Oil RESERVOIR

There are basically six driving mechanisms

that provide the natural energy necessary
for oil recovery:
Rock and liquid expansion drive
Depletion drive
Gas cap drive
Water drive
Gravity drainage drive
Combination drive

The Depletion Drive Mechanism

This driving form may also be referred to by the following
various terms:

Solution gas drive

Dissolved gas drive
Internal gas drive

The Depletion Drive Mechanism

In this type of reservoir, the principal source of

energy is a result of gas liberation from the crude
oil and the subsequent expansion of the solution
gas as the reservoir pressure is reduced. As
pressure falls below the bubble-point pressure,
gas bubbles are liberated within the micro- scopic
pore spaces. These bubbles expand and force the
crude oil out of the pore space as shown
conceptually in Figure below.

Solution Gas Drive Reservoir

OIL

OIL + GAS

Water Drive Oil

Reservoir

WATER DRIVE RESERVOIR

Gas Cap Drive Reservoir

Gas-cap-drive reservoirs can be identified by
the presence of a gas cap with little or no
water drive as shown in Figure below.
Due to the ability of the gas cap to expand,
these reservoirs are charac- terized by a
slow decline in the reservoir pressure.

Combination Drive
Reservoir

Gas Cap Drive Reservoir

The Gravity-Drainage-Drive Mechanism

The mechanism of gravity drainage occurs in
petroleum reservoirs as a result of differences in
densities of the reservoir fluids.

Factors that affect ultimate recovery

from gravity-drainage reservoirs are:
Permeability in the direction of dip
Dip of the reservoir
Reservoir producing rates
Oil viscosity
Relative permeability characteristics

Gravity Drainage Reservoir

Gravity Drainage Reservoir

Injection Well

Production
Well

CLASSIFICATION OF RESERVOIRS AND

RESERVOIR FLUIDS
Petroleum reservoirs are broadly classified as oil or gas
reservoirs. These broad classifications are further
subdivided depending on:

The composition of the reservoir hydrocarbon

mixture
Initial reservoir pressure and temperature
Pressure and temperature of the surface
production

Pressure-Temperature Diagram
Figure 1-1 shows a typical pressure-temperature
diagram of a multi- component system with a
specific overall composition. Although a different hydrocarbon system would have a different
phase diagram, the general configuration is
similar.

Typical P-T Diagram of

Hydrocarbon Fluids

Oil Reservoirs
Depending upon initial reservoir pressure pi, oil reservoirs can be sub- classified into
the following categories:
1. Undersaturated oil reservoir. If the initial reservoir pressure pi (as represented by
point 1 on Figure 1-1), is greater than the bubble-point pressure pb of the
reservoir fluid, the reservoir is labeled an undersatu- rated oil reservoir.
2. Saturated oil reservoir. When the initial reservoir pressure is equal to the bubblepoint pressure of the reservoir fluid, as shown on Figure 1-1 by point 2, the
reservoir is called a saturated oil reservoir.
3. Gas-cap reservoir. If the initial reservoir pressure is below the bubble- point
pressure of the reservoir fluid, as indicated by point 3 on Figure 1-1, the reservoir
is termed a gas-cap or two-phase reservoir, in which the gas or vapor phase is
underlain by an oil phase. The appropriate quality line gives the ratio of the gascap volume to reservoir oil volume.

Gas Reservoirs
In general, if the reservoir temperature is above the
critical tempera- ture of the hydrocarbon system,
the reservoir is classified as a natural gas reservoir.
On the basis of their phase diagrams and the
prevailing reservoir conditions, natural gases can be
classified into four categories:
Retrograde gas-condensate
Near-critical gas-condensate
Wet gas
Dry gas

Initial Conditions

Development Conditions

Topics for The class Project

1.
2.
3.
4.

Development of a heavy oil Field.

How to expoit a light oil Field.
How to exploite Deep Oil Reservoir.
Plan of Development of Oil Reservoir Field with Strong Water Drive.