Selected Advanced ZopicsCompositional Modeling: Gas Condensate and Volatile Oil Reservoirs Introduction ‘The course from which this text was drawn has been in preparation for a long time. in the original versions, the author would not have broached this topic; however, in recent experience, the use of compositional simulators is increasing. A number of reasons explain this: probably the most important is the increased power of Unixcbased RISC workstations and PCs. Its fair to point out that com- positional simulators have undergone some importan improvements, both in compositional solutions algo- rithms and in matrix solvers in general. A number of gas condensate reservoirs are under development at present, and this has increased usage. Sour gas systems will be dis cussed in this chapter, since they are frequent candidates for compositional analysis in Western Canada. Objectives The first objective in this section is to create a reser voir characterization for use in an equation of state (EOS) simulator A number of issues arise in achieving this objective: 1. Equations of state are not sufficiently accurate to be predictive Therefore, the input data must be tuned. The quality of tuning depends on the qual ty of lab data,the type and detail of results, and the range of conditions thatthe tests cover. 2. Compositional simulators require a great deal of computer resources and typically run much slow: er than black oil simulators, However the amount of time that fs required decreases significantly if the number of components in the EOS decreases. This is a simulator design tradeott The objective is to develop a description that uses the least num ber of components yet reproduces PVT behavior within reasonable tolerances. > 295Practical Reservair Simulation This area is relatively new and is stilt developing Although there have bees numerous papers on system atizing this process, there is no consensus on the best way. There is, therefore, a significant element of tia and error. Since much of this work depends on compositional calculations, a brief outline of an equation of state and how it works is included in this chapter. Only an outline is presented: there are no thermodynamic derivations. Pragmatic tests, using an EOS package, have been pre pared by ARE. Cubic equations of state (EOS) ‘The basis of the equation stants the ideal gas law: as (52) ‘The ideal gas law is based on the assumptions that gas, molecules collide like perfectly elastic spherical mole. cules in space, that the volume of the molecules is negli- gible, and that there are no chemical attractions between the molecules, Although these assumptions are adequate at low or room temperatures and pressures, the assumptions are not true at reservoir conditions. The ideal gas law is frequently corrected using a Z factor, This is sometimes called the gas deviation factor or super- compressibility lactor as shown in Equation 15.3. py enRT (15.3) The ideal gas law can be modified to account for the finite volume of the molecules and for chemical interaction as shown in Equations 15.4 and 15S. say (ass) This is Van dex Waals equation. Mathernatically, i is normal to combine the effects of repulsion and attrac tion into a single Z value. This is calculated by solving for roots of a cubic equation (in Z). This solution dates from 1873. Uf pressure is plotted as a function of volume for a fixed molar quantity, then a graph is obtained as shown in Figure 15-I.' Below the critical point, there is an $- shaped wigale. In realty she system does not behave this way. Between the points, there is a mixture of liquid and. gas. Ithas been determined that, by balancing the areas that are shaded in the Figure, an isotherm can be drawn from the dew point line to the bubblepoint line The previous equation was improved upon by Redlich and Kwong in 1948, They noted that, as system pressure becomes very high, the molal volume approaches 26% of the critical volume. The resulting equation is shown in Equation 156 ; AT a (v->) ofv+a)re* P (056) This equation was further improved by Soave, who changed the temperature dependent term a/T’ to axa. Alpha (a!) was defined asa function of temperature and an acentric factor as shown in Equation 15.7. Volume —— Fg. 15-1 Volumemic Behavior of a Pure Component by EOSCompos itional Modeling w(t) ass showed that mprovement was required in the Soave- RT ue (a) esa) +o Ivis similar to the SRK equation. However, the errors from this equation are more balanced. This is shown in Figure 15-2 in which the error in predicted molal vol ume—eg. for one mole of normal buiane—is plotted against pseudo reduced pressure? It is important to note that the data shown is for a sin- gle or pure component. The Peag- Robinson errors do not reach as high a deviation, although the overall pat- tern of error is essentially identical The errors are higher for the liquid phase than for the vapor phase. In the liquid state, the intermolecular forces are larger than accounted for This is ‘ot surprising, since the EOS was designed from the ideal gas law. P 20 20] Multicomponent systems In order to accommodate mutti- component systems, the properties of all of the individual components are averaged by using a mixing rule. Itis logical to conclude that, ifthe EOS is imperfect for pure substances, it wit be even less perfect for mixtures. In longstanding engineering tradi tion, adjustment factors are available to include molecular interaction effects, These adjustment factors increase when there is a large con- trast in molecular weight. Similar Errorin Volume, Percent Fg + Max error ~ 25 percent Max error ~ 15 percent. Peng-Robinson Gas Can 272 ang Volatile Oil Raservo compounds of similar weight should have a zero binary interaction coefficient, This fudge factor increases between nontydrocarbons, suctt as CO,, HS. and N, Other equations of state ‘There are other equations of state than those dis: cussed previously br example, the Benedict Webb-Rubin equation, These methods are more calculation intensive. Normally itis assumed that a reservoir is in thermody. namic and chemical equilibrium, ie. that composition is uuniforn throughout the reservoir. In practice, this is not necessarily conect Equations of state package An EOS generat phase behavior package has been uti lized by ARE for compositional studies, It uses either the SRK or PengRobinson cubic EOS for two- or threephase reservoir uid calculations, Up to 11 components may be specified in this package. sihogeSbiion 14a PureCompaent Peng-Robinson Vapor 08 Reduced Temperature oF 0 15-2 Prediction of Molar Volumes for Saturated r-Butane ns a)mulation Accuracy of the equation of state The accuracy of phase behavior predictive techniques should be considered in conjunction with the accuracy of the technique. For instance, the GOR ratios on tandingtype calculations have a standard error of around 15%, which is relatively large. Most Z factor cal: culations are accurate to =3%. Yet, itis common to see Z factors reported to three decimal places, For example, a reported Z factor of 0.82 is really 0.79 < Z-<085. This has a noticeable effect on reserve calculations. Examination of Figure 15-2 shows the liquid volumes for a pure com: ponent can be in error from 5 to + Binary mixture checks Some simple checks were performed against phase diagrams in some reservoir engineering texts. These are shown in Figure 15-3" For these simple systems, the equations of state that utilize binary interaction factors appear to work quite well. Unfortunately, the empirical binary interaction factors do not necessarily apply to more complex multicomponent mixtures. Tuning equations of state It is also interesting to compare how 100, though to represent the real phase behavior 3 peratures. Their conclusion is that tuning physical prop. erties will give good matches to experimental data However. the changes in physical properties cause sub other properties are analyzed. In low tem sequent er heir final section, they recommend tuning the molecular ‘weights of plus fractions (heavy ends) rather than tuning EOS parameters. Extrapolating tuning based on limited data An alternate heavy-end grouping was created by ARE based on the same data as was described previously as, shown ig Table 13-3 Note that ie “FC"in the components are library con ponents from the software used to perform the tess Although this could be taken to mean “Fetiious Component’it more likely refers to the data of Froozabadi and Katz, who published a series of ypical component properties and which are used in the EOS software library results might vary between different OS programs and variations in input. An example was taken from Properties of Oils 600) ‘and Natural Gases, by K. S. Pedersen, A. Fredenslund, and P Thomassen. This example is for a gas condensate reservoir from the North Sea, the composition of which is shown in Table 15-1.