / 1.29 = 1010.3 STB /acre-ft
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Rem. oil = 7758  (1 – Swi – Sg )/ Bo = 7758  0.21  (1- 0.2 - 0.13 )/ 1.214
= 899.1 STB /acre-ft
Rec. factor = 1010.3 – 899.1 / 1010.3 = 11%.

4. In the case of reservoirs under hydraulic control where is no appreciable decline

in reservoir pressure as shown in Figure 3. The oil remaining at abandonment in
those portions of reservoir which have invaded by water is

Reservoir oil volume = 7758 Sor (bbl/ac-ft)

Stock tank oil (oil remaining in the reservoir) = 7758 Sor / Boi (STB/ac-ft)

Where Sor is the residual oil saturation remaining after water displacement. Since it
was assumed that the reservoir pressure was maintained at its initial value by the water
influx, no free gas saturation develops in the oil zone and the oil volume factor at
abandonment remains Boi. The recovery by active water drive then is
7758 (1-Swi  S or )
Recovery of oil = STB/ac-ft
oi
(1-Swi  S or )
Recovery factor =
(1  S wi )

Oil

Water

Figure 3: Reservoir under hydraulic control

The Material Balance Equation

Material balance equation is a volumetric balance that assumes the reservoir bulk
volume remains constant with production. The MBE, when properly applied, can be used
to:
 Estimate initial hydrocarbon volumes in place.
 Predict future reservoir performance.
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 Predict ultimate hydrocarbon recovery under various types of primary driving

mechanisms.
 Calculating water influx.

The concept of the material balance equation was presented by Schilthuis in 1941.
In its simplest form, the equation can be written on volumetric basis as:
Initial volume volume remaining volume removed

a) Above bubble point, for depletion drive reservoir the following assumptions hold:

1- There is no initial gas cap (i.e. G = 0).

2- The water production is small or negligible and it will be considered as zero (i.e.
We = 0 and Wp = 0).
3- For under-saturated reservoirs, above the bubble point pressure Rsi = Rs = Rp since
all produced gas at the surface is dissolved in the oil in the reservoir as shown in
Figure 4.

Production, Np (STB)

Oil Volume Oil Volume

NBoi Pi P (N – Np)Bo

Figure 4: Diagram showing that the oil saturation remains constant in a volumetric
reservoir producing by liquid expansion above bubble point

Initial oil volume = NBoi ,bbl

Final oil volume = (N – Np)Bo, bbl
The reservoir volume remains constant then,
Initial volume = Final volume
NBoi = (N – Np) Bo
Bo N p
N 
B o  B oi
Np B o  B oi
Fractional recovery (r) = 
N Bo
Where,
N: Original oil in place in reservoir, STB, Np: Cumulative oil produced, STB
Rsi: Solution gas-oil ratio, at Pi, SCF/STB, Rs: Solution gas-oil ratio, at P, SCF/STB
 15

Rp: net cumulative produce gas-oil ratio or produce gas-oil ratio, SCF/STB

Example:
As shown in Figure 5, the reservoir fluid has an oil volume factor of 1.572 bbl/STB at the
initial pressure 4400 psia and 1.600 bbl/STB at the bubble point pressure of 3550 psia.
By volumetric depletion, calculate:
i. Fractional recovery at 3550 psia
ii. Initial oil in place, if the reservoir produced 680,000 STB when the pressure
dropped to 3550 psia
Solution:
B  B oi 1.600 1.572
i. Fractional recovery (r)  o   0.0175 or 1.75%
Bo 1.600
Bo N p 1.600  680, 000
ii. N    38.8MM STB
B o  B oi 1.600 1.572

Figure 5: PVT data for the reservoir at 190oF

b) When the pressure in an undersaturated reservoir drops below the bubble point
pressure (saturation pressure), a free gas will be formed in the reservoir resulting
in a gas cap as shown in Figure 6.
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Production
Np (STB) and NpRp
(SCF) (Gp)

N STB Free gas

+NRsi SCF
(N – Np) STB + (N – Np) Rs SCF
Pi P

Figure 6: Diagram showing the formation of a free gas phase in a volumetric reservoir
below the bubble point

The reservoir volume remains constant then,

Initial volume = Final volume
Voi = Vo + Vg
NBoi = (N – Np) Bo + Gf Bg (1)
Gp = NpRp
Where,
Gp: Cumulative produced gas, SCF
Gf : Free gas volume, SCF
Bg: Gas formation volume factor, bbl/SCF
Free gas = initial gas – solution gas – produced gas
Gf = N Rsi – (N – Np) Rs – Np Rp
Substituting this value in Eq. (1)
NBoi = (N – Np)Bo + [N Rsi – (N – Np) Rs – Np Rp ] Bg
N p  B o  B g (R p  R s ) 
N 
B o  B oi  B g (R si  R s )
Np B o  B oi  B g (R si  R s )
Fractional recovery (r) = 
N B o  B g (R p  R s )
Note: The net cumulative produce gas-oil ratio (Rp) is the quotient of all the gas produced
from the reservoir (Gp) and all the oil produced Np. In some reservoirs some of the
produced gas is returned to the same reservoir, so that the net produced gas is only that
which is not returned to the reservoir. Where all of the produced gas is returned to the
reservoir, Rp is zero.

Example:
Given: PVT data for reservoir,
From Figure 5, Boi at 4400 psia = 1.572 bbl/STB, Rsi at 4400 psia = 1100 SCF/STB,
Rs at 2800 psia = 900 SCF/STB, Bo at 2800 psia = 1.52 bbl/STB
Cumulative GOR at 2800 psia = 3300 SCF/STB
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Reservoir temperature = 190oF = 650 oR

Standard conditions = 14.7 psia and 60 oF
Calculate:
i. Fractional recovery at 2800 psia
ii. Fractional recovery at 2800 psia if two thirds of the produced gas had been
returned to the reservoir.
iii. Initial oil in place if 1.486MM STB had been produced down to 2800 psia

Solution:
zT 0.87  650
Bg at 2800 psia = 0.00504  0.00504  0.00102 bbl / SCF
p 2800
Then fractional recovery at 2800 psia =
N p B o  B oi  B g (R si  R s ) 1.520  1.572  0.00102(1100  900)
   0.0383 or 3.83%
N B o  B g (R p  R s ) 1.520  0.00102(3300  900)
If two thirds of the produced gas had been returned to the reservoir, at the same pressure,
2800 psia,
Rp =3300  1/3 = 1100 SCF/STB
1.520  1.572  0.00102(1100  900)
Fractional recovery (r)   0.0882 or 8.82%
1.520  0.00102(1100  900)
N p  B o  B g (R p  R s )  1.486 106 1.520  0.00102(3300  900)
N    38.8MM STB
B o  B oi  B g (R si  R s ) 1.520  1.572  0.00102(1100  900)

Example:
Given: PVT data for reservoir,
Initial bottom-hole pressure = 2500 psia
Bottom-hole temperature = 150 oF
Solubility of gas in crude oil = 0.26 SCF/STB/psi
Saturation pressure in reservoir = 2200 psia
Boi at 2500 psia = 1.29 bbl/STB, Bo at 1600 psia = 1.216 bbl/STB
Compressibility factor of the gas at 1600 psia = 0.82
Oil produced when pressure is 1600 psia = 26.0MM STB
Cumulative GOR at 1600 psia = 954 SCF/STB
No appreciable amount of water was produced and standard conditions are 14.7 psia and
60 oF.
Calculate:
i. Initial SCF of free gas in the reservoir at 2500 psia. (Ans: zero, Above BPP)
ii. Initial oil in place if 26.0MM STB had been produced down to 1600 psia.
iii. Fractional recovery at 1600 psia.

Solution:
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zT 0.82  610
Bg at 1600 psia = 0.00504  0.00504  0.00157 bbl / SCF
p 1600
R si  0.26  2200  572 SCF/STB , R s  0.26 1600  416 SCF/STB
N p  B o  B g (R p  R s )  26 106 1.216  0.00157 (954  416)
N    313MM STB
B o  B oi  B g (R si  R s ) 1.216  1.29  0.00157 (572  416)
Np 26 106
Fractional recovery (r)    8.31%
N 313 106

Generalized Material Balance Equation

 The material balance equation (MBE) has long been recognized as one of the basic
tools of reservoir engineers for interpreting and predicting reservoir performance.
 The following assumptions are made in deriving a material balance equation:
1- The reservoir may have an initial vapor phase and an initial liquid phase.
2- The gas is allowed to dissolve in the liquid phase.
3- The oil can be volatile in the vapor phase.
4- Water is allowed to invade the reservoir from the aquifer during production.
5- The water and rock are compressible.

In making material balance calculations the following production, reservoir, and

laboratory data are involved:
1. The initial reservoir pressure and the average reservoir pressure at successive
intervals after the start of production.
2. The stock tank barrels of oil produced, measured at 1 atm and 60oF, at any time or
during any production interval.
3. The total standard cubic feet of gas produced. When gas is injected into the reservoir,
this will be the difference between the total gas produced and that returned to the
reservoir.
4. The ratio of the initial gas cap volume to the initial oil volume, symbol m. The value
of m is determined from log and core data and from well completion data.
5. The gas and oil volume factors and solutions gas-oil ratios. These are obtained as
functions of pressure by laboratory measurements on bottom-hole samples by
differential and flash liberation methods.
6. The quantity of water that has been produced.
7. The quantity of water that has been encroached into the reservoir from the aquifer.

The following terms are used in the development of the general material balance
equation:
N: Initial (original) oil in place, STB
 19

Boi : Initial oil formation volume factor, bbl/STB

Np: Cumulative oil produced, STB
Bo : oil formation volume factor, bbl/STB
G: Initial reservoir gas
Bgi: Initial Gas formation volume factor, bbl/SCF
Gf : Amount of free gas in the reservoir, SCF
Gp: Cumulative gas produced, SCF
Rsi: initial solution gas-oil ratio, SCF/STB
Rp: cumulative produced gas-oil ratio, SCF/STB
Rs: Solution gas-oil ratio, SCF/STB
Bg: Gas formation volume factor, bbl/SCF
m: Ratio of initial volume of free gas to initial oil volume, bbl/bbl
W: initial reservoir water, bbl
Wp: Cumulative water produced, STB
Bw: water formation volume factor, bbl/ STB
We: water influx into reservoir, bbl
cw: water isothermal compressibility, psi-1
p : Change in reservoir pressure (pi- p), psia
Swi: initial water saturation
cf: formation isothermal compressibility, psi-1
P.V: total pore volume, bbl
Ginj : cumulative gas injected, SCF
Bginj : injected gas formation volume factor, bbl/SCF
Winj : cumulative water injected, STB
Bwi: injected water formation volume factor, bbl/ STB
HCPV = hydrocarbon pore volume

Production
Np and NpRp and Wp

GBgi Gas cap

G f Bg Free gas
Gas Oil contact Oil
NBoi + NRsi (N – Np)Bo + (N – Np) Rs Gas Oil contact
Pi P
Oil
Oil water contact W Water
Oil water contact
W Water We
Evolved solution gas
 20

Derivation of general material balance equation, Case # 1:

For simplicity, the derivation is divided into the changes in the oil, gas, water
volumes, and rock volumes that occur between the start of production and any time t.

Change in the oil volume:

Initial reservoir oil volume at Pi = NBoi
Oil volume at time t and pressure P = N  N p Bo
Change in oil volume = decrease in oil volume = initial oil volume – final oil volume
= NBoi  N  N p Bo  N Boi  Bo   N p Bo
Change in free gas volume:
GB gi
Ratio of initial volume of free gas to initial oil volume = m 
NB oi
Initial free gas volume = GBgi = NmB oi
Reservoir free gas at pressure P and time t = G f Bg
Change in free gas volume = decrease in free gas volume = initial gas volume – final gas
volume = GB gi  G f B g  NmB oi  G f B g (1)
The determine SCF free gas volume (Gf) from:
SCF free gas = SCF initial gas free and dissolved – SCF gas produced– SCF gas
remaining in solution
G f  G  NR si   N p R p    N  N p  R s 
 NmB oi 
Gf    NR si    N p R p    N  N p  R s 
 B gi 
Substituting G f in equation 1:

Change in free gas volume = GB gi  G  NR si  N p R p   N  N p  R s  B g

 NmB oi 
= NmB oi    NR si  N p R p   N  N p  R s  B g
 B gi 
Change in the water volume:
Initial reservoir water volume = W
Cumulative water produced at t = Wp
Reservoir volume of cumulative produced water = Bw Wp
Volume of water encroached at t = We
Change in water volume = increase in water Vol. = initial water Vol. – final water Vol.
Change in water volume = W  (W  W e  W p Bw Wcw  p )  W e  W p Bw Wcw  p
 21

Change in rock volume:

Change in pore volume = c f V p P
Change in rock volume is negative of change in pore volume.
Change in rock volume = - c f V p P

Combining the changes in water and rock volumes in to a single, yields the following:
Change in water & rock volume = We W p Bw  Wcw P  c f V p P

The total volume of the hydrocarbon system is then given by:

Initial oil volume + initial gas cap volume = Vp (1 - Swi)
NBoi (1  m )
NBoi  mNBoi V p (1  Swi ) V p 
1  Swi
NBoi (1  m )
Recognizing that W V p S wi and that V p  and substituting, the
1  Swi
following is obtained:
 S c  cf 
Change in water and rock volume  We W p Bw  NB oi (1  m )  wi w   p
 1 S
 wi 
Equating the changes in the oil and gas volumes to the negative of the changes in the
water and rock volumes and expanding all terms
 NmB oi 
N  B oi  B o   N p B o  NmB oi    NR si  N p R p   N  N p  R s  B g
 B gi 
 S c  cf 
 We W p Bw  NB oi (1  m )  wi w   p
 1 S
 wi 

N p  B o  (R p  R s ) B g   W e  W p Bw 
N 
B  C S  C f 
B o  B oi  m B oi  g  1  (R si  R s ) B g  B oi 1  m   w w  P
B  
 gi   1 S w 

Derivation of general material balance equation, Case # 2:

Initial volume = Final volume
Original hydrocarbon volume = remaining hydrocarbon volume + volume of net water
influx + reduction of hydrocarbon pore volume (HCPV) due to rock and connate water
expansion.
 22

