At the end of this course you will be able to:

Know the importance of reservoir engineering in the context of

petroleum and natural gas extraction activities,
Represent reservoir phase behavior through phase diagrams and
estimate oil and gas properties,
Understand the fundamentals of fluid flow in reservoirs and reservoir
drive mechanisms,
Apply the fundamentals of oil and gas well performance and
understand their role in reservoir engineering analysis,
Perform oil displacement computations and understand their
application to secondary recovery calculations,


PENG 331 RER
Overview of Petroleum Engineering
At the end of this course you will be able to:

Estimate oil-in place and gas-in-place
using reservoir volumetrics,
Estimate oil-in place and gas-in-place
using Material balance,
Applied Reservoir Engineering
Overview of Petroleum Engineering
Introduction
Question:
What is the principal goal of ANY science?

Physics,
Political studies,
Chemistry,
Financial analysis,
etc., etc., etc.
Introduction
ANSWER:
Given current conditions, predict conditions at later time and how
do we get there, i.e. predict MOTION

Physics (a body is subjected to several forces, how and where will it
move?)
Political studies (given current political and economic conditions,
how the society will develop?)
Chemistry (given components, P, T; what chemical reactions will
occur?)
Financial analysis (given current economic conditions, how the
markets will behave?)
What is Engineering?
It is, essentially, applied physics (useful science).

A few branches of engineering:
Mechanical (machines, engines, instruments)
Chemical (materials with predefined characteristics)
Electrical (computers, integrated circuits)
Civil (construction, transportation)
Nuclear (nuclear reactors, power plants)
Petroleum
Examples of application
Mechanical (aircraft engines, robotics)
Chemical (liquid crystals, fiber optics, pharmaceuticals)
Electrical (processor chips, GPS, space exploration)
Civil (Tokyos Sky City, Bostons Big Dig, Hong Kong
Airport)
Nuclear (MRI, 20% of US electricity)

What about Petroleum Engineering ?
Petroleum Engineering
can sometimes be compared to space
exploration in its technical complexity
(deepwater, HPHT wells)

has highest degree of uncertainty of all
Engineering disciplines

uses all other Engineering disciplines
Reservoir Engineering
Is a branch of Petroleum Engineering, i.e. of an
engineering discipline, therefore, of physics;

As such, its principal goal is to describe and to predict
motion;

In Reservoir Engineering, we consider underground
movement of fluid (liquid or gas). We want to predict
how and where fluid will flow based on the knowledge of
properties of reservoir and fluid.
Analogies
Similarly, in Reservoir Engineering we need to know
Geometry of the system in which flow takes place;
Rock properties; and
Fluid properties,
(as the latter two determine the resistance to flow friction losses);

We also need to have
Physical models that are able to adequately describe the flow;
Mathematics, both analytical and numerical methods
Fundamentals of Reservoir
Fluid Behavior
OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this section, you will be able to:
Understand the importance of fluid phase behavior on reservoir
engineering calculations.
Understand pure component phase behavior as a function of
pressure, temperature, and type and sketch and carefully label phase
diagrams, pressure temperature and pressure volume (with several
isotherms above and below the critical temperature), for a pure
substance.
Understand the behavior of binary and multicomponent mixtures
and sketch and carefully label phase diagrams, pressure temperature
and pressure volume (with several isotherms above and below the
critical temperature), for a mixture.
Define the terms vapor pressure, critical point (critical temperature,
critical pressure, critical volume), bubblepoint, dew point,
cricondenbar, cricondentherm, and retrograde condensate.
List the five types of reservoir fluids.