* In their textbook, they tuned on liquid drop out. The tuning was done by altering 500 the citcal temperatures and pressures for ne heavy ends as shown below. The 3 results areshown in Figuee 15-4 and tabu. 500 lated in Table 15-2, Following this Pederson etal. used the tuned parameters to compare against other physical properties. Figure 15-5 shows that the concentration of methane 200) 109) (C1) is less accurate after tuning. Fi 15-6 shows that the Z factor is accurate and nearly unaffected by the tuning Figure 15-7 shows that the shape of the phase envelope is altered at lower tem peratures, The upward curve is attributed to binary interaction factors and is not 208750 Temperature *F or 0 ‘Ag. 15-3 Two Component Srstems—Lab Data for Binary Interaction Coefcentstional able 15-1 Components Used for Example Tuning of Equation of State Component | pM [Component], ] 28 06 oH ar [ose | Tor [os 235, oss 021 12 [ ws [36 01 ta on 22 095 Table 15-2 Parameters Utilized To Achieve Tuned EOS eivoirs Mole ee Component | puceat | Ts T Pp o o C7-C9 3.77 5607 | 571 3007 | 2,700 | 0.433 030 C10-C15 | 2.72 658.3 629 2,100 2300 | ors | 0.60 C17-C60 1.48 302.3 782 1,216 1,450 1.300 1.35 159] © Experiment oo Standard Characterization —"Tuned"c,Properties ao To0 ia To 730 Fig. [5-4 EOS Match of Constant Volume Depletion ¢ ) Fest Liquid VolumePractical Reservoir Simulation Fig. 1546 EOS Match of CVD Test—2Z Factor Fig. 15-7 EOS Match of CVD Test—Phase Envelope Table 15-3 Components Used by ARE to Replicate Example Tuning 408 < N 042 5-06 (NCS) 3.32 CO, 298 C79 FCB) 37 ci 6636 | CILCI6(FCI3)| 272 C2 au [CiTci9@cin| 053 C3 32 20+ (FC20) 30.95 C4 3.39Compositional Modeling: Gas Condersatz and Volatile Oil Reservoirs {cis common to designate groupings of components as pCxy. where thep" represents pseudo and the“x"and"y represent the number of carbon atoms, ° The alternate tuning results ate shown in Figures 15-8, 15-9, 15-10, and 15-11, Compared with the previ ‘ous tuning, the matches are clearly lacking, tt ean be seen that the same trends result. However, the levels are different, The difference represents different default properties for the heavier components and their individe ual components, Its also common that the library com- ponents can be custom designed for various areas of the world where the focal components vary from a world wide average. Some EOS soltware is promoted based on the internal library of components, Recall that obtaining a match ig normally a trialand- eto process. in addition, the reservoir temperature and pressure are close to the critical point: large errors can be ‘expected for this example. This example also shows that good EOS tuning depends on having lab data. in addition, all relevant parameters must be looked at to ensure that the charac- terization & comece. i may aise be further interpreted tat regression should not be done on a single parameter The best regressions will use Z factor, molar concentrations, and liquid volume calculations. Effects of low saturates/aromatics Although the physical structure of the molecules ‘varies considerably. there are roughly similar numbers of hydrogen atoms for each carbon atom, This reasoning has been used to justify average properties (e.g Firoozabadi and Katz). Pederson et al, in their text, con- centrate on tuning the heavy-end components based on. the percentage of paraffins, olefins, naphthenes, and aromatics (PNA). Differences in properties are shown in Figures 15-12 and 15-13. Differences in the properties of these diferent classes are readily observable on a convergence diagram. The Firoozabadi and Katz“critical properties’ can be plotted ‘Note that the GPSA convergence diagram has the critical points of pure alkanes (ie, paraffins) already plotted. It is also possible to add the aromatics in a trend that includes benzene, styrene, naphthalene and terphenyl. All of these sets of properties show a linear trend on the diagram, Note that this trend is well above the trend of the alkanes and Firoozabadi and Katz properties. It is reason- able to deduce that the Flroozabadi and Katz properties really represent a typical PNA distribution. This is shown in Figure 15-14 in the bottom righthand corner. Thermal sulphate reduction ‘Thermal sulphate reduction (TSR) is one of the geo. logical processes that cause sour gases The TSR process also has a propensity to retain oF create ato matics, This has been noted by others (personal com- munication) as key in characterizing simitar reservoirs Therefore. tuning sour fluids requires some changes to the hydrocarbon components as well. A high aromatic content should increase the critical pressure required for the heary-end characterization Standard gas chromatographic analyses do identity some of the lighter cyclic and aromatic compounds, but Go not provide detail all the way to C30. A special test (PONAU) can be made to about C12. A detailed proce dure, whieh aifows for estimating the proportion of PNAS, is outlined in the text of Pederson et al. Part of EOS tuning accounts for variations in PNAS, as well as overcoming the limitations ofthe technique. Limitations of gas chromatography It is easy to forget the complexity af the GC tech- niques, prticutary since he aast maior of Jab sepovts do not discuss this. First, multiple chromatographic columns. ze required to cover the range of compositions that are commonly supplied (to C30). There is overlap on the components recovered by the different columns, and integrating these results is an important issue. At higher carbon levels, there is overlap on structural isomers that cannot be distinguished and which are sometimes est- mated. The technique is not yet capable of giving com- plete PNA breakdowns. Material obtained from column manufacturers also indicates that the standard detector used for hydrocar- bons does not accurately detect sulphur compounds. ‘Therefore, many of the reaction products described pre- viously will not be detected in an industry standard suite of tests. Hydrogen sulfide contents are determined by Tutweiller titrations, since an accurate peak (sufficient for quantitative calculation) is not obtained on the standard hydrocarbon GC. The balance of hydrocarbon composi tions is adjusted to match this H,S concentration, ‘Another alternative is the use of gas chromatograptiy- mass spectrometer (GCMS) analysis. > 307Practical Reservoir Simulation Fig, 15-8 EOS Match CVD Test— Liquid Volume, with Dilferent Library and EOS | ae Se | Fig. 15-9 60S Match CVD Test— Mole Percent CI, with Diterent Library and EOS Fig, 5-10 EOS March CVD Test— 2 Factor with Dtlerent Library and EOS Fig. 15-11 EOS Match CVD Test— Phase Envelope, with Different Library and EOS } iadeqsa » 0 on on ae 8 os E ons = somat ost —— Medium Paratfinic Oils rnin ooo — Aromatics === Alighacics 078 }~ 02 9 = kate& Froszabadt yg Ln oR 6 @ 0 2 - 2 Carbon Number Fig 15-12 Density Profiles of North Sea Oils—Showing Varying Compositions 4 —$ sao} xo} a0 zo 2s0f- 360 |— no |- Molecular Weight, glgmole = Aromatic Oils Meus Parafric is — Panafinic ois — Aromatic Fraction === Alipnatic Fraction === Kar Froozabadi 200 190 160 40} 30 9) MB Carbon Number 1 2 » Fig. (5-13 Molecular Weight Profiles of North Sea Oils—for Dtfront Types of Liguid ComponentsPressure Critical Loci Fro S208 & Kate Pure Alisnas Temperature Fig, 5-14 Convergence Diagram—Modifed fom GPSA Data Book Influence of aromatic content The effet of changing the aromatic content was inves- tigated by changing the cyclohexane pseudo component in one of ARES studies. There is a pronounced sensitivity to this concentration as shown in Figure 15-I5. The rela tive changes trom 7.