Oil & Gas

From exploration to distribution

Week 2 V10 Reservoir engineering
Vladimir Choque Flores

W2V10 Reservoir engineering p. 1

IFPEN - IFP School 2016 / TOTAL SA 2016
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015

Introduction - Role of Reservoir Engineering

The fundamentals of reservoir engineering and the basic field description of a reservoir will
be presented in this chapter.
Many questions may arise at this point, for instance:
What is the role of Reservoir Engineering?
How and why do we characterize the fluids within the reservoir?
How and why do we characterize the rocks that form the reservoir?
How is the fluid within the reservoir going to flow?
The role of Reservoir Engineering throughout the life cycle of a Hydrocarbon Field starts
during the exploration phase, especially during the appraisal or delineation phase, in which
several studies will be carried out in order to maximize hydrocarbon production.
The development and the production phase will also use a lot of input from the Reservoir
Engineering. Therefore there is indeed a broad participation of Reservoir Engineers
throughout the life cycle in conjunction with the other domains.
It is important to mention that Reservoir Engineering is an integrated discipline which works
in parallel with other disciplines such as Geology, Geophysics, Drilling and Production.
Therefore a close link does, or should, exist between them in order to truly achieve the
common objectives.

W2V10 Reservoir engineering p. 2

IFPEN - IFP School 2016 / TOTAL SA 2016
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015

We shall split our study of Reservoir Engineering into 3 parts.

1. In the first part we will describe the field through data interpretation in close
collaboration with geoscience disciplines
2. In the second part we will look at the way in which the field behaves: production
mechanisms and recoverable hydrocarbons (commonly called reserves)
3. And finally, in the third part we will present the reservoir simulation model and its
main objectives: stating the definition of a field development strategy.

This document will focus on the field description part which will cover fluid and rock
characterization and fluid flow behavior.
In order to describe the field, reservoir engineers begin by working with geoscientists in
order to define the internal and external reservoir architecture, identifying unit flows and
barriers.
Afterwards, the fluid must be characterized defining its composition and type of fluid in
reservoir conditions: Answering questions such as; is it an oil? Is it a gas?
A proper characterization of the behaviour of the fluid will be obtained as a function of
pressure and temperature. Then we shall recall some concepts in rock characterization that
are important to the dynamic behaviour of the reservoir, such as porosity and permeability,
to finish by the description of fluid behaviour in the reservoir which is a function of the
pressure of the reservoir and the pressure in the well.
All the previous should help us to evaluate the Original Hydrocarbon in Place (OHIP) which
is a key value in order to continue with the studies or not as it shall give us an idea of the size
of the fluids in place.

W2V10 Reservoir engineering p. 3

IFPEN - IFP School 2016 / TOTAL SA 2016
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015

Fluid Description
Regarding fluid characterization, if we consider a small section in our reservoir and zoom in
we are able to look into the porous system in detail in terms of rock and fluids present in it.
The reservoir fluids are mainly constituted of organic elements as hydrocarbons containing
only carbon and hydrogen. Reservoir fluids may also contain impurities such as nitrogen,
oxygen, sulfur and heavy metals. Some gas may also be present, containing (hydrogen
sulfide) H2S and (carbon dioxide) CO2.
Finally we also find salt water in the reservoir, better known as brine.

W2V10 Reservoir engineering p. 4

IFPEN - IFP School 2016 / TOTAL SA 2016
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015

In order to characterize the reservoir fluid, quality checked samples are taken in the
exploration and appraisal wells.
Once the fluid samples are validated with quality check indicators some specific tests are
performed in a specialized laboratory to determine the fluid composition, the saturation
pressure and the phase diagram which I will explain on the next slide... properties such as
viscosity, density and specific gravity are defined as well.

The phase diagram is defined through a pressure versus temperature plot, better known as
the phase envelope. This envelope describes the behaviour of the fluid at different reservoir
pressure and temperature conditions. Having a liquid phase and a vapour phase outside the
envelope and inside the envelope, a mixture of liquid and vapour phases may coexist.
The bubble point curve defines the bubble point pressure (Pb) which is the pressure at
which the first bubble of gas appears in the liquid phase, below this pressure higher volumes
of vapour shall be present in the fluid.
The critical point is the point on which the liquid and vapour phases are the same
(composition and properties) and is particular to each component of the fluid, this critical
point therefore may be used as a reference for a in detail characterization of the fluid, in an
equation per instance (the so called equation of state).
Similarly to the bubble point curve, the dew point curve defines the dew point pressure (Pd)
which is the pressure at which the first droplet of liquid appears in the vapour phase, below
this pressure, higher values of liquid will be present in the fluid

W2V10 Reservoir engineering p. 5

IFPEN - IFP School 2016 / TOTAL SA 2016
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015

Then we must define what kind of fluid we

do have in the reservoir as this will define
a classification of the hydrocarbon fluids.
We do that by comparing the reservoir
conditions to the phase diagram... per
instance a non-volatile oil at initial
reservoir conditions is only oil. Once at
surface, some dissolved gas will be
released and produced together with the
oil.
In the case of a volatile oil the volume of
gas produced at the surface is much higher
than in the previous case but the fluid at
reservoir conditions is still monophasic
(liquid only).