Understanding Phase Behavior
Naturally occurring hydrocarbon mixtures found in petroleum
reservoirs are mixtures of organic compounds and few non-
hydrocarbons that may exist in gaseous or liquid states.
State of reservoir fluids (gas, liquid, very rarely solid) is controlled
not only by pressure and temperature, but also by the composition
of the in-situ fluid.
The reservoir engineer needs to understand the phase behavior of
petroleum reservoirs in order to understand the depletion
performance of each reservoir and determine the best course for
future development and production.
Why study Phase Behavior?
As oil and gas are produced from the reservoir, they are
subjected to a series of pressure, temperature, and compositional
changes.
Such changes affect the volumetric and transport behavior of
these reservoir fluids and, consequently, the produced oil and gas
volumes.
All reservoir performance equations (e.g., Darcys law, material
balances) require the knowledge of fluid properties. It is
impossible to correctly evaluate well productivity and reservoir
performance if fluid properties are not known.

Phase Behavior - Pure Substance
Liquid
Solid
Gas
C
T
Temperature
T
c

p
c

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

Phase Behavior - Pure Substance
The figure above shows the typical P-T diagram of a pure component,
with all the relevant transitions (solid liquid, liquid vapor,
solid vapor).
vapor pressure line is of special interest to us, since it defines the
boundary for liquid-vapor transitions. Liquid and vapors are the two
phases that we most commonly encounter in petroleum operations.
The vapor pressure curve represents the region of co-existence of L+V
states in EQUILIBRIUM for a pure substance.
The vapor pressure provides a measure of the ability of molecules to
escape from the surface of a solid or liquid; i.e., provides a measure of
the volatility of the substance.


Liquid
Solid
Gas
C
T
Temperature
T
c

p
c

P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

Critical Point
Triple Point
Phase Behavior - Pure Substance
There is a minimum and maximum temperatures and
pressures below and above which liquid and vapor
cannot longer co-exist together in equilibrium. These are
known as the triple and critical points.
1. The Triple Point represents the lower bound of the L+V co-
existence region and the only condition at which all three
phases of a pure substance (S+L+V) can co-exist in
equilibrium.
2. The Critical Point is the condition where vapor and liquid are
in equilibrium without any interface to differentiate them (i.e.,
liquid and vapor are no longer distinguishable in terms of their
properties

Phase Behavior - Pure Substance
This figure gives us an idea of the relative location of the
vapor pressure curve for hydrocarbons
Phase Behavior - Pure Substance
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
1100
1200
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

p
s
i
a

Specific volume, cu ft/lb
Two-phase region
60F
70F
80F
85F
C
Phase Behavior - Pure Substance
Critical point
400
300
200
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

p
s
i
a

Volume, cu ft/lb
Phase Behavior - Mixtures
Phase Behavior - Mixtures
Hydrocarbon systems are never single-component.
They are found naturally occurring with a variety of components
and therefore they are multi-component mixtures.
Hydrocarbon systems are never single-component. They are
found naturally occurring with a variety of components and
therefore they are multi-component mixtures.
The figure above shows a typical p-v diagram for a mixture.

Petroleum reservoirs are broadly classified as oil or gas
reservoirs.
These 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
Phase Behavior - Mixtures
Phase Behavior - Mixtures
Typical P T for a multi component system
Pressure-Temperature Diagram
Previous figure Shows a typical pressure-temperature diagram of a
multicomponent system with a specific overall composition.
These multicomponent pressure-temperature diagrams are
essentially used to:
Classify reservoirs
Classify the naturally occurring hydrocarbon systems
Describe the phase behavior of the reservoir fluid
Phase Behavior - Mixtures
To understand the significance of the pressure-temperature
diagrams, it is necessary to identify and define the following key
points on these diagrams:
1. Bubble-point curve: The bubble-point curve (line BC) is
defined as the line separating the liquid-phase region from the
two-phase region.
2. Dew-point curve: The dew-point curve (line AC) is defined as
the line separating the vapor-phase region from the two-phase
region.
Phase Behavior - Mixtures
3. Quality lines: The dashed lines within the phase diagram are
called quality lines. They describe the pressure and temperature
conditions for equal volumes of liquids. Note that the quality lines
converge at the critical point (point C).
4. Critical point: The critical point for a multicomponent mixture is
referred to as the state of pressure and temperature at which all
intensive properties of the gas and liquid phases are equal (point
C). At the critical point, the corresponding pressure and
temperature are called the critical pressure pc and critical
temperature T
c
of the mixture.
Phase Behavior - Mixtures
5. Cricondentherm (T
ct
): The Cricondentherm is defined as the
maximum temperature above which liquid cannot be formed
regardless of pressure (point E). The corresponding pressure is
termed the Cricondentherm pressure p
ct
.
6. Cricondenbar (p
cb
): The Cricondenbar is the maximum
pressure above which no gas can be formed regardless of
temperature (point D). The corresponding temperature is called
the Cricondenbar temperature T
cb
.
Phase Behavior - Mixtures
7. Phase envelope (two-phase region): The region enclosed by the
bubble-point curve and the dew-point curve (line BCA), wherein
gas and liquid coexist in equilibrium, is identified as the phase
envelope of the hydrocarbon system.
Phase Behavior - Mixtures
Reservoirs are conveniently classified on the basis of the location of
the point representing the initial reservoir pressure P
i
and
temperature T with respect to the pressure-temperature diagram
of the reservoir fluid.
Phase Diagram of a Reservoir Fluid
Temperature, F
-200 -150 -100 -50 0 50
1400
1300
1200
1100
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