| mole % are outtined in Table 15-4, as wel as the absolute changes li the concentration of cyclohexane is increased, the system behaves more like a liquid. In view of its critical temperature and pressure (refer to convergence chart), this is not a surprise. In summary the system studied pre viously was sensitive to the aromatic content. Compositional variations during sampling For sampling fluids, the surface production facility conditions contro! how much of the well effluent ends up in which sample container (liquid or gas). Obtaining an accurate recombined composition is the real objective. It is common to evaluate GOR to see if well production has stabilized, However, the variation in produced GOR only tells part of the story. GORs are an accurate indication of well effluent composition only if surface facility condi tions remain constant (rarely the case), In Figure 15-18, the variation in well effluent H,S (recombined liquid and gas) is shown for a highly sour ddew point reservoir for which a four point AOF test had been run. The concentration varies in the range of 20. +1-0.2% (plus or minus 1% on a relative basis). The results from the GC analysis or Tutweiller titrations are probably not sufficiently precise to spot these differences. A similar analysis was also performed for an oil well. Since the results parallel the retrograde gas condensate system, a separate discussion has not been included. The varia- tions in the FCIL pseudo component are plus or minus 0.15% on a molar composition 2.2% (a relative change of, 6.8%), which is still a relatively smal! difference. Note that only the variation with rates (not separator condition) is shown. The variation of the FC17 pseudo components, concentration is about 0.1% out of 0.73% molar composi tion (a relative change of 13.7%), as shown in Figure 15-17, which is probably just noticeable, The concentra- jon of methane in the well effluent ranges from about 36-58%, a relative range of about 3.5% For the most part, these differences in composition would be quite difficult to discern on a GC analysis. The following conclusions were derived based on well test modeling: + There will be large changes in GOR due to changes in surface operating conditions in add- tion to reservoir effects. There will be compositional changes that are sig- nificant immediately after an abrupt change in production At the time the reservoir fluid samples were taken, n0 significant changes in well effluent com Position should be expected. Note that the samt pling process is not instantaneous.Compositional Modeling: Gas Co. Fig, 15-15 EOS Sensitivity to Aromatic Composition Table 15-4 Table of Input Compositions for EOS Sensitivity to Aromatic Composition 5.2 0.73% 27% Overall, compositional modeling indicates that the four point AOF test used should not have caused the changes in PVT results that were observed. More sophisticated analysis, in which adjustments can be made for changing surface conditions, to determine composition in the reservoir, was recommended based on this sensitivity. Gas condensate reservoirs Although there is a considerable amount of progress being made in this area, gas condensate reser- voir analysis has always been difficult. The author has taken the liberty of concocting a brief history of reser- voir engineering trends: densate and Volatile Oil Reservoirs gL 16 Variation of H.S during Well Test for Volatile Oi-Gas Condensate Fig. 15-17 Variation in Heavy-Weight Component during Well Test fr Volatile Oi! The classic analysis of gas condensate reservoirs was based on constant volume depletion (CVD) PVT anaiysis. By using this data and ignoring the pressure gradients in the reservoir it is possible 10 calculate the condensate gas ratio and compost tion of reservoir effluent. Practical experience has indicated that this calcu: lation has not proved to have been particularly accurate. The author can think of one field in par- ticular. in the Brazeau River area, where predicted performance for reservoir bookings proved quite unreliable. n the past, these problems have been explained by sampling problems and variation in > 305Practical Reservoir Simulation PVT properties The matter would probabiy have been adclressed earlier except that gas concen sate reservoirs are relatively rare It was also found that predicting the productity of gas condensate reservoirs was difficult This has particularly been a problem ia lower permeability reservoirs, where natural gas liquids condensing in the reservoir obscured the already smalt and tortuous pore throats around the well, reducing the effective permeability to gas.This ean reduce deliverability by up to 40-60, Gas reinjection was quite poptlar fora number of ‘years. In this process. te reservoir pressure wes maintained by injecting dry as. tt was intended that this would prevent natural gas liquids from conclensing, Most of the wet gas was intended to be recovered at high pressure.allowing the NGL to be recovered in a gas plant and then sold. Actual results were,in many cases, far short of predictions. The chief cause of these problems ‘was the early breakthrough of dry gas. Continued injection served only to promote recyciing An ‘example ofthis was in the Kaybob area of Alberta, Canada. The development of condensate reservoirs tas been fraught with problems PVT representation As outlined earlier, the main technique of predicting gas Condensate reservoir PVT behavior was CVD experi- mental data. There are methods of handling PVT data to ‘enable simulation, For nonretrograde reservoirs, itis pos sible to use a“reversed'” black oil PVT description, In this method, the condensate contained in the gas is a fune- tion of pressure. This system provides adequate results for systems that contain relatively ow amounts of conden sate, say 30 bol/mmsct or less. This will normaliy corre- late to systems with approximately a 5% or less by volume liquid dropout. For richer systems, itis possible to predict liquid and gas volumes using equilibrium ratios or & values. This has provided adequate results in a number of cases. Finals iis possible to use an equation of state (EOS) simulator. This methodology can be used to describe richer systems yet, and is reasonably accurate across a wider range of compositions, a0 < However, even this methodology has problems with aearcrtical reservoir fluids, This s probably the most difficult system 7 modal even more So thap hyelnicarbon FOR processes, Gas condensate relative permeability “The most significant issue in the ww uutderstatiding of gas condensate systems, in the auttiors opinion, was experimentally derived gas condensate telaixe perme. ability, This work was done by beich Frenc and British pesearcters The fundamental mechanisms in a gas condensate reservoir as compared w ait oil reservoir are quite different For a typical oil reservoir which is initially atthe bubblepoint and being depieted by solution gas drive. ges saturation begins to form as the reser \oir pressure drops due to withdrawals. As gas bubbles form, the amount of pore space open to flow decreases, making it harder for liquid to ‘move in the reservoir When the gas bubbles expand to the point where the gas phase becomes continuous between the pores. both oil and gas flow simultaneous! Eventually. the oll phase will become discontinuous and/or the much more mobile gas phase bypasses itt this point, in essence, the oil stops flowing. The fundamental mechanism in the reservoir is completely different for a gas condensate system. Heavy ends will condense on the surface of the rock as the pressure is reduced. as shown in Figure 15-18, Dropout may occur as droplets or as a thin film. This condensate decreases the mount cf pore space open to flow. making it hanter for ‘gas to move in the reservoir Condensate may not move in the reservoir until suficient dropout occurs such that a continuous condensate phase becomes present This is shows on a gas conden: sate relative permeability relationship.as shown in Figure 15-19.Compositional Modeling: Gas Condensate and Volatile Oil Reservoirs Pressure Drawdown Into Wellbore Wellbore Accumulation increases over time Fig, 15-18 Reservoir Pie Diagram for Gas Condensate System 4. Liquids from flowing gas top out near wellbore 08 2. Keg drops with Increased liquid saturation 02. ‘Swe + Sor 0 01/62 03 04 08 06 OF 08 09 1 3. Eventually at Swe + Sor llauld and gas flow in reservolr Fig, 5-19 Gas Condensate Relative Permeability and Changes ink, with Condensate Dropout > 307Practical Reservoir Simulation Near-wellbore condensate dropout By far the most important effect of the relative per meability effects is the change it well productivity This is shown for two well geometries in Figure (5-20. The example shown is fora reservoir fluid that has a very low CVD liquid dropout, Therefore. impaiement occurs even for very lean retrograde condensate systems. The exam ple shown is for a homogeneous reservoir Note that the condensate impairment is quite severe for the radial flow case. The hycrauiivally fractured wells not signit cantly affected ‘There are two caveats that the author should point bout. First, this was originally thought to only happen with low-permeability formations. Second, that “conventional wisdom” indicates that'if the Nid is less than 0.5 percent CVD dropout or less, then the effects are not noticeable Based on the author's experience and the comments in. the recent literature, neither of these two “rules” are prob- ably direetly true; in fact, well productivity in gas con- densate systems involves subtle details that can have large effects. This will be outlined in the following, The develogment of