MATBAL

MatBal V1.4 Release Notes

March 2004

Contents Page

1. Introduction................................................................................................................................. 2

2. Bugs fixed in MatBal 1.4........................................................................................................... 4

3. Installation................................................................................................................................... 4

4. Security Key............................................................................................................................... 7

5. Recommended Hardware Requirements............................................................................... 7

6. Software requirements: ............................................................................................................ 8

7. Known Issues:............................................................................................................................ 8
1. Introduction
MatBal is designed to allow analysis, evaluation and prediction of the response of
hydrocarbon reservoir systems using fundamental material balance principles.
Material balance techniques are widely used throughout all phases of field development,
providing engineers with a measure of hydrocarbon volumes and a critical estimate of key
reservoir parameters. Using these techniques engineers can:
Estimate the volume of fluids initially present in the reservoir.

Examine the effects of changes resulting from produced and injected fluids.
The ease with which material balance techniques can be applied results in an efficient and
cost-effective alternative to more complex and expensive simulation techniques.
MatBal features include:
Three forecast models - rate control on a field-wide basis and rate and production
manifold pressure control on a well basis.
Aquifer modelling
Flank, Bottom, Line and Pot aquifers
Hurst Van Everdingen, Fetkovich, Fetkovich Modified and Carter-Tracey aquifer
models.
No-flow and Infinite boundary types.
Optimised allocation of lift gas.
Black Oil, Volatile Oil, Condensate, Wet and Dry Gas reservoirs
Linear and Non-linear History Matching techniques
Linear and Non-linear regression curve fitting procedures for tuning the aquifer and
reservoir models to match the observed data.
Pressure comparison plot showing actual and calculated reservoir pressure.

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 Water-influx plot showing model aquifer response and aquifer influx required to
match observed data.
Water and gas injection into the reservoir
Multiple wells connected to a single reservoir
Reservoir inflow (IPR and relative permeability) and PVT data import from WellFlo.
Comprehensive plotting and data export facilities and users can customise their output for
reporting (e.g. plots and tables).
Import of Eclipse format VFP tables
Comprehensive on-line help is included together with tutorial examples, which
demonstrate the principal features of MatBal.

MatBal can be run in one of two modes:

History Match Mode - The field model can be calibrated against observed data using a
combination of linear and non-linear regression methods in conjunction with diagnostic plots
for Water Influx and Pressure Comparison.
Forecast Mode - The history matched field model can be used as a basis for forecasting
future reservoir performance and potential through estimated off-take and tubing-head
pressure schedules. Three forecasting models are available:
Rate-controlled (field model): User-defined field oil production and injection rates.
MatBal calculates reservoir pressures, saturation and secondary phase rates and
cumulative production.
Rate-controlled (well model): Depending on the options selected the user can
specify oil production, reservoir and gas lift injection rates, water injection rate and
constraints (minimum and maximum production manifold pressures). MatBal
determines reservoir pressure, saturations, rates, cumulative production, manifold
pressures, and manifold status with respect to manifold constraints, injection rates and
cumulative injection. Individual well parameters are also calculated, including well
status, tubing head pressure, bottom hole pressure, drawdown, productivity index,
production rates and cumulative production for all phases, injection rates and
production of secondary phases. MatBal also determines the optimum allocation of lift
gas to individual gas lifted wells subject to user-defined constraints such as maximum
lift gas rate, maximum water production etc.
Pressure-controlled (well model): This is similar to the Rate Controlled (well model)
option but in this case the user defines production and injection manifold pressures
and fluid rate constraints.

A workflow diagram showing how MatBal would be used is illustrated below:

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2. Bugs fixed in MatBal 1.4

MatBal 1.4 is a maintenance release which fixes two minor bugs:

For some well-based forecasts the well schedule was not being correctly applied.
Specifically, a well event was only being applied after the date of the event
and not on the date of the event.
A problem was fixed with the start date of a forecast when used in conjunction with
ReO Forecast.

3. Installation
To install MatBal under Windows NT or 2000, you must have full Local Administrator
privileges.
Insert the CD and the Software Distribution screen will appear. If the screen does not appear
automatically then go to the root directory of the CD using Explorer or My Computer and
double-click on the LAUNCH.EXE program.
Click on the Software Solutions button and in the Software Installation menu select MatBal
followed by Install Software.

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You will then be taken step-by-step through the installation procedure and you will be offered
the choice of a Standalone installation or a Network installation.