p
s
i
a

Critical
point
A Typical Reservoir Fluid Phase
Envelope
A typical reservoir fluid phase envelope has a very distinctly defined
dew point and bubble point lines, both of which meeting at the
critical point.
For mixtures, critical pressure and temperatures are no longer the
maximum possible pressure and temperature found within liquid and
vapor co-existence region.
These points are known as the cricondenbar and cricondentherm,
respectively.
The size of the L+V region is a function of mixture complexity and
composition.
The Five Reservoir Fluids
Black Oil
Critical
point
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

p
s
i
a

Separator
Pressure path
in reservoir
Dewpoint line
% Liquid
Temperature, F
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

Temperature
Separator
% Liquid
Volatile oil
Pressure path
in reservoir
3
2
1
Critical
point
3
Separator
% Liquid
Pressure path
in reservoir
1
2
Retrograde gas
Critical
point P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

Temperature
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

Temperature
% Liquid
2
1
Pressure path
in reservoir
Wet gas
Critical
point
Separator
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

Temperature
% Liquid
2
1
Pressure path
in reservoir
Dry gas
Separator
Retrograde Gas Wet Gas Dry Gas
Black Oil
Volatile Oil
The Five Reservoir
Fluids
The Five Reservoir Fluids
One of the most meaningful classification of reservoir fluids is
based on the location of the initial reservoir temperature (T
r
) with
respect to the pressure-temperature phase diagram (phase
envelope) of the reservoir fluid.
It is important to compare the location of T
r
with respect to the
location of the fluids critical point. On the basis of this, a
reservoir is classified as an oil reservoir is the reservoir
temperature is less than the critical temperature Tc and as a gas
reservoir if the reservoir temperature is greater than the critical
temperature of the hydrocarbon fluid.

Oil reservoirs: If the reservoir temperature T is less than the
critical temperature T
c
of the reservoir fluid, the reservoir is
classified as an oil reservoir.
Depending upon initial reservoir pressure pi, oil reservoirs can be
subclassified into the following categories:
1. Undersaturated oil reservoir
2. Saturated oil
The Five Reservoir Fluids
1. Undersaturated oil reservoir:
If the initial reservoir pressure p
i
is greater than the bubble-point
pressure p
b
of the reservoir fluid, the reservoir is labeled an
undersaturated oil reservoir.
2. Saturated oil:
When the initial reservoir pressure is equal or below to the
bubble-point pressure of the reservoir fluid the reservoir is called
a saturated oil reservoir.
The Five Reservoir Fluids
Oil reservoirs can be further classified as:
1. Black Oil Reservoirs
2. Volatile Oil Reservoirs (also referred to as near-critical crude
oil)
The Five Reservoir Fluids
Phase Diagram of a Typical Black
Oil
Black Oil
Critical
point
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
,

p
s
i
a

Separator
Pressure path
in reservoir
Dewpoint line
% Liquid
Temperature, F
Phase Diagram of a Typical Black
Oil
Black oils are the most common type of oil reserves and are
typically composed of a large quantity of heavy hydrocarbons
(C7+ fraction). Phase envelopes are wide, covering a wide
temperature range in the P-T plane. In these reservoirs, the critical
point is found far to the right of the prevailing reservoir
temperature.