a condensate ring occurs over time, as shown in Figure \5-21. This gives a material balance/buildup aspect to well performance. It also explains why low levels of CVD dropout can stil result in significant productivity impairment ® ‘One possible method of relieving this impairment was suggested historically: which was to shut in the well and allow the condensate to revaporize. Detailed study, such as that shown in Figure 15-22, shows that while revapor- ization does occur, it is not suificient to restore produc- tivity. This suggests that phase interactions are important. Phase interactions Novosad, of Shell Canada, has done detailed evalua- tion of the changes in composition in the condensate bank that surrounds a well.” Her work addresses moderate: to high-permeabilty (50-250 mD) systems in addition to low-permeabilty systems, Figure 15-23 shows, reservoir liquid saturations at various distances from the wellbore, expressed as a function of reservoir depletion. Figure 15-24 shows the overall fluid characterization in a grid block (ie., grid-block global composition) a short distance from the wellbore (5 to 9 m or 15 t0 30 ft) ‘This very nicely demonstrates that the system changes froma condensing to vaporizing system. Note that the gas phase is moving all ine time so there is in fact, no static ‘overall average fluid” in a grid block. 308 < ‘Note that Navosad has used an unusual terminology in her paper. Although the terms she used were carefully defined, they migeor exiting terminology that may cause some confusion, Specifically, she refers to some systems 2s nearcritical. Infact, the path shown on this figure does not taverse pressures, and the location ofthe path is con. strained by the flowing as supply and the liquids that have dropped out and which are relatively immobile Note that, ifthe axes are reversed. the diagram will ook somewat similar to CVD test results The previously described results demonstrate that phase effects are continually occurring and that the con- \ensate ring is very dynamic in composition. The only part ofthe reservoir that actually follows a true CVD path is the outer ring ofthe reservoir Traditional gas condensate calculations Historically: the CVD test was viewed as an accurate method of predicting well effluent composition, Figure 15.25 shows the classic prediction of behavior and the change in GOR. In view of ths, this methodology is clear ly flawed. Figure 15-26 shows a reservoir simulation pré- diction of GOR, which does not show the GORs decreas- ing with time after peaking Such production perionite ance is consistent with the author’ previous field exper: ence. This is typically a very important issue economical ly The revenue from a gas condensate pool is normally heavily dependent on the liquids that are recovered, Rate sensitivity Earlier in this chapter, variations in composition were liscussed for tests that had been supplied to the author In the following, some active steps o try and control com positional variation are discussed, specifically for g05 condensate systems. ‘The first sensitivity concentrates on production rates. Various rates, expressed as a fraction of intial productive capability, are stown in Figure 15-27. The key to charac terizing systems for an EOS is typically the heavy ends, hence this is the criterion that will be discussed fist Referring again to Figure 15-27, the concentration of CT plus components does vary with rate. Note also that the system is skewed to understated heavy-end component concenttaions, For this reason. most samples will underestimate the dew point pressure Note thatthe effect of heavy ends is to widen the phase envelope, which normally (though not necessarilyompositional Modeling Gas Ratot Eres /om4) . fae sacs incmeenn ean | Time (thousand days) 20 Production Performance Comparison—Hydraulcally Fractured Gas Well vs. Nonstimulated Well (Radial Flow)— ‘with and without Reservoir Rewograde Condensation Fig. 15-21 Condensate Saturation with Distance om Well for Gas Condensate Profile with Radial Flow voflle ater 3 days | Beprotiie 1 hour ater shut-in C= profile 10 days after shutn O=profilet day atterrestart production Fig, 15-22 Effect of Well Shuetn Time on Condensate Saturation Surouncing Well with Radial FlowPractica 10 < Reservoir Sim o7 = r<04m | 08 setts resto9m [ee = resowssm | os Lx cur gc | Sos g 3 03 S 02 on 00 0 20 40 60 80 100 Fraction of GIP produced (%) Fig, 15-23 Changes in Condensate (Liquid) Saturation with Depletion 20 Pressure (MPa) o 20 40 60 80 100 volume (%) Fig, 15-24 Evolution of Phase Behavior with Depletion in Gas Condensate ReservoirCompositional Modeling: Gas Condensate and Volatile Oi! Reservoi 20.000 18.000 16000 14000 12000 3 & 10,000 & e o 3 2 3 s.000 z 6.000 44000 2.000 0 osu 400~—~4500~~—~2000°~—as00 3000-3500 Pressure, psia Fig. 15-25 Classic Gas Condensate Reservoir Behavior —Assuming Limited Pressure Depression Surrounding Producing Well 109,000 - GOR vs. Time 10,000 Primary Gas-Oil Ratio SC, m/m* 8 100 ° 2000 4,000 6,000 8.000 Time, day Fig. 15-26 Simulator Prediction of Gas Condensate Reservoir Perormance—Pressure Depression Surrounding Weil IncludedPractica! Reservoir Simulation a2 always) increases the height of the phase envelope. This tftect can be predicted by using a convergence chart. an example of which was shown in Figure [5-1 The GOR is also affected as shown in Figure 15-27. This dines not necessarily lead to a bad sample per se Referring to a second set of three graphs in Figure 15-28, the effets of a singlestep change in rate are ev: uated, There is a tine lag in the system to adjust for sig nificant changes in rate, Next, in Figure 15-29, a noi production profile results in“toisy”heavy-end concentra tions in the well effluent stream aad on the GOR Reservoir heterogeneity Continuing with a discussion of the work described previously layers can concentrate condensate buitdup 25 shown in Figure (5~30. MeCain and Alexander conclud- ced that sampling should be done sooner and with lower drawdowns® As will be discussed in the next two chap: ters, hydraulic fractures, horizontal well geometry ancl high-permeability zones of limited areal extent can have quite dramatic effects on well effluent composition General comments on sampling In general, the issues that have been discussed pre- viously have @ parallel in black oil systems and are known as well conditioning. This was discussed in chapter 6. The issues have been explicitly outlined ia API standard RP-45, Black oils are not that sensitive compositionally (ergo the simplification), and the problems that are well-known for these systems are exacerbated for gas condensate situations. First, it is not possible to obtain the exact original reservoir composition using a stabilized weil rate. Early sampling is important. To some degree, back calculation uusiag a compositional simulator can be done, Dew points are systematically underestimated. Although an EOS is not predictive of performance, the author recommends that testing and sampling for gas condensate systems should be modeled with a composi- tional simulator before the test. Plan for some sample redundancy PVT lab work and sample containers are triv- ial in expense within the overalt cost of well testing. Recent gas condensate study A study that is more recent has been done specifical- ly for gas condensate reservoirs. The results can be sum- snariged briefly Where tow interfacial tensivay exist gravity effects become important, At low levels of interfacial tension.