3.1 Standalone installation

You (or your Administrator if you are using Windows NT or 2000) may install the complete
MatBal to your local hard drive. This installs the executable, units database, example data
files, etc, allowing full standalone operation. An appropriate security key must be licensed to
run MatBal in standalone mode. Please refer to the Security Key section of these notes.
Installation: After selecting the Standalone option, just click the Next button and work your
way through the screens. You will not normally need to change any of the default settings. For
Windows 95/98 and NT it is permissible to change the destination directories for the
program, but we suggest that in Windows 2000, because of the stricter security, you respect
the default paths.
During installation the Microsoft HTML Help Installation and Update Package (Hhupd) is run
and the following files, which are required for viewing the on-line help, are installed for
Windows 98 and NT operating systems

Hhctrl.ocx Itss.dll Itircl.dll hh.exe hhctrlui.dll

The HTML Help Installation and Update Package (any language version of
Hhupd.exe) will not run on a Windows NT system unless you have administrator
privileges.
During installation of Hhupd you will be prompted to respond to a number of questions;
answer Yes or OK to all of them.
Windows 2000 users should not run Hhupd.exe because Windows 2000 ships with a version
of HTML Help that does not require an update. MatBal auto-detects which operating system is
running and will not run Hhupd.exe if it detects that Windows 2000 is running.
After installation you will find the MatBal executable in \Program Files\EPS\MatBal. Microsoft
recommends that for Windows 2000, program executables should be located in the Program
Files directory. This restriction does not apply to the other Windows systems (although it is
good practice).
Windows 95/98 and NT users will find the data, template, report, etc. folders in the usual place
under \Program Files\EPS\MatBal
With Windows 2000, when a user logs on and starts MatBal for the first time, a new path will
be created for that user under Documents and Settings (which is usually on the C drive), and
folders for data, templates, and reports will be created there. This is in accordance with
Microsofts recommendation for files that require read/write access by users without full local
administrator rights. For example, you will find the example data files for user1 in \Documents
and Settings\user1\Application Data\EPS\MatBal\data.

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Note that each time a different user logs on to this computer and starts up MatBal, a new path
is created for that user and the relevant install files set is copied into it. Thus for user2, the
path to his/her set of example files will be \Documents and Settings\user2\Application
Data\EPS\MatBal\data
Windows 2000 security ensures that User2 will not normally have access to User1s path, and
vice versa, unless the Administrator bestows the necessary privileges.

3.2 Network Installation

The MatBal network installation facility performs two functions:
1. Makes a complete installation (executable, units database, example data files, etc.) on a
selected network server drive;
2. Creates an extra folder called Workstation Install on the server drive. This contains files
that allow users to make local installations to their PCs from the network drive folder (but
under Windows NT or 2000, you will need Local Administrator rights to do this). Only a
few files are required for these local installations because the main program executables
have already been installed on the server drive.
We have found that the set-up program cannot be run in the Workstation Install folder
on Novell servers. The problem can be cured by changing the folder name to a DOS-
compatible one (maximum 8 characters, no gaps) such as Wkinstall.
An appropriate security key must be licensed to allow users to run MatBal in network mode.
Please refer to the Security Key section of these notes.
Installation: After selecting the Network Installation option, select Next and continue through
the screens. You will not normally need to change any of the default settings, apart from
specifying the server drive. For Windows 95/98 and NT it is permissible to change the
destination directories for the program, but we suggest that in Windows 2000, because of the
stricter security, you respect the default paths.
After installation, by default you will find the MatBal executable on the network drive in
\Program Files\EPS\MatBal.
On completion of the installation to the network drive, you are ready to make workstation
installations. Go to the Workstation install folder on the network drive under \MatBal, start
setup.exe, and follow the prompts.
Again, for Windows 95/98 and NT it is permissible to change the destination directories on
the local drive, but we suggest that in Windows 2000 you respect the default paths. Windows
95/98 and NT users will then find the data, reports, etc folders on the local hard drive in the
usual place under \Program Files\EPS\MatBal.
Under Windows 2000, when a user logs in and starts MatBal for the first time, a new path will
be created for him/her under Documents and Settings in the same way as for the Standalone
installation. The folders for data, templates and reports will be created here. This is a

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personal path, and the same comments about additional users on the same computer apply
here as for the Standalone installation.

4. Security Key
In order to run MatBal you must have a valid Flexlm security key file on your machine; this
license file is generated by EPS. After installation of MatBal has been completed, navigate to
the Software Security section menu on the Product CD and then select the Run Host ID Utility
option, where details of current EPS software security keys are displayed. Select License
Application Form, follow steps 1-5 and then select Save Security Key Application and send
the .flx file to EPS.
Note: The Flexlm license is sensitive to changes in the machine clock setting if it is changed
by more than 24 hours. Do not carry out time-sensitive testing if the same Flexlm license is to
be used before and after the testing. Otherwise, even a valid license would not be accessed
and the operating system may need to be re-installed.

5. Recommended Hardware Requirements

MatBal runs under the Windows 98, NT and Windows 2000 operating systems. The
recommended minimum PC specification is:
266 MHz PII
128 MB RAM
4 MB graphics card.
This is the minimum specification but we would recommend at least a 600 MHz PIII with 256
MB RAM and a 16 MB AGP graphics card running at 1024x768 pixel resolution with 16-bit
colours.

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6. Software requirements:
MatBal requires Internet Explorer 5.0 or later or Netscape Navigator 4.x or later to run it.
In order to import IPR, Relative Permeability and PVT data from WellFlo, WellFlo V3.6d or
later must also be installed.

7. Known Issues:
Known issues with regard to MatBal functionality are:
In order for MatBal to handle decimal numbers correctly, the decimal symbol
specified in the machine regional settings must be set to the character ..
Therefore, if the machine is set to a non-English regional setting, the decimal
separator must be changed from a comma character , to the decimal character
.. and this can be done via the Regional and Language option in the Control
Panel.

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