Year 4

semester 7

Gas Reservoir
Engineering
International University Of
Chapter 2
Technology Twintech
Classification of Reservoirs
Types of gas reservoirs
Dry-Gas Reservoir & calculations

Prepared by
Eng. Mohammed al-sanhani
Classification of Reservoirs:
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
Pressure-temperature diagram (Fig. 1) is commonly used to represent
the phase behavior of hydrocarbon fluids and classify petroleum
reservoirs. Accordingly, reservoirs can be classified into basically two
types. These are:

 Oil reservoirs: If reservoir temperature T is less than the critical

temperature Tc of the reservoir fluid, the reservoir is classified as an
oil reservoir.

 Gas reservoirs: If the reservoir temperature is greater than the

critical temperature of the hydrocarbon fluid, the reservoir is
considered a gas reservoir
Figure 1: pressure-temperature phase diagram of a reservoir fluid
Gas Reservoirs:
 Reservoirs containing only free gas are termed gas reservoirs. Such a reservoir contains
a mixture of hydrocarbons, which exists wholly in the gaseous state. The mixture may
be a dry, wet, or condensate gas, depending on the composition of the gas, along
with the pressure and temperature at which the accumulation exists.

 Gas reservoirs may have water influx from a contiguous water-bearing portion of the
formation or may be volumetric (i.e., have no water influx).

On the basis of their phase diagrams and the prevailing reservoir conditions, natural
gases can be classified into three categories:
1. Dry gas
2. Wet gas (will be illustrated in chapter 3)
3. Retrograde gas-condensate (will be illustrated in chapter 4)
Gas Reservoirs:
1- Dry-Gas Reservoir

 The hydrocarbon mixture exists as a gas both in the reservoir and in

the surface facilities as shown in Figure 2.
 The only liquid associated with the gas from a dry-gas reservoir is
water.

 The characteristics of dry-gas reservoir are summarized below:

If (Pi & Ti) are respectively 3700 psia and 300 F, point A in Fig. 1, the
reservoir is called gas reservoir.

 During production the gas in the reservoir remains at 300 F. It is evident

that it will remain in the single-phase or gaseous state as the pressure
declines along path A-A1.

 During isothermal production, no liquid will be formed in the reservoir

or at the surface and the gas is called dry gas reservoir.

Usually a system having a gas-oil ratio greater than 100,000 scf/STB is

considered to be a dry gas.
A dry gas is composed principally of methane(C1) with only minor
amounts of ethane(C2), propane(C3), and butane(C4).

· The word “dry” really indicates that the reservoir fluid does not contain
enough of the heavier hydrocarbons to form a liquid at surface
conditions.

Figure 2: Phase diagram of a typical dry gas with line of isothermal

reduction of reservoir pressure
Estimating Initial Gas in Place for Dry Gas Reservoirs
Estimating Initial Gas in Place for Dry Gas Reservoirs

This section presents two approaches for estimating initial gas in place
G and the gas recovery for volumetric and water-drive mechanisms:

The Volumetric Method

 Volumetric method is used early in the life of a reservoir before

significant development and production.

 In many gas reservoirs, particularly during the development period,

the bulk volume is not known. In this case it is better to place the
reservoir calculations on a unit basis, usually one acre-foot of bulk
reservoir rock, and the volumetric calculations as follows:
1- Under initial conditions
one acre-foot of bulk reservoir rock contain
Bulk volume = A h (acre-feet)
Pore volume= A h f (acre-feet)
Reservoir gas volume = A h f (1 - Swi) (acre-feet)
= 43560 A h f (1 - Swi) (res.cu ft)
= 43560 f (1-Swi) (cu ft /ac-ft)
Original gas in place (OGIP), Gi= 43560 f (1-Swi)/ Bgi (SCF/ac-ft)
Connate water volume = 43560 f Swi (cu ft /ac-ft)
Where,
G = Initial gas in place, SCF
A = area of reservoir, acres
h = average reservoir thickness, ft
f = porosity, (fraction)
Swi = water saturation, (fraction)
Bgi = gas formation volume factor, ft3/ SCF
Note: The water in the oil-and gas-bearing parts of a petroleum reservoir above the
transition zone is called connate, or interstitial, water.
The connate water is important primarily because it reduces the amount of pore space
available to oil and gas and its also affects their recovery.
2- With continued production

reservoir pressure drops. If Bga is the gas volume factor at abandonment

pressure, then the standard cubic feet of gas remaining at abandonment is

So Gas produced (Gp) = Initial gas - Remaining gas = Gi – Ga (SCF)