¢ permeability relationship does not fallow the clas: sic gasoil curves. Lower interfacial tensions occur at temperatures and! pressures near the reservoir Auld critical points. Under these circumstances. the liquicl and vapor phases become near misc ble: The relative permeability curves become inermediiate between miscible (straightline) and conventional gasoil relative permeability curves, At more normal reservoir conditions in shiek there isa moderate to high interfacial tezsion, the relative permeability relationship is similar to a normal gas-il system, The latest data indicates rate sensitivity at low fev- els of interfacial tension (under 03 dynesiem), Whether this is related to turbulent flow in the pores is not clear ‘There are reiatively few experimental sets of data cur rently available (about two sets). Itis common practice to use gasoil data or to use Corey correlations. Low interfacial tension (IFT) effects There are three effects that occur at low interfacial tensions, Note that IFT drops as the pressure approaches the critical point. This should resemble nearmiscible conditions. Further, as IFT drops, the surface spreading tendencies between the rock and the liquid condensate will change. This is known as critical point wetting Finally at low interfacial tensions and at low viscosities, there were suggestions that the condensate would be ‘mobile along the sides of the rock grains and that relative permeability would be rate sensitive Richardson and Dawe, of Imperial College. developed a technique for altering the relative permeability functions from fully miscible (straightline sticks) to the more regular gasoil relative permeability curves. This permits modeling when these conditions change during depletion. Sheil did some tests with alcoholwater systems that featured sucts low IFTS in the lab. They showed some rate sensitivity Following this, Henderson et al, showed steady state test results that were rate sensitive. An example of this is shown in Figure 15-31. It has been proposed that the pores scale ratio of IFT to viscous forces will govern how much rate dependency is likely to existand Volatile Oil Reservoirs Compositional Modeling: Gas Cond 3573 & 7200 zi 3 ren % 7200 e Sooo H $ r000 ao 24 EE bscoswscupg! FO" 4 3 io 3 5200 gl a o— po] Sooo osen-e-o54 fa] £5500 Oo 15 30 45 60 D5 30 a5 849% TE 59 as 0 Time, days Time, days Time, days fg 15-27 Becton Wel EMuent Compostion Duet Varying Rates lor Gas Condensore Wels 100 33 90 =: ll gee 2”) © 79, ge eo Bin 53 oo # 7.08 Se 50] Siro BE 40 a: ] © ¥ 30] 33° 6,633 $3 2o/L E5 * $5 63] ad gf ° Seer A a) oss 15360 days Time, days Time, days {ig 15-28 ect of St Rate Change on Wel Eftent Composition as Condensate Well 100 3 $0 ae geo a7? 579 Ber 360 Fe 208 5 so Si rolNhitnRin Ra a Bs sp pats joo Bass Ber £3 6,633 Tot MipaSUTNY $3 oe oh S561 . oa eo os 30 ast oS 38 aE 0 Time, days Time, days Time, days fig, 15-29 rect of Randomly Yared Rates on Wel lfvent Composition, Cas Condensate Well > 313A) Day 10 : : ao faa Distance romelbore, tet ada Distance rom Wetbore eet contmantets percentage Ea 13 8) Day 20 - = onsas a3 O1Sas ss ada Distance romwelboe eet ada Distance Hom WelBore fst Producing Well—Radial Flow Fig, (5-30 Effects of Layering on Condensate Saturation Surmunch 0s Ong a2smvidey rg 37 miday eke eke kg 185 miday = keg’ 74 vay mk * ketional Modeling Relative permeability sensitivities Carlson and Myers, Setar etal, and tat the rate performance of individual wells isnot strong iy atlected by the shape of the relative permeability curves.® The first two studies make this conclusion based on sensitivities. Whitson contends that the condi tions in which lab test result in rate senstvty are not rep- resentative of true nearwellbore reservoir conditions. He also performed a detailed analysis showing how each part of the reservoir where condensation occurs affect productviy, Novosad, in one of her papers, shows that only a portion ofthe relative permeability curves are tra versed, as shown in Figure L hitson indicate 10 . 208 35 % of GIP recovered 3 Within this low regime 3 os E a goa 3 © o2 ° oo A 00 02 404 08 08 10 Liquid saturation Fig. 15-32 Actual Range of Saturations Traversed in Gas Condensate Well Turbulent flow It was envisaged that the reduction in pore throat cross section will make gas condensate systems more prone to turbulent flow conditions. Ths, in turn, will also affect the amount of condensate that builds up in the pores. Turbulent flow would also be more capable of stripping liquids oft the sides of the pores. There is some detate asto whether turbulent flow, ic. ‘not laminar, really occurs in pore spaces. Some people are of the opinion that this is an inertial effect rather than a change in flow regime within the pore (Scheidegger: Happel and Brenner)."® ! This flow reduction may have a “blasting” effect. Darcy's Laws normally thought to be the effect of fuid molecules slipping past each other or a vis- 2 and Volatile Oi! Reservoirs cous effect, Others are more of the opinion that true tur bulence does occur. depending on the geometry. Darcy’ Law does break down at higher rates, even if it is not known exactly why: Itis possible to include non-Darcy flow in a simula’ tor. This is still a fairly rare implementation. It has been done in Western Canada for single-phase productivity systems (see Flores)."' {t has also been included in some pressure transient analysis software (Duke Engineering). Eventually it will be included in compo sitional simulators. Some thermal simulators feature ‘non-Darcy flow for ste The issue of condensate flow concurrently with gas will not be resolved until some fundamental physics and detailed lab experiments of flow in porous media are resolved. Analytical analysis Blom and Hagoort have done a very elegant analysis. of nearcritical fluids with non-Darcy flow.’ The rate dependence of relative permeability was correlated against Vor capillary number. The solution was generat- ed via a semienalyical procedure and was solved using a variation of Newtons method. They looked at dry gas, assuming Darcy's Law,i.e.,"no dropout, no inertia” dry gas, assuming the Forcheimer equation, Le. ‘no dropout, with inertia® wet gas, with gas-oil relative permeability “dropout. k. independent of NV,” wet gas,ratedependent permeabilityand Forcheimers equation “combined eltect The results are interesting, Figure 13-33 shows the pressure profiles in the reservoir for these cases. Figure 15-34 shows the condensate saturation profile in the reservoir. Note that the fluid studies had a CVD maximum dropout of close to 40%, which isa very rich condensate system. Fgure 15-35 shows the capillary number in the reservoir Finally Fgure 15-36 shows the bottomhole pressure forall ofthe cases. The last graph is most interesting. At 5,000 kPa (50 bars or 725 psia) bottomhoie flowing pressure, the well will produce about 3.000 E'MP/day (106 MMscfd), ignor- ing condensate dropout and turbulent flow. The inclusion of turbulent flow has almost no effect on rate without condensate dropout in the reservoir. The presence of condensate impairment will reduce the rate to about 1,800 E!MF/day (63.6 MMscld) or by 56.7%. The inclusionPractical Reservoir Simulation Prossure{t0" KPa) Condensate saturation 06-00 106-01 50} |—~ drop-out; no inert 3 © ocr i = © oes to =F no arop-out; no inertial & i no dropout inatia 6 sesaropont niente soca vf combined ettect oo 10608 - oF 1 710 100 +4900 Time (years) Distance to wel (m] fig. 15-33 Theoretical Catulaion Showing ects Fig. 15-35 Yaraion of Capiary Number of emia and Condeasate Dropout Elects with Distance om Well [nomen] I —comeinedetoct z oar [ei independant of ¥ £ = ial #100 |”) paeaeeameneny Z | commotion 02 on + Ye 700 Diatance to wel) Fig. 15-34 Saturation Profiles in Reservoir ‘rom Theoretical Calculation combined effect Leer independentot N. \ of © 02 o« 08 08 4 42 44 Volumetric dry gua rae (108m at standard conditions) Fig, 15-36 Bottomhole Pressure us. Dry Gas Rate with and without Inertia, Dropout a 4Compositional Modeling: Gas if turbulent flow with condensate impairment present kaocks the productivity down to 1,300 E'MMday (45.9 {Mscid), another 27.7%, Ratedependent relative perme ability relieves the impairment, increasing the rate to 1,350 E'MYday (47.7 MMsefd), an uplift of 3.9%. From the previous discussion it would seem that con ddensate dropout isthe most important factor, followed by turbulent flow: The example involves fairy high rates. The level of CVD dropout indicates a neareritical fluid. In practical terms, the effect of ratedependent relative per meabilty is unnoticeable. One's chances of having labo- ratory, ratedependent, relative-permeabilty is very tow for most projects. This is nat an insurmountable barrier: the previous case indicates that sensitivities might well show this to be a low-order effect. Condensate viscosity Liquid viscosities are very important in gas conden- sate systems, There are newer correlations available for calculating this propery, which give significantly lower 195 Experimental results Condens. and Volatile servo results, Figure 15-37 is one of the more modern correla: tions of Pederson et al, Note the sensitivity to the method of estimating density. This is an area of weakness for cubie EOS equations. Pressure transient analysis The condensate ring, which has a lower relative per meability to gas, does atfect pressure transient analysis Not surprisingly the system can be modeled with a con centric ring model, with the inner ring having lower per meabilty An example of a type curve is shown in Figure 15-38. This was prepared with a compositional simulator ancl a well test package. ‘An analytical procedure was developed by Raghaven and Jones." Although clever. itis actually quite a bit of ‘work to utilize this technique. Relative permeability data is also required. In the author’s opinion, the use of a sity ulator is more straightforward and can be used subse- quently for more general sensitivities, wh \ . \ ——— Pedersen et al, 12 \ ———== Lohrenz et al. using SRK density \ -—-—= Lohrenz et al. using Peneloux density B10 3 us = s a 0.0) 9 100.0 200.0 300.0 400.0 Pressure (bar) Fig, 15-37 Calculation of Density tects Viscosity 1s10 10% Diagnostic Preplot Typecurve Pressure Buildup Plot So & & & 2 ae ® iy: aoe Kine! Kioutga = 121 : ao 4 Change in apparent permeability 3 a caused by liquid condensation 4 at ayeF + ial ‘ L 10° 107 10" 10 10! 