Reservoir Fluids

Reservoir Fluids

Notes

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Schlumberger 1999 1
 Reservoir Fluids Reservoir fluids need to be described in a different way from the rocks.
The first definition is one of contacts, where the fluids would be in
equilibrium. These are the gas-oil-contact, the oil-water-contact and the
Definitions gas-water-contact. The latter is only possible in a well with gas and water
(no oil).
The second figure is the oil in place, the amount of hydrocarbon in the
reservoir.
Fluid Contacts The final figure is one of the hydrocarbon properties, the gas-oil-ratio;
how much gas is in the oil. Due to the complexity of the hydrocarbons in
the reservoir there are many other parameters which are needed to fully
describe the fluids.

Oil in Place OIP The volume of oil in the Notes

reservoir in barrels or cubic metres.

Gas/Oil Ratio GOR The gas content of the oil.

API Gravity API Oil gravity. 2

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 Reservoir Fluids Other gases can be found in wells, these include, helium, carbon dioxide
and hydrogen sulphide. In most cases these occur as traces together with
the hydrocarbon and water normally found.
Fluids in a Reservoir The formation water is uniquely described by its salinity. This varies from
500 ppm Chlorides to 250000ppm; a wide range.
The major rock property involved in production is the permeability.
A reservoir normally contains either water or
hydrocarbon or a mixture.

The hydrocarbon may be in the form of oil or gas.

The specific hydrocarbon produced depends on

the reservoir pressure and temperature.

The formation water may be fresh or salty.

Notes

The amount and type of fluid produced depends

on the initial reservoir pressure, rock properties
and the drive mechanism.

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 Reservoir Fluids Hydrocarbons vary widely in their properties. The first classification is by
fraction of each component. This ranges from a dry gas which is mostly
C1 (methane) to tar which is mostly the heavier fractions. The black oil
Hydrocarbon Composition normally found is between the two extremes, with some C1 and some
heavier fractions.
The hydrocarbon extracted from reservoirs varies in composition from
Typical hydrocarbons have the following place to place. Fluids originating from the same source rock will be
composition in Mol Fraction similar but never exactly the same.

Hydrocarbon C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6+

Dry gas .88 .045 .045 .01 .01 .01

Condensate .72 .08 .04 .04 .04 .08

Volatile oil .6-.65 .08 .05 .04 .03 .15-.2

Black oil .41 .03 .05 .05 .04 .42 Notes

Heavy oil .11 .03 .01 .01 .04 .8

Tar/bitumen 1.0

The 'C' numbers indicated the number of carbon

atoms in the molecular chain.

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 Reservoir Fluids Another way to describe the hydrocarbons is by the mixtures of the
groups of hydrocarbon structure types.

Hydrocarbon Structure The three major groups are shown. The simplest and most abundant is the
paraffin series, chains of carbon atoms with the hydrogen attached. The
chemical formula for this type of structure is C nHn+2. The more complex
ring structures, napthelenes and benzines occur in varying proportions.

The major
constituent of
hydrocarbons
is paraffin.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids Oil is more complex than gas and has to be defined in a more complete
manner. The Gas-Oil Ratio, GOR (symbol Rs) is a measure of how much
gas is in the oil and thus how light it is. This is measured at a specific
Hydrocarbon Classification pressure and temperature , for example the reservoir conditions.
The API gravity is a weight. The definition equation given simply sets
Hydrocarbons are also defined by their weight numbers for given oils. The heaviest have the lowest API gravity. The
and the Gas/Oil ratio. The table gives some price of oil depends on its API gravity, with the standard or reference
crudes being the black oils between 30 and 40 API.
typical values:
GOR API Gravity

Wet gas 100mcf/b 50-70

Condensate 5-100mcf/b 50-70

Volatile oil 3000cf/b 40-50

Notes
Black oil 100-2500cf/b 30-40

Heavy oil 0 10-30

Tar/bitumen 0 <10

The specific gravity of an oil is defined as:

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 Reservoir Fluids Natural gas is a much simple fluid than oil as it is essentially one
component.

Hydrocarbon Gas Gas specific gravity with respect to air should not be confused with the
specific gravity with respect to water.

Natural gas is mostly (60-80%) methane, CH4.

Some heavier gases make up the rest.

Gas can contain impurities such as Hydrogen

Sulphide, H2S and Carbon Dioxide, CO2.

Gases are classified by their specific gravity

which is defined as:
Notes
"The ratio of the density of the gas to that of air
at the same temperature and pressure".

