Chapter 7

Gas Condensate Reservoir

 Gas Condensate Reservoir

Gas condensate may be thought as being intermediate

between oil and gas.

At initial condition, gas condensate reservoir fluid is gas but

during depletion and at separator conditions, substantial
amount of liquid is formed.

Most gas condensate reservoirs exist in pressure ranges of

3000 to 6000psia and temperature ranges of 200oF to
400oF
Molecular Comparison and Other Properties
of Typical Reservoir Fluids.
Component Crude oil Gas condensate Dry gas

C1 53.45 87.01 95.85

C2 6.36 4.39 2.67

C3 4.66 2.29 0.34

C4 3.79 1.08 0.52

C5 2.74 0.83 0.08

C6 3.41 0.60 0.12

C7+ 25.59 3.80 0.42

100.00 100.00 100.00

Mol. Wt C7+ 247 112 157

GOR, scf/STB 1.078 18.200 105.000

Tank-oil gravity, API 34.5 60.8 54.7

Phase Diagram of Gas-condensate
Fluids
 Basic Vapour-liquid Equilibrium
Calculations

There is interest in the amount of fluid in both liquid and gas

phases in gas-condensate reservoirs.

For every component of the reservoir fluid, the distribution of

the component between vapour and liquid is expressed by:

Yi
Ki 
Xi
Where, Ki = equilibrium ration of component
Yi = mole fraction of component i in the the vapour phase
Xi = mole fraction of component i in the liquid phase
Basic Vapour-liquid Equilibrium
Calculations Cont’d
For a given volume of gas-condensate reservoir fluid
consisting of a mixture of different components.
If we define:
n = total number of moles in mixture
L = total number of moles of liquid
V = total number of moles of vapour
Zi = mole fraction of component i in mixture
Then,
Zin = moles of component i in total mixture
XiL = moles of component i in liquid equilibrium
YiL = mole of component i in vapour at equilibrium
 Basic Vapour-liquid Equilibrium
Calculations Cont’d
A material balance of the mixture in a given volume gives:
n =L + V
A material balance on the ith component gives:
Zin = XiL + YiV

At equilibrium, the mole fraction of the components in both phases must sum to
unit
Xi = 1
Yi = 1

Thus:
 
nX i
Xi  1
L  VK i Using the equation, the equilibrium composition
and gas and liquid phases can be calculated at any
given pressure.
 Yi   L
nZ i
1
The calculation procedure is a trial and error
V process.
K
Material Balance Calculations Of Gas-
condensate Reservoirs
If oil zone is negligible MBE takes the same the same
form as dry gas reservoir under both volumetric and
water drive performance.
The MBE can then be written as:

Pb Gp PV
 i i 

P Vi  We  B w Wp  Note:

Tb ZiT ZT Equations may be used to

calculate gas initially in place, G
Gp is the cumulative reservoir gas
and
production (total dry gas and gas
equivalent of liquid production)
 
G B g  B gi  We  GpB g  B w Wp Z must be two-phase gas
deviation factor
 Material Balance Calculations Of Gas-
condensate Reservoirs Cont’d
If we assume the following:
i. No water influx into the hydrocarbon reservoir
ii. No water production
iii. No reservoir retrograde liquid production
iv. No compaction of reservoir rock

Then the MBE for gas condensate reservoir (also gas reservoirs) becomes:

P Pi  Gp 
 1  
Z Zi  G 
P/Z
Reserve Estimation

abandonment

Cumulative Production, Gp G
 Material Balance Calculations Of Gas-
condensate Reservoirs Cont’d
Calculation Procedure:
Obtain field production data .
Convert the stock tank oil production to an equivalent quantity of
vapour and add it to measure gas production to obtain Gp.
Determine the tow-phase compressibility.
Calculate P/Z
Make a graph of P/Z vs. Gp
From the graph determine G
Calculate gas and oil reserves.
 Vapour Equivalent of Stock Tank Oil
The equivalent vapour volume of stock tank oil is developed
from depletion data given in the fluid analysis
It is reported as a function of pressure
Vapour Equivalent of STO
MSCF/bbl

Pressure psi
 Estimation of Well Fluid Gravity
The equation for calculating the condensate well fluid
gravity, given by Ikoku (1980):
R gGg  4584G o
Gw 
Go
R g  132800
Mo

Where, Go = the tank oil specific gravity

141.5
Go 
o
API  131.5
Rg = gas-oil ratio
Gg = gas gravity
Mo = Molecular weight of tank oil

6084
Mo 
o
API - 5.9
Operating Programs For Gas Condensate
Reservoir

1. Pressure depletion without any form of pressure

maintenance or gas return.

2. The produced fluid passed through a gasoline plant

where liquids are recovered and dry gas return to
reservoir

3. Reservoir produced by pressure depletion to economic

limit.
Operating Programs For Gas-Condensate
Reservoir Cont’d
Pressure depletion of a gas
condensate reservoir is very
inefficient as it
leaves part of the recoverable
liquids in the reservoir, and
lowers gas production rate due
to liquid build-up in the vicinity
of producers.
In gas cycling, some portion of
the dry produced gas is re-
injected.
The dry gas picks up some of
the liquids from the reservoir
and is recovered at the
wellhead.

If economically attractive, gas injection to maintain reservoir pressure above

Dew Point is preferred over a gas cycling project.