SPE-175760-MS

Capillary Pressure Considerations in Numerical Reservoir Simulation

Studies-Conclusion Maps
M. Shams, AMAPETCO; A. H. El-Banbi and M. Khairy, Cairo University

Copyright 2015, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE North Africa Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Cairo, Egypt, 14 –16 September 2015.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
of the paper have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect
any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written
consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may
not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
Capillary pressure has been typically used for reservoir simulation model initialization where the initial
fluids saturations are distributed all over the model. Different transition zones are set to avoid abrupt
change from the minimum to the maximum saturation of any reservoir fluid, and consequently it directly
affects the volumes of original fluids in place. After the step of initialization, the effect of capillary
pressure on reservoir performance may not be fully understood for different drive mechanisms. In
non-fractured reservoirs numerical simulation studies, capillary pressure is sometimes completely ignored
during model construction and validation. On the other hand, in fractured reservoirs simulation studies,
zero capillary pressure in fractures is usually used without a clear understanding of how this parameter
affects the simulation accuracy.
The aim of this work is to show the effect of both oil-water and gas-oil capillary pressures on the
numerical simulation of reservoirs producing under natural depletion, water injection, and gas injection
recovery processes over a wide range of reservoirs and production parameters. Capillary pressure effects
are studied for both fractured and non-fractured reservoirs.
For fractured reservoirs, both matrix and fracture capillary pressures effects were investigated when
capillary pressure imbibition is the only drive mechanism and when both capillary pressure imbibition and
gravity drainage recovery mechanisms are active together. To quantify this effect, simulation results of
large and small transition zones were compared with models of zero transition zones and three difference
indicators were calculated for each run. Hundreds of runs were made to quantify these effects in a variety
of reservoir heterogeneity levels.
For both fractured and non-fractured reservoirs, it was found that capillary pressure effects are different
for different recovery processes. While capillary pressure is usually important for initialization, it may not
be as important during flow calculations in every situation. In general capillary pressure is more important
in depletion runs than in most displacement runs. It was found that no clear correlation existed between
capillary pressure effects and the level of reservoir heterogeneity. Also, fracture gas-oil capillary pressure
is important under certain conditions for fractured reservoirs. A field model, based on real data, was also
used to confirm the results obtained from hypothetical models and validate the study conclusions. Finally,
guidelines were developed to show when capillary pressure was important and when it can be ignored.
2 SPE-175760-MS

This work is to complete the research done and published in Shams et al. (2013) and Shams (2014).
Additional runs were performed to validate the results. The results and study conclusions are derived in
shape of conclusion maps to be easier to use.

Introduction
Accurate capillary pressure data in both drainage and imbibition cycles can be essential for understanding
hydrocarbon reservoir performance. Drainage capillary pressure is usually used to initialize reservoir
models, i.e., to determine initial fluid saturation distribution as a function of height above free water level
and to calculate hydrocarbons in place. However, imbibition capillary pressure can play an important role
in the recovery of oil from fractured reservoirs. The transfer of oil from the matrix blocks to the
surrounding fractures by capillary pressure imbibition is one of the important recovery mechanisms in
fractured reservoirs.
In this work, many simulation runs were performed on hypothetical models to test the importance of
both oil-water and gas-oil capillary pressure on reservoir performance. The selected reservoir models are
derived from real data. It is well established that capillary pressure affects the initial fluid saturation
distribution in the reservoir. In reservoir simulation practice, it is usually important to define the oil-water
capillary pressure precisely for different rock types. Gas-oil capillary pressure is usually less important to
define accurately since gas-oil transition zone is not usually large (due to high density difference between
gas and oil).
Most results in this work are obtained by performing many sensitivity analysis runs on parameters of
interest (e.g. reservoir heterogeneity, magnitude of oil-water and gas-oil capillary pressures, drawdown
effects in displacement processes, production mechanisms, shape factors for matrix-fracture transfer in
naturally fractured reservoirs, and matrix-fracture fluid transfer drive mechanisms). It became clear with
this work that accurate definition of oil-water and gas-oil capillary pressures is not important in every
situation, based on capillary pressure effect on reservoir performance. In an attempt to generalize the
findings of this work, the conclusions of the work from the hypothetical models were tested with a field
model based on real data and the main conclusions were validated. Guidelines provided in the conclusions
paragraph can be used to reveal when oil-water and gas-oil capillary pressures are important for the
simulation work, and when they will not affect the reservoir performance results significantly.

Literature Review
Capillary Presssure Definition
Leverett (1941), Brooks and Corey (1966), Dullien (1992), Vavra et al. (1992) defined the capillary
pressure term as the pressure difference created across the interface between any two immiscible fluids
when they are existed adjacent to each other. This can be obvious when a capillary pressure tube is placed
in a wetting fluid, pressure difference exists across the interface between wetting phase and non-wetting
phase in the capillary tube. The wetting phase rises until adhesive and gravitational forces balance (Fig.
1). The force balance is given by the following equation:
(1)

Where subscripts w and nw denote wetting phase and non-wetting phases, respectively, ␳w and ␳nw are
densities of the respective phases, g is the gravitational constant, and h is height above the free water level.
Dullien (1979) showed that capillary pressure is not depending only on saturation and it depends on the
saturation history and the direction of saturation change. A primary drainage curve is obtained when a
porous medium is completely saturated by water and is subsequently drained to a minimum value, Swi
followed by the imbibition curve, when water saturation increases again from Swi to a maximum value
of wetting phase saturation. In Fig. 2 it is clear that below the irreducible saturation Swi, a wetting phase
SPE-175760-MS 3

is no longer continuous, hence further pressure change does not result in additional desaturation.
Similarly, an imbibition curve terminates at a maximum wetting phase saturation, which is lower than
100%, due to the amount of the non-wetting fluid which remains trapped in the form of isolated blobs.
The remaining non-wetting fluid is called a non-wetting phase residual saturation, Snwr. Vavra et al.
(1992) summarized three laboratory methods of measuring capillary pressures: (1) porous plate, (2)
centrifuge, and (3) mercury-injection. Porous plate and centrifuge methods use the actual or simulated
hydrocarbon/brine system of the reservoir to approximate the wetting phase. In the mercury injection
method, mercury is the non-wetting phase. The volume of mercury injected at each pressure determines
the non-wetting phase saturation. The procedure is continued until the sample is filled with mercury or the
injection pressure reaches some predetermined value.

