Mititigation of The Effect of Condensate Banking - A Critical Review

PO168153 DOI: 10.
2118/168153-PA Date: 26-March-15
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Mitigation of the Effects of Condensate

Banking: A Critical Review
Mohammed A. Sayed, Aramco Services Company, and Ghaithan A. Al-Muntasheri, Aramco Services Company
and Saudi Aramco
Summary
With production from gas/condensate reservoirs, the flowing bottomhole pressure of the production well decreases. When the
flowing bottomhole pressure decreases below the dewpoint, condensate accumulates near the wellbore region and forms a condensate bank. This results in a loss of productivity of both gas and
condensate, which becomes more serious in intermediate- and
low-permeability gas/condensate reservoirs, where the condensate
bank reduces both the gas permeability and the well productivity.
Several techniques have been used to mitigate this problem.
These methods include:
Use of solvents and wettability-alteration chemicals to
reduce the impact of condensate blockage
Gas cycling and injection of nitrogen and supercritical carbon dioxide as pressure-maintenance methods
Drilling horizontal wells, hydraulic fracturing, and acidizing
to improve the well productivity
Gas cycling aims to keep the reservoir pressure greater than
the dewpoint pressure to reduce the condensation phenomena.
The limited volumes of gas that can be recycled in the reservoir
can hinder the application of this method. For an ideal gas-cycling
process, the volume of the gas injected into the reservoir will be
larger than the total gas that can be produced from such a reservoir. Other approaches are the drilling of horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing, during which the pressure drop around the
wellbore region is lowered to allow for a longer production time,
with only single-phase gas flow to the wellbore. These approaches
are costly because they require drilling rigs. Another technique is
the use of solvents, which shows good treatment outcomes, but
the durability is a questionable issue in these treatments. Moreover, wettability alteration needs to be approached very carefully
so as not to cause permanent damage to the reservoir. The use of
fluorinated polymers and surfactants dissolved in alcohol-based
solvents for wettability-alteration treatments was reported in
many studies.
Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages, and
can be applied under certain conditions. This paper presents all of
these methods, along with their advantages and disadvantages and
description of some of their field applications and case studies.
Introduction
Gas/condensate reservoirs are very important because they contain large volumes of gas reserves that are critical to the increased
worldwide demand for energy sources. The Arun field in Indonesia, the Cupiagua field in Colombia, the Karachaganak field in
Kazakhstan, the North field in Qatar, and the Shtokmanovskoye
field in Russia are examples of the largest gas/condensate reservoirs in the world (Miller et al. 2010).
During the production life of the wells drilled in condensate
reservoirs, the reservoir pressure declines isothermally from its
initial value (Pi) to the upper dewpoint pressure (P2). As this
occurs, liquid begins to condense in the pore space (Kniazeff and
C 2015 Society of Petroleum Engineers
Copyright V
This paper (SPE 168153) was accepted for presentation at the SPE International
Symposium and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA, 2628
February 2014, and revised for publication. Original manuscript received for review 2 June
2014. Revised manuscript received for review 3 February 2015. Paper peer approved 5
February 2015.
Naville 1965; Gringarten et al. 2000; Hashemi et al. 2006). This

condensation process continues with decreasing pressure until the
liquid dropout reaches its maximum at point pressure (P3) (Point
3 in Fig. 1).
When production takes place from condensate reservoirs, and
as the reservoir is depleted, pressure becomes less than the dewpoint, liquid condensate starts to form, and the productivity of
wells often decreases rapidly. This could also affect investments
in condensate-processing facilities (Havlena et al. 1967). Water
blocking is also a possible problem in gas reservoirs (Engineer
1985; Cimolai et al. 1993). Among the main reasons to have such
a water-banking problem is the expansion of the connate water
(Engineer 1985) or water production from the water-bearing
layers within the reservoir or even the presence of a water-bearing
formation structurally connected to the gas reservoir (Engineer
1985; Cimolai et al. 1993).
Compositional models were used to study the phenomena of
condensate banking and its impact on the productivity of wells
(Fussel 1973; Hinchman and Barree 1985; Clark 1985; McCain
and Alexander 1992; Novosad 1996). These models showed that
the liquid condensation and accumulation around the wellbore
results in a reduction in gas permeability and in a significant
decline in the production rates of wells (Hinchman and Barree
1985; Clark 1985; Barnum et al. 1995; Ahmed et al. 1998). Barnum et al. (1995) found a dramatic decline in the production rates
and hence reduction in gas recovery for wells with a permeability-thickness product of less than 1,000 md-ft. Takeda et al.
(1997) claimed that gravity force and interfacial tension are important factors in determining the relative permeability, and hence
the buildup of condensate, around the wellbore.
Barnum et al. (1995) reported that the higher the well capacity
(well capacity is the kh product, where k is the rock permeability
and h is the reservoir thickness, and is a measure of the reservoir
quality), the less the impact of the condensate banking on the
productivity of wells drilled in condensate reservoirs. Simulation
and laboratory studies have indicated that condensate saturation
around the wellbore may reach 70% (Marokane et al. 2002).
The reservoir region around the wellbore of a gas/condensate
reservoir (Fig. 2a) can be subdivided into three or four regions
(Marokane et al. 2002):
1. Single-phase gas flow far from the wellbore, where the
pressure is still above the dewpoint.
2. Single-phase gas flow with the presence of low condensate
saturation (less than the residual or critical liquid saturation). In this region, liquid condensate is immobile and
starts to form condensate bank.
3. Two-phase flow (gas and liquid) occurs. This is the region
close to the wellbore, where the liquid saturation is now
above the critical values, and the liquid is able to flow in
addition to the gas.
4. Immediately beside the wellbore, where the high gas velocity leads to decreased condensate saturation and increased
gas mobility through velocity stripping (Fevang and Whitson 1996; Kalaydjian et al. 1996; Ali et al. 1997; Henderson
et al. 1998).
Fig. 2b shows the change in the pressure profile in the formation and the different regions around the wellbore. Relative permeability data in the second and third regions are the key factors
in determining the maximum productivity of the well. The radius
of the fourth region is neglected with respect to the liquid-bank
2015 SPE Production & Operations

ID: jaganm Time: 14:18 I Path: S:/3B2/PO##/Vol00000/150009/APPFile/SA-PO##150009
PO168153 DOI: 10.2118/168153-PA Date: 26-March-15
Pressure path
1
in reservoir
2
De
wp
o
Critical
point
C
% Liquid
De
wp
o
in
t
lin
e
Pressure
in
t
lin
e
Retrograde gas
40
30
Tw
o-P
20
15
ha
se
Re
4
10
gio
Separator
5
0
Temperature
Tct
Fig. 1A typical phase diagram of a retrograde system (Ahmed

2006).
region. Condensate and water banking will cause a reduction in

the well productivity, which in turn will affect both the economics
and the gas recovery.
Several methods have been studied to mitigate the problem of
condensate banking in the region around the wellbore in gas/condensate reservoirs. These techniques can be classified as follows:
Chemical-injection techniques, such as the use of solvents,
inhibited diesel, and inhibited dry gas, and wettability-alteration chemicals, which can be used to reduce the impact of
condensate blocking in gas wells.
Pressure-maintenance techniques, including gas cycling and
injection of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. These techniques
can be used to increase the reservoir pressure and to improve
liquid recovery through reducing the liquid dropout.
Productivity-improvement techniques, which may include
drilling horizontal wells, hydraulic fracturing, and matrix
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acidizing, with a combination of two or more of the preceding techniques.

Some of these techniques depend on the increase in the viscous force, allowing better sweep efficiency and, therefore, higher
condensate recovery (Boom et al. 1996; Li and Firoozabadi
2000b). Methods such as the use of solvents depend on reducing
the interfacial tension (Ali et al. 1993), while the use of wettability-alteration chemicals depends on the change in the rock wettability (Li and Firoozabadi 2000a), as a remedial procedure for
the condensate-banking problem. The productivity-improvement
techniques depend mainly on creating higher-permeability flow
paths (wormholes or fractures) or increasing the contact area
between the reservoir and the wellbore (horizontal drilling) to
reduce the pressure drop and enhance the well productivity. Liquid loading can be problematic if liquid accumulates in the fractures or in the created wormholes, and this may affect the gas
productivity. A summary of these techniques is presented in Fig. 3.
The main goal of the current study is to describe the different techniques used to overcome the water- and condensate-banking problem that occurs in wells drilled in gas/condensate reservoirs. The
advantages and disadvantages of each technique will be highlighted. The paper shares advantages and disadvantages, case studies, and field applications related to each method.
Drilling Horizontal Wells
Horizontal wells were drilled as early as 1927, and the major
thrust of drilling horizontal wells started in 1980 (Joshi 2003).
Horizontal wells will create a larger contact area between the reservoir and the well, which can improve the productivity of the
well by reducing the pressure drop around the wellbore. As a
result, horizontal wells can delay the problem of condensate and
liquid banking in gas/condensate reservoirs. Horizontal wells minimize the occurrence of condensate banking by increasing the productivity index (PI), and therefore providing a remedial solution
to such a problem. The longer the length of the horizontal section,
the less the drawdown. Horizontal wells are usually produced at
higher rates than vertical wells. As a result, the pressure drop will
be higher, but it will be distributed over a larger area. Horizontal
Region 1: Single-phase gas
Region 3: Two-phase flow
Region 2: Single-phase gas

at low condensate saturation
Region 4: Two-phase flow with

reduced condensate saturation
(a)
Pdew
Pav
Pwf
rw
Liquid at residual
saturation
Liquid bank
Gas and
liquid flow
Gas flow
only
(b)
re
Fig. 2(a) Regions around the wellbore of a well drilled in a gas/condensate reservoir [modified after Marokane et al. (2002)]; (b)
pressure profile in the formation and the different regions around the wellbore.
2

