SPE 115065

Scaling and Sensitivity Analysis of Gas-Oil Gravity Drainage EOR

P.S. Jadhawar, SPE, and H.K. Sarma, SPE, Australian School of Petroleum, University of Adelaide
Copyright 2008, Society of Petroleum Engineers
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2008 SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition held in Perth, Australia, 2022 October 2008.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
Gas injection is one of the key enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods. Significant volumes of the residual oil, remaining after
earlier EOR methods, has been reported to be recovered through the gravity drainage mechanism, following the crestal gas
injection in the horizontal, dipping or reef type oil reservoirs. The rate of oil recovery is controlled by the
viscous/capillary/gravity forces, the rate of gas injection and oil production, the difference of oil and gas density, the oil
relative permeability, the oil viscosity and number of other operational parameters. Risk analysis of these parameters helps to
identify their relative dominance during gas-oil gravity drainage process. The interactions between various process
controlling parameters is studied through development of scaling groups that govern the displacement process. Functional
relationships between those scaling groups and their effect on the overall performance of immiscible gas-driven gravity
drainage EOR are investigated in this study. This enables an estimation of fractional oil recovery for the combinations of
scaling groups. The results of numerical sensitivity analysis through the reservoir simulations are presented to map the
effective combinations of the dimensionless scaling groups for gas-oil gravity drainage EOR method.
Introduction
Gas injection either in the immiscible or miscible mode (largely CO2) is the key process amongst the major contending
methods of enhancing oil recovery. It can be carried out either in secondary or tertiary stage of the producing life of the
reservoir in continuous mode, alternating cycles of water and gas or in gravity drainage mode. Continuous gas injection
methods are largely impaired by the viscous instabilities, the severe gas-oil gravity segregation and the poor volumetric
sweep efficiency. Moreover, the larger difference of the density between the injected gas and the in-situ reservoir fluid leads
to severe gravity segregation effects. The cumulative effect is an uncontrolled gas flood front leading to the premature gas
breakthrough in the producing wells and the unfavorable mobility ratio culminating into the severe viscous fingering. Further
modifications in the injection modes could not completely eliminate these recovery impeding factors. Therefore, a method
that uses the natural density based gravity segregation of the fluids to recover the bypassed oil in the unswept regions looks to
be a more promising option.
Gravity forces are recognized to play an important role at nearly every stage of the producing life of the reservoir,
whether it is primary depletion, secondary water or gas injection scheme or tertiary enhanced or improved oil recovery
methods. They always compete with the viscous (flow rate per unit area) forces and the capillary (ratio of the fluid/fluid
forces to the grain size) forces occurring in porous media in addition to the vertical barriers in the form of heterogeneity. In
presence of these impeding factors less dense fluid gets trapped in the producing zone, further diminishing the oil recovery
performance. Conversely, gravity forces can be taken into advantage through the gravity drainage mechanism to maximize
oil recovery from the oil bearing zone under investigation. A number of investigations carried out in the laboratories and in
the field (Bangla et al., 1991; Chatzis et al., 1988; Da Sle and Guo, 1990; Kulkarni and Rao, 2006) suggest the significance
of the gas-oil gravity drainage process in view of the higher oil recoveries obtained in contrast to the conventional gas
injection EOR methods. Gravity drainage by gas injection is commonly implemented in either dipping or pinnacle reef type
reservoirs. Current study focuses on the application of the gas-assisted gravity-drainage mechanism to a horizontal type
reservoir through the combination of the vertical injectors and horizontal production wells.
Gas-oil gravity drainage EOR
Gravity drainage is a process in which gravity acts as a main driving force and where gas replaces voidage volume
(Hagoort, 1980). Gas-oil gravity drainage is influenced by the difference of the density between the injected gas and the
reservoir oil. Higher the density difference, more effective is the gravity segregation of the fluids and hence the downward

SPE 115065

gravity drainage of the oil. In a gas injection method based on the gravity drainage mechanism, gas is injected at the top of
pay zone through the vertical or horizontal wells located at the top of the reservoir (Figure 1). The injected gas segregates to
create a gas-oil interface which is then slowly displaced towards the simultaneously producing horizontal wells located at the
bottom of the pay zone. During this process, the gas injection and oil production volumes are balanced precisely so that the
reservoir system remains in the gravity dominated regime. This process is termed as gas assisted gravity drainage method of
enhanced oil recovery (GAGD-EOR) (Jadhawar and Sarma, 2008; Rao et al., 2004).

H. Prod
Wells (5)

Horizontal Reservoir

CO2
injectors (3)

Controlled ig

Gas

Original GOC

[V/ t]oil + water = [ V/ t]gas

A new GOC
B

Oil

WOC

Oil displaced down towards producer under gravity effect

(density controlled flow)

Controlled qo

Water

Figure 1: Conceptual GAGD-EOR method (Jadhawar and Sarma, 2008)