10° Fly, 15-38 Effect of Condensate Dropout on Pressure Tsien Anais Near-critical (oil and gas) reservoirs AS suggested previously. neareriticat reservoirs also ries, Isthe reservoir present a number of technical di an oil reservoir or a gas reservoir? Due to our training, we are inclined to regard a reservoir that is stightly below the critical point to be an oil reservoir and one that is slightly above the critical point ro be a gas reservoir For the most part, reservoir engineering calculations for oil and gas reservoirs utilize fundamentally different approaches. However, the production performance of nearcritical fluids is not really that far different. Shown below is a phase diagram, Figure 15-39, which shows nearcritical reservoirs, Note that there is also the possibility that a reservoir can exist exactly at the critical point If we follow a reservoir path from A, which is a high volatile oil system and compare it with B, which isa high dropout retrograde gas condensate, you wil find that the dropout profile is really not that different. Therefore, from the point of view of designing a depletion stracegy, deter mining whether the reservoir is slightly above o slightly below the critical point is moot, Such nearcritical reser voirs do not really behave like an oil reservoir or as a gas reservoir. The performance is intermediate, In truth, itis, probably closest to a gas condensate reservoir, Whether the reservoir is a ait or a gas reservoir can affect ownership, since separate oil and gas leases are sometimes sold by governments, in some cases, compa- nies spfit production rights, via farm outs ar other legal agreements into separate oil and gas leases, This can, and has, Jead 10 some interesting legal disputes. These reservoirs als0 fall on the dividing line of government leg islation, which also complicates getting regulatory approvals for this type of project. In this situation, deter- mining whether the reservoir is a gas or an oil can be of critical importance (oun intended). Neatcrtical reser voirs can therefore be associated with a hos! of econom ical, technical, ownership. and political issues. aCompositional Modeling The best tool available to handle this kind of problem is ant EOS simulator The cubic equations of state used periorm weakly near the critical point, Therefore, from an engineering perspective, our ability to differentiate a reservoir that performs along path A or path B is also weak. Furthermore, as outlined earlier, sampling of near. critical reservoirs is difficult, This introduces further uncertainty to our analyses. Limited background material In the author’ experience, there is qot a lot of infor mation about volatile oil systems and nearcritical reser voirs. In fact, they are relatively rare, The author was only able to find a small number of papers on this subject in the literature. There is some older material from 1951 1955, and 1987 that covers Elk City, Oklahoma “Reservoir 4 (Le, confidential) and a Smackover, Arkansas reser voir. There are also references to some North Sea devel opments in Brent and Dolphin Gas Condensate and Volatile Oil Resery Relatively racently there have been attempts to mod fy the oil material balance equation to inciude liquids entrained in gas for volatile reservoirs (see Walsh). One of the most comprehensive papers on this subject is *FullField Compositional Simulation of Reservoirs with Complex Phase Behavior’ by MS. ElMandouh et al? This relates to two Mobil operated reservoirs in Nigeria One of the nice features of this paper is that it addresses different possible production scenarios. A number of dit ferent scenarios are possible + Primary Depletion Dry Gas Injection Miscibte Gas Injection Gas Recycling Waterflooding In addition, there are all of the normal issues in simu: lation, which include faults, heterogeneity, water produc- tion (coning), and surface facitities, Vapor & Liquid Properties Source 8 38 1.900 Pressure, psig 8 8 Critical Point tio, 120140 160 180 ‘Temperature, °F Fig. 15-39 Phase Diagram Showing a NearCritcal System > aigPractical Re rveir Simulation Production facilities Volatile fluids are quite sensitive to the manner in which oil anc! gas are separated. Although typical black, vil ean be adequately separated in a single stage, cas ificant additional ly cadinng separators will result in sig uid recovery for nearcritical systems. For instance, a three-stage separation process can be used as outlined in Table 15-3, Table 15-5 Separator Stages for Calculating OOIP. Pressure Temperature (kPa) co First Stage 7,000 40 Second Stage 400 25 Third Stage 101 15 Currently, the author would assume that a vapor recovery unit would be installed and that ail gas, even from the third (atmospheric) stage, could be recovered, Case history—volatile oil reservoir With few examples 10 go around, a case study of a reservoir that ARE modeled has been described in the fol- lowing. This was a difficult project due to problems with the PVT data. Many of these problems were related to the fact thatthe reservoir was very sou A paper was written on these problems and it is indeed the author's opinion that there are considerable opportunities for service com- panies who can improve sour gas handling” The study ‘was used as the basis for a government application and is, therefore in the public domain, Despite the sampling problems, some “typical” cal culations were made for both dew point and volatile oll systems. Some interesting results were obtained. From the experience described, it would appear that there are three key factors to consider with these types, of reservoirs + Itis important not to lose sight of the geological fit and “bread and butter" (mundane?) aspects of reservoir engineering, The additional complexity of £0S calculations, particularly with difficult flu- ids.can distract one from other fundamental and important aspects. ‘The prediction run cases are considerably more complex They require more "fiddling" to ensure that realistic scenarios are developed. More pare results uolitative analysis is requites! 10 cor Water coning The water zone indicated on the logs indicated the potential for water production. Preliminary modeling Using a [bayer radial grid indicated that the water would indeed cone. A log section is shown in Figure 1540. This modeling indicated that water production would not be indicated on a short-term procluction test Subsequent areal modeling was based on different layering and a higher completion, The results are shown in Figure 15-41. The latter model was designed to concentrate on compositional effects above the ‘water contact. Reservoir map A reservoir map was developed from 3D seismic, as shown in Figure [5-42 This model was digitized and input into the compositional simulator. The reservoir i not that large: the gre sel was 16 x 16 > 7 layers, fora total of 1792 grid blocks. Nonetheless, this model did not run quickly: There are eight components. The minimum. arid size was 44.2 meters Depletion schemes A number of different schemes were evaluated to determine the optimal depletion plan for the reservoie Primary depletion. The base case for development was primary production. Note that the formation volume fac- tor is considerably lower than the differential liberation formation volume factor. Alberta, there is a basic well rate (BWR) and a preliminary rate limitation (PRL). The \wells in this reservoir would be limited by the PRL. The well eventually goes off the rate control and then dectines exponentially on a bottomhole pressure control Recycle gas case. Reinjection was investigated based on 100% recycling of gas recovered from the three stages of separation. Normally reinjection is not carried on indet- initely There is an economic trade-off where the add: tional cost of continued injection does not justify incre mental benefits. Ordinarily, ARE would optimize this tim- ing using discounted cash flow streams, Time did not permit this il production was estimated based on the initial well test. Note that the rate for this case was increased com pared to primary depletion. The recycling would increaseAaauned Water Saturttion Profile Layer 1 10 Log Section Showing Water SaturationsPractical Reservoirs Simulation Fig, [5-41 Modeling Results