Gas Cycling
Pressure Maintenance
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zontal wells delayed the water breakthrough and was useful in

reducing water-influx problems. Also, the horizontal wells reduced
the condensate loss in the formation, resulting in improved recovery of the liquid condensate.
Condensate and Water Banking
CO2 and N2 Injection
Horizontal Wells
Productivity Improvement
Hydraulic Fracturing
Acidizing
Solvent Injection
Chemical Injection
Wettability Alteration
Combined Methods
Fig. 3A summary of the methods used to mitigate the problem of condensate banking.
wells will help reduce the impact of condensate banking on the

production of gas from gas/condensate reservoirs, but it will not
prevent the accumulation of liquids in the region around the wellbore. This section will proceed by simulation studies, field cases,
and finally, a discussion about the technique.
Numerical-Simulation Studies. Hinchman and Barree (1985)
indicated some of the applications of horizontal wells to increase
the productivity from condensate reservoirs. The Vuelta field
uses horizontal wells to improve the production and drainage efficiency, but the well performance was less than what was
expected because of the abnormal stratigraphic characteristics of
the producing formation. Fevang and Whitson (1996) found that
simulation results of horizontal wells in condensate reservoirs are
very sensitive to the horizontal-/vertical-permeability ratio (kH/
kV), and so it is very important to have an accurate determination
of this ratio.
Muladi and Pinczewski (1999) examined the difference in production performance between horizontal and vertical wells for different heterogeneities in gas/condensate reservoirs. They used a
3D Cartesian model with local grid refinement to model the nearwellbore regions. Muladi and Pinczewski (1999) found that the
performance of a horizontal well is better than that of a vertical
well when the average reservoir permeability is greater than 1 md,
while the performance of a vertical well is better than that of a
horizontal well for reservoir rocks with average permeabilities
less than or equal to 1 md. This is because fluid mobility is much
higher in a high average-permeability reservoir, and the fluid can
easily move vertically to the horizontal well, making the effect of
heterogeneities less significant.
Dehane et al. (2000) investigated how the horizontal and vertical wells drilled in condensate reservoirs perform under various
depletion schemes. They found that the drawdown pressures for a
horizontal well (for different drainhole lengths) are smaller than
those for a vertical well in the same reservoir because of lower
accumulation of liquid near the horizontal-well section compared
with the vertical well. In addition, they found that layers with
high-capacity values (high permeability-thickness product) contain the most liquid accumulation, and as the drainhole length
increased, the productivity of the horizontal well increased.
Marir and Tiab (2006) conducted a modeling study to predict
the behavior of horizontal wells drilled in Hassi RMel field in
Algeria vs. water production and liquid-condensate recovery.
They built a 3D Cartesian model, and found that the use of hori-
Field Cases. Miller et al. (2010) studied the application of horizontal wells in a giant gas/condensate reservoir to reduce condensate blockage in the North field in Qatar. They tried to determine
the fraction of production increase caused by the increased contact of well and reservoir and by the reduction of condensate accumulation. The North field in Qatar is an offshore gas/condensate
reservoir with more than 900 Tcf of proven gas reserves. The
main lithology is carbonate: limestone and dolomite, with some
interbedded shale, claystone, sandstone, and anhydrite. The field
produces mainly from the Khuff formation. The field covers more
than 6000 km2. The initial reservoir pressure and temperature are
5,300 psi and 220 F, respectively (Miller et al. 2010). The first
delivery of condensate took place in 1996, while the first delivery
of liquefied natural gas occurred in 1997.
Miller et al. (2010) developed a numerical model to study the
effectiveness of horizontal wells in producing from the North
Field I Qatar with less condensate banking and higher gas and
condensate recovery. They used two well modelsa vertical-well
model with radial coordinates and a horizontal-well model with
Cartesian coordinates. The drawdown comparison between the
horizontal and vertical well showed that the drawdown in the horizontal well was much less than that in the vertical well, resulting
in a reduction in water coning and in the volume of condensate
banking around the wellbore.
Also, Miller et al. (2010) noticed that the liquid saturation
around the wellbore is less in the case of drilling horizontal wells
than in vertical wells and the PIs of horizontal wells were higher
than those of vertical wells. Additionaly, the PIs of horizontal
wells were only slightly impacted by pressure dropping below the
dewpoint, while there was a significant reduction in the PIs of vertical wells for the same condition. There are two main reasons for
the better performance of horizontal wells in a gas/condensate reservoir: large contact area between the wellbore and the reservoir,
and the ability of horizontal wells to reduce the condensate saturation and delay the formation of a liquid bank in the region around
the wellbore.
Discussion. Drilling horizontal wells aims to create a large contact area between the reservoir and the wellbore. An operator
would like to operate the horizontal well at its maximum capacity
and to increase the production rate to benefit from having such a
large contact area between the reservoir and the wellbore. At
higher production rates, the pressure drop will be higher. In horizontal wells, this high pressure drop will be distributed over a
large area. Drilling horizontal wells was found to delay the condensate-banking problem as a result of the distribution of the
pressure drop over a large area. Horizontal wells will not be a
permanent solution to the condensate-banking problem. The
delay in condensate banking takes place mainly as a direct result
of reducing the pressure drawdown through creating a large contact area between the wellbore and the reservoir. The condensate
accumulation is only delayed. So, after a certain time of production and with large drawdown in pressure, condensate will start
to form and accumulate in the region around the wellbore.
Besides, the cost of drilling horizontal wells can be high in certain circumstances.
A combination of drilling horizontal wells and the wettabilityalteration technique can be a good solution for enhancing the performance of horizontal wells because the performance will benefit
from both mechanisms. In addition, horizontal wells are used to
develop unconventional oil and gas reservoirs. Unconventional
reservoirs may contain different types of fluids: black and volatile
oil, gas condensate, or even dry gas. As an example, the Eagle
Ford reservoir can contain all of these reservoir fluids (Orangi
et al. 2011). Drilling horizontal wells in combination with
multistage fracturing increased the production rates from such

reservoirs to economic rates, which helps to decrease the gap

between the energy demand and supply.
Hydraulic Fracturing
Hydraulic fracturing as a practice started more than 60 years ago.
Since then, millions of fracturing treatments have been executed
in many regions of the world (Montgomery and Smith 2010).
Both acid fracturing and hydraulic fracturing are efficient techniques to enhance the performance of the wells drilled in condensate reservoirs (Sognesand 1991; Cannan et al. 1992; Afidick
et al. 1994; Hsu et al. 1995; Carlson and Myer 1995; Settari et al.
1996). The main objective of hydraulic fracturing is to create a
longer conductive path between the reservoir and the well for the
fluids to flow through from the reservoir to the wellbore. This conductive path will reduce the pressure drop and, hence, reduce the
probability of formation of condensate and a liquid ring (liquid
banking) around the wellbore. Hydraulic fracturing will create
such conductive paths, but it will not prevent the condensatebanking problem. A hydraulically fractured well will be operated
at rates higher than those in the vertical well, and so the pressure
drop will be higher. This higher pressure drop will be distributed
on a larger area between the wellbore and the reservoir. Hydraulic
fracturing will delay the problem of liquid banking and reduce the
effect of liquid banking on gas-production rates by reducing the pressure drop and creating longer conductive paths between the wellbore
and the reservoir.
Numerical Simulation Studies. Carlson and Myer (1995) and
Settari et al. (1996) indicated that the productivity loss in wells
producing from gas/condensate reservoirs because of condensate
and water banking can be reduced by stimulating the wells
through hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing in gas/condensate wells can reduce the pressure drawdown and thus reduce the
liquid dropout. Settari et al. (1996) performed a study for the
Smorbukk field in offshore Norway aimed at addressing the influence of condensate banking on the productivity index (PI) of
hydraulically fractured wells producing from condensate reservoirs. They used a 3D fracture with a 3D multiphase reservoir
simulator and two fracture models: the ideal rectangular fracture
and the 3D propped fracture. They found that as the fracture conductivity increased, the productivity of gas and liquid increased.
Also, as the fracture length increased, the benefits of a higher-conductivity fracture on the well productivity increased. One of the
most important findings of Settari et al. (1996) is the effect of
multiphase flow on the PI of the well. Multiphase flow (flow of
liquid and gas at pressures below the dewpoint) will cause a 50%
reduction of the PI in an unfractured well, while fracturing the
well may be able to restore the PI to values similar to or even
higher than the PI of the unfractured well before multiphase flow
occurs. The effectiveness of fracturing the well in restoring the PI
depends mainly on the volume of condensate in the pore space
and on the reservoir heterogeneity.
Al-Hashim and Hashmi (2000) used a compositional simulator
to evaluate the improvement in the wells productivity in condensate reservoirs by use of hydraulic-fracturing technology. The reservoir model consisted of a five-layer stratified formation with
permeabilities ranging from 0.08 to 115 md. In comparison to
depleting the reservoir with no induced fracturing, hydraulic fracturing was found to increase the time required for the pressure to
reach the dewpoint and, hence, delay the condensate-banking phenomenon. The main reason for this observation is the large inflow
area to the wellbore created by hydraulic fracturing. When the
dewpoint pressure is reached, the drop in pressure is sudden in
both cases, but is still less in the fractured case. Al-Hashim and
Hashmi (2000) found that gas- and liquid-production rates for the
fractured case stabilize at a rate that is more than three times that
of the nonfractured stabilized rate, with extended duration of the
pressure plateau above the dewpoint. One of the main problems
that may result in poor performance of hydraulically fractured
wells is the accumulation of liquid condensate around the fractures walls. The main reason for fracture-face damage is the
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impairment in the permeability normal to the fracture face caused

