Numerical analysis of multi-mechanistic flow effects in naturally

fractured gas-condensate systems

Luis F. Ayala H.

, Turgay Ertekin, Michael Adewumi
Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Program, The Pennsylvania State University 122 Hosler Building,
University Park, Pa 16802-5001, USA
Received 9 September 2006; received in revised form 13 November 2006; accepted 14 November 2006
Abstract
The study of depletion performance of naturally fractured reservoirs has gained wide interest in the petroleum industry during the
last few decades and poses a challenge for the reservoir modeler. The presence of a retrograde gas-condensate fluid incorporates an
additional layer of complexity to the performance of this class of reservoirs. Upon depletion, reservoir pressure may fall below the
dew-point of the hydrocarbon mixture which results in liquid condensation at reservoir conditions. In the case of fractured gas-
condensate reservoirs, condensate will first appear in the high-conductivity channels supplied by the fracture network and around the
external edges of the matrix blocks which are the zones prone to faster depletion. Since the bulk of hydrocarbon storage resides inside
the matrix, it is critical to answer the question whether the condensate formed in the matrix edges would irreversibly trap the gas found
in the inner-most portions of the matrix. It is believed that the interplay of Darcian-type flowand Fickian-type flow(multi-mechanistic
flow) is the key to answering the questions about depletion performance and ultimate recovery in these reservoirs. This study
investigates the recovery mechanisms from a single matrix block surrounded by an orthogonal matrix network, as the fundamental
building block for the full-scale system. In this work, we showthe dominant flow processes and recovery mechanisms taking place in
naturally fractured gas-condensate reservoirs and describe the depletion performance of these systems, which provides guidance for
the development and analysis of this class of reservoirs.
2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Gas-Condensate Reservoirs; Retrograde Condensation; Diffusion; Darcy's Law
1. Introduction
Gas-condensate reservoirs have been the subject of
intensive research for many years as they represent an
important class of the world's hydrocarbon reserves. In a
gas-condensate reservoir, initial reservoir conditions are
located between the critical point and cricondenthem of
the reservoir fluid, as shown in Fig. 1. In general, hydro-
carbons in a gas-condensate reservoir are either wholly
or predominantly in the vapor phase at the time of
discovery. Upon isothermal depletion, once the reservoir
pressure falls below the dew-point of the hydrocarbon
mixture, a liquid hydrocarbon phase is developed. Ap-
pearance of a liquid phase upon vapor expansion (under
isothermal conditions) is not possible for pure substan-
ces; thus, this behavior is categorized as retrograde for
this particular type of mixtures. The retrograde liquid
may revaporize if depletion continues. The major con-
cern while producing a gas condensate reservoir has to
do with the loss of this valuable liquid to the reservoir
and the associated impairment in gas productivity. The
Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
www.elsevier.com/locate/petrol

Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 814 8654053; fax: +1 814 8653248.

