CHAPTER-5

BASIC RESERVOIR ENGINEERING

Introduction:
Reservoir engineering is that part of petroleum engineering which deals with transfer of fluids to, from, or within natural underground reservoirs. Over the years, it has evolved as it became apparent that maximum recovery could be achieved only by controlling reservoir behaviour as a whole. The individual wells were relegated to a more or less secondary role as they came to be regarded as mechanical devices for controlling reservoir behaviour. A comprehensive understanding of the reservoir in terms of rock, fluids and their interrelationship is a must to predict its future behaviour under the various producing mechanisms which are, or may become available. The economics of various operating plans is an integral part of any reservoir engineering study. A study of the recovery to be expected from various operating plans, along with an economic analysis of these plans, will determine the need for pressure maintenance, secondary recovery, cycling or other operations. Since the E&P companies are in business to make profits, the usual objective is the realization of maximum profit, and not necessarily the maximum recovery from the reservoir. Reservoir engineering thus may be defined as art of developing and producing hydrocarbon fluids in such a manner as to obtain a high economic recovery. The various tools of reservoir engineer are: Sub-surface Geology Applied Mathematics Basic laws of Physics & Chemistry governing behaviour of liquid and vapour phases of crude oil, natural gas and water in reservoir rocks. Ultimately reservoir engineering concerns all petroleum engineers from drilling engineer with mud program to completion engineer designing tubing string for life of well. This part of the manual deals with introduction to reservoir rocks, fluids and various operating drive mechanisms which result in expulsion of hydrocarbons from reservoirs. EOR methods involving various efforts to achieve additional recoveries under technoeconomical scenarios are also discussed

A. Reservoir Rock Properties

The three most important concepts in reservoir engineering concern certain physical properties of the reservoir rock and the distribution of fluids within the pores of the reservoir rock. These properties are; Porosity Permeability Fluid saturation

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Porosity: Porosity is a measure of the space in a reservoir rock which is not occupied by the solid framework of the rock. It is defined as the fraction of the total bulk volume of the rock not occupied by solids. This can be expressed as: (Total Bulk Volume Volume Occupied by Solids) a = ------------------------------------------------------------------------ X 100 Total Bulk Volume

or Pore Volume a = -------------------------------- X 100 Total Bulk Volume where a = Porosity, percent

a is called Absolute porosity and is generally expressed in %.

As the rocks have been formed during past geologic time, some of the void spaces which developed became isolated from the other void spaces by excessive cementation. This leads to two distinct types of porosity, depending upon which pore spaces are measured in determining the volume of these pore spaces
., ' " . ' .

Absolute porosity thus refers to the total volume of void spaces in the reservoir rock. However, Effective porosity refers only to the interconnected pore spaces in the rock. It can be expressed as: Interconnected Pore Volume e = ------------------------------------------ X 100 Total Bulk Volume where e = Effective Porosity, percent In all engineering calculations, effective porosity is used as only interconnected pores are responsible for holding the reservoir fluids. Both absolute as well as effective permeabilities are determined through laboratory studies carried out on cores of the reservoirs.

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Permeability: Permeability is a measure of the ease of flow of a fluid through a porous medium. It is as important as the porosity, for not only is the actual volume of in place hydrocarbons important, but the rate at which fluids will flow through the reservoir is equally important. According to Henry Darcy, rate at which a fluid flows through a porous medium is expressed as below:

KA q = ---- (dP/dL)