by the accumulation of the liquid.
Aly et al. (2001) used both compositional simulation and fracture modeling to compare alternative development plans for a
low-permeability, multilayered rich-gas/condensate formation.
They found that hydraulic fracturing increased the production rate
and extended the production-plateau period. Longer propped-fracture half-lengths extended the production-rate plateau. Indriati
et al. (2002) proposed a model that predicts the performance of
hydraulically fractured gas/condensate reservoirs and adjusts the
fracture-treatment design. Indriati et al. (2002) found that for every bottomhole flowing pressure, there is an optimum fracture geometry that maximizes the productivity of the well.
Orangi et al. (2011) found that one of the key parameters that
controls the performance of hydraulically fractured wells is the
surface contact area between the fracture and the matrix. Also, the
fracture-permeability degradation, from which the fracture width
may decrease with time during reservoir depletion, may have a
major impact on the cumulative production from the reservoir.
Ataei et al. (2011) conducted a numerical simulation study on hydraulic fracturing in a stacked, tight gas/condensate reservoir.
They found that the productivity increase was not affected significantly by the fracture half-length, whereas the fracture height
impacted it significantly.
Ignatyev et al. (2011) evaluated hydraulic fracturing in horizontal wells as a method for the effective development of gas/condensate fields in the Arctic region (Russian). They found that the
productivity of horizontal wells with fractures was nine times
greater than the production from horizontal wells without fractures and three times greater than vertical wells with fractures.
Ignatyev et al. (2011) concluded that multistage fracturing in horizontal wells reduced the drawdown and condensate losses and
raised the well PI.
Field Cases. Butula et al. (2005) analyzed the production performance of hydraulically fractured wells in a condensate reservoir in Russia. The gas/condensate reserves in Neocomian
deposits contain more than 2 billion m3 of gas and 200 million
tons of condensate. The wells used to be completed by fracturing,
but the performance was always lower than expected. The solution suggested by Butula et al. (2005) was to create wide and conductive fractures and to better determine the volume of the
proppant needed to obtain adequate fracture geometry. They concluded that the design of fracture treatments with water-based
fracturing fluids is more suitable to produce from such gas/condensate reservoirs.
Delta field is a mature field that has been producing gas/condensate from sandstone reservoirs. In this field and with production of gases, the average reservoir pressure declined to a value
below the dewpoint, resulting in the accumulation of condensate
in the region around the wellbore (Khan et al. 2010). Hydraulic
fracturing presented the most-economical solution to deplete the
reservoir, where in one of the wells, the production increased by
three times after fracturing the well.
Franco et al. (2011) indicated that the majority of gas/condensate reserves currently being developed from fields in Saudi Arabia are developed in tight carbonate reservoirs. These tight
reservoirs require acid stimulation to achieve the targeted production rate. These reservoirs were developed by drilling vertical
wells that were acid fractured. The analysis of the production performance of these wells indicated excellent post-stimulation
results. Then, the development of these reservoirs was expanded
to include an area with very low permeability, and the majority of
wells drilled to produce from these reservoirs were drilled as horizontal wells with single or dual laterals to achieve maximum possible contact with the reservoir. These single or multilateral wells
may be stimulated with acid fracturing or matrix acidizing to
remove the formation damage and enhance the productivity of
these wells. Also, horizontal-well drilling, completed by the multistage-fracturing technique, was implemented in some cases as a
new phase of development. Franco et al. (2011) concluded that a
single-lateral well with three acid-fracturing stages performed better than dual- and triple-lateral wells and better than vertical wells
with fracturing.
Discussion. Hydraulic fracturing is one of the interesting techniques that can be used to control the condensate-banking problem.
Hydraulic fracturing will not prevent the condensate-banking
problem; however, it will delay the problem and reduce the effect
because hydraulic fracturing creates such longer conductive paths
between the wellbore and the reservoir. The conductivity of hydraulic fractures is an important parameter that determines the
effect of condensate and water banking on the productivity of
wells drilled in gas/condensate reservoirs (Al-Anazi et al. 2005a).
One of the main parameters that controls the fracture conductivity, and hence the wells productivity, is the chemistry of hydraulic-fracturing fluid. The optimum design of a fracturing treatment
and the best selection of fracturing fluids helps to minimize the
fracture damage and enhance the post-treatment performance of
the well (Rahim et al. 2012).
Also, the use of hydraulic-fracturing techniques to mitigate the
condensate-banking problem is not a permanent solution. With
time and with more production, the drawdown increases and the
probability of formation of condensate banking increases. Development of unconventional resources requires the implementation
of hydraulic-fracturing technology. These unconventional resources have very low permeability, in the micro- and nanodarcy
range, and in these reservoirs, production at economical rates cannot be achieved without having conductive fractures. These conductive fractures are able to deliver the reservoir fluid from the
reservoir to the wellbore.
Acidizing
Acid treatments have been used to stimulate wells drilled in both
gas and oil reservoirs (Fredd and Fogler 1998). For carbonate reservoirs, acids can be used to dissolve part of the rock and create
fractures or wormholes (Hendrickson et al. 1965; Schechter and
Gidley 1969). For sandstone reservoirs, the main target of acidizing and acid treatments is to remove the formation damage caused
by drilling, workover, or completion processes, and thus to restore
the original permeability of the formation (Smith and Hendrickson 1965; Gidley 1985).
Al-Anazi et al. (2006) examined the applications of alcoholic
acids to stimulate both carbonate and sandstone gas reservoirs.
Some of the wells required a period of up to 1 year to restore the
initial gas productivity following liquid injection into the formation. They added methanol to the acid solutions, and performed
coreflood tests at 284 F and 1,500 psig by use of sandstone core
samples. The objective of adding alcohol was to enhance the gas
permeability after the stimulation treatment. They found that alcoholic acids have a slower reactivity with reservoir rocks than regular acids. Also, addition of methanol to the acids resulted in
deeper acid penetration. In addition, alcoholic acids achieved low
interfacial tension, and as a result, they achieved deeper stimulation. Finally, alcohol can be added to stimulation fluid to expedite
the cleanup of spent acid and to prevent potential precipitation of
hydrofluoric acid silicate reaction products.
Trehan et al. (2012) presented a case study of two unconventional tight gas/condensate wells, in which they used a gasassisted perforating process followed by foamed acidizing. Initial
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attempts to hydraulically fracture the wells were made, but the