E-mail address: lfay@psu.edu (L.F. Ayala H.).
0920-4105/$ - see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2006.11.005
desirable outcome of a simulation study for gas con-
densate reservoirs is the development of the best opera-
tional production scheme that maximizes recovery with
the minimum loss of condensate at reservoir conditions.
Naturally fractured reservoirs contribute in a large
extent to the worldwide production of oil and gas.
According to Ppay (2003), more than 50% of the world
petroleum production comes from fractured reservoirs.
Aguilera (1995) defined a naturally fractured reservoir
as a reservoir that contains fractures created by nature
that have either a positive or a negative effect on fluid
flow. The presence of fractures separates the rock in
several matrix blocks and provides high-permeability
channels for fluid mobilization. The numerical simula-
tion of fractured reservoirs is a challenge for reservoir
engineers because they present an extreme property
contrast between the two domains it comprises: matrix
and fractures.
The study of naturally fractured gas-condensate re-
servoirs inherently brings together one of the more
complex thermodynamic and hydrodynamic phenome-
na within the solution domain. This study is based upon
the hypothesis that multi-mechanistic flow may be a
decisive recovery mechanism in naturally fractured gas-
condensate reservoirs. When matrix permeability is very
small (very tight matrices), diffusion may be responsible
for an important fraction of fluid flow, rather than bulk
flow driven by pressure gradients. If this is the case,
fluid flow results from the combined action of transport
driven by both concentration and pressure fields. This is
basis of the multi-mechanistic flow concept introduced
by Ertekin et al. (1986). In the case of naturally fractured
gas-condensate reservoirs, the condensate dropout may
create a liquid barrier for gas flow that might enhance
diffusion as the crucial mechanism for fluid transport.
The objective of this study is the development of a
numerical model that can capture the dominant flow
processes and recovery mechanisms of naturally frac-
tured gas-condensate reservoirs. To date, the work of
Castelijns and Hagoort (1984) is the one available study
dedicated to the analysis of retrograde condensation in
naturally fractured gas-condensate reservoirs. Their ana-
lysis was applied to assess the potential of condensate
recovery in the Waterton reservoir (Alberta, Canada)
and it was restricted to the properties of the reservoir
under consideration. In their study, analytical flow
models were presented to calculate the possibility of
recovering part of the condensate by gravity drainage. In
the present study, we have concentrated our efforts in the
preliminary understanding of condensate build-up with-
in the matrix at saturations below critical, with special
emphasis in the limiting case where matrix permeabil-
ities are extremely low and the cases where the effects of
multi-mechanistic flow cannot be ignored.
1.1. Depletion performance of naturally fractured gas-
condensate reservoirs
Fig. 2 depicts a typical naturally fractured reservoir.
Naturally fractured reservoirs are ideally depicted as a
large number of matrix blocks connected by a fracture
network. This model is usually referred to as the sugar-
cube model and it was first proposed by Warren and
Root (1963). Fig. 3 illustrates the corresponding repre-
sentation commonly used for numerical modeling pur-
poses. For this idealization to be useful, it is claimed that
the stack of rectangular blocks in Fig. 3 stores most of
the hydrocarbons found in the actual configuration shown
in Fig. 2. In addition, the horizontal and vertical inter-
secting fractures supply a network with an equivalent
fluid conductivity as that provided by the original frac-
tures. Barrenblatt et al. (1960) were the first to formulate
the equations for single phase flow in double porosity
reservoirs. The actual composite medium of blocks and
fractures is replaced by two overlapping continua: the
continuum of the matrix blocks and the continuum of the
Fig. 1. Phase envelope for a typical gas-condensate fluid.
Fig. 2. A naturally fractured reservoir.
14 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
fractures. Each simulation gridblock contains both frac-
ture and matrix elements that share the same bulk volume
(see Fig. 4). A pair of average properties over this com-
mon bulk volume is defined at each of those simulation
gridblocks. In this study, the dual-continua or double
porosity stencil will not be used for the numerical discre-
tization of the continuum. As this study mainly focuses in
the mechanisms taking place inside a matrix block, a fine
single porosity stencil (see Fig. 5) is employed in the
numerical discretization of single matrix blocks.
When a naturally fractured reservoir stores a retro-
grade gas, the initial depletion stage of these systems is
illustrated in Fig. 6. The fracture-network is prone to
faster depletion, and, upon the establishment of the
favorable gradients, the matrix blocks start discharging
fluids to the fractures, as shown in the same figure. In a
gas-condensate system, depletion upon fluid withdrawal
results in condensate dropout once the system pressure
falls below dew-point conditions. Because they are
subjected to faster depletion, the fracture network and
the external edges of the matrix blocks will be the first to
host condensate in the system. This situation is illus-
trated in Fig. 7. If the matrix blocks are extremely tight,
the inner portion of the matrix blocks may not feel the
pressure change until a later depletion stage. Even if
fracture condensate had considerable mobility, matrix
condensate is expected to be nearly immobile. There-
fore, appearance of condensate on the matrix block faces
would further constrain gas withdrawal from the inner
zones because of the significantly reduced relative per-
meability to gas associated with the condensate barrier.
Consequently, condensate may never be formed in the
inner-most portion of the matrix and the hydrocarbon
gas located in the deeper portions of the matrix blocks
may not be easily recovered.
In Fig. 7, the much undesirable coating of con-
densate surrounds the matrix blocks and traps most of the
gas originally in place. We hypothesize that this
impairment is quite severe for the case of tight, naturally
fractured systems and that diffusion will take over as the
main recovery mechanism. In multi-mechanistic flow,
transport through the concentration field is assumed to be
governed by the Fick's law of diffusion, and transport
through the pressure field is assumed to obey the Darcy's
Fig. 4. Double porosity numerical grid for a naturally fractured
reservoir.
Fig. 5. Single-porosity numerical grid for a naturally fractured
reservoir.
Fig. 6. Initial depletion performance in a naturally fractured gas-
condensate reservoir.
Fig. 3. An idealized naturally fractured reservoir [after Warren and
Root, 1963].
15 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
law. Permeability of the system controls the prevailing
mechanism, as flow through an extremely tight matrix
expected to occur due to Fickian flow alone. The present
work attempts to assess the impact of multi-mechanistic
flow on the isothermal depletion of tight, naturally
fractured retrograde gas reservoirs. The main objective
of this study is the development of an isothermal
compositional simulator for the modeling of depletion
performance of naturally fractured gas-condensate
reservoirs in the multi-mechanistic flow domain.
2. The numerical model
Simulation studies are conducted using a fully impli-
cit, in-house compositional simulator (Ayala H. et al.,
2006). The multi-mechanistic compositional material
balance that the numerical simulator solves for each
component at each discrete gridblock of the system is
written as follows:
jd x
m
kk
ro
l
o
P
q
o