Oil reservoirs are also classified as undersaturated if the initial
reservoir pressure (p
i
) is greater than the bubble point pressure (p
b
)
of the reservoir fluid. Saturated oil reservoirs are those whose
initial reservoir pressure (p
i
) is equal to the fluids bubble point. In
gas-cap reservoirs, reservoir pressure is well below fluids bubble
point pressure. In such situation, the oil leg is said to be saturated
with gas.


Phase Diagram of a Typical Volatile
Oil
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

Temperature, F
Separator
% Liquid
Volatile oil
Pressure path
in reservoir
3
2
1
Critical
point
Phase Diagram of a Typical Volatile
Oil
Volatile Oils contain fewer heavy hydrocarbons components and
more intermediate components (C2 through C7) and the temperature
coverage of their phase envelope is smaller than black oils.
These types of oil are known as near-critical because their critical
point lies in close proximity to reservoir temperature and typically
have high bubble point pressures.
This type of oil is volatile due to this proximity to critical
conditions, i.e., the reservoir depletion path (line 1-2-3) is able to
cross a great number of isovolumetric lines upon a small reduction
of reservoir pressure.
This type of oils may vaporize up to 50 % of the in-site fluid at
reservoir conditions at only few hundred psi below bubble point
conditions, and are thus categorized as high-shrinkage oils.

Gas reservoirs: If the reservoir temperature is greater than the
critical temperature of the hydrocarbon fluid, the reservoir is
considered a gas reservoir
Gas reservoirs can be further classified as:
1. Retrograde Gas Reservoirs (also referred to as near-critical
gas)
2. Wet Gas Reservoirs
3. Dry Gas Reservoir
The Five Reservoir Fluids
Phase Diagram of a Typical
Retrograde Gas
3
Separator
% Liquid
Pressure path
in reservoir
1
2
Retrograde gas
Critical point
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

Temperature
Retrograde gases or gas condensates are gas reservoirs because
reservoir temperature is higher than fluids critical temperature.
They are also known as near-critical gas reservoirs because of the
close proximity of the critical point to reservoir temperature. This
type of gas reservoirs are able to form retrograde condensate
upon pressure depletion, and hence their name.

Retrograde condensation is an important feature that dominates
the production characteristics of these reservoirs. Typical
production schemes include pressure maintenance and/or gas
cycling operations that can reduce or eliminate the occurrence of
the retrograde condensation phenomenon.



Phase Diagram of a Typical
Retrograde Gas
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

Temperature
% Liquid
2
1
Pressure path
in reservoir
Wet gas
Critical
point
Separator
Phase Diagram of a Typical Wet Gas
Wet gases are primarily composed of light molecular weight
hydrocarbons and exhibit very narrow phase envelopes.
Phase envelopes of wet gases are entirely located at temperatures
below reservoir temperature.
It is clear from the figure above that reservoir temperature >
cricondentherm temperature.
The reservoir pressure path is free of liquids (no retrograde
condensation) but surface separator conditions lie within the phase
envelope, causing some liquid dropout at the surface facilities.
Phase Diagram of a Typical Wet Gas
P
r
e
s
s
u
r
e

Temperature
% Liquid
2
1
Pressure path
in reservoir
Dry gas
Separator
Phase Diagram of a Typical Dry Gas
Dry gases are primarily composed of methane and does
not produce hydrocarbon liquids even at surface
conditions.
Dry gas envelopes are smaller than those of wet gases
and the reservoir gas remains single phase in the
reservoir and on the surface.