fracturing pressure encountered was too high to safely continue
the job. The production rates of these wells declined to a level
that seemed to be uneconomically viable at this point. After
studying the matrix of reservoir rocks, a decision was made to use
a sandstone acidizing treatment to increase the productivity of
these wells. A gas-assisted perforating process followed by
foamed matrix acidizing (solvent, acid, and nitrogen) was applied
in the two wells. Trehan et al. (2012) indicated that the treatment was successful and that the production rates increased after
the treatment.
Matrix acidizing can represent a good solution to mitigate the
problem of condensate and water banking. Different acid systems
are available that can be used to stimulate both carbonates and
sandstone reservoirs. The high temperature anticipated with the
gas/condensate reservoirs may limit the application of some of
these acid systems. For example, at temperatures higher than
200 F, the reaction of hydrochloric acid (HCl) and carbonates
will be very fast, resulting in high acid consumption without creating wormholes (face dissolution). Retarded acid systems are
vital in such cases. Retarded acid systems include the use of emulsified acid, viscoelastic surfactant, or in-situ gelled acid. Also, the
use of chelating agents at high temperatures can be a good alternative to HCl systems, but the economics of the treatment may
hinder its applications.
Use of Solvents
The method of using low-molecular-weight alcohols and solvents
aims to enhance the relative permeability to gas, which was
reduced as a result of the accumulation of liquid condensate in the
region around the wellbore. The mechanism by which solvents
increase the relative permeability of gas is of two pathways. First,
the solvent could reduce the interfacial tension between the condensate and gas. Second, the solvent could dissolve some of the
condensate into the main gas stream. Methanol is one example of
solvents used for this purpose. Du et al. (2000) found that the methanol achieved a 1.2- to 2.5-fold increase in the endpoints of the gas
relative permeability as a result of the ability of methanol to dissolve in and displace both water and condensate accumulations.
Al-Anazi et al. (2002) indicated that the delay in condensate
formation when methanol was used as a solvent was a result of the
presence of an intermediate phase that was rich in methanol, in
which this intermediate phase can dissolve both condensate and
water. Al-Anazi et al. (2005a) mentioned that methanol treatments,
as a solvent injection method, displaced the liquid bank (liquid
hydrocarbon or water) by the multicontact-miscible technique.
Bang et al. (2010a) mentioned that adding methanol to a mixture
of water and condensate reduced the dewpoint, and hence, retards
the phenomenon of condensate dropout. Different solvents and
alcohols were investigated; among these chemicals are methanol,
isopropyl alcohol (IPA), and ethanol. Table 1 shows a summary of
some of the properties of these three solvents.
Experimental Studies. There were extensive experimental studies performed to evaluate the use of solvents to remove the water
and condensate banking in gas/condensate reservoirs. These
experimental studies include testing several solvents such as
methanol, IPA, methanol/water mixture, and a mixture of methanol and IPA. Both sandstone and limestone samples of different
Table 1Properties of solvents that are widely used to mitigate the condensate-banking problem.
permeabilities were used during these experiments. The following

is a summary of the findings in these experimental studies.
Al-Anazi et al. (2002) studied the use of methanol to mitigate
both water and condensate banks from low- (2- to 5-md limestone) and high- (250- to 380-md sandstone) permeability core
samples. They used synthetic gas/condensate mixture and performed coreflood experiments at a temperature of 145 F. The initial water saturation ranged between 0 and 54%. Al-Anazi et al.
(2002) followed a procedure that allows condensate accumulation
in the core, which simulates what happens in the near-wellbore
region in the production well. Because of the accumulation of
condensate in the core sample, there was a 95% reduction in the
relative permeability of gases. Also, as the water saturation
increased, both gas and condensate relative permeabilities (krg
and kro, respectively) decreased. Al-Anazi et al. (2002) performed
two stages of a methanol treatment (each of 20 pore volumes),
and they noticed an improvement in the flow of gas after the first
stage of the treatment, where the productivity index was
enhanced. But with time, and as the methanol was stripped by the
flowing gas, methanol was produced, allowing for condensate
accumulation to take place again. They concluded that methanol
enhanced the gas relative permeability for water saturation (Sw)
from 0 to 54%, and that the volume of methanol and the manner in which it transfers to the gas stream control the success of
the treatment.
In another study, Al-Anazi et al. (2005c) tested methanol,
methanol/water mixture, isopropanol, and a mixture of isopropanol and methanol to evaluate their efficiency in removing the liquid bank. They concluded that methanol/water mixtures were
ineffective in removing condensate bank, while methanol and the
mixture of isopropanol and methanol were effective in removing
water from core samples.
Alzate et al. (2006) performed compatibility tests between reservoir fluids, alcohol, and inhibited diesel-based treatments, and
they used formation cores from Cupiagua field. They found that
compatibility is a function of the miscibility of alcohol in formation fluids, volumetric concentration of alcohol in the mixture,
and the composition of the fluids. If formation water has high salinity, mineral precipitation can occur when alcohol comes in contact with the water. Also, they excluded any solvent that has a
flammability (flash) point less than 82 F. They conducted coreflood experiments with both Berea sandstone and Mirador formation core samples and found that the degree of damage is higher
in Berea sandstone than in Mirador formation cores, and the stimulation degree in Berea was lower than that of Mirador formation.
Both alcohol-based and inhibited-diesel treatments were effective
in removing condensate and water bank, and the treatments in
lower-permeability rocks were more efficient than in higher-permeability rocks because alcohol-based treatments penetrate and
remove both condensate and water from the smaller-diameter
pore system and reduce the capillary pressure.
Field Cases. Al-Anazi et al. (2005b) described a successful field
application that used methanol to remove a condensate bank in
the Hatters Pond field in Alabama. The well history indicated
that gas- and condensate-production rates decreased from 2.7
MMscf/D and 348 BOPD to 0.25 MMscf/D and 87 BOPD,
respectively, as a result of condensate accumulation around the
wellbore. The well was treated with 1,000 bbl of methanol, and
the gas- and condensate-production rates increased from 0.25
MMscf/D and 87 BOBD to 0.5 MMscf/D and 157 BOPD, respectively, which indicates that methanol was effective in removing
the condensate bank. The production increased by a factor of two
for a period of 4 months, and then the production rate started to
decrease again.
Numerical-Simulation Studies. The phase behavior of gas/condensate mixtures has been studied and reported by many researchers (Ahmed 1988; Bang 2005; Sarkar et al. 1991). The existence
of alcohols or water within the condensate bank increases the
complexity of the phase behavior of the reservoir fluids (Kokal
6
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et al. 2000; Pedersen and Milter 2004). The phase behavior of

hydrocarbon/water/methanol mixtures at reservoir conditions was
examined by Bang et al. (2010a). They performed constant-composition-expansion experiments at temperatures of up to 300 F.
Also, they studied the effect of several parameters, such as pressure, temperature, and the concentration of water and methanol,
on the phase behavior of reservoir fluids at reservoir conditions.
When methanol was added to hydrocarbons, the dewpoint
increased by 350 psig and the liquid dropout increased from 21.5
to 29.9%, which indicates that methanol prefers the liquid-hydrocarbon phase to the vapor phase. When water was added to the
hydrocarbon, a third aqueous phase composed mainly of water
was formed with no significant effect on the dewpoint. When
methanol was added to a mixture of hydrocarbon and water, a
third aqueous phase was formed and the dewpoint was reduced.
The total liquid volume increased while the hydrocarbon volume
was not significantly changed. This indicated that methanol has a
preference to mix with water (aqueous phase) more than mixing
with the liquid condensate (oleic phase). Bang et al. (2010a)
found that when isopropanol was added to a mixture of hydrocarbon and water, a small third aqueous phase was formed, and the
hydrocarbon volume increased, indicating that isopropanol preferred the hydrocarbon phase over the water.
Discussion. A summary of the experimental work performed
with methanol and IPA and the mixture of the two is presented in
Tables 2 and 3, respectively. Use of solvents, such as methanol
and IPA or a mixture of both, is an efficient method to remove
the condensate and water bank from condensate reservoirs. The
use of solvents to mitigate the water- and condensate-banking
problems was found to be effective in carbonate reservoirs and
sandstone reservoirs. Furthermore, this method was effective
with low- and high-permeability reservoirs. The main drawback
of this method is its temporary nature and the need to repeat this
treatment in the future when the liquid accumulates again around
the wellbore.
Wettability-Alteration Chemicals
Changing the wettability of the porous medium from oil- or waterwetting to gas-wetting can help increase the productivity of gas
wells producing from condensate reservoirs. In general, wettability
of the reservoir rock is a very important parameter that determines
the success or failure of the waterflooding process as a secondaryrecovery mechanism (Buckley and Leverett 1942). This is shown
in the following equation (Leverett 1941; Liu et al. 2006):
ccosh
Pc r ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
k
/
where Pc is the capillary pressure, k is the rock permeability, / is
the rock porosity, c is the interfacial tension, and h is the contact
angle (Zheng and Rao 2010). What controls the wettability of the
rock is the contact angle between the fluid and the surface of the
rock. If there are two immiscible fluids (A and B) in the porous
medium, the rock wettability can be determined on the basis of
the value of the contact angle (h), measured in the denser phase
(as an example, Fluid B is the denser phase), with the rock surface, as shown in Fig. 4 (which is a schematic of the manner in
which liquids may spread over the surface of a solid). These contact angles are static contact angles; the contact angle can be
measured dynamically by use of pendant-drop equipment, with
advancing and receding measurements. These types of measurements are not shown in Fig. 4; the static contact angle only is
described. The denser-phase, Fluid B, can be determined as a wetting phase if the contact angle (h) is less than 90 , as a nonwetting
phase if the contact angle (h) is greater than 90 , and as a neutral
wetting phase if the contact angle (h) is equal to 90 (Wu and Firoozabadi 2010a).
Fluoropolymers have monomers that are either partially or
fully fluorinated (Ebnesajjad 2011). Fluorinated surfactants are
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Table 2Summary of the experimental work performed with methanol.
Table 3Summary of the experimental work performed with IPA and a mixture of IPA and methanol.
derived from the substitution of one or more hydrogen atoms