GB gi
Ratio of initial volume of gas cap to initial oil volume = m 
NB oi
m is determined from log, core data, and from well completion data.
Original hydrocarbon volume at pressure Pi = Original oil volume + Original gas volume
Original oil volume at pressure Pi = NBoi res. bbl
Original gas cap volume at pressure Pi = GBgi = mNB oi res. bbl
Original hydrocarbon volume at pressure Pi = 1  m  NB oi res. bbl (2)
Remaining hydrocarbon volume at time t and pressure P = expanded original gas cap
volume + remaining oil volume + volume of the evolved solution gas
B 
Expanded original gas cap volume = GB g = mNB oi  g  res. bbl
B 
 gi 
Remaining oil volume at time t and pressure P = N  N p Bo res. bbl
Evolved solution gas = volume of gas initially in solution – volume of gas produced -
volume of gas remaining in solution
Evolved solution gas = NR si  N p R p  (N  N p )R s  B g res. bbl
= N (R si  R s )B g  N p (R p  R s )B g
Then the remaining hydrocarbon volume at P =
 Bg 
mNB oi   (N  N p )B o  N (R si  R s )B g  N p (R p  R s )B g
 B 
res. bbl (3)
 gi 
Net water influx = increase in water volume = final water volume – initial water volume
= (W  W e  W p Bw )  W  W e  W p Bw res. bbl
Reduction in (HCPV) due to rock and connate water expansion =
C S  C f 
1  m  NB oi   w wi  P res. bbl
 1  S wi 
Then, the general MB Eq. is:
 Bg 
1  m  NBoi = (N  N p )B o  mNB oi 
B   N (R si  R s )B g  N p (R p  R s )B g +
 gi 
C S  C f 
W e  W p Bw + 1  m  NB oi   w w  P
 1  Sw 
N p  B o  (R p  R s ) B g   W e  W p Bw 
N  (4)
B  C S  C f 
B o  B oi  m B oi  g  1  (R si  R s ) B g  B oi 1  m   w w  P
B 
 gi   1  Sw 
 23

Derivation of general material balance equation, Case # 3:

The MBE can be written in a generalized form as follows:
Pore volume occupied by the oil initially in place at pi
+
Pore volume occupied by the gas in the gas cap at pi
=
Pore volume occupied by the remaining oil at p
+
Pore volume occupied by the gas in the gas cap at p
+
Pore volume occupied by the evolved solution gas at p
+
Pore volume occupied by the net water influx at p
+
Change in pore volume due to connate water expansion and pore volume reduction due to
rock expansion
+
Pore volume occupied by the injected gas at p
+
Pore volume occupied by the injected water at p (5)

Pore volume occupied by the oil initially in place:

Volume occupied by initial oil in place N Boi (6)

Pore volume occupied by the gas in the gas cap:

Volume of gas cap m N Boi (7)

Pore volume occupied by the remaining oil:

Volume of the remaining oil (N Np) Bo (8)

Pore volume occupied by the gas cap at reservoir pressure p:

As the reservoir pressure drops to a new level p, the gas in the gas cap expands and
occupies a larger volume. Assuming no gas is produced from the gas cap during the
pressure decline, the new volume of the gas cap can be determined as:
B 
Volume of the gas cap = GB g = mNB oi  g  (9)
B 
 gi 

Pore volume occupied by the evolved solution gas:

Volume of the evolved solution gas = volume of gas initially in solution - volume of gas
produced - volume of gas remaining in solution
 24

Volume of the evolved solution gas = NR si  N p R p  (N  N p )R s  B g res. bbl

= N (R si  R s )B g  N p (R p  R s )B g (10)

Pore volume occupied by the net water influx:

Net water influx We Wp Bw (11)

Change in pore volume due to initial water and rock expansion:

 S c  cf 
Total changes in pore volume  NBoi (1  m )  wi w  p (12)
 1 S
 wi 

Pore volume occupied by the injection gas and water:

Assuming that Ginj volumes of gas and Winj volumes of water have been injected for
pressure maintenance, the total pore volume occupied by the two injected fluids is given
by:
Total volume = Ginj B ginj  Winj Bwi (13)
Combining Equations 6 through 13 with Equation 5 and rearranging gives:
N p  B o  (R p  R s ) B g   W e  W p Bw   G inj B ginj W inj Bwi
N  (14)
 Bg   S wi cw  c f 
B o  B oi  m B oi   1  (R si  R s ) B g  B oi 1  m    P
B  
 gi   1 S wi 
Equation 4 applies to fields under the simultaneous influence of dissolved gas
drive, gas cap drive, and Water drive.
Above bubble point, Eq (4) reduces to
 N p B o  W e  W p Bw  
N   
  Cw S w  C f  
 B o  B oi  B oi   P 
  1  Sw  
Now writing Boi = Bti and Bt = Bo + Bg (R si - R s ) and Eq (4) reduces to
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g   W e  W p Bw 
N  (15)
B  C S  C f 
B t  B ti  mB ti  g  1  B ti 1  m   w w  P
B  
 gi   1 S w 
If we neglect connate water and rock expansion, Eq (15) becomes,
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g   W e  W p Bw 
N 
B 
B t  B ti  mB ti  g  1
B 
 gi 
If there is no original gas cap, m  0 , Eq (15) becomes,
 25

N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g   W e  W p Bw 
N 
C S  C f

B t  B ti  B ti  w w  P
 1  Sw 
If there is neither an original gas cap nor any water drive, for Wp = 0 and neglect (Cw and
Cf), the Eq (15) reduces to,
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g 
N 
B t  B ti
Material Balance Equation contains three classes of variables:
a) The gas, oil, and water volume factors, which are obtained from PVT studies.
b) The gas, oil, and water productions, and the average reservoir pressure, which are
obtained from field measurements.
c) The initial free gas and oil in place, and the water influx at any time.

Example:
Calculate the stock tank barrels of oil initially in place in a combination drive reservoir,
neglect connate water and rock expansion.
Given:
Vol. of bulk oil zone = 112,000 ac-ft
Vol. of bulk gas zone = 19,600 ac-ft
Initial reservoir pressure = 2710 psia
Initial oil FVF = 1.340 bbl/STB
Initial gas volume factor = 0.006266 cu ft/SCF = 0.001116 bbl/ SCF
Initial dissolved GOR = 562 SCF/STB
Oil produced during the interval = 20MM STB
Reservoir pressure at end of the interval = 2000 psia
Average produced GOR = 700 SCF/STB
Two-phase FVF at 2000 psia = 1.4954 bbl/STB
Vol. of water encroached = 11.58MM bbl
Vol. of water produced = 1.05MM STB
FVF of the water = 1.028 bbl/STB
Gas volume factor at 2000 psia = 0.008479 cu ft/SCF = 0.001510 bbl/ SCF
Solution:
Assuming the same porosity and connate water for the oil and gas zones, calculate m:

7758 Ah (1  Swi ) gas cap zone 7758 19600  (1  Swi ) gas cap zone
m   0.175
7758 Ah (1  Swi )oil zone 7758 112000  (1  Swi )oil zone
 26

N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g   W e  W p Bw 
N 
B 
B t  B ti  mB ti  g  1
B 
 gi 
20 10 1.4954  (700  562) 0.001510  11.58  1.05  1.028  106
6

  98.97MM STB
 0.001510 
1.4954  1.3400  0.175 1.3400   1
 0.001116 
Example:
The following data are taken from an oil field which had no original gas cap and no
water drive:
Oil pore volume of reservoir = 75MM cu ft
Solubility of gas in crude = 0.42 SCF/STB/psi
Initial bottom-hole pressure = 3500 psia
Bottom-hole temperature = 140 oF
Saturation pressure of the reservoir = 2400 psia
Formation volume factor at 3500 psia = 1.333 bbl/STB
Compressibility factor of the gas at 1500 psia and 140 oF = 0.95
Oil produced when pressure is 1500 psia = 1.0MM STB
Net cumulative produced GOR = 2800 SCF/STB
Determine the type of this reservoir and Calculate:
The type of this reservoir is undersaturated reservoir.
a) The initial SCF of free gas in the reservoir at 3500 psia. Ans: 0
There is no initial SCF of free gas in the reservoir.
b) The initial STB of oil in the reservoir. Ans: 10.02MM STB.

N 
V  p oil (ft 3 )

75 106
 10.02MM STB
5.615  B oi 5.615 1.333
c) The initial SCF of dissolved gas in the reservoir. Ans: 10.10MMM SCF.
Init . SCF of gas in the res .  NR si  N  0.42  Psat.  107  0.42  2400  10.10 109 SCF

d) The initial dissolved GOR of the reservoir. Ans: 1008 SCF/ STB.
R si  0.42  Psat.  0.42  2400  1008 SCF STB
Gdis .  SCF  10.10 109
R si    1008 SCF STB
N  STB  10.02 106
e) The SCF of gas remaining in the reservoir at 1500 psia. Ans: 7.3MMM SCF.
SCF of gas remaining in the res .at 1500 psia  initial  produced  NR si  N p R p
 10.10 109  2800 106  7.3 109 SCF

f) The SCF of free gas in the reservoir at 1500 psia. Ans: 1.6174MMM SCF.
 27

SCF of free gas in the res .at 1500 psia (G f )  initial  produced  solution gas  NR si  N p R p  (N  N p )R s
 10.10 109  2800 106  (10.02 106  1106 )  0.42  1500
 1.6174 109 SCF

g) The gas volume factor of the escaped gas at 1500 psia. Ans: 0.01074 cu ft/ SCF.
zT 0.95  600
B g  0.02827  0.02827   0.01074 ft 3 / SCF
p 1500
zT 0.95  600
Bg at 1500 psia = 0.00504  0.00504  0.001915 bbl / SCF
p 1500
h) The reservoir volume of the free gas at 1500 psia. Ans: 17.375MM cu ft.
Res . vol .of free gas at 1500 psia  G f  B g  1.6174 109  0.0107  17.375 106 cu ft
i) The total reservoir GOR at 1500 psia. Ans: 809 SCF/ STB.
remaing gas (initial  produced ) 7.3 109
Total res .GOR at 1500 psia  
remaining oil (initial (N )  produced (N p )) (10.02  1)06
 809 SCF STB
G f  Gdissolved 1.6174 109  (10.02 106  1106 )  0.42 1500
Rt    809 SCF STB
N N p 10.02 106  1106

j) The dissolved GOR at 1500 psia. Ans: 630 SCF/ STB

dissolved GOR at 1500 psia  0.42 1500  630 SCF STB
dissolved gas at 1500 G i  G f  N p R p SCF  10.10 109  1.6174 109  2800  106
Rs   
remaining oilat 1500 N  N p  STB  10.02 106  1106
 630 SCF STB

k) The liquid volume factor of the oil at 1500 psia. Ans: 1.1378 bbl/ STB.
Oil pore volume at 1500 psia = initial oil pore volume – Res. volume of free gas
bbl
= 75 106  17.375 106  57.625 106 ft 3  3
 10.263 106 bbl
5.615 ft
oil pore [Link] at 1500 psia 10.263 106
Bo at 1500 psia =   1.13777 bbl / STB
remaining oilSTB at 1500 psia 10.02 106  1106

NBoi = (N - Np ) Bo + Gf Bg
l) The two-phase oil volume factor of the oil and its initial dissolved gas at 1500 psia.
Ans: 1.8612 bbl/ STB.
Bt at 1500 psia  Bo  B g (R si  R s )  1.13777  0.001915(1008  630)  1.86172bbl / STB
 28

Definition of Drive Indices

 In the study of reservoirs which are produced simultaneously by four major
mechanisms, e.g, depletion drive, gas cap drive, water drive, and expansion (rock and
liquid)-drive, it is of practical interest to determine the magnitude of each of these
mechanisms which contribute to the production.
 Rearranged the material balance equation ( Eq. 15) as follows to obtain four fractions,
whose sum is one, which called the depletion drive index (DDI), the segregation (gas
cap) index SDI, the water-drive index (WDI), and the expansion (rock and liquid)-
drive index EDI.
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g   W e  W p Bw 
N 
B  C S  C f 
B t  B ti  mB ti  g  1  B ti 1  m   w wi  P
B  
 gi   1 S wi 
Cross-multiplying and transposing W e  W p Bw  ,
 Bg  C S  C f 
N  B t  B ti   NmB ti   1  W e  W p Bw   NB ti 1  m   w w  P  N p B t  (R p  R si )B g 
B 
 gi   1  Sw 
Dividing through by the right-hand term of the equation
B 
NmB ti  g  1
N  B t  B ti 

B
 gi

 
W e  W p Bw  (16)
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g  N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g  N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g 
C S  C f 
NB ti 1  m   w wi 
  1  S wi  P  1
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g 

The numerators of these four fractions are the expansions of the initial oil zone,
the expansion of the initial gas cap, net water influx, and the expansion of rock and
liquid respectively.
DDI + SDI + WDI + EDI = 1 (17)

The four terms of the left-hand side of Equation 17 represent the major primary
driving mechanisms by which oil may be recovered from oil reservoirs. As presented
earlier in the previous chapter, these driving forces are:

Depletion Drive: Depletion drive is the oil recovery mechanism wherein the production
of the oil from its reservoir rock is achieved by the expansion of the original oil volume
with all its original dissolved gas. This driving mechanism is represented mathematically
by the first term of Equation 16 or:
 29

N  B t  B ti 
DDI 
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g 

Where DDI is termed the Depletion-Drive Index.

Gas-Cap Drive: Gas-cap drive is the mechanism wherein the displacement of oil from
the formation is accomplished by the expansion of the original free gas cap. This driving
force is described by the second term of Equation 16 or:
B 
NmB ti  g  1
B 
SDI   gi 
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g 


Where SDI is termed the Segregation (Gas-Cap) Drive Index.

Water Drive: Water drive is the mechanism wherein the displacement of the oil is
accomplished by the net encroachment of water into the oil zone. This mechanism is
represented by the third term of Equation 16 or:

WDI 
W e  W p Bw 
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g 

Where WDI is termed the Water-Drive Index.

Expansion Drive: For undersaturated-oil reservoirs with no water influx, the principal
source of energy is a result of the rock and fluid expansion. Where all the other three
driving mechanisms are contributing to the production of oil from the reservoir, the
contribution of the rock and fluid expansion to the oil recovery is too small and
essentially negligible and can be ignored.
C S  C f 
NB ti 1  m   w wi
 1  S wi 
EDI 
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g 

Where EDI is termed the Expansion Drive ndex.