In the case of a gas condensate reservoir,

the presence of only gas at initial reservoir
conditions and the production of gas and
oil at the surface is one of its main
characteristics. It should be noted that the
volume of oil at the surface may be
considerable and therefore the necessary
equipment to handle these volumes must
be anticipated.
A wet gas reservoir has the characteristic
of having only gas at reservoir conditions
and a quantity of produced oil at the
surface considerably less than in gas
condensate
reservoirs.
Therefore
production strategy at the surface needs
to be different.

A dry gas reservoir has the characteristic

of producing only gas at the surface and
having also gas only at reservoir
conditions.

W2V10 Reservoir engineering p. 6

IFPEN - IFP School 2016 / TOTAL SA 2016
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015

For an easier manipulation on manual calculations or else numerical simulations the fluid in
a reservoir may be treated as a black oil model, the fluid is assumed to be composed of two
pseudo components: oil and gas having a constant composition with a constant
temperature.
Three pseudo components are then defined: oil, gas and water as water is always present in
the reservoir and therefore will be produced together with the other fluids.
The oil formation volume factor Bo is the relationship between the volume of oil in
reservoir and in surface conditions, being Bg the gas formation volume factor using a similar
relationship.
The solution gas oil ratio Rs defines the quantity of gas in solution in the oil in stock tank
conditions.
To summarize, a smaller volume of oil compared from, reservoir to surface, may be
produced due to the gas present in the solution of oil and more gas may be also produced
due to the expansion of gas from reservoir to surface conditions.

Rock Characterization
Let us now see the main parameters in order to characterize the reservoir rock from a
dynamic point of view. One of them is the porosity and, as explained previously, the porosity
represents the amount of void in a medium such as hole volumes in a piece of Swiss cheese.
W2V10 Reservoir engineering p. 7
IFPEN - IFP School 2016 / TOTAL SA 2016
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015

In other words The porosity characterizes the rocks ability to store fluids and it will be an
important parameter in hydrocarbon accumulations and ultimately in hydrocarbon
production if these voids are in fact connected.
The equation here helps us to calculate porosity if the bulk volume and the volume of grains
are known.

Another important rock characteristic is the permeability and, as stated earlier, it is the
property that reflects the ability of a material to allow fluids to displace through it.
Essentially it represents the way pores and/ or open fracture networks are connected.
Permeability is reported in darcys or more generally in millidarcys. The more the compaction
of the rock the less the porosity and permeability of it.
Since the permeability characterizes the rocks ability to let any fluid to move through the
porous media, it means the pores connectivity. Therefore if pores are not connected the
fluids contained on these unconnected pores cannot be produced.
The higher the permeability, the lower the pressure differential in the porous media. This is
represented in the figure by the thickness of the arrow K.

Fluid Flow Behavior

Once we have described the fluid and the rock we can now describe the behaviour of the
fluid flow in the porous media. This will determine the initial conditions of pressure and
W2V10 Reservoir engineering p. 8
IFPEN - IFP School 2016 / TOTAL SA 2016
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015

saturation at any point in the reservoir and the mobility of the fluids in the reservoir, and
hence their displacement. In the graph we can see that the saturation of water Sw is related
to the quantity of water present in the voids.
The oil saturation So is the percentage of Oil (or in general hydrocarbon) present in the
voids. We can highlight the sum of Sw and So equals to 1 or 100%, saturation is measured
in percentage and is dimensionless.

There are different forces that will determine the displacement of fluids in the reservoir:
1. the viscous forces where the viscosity is an important parameter,
2. the gravity forces where the dipping of the reservoir is very important,
3. and the capillary forces, determined by the capillary pressure and the wettability.
These later forces appear as a consequence of the small dimensions of the porous media...
the smaller the pore radius, the stronger the capillary forces, as illustrated in the figure...
In the same way, the wettability will be important in the displacement, the wettability
represents the interactions between the fluid and the rock surface.
If the rock is water wet the oil phase displacement will be easier and the oil recovery will
be higher. In contrast, if the rock is oil wet the oil will stay encroached to the rock and the
recovery will be lower. The recovery will be explained deeper in the next lesson.

As presented previously, the saturation of the fluids, oil and water, is an important
definition, in both displacement and the recovery. In order to know the oil and water
saturation in the reservoir, three zones are identified:
1. The aquifer or water zone where there is 100% of water so the water saturation is 1,

W2V10 Reservoir engineering p. 9

IFPEN - IFP School 2016 / TOTAL SA 2016
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015

2. The oil leg or oil column where the only water in place is the irreducible water
saturation, connate water saturation Swc (remember the migration in the petroleum
system),
3. The transition zone where the water saturation evolves from 1 to connate water
saturation Swc.

This evolution is estimated through the capillary pressure curve, knowing that the capillary
pressure is defined as the difference between the oil and the water pressure.
It is important to highlight as well that the water saturation will help us calculate the original
hydrocarbons in place.

In the next section we will look at the recovery and associated production mechanisms of
the reservoir.

W2V10 Reservoir engineering p. 10

IFPEN - IFP School 2016 / TOTAL SA 2016
IFPEN - IFP School 2015 / TOTAL SA 2015 / IFP Training 2015