Figure 1—A diagram showing basic capillary pressure concepts (from Vavra et al., 1992)

Figure 2—Capillary drainage and imbibition curves

The mercury injection is favored because it is simple, cheaper, and less time consuming than porous
plate and centrifuge methods. Mercury injection also significantly increases the range of pressure
investigation, can be conducted on cuttings or sidewall samples, and measurements can easily be
converted to reservoir system. Disadvantages of mercury-injection method are the difference in wetting
properties and permanent loss of the sample. Another disadvantage that limits the use of this method in
modern laboratory is the use of mercury itself in the experiment. More laboratories are becoming mercury
free for safety reasons. A typical mercury injection capillary pressure curve is shown in Fig. 3. Swanson
(1981) reported that a drainage capillary-pressure curve typically consists of two parts: a gentle plateau
in the lower capillary pressure range, and a steep slope in the higher capillary pressure range (Fig. 3). The
inflection point of these two parts is called “Apex”. The plateau is inferred to record injection of mercury
into macropores, while the steep slope records injection into micropores. As pore-throat sizes become
4 SPE-175760-MS

extremely variable, the two parts of the curve will merge, suggesting an even distribution of pore-throat
sizes between macro and micro scales. Jenning (1987) defined the entry pressure, Pe, as “the pressure at
which the sample first accepts mercury into the pore system”. According to Jennings, “Pe is of limited
importance and is primarily a function of the mercury conforming to irregularities on the surface of the
sample plug”. Schowalter (1979) defined displacement pressure, Pd, as “that pressure required to form a
continuous filament of non-wetting fluid through the largest connected pore throats of the rock”. Katz and
Thompson (1986) defined threshold pressure as “the pressure at which mercury forms a connected
pathway across the sample”. This is estimated from the inflection point of a graph like that in Fig. 3.
Threshold pressure is graphically similar to displacement pressure. Numerous models have been devel-
oped to simulate the capillary pressure responses of rocks and soils. Using fitting parameters, these
capillary models are refined to allow for variations in sample properties, fluid type, and the interconnected
nature of the void structure. Corey (1954) showed that capillary pressure curves can be expressed as:
(2)

Where C is a constant and is the normalized wetting phase saturation. is expressed as:

Figure 3—A schematic diagram showing a typical mercury-injection capillary pressure curve (modified from Jennings, 1987)

(3)

Thomeer (1960) proposed an empirical relationship between capillary pressure and mercury saturation.
He analyzed capillary pressure curves to define internal pore structure. He concluded that the shape of
capillary curve depends on pore geometry. Thomeer’s empirical relationship can be expressed as:
(4)

Where Pe is the entry capillary pressure, SHg is the mercury saturation, SHg⬁ is the mercury saturation
at an infinite capillary pressure, and Fg is the pore geometrical factor.
Brooks and Corey (1966) found a general form of capillary pressure function:
(5)

Where ʎ is the pore size distribution index. ʎ can be measured with geometric analysis of images of
individual pores using various types of microscopy on thin sections of the rock. This model is commonly
used for consolidated porous media.
Van Genuchten (1980) adopted a capillary pressure model to predict the hydraulic conductivity of
unsaturated soils. Van Genuchten model can be expressed as:
SPE-175760-MS 5

(6)

The parameters m, n, and Pe are directly calculated using the slope of measured capillary pressure data.
This model is commonly used for unconsolidated porous media. Jin and Wunnik (1998) proposed a
capillary pressure model as:
(7)

Where is the capillary pressure scaling factor, d is a constant to define the curvature, n is the
asymmetry shape factor and a is a constant to control the value of the entry pressure.
Leverett (1939) came up with a function known as the Leverett J function, which is a unique function
of saturation. For several different water-wet unconsolidated sands, he found a single characteristic curve.
The Leverett J function is defined as:
(8)

Where ␴ is the interfacial tension between a wetting and a non-wetting phase, ␪ is the contact angle
measured in the wetting phase, k is the absolute permeability of the medium, and ␸ is the porosity.
Khairy (2001) developed a new technique to estimate average capillary pressure curve for a reservoir
(Eq. 9). A total of 58 core samples from the Western Desert in Egypt were used to develop the
correlations. This technique needs one to establish a relationship between two constants and formation
permeability or permeability and porosity. Once these relationships are established, they can be used to
estimate capillary pressure curves at the positions of other wells in the same formation using the well test
and log data from these wells in absence of special core analysis data. Khairy’s equation is expressed as:
(9)

Where Sw is the water saturation, A is a constant, and B is the saturation exponent.