OR

Then
Example 1:
A gas reservoir has the following characteristics:
A = 3000 acres h = 30 ft f = 0.15 Swi = 20% T = 150°F
pi = 2600 psi
Calculate cumulative gas production and recovery factor at 1000 and 400 psi
P, psi z
Solution: 2600 0.82
1000 0.88
Step 1. Calculate the reservoir pore volume P.V: 400 0.92

Step 2. Calculate Bg at every given pressure by using the following Equation:

P, psi z Bg, cu ft/SCF
2600 0.82 0.0054
1000 0.88 0.0152
400 0.92 0.0397
Step 3. Calculate initial gas in place at 2600 psi:

.
Step 4. Since the reservoir is assumed volumetric,
calculate the remaining gas at 1000 and 400 psi.
Practice:
Using the data in Example 1 and assuming the
bulk reservoir rock = 1 acre-foot,
calculate the cumulative gas production and recovery
factor at 1000 and 400 psi.
Given:
f = 0.15 Swi = 20%
T = 150°F pi = 2600 psi
P, psi z
2600 0.82
1000 0.88
400 0.92
3- Calculation of Unit Recovery from gas reservoirs under water Drive.
Water encroachment occurs when the pressure at the reservoir/aquifer
boundary is reduced due to gas production from the reservoir.

A- In many reservoirs under water drive the pressure suffers an initial

decline, after which water enters the reservoir at a rate to equal the
production, and the pressure stabilizes. In this case the stabilize pressure is
the abandonment pressure. The gas remaining at abandonment in those
portions of reservoir which have invaded by water is:

Residual Reservoir gas volume = 43560 f Sgr (cu ft/ac-ft)

Residual Surface units of gas = 43560 f Sgr Bga (SCF/ac-ft)

Initial surface units of gas = 43560 f (1 - Swi) Bgi

Water volume = 43560 f (1 - Sgr) (cu ft/ac-ft)

Where,
Bga = gas volume factor at abandonment pressure, (SCF/cu ft)
Sgr = residual gas saturation, (fraction)
Unit Recovery Under Partial water drive:
is the difference between the (initial and the residual) surface units of gas, or

Unit recovery in SCF/ ac-ft = 43560f 1  Swi  B gi  S gr B ga 

1  Swi  B gi  S gr B ga 
Recovery factor expressed in per cent =   100
1  Swi  B gi

Where,
Bga = gas volume factor at abandonment pressure, (SCF/cu ft)
Sgr = residual gas saturation, (fraction)
B- If the water drive is very active ((Complete water drive)
so that there is essentially no decline in reservoir pressure,
unit recovery and the recovery factor become

Unit recovery in SCF/ ac-ft = 43560f 1  Swi  S gr B gi  

1  Swi  S gr
Recovery factor expressed in per cent = 100
1  Swi 

Where,
Bgi = gas volume factor at initial pressure, (SCF/cu ft)
Sgr = residual gas saturation, (fraction)
Under complete water drive
Under partial water drive

1  Swi  B gi  S gr B ga  1  0.23 188  0.34  27.6

Recovery factor =   100= 100 = 93.52%
1  Swi  B gi 1  0.23 188
The Material Balance Method
 In general, the use of pressure decline to calculate the original gas in place
assumes that the space occupied by the gas is constant. This means that the expansion
of the rock and water is negligible and that no subsidence or collapse of the reservoir
rock exists.
 If enough production-pressure history is available for a gas reservoir, the initial gas
in place Gi, and the gas reserves can be calculated without knowing A, h, f, or Sw.

 This is accomplished by forming a mass or mole balance on the gas as:

np = ni  nf (1)

Where,
np = moles of gas produced
ni = moles of gas initially in the reservoir
nf = moles of gas remaining in the reservoir
Notice
that if there is a water drive, then the final hydrocarbon pore volume(Vf) is
not equal to the original volume (V) as shown in Figure 5 .
the final volume is equal to:

V f =V  ( W e  BwW p )

Figure 5: Schematic diagrams by material balance in gas reservoir

 The gas moles in Equation 1 can be replaced by their equivalents using the
real gas law to give:

p sc G p pi V p
V  (W e  BwW p ) 

=  (2)
RT sc z i RT z RT

V s .c = G p
Where,

pi = initial reservoir pressure, psi

Gp = cumulative gas production, SCF
p = current reservoir pressure or reservoir pressure after Gp production , psi
V = original gas volume or initial reservoir volume occupied by gas, ft3
Vf = gas occupied reservoir volume after Gp, Wp production, ft3
zi = gas deviation factor at pi
z = gas deviation factor at p
T = temperature, °R
We = cumulative water influx or volume of encroached water, ft3
Wp= cumulative water production, STB
Bw = water formation volume factor, cu ft/STB
 Equation 2 is essentially the general material balance equation (MBE). Equation
2 can be expressed in numerous forms depending on the type of the application and the
driving mechanism.