along the carbon backbone that makes up the hydrophobic part of
the surfactant with fluorine (Pabon and Corpart 2002: Schultz
et al. 2003; Lehmler 2005, 2008). The fluorinated polymers and
surfactants possess some unique properties, such as lowering surface tension in aqueous systems and high chemical and thermal
stability. The chemistry of fluorinated surfactants (Fig. 5) includes
three distinct structural aspects: the hydrophobic/oleophobic
tail, which contains a high proportion of fluorine; the hydrophilic group; and the spacer, which is an organic group linking
these two portions of the surfactant together (Buck et al. 2012).
It has been reported that there are some potential health and
safety concerns with some of the fluorochemicals or their
degraded products. Examples of the products resulting from the
degradation of fluorinated chemicals are perfluorooctane sulfonate
(PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (Key et al. 1997; Ellis
et al. 2004; Strazza et al. 2013), and both are toxic. In addition,
PFOA has been identified as a possible hazard that may cause
cancer (Upham et al. 1998; Biegel et al. 2001). Martin et al.
(2003) reported that both PFOA and PFOS are persistent and do
not break down easily. The major global fluorochemical companies in the US have agreed to eliminate PFOA by the year 2015,
and the major manufacturer for fluorochemicals in the US has
Fluid
Rock
Wetting phase ( < 90)
stopped making PFOS and eliminated it from their products

(Weber 2000). Weber (2000) indicated that PFOS has a tendency
to accumulate in human and animal tissues as a result of its environmental persistence. Seacat et al. (2002) reported an approximate time of 200 days as a half-life time for PFOS. Olsen et al.
(2007) conducted a study to measure the half-life of some fluoropolymers and their degradable components in human beings.
Olsen et al. (2007) found that PFOS needs an average time of 4.8
to 7.8 years as a half-life elimination time.
Use of Fluorosurfactants and -Polymers for Wettability Alteration
To Mitigate the Condensate-Banking Problem. Wettability-alteration chemicals received an appreciable interest during the last 20
years. Extensive laboratory work was performed by many
researchers. The reported experimental studies started at room
temperatures (Tang and Firoozabadi 2003), and then were continued by many researchers at higher temperatures of up to 161 C
(Fahes and Firoozabadi 2007; Noh and Firoozabadi 2008; Bang
et al. 2010b). Several fluorinated polymers and surfactants were
evaluated. The evaluation of the fluorinated chemicals included
measuring the contact angle, performing imbibition tests, and conducting coreflood experiments at high temperatures and pressures.
The various studies used sandstone and carbonate cores from both
Fluid
Rock
Nonwetting phase ( > 90)
Fluid
Rock
Neutral wettability ( = 90)
Fig. 4Determination of wettability through the use of the contact-angle concept [modified from Yuan and Lee (2013)].
Fluorinated Tail (Hydro- and Oleophobic)
Spacer
Hydrophilic Group
Fig. 5The chemistry of fluorinated surfactants (Buck et al.

2012).
outcrop and reservoir sources and included both low- and mediumpermeability samples. In general, wettability-alteration chemicals
were able to change the wettability of rock surfaces (sandstone and
carbonates) from oil- or water-wetting to intermediate-wetting
with liquids, or, sometimes, preferentially gas-wetting.
Wettability-alteration chemicals can represent a good solution
for solving the problem of condensate and water banking in gas/
condensate reservoirs. Currently missing from the literature are
field-case histories in which fluorinated chemicals were used.
These field cases are very important to the evaluation of real performance and to better design more treatments in the future. The
only work found in the SPE literature that discussed field trials
was that performed by Restrepo et al. (2012) and Al-Yami et al.
(2013). There were a few field trials that used wettability-alteration chemicals in Latin America, but no data were published
regarding the performance of these treatments1. Tables 4 and 5
present a summary of the experimental work performed by use of
the fluorosurfactants and fluoropolymers, respectively, as wettability-alteration chemicals.
Experimental Studies. Li and Firoozabadi (2000b) found that
wettability-alteration chemicals were effective in Berea sandstone
in which n-decane imbibition was reduced significantly, while
water imbibition decreased to approximately zero. Kumar et al.
(2006a, b) found that the relative permeability to gas was
improved and the residual oil saturation was reduced after treating
the core samples with wettability-alteration chemicals. Wettability-alteration chemicals can reduce the high velocity (turbulent)
coefficient as well as enhance the relative permeability to gas
(Noh and Firoozabadi 2006). Also, wettability-alteration chemicals were found to be effective in modifying the wettability of
rock surfaces in propped fractures, hence increasing the gas-flow
rate through improving the fracture conductivity (Bang 2007;
Bang et al. 2008).
Fahes and Firoozabadi (2007) concluded that wettability alteration was permanent at 140 C and that the treatment resulted in
improved gas productivity. With the increase in the chemical concentration, water imbibition decreased, and the permeability of
the rock was not affected adversely after the treatment. Panga
et al. (2007) found that the solvent system itself used with the fluorochemical may cause the chemical to be adsorbed on the core
face, resulting in loss of injectivity and nonuniform distribution of
the chemical along the core length.
Noh and Firoozabadi (2008) found that the higher the chemical
concentration, the higher the chemical adsorption in the rock.
Extensive chemical adsorption caused significant reduction in the
core permeability, so they suggested a pretreatment process to
avoid the reduction in the core permeability. The water and
condensate imbibition in the core was reduced significantly by 90
and 50%, respectively, after the treatment that used the
fluorochemicals.
Bang et al. (2009) found the pressure drop across the core
decreased after treating the core samples with fluoropolymer,
which indicates that there was an increase in the relative permeability to gas (twofold increase) and the treatment was durable
and efficient. In another study, Bang et al. (2010b) found that optimal solvents for wettability-alteration chemicals to stimulate the
Berea sandstone were the mixture of 2-butoxyethanol and ethanol
and the mixture of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and propylene glycol.
Bang et al. (2010b) and Wu and Firoozabadi (2010b) found that
the water salinity and the type of salt in brine will influence the
performance of the fluorochemical and the final change in the
1
Personal Communication with Mukul M. Sharma, 2014, University of Texas at Austin,
Austin, Texas, USA.
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wettability of the rock surface. Fahimpour et al. (2012a, b) found

that alcohol-based solvents were more effective than brine-based
solvents for use with wettability-alteration chemicals. Also, the
concentration of the fluorinated chemical has to be optimized to
maximize the efficiency of the chemical treatment.
Zheng and Rao (2010, 2011) found that both anionic and nonionic surfactants are effective in reducing the interfacial tension
for a gas/water system and a condensate/water system, but the
performance of the anionic surfactant was better than that of the
nonionic surfactant, especially at high pressures and temperatures.
Anionic surfactant was effective in changing the wettability of the
quartz surface from strongly oil-wetting to weakly oil-wetting or
water-wetting.
Ahmadi et al. (2011) found that, in the presence of brine, it is
better to preflush the core with a solvent (such as IPA) followed
by the chemical treatment, and the use of polyamine primer can
improve the treatments lifetime and increase the improvement
factor of the wettability-alteration-chemical treatment. Fernandez
et al. (2011) found that there is an optimal concentration for the
fluorochemical, and there was no more improvement in liquid mobility at concentrations above the optimum.
Simulation and Modeling. Li and Firoozabadi (2000a) simulated the relative permeabilities of both Liquid and gases in a
gas/condensate reservoir. Li and Firoozabadi (2000a) concluded that the deliverability of gas wells can be enhanced significantly through the use of wettability-alteration chemicals,
which will help to change the wettability of the rock surfaces
from oil- or water-wetting to gas-wetting. Kumar et al. (2006a)
performed simulation studies to evaluate the use of wettabilityalteration chemicals in stimulating the performance of wells
producing from gas/condensate reservoirs. The simulation
study considered two casessingle-layer and multilayered reservoirs. Kumar et al. (2006a) found that the relative permeability to gas was improved and the residual oil saturation was
reduced after treating the core samples with wettability-alteration chemicals. Also, the simulation study indicated that the
gas rate increased proportionally with the increase in the treatment depth into the formation.
Case Studies. Restrepo et al. (2012) documented a field trial of

applying a chemical treatment based on fluorinated polymer to
change the rock wettability and to enhance both oil and gas relative permeabilities. Fluoropolymer solution was pumped and displaced with nitrogen followed by 17 hours of soaking followed by
flowing back the well. The oil- and gas-production rates increased
by 20 and 50%, respectively. The oil rate returned to the base
value after 25 days, indicating that the chemical distribution in
the region around the wellbore is limited.
Al-Yami et al. (2013) described a successful field treatment
in which they used polymeric fluorinated surfactant to mitigate
the condensate-banking problem in one of the wells in Saudi
Arabia. The well was put on production in October 2003, with
an initial production rate of 20 MMscf/D. In 2009, the well suffered unstable wellhead conditions because of the accumulation
of condensate in the wellbore and in the formation around the
wellbore. The gas rate decreased to 1.56 MMscf/D, and the condensate rate was 279 B/D, with a condensate/gas ratio of 178
bbl/MMscf. The treatment included 257 bbl of preflush solvent
(2-butoxyethanol and ethanol) followed by injection of 900 bbl
of the main chemical treatment (fluorinated polymeric surfactant). Al-Yami et al. (2013) indicated that after 3 months of production, the condensate rate increased to 1,152 B/D, which is an
increase of 313%, while gas rate increased to 2.85 MMscf/D,
which is an increase of 83%. The payout time of the treatment
was approximately 30 days. Also, the productivity of the well
did not decline after more than 2 years of production2. This
2
Personal Communication with Hamoud Al-Anazi, 2014, Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia.