Naturally Fractured Reservoirs

The need to produce more oil has led various researchers to evaluate more complex reservoirs such as
naturally fractured ones. The complexity of fluid flow in these types of reservoirs arises from the fact that
there are two media, which can allow fluids to flow through them. This leads to the logical conclusion that
there are two principal media of fluid flow. The first flow is through the porous medium called the matrix
flow and the other is the flow through the fracture network. At the heart of this phenomenon lies the
problem of interaction of these two flow media with each other. In naturally fractured reservoirs,
hydrocarbons are present in the matrix and the fractures facilitate in fast recovery of these hydrocarbons.
Hence it is important to study what makes the matrix produce more oil. Bourblaux and Kalaydjian (1988),
Cil et al. (1998) and Kang et al. (2006) reported that a considerable amount of the world hydrocarbon
reserves are found in naturally fractured reservoirs. Allen and Sun (2003) reported that oil production from
a fractured reservoir will differ from a non-fractured reservoir, and some of the most pronounced
differences are listed below:
1. Due to high fluid transmissibility in the fracture network, the pressure drop around a producing
well is lower than in non-fractured reservoirs, and pressure drop does not play an important role
in production from fractured reservoirs. Production is governed by the fracture/matrix interaction.
2. The GOR in fractured reservoirs generally remains lower than non-fractured reservoirs, if the field
is produced optimally. The high permeability in the vertical fractures will lead the liberated gas
towards the top of the reservoir in contrast to towards producing well in non-fractured reservoirs.
This is to some degree sensitive to fracture spacing and orientation and the position of completed
6 SPE-175760-MS

intervals of producers. Liberated gas will form a secondary gas cap at the top of reservoir or
expand existing cap.
3. Fractured reservoirs generally lack transition zones in the fracture system. The oil-water and
gas-oil contacts are sharp contacts prior to and during production due to the high fracture
permeability.
Recovery Mechanisms in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs
Recovery mechanisms are different in fractured reservoirs compared to non-fractured reservoirs. Saidi
(1987) and Firoozabadi (2000) stated that the large contrast in capillary pressure between the matrix and
the fractures is the main reason for the difference in recovery performance between fractured and
non-fractured reservoirs. The different recovery mechanisms in naturally fractured reservoirs are de-
scribed in the following subsections.
Capillary Imbibition
The expulsion of oil from the matrix blocks to the surrounding fractures by capillary imbibition of water
is one of the most important oil recovery mechanisms in naturally fractured reservoirs with the low-
permeability rock matrix, since in such reservoirs the conventional methods of production, such as
building a pressure difference across matrix blocks, fail because of the high-permeability fracture
network. Capillary imbibition is described as a spontaneous penetration of a wetting phase into a porous
media while displacing a non-wetting phase by means of capillary pressure, e.g., water imbibing into an
oil-saturated rock. Imbibition plays an important role in the recovery of oil from naturally fractured
reservoirs. The importance of capillary imbibition was identified by the early investigators.
Brownscombe and Dyes (1952) suggested that imbibition flooding could contribute to oil production
from the Spraberry trend of West Texas. This study established that for applying successful imbibition
flood, the rock has to be preferentially water-wet and the rock surface exposed to imbibition should be as
large as possible. Lee and Kang (1999) reported that in water drive reservoirs, capillary imbibition is
generally the driving force to produce oil in the matrix surrounded by a fracture.
Karpyn et al. (2008) reported that if a fluid having wetting affinity to the rock exists in the fractures,
spontaneous imbibition will be the dominant transport mechanism that affects the displacement of
non-wetting phase fluids stored in the matrix.
Gravity Drainage
Gravity drainage was first described by Cardwell and Parsons (1949) and is frequently an important
mechanism of oil recovery in fractured reservoirs. Hagoort (1980) reported that gravity drainage is a
gas-oil displacement where gravity force dominate over viscous and capillary forces, and may result in
high oil recovery. The gravity forces are determined by the density difference between gas in the fractures
and oil in the matrix.
Viscous Displacement
Viscous displacement of a fluid is simply the movement of that fluid when a pressure differential is
applied. In a dual porosity system, there is a pressure gradient in the fracture system moving the fluid
through the fracture toward the producing wells. In many cases this pressure gradient is small as the
fracture system has a very high effective permeability. In these cases it is reasonable to ignore the viscous
displacement of fluids from the matrix by the fracture pressure gradient.
Fracture Capillary Pressure
Room (1966) introduced the concept of using straight line relative permeabilities and zero capillary
pressure for fracture medium based on his experiment. Firoozabadi and Thomas (1990) reported that the
use of non-zero capillary pressure showed that predicted recoveries are affected significantly by combi-
nation of wettability and enhanced oil recovery methods. Firoozabadi and Hauge (1990) published a
phenomenological model for calculating the capillary pressure of a system based on fracture character-
SPE-175760-MS 7

istics. Bertels et al. (2001) developed an experimental technique that used computer tomography scanning
to measure and compute fracture capillary pressure. De la Porte et al. (2005) performed more than 800
simulations in a detailed analysis to show the effect of using zero fracture capillary pressure on simulation
results. Two separate dual porosity simulation studies were conducted: (1) a water-flooding scenario with
both live and dead oil and (2) a gas injection study with both live and dead oil and concluded that: It is
acceptable to use zero fracture capillary pressure in water-oil systems with water injection into the
fractures. Fracture gas-oil capillary pressure should not be set to zero for dual porosity reservoirs with
narrow fractures in gas-oil system with gas injection into the fracture.
Modeling Naturally Fractured Reservoirs
Naturally fractured reservoir performance can be managed with dual-porosity models, which define two
sets of properties such as porosity and permeability per grid block, one for the matrix system and the other
for the fracture system. In a dual-porosity model movement is assumed to occur between matrix blocks
and fractures. Warren and Root (1963) first introduced the concept of dual porosity medium and presented
an analytical solution for the single-phase, unsteady-state flow in a naturally fractured reservoir. Their
idealized dual model is widely used in today’s commercial reservoir simulators to simulate the fluid flow
in naturally fractured reservoirs. In their model, the isolated cubes represent the matrix blocks and the gaps
between cubes represent well-connected fractures, as shown in Fig 2. 4. The fracture system is further
assumed to be the primary flow paths, but it has negligible storage capacity. Also, the matrix is assumed
to be the storage medium of the system with negligible flow capacity.

