Material Balance Equations

Author: Jon Kleppe, NTNU

Assistant producer: Vidar W. Moxness

The Statfjord area in the North Sea. Source: Statoil

ENTER
 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION Introduction
MODELLING

APPLICATION
To illustrate the simplest possible model we can have Learning goals
SUMMARY for analysis of reservoir behavior, we will start with Basic understanding of material balance
derivation of so-called Material Balance Equations.
This type of model excludes fluid flow inside the
reservoir, and considers fluid and rock The handout Material Balance Equations can be
expansion/compression effects only, in addition, of downloaded from here:
course, to fluid injection and production.

matbal.pdf
This module is meant to be an extra help to the
lectures in Reservoir recovery techniques by giving
examples to the curriculum covered by the handout
Material Balance Equations.

The structure of the model is shown below.

Introduction
Modelling Application

Summary

Block Saturation
diagram
Water Initial
influence gascap
Material Equations
conservation

Graph A Graph B Plot 1 Plot 2 Plot 3

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 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION Block diagram of a producing reservoir

MODELLING
Block diagram
Material conservation
Graph A B The essence of material balance is described in the Due to change in pressure, the pore volume as well as
Equations block diagram below. the fraction of the volume occupied by gas, oil & water
Saturation will change.
From the initial stage oil, gas & water is produced. At the
APPLICATION
same time gas & water is (re)injected into the reservoir
SUMMARY to maintain pressure. There is also an influx from the
aquifer below the reservoir.

Click to display
symbols used

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 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION Principle of material conservation

MODELLING
Block diagram
Material conservation
Graph A B From the block diagram we get the expression below, which is the basis for the material balance formulas.
Equations
Saturation

APPLICATION Amount of fluids present Amount of Amount of fluids remaining

in the reservoir initially - fluids produced = in the reservoir finally
SUMMARY (st. vol.)
(st. vol.) (st. vol.)

Note that fluids produced include all influence on the reservoir:

Production
Injection
Aquifer influx

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 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION Formation Volume Factor in the Black Oil model

MODELLING
Block diagram
Material conservation
Graph A B The formation volume factors (FVF) tell how much the The graphs below show how the FVF of oil, gas and
Equations oil, gas and water is compressed at a given pressure. water develop vs pressure. Click on the buttons to show
Saturation the graphs.
Bo = reservoir volume of oil / standard volume of oil
APPLICATION

SUMMARY Bg = reservoir volume of gas / standard volume of gas

Bw = reservoir volume of water / standard volume of

water

Bo vs. P Bg vs. P Bw vs. P

Bo Bg Bw

P P P
Click to display
symbols used

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 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION Solution Gas-Oil Ratio in the Black Oil model

MODELLING
Block diagram
Material conservation
Graph A B The Rso plot shows how the solution gas ratio develops Click on the button below to see the typical pressure
Equations vs pressure. When the pressure reaches the dependency of the solution gas-oil ratio in the black oil
Saturation bubblepointpressure, it is no longer possible to solve model.
more gas into the oil. Thus the gradient of the curve
APPLICATION
becomes zero.
SUMMARY
Rs = standard volume gas / standard volume oil

Rso vs. P

Rso

P
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symbols used

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 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION The complete black oil material balance equation

MODELLING
Block diagram
Material conservation
Graph A B The final material balance relationships is given below. How these expressions are derived can be
Equations studied in the Material Balance pdf document.
Saturation matbal.pdf

APPLICATION
F = N E o mE g E f ,w Wi We Bw2 Gi Bg2

SUMMARY
Where: production terms are

F = N p Bo2 R p - Rso2 Bg2 W p Bw2

oil and solution gas expansion terms are

E o = Bo2 - B o1 Rso1 - Rso2 B g2

gas cap expansion terms are

B g2
E g = B o1 - 1
B g1

and rock and water compression/expansion terms are

Cr Cw S w1
E f ,w = -1 mBo1 P
1 - S w1
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symbols used

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 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION Saturation and pressure development

MODELLING
Block diagram
Material conservation
Graph A B View the animations below to see how the pressure and The plot to the left shows how the saturations and the
Equations oil-, gas- and water-saturation typically develops in a pressure in the reservoir develop vs time in a reservoir if
Saturation reservoir initially above the bubblepoint develops versus there is small or no water injection.
time. Also included is how pressure might develop
APPLICATION
versus time. The plot to the right shows the same for a reservoir with
SUMMARY large water injecton.

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symbols used

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 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION Application of Material Balance

MODELLING

APPLICATION
In material balance calculations there are in most cases The animation below shows a producing reservoir with
Initial gascap
Plot 1 many uncertainties with regard to reservoir parametres. gas and water injection.
Plot 2 Uncertain values may for instance include the size of the
Water influence initial gascap, the initial amount of oil in the reservoir and
Plot 3 the influx of the aquifer.
SUMMARY
In the following pages ways of finding some of these
values will be explained.