jp
o
g
o
jG y
m
kk
rg
l
g
P
q
g
! "
jp
g
g
g
jG y
m
/S
g
D
eff
j
P
q
g

m

A
At
/x
m
P
q
o
S
o
y
m
P
q
g
S
g
m 1; 2; N n
c
1
Eq. (1) assumes that all hydrocarbon components are
found both in the liquid and gas phases. In addition, the
following standard assumptions are taken: hydrocarbons
reach instantaneous equilibrium at any spatial point and
at any time in the reservoir (i.e., thermodynamic equili-
brium is reached faster compared to the velocity of fluid
flow), reservoir is isothermal and hence geothermal
gradients are negligible, the multi-mechanistic phenom-
enon only takes place in the gas phase, while the flow of
the liquid phases is only due to flow potential gradients.
In Eq. (1), the inclusion of diffusion using a Fick's law
with a porosity-saturation multiplier and advection
calculated by Darcy's law has been called the advec-
tive-diffusive model (ADM). Other authors, such as
Webb and Pruess (2003), have also presented the dusty-
gas model (DGM) approach, where the coupling effects
between ordinary diffusion, Knudsen diffusion, and
advection are studied. In this work, the multimechanic
approach (e.g., ADM) is examined as it retains the
convenient form of the classical diffusivity equation for
porous media for added ease in implementation. This
model could be easily modified to introduce component-
specific diffusion coefficients rather than an effective
coefficient for the gas phase alone. With such approach,
the effect of concentration on diffusion coefficients and
molecular stripping within the gas phase could be
examined in a future work. Thermal and pressure-driven
diffusion could be also incorporated.
In the system under consideration, water exits at its
irreducible saturation and thus a maximumof two mobile
phases exist in the reservoir at a given time (gas and
condensate). In addition, water does not have hydro-
carbons in solution and does not affect hydrocarbon
equilibrium; thus, water does not appear either in the gas
phase or in the condensate phase. The Peng and Robin-
son (1976) equation of state is utilized to model the PVT
behavior and fluid equilibria. This work uses a 6-com-
ponent lumped version of the retrograde gas presented
by Kenyon and Behie (1987) in their SPE Third Compa-
rative Solution Project paper. Their relative permeability
and capillary pressure values are utilized. The phase
envelope of this fluid is presented in Fig. 8. Avalidation
of the proposed tool against other commercial simulators
Fig. 7. Condensate appearance in naturally fractured gas-condensate
reservoirs.
Fig. 8. Phase envelope of the gas-condensate reservoir fluid.
16 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
and Kenyon and Behie's published data has been inclu-
ded in the work of Ayala H. et al. (2006).
2.1. Single-block matrix studies for maximum scrutiny
Naturally fractured reservoirs do occur in diverse and
complex reservoir structures whose details may remain
unknown. Nonetheless, the discrete nature of reservoir
simulation requires the use of theoretical models that are
able to reproduce its overall (bulk) performance. Matrix
blocks may contain over 90% of the total hydrocarbon
in place; therefore, the main concern is the extraction of
hydrocarbon from the matrix and not from the fracture.
This suggests that some effort must be spent in under-
standing the mechanisms which take place within the
rock matrix blocks.
In a naturally fractured reservoir, the fractured system
provides the preferential path for fluid flow throughout
the reservoir. The fracture network is bounded by large
surface areas of matrix rock through which fracture
pressure changes are communicated to the fluids inside
the matrix. Under these conditions, the fractures define
the boundary conditions for the matrix rock they
surround. The type of environment around the matrix-
rock block drives performance and hydrocarbon recov-
ery from the particular matrix block. In addition, as the
entire fractured reservoir is depicted as a stack of several
single-blocks of matrix rock, ultimate recovery from the
entire reservoir is controlled by the behavior of each of
the single-matrix block in the stack. Therefore, as
depicted in Fig. 9, understanding the phenomena taking
place in a single matrix block can provide some key
information to our understanding of the overall behavior
of naturally fractured reservoirs. In single-block matrix
studies, the flow in the fracture network is of secondary
importance. The fracture is felt by the matrix rock by
imposing an appropriate boundary condition to the flow
equations of the matrix. This analysis is usually
performed for different conditions (i.e., environments
or boundary conditions) in the fracture. Over the years,
single-matrix block studies have been considered
essential in the literature for the understanding of natu-
rally fractured reservoir dynamics (Yamamoto et al.,
1971; Peaceman, 1976; Van-Golf-Racht, 1982; Saidi,
1987; da Silva and Belery, 1989).
In the single-block matrix studies carried out in this
work, all six block faces are surrounded by a highly
conductive fracture network that maintains the same
environment (in terms of fracture pressure) in matrix
block faces that are parallel to each other. Because flowis
symmetrical with respect to the x- and y-axes, only a
quarter of the matrix block is sufficient for simulation.
Symmetry planes are represented by no-flow boundaries.
Presence of gravitational forces does not allow symmetry
with respect to the z-axis. In this work, both matrix and
surrounding fracture are discretized. Each gridblock of
matrix block that is found at the edges of the matrix has
one neighboring fracture gridblock cell whose pressure is
knowntherefore, fracture gridblocks do not take part in
the NewtonRaphson updating. Conditions at the fracture
are defined at the upper-most layer. Gas gravity gradients
define the pressure conditions for all other fracture layers.
In addition, overall composition of the fracture fluid is
assumed to be equal to the composition of the gas that is
present in the neighboring gridblock of matrix rock.
2.2. Parametric study of multi-mechanistic flow
Parametric studies were conducted in order to illu-
strate the influence that several variables (such as block
size or fracture spacing, matrix permeability, diffusion
strength, different environment conditions or fracture
depletion schemes) have on the depletion behavior of a
matrix block of the reservoir rock under multi-mecha-
nistic flow conditions. Table 1 lists variables which were
not part of the parametric studies conducted in this
work. It is important to indicate that these values pro-
vided a frame of reference for the parametric studies;
yet, the developed model is general and capable of
utilizing different sets of input data. Therefore, irreduc-
ible saturation values, fracture permeability and aperture,
compressibilities, relative permeabilities, etc. presented
in this table can be modified accordingly. Qualitative
trends presented and discussed in paper are expected to
remain valid for other input data combinations.
Table 2 presents the different ranges of matrix
permeability (k
m
), effective diffusion coefficient (D
eff
),
matrix block size (h=d=w), and fracture depletion rate
employed in this work. The selection of matrix perme-
abilities shown in Table 2 is based on the classification
for matrix permeability of tight formations reported in
Table 3. Matrix block dimensions (i.e., fracture spacing) Fig. 9. A single-block of matrix rock of a naturally fractured reservoir.
17 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
are within the order of magnitude of the ones used in
previously published single-block studies (Yamamoto
et al., 1971; Van-Golf-Racht, 1982), even though some
authors consider that fracture spacing of about 10 m
(33 ft) can be actually considered as large (Carlson, 2003).
This study employs effective diffusion coefficients ran-
ging from0 to 20 ft
2
/day. Cussler (2001) explains that the
typical values of gas diffusion coefficients range between
0.1 (9.3 ft
2
/day) and 1 cm
2
/s (93 ft
2
/day) at standard
conditions. Influence of pressure and temperature dra-
matically changes this range. Reported values of diffusion
coefficient for gas reservoir fluids (Katz et al., 1959;
Sigmund, 1976; Ertekin et al., 1986; da Silva and Belery,
1989) suggest that typical diffusion coefficient values can
be found between 0 to 20 ft
2
/daywhere the latter re-
presents a rather large value of gas diffusion coefficient
for reservoir fluids.
2.3. Behavior of extremely tight systems when diffusion
is neglected
The present section discusses the behavior of natu-
rally fractured gas-condensate reservoirs with extremely
tight matrices when diffusion either does not take place
in the system or has been neglectedi.e., all fluid flow
strictly follows Darcy's law. Table 4 presents the sce-
nario considered in this section and Fig. 10 reveals the
corresponding predictions for gas recovery, total
hydrocarbon HC recovery (or molar recovery), and
condensate recovery expected for such a system after a
period of 10 years of production. Recovery trends exhi-
bited in Fig. 10 are typical of gas-condensate systems, in
terms of the relative value of gas recoveries to conden-
sate recoveries. Fig. 11 presents the prediction of con-
densate appearance at reservoir conditions for the
extremely tight system under study and Fig. 12 illus-
trates fracture depletion condition with time. After about
840 days of production, fracture depletion levels
(Fig. 12) have induced fluid dew point pressure con-
ditions (see Fig. 8) around the matrix block and thus
condensate starts showing up at the edges of the matrix.
In Fig. 10, gas and condensate recoveries (and thus
molar hydrocarbon recovery) are the same as long as the
hydrocarbon fluid maintains its integrity as a single-phase
gas. Fig. 10 shows that surface gas, molar hydrocarbon,
and condensate recovery start departing significantly from
each other soon after condensate appears at reservoir
conditions. Fig. 10 demonstrates that most hydrocarbons
produced from this reservoir show at the surface as a gas.
After 10 years of production, when production operations
are halted, the operator of this hypothetical field has been
Table 3
Permeability ranges for systems under consideration
Extremely tight systems k
m
b0.01 md
Tight systems 0.01k
m
b0.1 md
Moderately permeable systems 0.1k
m
b1 md
Highly permeable systems k
m
1 md
Table 1
Variables maintained constant during parametric studies
Matrix Matrix porosity (
f
) 0.13
Initial pressure (p
i
) (at center block, gravitationally equilibrated) 4000 psia
Temperature (T) 200 F
Rock compressibility (c