Notes:
 Cole (1969) pointed out that since the sum of the driving indexes is equal to one, it
follows that if the magnitude of one of the index terms is reduced, then one or both of
the remaining terms must be correspondingly increased.
 30

 An effective water drive will usually result in maximum recovery from the reservoir.
Therefore, if possible, the reservoir should be operated to yield a maximum water-
drive index and minimum values for the depletion-drive index and the gas-cap-drive
index.
 Maximum advantage should be taken of the most efficient drive available, and where
the water drive is too weak to provide an effective displacing force, it may be possible
to utilize the displacing energy of the gas cap. In any event, the depletion-drive index
should be maintained as low as possible at all times, as this is normally the most
inefficient driving force available.
 Equation 17 can be solved at any time to determine the magnitude of the various
driving indexes. The forces displacing the oil from the reservoir are subject to change
from time to time and for this reason Equation 17 should be solved periodically to
determine whether there has been any change in the driving indexes.
 Figure 1 shows a set of plots that represent various driving indexes for a combination-
drive reservoir. At point A, some of the structurally low wells are reworked to reduce
water production. This resulted in an effective increase in the water-drive index.
 At point B, workover operations are complete; water-, gas-, and oil-producing rates
are relatively stable; and the driving indexes show no change.
 At point C, some of the wells which have been producing relatively large, but
constant, volumes of water are shut-in, which results in an increase in the water-drive
index. At the same time, some of the upstructure, high gas-oil ratio wells have been
shut-in and their allowables transferred to wells lower on the structure producing with
normal gas-oil ratios.
 At point D, gas is being returned to the reservoir, and the gas-cap-drive index is
exhibiting a decided increase. The water-drive index is relatively constant, although it
is decreasing somewhat, and the depletion-drive index is showing a marked decline.
This is indicative of a more efficient reservoir operation, and, if the depletion drive
index can be reduced to zero, relatively good recovery can be expected from the
reservoir. Of course, to achieve a zero-depletion-drive index would require the
complete maintenance of reservoir pressure, which is often difficult to accomplish.
 It can be noted from Figure 1 that the sum of the various indexes of drive is always
equal to one.
 31

Figure 1: Driving indexes in a combination-drive reservoir. (After Clark, N. J., Elements

of Petroleum Reservoirs, SPE, 1969.)

Example:
A combination-drive reservoir contains 10 MMSTB of oil initially in place. The ratio of
the original gas-cap volume to the original oil volume, m, is 0.25. The initial reservoir
pressure is 3,000 psia at 150°F. The reservoir produced 1 MMSTB of oil, 1,100 MMscf
of 0.8 specific gravity gas, and 50,000 STB of water by the time the reservoir pressure
dropped to 2,800 psi. The following PVT is available:

Pressure, psi 3000 2800

Bo, bbl/STB 1.58 1.48
R s , SCF/STB 1040 850
B g , bbl/SCF 0.00080 0.00092
Bt, bbl/STB 1.58 1.655
Bw , bbl/STB 1.000 1.000

The following data is also available:

S wi  0.20 Cw  1.5 106 psi 1 C f  1106 psi 1
Determine the type of this reservoir and calculate:
a. Cumulative water influx.
b. Net water influx.
c. Primary driving indexes at 2800 psi.
Solution:
Because the reservoir contains a gas cap, the rock and fluid expansion can be neglected,
i.e., set cf and cw = 0. For illustration purposes, however, the rock and fluid expansion
term will be included in the calculations.
 32

Part A. Cumulative water influx

Step 1. Calculate cumulative gas-oil ratio Rp:
G p 1100 106
Rp    1100 scf STB
Np 1106
Step 2. Arrange Equation 15 to solve for We:
  Bg  C S  C f  
W e  N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g   N B t  B ti  mB ti   1  B ti 1  m   w wi  P  W p Bw
   
 B gi   1 S wi 
106 1.655  (1100  1040)0.00092 
  0.00092   0.2 1.5 106  1106  
107 1.655  1.58  0.25 1.58   1  1.58 1  0.25    (3000  2800) 
  0.00080   1  0.2  
50000 1
 411, 281 bbl
Neglecting the rock and fluid expansion term, the cumulative water influx is 417,700 bbl.

Part B. Net water influx

Net water influx = W e  W p Bw = 411,281-50,000 =361,281bbl
Part C. Primary recovery indexes
Step 1. Calculate DDI, SDI, and WDI:
N  B t  B ti  107 1.655  1.58
DDI    0.4385
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g  106 1.655  (1100  1040)0.00092
B 
NmB ti  g  1  0.00092 
B  107  0.25 1.58   1
SDI   gi   6  0.00080 
= 0.3465
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g  10 1.655  (1100  1040)0.00092

WDI 
W e  W p Bw  
411,281-50,000
 0.2112
N p  B t  (R p  R si )B g  10 1.655  (1100  1040)0.00092
6

EDI = 1 - 0.4385 - 0.3465 - 0.2112 = 0.0038

These calculations show that the 43.85% of the recovery was obtained by depletion
drive, 34.65% by gas-cap drive, 21.12% by water drive, and only 0.38% by connate-
water and rock expansion. The results suggest that the expansion-drive index (EDI) term
can be neglected in the presence of a gas cap or when the reservoir pressure drops below
the bubblepoint pressure. In high pore volume compressibility reservoirs, such as chalks
and unconsolidated sands, however, the energy contribution of the rock and water
expansion cannot be ignored even at high gas saturations.
 33

The MBE as an Equation of a Straight Line

An insight into the general MBE, i.e., Equation 14, may be gained by considering the
physical significance of the following groups of terms of which it is comprised:

 N p B o  (R p  R s ) B g  Represents the reservoir volume of cumulative oil and gas

produced.

 W e  W p Bw  Refers to the net water influx that is retained in the reservoir.

 G inj B ginj W inj Bwi  This pressure maintenance term represents cumulative fluid
  injection in the reservoir.

  Bg  Represents the net expansion of the gas cap that occurs with
  m B oi   1 
 the production of Np stock tank barrels of oil.
  B gi 

There are essentially three unknowns in Equation 14:

a. The original oil in place, N
b. The cumulative water influx, We
c. The original size of the gas cap as compared to the oil zone size, m

In developing a methodology for determining the above three unknowns, Havlena and
Odeh (1963) expressed Equation 14 in the following form:
 Bg 
N p  B o  (R p  R s ) B g   W p Bw  N  B o  B oi   (R si  R s ) B g   m NB oi   1
B 
 gi  (18)
S c  cf 
 NB oi 1  m   wi w  P W e W inj Bwi  G inj B ginj
 1  S wi 
Havlena and Odeh further expressed Equation 18 in a more condensed form as:


F  N E o  m E g  E f ,w   W e W inj Bwi  G inj B ginj 
Assuming that no pressure maintenance by gas or water injection is being considered,
the above relationship can be further simplified and written as:
F  N E o  m E g  E f ,w   W e (19)
In which the terms F, Eo, Eg, and Ef,w are defined by the following relationships:
• F represents the underground withdrawal and given by:
F  N p Bo  (R p  R s ) B g   W p Bw F  N p Bt  (R p  R si ) B g  W p Bw
• Eo describes the expansion of oil and its originally dissolved gas and is expressed in
terms of the oil formation volume factor as:
 34

E o   Bo  Boi   (R si  R s ) B g E o  B t  B ti

• Eg is the term describing the expansion of the gas cap and is defined by the following
expression:
 Bg   Bg 
E g  B oi   1 E g  B ti   1
B  B 
 gi   gi 
• Ef,w represents the expansion of the initial water and the reduction in the pore volume
and is given by:
S c  cf 
E f ,w  B oi 1  m   wi w  P
 1  S wi 
In the case of a reservoir which has no initial gas cap (i.e., m 0) or water influx (i.e.,
We = 0), and negligible formation and water compressibilities (i.e., cf and cw 0);
Equation 18 reduces to:
F  NE o
The above expression suggests that a plot of the parameter F as a function of the oil
expansion parameter Eo would yield a straight line with a slope N and intercept equal to
zero as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Relationship of F vs. Eo

The Straight-Line Solution Method to the MBE

 The straight-line solution method requires the plotting of a variable group versus
another variable group, with the variable group selection depending on the
mechanism of production under which the reservoir is producing.
 The significance of the straight-line approach is that the sequence of plotting is
important and if the plotted data deviates from this straight line, there is some reason
 35

for it. This significant observation will provide the engineer with valuable
information that can be used in determining the following unknowns:
a) Initial oil in place, N
b) Size of the gas cap, m
c) Water influx, We
d) Driving mechanism
The applications of the straight-line form of the MBE in solving reservoir engineering
problems are presented next to illustrate the usefulness of this particular form. Three
cases of applications are presented below:
Case 1: Determination of N in volumetric undersaturated reservoirs
Case 2: Determination of N and m in gas cap drive reservoirs
Case 3: Determination of N and We in water drive reservoirs

Case 1. Volumetric Undersaturated-Oil Reservoirs

Assuming no water or gas injection, the linear form of the MBE as expressed by
Equation 19 can be written as:
F  N E o  m E g  E f ,w   W e (20)
For a volumetric and undersaturated reservoir, the conditions associated with driving
mechanism are:
• We 0, since the reservoir is volumetric
• m = 0, since the reservoir is undersaturated
• Rs = Rsi Rp, since all produced gas is dissolved in the oil
Applying the above conditions on Equation 20 gives:
F
F  N E o  E f ,w  Or N  (21)
E o  E f ,w
Where N initial oil in place, STB
F  N p B o W p Bw
E o  B o  B oi (22)
 S c  cf 
E f ,w  B oi  wi w  P
 1  S wi 
p  pi  p r
pi initial reservoir pressure
p r = volumetric average reservoir pressure

When a new field is discovered, one of the first tasks of the reservoir engineer is to
determine if the reservoir can be classified as a volumetric reservoir, i.e., We = 0. The
term F/(Eo Ef,w) for each pressure and time observation is plotted versus cumulative
production Np or time, as shown in Figure 3.
 36

Figure 3: Classification of the reservoir.

Dake (1994) suggests that such a plot can assume two various shapes, which are:
• All the calculated points of F/(Eo Ef,w) lie on a horizontal straight line (see Line A in
Figure 3). Line A in the plot implies that the reservoir can be classified as a volumetric
reservoir.
• Alternately, the calculated values of the term F/(Eo Ef,w) rise, as illustrated by the
curves B and C, indicating that the reservoir has been energized by water influx. Curve C
in Figure 3 might be for a strong water-drive field in which the aquifer is displacing an
infinite acting behavior, whereas B represents an aquifer whose outer boundary has been
felt.
Similarly, Equation 21 could be used to verify the characteristic of the reservoir-
driving mechanism and to determine the initial oil in place. A plot of the underground
withdrawal F versus the expansion term (Eo Ef,w) should result in a straight line going
through the origin with N being the slope as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Underground withdrawal vs. Eo + Ef,w.

 37

Note: A linear plot of the underground withdrawal F versus (Eo Ef,w) indicates that
the field is producing under volumetric performance, i.e., no water influx, and strictly by
pressure depletion and fluid expansion. On the other hand, a nonlinear plot indicates that
the reservoir should be characterized as a water-drive reservoir.

Example:
The Virginia Hills Beaverhill Lake field is a volumetric undersaturated reservoir.
Volumetric calculations indicate the reservoir contains 270.6 MMSTB of oil initially in
place. The initial reservoir pressure is 3685 psi. The following additional data is
available:
Swi = 24% cw  3.62 106 psi 1 c f  4.95 106 psi 1
Bw = 1.0 bbl/STB pb = 1500 psi
The field production and PVT data are summarized below:

Volumetric No. of Bo (bbl / STB) N p (MSTB) W p (MSTB)

average producing
pressure (psi) wells

3685 1 1.3102 0 0
3680 2 1.3104 20.481 0
3676 2 1.3104 34.750 0
3667 3 1.3105 78.557 0
3664 4 1.3105 101.848 0
3640 19 1.3109 215.681 0
3605 25 1.3116 364.613 0
3567 36 1.3122 542.985 0.159
3515 48 1.3128 841.591 0.805
3448 59 1.3130 1273.530 2.579
3360 59 1.3150 1691.887 5.008
3275 61 1.3160 2127.077 6.500
3188 61 1.3170 2575.330 8.000

Calculate the initial oil in place by using the MBE and compare with the volumetric
estimate of N.

Solution:
 38

Step 1. Calculate the initial water and rock expansion term Ef,w
 c w s wi  c f 
E f , w  Boi   P
 1  s wi 

E f ,w
 3.62  10 6  0.24  4.95  10 6
 1.3102  
1  0.24


 3685  P r 
 

E f , w  10  10 6 3685  P r 
Step 2. Construct the following table:

P r (psi) F (Mbbl) Eo (bbl / STB) P( psia) E wf Eo  E fw

F  N p B o W p Bw E o  B o  B oi
3685 - - 0 0 -
3680 26.84 0.0002 5 0.00005 0.00025
3676 45.54 0.0002 9 0.00009 0.00029
3667 102.95 0.0003 18 0.00018 0.00048
3664 133.47 0.0003 21 0.00021 0.00051
3640 282.74 0.0007 45 0.00045 0.00115
3605 478.23 0.0014 80 0.00080 0.00220
3567 712.66 0.0020 118 0.00118 0.00318
3515 1105.65 0.0026 170 0.00170 0.00430
3448 1674.72 0.0028 237 0.00237 0.00517
3360 2229.84 0.0048 325 0.00325 0.00805
3275 2805.73 0.0058 410 0.00410 0.00990
3188 3399.71 0.0068 497 0.00497 0.01170
Step 3. Plot F vs. Eo  E fw as shown in Figure 5:

Figure 5: F vs. Eo + Ef,w.

 39

Step 4. Draw the best straight line through the points and determine the initial oil in place
as: N = 257 MMSTB
It should be noted that the value of the initial oil-in-place as determined from the
MBE is referred to as the effective or active initial oil-in place. This value is usually
smaller than that of the volumetric estimate due to oil being trapped in undrained fault
compartments or low-permeability regions of the reservoir.

Case 2. Gas-Cap-Drive Reservoirs

For a reservoir in which the expansion of the gas-cap is the predominant driving
mechanism and assuming that the natural water influx is negligible (We = 0), the effect of
water and pore compressibilities can be considered negligible. Under these conditions,
the Havlena-Odeh material balance can be expressed as:
F  N E o  m E g  (23)
Where Eg is defined by the following Equation:
 B g 
E g  B oi   1 
 B gi 

The way in which Equation 23 can be used depends on the number of unknowns in
the equation. There are three possible unknowns in Equation 23:
• N is unknown, m is known
• m is unknown, N is known
• N and m are unknown
The practical use of Equation 23 in determining the three possible unknowns is
presented below:

a) Unknown N, known m:
Equation 23 indicates that a plot of F versus (Eo m Eg) on a Cartesian scale would
produce a straight line through the origin with a slope of N, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: F vs. Eo + mEg.