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symbols used

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 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION Application of Material Balance

MODELLING
Initial gas cap (Havlena and Odeh approach)
APPLICATION
For gascap reservoirs the value of m is in most cases General mass balance formula:
Initial gascap
Plot 1 uncertain. The value of N can however usually be
Plot 2
Water influence
defined well through producing wells. In this case a good
approach will be to plot F as a function of (Eo+mEg) for

F = N E o mE g E f ,w Wi We Bw2 Gi Bg2 (1)

Plot 3 an assumed value of m. (eq. 2) For the correct value of Assuming no water influence, gas injection and rock
SUMMARY m the slope will be a straight line passing through origo or water compression/expansion.
with a slope of N. For a too large value of m, the plot will
deviate down and for a too small value it will deviate up. F = N Eo mEg (2)

If both the value of m and N are uncertain one should F Eg

plot F/Eo as a function of Eg/Eo. This plot should be = N mN (3)
Eo Eo
linear and will intercept the y axis at a value of N and
have a slope of mN. (eq. 3)

Large version
Plot 1

Large version
Plot 2

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symbols used

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 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION Application of Material Balance

MODELLING
Water influence (Havlena and Odeh approach)
APPLICATION
In water drive reservoirs the biggest uncertainty is in General mass balance formula:
Initial gascap
Plot 1 most cases the water influx, We. To find this we plot
Plot 2
Water influence
F/Eo vs We/Eo. In this plot We must be calculated with a
known model. (e.g. eq. 7)

F = N E o mE g E f ,w Wi We Bw2 Gi Bg2 (1)

Plot 3 Assuming no water or gas injection and Bw=1.

For a correct model of We we will get a straight line. For
F = N Eo mEg E f , w We
SUMMARY
the wrong model the plot will deviate from a straight line (4)
as shown in plot 3.
Neglecting Ef,w due to its small influence and assuming
no initial gascap.

F = NEo We (5)

F W
=N e (6)
Eo Eo

Water influx model for radial aquifer shape:

We = cw c f re2 - ro2 fhp (7)

Large version
Plot 3

Click to display
symbols used

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 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION Summary
MODELLING

APPLICATION
MODELLING:
SUMMARY Block diagram: Material balance equations are based on a model with a know start- and
end-point. Between the two stages oil, gas & water is produced and gas & water is
(re)injected into the reservoir to maintain pressure. There is also an influx from the aquifer
below the reservoir. Due to change in pressure, the pore volume as well as the fraction of
the volume occupied by gas, oil & water will change.

Material conservation: Amounts of fluids in the reservoir at stage one is equal to the
amount of fluids at stage two plus the amount of fluids produced.

Graph A: The formation volume factors (FVF) tell how much the oil, gas and water is
compressed at a given pressure.
Block diagram
Graph B: The Rso plot shows how the solution gas ratio develops vs pressure. When the
pressure reaches the bubblepointpressure, it is no longer possible to solve more gas into
the oil. Thus the gradient of the curve becomes zero.

Equations: The material balance equations consist of a general part, oil and solution gas
expansion terms, gas cap expansion terms and rock and water compression/expansion
terms

Saturation: Pressure and saturations change versus time, depending on

production/injection. See figure to the right.

APPLICATION:
Initial gascap: In a gas drive reservoirs m may be calculated by plotting F as a function of
(Eo+mEg). For the correct value of m the plot will be a straight line. Alternatively m & N
may be calculated by plotting F/Eo vs Eg/Eo. The curve will intercept the y axis at a value
of N and have a slope of m*N.
Saturation & pressure

Water influence: In a water drive reservoir the water influx, We, can be recovered by
plotting F/Eo vs We/Eo. In this plot We must be calculated with a known model.

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 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION References
MODELLING

APPLICATION
Jon Kleppe. Material balance. http://www.ipt.ntnu.no/~kleppe/SIG4038/02/matbal.pdf
SUMMARY
L.P. Dake 1978. Fundamentals of reservoir engineering, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 443 pp.

L.P. Dake 1994. The practice of reservoir engineering, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 534 pp.

Svein M. Skjveland (ed.) & Jon Kleppe (ed.) 1992. SPOR monograph : recent
advances in improved oil recovery methods for North Sea sandstone reservoirs
Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, Stavanger. 335 pp.

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 Material Balance Equations

INTRODUCTION About this module

MODELLING

APPLICATION
Title: Material Balance Equations
SUMMARY
Author: Prof. Jon Kleppe

Assistant producer: Vidar W. Moxness

Size: 0.8 mb

Publication date: 24. July 2002

Abstract: The module describes the basics of material balance calculations.

Software required: PowerPoint XP/XP Viewer

Prerequisites: none

Level: 1 4 (four requires most experience)

Estimated time to complete: --

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