) 110
6
cp
1
Fracture Fracture width (aperture) 0.01 ft
Fracture permeability (k
f
) 2000 md
Initial fracture pressure (at upper-most layer) 4000 psia
Minimum fracture pressure (p
f,min
) 600 psia
Temperature (T) 200 F
HC fluid Modified 6-component SPE fluid
Water Water saturation (S
wirr
), immobile 0.16
Water compressibility (c
w
) 110
6
psia
1
Relative permeabilities SPE Third Comparative Solution Project (Kenyon and Behie, 1987)
Capillary pressures SPE Third Comparative Solution Project (Kenyon and Behie, 1987)
Separation train conditions Primary separator 315 psia, 60 F
Second separator 65 psia, 60 F
Stock tank 14.7 psia, 60 F
Simulation time 10 years
Table 2
Variable values used for parametric studies
Matrix permeability
(isotropic and homogeneous) (k
m
)
110
3
, 110
2
, 110
1
and 1 md
Matrix block dimensions (d, w, h) 500, 200, and 40 ft
Effective diffusion coefficient (D
eff
) 0, 5, and 20 ft
2
/day
Fracture depletion rate 1, 2, 5, 20 psi/day
18 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
able to recover 54%of the original surface gas in place but
only 24% of the original condensate in place, which
makes up the recovery of about 50% of the original
hydrocarbon in place. Condensation at reservoir condi-
tions, illustrated in Fig. 11 for the present scenario, is
undesirable because the heavy components that make up
the valuable surface condensate are lost to the formation.
Very low condensate recoveries, compared to gas reco-
veries, are typical of gas-condensate systems when
hydrocarbon condensation takes place at the reservoir
rather than the surface. If no condensation takes place in
the formation, gas and condensate recoveries would be the
samewhich is the case during the first 840 days of
production. Nevertheless, gas recoveries are still low
(roughly about 50%) when it is considered that the field
has been producing for 10 years.
Fig. 13 reveals condensate saturation (S
o
) cross-
sectional snapshots taken vertically at center of the matrix
block. The results obtained for the quarter-block simula-
tion are used to reproduce the behavior of the entire block
based on the existing symmetry with respect to the x-axis.
The first condensation snapshot in Fig. 13 is shown for
t =900 days, close after condensate has appeared at
reservoir conditions (see overall reservoir condensation
profile in Fig. 11). In this snapshot, condensate first
appears at the top corners of the matrix block, where
pressure is lowest due to gravity gradients (simulations
assumed gravitational equilibrium at t =0). Condensate
builds uparound the edges of the block as time progresses,
thus creating a coating of immobile liquid that traps the
gas inside the block (represented as blue areas with zero
condensate, S
o
=0). Maximum condensate saturations
are about 20%, while the critical condensate saturation
for mobilization is 24%. Therefore, all condensate is
virtually immobile. The thickness of this barrier of im-
mobile condensate increases with time; but it is not until
after 8 years that inner-most gas is finally reached
(when pressure transients are able to reach the inner
portions of the matrix rock). It is important to note that
condensate profiles are virtually symmetrical with res-
pect to the z-axis, rendering negligible the effect of
gravity. The reason for this is two-fold: the matrix is
extremely tight and hence limits condensate movement in
the z-direction, but condensate never attains mobility
nonetheless (S
o
bS
oc
). This suggests that simulations
could have been done using a 1/ 8 of a matrix block,
assuming flow symmetry with respect to the z-axis,
without any great loss of accuracy. Even a 1/ 16 of a
matrix block could be simulated using the existing sym-
metry with respect to the 45 vertical plane that cuts the
Fig. 11. Reservoir condensation in extremely tight matrices when no
diffusion takes place.
Fig. 12. Fracture pressure (top layer) for a depletion rate of 1 psi/day.
Table 4
Extremely tight matrix base case
Matrix block dimensions (d=w=h) 500 ft
Matrix permeability, k
m
(isotropic and homogeneous) 110
3
md
Effective diffusion coefficient (D
eff
) 0 ft
2
/day
Fracture depletion rate 1 psi/day
Fig. 10. Recoveries for extremely tight matrices without diffusion.
19 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
Fig. 13. Condensate saturation maps for extremely tight matrices with no diffusion.
20 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
xy plane in half. However, this cannot be done using the
rectangular gridblocks employed in this work.
Re-vaporization of condensate is evident in the areas
subjected to the most extensive depletion in Fig. 13
i.e., the corners of the matrix rock. It is observed that
condensate saturation at the corners (the first areas to
host condensate, as seen in the snapshot at t =1000 days)
reach maximum condensation, and then, upon further
depletion, begin re-vaporizing the condensate. Local re-
vaporization phenomena is seen, for instance, in the
snapshot of t =3000 days, where condensation saturation
level at the corners (which are extensively depleted
areas) is about the same than condensate levels at the
inner portions of the block (a poorly depleted area). The
value of S
o
in those areas is about 13%, shown in yellow.
Global condensate re-vaporization is depicted in Fig. 11,
where the amount of reservoir condensate reaches the
maximum of 18 reservoir barrels per thousand cubic feet
of total porous volumeafter about 2850 days of pro-
ductionand then steadily declines.
2.4. Role of gas diffusion in extremely tight matrix
blocks