Where q is flow rate in cm3/ sec, A is area of cross section in cm2, u is the viscosity of the fluid in Dentipoises, dP/dL is the pressure drop per unit length, atm/cm. K is proportionality constant, or permeability expressed in Darcies. Darcy is a relatively high permeability, as the permeabilities of most reservoir rocks are less than one darcy. The smaller unit millidarcy is commonly used which is one thousandth of one darcy. When only one phase is flowing through the medium i.e the fluid is 100% saturated with one component, resultant permeability is called Absolute Permeability. This is independent of the nature of the fluid and thus is termed as rock property. Saturation: History of the formation of petroleum reservoirs shows that the pores of the rock were initially filled with water, since most petroleum-bearing formations are believed to be of marine origin. The oil and / or gas then moved into the reservoir, displacing the water to some minimum residual saturation. Thus when a reservoir is discovered, there may be oil, gas and water distributed in some manner throughout the reservoir. The term fluid saturation is used to define the extent of occupancy of the pore spaces by any particular fluid. Fluid saturation i$ defined as that fraction, or percent, of the total pore space occupied by that fluid. For example, saturation of oil in a reservoir is expressed as:

Oil Volume So = -------------------------------- X 100 Total Pore Volume where So = Oil saturation, percent Thus, all saturation values are based on pore volume, and not gross reservoir volume.

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Relative Permeability: As mentioned above, in nature as most of the time more than one phase are present, so they will be flowing and will have their own permeability values which are defined as effective permeability w.r.t that particular fluid. Thus, if both oil & water are flowing together, it will be observed that

KoA qo = ----- (dP/dL)

o
and

KwA qw = ---- (dP/dL)

w
Ko & Kw are called effective permeabilities w.r.t. oil & water respectively. Therefore, effective permeability is the permeability of a rock to a particular fluid when that fluid has a pore saturation of less than 100%. However, it is observed that the sum of the effective permeabilities is always less than the absolute permeability. Where two fluids are present, such as oil & water, their relative rates of flow are determined by their relative permeabilities. Relative permeability is the ratio of effective permeability to absolute permeability. It can be written as: Ko Kro = -------K And Kw Krw = -------K The flowing oil-water ratio will depend upon the viscosity ratio and the effective permeability ratio, i.e. upon the mobility ratio, or

KoA ----- (dP/dL) (Ko/o) --- = ------------------------------ = -------- = o/w qw Kw A (Kw/w) -------- (dP/dL)
qo o w
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Fig 5-1 shows typical oil & water relative permeability curves for a particular rock as a function of water saturation. Starting at 100% S w , the curve, shows that a decrease in water saturation to around 90% sharply reduces the relative permeability to water. The Kr0 remains almost zero. The value of So in this case is called Critical saturation, the saturation above which oil will first begin to flow. This is also called the residual oil saturation or SOjrr- This explains why oil recovery by water injection is not 100% efficient. These curves can be generated for gas & water systems as well. These curves are exhaustively used for predicting reservoir performance as well as in the simulation. This also gives idea about water-cut behaviour as the saturations change over the period of time. Further, EOR processes make use of this data which plays a very critical role in deciding about their implementation.

TYPICAL RELATIVE PERMEABILITY CURVE

Fig-5-01

O.I

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

O.6

O.7

0.8

O.9

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B. Reservoir Fluids Behaviour Oil & gas are naturally occurring hydrocarbon mixtures quite complex in chemical composition and existing at elevated temperatures and pressures in the reservoir. The state of the hydrocarbons at the surface conditions depends upon the composition of the mixture as produced from the well and upon the temperature and pressure at which they are captured. Furthermore, the fluid remaining in the reservoir at any stage of depletion undergoes physical changes as the pressure is reduced by producing quantities of oil or gas from that reservoir. It is necessary to study the physical properties of these naturally existing hydrocarbons and in particular, their variation with pressure arid temperature. These data are required in estimating the performance of the reservoir. Because of the difficulty in obtaining complete chemical analysis of crude oil, they are classified according to their physical properties, namely, specific gravity, refractive index, density, viscosity, flash point, etc. Out of these, most important properties are the specific gravity and viscosity. The specific gravity of crude is expressed in terms of API scale as given below: Sp.Gr. =141.5/(131.5+ API) or API = (141.5/ Sp.gr.) -131.5 at 60 F and 1 atm. pressure. The gas-liquid ratio also helps in classification of the reservoir fluid. Based on fluid nature, reservoirs are characterised into following types: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Black oil Volatile oil Wet gas Retrograde gas Dry gas