 40

b) Unknown m, known N:
Equation 23 can be rearranged as an equation of straight line, to give:
F 
  Eo   m E g
N 
The above relationship shows that a plot of the term (F/NEo) versus Eg would
produce a straight line with a slope of m. One advantage of this particular arrangement is
that the straight line must pass through the origin. Figure 7 shows an illustration of such a
plot.

Figure 7: (F/NEo) vs. Eg.

c) N and m are Unknown

If there is uncertainty in both the values of N and m, Equation 23 can be re-expressed
as:
F  Eg 
N m N  
Eo  Eo 
A plot of F/Eo versus Eg/Eo should then be linear with intercept N and slope mN. This
plot is illustrated in Figure 8.
N intercept
mN slope
m slope/intercept
 41

Figure 8: F/Eo vs. Eg/Eo.

Example:
The production history and the PVT data of a gas-cap-drive reservoir are given below:
p (psi) N p (MMSTB ) Rp Bo (bbl / STB ) Rs Bg (bbl / SCF )
(scf/stb) (scf/stb)
3330 (pi = pb) 0 0 1.2511 510 0.00087
3150 3.295 1050 1.2353 477 0.00092
3000 5.903 1060 1.2222 450 0.00096
2850 8.852 1160 1.2122 425 0.00101
2700 11.503 1235 1.2022 401 0.00107
2550 14.513 1265 1.1922 375 0.00113
2400 17.730 1300 1.1822 352 0.00120
Estimate the initial oil and gas in place.
Solution:
Step 1. Calculate F, Eo, and Eg:
p F (MMbbl) Eo (bbl / STB) E g (bbl / STB)
(psi) F  N p B o  (R p  R s ) B g  Eo   Bo  Boi   (R si  R s ) B g
 Bg 
F  N p B t  (R p  R si ) B g  E o  B t  B ti E g  B oi   1
B 
 gi 
 Bg 
E g  B ti   1
B 
 gi 
3330 0 0 0
3150 5.807 0.01456 0.07190
3000 10.671 0.02870 0.12942
2850 17.302 0.04695 0.20133
2700 24.094 0.06773 0.28761
2550 31.898 0.09365 0.37389
2400 41.130 0.12070 0.47456
 42

Step 2. Calculate F/Eo and Eg/Eo

p (psi) F/Eo, MMSTB Eg/Eo

3330 - -
3150 398.8 4.938
3000 371.8 4.509
2850 368.5 4.288
2700 355.7 4.246
2550 340.6 3.992
2400 340.8 3.932

Step 4. Plot (F/Eo) versus (Eg/Eo) as shown in Figure 9 to give:

• Intercept N 108.8 MMSTB
• Slope = N m = 58.78 10
6

Step 5. Calculate m:
m  58.78 106 108.8 106  0.54
Step 6. Calculate initial gas in place G:
GB gi mNB oi 0.54 108.8 106 1.2511
m G    80.4528 MMMSCF
NB oi B gi 0.00087
400
y = 58.806x + 108.8
350 R² = 0.9986

300
F/Eo, MMSTB

250

200

150

100
0 1 2 3 4 5
Eg/Eo
Figure 9: Calculation of m and N
 43

Case 3. Water-Drive Reservoirs

The full MBE can be expressed again as:
F  N E o  m E g  E f ,w   W e
Dake (1978) points out that the term Ef,w can frequently be neglected in water-drive
reservoirs. This is not only for the usual reason that the water and pore compressibilities
are small, but also because a water influx helps to maintain the reservoir pressure and,
therefore, the Δp appearing in the Ef,w term is reduced, or
F  N E o  m E g   W e (24)
If, in addition, the reservoir has no initial gas cap, then Equation 24 can be further
reduced to:
F  NE o  W e (25)
For a water-drive reservoir with no gas cap, Equation 25 can be rearranged and
expressed as:
F W
N  e (26)
Eo Eo

The water influx models are given below:

• Pot-aquifer model
• Schilthuis steady-state method
• Van Everdingen-Hurst model

The use of these models in connection with Equation 26 to simultaneously determine

N and We is described below:

The Pot-Aquifer Model in the MBE

Assume that the water influx could be properly described using the simple pot-aquifer
model given by the following equation:
W e  (cw  cf )W i f ( pi  p ) (27)
  ( r 2  r 2 ) h 
Wi   a e 
 5.615 
(encroachment angle) 
f  

360 360
Where,
We : cumulative water influx, bbl
ra : radius of the aquifer, ft
re : radius of the reservoir, ft
h : thickness of the aquifer, ft
 : porosity of the aquifer
 44

ϴ : encroachment angle
cw : aquifer water compressibility, psi-1
cf : aquifer rock compressibility, psi-1
Wi : initial volume of water in the aquifer, bbl
pi : initial reservoir pressure, psi
p : current reservoir pressure (pressure at oil-water contact), psi
f: fractional encroachment angle

Since the aquifer properties cw, cf, h, ra, and ϴ are seldom available, it is convenient
to combine these properties and treat as one unknown K. Equation 27 can be rewritten as:
W e  K p (28)
Combining Equation 28 with Equation 26 gives:
F  p 
N  K   (29)
Eo  Eo 
Equation 29 indicates that a plot of the term (F/Eo) as a function of (Δp/Eo) would yield a
straight line with an intercept of N and slope of K, as illustrated in Figure 10.

Figure 10: F/Eo vs. Δp/Eo.

The Steady-State Model in the MBE

The steady-state aquifer model as proposed by Schilthuis (1936) is given by:
We  C   pi  p  dt
t
(30)
0

Where,
 45

We cumulative water influx, bbl

C = water influx constant, bbl/day/psi
t = time, days
pi = initial reservoir pressure, psi
p = pressure at the oil-water contact at time t, psi

Combining Equation 30 with Equation 26 gives:

 t  p  p  dt 
F
N C  0
 i 
Eo  Eo 
 
Plotting (F/Eo) versus   pi  p  dt E o results in a straight line with an intercept that
t

represents the initial oil in place N and a slope that describes the water influx C as shown
in Figure 11.

Figure 11: Graphical determination of N and C.

The Unsteady-State Model in the MBE

The van Everdingen-Hurst unsteady-state model is given by:
W e  B  pW eD (31)

B  1.119  ct re 2 h
360
Van Everdingen and Hurst presented the dimensionless water influx WeD as a
function of the dimensionless time tD and dimensionless radius rD that are given by:
kt
t D  6.323 103
 w ct re 2
ra
rD  ct  cw  c f
re
 46

Where,
B: Water influx constant, bbl/ psi
p : Pressure decrement at the boundary, psi
W eD : Dimensionless water influx, which is a function of dimensionless time ( t D ).
k : Permeability of the aquifer, md
t: time, days
 : Porosity of the aquifer, fraction
w : Viscosity of water in the aquifer, cp
Combining Equation 31 with Equation 25 gives:
F   pW eD 
 N  B  
Eo  Eo 

Plotting (F/Eo) versus

 pW eD
results in a straight line with an intercept that
Eo
represents the initial oil in place N and a slope that describes the water influx B as shown
in Figure 12.

Figure 12: Havlena and Odeh straight-line plot.

Example
The material balance parameters, the underground withdrawal F, and oil expansion Eo of
a saturated-oil reservoir (i.e., m = 0 are given below:
Time p F Eo
months (psi)
0 3500 - -
19 3488 2.04 106 0.0548
31 3162 8.77 106 0.1540
43 2782 17.05 106 0.2820
 47

Assuming that the rock and water compressibilities are negligible, calculate the initial oil
in place.
Solution:
Step 1. The most important step in applying the MBE is to verify that water influx exists
or not. Assuming that the reservoir is volumetric.
F Eo F Eo
MMSTB
- - -
2.04 106 0.0548 37.226
8.77 106 0.1540 57.948
17.05 106 0.2820 60.461

Step 2. A plot of F E o vs. time indicating water influx as shown in Figure 13.

7.00E+07
y = -62500x2 + 5E+06x - 3E+07
6.00E+07 R² = 1

5.00E+07
F/Eo

4.00E+07

3.00E+07

2.00E+07

1.00E+07

0.00E+00
0 10 20 30 40 50
Time, months
Figure 13: Indication of water influx.

Step 3. For simplicity, select the pot-aquifer model to represent the water encroachment
calculations in the MBE as given by the following Equation:
F  p 
N  K  
Eo  Eo 
 48

Step 4. Calculate the terms (F/Eo) and (Δp/Eo):

p Δp F Eo F Eo Δp/Eo
(psi) MMSTB
3500 0 - - - -
3488 12 2.04 106 0.0548 37.226 219.0
3162 338 8.77 106 0.1540 57.948 2194.8
2782 718 17.05 106 0.2820 60.461 2546

Step 5. Plot (F/Eo) versus (Δp/Eo), as shown in Figure 14, and determine the intercept
and the slope.
Intercept = N = 35.04 MMSTB
Slope = K = 10200

70
y = 0.0102x + 35.04
60 R² = 0.9989
50
F/Eo, MMSTB

40

30

20

10

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Δp/Eo

Figure 14: F/Eo versus Δp/Eo.

Saturated Oil Reservoirs

 An initial gas cap probably exists in saturated oil reservoirs because the oil in these
reservoirs is fully saturated with all the gas that it can contain at the initial
temperature and pressure. The initial gas cap is in contact with the oil if the oil is
saturated with gas.
 At the gas/oil contact (GOC), the oil and gas are in equilibrium and the pressure at the
GOC is equal to the bubble point pressure for the oil.
 When there is an initial gas cap (i.e, the oil is initially saturated), there is negligible
liquid expansion energy. However, the energy stored in the dissolved gas is
supplemented by that in the cap, and it is not surprising that recoveries from gas cap
 49

reservoirs are generally higher than from those without caps. In such reservoirs, the
recovery factors can reach 30 to 40%.
 In gas cap drives, as production proceeds and reservoir pressure declines, the
expansion of the gas displaces oil downward the wells.
 The natural energy available to produce the crude oil comes from the following two
sources: a) Expansion of the gas-cap b) Expansion of the solution gas as it is
liberated.
 The size of the gas cap is usually expressed relative to the size of the oil zone by the
ratio m.
 A strong water drive in combination with a moderate-size gas cap can give even
higher recoveries.

Material Balance in Saturated Reservoirs

In a saturated-oil reservoir, the general material-balance equation is given below:


F  N foi E o  G fgi E g  W  N foi Boi  G fgi B gi E fw  (1)

W  W e  Bw W p W i 
Where,
Eg = gas expansion factor, bbl/SCF
Eo = oil expansion factor, RB/STB
Et = total expansion factor, RB/STB
F = reservoir voidage from production, res bbl
FRg = gas recovery factor
FRo = oil recovery factor
G and Gt = initial total gas in reservoir, scf
Gfg = gas in the free gas phase at time t, scf
Gfgi = initial gas in the free gas phase, scf
GI = cumulative gas injected at time t, SCF
Gp = cumulative gas produced at time t, SCF
IDD = depletion-drive index
ISD = segregation-drive index
IWD = waterdrive index
N = initial total oil in the reservoir, STB
Nfoi = initial oil in the free oil phase, STB
Np = cumulative oil produced at time t, STB
We = water encroachment from aquifer, res bbl
WI = injected water, res bbl
Wp = cumulative water produced at time t, STB
Bg = gas formation volume factor at time t, RB/SCF
Bgi = initial gas formation volume factor, RB/SCF
 50

BgI = injected gas formation volume factor, RB/SCF

Bgs = solution-gas formation volume factor, RB/SCF
Bo = oil FVF at time t, bbl/STB
Bob = oil formation volume factor at bubble point, RB/STB
Boi = initial oil formation volume factor, RB/STB
Btg = total gas formation volume factor at time t, RB/SCF
Btgi = initial total gas formation volume factor, RB/SCF
Bto = total oil formation volume factor at time t, RB/STB
Btoi = initial total oil formation volume factor, RB/STB
Bw = water formation volume factor, RB/STB
Rp = net cumulative produced-gas/oil ratio, SCF/STB
Rs = solution-gas/oil ratio at current conditions, SCF/STB
Rsi = initial solution-gas/oil ratio, SCF/STB
Rv = volatile- oil/gas ratio at current conditions, STB/SCF
Rvi = initial volatile- oil/gas ratio, STB/SCF
Swi = initial water saturation

Notes:
 Equation 1 applies to any saturated-oil reservoir where c f and cw are not negligible,
including volatile-oil reservoirs (where R v  0 ) and highly compressible formations.
 In general, c f and cw can be neglected in saturated-oil reservoirs because the pressure
is always at or below the bubbepoint.
 We recommended that the relative size of E fw be investigated and included in
calculations and plots involving application of material balance if it is significant,
which it is for very compressible formations.
 Gas caps and saturated oils usually are much more compressible than water and
rocks, so the E fw term often can be neglected when analyzing these reservoirs.
For nonvolatile-oil reservoirs, the terms F , E f w , E o , B tg , and B to are defined as

 c  cw Swi 
Ef w   f  p
 1 S
 wi 
Eo  Bto  Btoi
Bto  Bo  B g (R si  R s )
E g  Btg  B gi
Btg  B g
F  N p  Bo  R s B g   G p B g or F  N p  B to  R si B g   G p B g (2)
 51

If it is more convenient, the gas production can be expressed in terms of a cumulative

net produced gas/oil ratio, R p  G p  G i  N p . In that case, the definition of reservoir
voidage, Eq 2, becomes
F  N p B o   R p  R s  B g  or F  N p B to   R p  R si  B g 
To create suitable material-balance plots, Eq. 2 is rearranged to
F  W E g  B gi E fw
 N foi  G fgi (3)
E o  B oi E fw E o  B oi E fw
An alternative version of Eq. 3 is
F  W E  B oi E fw
 G fgi  N foi o (4)
E g  B gi E fw E g  B gi E fw

Plot 1: Equation 3 leads to the first material-balance plot applicable to all saturated-
oil reservoirs.
F  W E g  B gi E fw
vs .
E o  B oi E fw E o  B oi E fw
The slope, m, of this plot is G fgi and the intercept, b, is N foi . Thus, with this plot,
both the original oil volume and original gas-cap volume can be determined if the water
influx can be determined accurately or there is no water drive.