Figure 4 —A schematic diagram showing the idealization of dual porosity reservoir for reservoir simulation purposes

Kazemi (1976) developed the matrix-fracture shape factor to account for the matrix-fracture interface.
He proposed the following form for the matrix-fracture shape factor:
(10)

Where lx, ly, and lz are typical X, Y, and Z dimensions of the blocks of material making up the matrix
volume. Kazemi’s idealization of fractures and matrix blocks and his formula to calculate the shape factor
has become the standard in dual porosity simulation. De Swaan (1978) modeled water displacement in
fractured porous media on the basis of Buckley-Leverett displacement theory. De Swaan’s work is based
on assuming that: (1) the fracture fractional flow function is equal to the fracture saturation and (2) the
effect of gravity is negligible. Pruss and Narasimhan (1985) introduced the multiple interacting model that
utilizes a nested discretization of the matrix blocks. The disadvantage of this model is that it neglects the
effect of gravity forces even though it can represent the pressure, viscous and capillary forces. Fung (1988)
introduced a model which is a modification of the standard dual porosity model in which matrix blocks
are refined in the vertical direction to account for the gravity drainage process from the matrix to fracture
8 SPE-175760-MS

more adequately. Gilman and Kazemi (1988) introduced a dual porosity model which provided less
number of grid blocks compared to single porosity approach, which made it most practical and widely
used model for the simulation of naturally fractured reservoirs.
In this present study, we will show the effects of capillary pressure (oil-water and gas-oil) on reservoir
performance for both fractured and non-fractured reservoirs under variety of recovery processes (e.g.
natural depletion, water injection, and gas injection).
Study Approach
Several numerical reservoir simulation models were constructed in order to investigate the effect of
capillary pressure on reservoir performance of both fractured and non-fractured reservoirs under different
recovery processes. Several synthetic models were used with small layers thicknesses to accurately model
different transition zone sizes. Two separate reservoir simulation models were investigated for reservoirs
producing under natural depletion, water injection, and gas injection: (1) a conventional, single porosity,
simulation and (2) a dual porosity simulation in two cases: capillary imbibition is the only active
matrix-fracture drive mechanism and both capillary imbibition and gravity drainage drive mechanisms are
active together. A real reservoir model was then used to confirm the results obtained from hypothetical
models and validate the study conclusions. PVT, kr, and ␸ data sets used in all simulation runs were
hypothetical data sets, but derived from actual reservoirs.
To simulate different scenarios over a wide range of reservoir parameters, five heterogeneity levels
were applied in both synthetic and real models. To quantify the heterogeneity levels in the models, the
Dykstra-Parsons coefficient of permeability variation, VK was used (Appendix-A).
For investigating naturally fractured reservoirs, matrix and fracture porosities are assumed to be 30%
and 0.01% respectively. Fracture permeability was assumed to equal one thousand times the matrix
permeability. When activating gravity drainage mechanism, the matrix block vertical direction is assumed
to be 1 ft. Reservoir and production parameters (such as heterogeneity levels, pressure drawdown,
matrix-fracture shape factor and Pc) were varied to simulate as many different reservoir models as
possible. Reservoir simulation runs were designed to be terminated either at the end of 10 years, or when
gas-oil ratio reached 20,000 scf/STB, or when well water cut reached 90%.
To quantify the effects of capillary pressure on average reservoir pressure, the following error was
calculated.
(11)

Where, “Case” is the average reservoir pressure at every time step for the case of large or small
transition zone size and reference case is the case of zero transition zone size.
To quantify the effect of capillary pressure on water cut and GOR, similar indicators were calculated
for each run as follows:
(12)

(13)

The three above mentioned indicators were calculated for each transition zone size at every simulation
time step, and then the maximum and average values of this error were calculated for all time steps. In
oil-water systems, Pcow effect was studied on pavg error indicator and cumulative water cut indicator. In
gas-oil systems, Pcgo effect was studied on pavg error indicator and cumulative GOR indicator.
Results and Discussion
Shams et al. (2013) and Shams (2014) conducted more than 300 conventional and more than 650 dual
porosity reservoir simulations to demonstrate the effect of both Pcow and Pcgo on conventional and
SPE-175760-MS 9

naturally fractured reservoir performance under natural depletion, water injection, and gas injection. New
runs were performed as an attempt to validate the results and generalize the conclusions. The additional
runs are presented here. The results of the simulation runs are grouped by type of reservoir (non-fractured
or naturally fractured) then by type of production process (natural depletion, water injection, or gas
injection).

Non-Fractured Reservoirs

Natural Depletion Cases

Figs.5 to 7 show oil-water pavg error indicator, cumulative water cut indicator and cumulative GOR
indicator versus VK respectively at different pressure drawdown values in natural depletion cases. It is
clear that there is inconsistent relationship between oil-water pavg error indicator and VK. Cumulative
water cut indicator and cumulative GOR indicator decrease as reservoir heterogeneity by VK increases.

Figure 5—Effect of different VK on oil-water pavg error indicator at different pressure drawdown (100 ft oil-water transition zone, real
model)

Figure 6 —Effect of different VK on cumulative water cut indicator at different pressure drawdown (30 ft oil-water transition zone, real
model)
10 SPE-175760-MS

Figure 7—Effect of different VK on cumulative GOR indicator at 700 psi pressure drawdown (35 ft gas-oil transition zone, real model)

Water Injection Cases

Figs.8 to 10 show the relationship between error indicators (oil-water pavg error indicator, cumulative
water cut indicator, and cumulative GOR indicator) and VK respectively at different pressure drawdown
values in water injection cases. The figures show that inconsistent relationship between oil-water pavg
error indicator and heterogeneity exists and as VK increases, both Cumulative water cut indicator and
cumulative GOR indicator decrease.

