Upstream Process Engineering Course

1. Reservoir Management

Upstream Process Engineering Course

Prepared by Genesis Oil and Gas Consultants Ltd

Reservoir Management

Contents
Definitions Reservoir Management Geology Inflow Performance Relation Gradient Curves Primary Recovery Artificial Lift

Upstream Process Engineering Course

Prepared by Genesis Oil and Gas Consultants Ltd

Reservoir Management

Definitions
STC - Stock Tank Conditions

Standard temperature and pressure, usually 60 F and 14.7 psia

One barrel of oil at stock tank conditions The volume of gas produced divided by the volume of oil produced measured at stock tank conditions The volume of gas produced divided by the total volume of liquid produced (oil and water) The volume in ft3 that one standard ft3 will occupy at a given pressure and temperature The volume in barrels (bbl) occupied by one STB of oil and its associated gas when recombined to a single phase liquid at a given pressure and temperature The volume of gas in a standard ft3 that will dissolve in one STB of oil at a given pressure and temperature
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STB - Stock Tank Barrel GOR - Gas/Oil Ratio

GLR - Gas/Liquid Ratio

Bg - Gas Volume Factor Bo - Oil Volume Factor

Rs - Solution Gas/Oil Ratio

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Definitions
Productivity Index
The volume flow into the well expressed as barrels per day per psi of drawdown Percentage of oil recovered to that originally in place

Oil Recovery API - American Petroleum Institute Crude API ; specific gravity = 141.5/(131.5+oAPI) TPR - Tubing Performance Relation
The relation between the bottomhole flowing pressure and the surface oil flow rate for a given wellhead pressure The relation between the wellbore flowing pressure and the surface oil rate A measure of the oil reserves in place at stock tank conditions Difference in pressure between the reservoir pressure and pressure at the bottom of the wellbore Production well will only drain a part of a reservoir - each well has a radial limit beyond which there is no influence on reservoir depletion
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IPR - Inflow Performance Relation

STOIIP - Stock Tank Oil Initially In Place Drawdown Drainage Radius

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Reservoir Management
Reservoir Features
Porous rock Impermeable layer Permeability Pressure Gas-oil contact Oil-water contact Withdrawal rates Gas injection rates and composition Water injection rates Perforation intervals Prediction of oil rate, GOR, water cut and composition with time

Reservoir Management

The formation pressure will normally be determined by the water column to surface at the oil-water contact

Upstream Process Engineering Course

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Reservoir Management

Types of Reservoir Structures

Prevalent in Middle East

Prevalent in UKCS

anticlines

faults structural traps

salt diapirs unconformity

other stratigraphic

reef combination traps

stratigraphic traps

Upstream Process Engineering Course

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Reservoir Management

Inflow Performance Relation

Wells are tested to determine what the surface flow will be if the backpressure at the wellhead varies An Inflow Performance Relation curve is produced by simultaneous measurement of surface production and bottomhole pressure A straight line IPR indicates an undersaturated reservoir, curvature in the line indicates a gas or two phase flow The Productivity Index of the oil well can be found from the gradient of the IPR curve

The intersection of the IPR and TPR curves determines the rate of stable flow that can be expected from the particular well
Reservoir Management

Upstream Process Engineering Course

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Gradient Curves
The pressure drop required to lift a fluid through the production tubing at a given flow rate is one of the main factors determining the deliverability of the well By fixing the wellhead or bottomhole flowing pressure given the rates of oil gas and water, the pressure drop along the production tubing can be calculated by charts or correlations If the wellhead pressure is specified then a gradient curve can be used to determine the wellbore flowing pressure at different oil rates The resulting relation between bottomhole flowing pressure and oil rate is called a tubing performance relation Gradient curves are useful rules of thumb, more often analysis is carried out utilising specialist software such as PROSPER
Reservoir Management

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Gradient Curves
Surface Pressure Gas Liquid Ratio

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Reservoir Management

Primary Recovery

Primary recovery techniques yield a wide range in recovery factor; between 530% Solution Gas Drive
Oil is produced by the natural expansion of dissolved gas in the oil

Natural Water Drive

The reservoir pressure reduces as oil is produced allowing the aquifer to expand and flow into the reservoir

Natural Gas Drive/Gravity Drainage

The reservoir pressure reduces as oil is produced allowing the gas cap to expand and assist recovery

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Oil Recovery
Oil Producer

Depletion Recovery 2 - 30%

OWC

Oil Producers
Water Injectors

Water Drive Recovery 30 - 60%

Miscible Gas Injector Oil Producers

OWC

OWC

Miscible Gas Drive (EOR) Recovery up to 80%

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Reservoir Management
Secondary Recovery Gas and/or water injection Artificial lift Gas, Electric Submersible Pumps Hydraulic Pumps Sucker Rod Pumps Tertiary/Enhanced Oil Recovery Miscible gas Hydrocarbon, CO2, N2 Surfactants Polymers Microbial Thermal/steam flood

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Magnus Miscible Gas EOR

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Well Types
S - shape Tangent Horizontal

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Wytch Farm ERD

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Artificial Lift
Pressure losses in the production tubing due to friction and elevation can be overcome using artificial lift
Gas Lift
Gas is injected into the lower part of the production tubing and mixed with reservoir fluids, reducing the pressure gradient and lowering the formation backpressure

Downhole Pump
Installing a pump at the bottom of a tubing string creates an artificial lifting capacity and increases the available pressure to flow up the tubing The pump adds a controlled amount of pressure to the IPR thereby sustaining flow at higher than the natural rate Pump types - Electric submersible, hydraulic - turbine and jet

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Artificial Lift
Gas lift is only used in wells that produce economically with relatively high flowing bottom hole pressures (typically high-productivity reservoirs) Gas lift is limited to a certain minimum wellbore flowing pressure, therefore the potential production rate may be considerably less for gas lift than for pump lift Few moving parts are required therefore gas lift is suitable for wells producing sand or other solids Sizing a gas lift system involves calculating the relationship between

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gas injection rate and pressure depth of gas injection valve production rate
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Artificial Lift

Effect of a pump on well performance

Both methods of artificial lift enhance production rate by lowering the wellbore flowing pressure A downhole pump can produce the well at very low wellbore flowing pressures and thus approach the maximum open flow potential of the well The most commonly used downhole pump is the centrifugal pump, driven by a downhole electric motor which can be operated at constant or variable speed Variable speed pumps allow for a much wider range of operating conditions for a given size of pump

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