Plot 2: An alternative version of plot 1 from Equation 4 is

F  W E o  B oi E fw
vs .
E g  B gi E fw E g  B gi E fw
In this plot, m = N foi and b = G fgi .
Notes:
 Simpler versions of plots 1 and 2 arise if W is zero (no water drive) and E fw can be
neglected. In that case, plot 1 becomes F E o vs . E g E o and still gives a slope of
G fgi and an intercept of N foi .
 Plots 1 and 2 are very powerful and useful for saturated-oil reservoirs; they are very
sensitive to the accuracy of both the pressure/volume/temperature (PVT) data and
production data.
 If the PVT data have been even small deviations, the plots are not linear and the
resulting calculated in-place fluids are inaccurate. Then, alternative plots can be used
that are derived by first defining the ratio of the gas-cap reservoir volume to the oil-
zone reservoir volume, r,
 52

G fgi B gi
r
N foi B oi
With this definition, the material balance equation can be written as
F  W  N foi E t (5)

Where E t  E o  r E g B  B oi 1  r  E fw
oi B
gi
Plot 3: Equation 5 gives rise to the material-balance plot
F  W vs . E t
Which has m = N foi . This is a useful plot that gives accurate estimates of the original
oil in place (OOIP) despite the presence of inaccuracies in the PVT data and
production data.

Note: Plots 1 through 3 tend to curve up if a water drive is present. All three plots curve
down if the formation compressibility is underestimated or neglected improperly.

If the initial free oil and free gas in place, N foi and G fgi , can be obtained from
volumetrics, the volume of aquifer influx can be determined from material balance.
Equation 1 can be rearranged as
W e  BwW p  F  N foi E o  G fgi E g  N foi B oi 
 G fgi B gi E fw (6)
Or W e  BwW p  F  N foi E t (7)
Then, aquifer influx can be calculated from Equations 6 or 7.

Example 1:
Table 1 gives the reservoir properties and production data for a saturated-oil
reservoir with a gas cap but no water drive, determine:
i. The OOIP and OGIP (both free and solution) neglecting water and rock
compressibilities.
ii. The oil and gas recovery factors, FRo and FRg , respectively, at 800 psia.

Solution:
Step 1. With plot 1 and assuming W and E fw can be neglected, the parameters F/Eo
and Eg /Eo are calculated by the following equations and given in Table 2:
Eo  Bto  Btoi
Bto  Bo  B g (R si  R s )
E g  Btg  B gi
Btg  B g
 53

F  N p  Bo  R s B g   G p B g or F  N p  B to  R si B g   G p B g

Table 1: Reservoir properties and production data

Reservoir properties:
B o , RB/STB = 1.251 R si , scf/STB = 510 Pi , psia = 3330
T , o F = 180 Pb , psia = 3330
Production data
Pressure Np Gp Rs Bg Bo
(psia) (MMSTB) (MMSCF) (scf/STB) (RB/Mscf) (RB/STB)
3,330 0 0 510 0.77492 1.2510
3,280 0.990 549.450 500 0.79657 1.2450
3,150 3.295 2553.625 475 0.83968 1.2330
3,000 5.903 6345.725 448 0.90317 1.2220
2,850 8.852 10312.580 423 0.97334 1.2110
2,700 11.503 14206.205 399 1.04533 1.1990
2,550 14.513 18358.945 377 1.12580 1.1880
2,400 17.730 23049.000 353 1.21632 1.1780
2,000 23.000 38318.000 294 1.49990 1.1540
1,600 28.500 54777.000 233 1.90512 1.1310
1,200 34.000 74800.000 171 2.56704 1.1110
800 39.500 94879.000 111 3.89088 1.0910

Step 2. plot F/Eo vs. Eg /Eo as shown in Figure 1. Then, OOIP and OGIP are determined
from the slope, m, and intercept, b.
G fgi  m  40 MMMscf and N foi  b  200 MMSTB
Gs  N foi R si  510  200 106  102 MMMscf  102 Bscf
Gt  G s  G fgi  102 109  40 109  142 Bscf

Consequently, most of the gas in place is dissolved in the oil, but the 40 MMscf in the
gas cap is an important drive mechanism that helped increase recovery of the oil.
Step 2. The oil and gas recovery factors are
39.5 106
FRo   19.97%
200 106
94.879 109
FRg   66.75%
142 109
 54

Table 2
Pressure Bto F/Eo Eg /Eo
(psia) (RB/STB) (STB) (STB/Mscf)
3,330 1.2510 - -
3,280 1.2530 6.4911E+8 11.01256
3,150 1.2624 4.2961E+8 5.68638
3,000 1.2780 3.9102E+8 4.75060
2,850 1.2957 3.8300E+8 4.44087
2,700 1.3150 3.7238E+8 4.22311
2,550 1.3377 3.6608E+8 4.04559
2,400 1.3690 3.5018E+8 3.74188
2,000 1.4780 3.2546E+8 3.19406
1,600 1.6587 3.0398E+8 2.77202
1,200 1.9812 2.9424E+8 2.45420
800 2.6435 2.8381E+8 2.23774

7.00E+08
y = 4E+07x + 2E+08
6.00E+08 R² = 0.9991
5.00E+08
F/Eo, STB

4.00E+08
3.00E+08
2.00E+08
1.00E+08
0.00E+00
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Eg/Eo, STB/Mscf

Figure 1: F/Eo vs. Eg /Eo

Home Work: Resolve the Example 1 using Plot 2.

Example 2:
Table 3 gives the fluid properties, measured in-place volumes, and production dada
for a U.S. gulf coast reservoir with a gas cap and a reported strong water drive. Analyze
this reservoir using material-balance plots to confirm the presence of a water drive. Then,
use material balance and the volumetric estimates to determine the extent and nature of
the water influx.
 55

Table 3: fluid properties, measure in-place volumetrics, and production dada

Reservoir properties:
B ob , RB/STB = 1.46 B oi , RB/STB = 1.46 R si , scf/STB = 925
N foi , MMSTB = 27 Pb , psia = 5,326.7 Pi , psia = 5,326.7
Production data
Pressure Np Gp Wp Bg Bt Et
(psia) MMSTB) (MMSCF) (STB) (RB/Mscf) (RB/STB) RB/STB
5,326.7 0 0 0 0.66657 1.46000 0
5314.7 0.028500 63.300 0 0.66844 1.46070 0.00182
5,294.7 0.099300 205.400 0 0.67022 1.46187 0.00406
5,104.7 0.359100 662.000 0 0.68340 1.47367 0.02378
4,924.7 0.784200 1,288.300 300 0.69765 1.48608 0.04473
4,734.7 1.361000 1,987.200 1,400 0.71581 1.50064 0.07019
4,524.7 2.170100 3,142.000 6,100 0.73879 1.51873 0.10207
4,356.7 2.951900 4,203.100 12,500 0.75803 1.53493 0.12982
4,209.7 3.828800 5,381.400 22,000 0.77833 1.55061 0.15769

Solution:
Note: The reservoir has shown only minimal water production, which may or may
not indicate a strong water drive.
Step 1. Table 4 gives the calculated data for material-balance Plot 1. Fig. 2 shows Plot 1,
which is clearly inadequate to describe the natural of the reservoir. This is an example of
too much inaccuracy in both the PVT and production data to apply Plot 1.
Step 2. As shown in Figure 3, the data are still accurate enough to apply Plot 3. As
shown in Figure 4, plot 3 also shows the upward-curving trend that is characteristic of a
water drive. Now the material balance equation in the form of Equation 7 is used to
determine the extent of the aquifer influx as given in Table 4. This result shows that 3.1
million res bbl of water invaded the reservoir while producing 3.8 MMSTB of oil and 5.4
Bscf of gas, indicating the presence of a strong water drive.
Eo  Bto  Boi
E g  B g  B gi
F  N p  B to  R si B g   G p B g  BwW p Or F  N p Bt  (R p  R si ) B g  W p Bw
W e  F  N foi E t
W  W e  Bw W p  W i 
 56

Table 4
Pressure F Eg /Eo F/Eo We F-We
(psia) (res bbl) (STB/scf) (STB) (res bbl) (res bbl)
5,326.7 0 - - 0 0
5314.7 66320.5 0.0026714 94,743,504 17180.45 49140
5,294.7 221265.5 0.0019519 118,323,795 111645.5 109620
5,104.7 754602.4 0.0012312 55,201,348 112542.4 642060
4,924.7 1558401.6 0.0011917 59,754,662 350991.6 1207710.0
4,734.7 2565077.6 0.0012116 63,117,066 669947.6 1895130.0
4,524.7 4140169.6 0.0012297 70,494,970 1384280 2755890.0
4,356.7 5659729.2 0.0012206 75,533,553 2154589 3505140.0
4,209.7 7390916.0 0.0012334 81,568,436 3133286 4257630.0

140000000
120000000
100000000
F/Eo, STB

80000000
60000000
40000000
20000000
0
0 0.0005 0.001 0.0015 0.002 0.0025 0.003
Eg/Eo, STB/scf

Figure 2: F/Eo vs. Eg /Eo

 57

4500000.0
y = 3E+07x - 1E-09
4000000.0
R² = 1
3500000.0
F-ΔW ,,res bbl
3000000.0
2500000.0
2000000.0
1500000.0
1000000.0
500000.0
0.0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Et, RB/STB

Figure 3: F-ΔW vs. Et

8000000.0
7000000.0
6000000.0
5000000.0
F,res bbl

4000000.0
3000000.0
2000000.0
1000000.0
0.0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
Et, RB/STB

Figure 4: F vs. Et

Home Work: Resolve the Example 2 using Plot 2.

Volatile-Oil Reservoirs
 A saturated- oil reservoir can be described as volatile if the gas in the gas cap and the
gas that comes out of solution contain significant quantities of volatile liquids.
Normally, such oils contain more than 500 scf/STB of dissolved gas, Rsi, and the
liquid content of the gas phase, Rvi, would be more than 20 STB/MMscf.
 58

 The fluid properties, Bg, Bo, Rs, and Rv required for volatile-oil reservoirs are the
same for gas/condensate reservoirs.
 For a volatile-oil reservoir, the material-balance equation and plots discussed earlier
are the same, but the definitions of terms are different, and these are:
 B g 1  R s Rvi    Rvi  Rv  B o 
B tg   
 1  Rv R s  
 B o 1  Rv R si    R si  R s  B g 
B to   
 1  Rv R s  
 B  Rs B g   B g  Rv B o 
F Np o   G p  G I   
 1  Rv R s   1  Rv R s 
 B o 1  Rv R p    R p  R s  B g 
F Np  
 1  Rv R s  

Example 3:
The Prudhoe Bay field on the North Slope of Alaska has a large gas cap and a thick
oil zone underlain by a tar mat that prevents any aquifer influx. A water-flood has been
instituted in parts of the field, and 81.75% of the produced gas is reinjected into the
reservoir. Table 5 gives the fluid properties and production data for the main Sadlerochit
reservoir of the Prudhoe Bay field.
i. Analyze this reservoir by material-balance plots to obtain the OOIP and OGIP.
ii. Determine the drive indices of the various drive mechanisms.

Solution:
Step 1. To make Plot 1 (Fig. 5), calculate parameters F, Bto, Btg, Eo, Eg, and ΔW by the
following equations; Table 6 shows the results:
 B o 1  Rv R si    R si  R s  B g 
B to   
 1  Rv R s  
iii.  B g 1  R s Rvi    Rvi  Rv  B o 
B tg   
 1  Rv R s  
Eo  Bto  Boi E g  Btg  B gi
 B  Rs B g   B g  Rv B o 
F Np o   G p  G I   
 1  Rv R s   1  Rv R s 
W  W e  Bw W p W i   0  Bw W p W i  W i  BwW p
iv.
v.
 59

Table 5: fluid properties and production dada

Fluid properties:
B oi , RB/STB = 1.3647 R si , scf/STB = 710 Rvi , STB/MMscf = 23.9 Pi , psia = 4,320
Pb , psia = 4,320 Bgi, RB/Mscf = 0.830 Bw , RB/STB = 1
Production data
Pressure Np Gp - GI Wp WI Bg Bo Rs Rv
(psia) MMSTB) (Mscf) (STB) (STB) (RB/ (RB/STB) (scf/STB) (STB/MM
Mscf) scf)
4,320 0 0 0 0 0.830 1.3647 710.0 23.9
4,225 800 1.300 108 1.8000 106 0.0000 0.845 1.3578 693.5 23.0
4,130 1650 2.690 108 9.2000 106 0.0000 0.860 1.3509 677.0 22.0
4,030 2380 4.260 108 1.9000 107 0.0000 0.875 1.3440 660.0 21.0
3,930 3110 6.120 10 8
3.2100 10 7
1.0200 10 7 0.890 1.3370 643.0 20.0
3,830 4420 9.810 108 1.6670 108 6.9230 108 0.910 1.3301 626.0 19.10
3,730 6500 1.760 109 1.0594 109 2.4747 109 0.930 1.3232 609.0 18.2
3,630 7490 2.381 109 1.8177 109 3.4785 109 0.950 1.3164 592.5 17.3
3,530 8270 3.083 109 2.7083 109 4.6465 109 0.970 1.3095 576.0 16.4

Table 6a
Pressure Bto Btg Eo Eg F ΔW
(psia) (RB/STB) (RB/scf) (RB/STB) (RB/scf) (res bbl) (STB)
4,320 1.36470 0.0008300 0.00000 0.0000000 0 0
4,225 1.37144 0.0008457 0.00674 0.0000157 7.3495E+08 -1800000
4,130 1.37871 0.0008615 0.01401 0.0000315 1.5142E+09 -9200000
4,030 1.38693 0.0008773 0.02223 0.0000473 2.2157E+09 -19000000
3,930 1.39559 0.0008930 0.03089 0.0000630 2.9445E+09 -21900000
3,830 1.40531 0.0009137 0.04061 0.0000837 4.2801E+09 525600000
3,730 1.41572 0.0009344 0.05102 0.0001044 6.5868E+09 1.415E+09
3,630 1.42648 0.0009550 0.06178 0.0001250 7.9329E+09 1.661E+09
3,530 1.43781 0.0009757 0.07311 0.0001457 9.2203E+09 1.938E+09
 60