Figure 8 —Effect of different VK on pavg error indicator at different pressure drawdown (100 ft oil-water transition zone, real model)

Figure 9 —Effect of different VK on cumulative water cut indicator at different pressure drawdown (30 ft oil-water transition zone, real
model)
SPE-175760-MS 11

Figure 10 —Effect of different VK on cumulative GOR indicator at 700 psi pressure drawdown (10 ft gas-oil transition zone, real model)

Gas Injection Cases

As demonstrated in Fig. 11, cumulative GOR indicator is inversely proportional with VK.

Figure 11—Effect of different VK on pavg error indicator at 700 psi pressure drawdown (10 ft gas-oil transition zone, real model)

Effect of Different Recovery Processes on Oil–Water pavg error indicator

Figs. 12 and 13 present comparison between oil-water pavg error indicator for the three studied recovery
processes in the case of 30 ft oil-water transition zone size and (400, and 100) psi reservoir pressure
drawdown respectively. It is clearly demonstrated that at the same pressure drawdown and variation
coefficient, oil-water pavg error indicator is higher in natural depletion than any other displacement
process.

Figure 12—Effect of different recovery processes on oil-water pavg error indicator (30 ft oil-water transition zone and 400 psi pressure
drawdown, real model)
12 SPE-175760-MS

Figure 13—Effect of different recovery processes on oil-water pavg error indicator (30 ft oil-water transition zone and 100 psi pressure
drawdown, real model)

Naturally Fractured Reservoirs

Both matrix and fracture capillary pressures effects were studied in two cases: (1) capillary imbibition is
the only active drive mechanism and (2) both capillary imbibition and gravity drainage drive mechanisms
are active together.

Matrix Capillary Pressure, Natural Depletion Cases

Figs. 14 and 15 show oil-water pavg error indicator versus matrix-fracture shape factor and VK respectively
in the case of 30 ft oil-water transition zone (real model). As illustrated in Fig. 14, when capillary
imbibition is the only active drive mechanism, after a certain value of matrix-fracture shape factor,
oil-water pavg error indicator increases as matrix-fracture shape factor increases. The relationship between
oil-water pavg error indicator and matrix-fracture shape factor is inverse proportional when both capillary
imbibition and gravity drainage drive mechanisms are active together. Fig. 15 shows that the relationship
between oil-water pavg error indicator and VK is inconsistent when capillary imbibition is the only active
drive mechanism and and inversely proportional when both capillary imbibition and gravity drainage
drive mechanisms are active together. As shown in Fig. 16, matrix gas-oil pavg error indicator is inversely
proportional with matrix-fracture shape factor when capillary imbibition is the only active drive mech-
anism and directly proportional with matrix-fracture shape factor when both capillary imbibition and
gravity drainage drive mechanisms are active together. As shown in Fig. 17, matrix gas-oil pavg error
indicator slightly increases as VK increases when capillary imbibition is the only active drive mechanism
and decreases when VK increases when both capillary imbibition and gravity drainage drive mechanisms
are active together.

Figure 14 —Effect of matrix-fracture shape factor on oil-water pavg error indicator (30 ft oil-water transition zone, Vk ⴝ 0, real model)
SPE-175760-MS 13

Figure 15—Effect of VK on oil-water pavg error indicator (30 ft oil-water transition zone, shape factor ⴝ 1 ft-2, real model)

Figure 16 —Effect of matrix-fracture shape factor on gas-oil pavg error indicator (35 ft gas-oil transition zone, Vk ⴝ 0, real model)

Figure 17—Effect of VK on gas-oil pavg error indicator (35 ft gas-oil transition zone, shape factor ⴝ 1 ft-2, real model)

Matrix Capillary Pressure, Water Injection Cases

Cumulative water cut indicator decreases as matrix-fracture shape factor and VK increase, as indicated in
Figs. 18 and 19. Activating both capillary imbibition and gravity drainage drive mechanisms has no
further effect on this relationship.
14 SPE-175760-MS

Figure 18 —Effect of matrix-fracture shape factor on cumulative water cut indicator (100 ft oil-water transition zone, Vk ⴝ 0, real model)

Figure 19 —Effect of VK on cumulative water cut indicator (30 ft oil-water transition zone, shape factor ⴝ 1 ft-2, real model)

Matrix Capillary Pressure, Gas Injection Cases

From Fig. 20, it is obvious that either activating capillary imbibition mechanism alone or activating both
capillary imbibition and gravity drainage drive mechanisms together results in inconsistent relationship
between cumulative GOR indicator and matrix-fracture shape factor. Also, cumulative GOR indicator
decreases as reservoir level of heterogeneity increases in the case when capillary imbibition drive
mechanism is active alone as indicated in Fig. 21.

Figure 20 —Effect of matrix-fracture shape factor on cumulative GOR indicator (10 ft gas-oil transition zone, Vk ⴝ 0, real model)
SPE-175760-MS 15

Figure 21—Effect of VK on cumulative GOR indicator (10 ft gas-oil transition zone, shape factor ⴝ 1 ft-2, real model)

Fracture Capillary Pressure, Natural Depletion Cases

Tables 1 through 4 clearly indicate that both oil-water and gas-oil pavg error indicators have very small
values that can be neglected. Figs. 22 and 23 present cumulative water cut indicator versus matrix-fracture
shape factor for zero and 5 ft fracture oil-water transition zone in two cases: capillary imbibition is the
only active drive mechanism and both capillary imbibition and gravity drainage drive mechanisms are
active together, respectively. As shown in Figs. 22 and 23, fracture Pcow effect on cumulative water cut
indicator increases as matrix-fracture shape factor decreases. This effect is independent if capillary
imbibition drive mechanism is active alone or both mechanisms are active. As shown in Figs. 24 and 25
also, cumulative water cut indicator is slightly affected by fracture Pcow and this effect is independent on
the level of reservoir heterogeneity. This effect is not affected by drive mechanisms either.