Phase Diagram of a Typical Dry Gas
1. The gas that comes out of the solution from black oils usually a
dry gas because the large and heavy molecules in the oil attract the
intermediate sized molecules to stay in the oil phase. However, the
gas that comes out of solution from volatile oil is typically a
retrograde gas.
Volatile oils dont contain the large molecules that enable black
oils to hold most of the intermediate components in the oil phase.
Differences Between Black-Oils and
Volatile Oils
1. Dry gas gas at surface is same as gas in reservoir.
2. Wet gas recombined surface gas and condensate represents
gas in reservoir.
3. Retrograde gas recombined surface gas and condensate
represents the gas in the reservoir, but not the total reservoir
fluid(retrograde condensate stays in reservoir)
Differences Between the Three Gases
Field Identification of Reservoir
Fluids
Gas
res bbl
Oil
S
e
p
a
r
a
t
o
r

Stock
tank
scf
STB
GOR =
STB
scf
scf
res bbl
As previously discussed, reservoir fluids are classified based on
the location of initial reservoir conditions with respect to the phase
envelope of the fluid.
This identification is a key factor in many decisions related to field
development plan and reservoir management. In addition, field
data available from production information can also serve to some
extent as indicators of fluid type. Some of the production
observations that can be used for this identification include:
1. Initial production gas-to-oil ratio (GOR) or gas-to-liquids
(GLR).
2. Stock Tank Oil density (API gravity).
3. Color of stock tank oil.

Field Identification of Reservoir
Fluids
Components of Naturally Occurring
Petroleum Fluids
Component Composition,
mole percent
Hydrogen sulfide 4.91
Carbon dioxide 11.01
Nitrogen 0.51
Methane 57.70
Ethane 7.22
Propane 4.45
i-Butane 0.96
n-Butane 1.95
i-Pentane 0.78
n-Pentane 0.71
Hexanes 1.45
Heptanes plus 8.35
100.00
Properties of heptanes plus
Specific Gravity 0.807
Molecular Weight 142 lb/lb mole

Petroleum fluids are typically composed of a great number of
components belonging to different chemical species. Most of the
light and intermediate components can be clearly identified as
individual entities (C1 through C6), but most of the heavy
molecules are typically lumped and grouped as a plus fraction
(C7+). In some instances, this plus fraction can be further
characterized for compositional studies.
The C7+ fraction has been found to be a good indicator of fluid
type, as it correlates very well to observed field production data.

Components of Naturally Occurring
Petroleum Fluids
Field Identification
Black
Oil
Volatile
Oil
Retrograde
Gas
Wet
Gas
Dry
Gas
Initial
Producing
Gas/Liquid
Ratio, scf/STB
<1750 1750 to
3200
> 3200 > 15,000* 100,000*
Initial Stock-
Tank Liquid
Gravity, API
< 45 > 40 > 40 Up to 70 No
Liquid
Color of Stock-
Tank Liquid
Dark Colored Lightly
Colored
Water
White
No
Liquid

*For Engineering Purposes
This table summarizes McCains guidelines for fluid type
identification. McCain also included some additional
guidance in terms of API and color to further verify the
selection of fluid type.
In this table, the 1,750 scf/STB break between black oils
and volatile oils is not sharp - could be 250 scf/STB. In
general, initial stock-tank oil gravity and color are not as
important to the identification of fluid type -- except in
the black oil - volatile oil overlap

Field Identification
Laboratory Analysis
Black
Oil
Volatile
Oil
Retrograde
Gas
Wet
Gas
Dry
Gas
Phase
Change in
Reservoir
Bubblepoint Bubblepoint Dewpoint No
Phase
Change
No
Phase
Change
Heptanes
Plus, Mole
Percent
> 20% 20 to 12.5 < 12.5 < 4* < 0.8*
Oil
Formation
Volume
Factor at
Bubblepoint
< 2.0 > 2.0 - - -

*For Engineering Purposes