In the previous section, it was assumed that Darcy's
law controlled fluid flow in an extremely tight system
and no diffusion was taking place. However, the main
hypothesis driving this study is that the presence of
fractures around a matrix block of extremely low
permeability would create molecular concentration
gradients in the gas phase large enough as to trigger a
significant amount of gas diffusion (i.e., multimecha-
nistic flow). This second recovery mechanismor
Fickian flowcould considerably overcome the flow
impairment to gas flow that is posed by the eventual
appearance of a condensate barrier around the edges of
the block. As a result, the recovery of gas stored in the
poorly depleted inner-matrix areas of the matrix block
may be largely driven by concentration gradients. In this
work, we examine the role of gas diffusion in the reco-
very of gas from the inner portions of extremely tight
matrix represented by values of 5 and 20 ft
2
/day of
effective diffusion coefficient. As discussed previously,
effective diffusion coefficients in the gas phase may take
values between 0 and 20 ft
2
/day. Figs. 14 and 15 display
the effect that multi-mechanistic flow has on the recovery
performance of this system. Both figures reproduce the
base case (D
eff
=0) for comparison purposes. These two
new scenarios are subjected to the same boundary
condition depicted in Fig. 12 and other conditions of
Table 4with the exception of the values of D
eff
.
Figs. 14 and 15 effectively demonstrate that the
concentration gradients that are established within
the matrix block can be responsible for a large fraction
of fluid recovery. Fig. 14 shows that diffusion alone
Fig. 14. Effect of diffusion on gas and condensate recoveries for
extremely tight matrices.
Fig. 15. Effect of diffusion on hydrocarbon molar recovery for
extremely tight matrices.
Fig. 16. Effect of diffusion on reservoir condensation for extremely
tight matrices.
21 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
Fig. 17. Effect of diffusion on condensate saturation for D
eff
=5 ft
2
/day.
22 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
can be responsible for up to 26% of gas and 12% of
condensate ultimate recoveriesan increase of about
25% in overall hydrocarbon recovery as shown in
Fig. 15. Multi-mechanistic flow certainly takes place
and Darcy's law alone cannot fully predict system
behavior due to the considerable concentration gra-
dients that develop during depletion. In extremely tight
systems, diffusion allows for a considerably larger
withdrawal of in-situ fluids than what is predicted by
Darcy's law. This larger fluid withdrawal translates
Fig. 18. Effect of diffusion on condensate saturation maps for D
eff
=20 ft
2
/day.
23 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
into a larger system depletion that, for a gas-conden-
sate system, signifies that a larger condensate dropout
would be obtained at reservoir conditions. This is
clearly depicted in Fig. 16. As diffusion coefficient
increases, more fluid is withdrawn out of the reservoir
and hence more condensation is to be expected at
reservoir condition.
Figs. 17 and 18 describe the effect of gas diffusion in
the development of condensate at reservoir conditions at
different depletion stages. These two figures should be
compared among themselves and against Fig. 13, which
presented the same prediction for the case where diffusion
was considered negligible. The effect of diffusion on the
formation of condensate is dramatic. Diffusion does
enable the trapped inner-most gas to flow out driven by
concentration gradients. Larger depletion at the inner-
most portion of the matrix blocks allows larger recoveries
and larger condensate dropouts. Condensate appearance
at the inner-most portion of the matrix occurs at much
shorter times than shown in Fig. 16. However, condensate
saturation never reaches the critical value needed for
mobilization (S
oc
=24%) and, as a result, condensate
remains immobile at reservoir conditions.
2.5. Effect of matrix permeability: the multi-mechan-
istic flow domain
Figs. 19, 20 and 21 present the prediction for hydro-
carbon recovery for the cases of tight matrices
(k
m
=110
2
md), moderately permeable matrices
(k
m
=110
1
md), and permeable matrices (k
m
=1 md).
It is evident that the contribution of diffusion to recoveries
and overall system behavior becomes negligible as the
permeability of the matrix (k
m
) increases, especially when
one compares these three figures to Figs. 14 and 15 of the
case of extremely tight systems.
The general observation is that, when the matrix rock is
permeable enough, recovery is controlled by fracture
depletion only. In other words, a permeable matrix is able
to deliver the amount of fluids as prescribed by the
fracture boundary condition without restriction. This is
what is observed in Figs. 20 and 21, which present
Fig. 19. Recoveries for tight matrices (k
m
=110
2
md).
Fig. 20. Recoveries for moderately permeable matrices (k
m
=0.1 md).
Fig. 21. Recoveries for permeable matrices (k
m
=1 md).
Fig. 22. Effect of permeability on reservoir condensation.
24 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
identical recovery values in time. In the case of tight
matrices (Fig. 19), Fickian flow contributes to hydrocar-
bon recovery, albeit in a limited extent. The effect of
matrix permeability on the extent of reservoir condensate
appearance is described in Fig. 22. Predictions for the
more permeable systems (k
m
=0.1 and 1 md) lie on top of
each other in this figure. In general, larger matrix