Table 1—Effect of matrix-fracture shape factor on oil-water pavg error indicator for 5 ft fracture oil-water transition zone, real model

Table 2—Effect of Vk on oil-water pavg error indicator for 5 ft fracture oil-water transition zone, real model
16 SPE-175760-MS

Table 3—Effect of matrix-fracture shape factor on gas-oil pavg error indicator for 5 ft fracture gas-oil transition zones, real model

Table 4 —Effect of Vk on gas-oil pavg error indicator for 5 ft fracture gas-oil transition zones, synthetic model

Figure 22—Effect of matrix-fracture shape factor on cumulative water cut indicator (capillary imbibition is the only active drive
mechanism, real model)

Figure 23—Effect of matrix-fracture shape factor on cumulative water cut indicator (capillary imbibition and gravity drainage are active
together, real model)
SPE-175760-MS 17

Figure 24 —Effect of VK on cumulative water cut indicator (capillary imbibition is the only active drive mechanism, real model)

Figure 25—Effect of VK on cumulative water cut indicator (capillary imbibition and gravity drainage are active together, real model)

Fracture Capillary Pressure, Water Injection Cases

As shown in Figs. 26 and 27, fracture Pcow effect on cumulative water cut increases as matrix-fracture
shape factor decreases. Activating both capillary imbibition and gravity drainage mechanisms together has
similar effect to activating capillary imbibition drive mechanism alone. Also as shown in Figs. 28 and 29,
over a wide range of reservoir heterogeneity, fracture Pcow has no effect on cumulative water cut indicator.

Figure 26 —Effect of matrix-fracture shape factor on cumulative water cut indicator (capillary imbibition is the only active drive
mechanism, real model)
18 SPE-175760-MS

Figure 27—Effect of matrix-fracture shape factor on cumulative water cut indicator (capillary imbibition and gravity drainage are active
together, real model)

Figure 28 —Effect of VK on cumulative water cut indicator (capillary imbibition is the only active drive mechanism, real model)

Figure 29 —Effect of VK on cumulative water cut indicator (capillary imbibition and gravity drainage are active together, real model)

Fracture Capillary Pressure, Gas Injection Cases

Figs. 30 and 31 indicate that fracture Pcgo highly affects cumulative GOR indicator. This effect increases
as matrix-fracture shape factor increases (i.e. with the increase in connectivity between matrix and fracture
network). In addition, similar effects are noticed whether capillary imbibition drive mechanism is active
alone or both capillary imbibition and gravity drainage are active together. As shown in Figs. 32 and 33,
it is clear that Pcgo effects on cumulative GOR indicator are inconsistently related with VK regardless of
which fracture-matrix transfer drive mechanisms are active.
SPE-175760-MS 19

Figure 30 —Effect of matrix-fracture shape factor on cumulative GOR indicator (capillary imbibition is the only active drive mechanism,
real model)

Figure 31—Effect of matrix-fracture shape factor on cumulative GOR indicator (capillary imbibition and gravity drainage are active
together, real model)

Figure 32—Effect of VK on cumulative GOR indicator (capillary imbibition is the only active drive mechanism, real model)

Figure 33—Effect of VK on cumulative GOR indicator (capillary imbibition and gravity drainage are active together, real model)
20 SPE-175760-MS

Conclusions
Based on results and analyses obtained from the previous research, Shams et al. (2013) and Shams (2014),
and this work, the following conclusions were made. The conclusions are divided by reservoir type and
displacement process:
Non-Fractured Reservoirs
1. Oil-water capillary pressure effects on average reservoir pressure differ for different recovery
process. They are generally more important in natural depletion runs than in displacement runs.
2. Gas-oil capillary pressure effects on recovery processes are usually small and can be ignored for
most practical purposes.
3. No clear correlation exists between capillary pressure effects on average reservoir pressure and the
level of reservoir heterogeneity or reservoir pressure drawdown.
4. Capillary pressure effects on water cut and GOR increase as reservoir pressure drawdown
increases. However, there is no fixed trend relationship between these effects and reservoir
heterogeneity.
Naturally Fractured Reservoirs (Natural Depletion Cases)
1. Matrix (oil-water and gas-oil) capillary pressure effects on average reservoir pressure are related
with matrix-fracture shape factor and level of reservoir heterogeneity by a no-fixed trend rela-
tionship. This effect is independent on the matrix-fracture fluid transfer drive mechanism.
2. Matrix oil-water capillary pressure effect on water cut decreases as matrix-fracture shape factor
increases. However, it is related with reservoir heterogeneity level by an unclear trend relationship.
3. Matrix gas-oil capillary pressure effect on GOR exhibits a no-fixed trend relationship with
matrix-fracture shape factor and reservoir heterogeneity level.
4. Fracture (oil-water and gas-oil) capillary pressure effects on average reservoir pressure are very
small and can be neglected for most practical purposes. This effect is independent of the
matrix-fracture fluid transfer drive mechanism.
5. Fracture oil-water capillary pressure effects on water cut increase as matrix-fracture shape factor
decreases. This is true for capillary imbibition drive mechanism when acting alone or when
combined with gravity drainage drive mechanism.
6. Fracture oil-water capillary pressure effects on water cut are slightly dependent on the level of
reservoir heterogeneity and also on matrix-fracture transfer drive mechanism.
7. Fracture gas-oil capillary pressure affects GOR performance. This effect increases as matrix-
fracture shape factor increases and is related to the level of reservoir heterogeneity by a no-fixed
trend relationship. Similar effects are obtained when capillary imbibition drive mechanism is
active alone or in combination with gravity drainage.
Naturally Fractured Reservoirs (Water Injection Cases)
1. Matrix oil-water capillary pressure effects on average reservoir pressure are small and can ignored.
This effect is independent on the matrix-fracture fluid transfer drive mechanism. However matrix
oil-water capillary pressure effects on water cut increase as matrix-fracture shape factor decreases.
2. Matrix oil-water capillary pressure effect on water cut is related to reservoir heterogeneity but the
relation does not have a fixed trend. This effect is independent on matrix-fracture fluid transfer
drive mechanism.
3. Fracture oil-water capillary pressure effects on average reservoir pressure are small and can be
neglected. This effect is independent on the matrix-fracture fluid transfer drive mechanism.
4. Fracture oil-water capillary pressure has no effect on water cut. This effect is independent on the
SPE-175760-MS 21