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 Reservoir Fluids The pressure in the reservoir is controlled by the aquifer as it is assumed
that it is, somewhere, connected to surface. This means that the pressure
in the water is effectively continuous controlled by the pressure gradient.
Reservoir Pressure The pressure gradient depends on the salinity of the water, the
temperature and the regional tectonic stresses. It is usually constant over a
large area.
The pressures in the oil and gas depend on the gradients (densities) of
these fluids. The difference in gradients with the water gradient depends
on the specific gravity with respect to water.

Notes

Reservoir Pressures are normally controlled by

the gradient in the aquifer.
High pressures exist in some reservoirs.
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 Reservoir Fluids The static pressures anywhere in the reservoir can be calculated using
these formula.

Reservoir Pressure Calculation
The calculation starts at the bottom of the zone in the water, specifically
at the OWC. The pressure here is simply the depth times the water
gradient.
The pressure at the GOC is the pressure at the OWC minus the pressure
du to the oil column. This is given by the thickness of the oil column
times the water gradient times the specific gravity of the oil.
A similar calculation can be made for the gas zone.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids

Reservoir Pressure Example

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids Temperature in wells depends on a regional gradient. There can be local
hot spots where this is sharply increased. The temperature is measured
during each logging run.
Reservoir Temperature Gradient Temperatures gradients are greatest near the edges of the plates and
lowest near the centres of the old continental plates as these are the
thickest points of the crust.

Notes

The chart shows three possible temperature

gradients. The temperature can be determined if
the depth is known.
High temperatures exist in some places. Local
knowledge is important.

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 Reservoir Fluids The phase behaviour of the reservoir fluids are important as the fluid in
the reservoir will change as it is produced.

Fluid Phases The pressure and temperature are two quantities that can be easily
measured. Thus it is useful to describe the fluids behaviour during
production in these terms. Experimentally it is easier to measure pressure
and volume hence the classical experiment is done using these parameters
A fluid phase is a physically distinct state, e.g.: at a constant temperature.
gas or oil.

In a reservoir oil and gas exist together at

equilibrium, depending on the pressure and
temperature.

The behaviour of a reservoir fluid is analyzed

using the properties; Pressure, Temperature and
Volume (PVT).
Notes

There are two simple ways of showing this:

Pressure against temperature keeping the
volume constant.

Pressure against volume keeping the

temperature constant.

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 Reservoir Fluids The easiest experiment is to keep the temperature constant, measuring
volumes and pressures.
The fluid used is a pure, single component hydrocarbon. (This is not
PVT Experiment found in a reservoir fluid which consists of a number of components.)
Starting in the liquid and increasing the volume, the pressure drops
rapidly with small changes in volume until the first bubble of gas occurs.
This is the Bubble Point.
Further increase in the volume causes no change in the pressure until a
point is reached where all the liquid has vaporised.
This is the Dew Point.
Increasing the volume beyond this point causes the pressure to drop, but
much slower than with the liquid phase.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids This is a plot for the single hydrocarbon component used in the
experiment. The Vapour pressure curve terminates in the Critical Point.
Phase Diagram -single This is a unique point for any substance, pure or a mixture.
The plot describes how this fluid behaves with changing pressure and
component temperature.
The experiment is conducted at different If it starts in the liquid and the pressure is reduced, keeping the
temperature constant, it will cross the vapour pressure curve and become a
temperatures. gas. Starting as a liquid at constant pressure and increasing the
The final plot of Pressure against Temperature is temperature will also change it to a gas. An example of this would be
made. boiling water in an open container at sea level.

The Vapour Pressure Curve represents the

Bubble Point and Dew Point.
(For a single component they coincide.)

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids Reservoirs do not have simple single-component hydrocarbons. Their
Pressure/Temperature diagrams are more complex.
The Bubble Point and Dew Point curves still meet at the critical point.
Phase diagram Oil There is now an envelope where two phases, oil and gas, exist in
equilibrium. This is due to there being both heavy and light components
The Pressure/Temperature (PT) phase diagram for an oil in the fluid.
reservoir: This typical diagram is used to describe how the oil at reservoir conditions
Point 'A' is the initial reservoir condition of pressure and behaves when it is produced to surface.
temperature.
If the reservoir is produced at a constant temperature
until the fluid reaches the wellbore, the line to Point 'B' is
drawn. This represents the flow of fluid from the reservoir to the
borehole. The fluid travelling to surface now drops in both
temperature and pressure arriving at he "separator conditions"
(s) with a final volume of oil and gas.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids Gas condensates, as the name suggests, start as a gas and condense out
some liquid. This type of gas reservoir is commercially very good as the
liquid can easily be sold.
Phase Diagram Condensate/Gas This type of fluid is very dynamic and is difficult to produce efficiently.
The surface production system is more complex than for an oil.
Point 'C' is at the initial reservoir conditions. The
reservoir is produced at a constant temperature
from C to D. Fluids flowing up the well now drop
in temperature and pressure, crossing the Dew
point line and liquid condenses out.