permeabilities foster easier and more evenly spread
reservoir condensation throughout the matrix rock.
Fig. 22 shows that the more permeable the system, the
sooner the condensate spreads and appears in the matrix
block once dew point conditions are reached. For the case
of the more permeable systems, condensation reaches a
constant value once fracture depletion stops (minimum
fracture pressure is reached) and no more pressure
changes are imposed by the fracture (see Fig. 12).
In summary, in naturally fractured gas-condensate re-
servoirs, Fickian flow can be responsible for a con-
siderable amount of fluid recovery for extremely low
matrix permeabilitieswith values in the order of
110
3
md or less. Fluid flow in more permeable
matricespermeabilities of 0.1 md or more-obeys
Darcy's law and thus it is said that the Darcian com-
ponent of the dual-mechanistic flow prevails, while the
contribution of Fickian flow is negligible. In other words,
flow driven by gas concentration gradients prevails at
very low values of matrix permeability, while flowdriven
by pressure gradients dominates at large values of matrix
permeability. The multi-mechanistic flow mapping pre-
sented by Ertekin et al. (1986) has been corroborated for
the case of naturally fractured gas-condensate reservoirs
for the system under study. This mapping is shown
in Fig. 23. To reinforce the multi-mechanistic flow
spectrum shown in Figs. 23 and 24 demonstrates that for
extremely tight systems with k
m
b110
3
(the example
Fig. 23. The multi-mechanistic flow spectrum.
Fig. 25. Top fracture pressure evolution in time as a function of
depletion rate.
Fig. 24. Role of diffusion in extremely tight matrices (k
m
=110
4
md).
Fig. 26. Effect of depletion rate on recovery for extremely tight
systems.
Fig. 27. Effect of depletion rate on recovery for tight systems.
25 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
uses k
m
b110
4
md) Fickian flow isin factthe
mechanism responsible for recovery. Ultimate gas
recoveries can be up to 4 times larger than the recovery
obtained by Darcian flow alonei.e., Fickian flow being
responsible for the recovery of more than 2/ 3 of the gas
brought to the surface. It is important to highlight that
some potential shifts in the flowdomain regions described
in Fig. 24 may occur as a result of the compositional
characteristics of the gas-condensate reservoir, which are
not studied in detail in this work. Different gas-condensate
fluid characterization should be examined in order to
confirm or refine such mapping.
2.6. Effect of fracture depletion rate
Fig. 25 presents the four different depletion rates
(boundary conditions) that were imposed to the matrix
block under study. Fig. 25 also presents the value of the
dew point of the gas-condensate system under consider-
ation. In general, the higher the depletion rate, the sooner
the systemreaches dew point conditions (p
sat
=3158 psia)
and thus the sooner the condensate is developed at reser-
voir conditions. In general, the effect of depletion rate on
recoveries is intuitive. The higher the depletion rate, the
sooner the hydrocarbons are brought to the surface and the
higher the recoveries at a given point in time. Figs. 26, 27
and 28 display the effect of flow rate (depletion rate) on
recovery for extremely tight, tight, and permeable
matrices. Molar recoveries are presented, although the
same behavior is seen for gas and condensate recoveries.
In these figures, an upper bound (D
eff
=20 ft
2
/day) and a
lower bound (D
eff
=0 ft
2
/day) are shown for different
depletion rates that delineate a region of influence for
Fickian flow. That is, the impact of Fickian flow on
recovery is represented by the distance between the lower
and upper bound for a given depletion rate. From these
figures, it is clearly seen that Fickian flow is favored by
higher depletion rates. The role of diffusion in the
recovery of hydrocarbon from the system becomes more
pronounced as depletion rates are increased. The larger
the depletion rate, the earlier Fickian flow takes place in
the system. This is to be expected, because a larger
depletion rate creates larger pressure and concentration
gradients around the matrix block, triggering multi-
mechanistic flow at earlier times. It is also observed that
the mapping presented in Fig. 23 remains applicable. The
role of diffusion diminishes with increased matrix perme-
ability, but depletion rates show a more prominent role of
Fickian flow than lower depletion rates dofor a given
permeability. Fig. 28 demonstrates that the role of diffu-
sion in permeable systems is insignificantregardless of
flow rate. In summary, matrix permeability controls the
relative contribution of Fickian and Darcian flows at any
depletion rate level, while the significance of Fickian flow
is emphasized by larger flow rates.
2.7. Effect of fracture spacing and matrix block size
Matrix block size is considered one parameter that
can greatly influence behavior of a naturally fractured
reservoir. Matrix block size is determined by fracture
Fig. 28. Effect of depletion rate on recovery for permeable and
moderately permeable systems.
Fig. 29. Matrix block size and fracture spacing.
26 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
spacing; thus, these two terms can be used interchange-
ably in the context of the sugar-cube model. Fig. 29
shows that as larger number of fractures are found in the
system, the spacing among them decreases and thus the
size of the matrix blocks. Changes in fracture spacing
are expected to have important effects on the behavior of