matrix-fracture shape factor value, level of reservoir heterogeneity and matrix-fracture fluid
transfer drive mechanism.

Naturally Fractured Reservoirs (Gas Injection Cases)

1. Matrix gas-oil capillary pressure effects on average reservoir pressure are small and can be
ignored. This effect does not depend on the matrix-fracture fluid transfer drive mechanism.
2. Matrix gas-oil capillary pressure effects on GOR are related with matrix-fracture shape factor by
a no-fixed trend relationship. This effect is independent of the drive mechanism (capillary
imbibition and gravity drainage drive mechanisms).
3. Matrix gas-oil capillary pressure effects on GOR increase as reservoir heterogeneity decreases
when capillary imbibition drive mechanism is active alone.
4. Fracture gas-oil capillary pressure effects on average reservoir pressure are small and can be
usually neglected. This effect is independent on the matrix-fracture fluid transfer drive mechanism.
5. Fracture gas-oil capillary pressure significantly affects GOR and this effect increases as matrix-
fracture shape factor increases. This effect is independent of matrix-fracture fluid transfer mech-
anism.
6. Fracture gas-oil capillary pressure effects on GOR are related with reservoir heterogeneity levels
by a no-fixed trend relationship and not affected by matrix-fracture fluid transfer drive mechanism.

Conclusion Maps
In order to simplify the presentation of the conclusions, Figs. 34 to 36 present the conclusion maps of
non-fractured, matrix, and fracture capillary pressures, respectively.

Figure 34 —Conclusions map of the effect of capillary pressure on non-fractured reservoir performance
22 SPE-175760-MS

Figure 35—Conclusions map of the effect of matrix capillary pressure on naturally fractured reservoir performance

Figure 36 —Conclusions map of the effect of fracture capillary pressure on naturally fractured reservoir performance

Nomenclature
HD ⫽ dimensionless fracture height
Kr ⫽ relative permeability
pavg ⫽ average reservoir pressure, m/Lt2, psi
Pc ⫽ capillary pressure, m/Lt2, psi
PcD ⫽ dimensionless capillary pressure
Pcgo ⫽ gas-oil capillary pressure, m/Lt2, psi
Pcow ⫽ oil-water capillary pressure, m/Lt2, psi
Swi ⫽wetting phase initial saturation
Snwr ⫽nonwetting phase residual saturation
GOR ⫽ gas oil ratio, L3/L3, scf/STB
Vk ⫽Dykstra-Parsons coefficient of permeability variation
␸ ⫽ porosity
SPE-175760-MS 23