Table 6b
(F-ΔW)/Eo Eg/Eo IDD ISD IWD IDD+ISD+IWD
(STB) (STB/scf)
- - - - - -
1.09231E+11 0.002329 0.20612 0.79804 -0.00245 1.00172
1.08711E+11 0.002247 0.20786 0.77643 -0.00608 0.97821
1.00509E+11 0.002125 0.22538 0.79643 -0.00858 1.01323
9.60249E+10 0.00204 0.23564 0.79928 -0.00744 1.02748
9.24638E+10 0.002061 0.21308 0.73023 0.12280 1.06611
1.01356E+11 0.002045 0.17398 0.59168 0.21487 0.98053
1.01528E+11 0.002024 0.17491 0.58855 0.20935 0.97281
9.95995E+10 0.001993 0.17810 0.59005 0.21021 0.97836

Step 2. From the slope and intercept of Figure 5, the OOIP and OGIP are
m  G fgi  37.344 Tscf and b  N foi  22.460 billion STB.
This gives
G  G fgi  N foi R si  37.344 1012  22.460 109  710
 53.2911012 scf  53.291 Tscf
N  N foi  G fgi Rvi  22.460 109  37.344 1012  23.9 106
 23.352 109 STB  23.352 billion STB
The gas-cap/oil-zone ratio, r , is determined by
G fgi B gi 37.344 1012  0.00083
r   1.011
N foi Boi 22.460 109 1.3647
1.12000E+11 y = 3.7344E+13x + 2.2460E+10
1.10000E+11 R² = 0.6096
1.08000E+11
(F-ΔW)/Eo, STB

1.06000E+11
1.04000E+11
1.02000E+11
1.00000E+11
9.80000E+10
9.60000E+10
9.40000E+10
9.20000E+10
9.00000E+10
0.0019 0.002 0.0021 0.0022 0.0023 0.0024
Eg/Eo, STB/scf

Figure 4: (F-ΔW)/Eo vs. Eg/Eo

 61

Step 3. The Pirson drive indices are calculated with the following; Table 6 shows the
results at each pressure.
N  Eo G fgi  E g W
I DD  foi I SD  IWD 
F F F
The gas-cap drive starts out at almost 80% of the drive mechanism but drops to
approximately 59% when the water flood is established. By this time, the water drive is
contributing 21% to the production mechanism and the solution-gas drive is contributing
almost 18%, down from the initial 20.6%.

Home Work: Resolve the Example 3 using Plot 2.

Predicting Oil Reservoir Performance

 Most reservoir engineering calculations involve the use of the material balance
equation. Some of the most useful applications of the MBE require the concurrent use
of fluid flow equations, e.g., Darcy’s equation.
 Combining the two concepts would enable the engineer to predict the reservoir future
production performance as a function of time. Prediction of the reservoir future
performance is ordinarily performed in the following two phases:
Phase 1. Predicting cumulative hydrocarbon production as a function of declining
reservoir pressure. This stage is accomplished without regard to:
• Actual number of wells
• Location of wells
• Production rate of individual wells
• Time required to deplete the reservoir

Phase 2. The second stage of prediction is the time-production phase. In these

calculations, the reservoir performance data, as calculated from Phase 1, are correlated
with time. It is necessary in this phase to account for the number of wells and the
productivity of each well.

Phase 1. Reservoir Performance Prediction Methods

The material balance equation in its various mathematical forms as presented in the
previous chapter is designed to provide estimates of the initial oil in- place N, size of the
gas cap m, and water influx We. To use the MBE to predict the reservoir future
performance, it requires two additional relations:
• Equation of producing (instantaneous) gas-oil ratio
• Equation for relating saturations to cumulative oil production
These auxiliary mathematical expressions are presented as follows.

Instantaneous Gas-Oil Ratio

The produced gas-oil ratio (GOR) at any particular time is the ratio of the standard cubic
feet of total gas (free gas and solution gas ) being produced at any time to the stock-tank
 62

barrels of oil being produced at that same instant. Hence, the name instantaneous gas-oil
ratio. The GOR describes mathematically by the following expression:
 k  dp
qo  0.00708(rhk )  ro 
 o B o  dr
 k rg  dp qo R s  q g qg
q g  0.00708(rhk )   GOR   Rs 
 B
 g g  dr qo qo
 k rg   o B o 
GOR  R s      (1)
 k ro 
 g g  B
Where,
GOR = “instantaneous” gas-oil ratio, scf/STB
Rs = gas solubility, scf /STB
qg = free gas flow rate, scf /day
qo = oil flow rate, STB/day
B o = oil formation volume factor, bbl/STB
B g = gas formation volume factor, bbl/ scf,
kro, and krg = relative permeability to oil and gas, md
µo, and µg = viscosity to oil and gas, cp
k = absolute permeability, md

 The instantaneous GOR equation is of fundamental importance in reservoir analysis.

The importance of Equation 1 can appropriately be discussed in conjunction with
Figures 1 and 2. These illustrations show the history of the gas-oil ratio of a
hypothetical depletion-drive reservoir that is typically characterized by the following
points:

Point 1. When the reservoir pressure p is above the bubble-point pressure pb, there is no
free gas in the formation, i.e., krg = 0, and therefore:
GOR = Rsi = Rsb
The gas-oil ratio remains constant at Rsi until the pressure reaches the bubble-point
pressure at Point 2.
Point 2. As the reservoir pressure declines below pb, the gas begins to evolve from
solution and its saturation increases. This free gas, however, cannot flow until the gas
saturation Sg reaches the critical gas saturation Sgc at Point 3. From Point 2 to Point 3, the
instantaneous GOR is described by a decreasing gas solubility as:
GOR = Rs
Point 3. At Point 3, the free gas begins to flow with the oil and the values of GOR are
progressively increasing with the declining reservoir pressure to Point 4. During this
pressure decline period, the GOR is described by Equation 1.
Point 4. At Point 4, the maximum GOR is reached due to the fact that the supply of gas
has reached a maximum and marks the beginning of the blow-down period to Point 5.
 63

Point 5. This point indicates that all the producible free gas has been produced and the
GOR is essentially equal to the gas solubility.
There are three types of gas-oil ratios, all expressed in scf/STB, which must be clearly
distinguished from each other. These are:
• Instantaneous GOR (defined by Equation 1)
• Solution GOR
• Cumulative GOR

The solution gas-oil ratio is a PVT property of the crude oil system. It is commonly
referred to as gas solubility and denoted by Rs. It measures the tendency of the gas to
dissolve in or evolve from the oil with changing pressures. It should be pointed out that
as long as the evolved gas remains immobile, i.e., gas saturation Sg is less than the critical
gas saturation, the instantaneous GOR is equal to the gas solubility, i.e.: GOR = Rs
The cumulative gas-oil ratio Rp, as defined previously in the material balance equation,
should be clearly distinguished from the producing (instantaneous) gas-oil ratio (GOR).
The cumulative gas-oil ratio is defined as:
cumulative (Total ) gas produced G p
Rp  
cumulative oil produced Np
 GOR 1  GOR 2 
G p     N p 2  N p 1   GOR avg N p
 2 
G p   GOR avg N p
0

Figure 1: Characteristics of solution-gas-drive reservoirs.

 64

Figure 2: History of GOR and Rs for a solution-gas-drive reservoir.

Example:
The following production data are available on a depletion-drive reservoir:
P, psi GOR, scf/STB Np, MMSTB
2925 (pi) 1340 0
2600 1340 1.380
2400 1340 2.260
2100 (pb) 1340 3.445
1800 1936 7.240
1500 3584 12.029
1200 6230 15.321

Calculate cumulative gas produced Gp and cumulative gas-oil ratio at each pressure.
Solution:
P, GOR, (GOR)avg, Np, ΔNp, ΔGp Gp Rp
psi scf/STB scf/STB MMSTB MMSTB MMscf MMscf scf/STB
2925 1340 1340 0 0 0 0 -
2600 1340 1340 1.380 1.380 1849 1849 1340
2400 1340 1340 2.260 0.880 1179 3028 1340
2100 1340 1340 3.445 1.185 1588 4616 1340
1800 1936 1638 7.240 3.795 6216 10,832 1496
1500 3584 2760 12.029 4.789 13,618 24,450 2033
1200 6230 4907 15.321 3.292 16,154 40,604 2650
 65

The Reservoir Saturation Equations

 The saturation of a fluid (gas, oil, or water) in the reservoir is defined as the volume
of the fluid divided by the pore volume, or:
gas volume water volume oil volume
Sg = Sw = So = (1)
pore volume pore volume pore volume
Where,
So = oil saturation
Sg = gas saturation
Sw = water saturation
Volume of oil + Volume of gas + Volume of water = pore volume
So + Sg + Sw =1

 Consider a volumetric oil reservoir with no gas cap that contains N stock-tank barrels
of oil at the initial reservoir pressure pi. Assuming no water influx gives:
S oi  1  S wi
Where the subscript i indicates initial reservoir condition. From the definition of oil
saturation:
N Boi N Boi
1 - Swi = pore volume = (2)
pore volume 1 - Swi
 If the reservoir has produced Np stock-tank barrels of oil, the remaining oil volume is
given by:
remaining oil volume   N  N p  B o (3)
Substituting Equations 3 and 2 into Equation 1 gives:
N  N  B  N  Bo
So = 1 - Swi  1  p
p o
So = or  (4)
 N Boi   N  Boi
 
 1 - Swi 
Example:
A volumetric solution-gas-drive reservoir has an initial water saturation of 20%. The
initial oil formation volume factor is reported at 1.5 bbl/STB. When 10% of the initial oil
was produced, the value of Bo decreased to 1.38. Calculate the oil saturation and gas
saturation.
Solution:
 N B  1.38 
So = 1 - Swi  1  p  o  1 - 0.2 1  0.1    0.662
 N  Boi  1.50 
S g  1  So  Swi  1  0.662  0.20  0.138
 Equation 4 suggests that all the remaining oil saturation be distributed uniformly
throughout the reservoir. If water influx, gas-cap expansion, or gas-cap shrinking has
occurred, the oil saturation equation, i.e., Equation 4, must be adjusted to account for
oil trapped in the invaded regions.
 66

Oil saturation adjustment for water influx

The proposed oil saturation adjustment methodology is illustrated in Figure 3 and
described by the following steps:
Step 1. Calculate the pore volume in the water-invaded region, as:
W e W p Bw   PV
. water 1  Swi  S orw 
W e W p Bw
 P .V water 
1  S wi 
(5)
 S orw
Where,
(P.V)water = pore volume in water-invaded zone, bbl
Sorw = residual oil saturated in the imbibition water oil system

Step 2. Calculate oil volume in the water-invaded zone, or:

Volume of oil   PV
. water S orw (6)
Step 3. Adjust Equation 4 to account for the trapped oil by using Equations 5 and 6:
 W e W p Bw 
N  N p  B o  
1  S  S   S orw
So =  wi orw 
 N Boi   W e W p Bw  (7)
  
 1 - S wi   1  S wi  S orw  

Figure 3: Oil saturation adjusted for water influx.

Oil saturation adjustment for gas-cap expansion

The oil saturation adjustment procedure is illustrated in Figure 4and summarized below:
Step 1. Assuming no gas is produced from the gas cap, calculate the net expansion of the
gas cap, from:
 67

 Bg 
Expansion of the gas cap  m N B oi  1 
B 
 gi 

Figure 4: Oil saturation adjustment for gas-cap expansion.

Step 2. Calculate the pore volume of the gas-invaded zone, (P.V)gas, by solving the
following simple material balance:
 Bg 
m N B oi 
B
 1    PV

. gas 1  S wi  S org 
 gi 
B 
m N B oi  g  1 
B 
 
 PV.  gas 
gi

1  Swi  S org  (8)

Where,
(P.V)gas = pore volume of the gas-invaded zone
Sorg = residual oil saturation in gas-oil system

Step 3. Calculate the volume of oil in the gas-invaded zone.

Oil volume   PV
. gas S org (9)
Step 4. Adjust Equation 4 to account for the trapped oil in the gas expansion zone by
using Equations 8 and 9, to give:
 68

  Bg 
 m N B oi  1  

 B gi S
 N  N p  Bo   1  S  S 
  wi org   org

 
So =
 N Boi   m N B oi  Bg 
 
    1 
 1 - Swi   1  S wi  S org    B gi



Oil saturation adjustment for combination drive

For a combination-drive reservoir, i.e., water influx and gas cap, the oil saturation
equation as given by Equation 4 can be adjusted to account for both driving mechanisms,
as:
  Bg  
 m N B oi   1  S org 
 B gi  W e W p Bw  S orw 
 N  N p  Bo     
 1  S wi  S org  1  S wi  S orw  

 
So =
  Bg  
 oi    
 
m N B 1
 N Boi   B 
  W W B 

gi e p w

 1 - Swi   1  S wi  S org  1  S wi  S orw  
 
Oil saturation adjustment for shrinking gas cap
 Cole (1969) points out that the control of the gas-cap size is very often a reliable
guide to the efficiency of reservoir operations. A shrinking gas cap will cause the loss
of a substantial amount of oil, which might otherwise be recovered.
 Normally, there is little or no oil saturation in the gas cap, and if the oil migrates into
the original gas zone, there will necessarily be some residual oil saturation remaining
in this portion of the gas cap at abandonment.
 A shrinking gas cap can be controlled by either shutting in wells that are producing
large quantities of gas-cap gas or by returning some of the produced gas back to the
gas cap portion of the reservoir.
 If the size of the original gas cap is mNBoi, then the expansion of the original free gas
resulting from reducing the pressure from pi to p is:
Expansion of the original gas cap  m N B oi  B g B gi   1
 69

 Assuming no original oil saturation in the gas zone, the oil that will be lost is
essentially the residual oil saturation remaining at abandonment. If the cumulative gas
production from the gas cap is Gpc, scf, the volume of the gas-cap shrinkage as
expressed in barrels is equal to:
Gas  cap shrinkage  G pc B g  m N B oi  B g B gi   1
 From the volumetric equation:
G pc B g  m N B oi  B g B gi   1  7758 A h  1  S wi  S gr 
Where,
A = average cross-sectional area of the gas-oil contact, acres
h = average change in depth of the gas-oil contact, feet
Sgr = residual gas saturation in the shrinking zone

 The volume of oil lost as a result of oil migration to the gas cap can also be calculated
from the volumetric equation as follows:
Oil lost  7758 A h S org Boa
Where,
Sorg = residual oil saturation in the gas-cap shrinking zone
Boa = oil FVF at abandonment
 Combining the above relationships and eliminating the term 7758 A h φ, give the
following expression for estimating the volume of oil in barrels lost in the gas cap:
  Bg 
G pc B g  m N B oi   1  S org