for Compositional Sensitivities Fig, (5-42 Reservoir Map Interpreted from 3-0 Seismical Mode 19 the allowable maximurn production rate, Production was scheduled to be constant for just under half a year before decline begins. Decline fortis case is fess steep than for the primary production case, The production rate drops at 10 years (3,650 days), when recycling is stopped. The GOR performance shows a slower increase than with the primary case, but follows the same general tend Changes in produced gos composition and the start of GOR increases begin at roughiy the same time at about 360 days or 1.25 years ‘The reservoir pressure is maintained at a reasonably high level during injection. The H.S content steadily increases in the gas produced, This occurs slightly after the increase in methane content at 695 days or 1.9 years, compared to 460 days or 1.25 years. ince His probably the main component with the potential to increase recow ey, this indicates that some phase behavior benefit is probably being derived Ideally, it might be possible to strip off some of the methane and inject more H,S to act as a true enriched gos solvent. The proposed facilites did not have this capability. Alternatively. it may be possible to obtain some additional high-H,S gas from the existing plants in the area, This could allow for improved pressure mainte- nance, as well as a true miscible displacement process in view of weak sulphur prices, this may be an atractive alternative to pouring sulphur to blocks. From an opera- tional/satety perspective, running a high-H,S content line may not be attractive Sales gas makeup case. The intent of the sales gas make- Up case was to increase the reservoir pressure. From a phase behavior perspective it is unlikely that additional methane will heip recovery However additional injection of sales gas will maintain reservoir pressures at higher lev- els and therefore boost totat productivity Oil production drops below the recycle gas oil rate forthe first 306 days or approximately the first 0.85 years. This drop in oil pro- ductivity is because the lean sales gas diminishes the ben- efits of miscibility Productivity then increases due to high- er reservoir pressure. When gas cycling is stopped, the oil rate also declines in a similar fashion to the recycle case. Sales gas is added for 12 years or approximately 4,380 days. The sales gas makeup case then tracks the recycte case, although at higher pressures. This has an effect on the final recovery The gas recovery on the sales gas makeup case is understated in comparison to the other cases, where the reservoir pressure has dropped to lower levels. 6 as Cond From a GOR perspective, the sales gas makeup case tracks primary production for the first 1,067 days or 2.9 years. After this, the sales gas makeup case has a lower GOR The GOR increases again after gas recycling is stopped. The methane content from the production well increases from about 45 mole % ~ 70 mole % after the 460 days or 1.25 years, indicating that gas breakthrough occurs early: Similarly the H,S content of the produced gas drops from about 33s to a low of 20% because of sales gas injection, Ie this reservoir warrants reexamination, it might be possible to add sales gas during later stages of recycling, This might give a better combination of phase behavior advantages during the early stages of recycling plus the advantages of increased reservoir pressure when near miscibility is lost Waterflood case. The waterflood case was set up to replace reservoir voidage. This was done through a con trol card. An allowable production was assumed during the first year Oil production holds up well during the early stages of the waterflood. This is a critical time economi- cally, and this may make it more favorable than other cases that give higher ultimate recoveries. ‘Waterflood technology is much better developed than is gas injection. Its also significantly easier to implement than gas injection. Pumps are not only cheaper to make, but the increased hydrostatic head available in injection wells requires less surface pressure. Water breakthrough occurs at 968 days or 2.65 years This is slower than the breakthroughs for the other schemes, as summarized in the Analysis section below. With these secondary schemes, the well control options available with a simulator are important. This saves a considerable amount of time. Rate sensitivity Production rate sensitivities were also run on the pri mary depletion case. These runs indicated that there would be minimal effect on ultimate recovery with vary ing production rates, ensate end Volatile Oi} ReserygirsPractical Reservoir Simulation Analysis, Gas injection typically suffers from viscous fingering effects, which, as discussed in eatlier chapters, is not accounted forin the reservoir simulators wsed. The water flood prediction is therefore more realist than the gas injection cases. The primary production prediction will also be more accurate than the gas injection cases, Lean a8 will actually breakthrough earlier than the madel pre dicts. There are also errors associated with the mathe ‘matics of the water displacement, These are considerably less serious, however ‘so, recall that layering is important 0 model direct- ly whenever there is displacement. Le. the rule applies equally to gas injection as it does (0 water injection The breakthecughs for all of the different cases are outlined in Table 18-6. With the layering that exists inthis model, the simulator does predict earlier breakthroughs for gas. Table 15-6 Breakthrough Times for Various Prediction Cases Breakthrough See Days Years Recycle. 460 13 Sales & Recycle 695 19 Waterflood 968 2.7 This should not be surprising, There is greater viscosi ty contrast between the dry gas and the nearcritical reservoir fluid than between the water and the near critical reservoir fluid. Therefore, more adverse mobility ratios lead to earlier breakthroughs. A recovery comparison between the different cases has been tabulated in Table 15-7 by product and by com: ponent in Table 15-8. Note that the previous results do not adjust for the ‘amount of gas injected. From an overall recovery point of view, these are intriguing results: ‘The primary depletion case results are perhaps not too surprising; the oll recovery is the lowest of all the cases evaluated, and the reservoir perform: ance suffers from a high ultimate GOR, which averages more than 20,000 scffbbl.The traditional “rule of thumb” for differentiating a gas well is based on an initial GOR of about 1,800 m°sm? (10,000 sef/b0),s0 volumetric expansion is not expected to be the dominant oil depletion mech- ws < nisin, However given the high oil formation vot ume factor of more than +14, and the high solu. tion GOR itis not surprising that a significant poe. tion of recovery should occur as volumettic expansion of the evolved gas phase In fact,on a BOE basis the recoveries indicate gas expansion recosery to be twice that of the oil phase Reeyeling the yas increases oil recovery com: pared to the primary depletion case by TH. .vhile net gas recovery drops 23", Overall, BOE recovery Increases 11". Some benett is clearly received from displacement and PVT effects by recycling the gas, Howeverit is doubtful thatthe extra 11% in recovery wil enhance the rate of return on capital. although ifthe aditionat volume were large enough. it would increase net present value (NPV). Ifa full $20.00/bbI could be recovered (NGL sell ata discount relative to WT—ie. assuming no incremental operating cost. which is Unlikely—the maximum additional capital that could be tolerated can be estimated. Since only a fraction of that amount could be recovered, after royalties. it was deemed highly unlikely that rein- jection equipment and operating expense could bbe justified on this small reservoir. Sales gas makeup injection did not appear to increase recovery compated to the primary recovery case. In fact,on a total BOE bass, it «drops by 5% This might indicate that adding addi- tional light ends does not help from a phase- behavior and displacementefficiency perspec- tive Methane is not a solvent {based on prelimni- nary ternary diagrams), and immiscible gas dis placement is normally not efficient (except in some gravitystabilized vertical flood cases, which does not apply here). The recovery is lower in part, since the high reservoir pressure means there is more material to be recovered fromm the reservoir (See the final reservoir pressure). From {an economic perspective, however, production alter 20 years is of negligible value on a discount: ed cash flow basis. If recovery is analyzed by ‘component, the sales gas case isthe best at recov- ering the heavier, and generally more