In general, dry gas reservoirs can be classified into two categories:

• Volumetric gas reservoirs

• Water-drive gas reservoirs

A) Volumetric Gas Reservoirs

For a volumetric reservoir and assuming no water production, Equation 2 is
reduced to:
psc G p  pi   p 
=
z T 
 V   V (3)
T sc  i  zT 

Equation 3 is commonly expressed in the following two forms:

Form 1. In terms of p/z
Form 2. In terms of Bg
 Form 1. In terms of p/z
Rearranging Equation 3 and solving for p/z gives:
p pi  p T 
=   sc G p (4)
z zi  T sc V 

. initial reservoir gas volume V can be expressed in terms of the

The
volume of gas at standard conditions by:
 psc z i T 
V = B gi G =   T p  G
 sc i 
Combining the above relationship with that of Equation 4 gives:
p pi  pi 1 
=   G p (5)
z zi  zi G 
Rearranging Equation 5 to get the final equation which is very useful to
estimate , the initial gas in place Gi, and the gas reserves :

(6) Since Gp = Gi * RF RF=

 Equation 6 is an equation of a straight line when (p/z) is plotted versus the
cumulative gas production Gp, as shown in Figure 6.
 This straight-line relationship is perhaps one of the most widely used relationships
in gas-reserve determination
 • Intercept at Gp = 0 gives pi/zi
 • Intercept at p/z = 0 gives the gas initially in place G in SCF
 • The gas recovery at any particular value of p/z can be read directly from the
plot.
 We can calculate the remaining gas reserve if we know the abandonment
pressure

Figure 6. plot of the gas produced Gp versus (p/z)

 PRACTICE:
Homework1
A volumetric gas reservoir has the following production history.
Time, t Reservoir pressure, z Cumulative production,
years p Gp
psia MMMSCF
0.0 1798 0.869 0.00
0.5 1680 0.870 0.96
1.0 1540 0.880 2.12
1.5 1428 0.890 3.21
2.0 1335 0.900 3.92
The following data is also available:
porosity = 13% ,Swi = 0.52 ,A = 1060 acres ,h = 54 ft , T = 164°F
 The graphical representation of Equation 5 can be used to
detect the presence of water influx, as shown graphically in Figure 7.
 When the plot of (p/z) versus Gp deviates from the linear
relationship, it indicates the presence of water encroachment.
p pi  pi 1 
=   G p (5)
z zi  zi G 

Figure 7: Effect of water drive on p/z vs. Gp relationship

Form 2. Form 2. In terms of Bg
From the definition of the gas formation volume factor, it can be
expressed as:
V
B gi = cu ft SCF
G

 psc z i T  V
  = (7)
 pi T sc  G
Equation 7 can be combined with equation 3, to give:

G p B g = G (B g  B gi ) (8)
Equation 8 is an equation of a straight line when (GpBg ) is plotted versus (Bg -Bgi),
as shown in Figure 8, which has an intercept, b, of b = 0 and a slope(m), of m = G
if the reservoir has no water influx and the formation compressibility is negligible.

Figure 8: Relationship of GpBg vs Bg - Bgi.

Example:
After producing 360 MMSCF of gas from a volumetric gas reservoir, the pressure
has declined from 3200 psi to 3000 psi, given:
Bgi = 0.005278 ft3/SCF Bg = 0.005390 ft3/SCF
a. Calculate the gas initially in place.
b. Recalculate the gas initially in place assuming that the pressure measurements
were incorrect and the true average pressure is 2900 psi. The gas formation volume
factor at this pressure is 0.00558 ft3/SCF.
Solution:
Water-drive gas reservoirs
If the gas reservoir has a water drive, then there will be two unknowns in the material
balance equation. These two unknowns are initial gas in place and cumulative water
influx. Equation 8 can be modified to include the cumulative water influx and water
production to give:
Example:
Calculate water influx and residual gas saturation in water-drive gas reservoirs.
Given:
Initial bulk reservoir volume = 415.3 MM cu ft
Average porosity = 0.172 Average connate water = 0.25
Initial pressure = 3200 psia Bgi = 0.005262 cu ft/SCF
Final pressure = 2925 psia Bg = 0.005700 cu ft/SCF
Cumulative water production (Wp) = 15,200 STB Bw = 1.03 bbl/STB
GP = 935.4 MM SCF at 14.7 psia and 60 oF
Bulk volume invaded by water at 2925 psia = 13.04 MM cu ft
1 bbl= 5.615 cu ft
This much water (We) has invaded 13.04MM cu ft of bulk rock,
which initially contained 25 per cent connate water.

Then the final water saturation of the flooded portion of the reservoir is

Then the residual gas saturation Sgr = 1- Sw = 1- 0.68 = 0.32 =32%