Tishk International University
Engineering Faculty
Petroleum and Mining Department
Petroleum Reservoir Engineering I
Lecture 10: Material Balance Equation
(Gas Reservoirs)
3rd-Grade- Fall Semester 2022-2023
Instructor: Nabaz Ali
[email protected] Gas Reservoir
• Reservoirs containing only free gas are termed gas
reservoir.
• Such a reservoir containing a mixture of
hydrocarbons, which exists wholly in the gaseous
state.
• The mixture may be dry, wet, or condensate gas,
depending gas, on the composition of the gas, along
with the pressure and temperature at which the
accumulation exists.
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Gas Reservoir
• Gas Reservoirs: If the reservoir temperature 𝑻𝒓𝒆𝒔 is
greater than the critical temperature 𝑻𝒄 of the
hydrocarbon fluid, the reservoir is considered as a gas
reservoir.
• Based on the phase diagram and prevailing reservoir
conditions, natural gases can be classified into four
categories:
1. Retrograde gas-condensate
2. Near-Critical gas-condensate
3. Wet gas
4. Dry gas
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Gas Reservoir
• Gas reservoirs may have water influx from a contiguous
water-bearing portion of the formation or may be volumetric
(i.e., have no water influx)
• Volumetric Gas Reservoir: A volumetric gas reservoir is
completely enclosed by low-permeability or completely
impermeable barriers and does not receive pressure
support from external sources, such as an encroaching
aquifer.
• Non-volumetric Gas Reservoir: Gas reservoirs with water
influx from an aquifer are non-volumetric reservoirs and they
produce under the pressure support provided by the
encroaching water.
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Gas Reservoir
▪ Most gas engineering calculations involve the use of gas
formation volume factor 𝐵𝑔 and gas expansion factor 𝐸𝑔.
• Gas Formation Volume Factor (𝐵𝑔): is defined as the
actual volume occupied by n moles of gas at a specified
pressure and temperature, divided by the volume
occupied by the same amount of gas at standard
conditions.
• Gas Expansion Factor (𝐸𝑔): is simply the reciprocal of 𝐵𝑔.
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Gas Reservoir
▪ Through this lecture and the next lecture two approaches
for estimating initial gas- in-place G, gas reserves, and
the gas recovery for volumetric and water-drive
mechanisms:
• Volumetric method
• Material balance approach
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Content
❑The Material Balance Method
• Form 1. In terms of p/z
• Form 2. In terms of 𝐵𝑔
❑Application of Material Balance Method
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Gas Reservoir
❑The Material Balance Method
▪ If enough production-pressure history is available for a gas reservoir,
the initial gas- in-place G, the initial reservoir pressure 𝑝𝑖, and the
gas reserves can be calculated without knowing A, h, ɸ, or 𝑆𝑤.
▪ This is accomplished by forming a mass or mole balance on the gas
as:
………..(1)
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Gas Reservoir
❑ The Material Balance Method
▪ Representing the gas
reservoir by an idealized
gas container, as shown
schematically in the figure,
the gas moles in equation
(1) can be replaced by their
equivalents using the real
gas law to give:
………..(2)
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Gas Reservoir
❑The Material Balance Method
………..(2)
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Gas Reservoir
❑The Material Balance Method
▪ Equation (2) is essentially the general material balance
equation (MBE).
▪ Equation (2) can be expressed in numerous forms depending
on the type of the application and the driving mechanism.
▪ In general, dry gas reservoirs can be classified into two
categories:
▪ Volumetric gas reservoirs
▪ Water-drive gas reservoirs
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Volumetric Gas Reservoirs
▪ For a volumetric reservoir and assuming no water production, equation
(2) is reduced to:
………..(3)
(3)
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Volumetric Gas Reservoir
(3)
……….(4)
Volumetric Gas Reservoir
▪ Equation (4) is an equation
of a straight line when (p/z)
is plotted versus the
cumulative gas production
𝐺𝑝, as shown in the figure.
▪ This straight-line relationship
is perhaps one of the most
widely used relationships in
gas-reserve determination.
Volumetric Gas Reservoir
▪ The straight-line relationship
provides the engineer with
reservoir characteristics:
▪ Slope of the straight line is
equal to:
……..(5)
Volumetric Gas Reservoir
▪ The straight-line relationship
provides the engineer with
reservoir characteristics:
▪ The original gas volume V can
be calculated from the slope
and used to determine the
areal extent of the reservoir
from:
Volumetric Gas Reservoir
▪ The straight-line relationship
provides the engineer with
reservoir characteristics:
Volumetric Gas Reservoir
Example: A volumetric gas reservoir has the following production history.
Volumetric Gas Reservoir
The Figure
Volumetric Gas Reservoir
Volumetric Gas Reservoir
Bg
…………..(6)
(6) (3)
…………..(7)
Volumetric Gas Reservoir
Volumetric Gas Reservoir
(7)
