Gravitational forces can be a major factor in oil recovery if the reservoir has sufficient vertical relief and vertical

permeability. The effectiveness of gravitational forces will be limited by the rate at which fluids are withdrawn from
the reservoir. If the rate of withdrawal is appreciably greater than the rate of fluid segregation, then the effects of
gravitational forces will be minimized.
The energy from the compressed waters of aquifers also can be a major factor even though the water has a low
compressibility because the size of most aquifers tends to be much larger than the petroleum reservoir. Most oil
fields have areas of less than 10 sq mile (6,400 acres), whereas aquifers often have areas of more than 1,000 sq
mile. [1]
The energies discussed thus far represent "internal" reservoir energies (i.e., energies originally present within the
reservoir and its adjoining geological units at the time of discovery). In addition to these energies, there may be
important "external" energies (i.e., energies that originate from outside the reservoir).External energies imply the
practice of injecting fluids into the reservoir to augment the reservoirs natural energies. This practice is called
pressure maintenance. The two most important injection fluids are compressed water and gas. The resultant
action of injected fluids once inside the reservoir is much the same as the fluids originally present. The overall
intention of injecting fluids is to add energy to the reservoir to recover more oil or gas than would otherwise be
recovered. If gas is injected, it is clear that the intention is to recover more oil than otherwise would be recovered.
In addition, the economic attractiveness of this practice relies on the expectation that the additional income
derived from the increased oil production will more than offset the additional expenditures and lost or deferred
revenues incurred by gas injection. The most common source of gas for gas injection is the gas produced from
the reservoir. The chapters on Water Injection and Immiscible Gas Injection in this volume discuss these subjects
further.