At separator conditions (s) the result in both

liquid and gas on the surface.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids This is the final diagram for the reservoir fluids. This is a dry gas which
never enters the envelope under any normal producing conditions as there
are no heavy components.
Gas Reservoir There are some gases classed as wetgas. This refers to some liquid
being produced at surface, as with a condensate. However there is only an
minimal amount.
In a gas reservoir the initial point is A. Producing
the well to separator conditions B does not
change the fluid produced.

The point B is still in the "gas region" and hence

dry gas is produced.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids Downhole, pressures and temperatures are high, on surface they are much
lower hence the fluids will change in volume.

Hydrocarbon Volumes Some gas comes out of the oil, the amount depending on the gas-oil ratio.
Water will only have dissolved gas in a gas well near the gas-water
contact. In general water produces water.
Fluids at bottom hole conditions produce
different fluids at surface:
Oil becomes oil plus gas.
Gas usually stays as gas unless it is a Condensate.
Water stays as water with occasionally some
dissolved gas.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids
FVF Oil and Gas
There is a change in volume between downhole
conditions and the surface.
The volume of the fluid at reference conditions is
described by the Formation Volume Factor:
The volume change has to be quantified. Surface volumes are measured
(production rates); these need to be converted to downhole conditions in
order to compute how much has been produced at reservoir conditions and
hence how much is left.
Bw is around 1, as water is nearly incompressible. Bo is measured in a
PVT laboratory experiment, it is just over 1, a typical value would be 1.2.
Bg can be measured in the laboratory or using empirical charts. This
figure depends very much on the pressure and is always very small of the
order of 10-3.

Volume at downhole Conditions

FVF =
Volume at reference Conditions

Notes
Bo = formation volume factor for oil.
Bw = formation volume factor for water.
Bg = formation volume factor for gas.

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 Reservoir Fluids The porosity has to be split between the fluids occupying the pore space.
Saturation is the name given to the fraction of a given fluid. The total of
the fluids present must be 1 (or 100%).
Saturation The normal representation is as a percentage, in equations a fraction must
be used.
Formation saturation is defined as the fraction of
its pore volume (porosity) occupied by a given
fluid.

Volume of a specific fluid

Saturation =
pore volume

Definitions
Sw = water saturation.
So = oil saturation.
Sg = gas saturation. Notes
Sh = hydrocarbon saturation = So + Sg

Saturations are expressed as percentages or

fractions, e.g.
Water saturation of 75% in a reservoir with
porosity of 20% contains water equivalent to
15% of its volume.

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 Reservoir Fluids The graphical representation shows the simple porosity model split now
between water and hydrocarbon.

Saturation Definition The volume of a fluid is the porosity times the saturation.
Hence the volume of water Vw = *Sw, that of oil Vo = *So , and that
of gas, Vg = *Sg.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids Wettability is caused by surface tension forces between the fluid
molecules.

Wettability Most reservoirs are water wet, mainly because the water was there first,
the rocks being deposited in water. The hydrocarbon which migrated in at
a later date displaces most of the water but rarely wets the rock as the
surface tension forces in the water are stronger.
The simple experiment in the figure shows a drop of water on a glass
slide, a similar diagram could be drawn for the opposite case using, for
example, mercury in place of water.

The wettability defines how a fluid adheres to the

surface (or rock in the reservoir) when there are
two fluids present, e.g. water and air.
The angle measured through the water is the Notes
"contact angle".
If it is less than 90 the rock is water wet; greater
than 90 the rock is oil wet.
Most reservoir rocks are water wet.

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 Reservoir Fluids There is always water in the hydrocarbon zone. This water is stuck to
the rocks by surface tension forces, it is wetting the rocks. The water
will never be produced under normal production conditions, hence the
Irreducible Water Saturation term irreducible.
The amount of irreducible water depends on the grain size and on the
mixture of grains. A rock with a mixture of small grains and large grains
In a formation the minimum saturation induced can have water in the small grains and oil in the pore space associated
by displacement is where the wetting phase with the large grains.
becomes discontinuous.
In normal water-wet rocks, this is the irreducible
water saturation, Swirr.
Large grained rocks have a low irreducible water
saturation compared to small-grained formations
because the capillary pressure is smaller.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids The capillary pressure experiment is a simple one. It is often conducted
using a number of glass tubes to determine the controlling factor which is
the radius of the capillary tube. The smaller the tube the greater the height
Capillary Forces of the water and hence the capillary pressure.