  B gi  
Oil lost 
1  Swi  S gr  Boa
Where,
Gpc = cumulative gas production for the gas cap, scf
Bg = gas FVF, bbl/scf

 All the methodologies that have been developed to predict the future reservoir
performance are essentially based on employing and combining the above
relationships that include the:
• MBE
• Saturation equations
• Instantaneous GOR
• Equation relating the cumulative gas-oil ratio to the instantaneous GOR
 Using the above information, it is possible to predict the field primary recovery
performance with declining reservoir pressure. There are three methodologies that are
widely used in the petroleum industry to perform a reservoir study. Most are trial-
and-error or iterative producers, and these are:
• Tracy’s method
 70

• Muskat’s method
• Tarner’s method
 These methods yield essentially the same results when small intervals of pressure or
time are used. The methods can be used to predict the performance of a reservoir
under any driving mechanism, including:
• Solution-gas drive
• Gas-cap drive
• Water drive
• Combination drive
 The practical use of all the techniques is illustrated in predicting the primary recovery
performance of a volumetric solution-gas-drive reservoir.
 Using the appropriate saturation equation, e.g., Equation 7 for a water-drive reservoir,
any of the available reservoir prediction techniques could be applied to other
reservoirs operating under different driving mechanisms.
 The following two cases of the solution-gas-drive reservoir are considered:
• Solution gas drive reservoirs above the bubble-point (Undersaturated-Oil Reservoirs)
• Solution gas drive reservoirs below the bubble-point (saturated-Oil Reservoirs)

Solution gas drive reservoirs above the bubble-point (Undersaturated-Oil

Reservoirs)

 When the reservoir pressure is above the bubble-point pressure of the crude oil
system, the reservoir is considered undersaturated. The general material balance is
expressed in the following equation:
N p  B o  (R p  R s ) B g   W e  W p Bw   G inj B ginj W inj Bwi
N 
B  S c  cf 
B o  B oi  m B oi  g  1  (R si  R s ) B g  B oi 1  m   wi w  P
B  
 gi   1 S wi 
 For a volumetric undersaturated reservoir with no fluid injection, the following
conditions are observed:
m=0 We = 0 Rs = Rsi = Rp
Imposing the above conditions on the MBE reduces the equation to the following
simplified form:
N p Bo
N  (10)
S c  cf 
B o  B oi  B oi  wi w  P
 1  S wi 
With
Δp = pi − p
Where,
pi = initial reservoir pressure
p = current reservoir pressure
 71

 Hawkins (1955) introduced the oil compressibility co into the MBE to further
simplify the equation. The oil compressed is defined by the following equation:
1 B o  B oi
co   B o  B oi  co B oi P
B oi P
 Combining the above expression with Equation 10 gives:
N p Bo N p Bo
N  
 S c  cf   S c c 
co B oi P  B oi  wi w  P B oi co  wi w  f  P
 1  S wi   1  S wi 1  S wi 
(11)
 Since there are only two fluids in the reservoir, i.e., oil and water, then:
Soi + Swi = 1 Soi = 1- Swi (12)
 Hawkins (1955) defined the effective compressibility as:
S oi co  S wi cw  c f
ce  (13)
1  S wi
ce = Effective compressibility, psi-1, which accounts for the compressibilities of oil,
water, and reservoir.
Combining Equations 11, 12, and 13, the MBE above the bubble-point pressure becomes:
N p Bo N p Bo
N  
B oi ce  Pi  P 
(14)
B oi ce P
Equation 14 can be expressed as an equation of a straight line by:
 1 
P  Pi    N p Bo (15)
 NB oi ce 
Figure 5 indicates that the reservoir pressure will decrease linearly with cumulative
reservoir voidage Np Bo. However, if a good estimate for N is available, rearranging
Equation 15 and solving for the cumulative oil production Np gives:
B 
N p  Nce  oi  P (16)
 Bo 
 The calculation of future reservoir production, therefore, does not require a trial-and-
error procedure, but can be obtained directly from the Equation 16. In this way,
cumulative oil production may be predicted between the initial and bubblepoint
pressures.
 72

Figure 5: Pressure voidage relationship.

Example:
The following data are available on a volumetric undersaturated-oil reservoir:
pi = 4000 psi pb = 3000 psi N = 85 MMSTB cf = 5 × 10-6 psi-1
co = 15 × 10-6 psi-1 cw = 3 × 10-6 psi-1 Swi = 30% Boi = 1.40 bbl/STB
Estimate cumulative oil production when the reservoir pressure drops to 3500 psi. The oil
formation volume factor at 3500 psi is 1.414 bbl/STB.
Solution
Step 1. Determine the effective compressibility.
S oi co  S wi cw  c f 0.7 15 106  0.3  3 106  5 106
ce    23.43 106 psi 1
1  S wi 1  0.3
Step 2. Estimate Np.
B  6  1.400 
N p  Nce  oi  P  85 10  23.43 10    4000  3500 
6

 Bo   1.414 
 985.91 MSTB
Solution gas drive reservoirs below the bubble-point (saturated-Oil Reservoirs)
 If the reservoir originally exists at its bubble-point pressure, the reservoir is referred
to as a saturated-oil reservoir. This is considered as the second type of the solution-
gas-drive reservoir. As the reservoir pressure declines below the bubble-point, the gas
begins to evolve from solution.
 The general MBE may be simplified by assuming that the expansion of the gas is
much greater than the expansion of rock and initial water and, therefore, can be
 73

neglected. For a volumetric and saturated-oil reservoir with no fluid injection, the
MBE can be expressed by:
N p B o  (G p  N p R s ) B g
N 
B o  B oi  (R si  R s ) B g
The above material balance equation contains two unknowns, which are:
• Cumulative oil production Np
• Cumulative gas production Gp
 The following reservoir and PVT data must be available in order to predict the
primary recovery performance of a depletion-drive reservoir in terms of Np and Gp:
a. Initial oil-in-place N
Generally, the volumetric estimate of in-place oil is used in calculating the
performance. Where there is sufficient solution-gas-drive history, however, this
estimate may be checked by calculating a material-balance estimate.
b. Hydrocarbon PVT data
Since differential gas liberation is assumed to best represent the conditions in the
reservoir, differential laboratory PVT data should be used in reservoir material
balance. The flash PVT data are then used to convert from reservoir conditions to
stock-tank conditions.
If laboratory data are not available, reasonable estimates may sometimes be obtained
from published correlations. If differential data are not available, the flash data may be
used instead; however, this may result in large errors for high-solubility crude oils.
c. Initial fluid saturations
Initial fluid saturations obtained from a laboratory analysis of core data are preferred;
however, if these are not available, estimates in some cases may be obtained from a
well-log analysis or may be obtained from other reservoirs in the same or similar
formations.
d. Relative permeability data
Generally, laboratory-determined kg/ko and kro data are averaged to obtain a single
representative set for the reservoir. If laboratory data are not available, estimates in
some cases may be obtained from other reservoirs in the same or similar formations.
Where there is sufficient solution-gas-drive history for the reservoir, calculate (krg/kro)
values versus saturation from the following equations:
 N B
So = 1 - Swi  1  p  o
 N  Boi
This equation assumes: (1) the connate water saturation, Swi, is immobile an
unchanging, (2) N is the oil in place at bubblepoint, (3) Np is cumulative production
from the bubblepoint, and Boi = Bob.
 g B g 
k rg k ro  GOR  R s   
 o B o 
 All the techniques that are used to predict the future performance of a reservoir are
based on combining the appropriate MBE with the instantaneous GOR using the
proper saturation equation. The calculations are repeated at a series of assumed
 74

reservoir pressure drops. These calculations are usually based on one stock-tank barrel
of oil-in-place at the bubble-point pressure, i.e., N = 1. This avoids carrying large
numbers in the calculation procedure and permits calculations to be made on the basis
of the fractional recovery of initial oil-in-place.
 There are several widely used techniques that were specifically developed to predict
the performance of solution-gas-drive reservoirs, including:
• Tracy’s method
• Muskat’s method
• Tarner’s method

Tracy’s Method
 Above the bubblepoint, the Tracy model is not needed. Equation 16 is used down to
Pb. the Tracy method is normally started at the bubblepoint pressure, but may be begun
below Pb.
 Tracy (1955) suggests that the general material balance equation can be rearranged and
expressed in terms of three functions of PVT variables. Tracy’s arrangement is given
below:
N  N p o  G p  g  (W p Bw W e )w (17)
Where Φo, Φg, and Φw are considered PVT-related properties that are functions of
pressure and defined by:
Bo  Rs B g Bg 1
o  g  w 
Den Den Den
 Bg 
Den   B o  B oi    R si  R s  B g  mB oi   1 (18)
 B gi 
 For a solution-gas-drive reservoir, If there is no water production or influx, Equations
17 and 18 are reduced to the following expressions, respectively:
N  N p o  G p  g (19)
Den   Bo  Boi    R si  R s  B g
 Phi factors can be calculated at all desired pressures using data from a reservoir fluid
analysis. Tracy’s calculations are performed in series of pressure drops that proceed
from a known reservoir condition at the previous reservoir pressure p* to the new
assumed lower pressure p. The calculated results at the new reservoir pressure
become “known” at the next assumed lower pressure.
 The difference between successive pressure, the pressure decrement, is normally in
the range of 25 to 300 psi, but should not be greater than 10% of the starting pressure.
 In progressing from the conditions at any pressure p* to the lower reservoir pressure
p, consider that the incremental oil and gas production are ΔNp and ΔGp, or:
N p  N p  N p (20)
 75

G p  G p  G p (21)
Where
N p , G p = “known” cumulative oil and gas production at previous pressure level p*, STB
Np, Gp = “unknown” cumulative oil and gas at new pressure level p, STB
ΔNp, ΔGp = incremental cumulative oil and gas production between p* and p, STB

Replacing Np and Gp in Equation 19 with those of Equations 20 and 21 gives:

N   N p  N p  o  G p  G p   g (22)
Define the average instantaneous GOR between the two pressures p* and p by:
GOR   GOR
GOR avg  (23)
2
G p  GOR avg N p (24)
Replacing ΔGp in Equation 24 with that of 22 gives:


N   N p  N p  o  G p  GOR avg N p  g  (25)
If Equation 25 is expressed for N = 1, the cumulative oil production Np and cumulative
gas production Gp become fractions of initial oil in-place. Rearranging Equation 25
gives:
1   N p o  G p  g 
N p 
o  GOR avg  g
(26)

Equation 26 shows that there are essentially two unknowns, the incremental cumulative
oil production ΔNP and the average gas-oil ratio (GOR)avg.
Tracy suggested the following alternative technique for solving Equation 26.
Step 1. Select an average reservoir pressure p.
Step 2. Calculate the values of the PVT functions Φo and Φg.
Step 3. Estimate the GOR at the end of the pressure step (at p).
Step 4. Calculate the average instantaneous GOR (GOR)avg = (GOR* + GOR)/2.
Step 5. Calculate the incremental cumulative oil production ΔNp from Equation 26.
Step 6. Calculate cumulative oil production Np from Equation 20.
Step 7. Calculate the oil and gas saturations at selected average reservoir pressure by
using the following Equations as:

So = 1 - Swi  1  N p   N  Bo
Bo
Boi SL =Swi  1 - Swi  1  p 
 N  Boi
Sg  1  So  Swi
Step 8. Based on the average liquid saturaton, SL, determine krg/kro from the reservoir
krg/kro relationship or Obtain the relative permeability ratio krg/kro at Sg.
Step 9. Calculate the instantaneous GOR from Equation 1.
 76

 k rg   o B o 
GOR  R s     
 ro    g B g
k 
Step 10. Compare the estimated GOR in Step 3 with the calculated GOR in Step 9. If the
calculated GOR is the same as the estimated GOR (Step 3), then the estimate was correct.
If the calculated GOR is within the 10% of the estimated GOR, then use the calculated
GOR and continue to step 11. If the calculated GOR differs from the estimated value by
more than 10%, then use the calculated GOR and repeat the calculations from Step 3.
Step 11. Calculate the cumulative gas production to the end of pressure decrement using
incremental oil production and average GOR.
G p  G p  GOR avg N p
Step 12. Since results of the calculations are based on 1 STB of oil initially in place, a
final check on the accuracy of the prediction should be made on the MBE, or:
Np Φo + Gp Φg = 1 ± tolerance
If the calculated N is within this tolerance, the convergence has been achieved. If not,
then check for errors in the calculations, and go back to step 3 using the last calculated
GOR.

Note: Calculated the original oil in place (as check):

N = Np Φo + Gp Φg
This calculated N should be within 0.1% (with a computer) of the actual N.
N actual  N step 12
 0.001
N actual
Step 13. Repeat from Step 1.
Example:
The following PVT data characterize a solution-gas-drive reservoir.
P, psi Bo, bbl/STB Bg, bbl/scf Rs, scf/STB
4350 1.43 6.9 10 4 840
4150 1.420 7.1 10 4 820
3950 1.395 7.4 10 4 770
4
3750 1.380 7.8 10 730
3550 1.360 8.1 10 4 680
4
3350 1.345 8.5 10 640
The following additional data are available:
pi = pb = 4350 psi Swi = 30% N = 15 MMSTB k rg k ro  1.7 104
μo = 1.7 cp μg = 0.023 cp
Predict the cumulative oil and gas production to 3,350 psi.
 77

Solution:
Asample of the Tracy’s calculation procedure is performed at 4,150 psi.
Step 1. Calculate Tracy’s PVT functions at 4,150.
• Calculate the term Den:
Den   Bo  Boi    R si  R s  B g  1.42  1.43  840  820  7.1104   0.0042

Calculate Φo and Φg
1.42  820  7.1104 
Bo  Rs B g
o     199
Den 0.0042
Bg 7.1104
g    0.17
Den 0.0042
Similarly, these PVT variables are calculated for all other pressures to give:

P, psi Φo Φg
4350 - -
4150 199 0.17
3950 49 0.044
3750 22.6 0.022
3550 13.6 0.014
3350 9.42 0.010
Step 2. Assume a value for the GOR at 4,150 psi as 850 scf/STB.
Step 3. Calculate the average GOR.
840  850
GOR avg   845 scf STB
2
Step 4. Calculate the incremental cumulative oil production ΔNp.
1   N p o  G p  g  1 0
N p    0.00292 STB
o  GOR avg  g 199  845  0.17
Step 5. Calculate the cumulative oil production Np.
N p  N p  N p  0  0.00292  0.00292
Step 6. Calculate oil and gas saturations.

