Reservoirs balances

Keywords compressibility, primary-, secondary- and enhanced oil-recovery, drive mechanisms (solution gas-, gas cap-, water-drive), secondary gas cap, first production date, build-up period, plateau period, production decline, water cut, Darcy s law, recovery factor, sweep efficiency, by-passing of oil, residual oil, relative permeability, production forecasts, offtake rate, coning, cusping, horizontal wells, reservoir simulation, material balance, rate dependent processes, pre-drilling. 

Reservoir engineers describe the relationship between the volume of fluids produced, the compressibility of the fluids and the reservoir pressure using material balance techniques. This approach treats the reservoir system like a tank, filled with oil, water, gas, and reservoir rock in the appropriate volumes, but without regard to the distribution of the fluids (i.e. the detailed movement of fluids inside the system). Material balance uses the PVT properties of the fluids described in Section 5.2.6, and accounts for the variations of fluid properties with pressure. The technique is firstly useful in predicting how reservoir pressure will respond to production. Secondly, material balance can be used to reduce uncertainty in volumetries by measuring reservoir pressure and cumulative production during the producing phase of the field life. An example of the simplest material balance equation for an oil reservoir above the bubble point will be shown In the next section. 

The material balance equation relating produced volume of oil (Np stb) to the pressure drop in the reservoir (AP) is given by ... 

The prediction of the size and permeability of the aquifer is usually difficult, since there is typically little data collected in the water column exploration and appraisal wells are usually targeted at locating oil. Hence the prediction of aquifer response often remains a major uncertainty during reservoir development planning. In order to see the reaction of an aquifer, it is necessary to produce from the oil column, and measure the response in terms of reservoir pressure and fluid contact movement use is made of the material balance technique to determine the contribution to pressure support made by the aquifer. Typically 5% of the STOMP must be produced to measure the response this may take a number of years. 

Gas reservoirs are produced by expansion of the gas contained in the reservoir. The high compressibility of the gas relative to the water in the reservoir (either connate water or underlying aquifer) make the gas expansion the dominant drive mechanism. Relative to oil reservoirs, the material balance calculation for gas reservoirs is rather simple. A major challenge in gas field development is to ensure a long sustainable plateau (typically 10 years) to attain a good sales price for the gas the customer usually requires a reliable supply of gas at an agreed rate over many years. The recovery factor for gas reservoirs depends upon how low the abandonment pressure can be reduced, which is why compression facilities are often provided on surface. Typical recovery factors are In the range 50 to 80 percent. 

The primary drive mechanism for gas field production is the expansion of the gas contained in the reservoir. Relative to oil reservoirs, the material balance calculations for gas reservoirs is rather simple the recovery factor is linked to the drop in reservoir pressure in an almost linear manner. The non-linearity is due to the changing z-factor (introduced in Section 5.2.4) as the pressure drops. A plot of (P/ z) against the recovery factor is linear if aquifer influx and pore compaction are negligible. The material balance may therefore be represented by the following plot (often called the P over z plot). 

The subscript i refers to the initial pressure, and the subscript ab refers to the abandonment pressure the pressure at which the reservoir can no longer produce gas to the surface. If the abandonment conditions can be predicted, then an estimate of the recovery factor can be made from the plot. Gp is the cumulative gas produced, and G is the gas initially In place (GIIP). This is an example of the use of PVT properties and reservoir pressure data being used in a material balance calculation as a predictive tool. 

Analytical models using classical reservoir engineering techniques such as material balance, aquifer modelling and displacement calculations can be used in combination with field and laboratory data to estimate recovery factors for specific situations. These methods are most applicable when there is limited data, time and resources, and would be sufficient for most exploration and early appraisal decisions. However, when the development planning stage is reached, it is becoming common practice to build a reservoir simulation model, which allows more sensitivities to be considered in a shorter time frame. The typical sorts of questions addressed by reservoir simulations are listed in Section 8.5. 

Reservoir pressure is measured in selected wells using either permanent or nonpermanent bottom hole pressure gauges or wireline tools in new wells (RFT, MDT, see Section 5.3.5) to determine the profile of the pressure depletion in the reservoir. The pressures indicate the continuity of the reservoir, and the connectivity of sand layers and are used in material balance calculations and in the reservoir simulation model to confirm the volume of the fluids in the reservoir and the natural influx of water from the aquifer. The following example shows an RFT pressure plot from a development well in a field which has been producing for some time. 

Equalizing basin A holding basin in which variations in flow and composition of liquid are averaged. Such basins are used to provide a flow of reasonably uniform volume and composition to a treatment unit. Also called a balancing reservoir. Estuaries Bodies of water which are located at the lower end of a river and are subject to tidal fluctuations. 

In a Carnot s cycle, the entropy Qi/Ti is taken from the hot reservoir, and the entropy Q2/T2 is given up to the cold reservoir, and no other entropy change occurs anywhere else. Since these two quantities of entropy are equal and opposite, the entropy. change in the hot reservoir is exactly balanced, or, to use an expression of Clausius, is compensated by an equivalent change in the cold reservoir. Again, in any reversible cycle there is on the whole no production of entropy so that all the changes are compensated. 

The kinetic energy attributable to this velocity will be dissipated when the liquid enters the reservoir. The pressure drop may now be calculated from the energy balance equation and equation 3.19. For turbulent flow of an incompressible fluid ... 

As the gas-liquid mixture travels down the vent line, the phases will slip past each other and the fluids will accelerate. This contribution to the energy balance can be most significant for high pressure blowdown. Pressure increments are calculated and when the pressure gradient becomes infinite the flow is choked. If this occurs at the end of the pipe the assumed flowrate is the converged choked flow solution. If choked flow does not occur and the end of the line is reached at the reservoir pressure, the non-choked flow solution is obtained. 

Budget. A balance sheet of all sources and sinks of a reservoir. If sources and sinks balance and do not change with time, the reservoir is in... 

Cycle. A system consisting of two or more connected reservoirs, where a large part of the material is transferred through the system in a cyclic fashion. If all material cycles within the system, the system is closed. Many systems of connected reservoirs are not cyclic, but instead material flows unidirectionally. In such systems some reservoirs (at the end of the chain) may be accumulative, whereas others remain balanced (nonaccumulative) cf. Holland (1978). 

If the reservoir is in a steady state (dM/df — 0) then the sources (Q) and sinks (S) must balance. In this case Q can replace S in Equation (1). 

The subsequent fate of the assimilated carbon depends on which biomass constituent the atom enters. Leaves, twigs, and the like enter litterfall, and decompose and recycle the carbon to the atmosphere within a few years, whereas carbon in stemwood has a turnover time counted in decades. In a steady-state ecosystem the net primary production is balanced by the total heterotrophic respiration plus other outputs. Non-respiratory outputs to be considered are fires and transport of organic material to the oceans. Fires mobilize about 5 Pg C/yr (Baes et ai, 1976 Crutzen and Andreae, 1990), most of which is converted to CO2. Since bacterial het-erotrophs are unable to oxidize elemental carbon, the production rate of pyroligneous graphite, a product of incomplete combustion (like forest fires), is an interesting quantity to assess. The inability of the biota to degrade elemental carbon puts carbon into a reservoir that is effectively isolated from the atmosphere and oceans. Seiler and Crutzen (1980) estimate the production rate of graphite to be 1 Pg C/yr. 

Deduced to balance budget for "soils and land biota" reservoir. 

Reservoirs in which Acid-Base and/or Redox Reactions and Balances Occur... 

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