Pc = capillary pressure.
= surface tension.
q = contact angle.
rcap = radius of capillary tube. Notes

In a simple water and air system the wettability

gives rise to a curved interface between the two
fluids.

This experiment has a glass tube attached to a

reservoir of water. The water "wets" the glass.
This causes the pressure on the concave side
(water) to exceed that on the convex side (air).
This excess pressure is the capillary pressure.
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 Reservoir Fluids In a reservoir the pore spaces act as capillary tubes pulling the water up
into the oil column. There is a capillary transition zone at the oil-water
contact. There would also be one at the gas-water contact in a gas
Capillary Forces and Rocks reservoir. However there is no such phenomena at the gas-oil contact in
normal circumstances as the oil does not wet the rock.

In a reservoir the two fluids are oil and water

which are immiscible hence they exhibit capillary
pressure phenomena.
This is seen by the rise in the water above the
point where the capillary pressure is zero.

Notes

The height depends on the density difference and

the radius of the capillaries.

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 Reservoir Fluids The transition zone is a phenomenon seen in all reservoirs. The thickness
of this zone varies from less that the resolution of the standard tool to very
long, hundreds of feet.
Transition Zone The size of the pores also controls the permeability, small pores mean low
permeability. Hence a long transition zone suggests a low permeability
formation.
The phenomenon of capillary pressure gives rise
to the transition zone in a reservoir between the
water zone and the oil zone.
The rock can be thought of as a bundle of
capillary tubes.
The length of the zone depends on the pore size
and the density difference between the two fluids.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids The four stages are 100% water, oil and water mixture, residual oil and
irreducible water.

Relative Permeability The first stage represents a water zone only. The last represents an oil
zone. The residual oil stage is a reservoir that has been completely
produced.
Take a core 100% water-saturated. (A) The other stage is an intermediate stage, either a production stage or
somewhere in the transition zone.
Force oil into the core until irreducible water
saturation is attained (Swirr). (A-> C -> D)
Reverse the process: force water into the core
until the residual saturation is attained. (B)
During the process, measure the relative
permeabilities to water and oil.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids Initially, the core permeability will be the absolute permeability as there
is only one fluid at 100% saturation.
Relative Permeability The relative permeability of water will drop to zero when Swirr is reached
because no more water will move.
Experiment The relative permeability to oil will rise but never reach the absolute
permeability because there is still water in the pores.
When water is forced in, the relative permeability of water will rise but
not reach the absolute value for the same reason.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids There are also the secondary drives, gravity drive, compaction and fluid
expansion. In reality all reservoirs have both primary and secondary
mechanisms.
Drive Mechanisms
A virgin reservoir has a pressure controlled by
the local gradient.
Hydrocarbons will flow if the reservoir pressure
is sufficient to drive the fluids to the surface
(otherwise they have to be pumped).
As the fluid is produced reservoir pressure drops.
The rate of pressure drop is controlled by the
Reservoir Drive Mechanism.
Drive Mechanism depends on the rate at which
fluid expands to fill the space vacated by the
Notes
produced fluid.
Main Reservoir Drive Mechanism types are:

Water drive.

Gas cap drive.

Gas solution drive

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 Reservoir Fluids Water has three advantages , firstly there is water in the hydrocarbon zone
in the form of irreducible water with which it can join and hence clean
around the grains. Secondly capillary pressure helps the water up the
Water Invasion 1 small pore channels.
Finally the water is often of very large extent and hence the pressure in
the reservoir remains high for a long time.
Water invading an oil zone,
moves close to the grain
surface, pushing the oil out
of its way in a piston-
like fashion.

Notes

The capillary pressure

gradient forces water to
move ahead faster in the
smaller pore channels.

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 Reservoir Fluids There will always be some oil left in the rock, 100% recovery is
impossible.This residual oil fraction, Sor, is important as it controls the
amount of recoverable oil.
Water Invasion 2

The remaining
thread of oil
becomes smaller.

It finally breaks
into smaller pieces.

Notes
As a result, some
drops of oil are left
behind in the
channel.

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 Reservoir Fluids The (normally) large volume of the water system gives additional
assistance to this type of drive. The hydrocarbon is pushed out as its
pressure drops, while the pressure in the water remains higher hence the
Water Drive water will move to force the oil out.

Notes

Water moves up to fill the "space" vacated by

the oil as it is produced.