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Table 4Summary of the experimental work performed with fluorosurfactants.
indicates the stability of the fluorinated chemicals in the formation under reservoir conditions.
Discussion. The use of wettability-alteration chemicals, such as
fluorosurfactant and fluoropolymers, can present an effective solution to the condensate- and water-banking phenomena in gas/condensate reservoirs. Several parameters, such as the cost of the
treatment, its effectiveness and durability, flexibility of the design

to accommodate varying reservoir conditions, rigless workover,
and short payout time, may encourage the use of the wettabilityalteration method over the other techniques to mitigate the problem of condensate banking. This method can be combined with
other techniques, such as horizontal wells or hydraulic fracturing,
to maximize the benefits and the outcome of the treatment. More
field trials are required to better understand and evaluate these

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Table 5Summary of the experimental work performed with fluoropolymers.
chemicals. The rock mineralogy and the properties of formation

water, as well as the selection of the solvent and the fluorinated
chemical, are among the parameters that greatly affect the performance of wettability-alteration chemicals. The only published
study on a field treatment that uses this method indicated that the
treatment lasted for 2 years and gave an indication of the permanency of the treatment.
Inhibited-Diesel (ID) and Inhibited-Dry-Gas
Injection
ID consists of a blend of diesel, surfactant, and mutual solvent.
The use of ID aims to reduce the interfacial tension and mitigate
the problem of condensate banking. Sometimes xylene is added to
the ID. Franco et al. (2013) mentioned that ID achieved a very
low interfacial tension (c) of 0.09 dynes/cm with Cupiagua reservoir brine compared with 72 dynes/cm for an air/water system, 48
dynes/cm for an oil/water system, and 24 dynes/cm for a gas/oil
system. The main problem with this system was its efficiency and
sustainability at low reservoir pressures. Other than that, heavy
fractions from the condensate started to precipitate and cause pore
plugging. Alcohol and xylene were added to the ID to reduce the
interfacial tension and dissolve some of the organic materials precipitated in the pores. By adding alcohol and xylene, the penetration depth of the treatment fluid increased to 15 ft compared with
a penetration depth of 5 to 10 ft upon the use of ID alone, without
xylene. Addition of alcohols and xylene to the diesel achieved an
average of 50 to 100% increase in the penetration depth of the
treatment fluids.
Garzon et al. (2006) conducted a laboratory study of condensate-bank removal in a gas/condensate reservoir by use of diesel
and a combination of diesel, surfactant, and mutual solvents.
They indicated that there was a 50% productivity enhancement
when filtered diesel in combination with mutual solvent was used.
There was no significant effect of the soaking time on the efficiency of the diesel and mutual-solvent solutions. Nonionic
water-wetting surfactants were added to the ID and tested by use
of a coreflood setup. Garzon et al. (2006) found that surfactants
were ineffective and did not achieve a considerable enhancement
in the relative permeability of gas. Also, the volume of the
injected slug must be designed to be equal to the volume of condensate in the region around the wellbore. Furthermore, a field
trial to evaluate this technique was implemented on a gas well
drilled in a Permian carbonate formation. The reservoir was one
of the major nonassociated-gas reservoirs. This formation was
10
producing gas with high condensate content. A field trial was conducted with the filtered diesel in combination with mutual solvent.
Before the treatment, the well was completely cleaned up by use
of several stages of acid pickling jobs. A mixture of 695 bbl of filtered diesel and 1,045 bbl of mutual solvent was pumped into the
well, and finally, this treatment fluid was displaced to the top of
the perforations by use of 307 bbl of filtered ID, with 10% mutual
solvent. The treatment was soaked in the formation for 2 weeks,
and then the well was opened to produce. The production data
before and after the treatment indicated that the productivity index
increased by 10% and the gas rate increased by 15%.
The inhibited-gas method involves the injection of a blend of
gas, alcohol, and spreading agent to remove the condensate bank.
The inhibited gas is injected at high pressure and high rate in the
production well, aiming to vaporize as much condensate as possible. Franco et al. (2013) summarized the results of two field treatments performed on two wells in the Cupiagua field; the
treatment in both wells was performed with inhibited gas. When
ID was used, good results were observed in the early stages after
the treatment took place, but with time and production, the condensate production declined again. When inhibited gas was used,
there was no decline after the job, and the gas production did not
decline in both wells after almost 1 year of post-treatment production. A summary of experimental work performed with ID is
given in Table 6.
Gas Cycling
In gas/condensate reservoirs, gases, such as natural gas and nitrogen (N2), are injected for pressure-maintenance purposes to
improve the condensate recovery from the reservoir. The gascycling techniques aim to keep the pressure in the reservoir at a
value that is higher than the dewpoint to prevent condensate formation. In addition, it can help revaporize any liquid condensate
that might have formed back to the gas phase. If the reservoir pressure can be maintained at or above the dewpoint, a 100% withdrawal of condensate should be possible (Aziz 1983). The flow
characteristics of the reservoir and the phase behavior of the fluid
are the two main parameters that determine the suitability of the
gas-injection operations for a specific gas/condensate reservoir.
Aziz (1983) concluded that condensate-recovery factors can
increase to 75% by recycling dry gas into the reservoir. Several
factors may impact the effectiveness of the gas-cycling processes
when they are applied to mitigate the problem of condensate
banking. These factors may include sweep efficiencies (both areal
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k
k
Table 6Summary of the experimental work performed with ID to mitigate condensate-banking problem.
and vertical), and revaporization of the formed liquid-condensate

bank (Havlena et al. 1967). Also, gas- and condensate-recovery
factors in gas/condensate fields depend on initial condensate/gas
ratio, filtration properties of the reservoir (i.e., the ease with which
the fluids can flow through the porous medium, which is greatly
affected by the facies of the rock), well spacing and completion,
development plan, economic indices, and final (abandoned) reservoir pressure (Kolbikov 2010). Simulation studies of gas cycling
in gas/condensate reservoirs consider many parameters, such as
geological and petrophysical data, and can be used to predict the
optimal scenario to develop a gas/condensate reservoir and to
maximize the condensate recovery by use of gas-cycling techniques. Simulation studies were performed by many researchers on
different fields: Toual field in Algeria (Belaifa et al. 2003), Hassi
RMel South field, Algeria (Adel et al. 2006), and western Siberian fields (Kolbikov 2010).
Kabir et al. (2005) performed a study that used data collected
from fields producing in west Africa. They concluded that the
incremental liquid recovery over the depletion case is a function
of reservoir permeability, voidage-replacement ratio, and the producer/injector distance. Also, they found that improved condensate recovery is related to large reservoirs and delayed lean-gas
breakthrough. Additionally, they showed that the recovery factor
increases with the increase in the voidage-replacement ratio.
Case studies were presented by many researchers. Among
these case studies is the gas cycling in Bodcaw reservoir, Cotton
Valley field (Miller and Lents 1946). The reservoir-production
effluent consisted of a single gaseous phase at initial conditions of
4,000 psig and 238 F. The condensable liquid-hydrocarbon content was 113.98 bbl/MMcf. The dewpoint was determined to be at
3,975 psi and 238 F. Miller and Lents (1946) mentioned that it is
economically feasible to recover 85% of the reserves of the Bodcaw sand, Cotton Valley field, by the production of approximately
115% of these gas reserves. Another gas-cycling project in Abu
Dhabi was described by Saadawi (2001). The project aimed to develop two gas/condensate reservoirs in an onshore field. Saadawi
(2001) tried to address the basic design concepts and to describe
the surface facilities and the project-implementation strategy.
Use of Nitrogen (N2). N2 was used as an alternative to dry gas as
a result of the economic drawbacks of reinjection of the produced
dry gas into the reservoir. Donohoe and Buchanan (1981) presented a comparison of lean-gas injection vs. N2 for three hypothetical fluids. They presented reservoir-gas- and condensaterecovery factors for each fluid, considering depletion, lean-gas
injection, and N2 injection. They also considered three ranges of
reservoir heterogeneity. Donohoe and Buchanan (1981) showed
that recovery factors with N2 injection for all cases were comparable with those of the lean-gas injection. They concluded that
reservoirs with streams richer than 100 bbl/MMcf of condensate
should be considered for N2 injection. Aziz (1983) mentioned
that N2 injection can be a viable cycling process in reservoirs
with low heterogeneity and if the injection and production rates
are kept constant.
Renner et al. (1989) performed coreflood experiments and