the system, as the naturally fractured reservoir becomes
more highly or poorly interconnected. In this work,
matrix block sizes of 500 ft, 200 ft, and 40 ft are
investigated. Fig. 30 presents the effect of matrix block
size (fracture spacing) on molar recovery for the case of
extremely tight systems and the depletion rates of 1 psi/
day and 20 psi/day. At any point in time, molar recovery
values are higher as matrix block sizes become smaller
for a given depletion rate. This is reasonable because,
when fracture spacing and matrix block size are redu-
ced, it is easier to extract the fluid out of the reservoir;
thus, molar recoveries would increase when a larger
number of fractures is found in the system (i.e., when
fracture spacing is reduced). In general, the innermost
matrix fluids in small but extremely tight matrix block
sizes are more prone to faster depletion than the innermost
matrix fluids stored in large and extremely tight matrix
blocks. It is also clear that fracture depletion rate has an
important role on fluid recovery, with the combination of
the largest depletion rate (20 psi/ft) and smallest matrix
block size (40 ft) reaching maximumrecovery in less than
a year of production.
The enhanced fluid recovery that takes place in
extremely tight but small matrices has an important
additional effect on the multi-mechanistic flow mapping
presented in Fig. 23. Figs. 31 32 and 33 reveal the effect
of block size on the role of diffusion for extremely tight
systems (k
m
=110
3
md). These figures demonstrate
that diffusion effects (represented by the width of the
shadowed areas) become progressively less significant
as matrix block size decreases. As a result, diffusion
contributes very little to molar recoveryif at allfor
small matrix blocks (L=40 ft), even though the perme-
ability of the matrix is very small (k
m
=110
3
md).
Fig. 31. Effect of block size (L=500 ft) on the role of diffusion in
extremely tight matrices.
Fig. 30. Effect of block size on molar recovery for extremely tight
matrixes (D
eff
=0 ft
2
/day).
Fig. 32. Effect of block size (L=200 ft) on the role of diffusion in
extremely tight matrices.
Fig. 33. Effect of block size (L=40 ft) on the role of diffusion in
extremely tight matrices.
27 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
This immediately suggests that the mapping presented
in Fig. 23 is not valid for heavily fractured systems with
small fracture spacing and matrix block sizes. The
reduction of size of the matrix block has a similar effect
than the increase of matrix block permeability studied
before. To some extent, the ease for fluid withdrawal in a
naturally fractured reservoir (or overall permeability
of the system as a whole) is both described by matrix
block permeability and how highly interconnected the
fracture network is.
3. Summary and conclusions
This study has verified that hydrocarbon recovery in a
naturally fractured gascondensate reservoir can be
largely driven by concentration gradientsrather than
pressure gradients alone as predicted by Darcy's law.
Reservoir condensate appearance in a naturally fractured
gas-condensate reservoir creates a coat around the
matrix block that encloses the inner-most gas and the
extent of this gas flowbarrier is dependent uponthe type of
fluid, matrix permeability, and the rate of fracture pressure
depletion. The occurrence of Fickian flowas an additional
recovery mechanism can considerably overcome the flow
impairment to gas flow that is posed by the eventual
appearance of this condensate barrier. It has been shown
that the contribution of Fickian flow to ultimate recovery
may be responsible for up to 2/ 3 of the total hydrocarbon
recovered from systems composed of large and extremely
tight matrix blocks such as the one presented in this study
(k
m
b110
3
md, L=500 ft). For the systems under
study, the relative contribution of the Fickian and Darcian
components in multi-mechanistic flow in naturally
fractured gas-condensate reservoirs was largely controlled
by the permeability of the matrix and fracture spacing. For
large fracture spacing with large matrix block sizes (200 ft
and above, for the conditions depicted in this study), the
contribution of Fickian flow can largely surpass that of
Darcian flow when the matrix block is extremely tight
(k
m
b110
3
md). The contribution of Fickian flow is
negligible, for all scenarios investigated in this study,
when matrix blocks are permeable or moderately perme-
able (k
m
N0.1 md). Fickian flow contribution can be
ignored if the fracture spacing is small (40 ft or less, for the
fluid and system under study). While matrix permeability
and fracture spacing control the relative contribution of
Fickian and Darcian flow, the significance of Fickian flow
is emphasized at higher flow rates. In general, the impact
of Fickian flowon recovery was favored by larger fracture
depletion rates. Additional work is underway to study the
effect of capillary imbibition at the fracture/matrix
interface, which has been demonstrated can have
important effects on recovery under certain conditions
(Castelijns and Hagoort, 1984). Other areas open to further
examination in this topic include: effects of changes in
fracture permeability and aperture, multi-mechanistic flow
in the liquid phase, effects of molecular stripping within
the gas phase, thermal and pressure-driven diffusion,
effect of concentration on diffusion coefficients, and effect
of changes in fluid composition, capillary and relative
permeability values.
Nomenclature
c
w
water compressibility (psi
1
)
c