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 Reservoir Fluids The production of water will invariably increase. The amount of water
finally produced depends on capabilities of the surface production
facilities and the economics of the process. It can be as much as 98%.
Water Drive 2 Gas production is simply that associated with the oil and depends on the
gas-oil ratio.

Notes

This type of drive usually keeps the reservoir

pressure fairly constant.
After the initial dry oil production, water may
be produced. The amount of produced water
increases as the volume of oil in the reservoir
decreases.
Dissolved gas in the oil is released to form
produced gas.
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 Reservoir Fluids The very high mobility of gas (low viscosity) means that it goes down the
large pore channels bypassing the smaller ones. Once past a zone the gas
will continue leaving the oil trapped; it will not be produced.
Gas Invasion
Gas is more mobile than oil and takes the path of
least resistance along the centre of the larger
channels.
As a result, oil is left behind in the smaller, less
permeable, channels.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids The main type of gas drive is the gas cap drive. The gas cap expansion
forces the oil out.

Gas Cap Drive The gas cap needs to be large for this type of drive to succeed.

Notes

Gas from the gas cap expands to fill the space

vacated by the produced oil.

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 Reservoir Fluids As the gas cap expands the pressure drops hence the drive efficiency goes
down. In addition there is always breakthrough of the free gas and
production at an apparent high GOR.
Gas Cap Drive 2 The reservoir pressure will go down quickly.

As oil production declines, gas production

increases.

Rapid pressure drop at the start of production.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids This type of drive uses the energy of expansion of the gas dissolved in the
oil as there is no appreciable water or gas cap drive. This is very
inefficient as there on a little possible expansion. In addition the reservoir
Solution Gas Drive rapidly drops below bubble point in the reservoir itself. This means that
gas comes out of solution in the reservoir. This will create problems for
production and eventually the reservoir will die.

Notes

After some time the oil in the reservoir is below

the bubble point.
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 Reservoir Fluids The slide shows the rapid decline in all the parameters in the reservoir,
pressure, production. The GOR also declines as the gas is produced.

Solution Gas Drive 2

An initial high oil production is followed by a
rapid decline.
The Gas/Oil ratio has a peak corresponding to
the higher permeability to gas.
The reservoir pressure exhibits a fast decline.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids The slide compares the total cumulative production of the various drive
mechanisms against the reservoir pressure. The water drive keeps the
pressure high and hence is the most efficient at production the reservoir
Drives General fluids.

A water drive can recover up to 60% of the oil in

place.
A gas cap drive can recover only 40% with a
greater reduction in pressure.
A solution gas drive has a low recovery.

Notes

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 Reservoir Fluids Coning is caused by producing the reservoir at a drawdown that is too
high and also having perforations that are too long. The water (or gas) is
drawn to the perforated interval and produced. This problem can usually
Drive Problems be fixed.

Water Drive:
Water can cone upwards
and be produced through
the lower perforations.

Gas Cap Drive:

Gas can cone downwards
and be produced through
the upper perforations.
Pressure is rapidly lost as Notes
the gas expands.

Gas Solution Drive:

Gas production can occur
in the reservoir, skin
damage.
Very short-lived.

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 Reservoir Fluids Most modern reservoirs have some sort of secondary recovery built into
their management from their initial production. The aim of all these
schemes is to maintain the pressure in the reservoir as high as possible for
Secondary Recovery 1 as long as possible.
The main problem with heavy oil is its high viscosity. Reduction of the
viscosity is achieved by heating the fluid, hence the steam injection and
Secondary recovery covers a range of techniques the in-situ combustion or by adding CO2. This substance reduces the
used to augment the natural drive of a reservoir viscosity of the oil by two orders of magnitude, for example from 500
or boost production at a later stage in the life of a centipoise to 5.
reservoir. Polymer injection adds polymers to the injection water to increase the
viscosity of this fluid. Ordinary water has a much lower viscosity and
A field often needs enhanced oil recovery (EOR) hence does not sweep the heavy oil efficiently.
techniques to maximise its production.
Common recovery methods are:
Water injection.
Gas injection.
Notes
In difficult reservoirs, such as those containing
heavy oil, more advanced recovery methods are
used:
Steam flood.
Polymer injection. .
CO2 injection.
In-situ combustion.

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 Reservoir Fluids Water can come from the sea water, or a nearby and different aquifer. The
injectors are set in patterns depending on the permeability of the
reservoir.
Secondary Recovery 2 Gas often comes from produced can which can be compressed and re-
water injected into the gas cap.

injection Both types of injection can operate at the same time.

gas injection
Notes

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