So = 1  N p 
Bo 1.42
1 - Swi   1 - 0.00292  1  0.3  0.693
Boi 1.43
Sg  1  Swi  So  1  0.3  0.693  0.007
Step 8. Calculate the instantaneous GOR.
 78

 k rg   o B o  4  1.7 1.42 
GOR  R s      820  1.7 10   4 
 k ro    g B g   0.023  7.110 
 845 scf / STB

Step 9. Calculate cumulative gas production.

Gp = 0 + (0.00292) (850) = 2.48

Complete results of the method are shown below:

P, ΔNp Np (GOR)avg ΔGp Gp, N p  15 106 N G p  15 106 N
psi scf/STB STB scf
4350 - - - - - - -
4150 0.00292 0.00292 845 2.48 2.48 0.0438 106 37.2 106
3950 0.00841 0.0110 880 7.23 9.71 0.165 106 145.65 106
3750 0.0120 0.0230 1000 12 21.71 0.180 106 325.65 106
3550 0.0126 0.0356 1280 16.1 37.81 0.538 106 567.17 106
3350 0.011 0.0460 1650 18.20 56.01 0.669 106 840 106

Decline Curve Analysis

Introduction:
Decline curves are one of the most extensively used forms of data analysis
employed in evaluating oil reserves or gas reserves and predicting future production.

Decline curve analysis is a means of predicting future oil well or gas well
production based on past production history. Production decline curve analysis is a
traditional means of identifying well production problems and predicting well
performance and life based on measure oil well production. Typically decline curve
analysis is conducted on a plot of rate versus time or rate versus cumulative production.

The decline curve analysis technique is based on the assumption that past
production trends and their controlling factors will continue in the future and, therefore,
can be extrapolated and described by a mathematical expression. The method of
extrapolating a trend for the purpose of estimating future performance must satisfy the
condition, that the factors that caused change in past performance, for example, decline in
the flow rate, will operate in the same way in the future. These decline curves are
characterized by three factors:
 Initial production rate or the rate at some particular time.
 Curvature of the decline.
 Rate of decline.
Decline curve analysis uses empirical decline models. These models include:
 Exponential decline.
 Harmonic decline.
 Hyperbolic decline.
 79

Each type of decline curve has a different curvature, as shown in Figure (1). This Figure
depicts the characteristic shape of each type of decline curve when flow rate is plotted
versus time or versus cumulative production on Cartesian, Semi – log and Log – log
scales. The main characteristics of these decline curves can be used to select the flow rate
decline model that is appropriate for describing the rate - time relationship of the
hydrocarbon system.

Figure (1): Classification of production decline curves. (After Arps, J.J.

“Estimation of Primary Oil Reserves,” Courtesy of Trans, AIME, vol. 207, 1956).

For exponential decline: A straight-line relationship will result when the flow rate
versus time is plotted on a semi-log scale and when the flow rate versus cumulative
production is plotted on a Cartesian scale.

For harmonic decline: Rate versus cumulative production is a straight line on a semi-log
scale; all other types of decline curves have some curvature.

For hyperbolic decline: None of the above plotting scales, that is,
Cartesian, semi-log, or log-log, will produce a straight-line relationship for a hyperbolic
decline.
These three models are related through the following relative decline rate equation:

1 𝑑𝑞
= −𝑏𝑞 𝑑
𝑞 𝑑𝑡
Where:
𝑞 = flow rate
𝑡 = time
𝑏 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑 = empirical constant to be determined based on production data
 80

When 𝑏 = 0 the above equation degenerate as to an exponential decline model, and when
𝑏 = 1, it yields a harmonic decline model. When 0 < 𝑏 < 1, it derives a hyperbolic
decline model.

Case b Rate–Time Relationship

Exponential b=0 q
qt  Dii t  q i e  Di t
e
qt  q i exp  Di t 
Hyperbolic 0<b<1 qi
qt 
1  bDi t 
1/ b

Harmonic b=1 qi
qt 
1  Di t 

Figure (2) illustrates the general shape of the three curves at different possible values of
b. These mathematical relations can be applied equally for gas and oil reservoirs.

Figure (2): Decline curve – rate / time

Exponential Decline, b = 0:
The graphical presentation of this type of decline curve indicates that a plot of flow rate
versus time on a semi-log scale or a plot of flow rate versus cumulative production on a
Cartesian scale will produce linear relationships that can be described mathematically by
𝑞𝑡 = 𝑞𝑖 𝑒 −𝑑𝑖 𝑡 (1)
And
𝑞𝑖 − 𝑞𝑡
𝑁𝑝 = (2)
𝑑𝑖
 81

This type of decline curve is perhaps the simplest to use and perhaps the most
conservative. It is widely used in the industry for the following reasons:
 Many wells follow a constant decline rate over a great portion of their productive
life and will deviate significantly from this trend toward the end of this period.
 The mathematics involved, as described by the line expressions just given, are
easier to apply than those for the other line types.

Assuming that the historical production from a well or field is recognized by its
exponential production-decline behavior, the following steps summarize the procedure to
predict the behavior of the well or the field as a function of time:
1. Plot flow rate versus cumulative production on a Cartesian scale and flow rate
versus time on semi-log paper.
2. For both plots, draw the best straight line through the points.
3. Extrapolate the straight line on flow rate versus cumulative production to
cumulative production = 0, which intercepts the y-axis with a flow rate value that
is identified as 𝑞𝑖 .
4. Calculate the initial decline rate, 𝑑𝑖 , by selecting a point on the Cartesian straight
line with a coordinate of (𝑞𝑡 ,𝐺𝑝𝑡 ) or on a semi-log line with a coordinate of (𝑞𝑡 ,t)
and solve for 𝑑𝑖 by applying Equation (1) or Equation (2).
5. Calculate the time it will take to reach the economic flow rate, and corresponding
cumulative gas production from Equations (3) and (4).
𝑞
𝑙𝑛 (𝑞 𝑖 )
𝑎
𝑡𝑎 = (3)
𝑑𝑖
𝑞𝑖 − 𝑞𝑎
𝑁𝑝𝑎 = (4)
𝑑𝑖

Harmonic Decline, b = 1:
The production-recovery performance of a hydrocarbon system that follows a harmonic
decline is described by Equations (5) and (6).

1 1 𝑑𝑖
= + ( )𝑡 (5)
𝑞𝑡 𝑞𝑖 𝑞𝑖
And
𝑑𝑖
𝑙𝑛(𝑞𝑡 ) = 𝑙𝑛(𝑞𝑖 ) − ( ) 𝑁𝑝(𝑡) (6)
𝑞𝑖
The basic two plots for harmonic decline-curve analysis are based on these two
1
relationships. Equation (5) indicates that a plot of 𝑞 versus t on a Cartesian scale will
𝑡
𝑑𝑖 1
yield a straight line with a slope of (𝑞 ) and an intercept of . Equation (6) suggests a
𝑖 𝑞𝑖
plot of 𝑞𝑡 versus 𝑁𝑝𝑡 on a semi-log scale and will yield a straight line with a negative
𝑑
slope of (− 𝑞𝑖 ) and an intercept of 𝑞𝑖 . Other relationships that can be derived from
𝑖
Equations (5) and (6) include the time to reach the economic flow rate and the
corresponding cumulative oil production:
 82

𝑞𝑖 − 𝑞𝑎
𝑡𝑎 = (7)
𝑞𝑎 𝑑𝑖

𝑞𝑖 𝑞𝑖
𝑁𝑝𝑎 = ( ) 𝑙𝑛 ( ) (8)
𝑑𝑖 𝑞𝑎

Hyperbolic Decline, 0 < b < 1:

The two governing relationships for a reservoir or a well whose production follows the
hyperbolic decline behavior are given by Equations (9) and (10).
𝑞𝑖
𝑞𝑡 = 1 − − − (9)
(1 + 𝑏𝑑𝑖 𝑡) ⁄𝑏
𝑞𝑖 𝑞𝑡 1−𝑏
𝑁𝑝𝑡 = [ ] [1 − ( ) ] − − − (10)
𝑑𝑖 (1 − 𝑏) 𝑞𝑖

The following simplified iterative method is designed to determine 𝑑𝑖 and b from the
historical production data:

1. Plot 𝑞𝑡 versus t on a semi-log scale and draw a smooth curve through the points.
2. Extend the curve to intercept the y-axis at t = 0 and read 𝑞𝑖 .
3. Select the other end point of the smooth curve, record the coordinates of the point,
and refer to it as (𝑡2 , 𝑞2 ).
4. Determine the coordinate of the middle point on the smooth curve that
corresponds to (𝑡1 , 𝑞1 )with the value of 𝑞1 , as obtained from the following
expression:
𝑞1 = √𝑞𝑖 𝑞2 (11)
The corresponding value of 𝑡1 is read from the smooth curve at 𝑞1 .
5. Solve the following equation iteratively for b:
bk bk
q  q 
f (b k )  t 2  i   t 1  i   t 2  t 1 
 q1   q2 
(12)
The Newton-Raphson iterative method can be employed to solve the previous nonlinear
function by using the following recursion technique:
k 1 f (b k )
b b  k

f (b k )
(13)
where the derivative, f '(bk), is given by
bk bk
q  q  q  q 
f (b )  t 2  i  ln  i   t 1  i  ln  i 
k
(14)
 q1   q1   q2   q2 
 83

Starting with an initial value of b = 0.5, that is, 𝑏𝑘 = 0.5, the method will usually
converge after 4 – 5 iterations when the convergence criterion is set at[𝑏 𝑘+1 − 𝑏 𝑘 ] ≤
10−6.
6. Solve for 𝑑𝑖 with Equation (9), by using the calculated value of b from Step 5 and
the coordinate of a point on the smooth graph.

Production plots
In the previous section, we disused four types of plots for analyzing and diagnosing
production declines. If any of these plots are linear, the slope, m, and intercept, b, can
be used as described previously to determine di and qi. This section summarizes the
plots and discusses their relative merits.
1. A plot of log qt vs. t is linear if the decline is exponential and concave upward if
the decline is hyperbolic (b > 0) or harmonic (b = 1).
2. A plot of log qt vs. Np is linear if the decline is exponential and concave upward if
the decline is hyperbolic (b > 0) or harmonic (b = 1).
3. A plot of log qt vs. Np is linear if the decline is harmonic and concave downward
if the decline is hyperbolic (b < 1) or exponential (b = 0) and concave upward if
the decline is hyperbolic with b > 1.
4. A plot of 1/ qt vs. t is linear if the decline is harmonic, concave upward if the
decline is hyperbolic (b < 1) or exponential, and concave downward if the decline
is hyperbolic with b > 1.
Polts 1 and 3 are the more common methods of presenting production data, and Plots
2 and 4 can be used to confirm trends observed there. Once again, these plots often
can be made to appear linear if too few points are used; therfore, at the least, Plots 1
and 3 should be used to avoid confusion.
Example (1):
Given:
𝑞𝑖 = 100 𝑏𝑏𝑙/𝑑𝑎𝑦
𝑞1 = 80 𝑏𝑏𝑙/𝑑𝑎𝑦 after 1 years
𝑞𝑎 = 10 𝑏𝑏𝑙/𝑑𝑎𝑦
Assuming exponential decline model, get d, 𝑁𝑃 and 𝑡𝑎 ?
Solution:
𝑏𝑏𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑏𝑙
𝑞𝑖 = 100 × 365 = 36500
𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
𝑏𝑏𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑏𝑙
𝑞1 = 80 × 365 = 29200
𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
𝑏𝑏𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑏𝑙
𝑞𝑎 = 10 × 365 = 3650
𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑞1 = 𝑞𝑖 𝑒 −𝑑𝑡1
𝑞𝑖 36500
∴ 𝑑 = 𝑙𝑛 ( ) /𝑡1 = 𝑙𝑛 ( ) /1
𝑞1 29200
𝑑 = 0.223 /𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
 84

𝑞𝑖 − 𝑞𝑎 36500 − 3650
𝑁𝑝 = = = 147309.4 𝑏𝑏𝑙
𝑑 0.223

𝑞𝑎 = 𝑞𝑖 𝑒 −𝑑𝑡𝑎
𝑞𝑖 36500
∴ 𝑡𝑎 = 𝑙𝑛 ( ) /𝑑 = 𝑙𝑛 ( ) /0.223
𝑞𝑎 3650
𝑡𝑎 = 10.32 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟
Example (2):
A well has an initial rate of 550 STB/D and an initial decline rate of 2% /month.
Determine the rate and cumulative production after 3 years for the following cases:
1- Exponential decline
2- Hyperbolic decline with b = 0.6
3- Harmonic decline
Solution:

1-
𝑞𝑡 = 𝑞𝑖 𝑒 −𝑑𝑖 𝑡 = 550 × 𝑒 (−0.02×12×3)
𝑞𝑡 = 267.7 STB/D
𝑞𝑖 − 𝑞𝑎 550 − 267.7
𝑁𝑝 = =
𝑑 0.02
(30.41667)
𝑁𝑝 = 429310 𝑆𝑇𝐵

2-
𝑞𝑖 550
𝑞𝑡 = =
(1 + 𝑏𝑑𝑖 𝑡) −(1/𝑏) (1 + 0.6 × 0.02 × 12 × 3)−(1/0.6)
𝑞𝑡 = 302.3 𝑆𝑇𝐵/𝐷
𝑞𝑖 𝑞𝑡 1−𝑏
𝑁𝑝 = [ ] [1 − ( ) ]
𝑑𝑖 (1 − 𝑏) 𝑞𝑖
550 × 30.41667 302.3 1−0.6
𝑁𝑝 = [ ] [1 − ( ) ]
0.02(1 − 0.6) 550
𝑁𝑝 = 445204 𝑆𝑇𝐵

3-
qi 550
qt = =
(1 + di t) (1 + 0.02 × 12 × 3)
𝑞𝑡 = 319.8 𝑆𝑇𝐵/𝐷
𝑞𝑖 𝑞𝑖 550 × 30.41667 550
𝑁𝑝 = 𝑙𝑛 ( ) = 𝑙𝑛 ( )
𝑑𝑖 𝑞𝑡 0.02 319.8
𝑁𝑝 = 453547 𝑆𝑇𝐵