References
Allen, J. and Sun, S. Q. 2003. Controls on Recovery Factor in Fractured Reservoirs: Lessons Learned
from 100 Fractured Fields. Paper SPE 84590 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference
and Exhibition, Denver, CO, USA, October 4 —7. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/84590-MS.
Bertels, S. P., DiCarlo, D. A., and Blunt, M. J. 2001. Measurement of Aperture Distribution, Capillary
Pressure, Relative Permeability, and in situ Saturation in a Rock Fracture using Computed
Tomography Scanning. Water Resour. Res. 37, 649.
Bourblaux, B. and Kalaydjian, F. 1988. Experimental Study of Cocurrent and Countercurrent Flows
in Natural Porous Media. Paper SPE 18283 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference
and Exhibition, Houston, 2—5 October. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/18283-MS.
Brooks, R. H. and A. T. Corey. 1966. Properties of Porous Media Affecting Fluid Flow. Journal of
Irrigation and Drainage Division, Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol. 92,
61–88.
Brownscombe, E. R., and Dyes, A. B. Water-Imbibition Displacement. . . Can it Release Reluctant
Spraberry Oil? 1952. Oil & Gas J. (17 November): 264 –265.
Cardwell, W. T. and R. L. Parsons. 1949. Gravity Drainage Theory. Trans Aime.
Cil, M., Reis, C. J., Miller, A. M., and Misra, D. 1998. An Examination of Countercurrent Capillary
Imbibition Recovery from Single Matrix Blocks and Recovery Predictions by Analytical Matrix/
Fracture Transfer Functions. Paper SPE 49005 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference
and Exhibition, New Orleans, Louisiana, 27—30 September. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/49005-MS.
Corey, A. T. 1954. The Interrelation between Gas and Oil Relative Permeabilities. Producers Monthly,
Vol. 19, 38 –41.
De la Porte, J. J., Kossack, C. A., and Zimmerman, R. W. 2005. The effect of Fracture Relative
Permeabilities and Capillary Pressures on the Numerical Simulation of Naturally Fractured
Reservoirs. Paper SPE 95241 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition,
Dallas, TX, 9 —12 October. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/95241-MS.
De Swaan, A. 1978. Theory of Waterflooding in Fractured Reservoirs. In Transactions of the
American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, Vol. 219, 117–122.
Dullien, F. A. 1979. Porous Media: Fluid Transport and Pore Structure. New York: Academic Press.
Dullien, F. A. 1992. Porous Media, Fluid Transport and Pore Structure, second edition. San Diego:
Academic Press.
Firoozabadi, A., and Hauge, J. 1990. Capillary Pressure in Fractured Porous Media. J. Pet. Tech. 784.
Firoozabadi, A., and Thomas, L. K. 1990. Sixth SPE Comparative Solution Project: Dual Porosity
Simulators. J. Pet. Tech. 710.
Firoozabadi, A. 2000. Recovery Mechanisms in Fractures Reservoirs and Field Performance. J. Can.
Tech. 39 (11): 13–17.
Fung, C. 1988. Evaluation of the Improved Dual-Porosity Model for the Simulation of Gravity Effects
in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs. Paper CIM 88-39-05 presented at the 39th Annual Technical
Meeting of Petroleum Society of Canadian Institute of Mining, Calgary.
Gilman, J. R., and Kazemi, H. 1988. Improved Calculations for Viscous and Gravity Displacement in
Matrix Blocks in Dual-Porosity Simulators. J. Pet. Tech. 60 –70.
Hagoort, J. 1980. Oil Gravity by Gravity Drainage. SPE J. 139 –150.
Jennings, J. B. 1987. Capillary Pressure techniques: Application to Exploration and Development
Geology. AAPG Bulletin, Vol. 71, 1196 –1209.
Jin, X. D. and Van Wunnik, J. N. M. 1998. A Capillary Pressure Function for Interpretation of Core
Scale Displacement Experiments. SCA 9807, Proc., International Symposium of the Society of
Core Analysts. The Hague, Netherlands.
24 SPE-175760-MS

Kang, Z., Wu, Y. S., Li, J., Wu, Y., Zhang, J., and Wang, G. 2006. Modeling Multiphase Flow in
Naturally Fractured Vuggy Petroleum Reservoirs. Paper SPE 102356 presented at the SPE Annual
Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, TX, 24 —27 September. http://dx.doi.org/
10.2118/102356-MS.
Karpyn, T. Z., Halleck, M. P., and Grader, S. A. 2008. A Study of Spontaneous Imbibition in Fractured
Sandstone with Contrasting Sedimentary Layers. J. Pet. Science and Engineering (in press).
Katz, A. J. and A. H. Thomson. 1986. Quantitative Prediction of Permeability in Porous Rocks:
Physical Review B, Vol. 34, 8179 –8181.
Kazemi. H. 1976. Numerical Simulation of Water Oil Flow in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs. Paper
SPE 5719 presented at the SPE-AIME Fourth Symposium on Numerical Simulation of Reservoir
Performance, Los Anglos, USA, February 19 —20. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/5719-MS.
Khairy, M. 2001. Technique Determines Average Capillary Pressure. Oil & Gas J. (15 January).
Lee, J., and Kang, J. M. 1999. Oil Recovery in a Fracture of Variable aperture with Countercurrent
Imbibition: Experimental Analysis. Paper SPE 56416 presented at the SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition, Houston, Texas, 3— 6 October. http://dx.doi.org/10.2118/56416-MS.
Leverett, M. C. 1939. Flow of Oil-Water Mixtures through Unconsolidated Sands. In Transactions of
the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, 132–149.
Leverett, M. C. 1941. Capillary Behavior in Porous Solids. In Transactions of the American Institute
of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, Vol. 142, 152–169.
Pruess, K., and Narasimhan, T. N. 1985. A Practical Method for Modeling Fluid and Heat Flow in
Fractured Porous Media. SPEJ, 25, 14 –26.
Romm, E. S. 1966. Fluid Flow in Fractured Rocks. Moscow: Nedra Publisher.
Saidi, A. M. 1987. Reservoir Engineering of Fractured Reservoirs. Paris: Total Edition Presse.
Schowalter, T.T. 1979. Mechanics of Secondary Hydrocarbon Migration and Entrapment. AAPG
Bulletin, AAPG Bulletin, Vol. 63, 723–760.
Swanson, B. F. 1981. A Simple Correlation between Permeabilities and Mercury Capillary Pressures.
Journal of Petroleum Technology: 2498 –2504.
Thomeer, J. H. 1960. Introduction of a Pore Geometrical Factor Defined by the Capillary Pressure
Curve. J. Pet. Tech. 73–77.
Van Genuchten, M. Th. 1980. A Closed-Form Equation for Predicting the Hydraulic Conductivity of
Unsaturated Soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 892–898.
Vavra C. L., J. G. Kaldi, and R. M. Sneider. 1992. Geological Applications of Capillary Pressure: a
review. AAPG Bulletin, Vol. 76, 840 –850.
Warren, J. E. and Root, P. J. 1963. The Behavior of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs. SPEJ. 245–255.
SPE-175760-MS 25

Appendix
Calculation of Dykstra-Parsons Coefficient of Permeability Variation, VK
The Dykstra-Parsons coefficient of permeability variation, VK was applied. VK is a statistical measure, normal distribution of
permeability, according to the following equation.
(A-1)

Where S is the standard deviation and K is the mean value of permeability. In this study, for both synthetic and real models,
the mean value of permeability is assumed to be 500 md and five standard deviation values are used to provide five levels of
reservoir heterogeneity as shown in Table A-1.

Table A-1—Classification of the different heterogeneity levels