Black Oil Reservoirs: Hydrocarbon mixtures which exist in the liquid state at reservoir conditions are classified as oils and sub-divided as low shrinkage or high shrinkage oil reservoirs. The low shrinkage oil reservoirs are called as black oil reservoirs. These are the most commonly occurring oil reservoirs and thus widely studied. The initial GOR normally varies from 20 to 500 v/v with API ranging between 30 to 40 . Volatile Oil Reservoirs: High shrinkage oil reservoirs are called as volatile reservoirs. They are characterised through high GOR ( more than 500 v/v) and high API values ( more than 45 . In volatile reservoirs, significant volumes of liquid may be obtained from 57

the reservoir gas phase as well and thus performance of these reservoirs are not evaluated like black oil reservoirs. Due to high shrinkage factors of volatile oils, a reduction in reservoir pressure is as a result of oil production will cause an abnormally high reduction in reservoir liquid volume with a consequent rapid increase in gas saturation. This results in an early high permeability to gas which in turn causes further decrease in reservoir pressure. The net result is low ultimate recovery from the reservoir. If it was not the fact that substantial quantities of liquid are recoverable from the reservoir gas phase, ultimate liquid recovery would be even less. Wet Gas Reservoirs: A wet gas reservoir is a gas reservoir which normally comprises of lesser percentage of heavy components. Thus, in the reservoir, most of the time, fluid remains in a single gaseous state. The term wet is derived from the fact that the separator conditions lie in the two-phase region and a liquid phase is condensed in the separator. On the other hand condensate reservoirs are those which either contain condensate under in-situ conditions or give more liquid volumes at surface as compared to wet reservoirs. Retrograde Gas Reservoirs: Retrograde gas reservoirs are those gas reservoirs which initially occur as single phase gas reservoirs. However, over the production period, condensation of liquid occurs under reduced pressure conditions. Since this process is reverse compared with the normal one, it is called Retrograde Condensation. Such reservoirs are produced by keeping the pressure always above the pressure at which condensation occurs by recycling the lean gas back into the reservoir. Dry Gas Reservoirs: A dry gas is mostly comprised of methane and ethane with very small percentages of heavy components. Hydrocarbons do not get condensed from this mixture either in the reservoir or at the surface. However, dry gases may contain water vapours which will condense. Thus, 'dry' in this stance means free of hydrocarbon liquids, not necessarily free of water. General characteristics of various reservoir fluids are given in Table below. These data are to be considered typical but not necessarily characteristic of the classes; A wide range of possible compositions and reservoir conditions exist for naturally occurring hydrocarbon accumulations. Therefore, each reservoir fluid presents a unique system in analysis and classification. The behaviour of reservoir fluids playa a very important role in the whole life of any reservoir. These fluid properties are studied in the laboratory after collection of representative samples of reservoir fluids. These parameters are very frequently used for prediction of future performances and implementation of EOR processes. They further help in optimizing ultimate recovery.

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Important Definitions:
Critical Point: It is defined as the set of highest temperature & pressure above which two phases can no longer exist in equilibrium. The corresponding temperature & pressure are called critical temperature & critical pressure respectively. Bubble-Point Pressure: It is the pressure at which the first bubble of gas comes out of the liquid on lowering of pressure. It is generally represented by Pb. All reservoirs having pressure above Pb, will exist in single liquid phase and are called Undersaturated reservoirs. Whereas, those below this pressure will have both liquid & vapour phases coexisting and are called Saturated Reservoirs. Saturation Pressure: It is the pressure at which the first drop of liquid comes out of the gaseous state by increase of pressure. Formation Volume Factor: It is defined as the ratio of the volume occupied under reservoir conditions of temperature & pressure equivalent to volume of 1 m of reservoir fluid at STP. It is normally abbreviated as FVF. For oil it can be written as: Vol. occupied under reservoir conditions of temp. & pressure
FVF = -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vol. of 1m3 of reservoir fluid at STP In case of oil, it is always more than one and in case of gas, it is much less than one. Cricondentherm: The highest temperature at which the liquid and vapours can coexist in equilibrium. Cricondenbar: The highest pressure at which the liquid and vapours can coexist in equilibrium.