simulation models to investigate the use of N2 to displace gas
condensate. The coreflood experiments were performed at a temperature of 215 F and a pressure in the range of 4,500 to 5,700
psia with N2 and separator gas. They used a compositional model
to simulate the laboratory coreflood experiments they performed.
They found that there was a small improvement in recovery efficiency when separator gas was used compared with when N2 was
used. They concluded that displacement of condensate by N2 or
separator gas at pressures below the dewpoint will reduce the
amount of recoverable condensate, and it is better to initiate the
injection process, as pressure maintenance, in the early life of a
gas/condensate reservoir. Siregar et al. (1992) used a compositional 1D model to compare the performance of injection of N2
vs. gas cycling to recover more condensate in gas/condensate reservoirs. They found that methane (as a natural gas) achieved
lower liquid dropout and higher capacity to evaporate liquid condensate than N2.
Linderman et al. (2008) presented the results of a joint study
that used a compositional full-field reservoir simulation to evaluate the suitability of N2 injection for gas cycling in a large gas/
condensate reservoir. They found that injection of N2 alone
reduced the condensate recovery, while the injection of a mixture
of N2 and lean gas increased the condensate recovery and reduced
the impact of condensate banking. Compared to carbon dioxide
(CO2), N2 achieved higher gas recovery, but less liquid-condensate recovery. They found that N2 has a low impact on condensate
recovery, while it increased the gas recovery and the total hydrocarbon recovery (liquid plus gas). Abdulwahab and Belhaj (2010)
investigated the use of N2 to recover gas and condensate from a
reservoir in Abu Dhabi. The N2 was used to replace the reinjection of the produced natural gas and to avoid the problems related
to the injection of CO2 and flue gases. They studied two scenarios
for the injection of N2: all-field scenario and isolated scenario.
They found that the isolated scenario was better in terms of limited effect on the final gas specification and also as a result of
reduced requirements for gas separation.
Injection of CO2. Because of the increase in the concentrations
of CO2 in the atmosphere and the greenhouse effect on the environment, researchers started to consider CO2 injection into
depleted gas reservoirs as a way to store CO2 (Oldenburg and
Benson 2002). CO2 can be injected into oil reservoirs with the
purpose of enhancing the recovery of more crude oil (Stalkup
1978; Gardner et al. 1981; Orr and Jenssen 1984; Blunt et al.
1993). The key mechanism in CO2 injection in gas/condensate
reservoirs is that CO2 is able to reduce the dewpoint (saturation)
pressure of the oil/gas system (Odi 2012). Mamora and Seo
(2002) found that CO2 can recover some of the unrecoverable gas
reserves by improving the sweep efficiency and repressurization
of depleted gas fields. Monger and Khakoo (1981) noticed that
CO2 has the ability to lower the miscibility pressure for paraffin
fluids. Jessen et al. (2004) indicated that CO2 injection in depleted
reservoirs containing condensate can help in recovery of the

11
liquid condensate. Recovery efficiency of CO2 injection is determined by the local displacement efficiency and the fluid flow
within the reservoir (Seto et al. 2007).
Al-Abri and Amin (2009) investigated the fractional condensate recovery and relative permeability following supercriticalCO2 injection, methane injection, and the injection of a mixture
of both. The experimental work was performed at a pressure of
5,900 psi and a temperature range of 203 to 320 F (95 to 160 C)
at a constant velocity inside the cores (10 cm/h). Sandstone core
samples with a porosity range of 13.2 to 14.7% and a permeability
range of 22 to 92 md were used. Al-Abri and Amin (2009) found
that the capacity (volume injected before breakthrough takes
place) of supercritical CO2 was 62% of pore volume (PV). This
was larger than the critical volume of the methane/supercritical
CO2 mixture (55% PV) and larger than that of methane only (27%
PV). Also, the injection of supercritical CO2 improved the relative
permeability to gas and maximized the recovery of the liquid condensates. Moradi et al. (2010) studied four scenarios of gas injection in an Iranian condensate reservoir: methane injection, N2
injection, gas recycling, and CO2 injection. They concluded that
CO2 injection achieved the highest liquid and gas recovery among
all other scenarios.
Gachuz-Muro et al. (2011) performed laboratory studies to
evaluate the effectiveness of CO2, N2, and dry lean gas in displacing condensate from naturally fractured gas/condensate reservoirs at a pressure of 8,455 psia and a temperature of 334 F.
Test results indicated that CO2 achieved a higher recovery factor
than N2, but a lower recovery factor than natural gas. Soroush
et al. (2012) found that CO2 can be used to recover condensate
from dipping gas/condensate reservoirs, and CO2 injection
achieved higher recoveries than injection of pure methane or
mixtures of methane and CO2. Odi (2012) studied the potential
for CO2 huff-n-puff technique to remove gas condensate
from the near-wellbore region. They found that CO2 has the ability to increase its diffusion into the condensate phase as its concentration increases.
Kurdi et al. (2012) studied the impact of supercritical-CO2
injection on condensate-bank removal. They investigated the
physics behind the supercritical-CO2 injection through performing
a numerical-simulation study by use of a compositional simulator.
Kurdi et al. (2012) found that the injection of supercritical CO2
increases the density of gas, decreases the viscosity and density of
condensate, and lowers the surface tension between the two
phases, resulting in a lower capillary pressure. As a result, the residual condensate saturation decreases and condensate recovery
increases. Taheri et al. (2013) used numerical simulation to study
the performance of miscible and immiscible gas injection to
remove the condensate banking in fractured gas/condensate reservoirs. Under natural depletion, Taheri et al. (2013) found that existence of fractures causes higher condensate saturation in the
matrix block and higher condensate recovery. Also, miscible gas
injection resulted in higher condensate recovery than immiscible
gas injection. Finally, enrichment of stock-tank gas with CO2
decreased the minimum miscibility pressure and, hence, more
condensate was recovered.
CO2 has some problems, which may include its source, storage, and transportation. The main source of CO2 is the different manufacturing processes that result in the emission of CO2
as a byproduct (Gale et al. 2005). The majority of CO2 is produced mainly from the industries that involve the use of different fossil fuels (Lucci et al. 2011). During transportation of
supercritical CO2, potential damage may occur to ferrous pipeline as a direct result of the corrosion process. When the CO2
stream is contaminated by free water (H2O), CO2 will dissolve
in water and form carbonic acid (H2CO3), as shown by the following equation:
Stage:
Page: 12
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Discussion. Although gas cycling appears to be an ideal solution

to the retrograde condensation problem, there are a number of factors that affect this method of operation adversely: income from
gas sales is deferred, substantial initial investment for compression and injection is required, makeup gas must be purchased, and
prolonged project life with inefficient gas-plant usage resulting in
high cumulative operating costs. Therefore, in evaluating the economics of exploiting any wet-gas reservoir by use of gas-cycling
processes, all the advantages and disadvantages must be evaluated
carefully.
Theoretically, gas cycling to replace 100% of the produced fluids can be the optimum solution to prevent condensate banking in
gas/condensate reservoirs. The reinjection of the produced natural
gas was a good solution when the gas prices were very low or
when it is difficult to transfer the infrastructure of the power-consuming systems from petroleum-based liquids to gases. Currently,
natural gas is very important as a vital source of energy to feed
the factories and electricity-generation plants, making it less economical to inject in the reservoirs as a pressure-maintenance technique to recover more liquids. The best solution in this case is to
study the use of N2 and CO2 as alternatives to natural gas for gas
cycling and to find economic ways to define sources, transportation, storage, and injection capabilities for such gases.
Combination of Different Methods
In the preceding sections of the paper, a review of the different
methods used to mitigate the condensate-banking problem was
given. Table 7 gives a summary of each technique, corresponding
working principle (mechanism), implementation criteria, field(s)
where the technique has been applied, and primary conclusions.
A combination of the techniques that were described previously is also a possible technique to mitigate such a problem. As
an example, a combination of drilling horizontal wells and
hydraulic fracturing was described by Ignatyev et al. (2011). A
combination of hydraulic fracturing and wettability-alteration
chemicals is also one of the methods that can be applied in the
field. The main advantage of such a combination is to create clean
fractures, during which the wettability-alteration chemicals will
enhance the flow of gas and increase the gas capacity to return all
the liquid introduced to the formation during the fracturing treatment to the wellbore and, hence, to the surface. This method will
maximize the conductivity through the creation of clean pathways
for the gas phase to flow through the fracture system toward the
wellbore and then to the surface.
A combination of acidizing treatments and the additions of
solvents (alcohols) was described before by Al-Anazi et al.
(2006). The main objective of adding alcohol is to reduce the
interfacial tension between the spent acid and gas, which allows
for better removal of the liquid that fills the wormhole, while at
the same time enhancing the gas permeability following the acidstimulation treatment. A combination of wettability alteration and
solvents is another possible method (Al-Yami et al. 2013). The
combined effect of changing the rock wettability to preferential
gas-wetting with the resulting enhancement in gas permeability
and lowering the interfacial tension between gas and liquids gives
a superior advantage to this combined system.
A combination of horizontal wells and wettability alteration
can provide maximum benefits and performance when the best
placement techniques (coiled tubing or use of chemical diverter)
are used. These placement techniques will be used to better distribute the wettability-alteration chemicals throughout the horizontal section of the well, which is open to flow. A combination
of different methods can enhance the performance of the well. It
is very important to understand these different combinations by
use of numerical simulators and experimentally in laboratories, to
optimize the treatment and maximize the well performance.
CO2 H2 O () H2 CO3 : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Although H2CO3 is a weak acid, it is corrosive to mild steel (Russick et al. 1996; George and Nesic 2007; McGrail et al. 2009).
12
Conclusions
Condensate banking in a gas/condensate reservoir can decrease
both the gas- and liquid-production rates severely. After a
kH
Stage:
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kV
krg
Table 7Summary of the methods and techniques used to mitigate the condensate-banking problem.
thorough review of the literature on the methods that were used to