rock compressibility (psi

1
)
d depth of a typical matrix block in a naturally
fractured reservoir (ft),
D
eff
effective gas diffusion constant (ft
2
/day),
G downward depth (ft),
h thickness of a typical matrix block in a naturally
fractured reservoir (ft),
k permeability (md),
k
m
matrix permeability (md),
k
f
fracture permeability (md),
k
rg
gas relative permeability (unitless),
k
ro
condensate relative permeability (unitless),
L size of a rectangular matrix block d=w=h,(ft),
M
m

production/injection source term for the m-th

component, ( lbmol/day/ft
3
)
n
c
total number of hydrocarbons in the system,
p
I
initial pressure (psia),
p
f
fracture pressure (psia),
p
g
gas phase pressure (psia),
p
o
condensate phase pressure (psia),
t time (days),
T temperature (F),
S
g
gas saturation (fraction),
S
o
condensate saturation (fraction),
S
wirr
irreducible water saturation (fraction),
w width of a typical matrix block in a naturally
fractured reservoir (ft),
x
m
molar fraction of the m-th component in the
condensate phase (fraction),
y
m
molar fraction of the m-th component in the gas
phase (fraction),
x, y, z cartesian coordinates,
porosity (fraction),

f
matrix porosity (fraction),

g
gas specific gravity (unitless),

o
condensate specific gravity (unitless),

g
molar density of the gas phase (lbmol/ft
3
),

o
molar density of the condensate phase (lbmol/ft
3
),

g
viscosity of the gas phase (cp),

o
viscosity of the condensate phase (cp).
28 L.F. Ayala H. et al. / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 58 (2007) 1329
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their sincere
appreciation to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Section at
The Pennsylvania State U. for providing the support and
computational facilities required for the completion of
this work. An initial version of this paper was presented
as SPE 90010 at the 2004 SPE International Petroleum
Conference in Mexico and the feedback obtained from
colleagues in this forum is greatly appreciated.
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