School of Engineering

COURSEWORK SUBMISSION SHEET

All sections except the “LATE DATE” section must be completed and the declaration signed, for the
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Due Date Date Submitted For official use only
05.11.2010 03.11.2010 LATE DATE

MATRIC No.1007629

SURNAME:EYYO

FIRST NAME(S):MATHEWS
COURSE & STAGE MSc Oil & Gas Engineering
Eg MSc Oil & Gas Engineering
MSc Drilling & Well Engineering Full Time
MODULE NUMBER & TITLE ENM200 & SUBSURFACE

ASSIGNMENT TITLE Definitions / Short notes

LECTURER ISSUING COURSEWORK Dr. Bryan Cronin

I confirm: (a) That the work undertaken for this assignment is entirely my own and that I have
not made use of any unauthorised assistance.
(b) That the sources of all reference material have been properly acknowledged.
[NB: For information on Academic Misconduct, refer to
http://www.rgu.ac.uk/academicaffairs/assessment/page.cfm?pge=7088]

Signed …………MATHEWS EYYO....................... Date ...............03.11.2010.......................

Marker’s Comments

Marker Grade
Subsurface Course Work – Question 2 (a) & (b)

2
Subsurface Course Work – Question 2 (a) & (b)

Gas Cap Drive

The flow of oil from the reservoir to the well bore may be due to the
natural force (or drive) or due to both natural and external drive. The oil
recovery from the reservoir by the action of any natural force is called
primary recovery. In most cases the initial reservoir pressure is adequate
enough to bring the fluid to the surface.

Gas cap drive is one of the primary recovery mechanisms that provide
natural energy for the recovery of oil. The Characteristic feature of a gas
cap drive reservoir is the gas cap that overlies the oil in the reservoir.
The Figure 1 represents a Gas Cap Drive reservoir.

Figure 1: Gas cap drive reservoir (Clark, N.J., Elements of Petroleum Reservoirs,
SPE, 1969)

3
Subsurface Course Work – Question 2 (a) & (b)

In a gas cap drive reservoir the gas is compressed by the oil bearing zone
which lies beneath the gas cap. So when the gas expands it will drive the
oil to the well bore. The reservoir pressure depends on the volume of gas
in the gas cap compared to oil volume. As production progresses the gas
cap will expands and the oil contact will be displaced down into the
reservoir which results in the essential maintenance of gas in the
reservoir and hence increase the recovery efficiency.

The reservoir pressure would be declined gradually as the production

increases. As a result dissolved gases will come out of the crude and
increases the gas saturation which forms a free gas zone on the oil
phase. This results in the flow of excessive gas to the surface. So the gas
saturation should be kept as low as possible to get a good recovery of oil.
Maintaining low production rates will help the gas saturation to minimize,
as free gas migrates to the gas cap and thereby improving the recovery
rates. Generally the decline of reservoir pressure and production rate is
comparatively slow with regard to other primary drive mechanisms. And
the gas cap drive reservoir has an oil recovery rate of 20 to 40 percent.

References
Ahmed, T.H., 2006.Reservoir engineering handbook. 3rd ed, Burlington,
MA: Elsevier.

4
Subsurface Course Work – Question 2 (a) & (b)

Primary Hydrocarbon Migration

The geological study of a reservoir explains that the hydrocarbon does

not originate in the traps where they exist but they are migrated from the
source rocks due to several actions. The process of migration of
hydrocarbons from the parent rock or source rock to a porous and
permeable reservoir is called Primary Hydrocarbon Migration. There are
several theories for explaining different mechanisms involved in the
process of migration under various environmental and geological
conditions. And these mechanisms can be broadly classified as those in
which migration of hydrocarbons from the source rocks assisted by the
movement of water and the migration as a separate phase without
involving any water movement.

The petroleum reservoirs or the reservoir carrier beds are characterised

by good porosity and permeability whereas the source rocks which are
identified as the accumulation of sediments and formation of
impermeable shales. As a result of the continuous accumulation the
shales are compacted and deeply buried which further leads to squeezing
out of interstitial water. This results in poor porosity and high density.
Various data on the expulsion of water from the source rocks shows that
water is forced out during the burial stage itself which is well before the
hydrocarbon formation temperature. Therefore the method of expulsion
of hydrocarbons from the high density non porous or poor porous rocks is
ill defined. However the clay minerals with considerable amount of
smectites in the shales have some bound water in their lattice structure
which will be squeezed out when smectites are transformed to illite at a
temperature of 200˚F. Since this temperature is within the range of
hydrocarbon formation the squeezed out water will assist the migration of
oil.

5
Subsurface Course Work – Question 2 (a) & (b)

Another possible primary migration mechanism is that oil flow as a

separate phase. After the pore water is squeezed out the major oil
formation takes place in a continuous phase at higher depths in the
organically rich shale where the compaction is minimal or no compaction.
Then the migration could occur along the mineral network of source
rocks. And the driving force for this migration is assumed to be the
differential pressure between the source rocks and the carrier basins.

References

Tiab,D., 2004. Petrophysics:theory and practice of measuring reservoir

rock and fluid transport properties. 2nd ed, London: Elsevier

Gluyas, J.G., 2004. Petroleum geoscience. Malden, MA: Blackwell

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