mitigate the condensate- and water-banking problems, the following conclusions can be made:
1. Gas cycling can be used to increase the reservoir pressure
(pressure maintenance), which will enhance the condensate recovery and also could help to mitigate the condensate-banking
problem.
2. Drilling horizontal wells and hydraulic fracturing will increase
the contact area between the reservoir and the well, which will
help to delay the condensate-banking problem and reduce its
impact on well deliverability, but they will not be an effective
permanent solution for condensate banking.
3. Wettability-alteration chemicals may present a robust solution
for the condensate-banking problem. However, literature
reported only one successful case study.
4. The advantages of using wettability-alteration chemicals over
other techniques include cost effectiveness, durability, and
flexibility of design to accommodate varying reservoir
conditions.
5. Solvents (such as methanol, isopropyl alcohol, or a mixture of
both) were effective in removing condensate and water accumulation in laboratory and experimental tests on core samples,
but only gave a short-term improvement in the field trial. The

treatment has to be repeated to remove the liquid bank from
the region around the wellbore.
6. Use of carbon dioxide can represent a future technique that can
be used to mitigate the condensate-banking problem.
Nomenclature
h formation thickness, L, ft
k rock permeability, L2 , md
kh formation capacity, L3, md-ft
kH horizontal permeability, L2, md
krg relative permeability to gas, dimensionless
kro relative permeability to oil, dimensionless
kV vertical permeability, L2, md
Pav average reservoir pressure, mL1t2, psi
Pc capillary pressure, mL1t2, psi
Pdew dewpoint pressure, mL1t2, psi
Pi initial reservoir pressure, mL1t2, psi
Pr average reservoir pressure, mL1t2, psi
Pwf flowing bottomhole pressure, mL1t2, psi

13
P2 upper dewpoint pressure, mL1t2, psi

P3 pressure at which condensation is maximum (point pressure), mL1t2, psi
re well-drainage radius, L, ft
rw wellbore radius, L, ft
So oil saturation, dimensionless
Sw water saturation, dimensionless
TC critical temperature, T, F or R
TCT cricondentherm temperature, T, F or R
c interfacial tension, mt2, dyne/cm
h contact angle, degrees
/ rock porosity, dimensionless
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank Saudi Aramco for permission to
publish this work.
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Mohammed A. Sayed is a research scientist in the Production

Technology Team at Aramco Services Company, Aramco
Research CenterHouston. His research interests include the
development of fluids used in acidizing carbonate reservoirs,
both matrix and fracturing; fluids for hydraulic fracturing; acidizing additives; gel breakers; chemicals for scale and corrosion
inhibition; and wettability-alteration chemicals. Sayed has
published several SPE conference and journal papers on acidizing, and he holds five patents. He holds BSc and MSc
degrees in petroleum engineering from Cairo University and a
PhD degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University. email: mohammed.sayed.4@aramcoservices.com.
Ghaithan A. Al-Muntasheri is a petroleum engineer working for
the US subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, Aramco Services Company, in Houston. He is the lead and founder of the Production
Technology Team of Aramco Research CenterHouston. AlMuntasheri is still affiliated with the EXPEC Advanced Research
Center of Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and has
been working for Saudi Aramco for the last 13 years. He also
has an adjunct associate professor appointment at Rice University. Al-Muntasheri has published 45 papers in refereed journals and international conferences. He holds BS and MS
degrees, both with honors, in chemical engineering from King
Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi
Arabia, and a PhD degree in petroleum engineering, with
honors, from Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.
Al-Muntasheri served as the chair of the SPE Saudi Arabia Section for the 201112 term. He also served as the chair of the
2011 Annual Technical Symposium & Exhibition. Al-Muntasheri
has received several awards, including the 2014 SPE Outstanding Young Member Service Award, the 2011 SPE Century Club
Award, the 2011 SPE Outstanding Young Member Regional
Award, the 2011 World Oil Award for the Best Production
Chemical, the 2009 EXPEC ARC Award for the Best Mentor,
and the 2008 EXPEC ARC Award for the Best Technical Presentation. He serves as a technical reviewer for SPE Journal, Journal of Canadian Petroleum Technology, and for the Arabian
Journal for Science and Engineering. Al-Muntasheri is a member of SPE.


Mititigation of The Effect of Condensate Banking - A Critical Review

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PO168153 DOI: 10.

2118/168153-PA Date: 26-March-15

Mitigation of the Effects of Condensate

Naville 1965; Gringarten et al. 2000; Hashemi et al. 2006). This

2015 SPE Production & Operations

PO168153 DOI: 10.2118/168153-PA Date: 26-March-15

Fig. 1A typical phase diagram of a retrograde system (Ahmed

region. Condensate and water banking will cause a reduction in

acidizing, with a combination of two or more of the preceding techniques.

Region 1: Single-phase gas

Region 3: Two-phase flow

Region 2: Single-phase gas

Region 4: Two-phase flow with

2015 SPE Production & Operations

PO168153 DOI: 10.2118/168153-PA Date: 26-March-15

zontal wells delayed the water breakthrough and was useful in

Condensate and Water Banking

CO2 and N2 Injection

wells will help reduce the impact of condensate banking on the

2015 SPE Production & Operations

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reservoirs to economic rates, which helps to decrease the gap

impairment in the permeability normal to the fracture face caused

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attempts to hydraulically fracture the wells were made, but the

PO168153 DOI: 10.2118/168153-PA Date: 26-March-15

permeabilities were used during these experiments. The following

et al. 2000; Pedersen and Milter 2004). The phase behavior of

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Table 2Summary of the experimental work performed with methanol.

derived from the substitution of one or more hydrogen atoms

Wetting phase ( < 90)

stopped making PFOS and eliminated it from their products

Nonwetting phase ( > 90)

Neutral wettability ( = 90)

PO168153 DOI: 10.2118/168153-PA Date: 26-March-15

Fluorinated Tail (Hydro- and Oleophobic)

Fig. 5The chemistry of fluorinated surfactants (Buck et al.

wettability of the rock surface. Fahimpour et al. (2012a, b) found

Case Studies. Restrepo et al. (2012) documented a field trial of

2015 SPE Production & Operations

PO168153 DOI: 10.2118/168153-PA Date: 26-March-15

Table 4Summary of the experimental work performed with fluorosurfactants.

treatment, its effectiveness and durability, flexibility of the design

2015 SPE Production & Operations

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Table 5Summary of the experimental work performed with fluoropolymers.

chemicals. The rock mineralogy and the properties of formation

ID: jaganm Time: 14:19 I Path: S:/3B2/PO##/Vol00000/150009/APPFile/SA-PO##150009

PO168153 DOI: 10.2118/168153-PA Date: 26-March-15

and vertical), and revaporization of the formed liquid-condensate

Renner et al. (1989) performed coreflood experiments and

2015 SPE Production & Operations

PO168153 DOI: 10.2118/168153-PA Date: 26-March-15

Discussion. Although gas cycling appears to be an ideal solution

ID: jaganm Time: 14:19 I Path: S:/3B2/PO##/Vol00000/150009/APPFile/SA-PO##150009

PO168153 DOI: 10.2118/168153-PA Date: 26-March-15

thorough review of the literature on the methods that were used to

but only gave a short-term improvement in the field trial. The

2015 SPE Production & Operations

PO168153 DOI: 10.2118/168153-PA Date: 26-March-15