C. Reservoir Drive Mechanisms

Reservoir engineers are primarily concerned about two aspects. (i ) Amount of oil & gas which can be ultimately produced from a reservoir 59

(ii)

Rate at which oil & gas will be produced.

Both of these factors are directly related to forces in the reservoir which contribute to the expulsion of hydrocarbons from the reservoir. For oil reservoirs, the" re are five distinct forces which can contribute to oil recoveries. Various Drive Mechanisms in Oil Reservoirs: Solution Gas Drive Gas Cap Gas Drive Water Drive Combination Drive Gravity Drainage Drive

Solution Gas Drive: This drive is applicable to undersaturated reservoirs i.e. where reservoir pressure is above bubble point pressure. This mechanism is also called depletion drive. The driving force is the gas dissolved in the solution. This recovery mechanism is a result of gas liberation from solution in the reservoir oil. This is usually the least efficient driving force and results in a very small percentage of the total oil in place. Further, this is characterized by rapid reservoir pressure decline with fast increase in produced GOR. Generally 15r 20% recovery is achieved in these types of reservoirs. Gas Cap Gas Drive: This drive is applicable to saturated reservoirs i.e. where reservoir pressure is below bubble point pressure. These reservoirs have a gas cap associated the oil. This type of driving energy is the result of an expanding gas cap. This is basically a displacement type drive, the gas displacing the oil ahead as it expands because of pressure reduction. The recovery efficiency of an external gas drive reservoir is dependent upon the displacing efficiency of the gas and the size of the gas cap. This is also called the strength of the gas cap. Therefore, as the gas cap size increases, a smaller pressure drop will be required to produce the oil to economic depletion. Generally 20-30% recovery is achieved in these types of reservoirs. Water Drive: Water drive is usually the most efficient natural reservoir driving force. Water drive also is a displacing type drive and the efficiency of water displacement is usually greater than gas displacement. This is due to the more favourable mobility characteristics of the water-oil displacement processes. Recovery from a water drive reservoir is dependent upon the activity of the water drive. There is not much decline in pressure over the period of production and thus no appreciable increase in produced GOR. However, water production at the later stage of exploitation is a problem. Generally more than 40% recovery is achieved in these types of reservoirs. 60

Combination Drive: Production from most reservoirs is accomplished as a result of a combination of one or more of the previously mentioned forces. Thua a reservoir will be referred to as a combination drive reservoir. The most favourable combination drive could be with both a gas cap at top and water below. These reservoirs will yield maximum recovery and may achieve 50 to 60%. Gravity Drinage Drive: In high relief reservoirs, where the producing wells are located structurally low, oil recovery by gravitational segregation may be quite substantial. Oil recovery in this case will be dependent upon the relief, or dip of the reservoir, the permeability in the direction of dip and the viscosities of the fluids. Some pressure reduction must occur before the reservoir oil can be produced as no external fluids, such as ware, are entering the reservoir to take the place of the produced oil. In order to take the maximum advantage of gravity segregation, there must be a good amount of gas moving upstructure. Therefore, a reservoir producing under this type of drive must always have a gas cap, either a primary gas cap, or a secondary gas cap. More than 40-50 % recovery can be achieved in these types of reservoirs. Various Drive Mechanisms in Gas Reservoirs: Volumetric Drive Water Drive

Volumetric Drive: This is also called gas expansion drive. Production from the reservoir occurs by a reduction in pressure under isothermal conditions. However, once the gas has entered the well bore and flows to the surface, the temperatures as well as pressure get reduced. Thus, in order to define the surface recovery, the surface temperature and pressure must be defined. In such type of reservoirs, production is not rate sensitive. Further, recoveries can be achieved up to 80% as the abandonment pressures can be very low.

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