valuable, components. Further optimization of this case could make it more attractive. Shortening the gas injection period woutd Hikely allow the reservoir pressure to be depleted to levels similar to that utilized in the other runsCompositional Modeling as Condensate servoirs Table 15-7 Comparison of Recovery by Product for Various Prediction Cases Z Olt & NGL Gas Case 305Practical Reservoir Simulation ‘The wells in question were put on production on pri mary depletion, The first well watered out after LL months of continuous production. albeit at somewhat higher rates thant used in the simulator The area is relatively deep, and the sour gas content makes wells expensive to drill and operate. The wells evaluated probably paid out Summary A brief outline of compositional modeling using EOS characterization has been outlined. As with other numer: ical simulators. knowledge of the mathematics involved, is generally not required to run @ computer program However itis the authors opinion that some background is necessary to avoid drastic mistakes. The emphasis on the material presented! is to use the PVT package and to check how it works, Std with single component systems, proceed to binary, and then attempt some multicompo- nent systems that have already been characterized. Considerable detailed material on various character ization schemes is available in the literature. To date, no foolproof nor rapid implementation system seems 10 have been developed. The author has found the use of convergence diagrams to be of considerable help. Interestingly. the EOS is often thought to replace the older techniques, which relied on the use of conver gence charts. EOS characterization is quite demanding. Once again, itis easy to become so absorbed in the process of doing the mathematics or running the program that itis easy to forget about sample reliability, the effects of testing, and that there are some real limitations to this fashionable technique. Many concrete steps can be taken to check the accu- racy of PVT samples. Whether the separator was in equi= librium can also be tested. Material balance calculations will identify problems. It is also possible to test trends against an EOS; however, the technique really isn’t accur rate enough to predict performance, as demonstrated earlier in the chapter. One can check for internal consis tency by plotting CCE and CVD dropouts on the same graph, This also implies that the quality check can be anticipated and built into your lab program. Finally, you can check against offset PVT behavior. For sour systems, you will see a lot of variation Reservoir conditioning has a big influence on gas- condensate and voiatie oil systems. Sampling and hence EOS characterization is linked to reservoir performance. BUYER BEWARE! If management is reluctant to spend money on lab tests oF inclucle some quality-conteol duplication. you need to sell the importance of these steps. A number of problems are tisted previously that can be used. AS men- tioned in earlier chapters, it is rare that cormpanies vor Untarit: come forward and publish the mistakes they've made. In this regard, the petroleum literature is tot much help. A few (tne) rumors might help sway management, ‘There are a number of points with respect to gas con. densate reservoirs: ‘The old style of reservoir analysis using a CVO experiment is not really sufficiently accurate to be used any more. £08 simulation is now probably the best way to predict future condensate composition. Dry gas breakthrough continues to be a probe tem for gas cycling schemes This reflects variance in gas properties (unstable displace- ment) and heterogeneity Tis is no different from waterflooding. If these effects are not accounted for simulation results will be substantially optimistic. Waterflooding is being investigated for North Sea rich gas condensate reservoirs. It is probably too ‘early to tell how well this will work. certainly has potential for high dropout fluids, +The compositional process in the reservoir is, more complicated than was previously assumed. ‘This will place more emphasis on EOS modeling, Important compositional effects occur in the wellbore area Local wellbore phenomena affect productivity. This therefore has a big influence on project eco- ‘nomics. The biggest problem occurs in homoge neous formations. Local heterogeneities can mask this problem. Fracturing can be used to alleviate these problems. ‘Sampling is a major problem for gas condensate systems, Get samples early! Get lots of samples! Even with ideal sampling,some"back calculating” will be necessary The proper sampling is even completion dependent. This is a big difference from oil systems, which are much less sensitive. Gas condensation affects pressure transient analy: sis. Its only during the past decade that these effects were identified. Analysis for hydraulically fractured reservoirs has been around for only a few years.Compositional Modeling The understanding of gascondensate relative per meabilty has now increased immensely In many cases, gas condensate eservoits will be aifected by non-Darcy flow. Until recently this was a rare simulator implementation. {has ‘been done in the past in rare instances in Western Canada for productivity prediction. Gas condensate systerns are stil! an “open book” ayea lor further research particularly for fractured reservoir systems. ‘The analysis of nearcritical reservoirs is more diff cult due to the compositional effects, There are a num ber of dangers: EOS and compositional issues may override tra- ditional and important reservoir issues such as layering, coning, and heterogeneity This can be exacerbated when modeling is done by pure 0S specialists ‘The processes that are often associated with gas injection into nearcritical reservoirs fall right in the areas where a simulator has many weakress- es, Unstable displacement occurs with dry gas injected into a gas condensate reservoir resulting in viscous fingering Dry gas breakthrough has his- torically been a problem in gas condensate cycling schemes. There is a propensity for management to some- times sayJust give me the Final results” Although this can be difficult, the limitations of the tech= niques need to be clearly explained or document- ed to management. The author has 20 problem with adjusting the simulation results, using eng neering judgment, to provide management a sim- ble set of data upon which to make a decision, This is the difference between being a simulator jockey and a reservoir engineer Waterflooding i a realistic alternative for ‘nearcritical fluids. Although there are also simplifications in the mathematics to pre- dict water displacement, they are not as, severe (ie, not subject to as much error) as with gas displacements. Gravitystabilized injection has worked very well in a large number of reservoirs, provided there are ‘no horizontal barriers such as encountered in the Goiden Spike Leduc reservoir in Alberta as dis- cussed in chapter 14.These reservoirs still need considerable reservoir surveillance/management Gas Condensa e and Volatile Oil Reservoirs to optimize their depletion. tt is usually necessary to control and balance injection to maintain a level movement of the gascil contact Gas condensate projects are one of the author's favorite interests. Almost al! of the work that is currently being done is based o11 EOS simulation. Finally, since the author has only found a limited umber of studies that ate documented ia the literature, he hopes that approaches outlined previously may be of some guid: ance to others in the future, References Ahmed.T. Asarocarbon Phase Behaviour Gut Publishing, 1989, Alter Peng, OY and DB Robinson “A New Two-Constant Equation of rate” I&EC Fundammertals. Vol 15,n0.1 pages 59-64, 1975, Sage, BH..and WN, Lacey"Pressure-Temperature Phase Diagram for the Propane: n-Pentane System ind, and Eng, Chemistry, 32, 992.1940. Pedersen, K'S,A.Fredenslund. and P Thomassen, Properties of Oils and Natural Gases, Gult Publishing Co, 1988, Fioozabadi.A. and DL Katz, Predicting Phase Behavior of Condensate/Crude-l Systems Using Methane foteraction Coefficients’ Journal of Petroleum Technology, 978. ‘AicCain. WD. and RA.Alexander Sampling Gas Condensate Wells? SPE Reservoir Evaluation ard Engineering, August 992 Novosad,z."Compasition and Phase Changes in Testing and Producing Retrograde Gas Wells’ SPE. 35645, Calgany Alberta, Canada’ Gas Technology Symposium (April 28 ~ May 1), 1996, Henderson, GD, et al,-Measurement and Corteiation of Gas Condensate Relative Permeability by the Steady State Method SPE 30770, ATCE, 22-25 Oet., 1995 > arPractical Reservoir Simulation 228 « 9 B Carlson, MLR, and JG. 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