The controlled gas injection helps maintain the pressure on the advancing gas floodfront, so the oil column and the
reservoir. This keeps the solution gas saturation sufficiently low thereby minimizing its liberation from the oil. The oil
shrinkage is prevented and thus the oil viscosity remains at lower values. This further aids in the overall effectiveness of the
gas-oil gravity drainage mechanism. Additionally, the gas injection and maintained reservoir pressure recompresses some of
the dispersed gas in the oil zone. The oil gets dispersed and begins to fall under gravity the countercurrent to the gas flow
when the gravity force dominates the viscous force (the velocity of the remaining dispersed gas). Oil is drained from the
upstructure high pressure zone under the effect of the gravity downward towards the low pressure horizontal wells. The
continued injected gas injection and simultaneous controlled oil production moves the GOC to lower position (shown by the
line AB in Figure 1) indicating that the volumes of the reservoir oil produced has come from the gravity drainage mechanism.
The injected gas replaces the voidage volume created by the simultaneous oil production.
At a given production rate, higher gas injection rates may result in gas coning and viscous fingering. At a given gas
injection rate, higher oil production rates can also lead to the early gas breakthrough. This gas-driven EOR can be effectively
changed into the gravity-dominated flow regime thereby controlling the rate at which the gas is injected and the oil is
produced. The precise control of the gas injection rate and the oil production rate is essential for the success of the GAGDEOR method. A gas velocity at which this countercurrent gas-oil flow occurs to segregate the oil and gas, and gravity
drainage to begin, largely depends on the oil and gas density, and the rates of gas injection and oil production, the balance of
the gravity-capillary-viscous forces, relative saturations of the oil, water and gas, vertical permeability, heterogeneities,
amount of the dip (if exists) and number of other operational parameters.
GAGD-EOR method can be classified on the basis of the mode of gas injection (secondary or tertiary after
waterflooding), type of the geological structures (pinnacle reef type, dipping and horizontal reservoirs) in which it is being
implemented, the pressure of gas injection (below or above minimum miscibility pressure), the type of gas injected (CO2, air,
nitrogen etc.) or based on the displacement mechanisms, as suggested by Schechter and Guo, 1996, that is the controlled
gravity drainage, gravity-stable low-rate gas injection and the natural gravity drainage.
In practice, the gravity drainage mechanism for oil recovery enhancement can be worked out in one or more ways at any
stage of the producing life of the reservoir (Lewis, 1944). The idealistic way is to produce the reservoir at the pressures above
the bubble point pressure (undersaturated) by not allowing the gas to liberate in the oil zone. The reservoir pressure is
maintained above the bubble point through the gas injection. Another approach is to restore the reservoir pressure partially by
gas injection in the gas cap, and then controlling the rates of the gas injection and oil production. The operating pressures of

SPE 115065

the injection and production wells are also constrained during the whole process. Higher oil recoveries can be obtained in this
way with the occurring phenomenon of gravity segregation and gravity drainage. Last method is the gravity drainage by
blowdown. Second approach is adopted in the present study.
The results obtained in the laboratory based experimental investigations or the reservoir simulation work of the GAGDEOR method can be applicable to the field reservoir through the scaling approach (Gharbi, 2002). The multiphase parameters
responsible for the gravity-drainage oil recovery if analyzed by this approach, it is possible to predict the EOR performance
at the field scale. Scaling through the dimensional analysis is investigated in this study with regards to its applicability to gas
assisted gravity drainage method of enhanced oil recovery (GAGD-EOR). Operational parameters are varied systematically
over the ranges of values. The data of multiphase operational parameters required for the scaling studies is generated through
numerical simulation runs.
Scaling Gas-Oil Gravity Drainage EOR process
Coreflood experiments on the core sample of a particular reservoir are traditionally carried out to test the most suitable oil
displacement method for that reservoir. The results so obtained may not be directly applicable and reliable on the field scale.
However these results if presented in the form of scaling groups, it is possible to relate them to field scale for the direct
implementation. Scaling is a procedure in which the results obtained at one scale size (small scale laboratory experiments) are
applicable to another scale size (a large scale process). It leads to the definition of the dimensionless numbers known as
dimensionless groups, forming a basis for comparison between various scales (Buckingham, 1914; Lozada and Farouq Ali,
1987; Shook et al., 1992; Gharbi, 2002). Any scaling law or model comprising dimensionless scaling groups can be derived
through the dimensional analysis (Buckingham, 1914 ; Langhaar, 1951) and the inspectional analysis (Geertsma et al., 1956);
(Greenkorn, 1964); (Ruark, 1935); (Shook et al., 1992). The scaled model so developed is a more realistic way of predicting
the reservoir performance through the analysis of individual parameter influence on the ultimate oil recovery. The number of
parameters involved in the problem statement thus gets reduced thereby eliminating the need of conversion between the units.
Dimensionless analysis is based on the knowledge of appropriate variables influencing oil displacement. Equations that
describe the process are not needed in dimensionless analysis. It is an effective scaling tool simulating analogous field scale
multiphase processes into laboratory, to represent an experiment or numerical model incorporating number of the operative
spatial and/or physical mechanisms. Number of parameters affecting the performance of oil reservoirs (absolute and relative
permeability, fluid viscosities, initial water and oil saturations, residual oil saturation, relative oil, gas and water permeability,
rock porosity, gravity/ capillary/viscous forces, dip angle, reservoir heterogeneity, interfacial tension, wettability, spreading
coefficient, physical and numerical dispersions, and the mass transfer) are so combined that their dimensions (composing the
dimensionless groups) cancel each other out to form a final group with no dimensions. The effect on certain variables is then
studied in terms of the group instead of individual variables in the group. In case of similar geometric scales, if the ratio of
the dimensionless group on a larger geometric scale to a dimensionless group on a smaller geometric scale is kept equal to
one, then mechanisms occurring on both the scales would be similar (Rappaport and Leas, 1953).
Application of scaling to multiphase flow in porous medium has been studied earlier for miscible and immiscible EOR
processes. Immiscible water induced oil displacement was first studied by Leverett et al. (1942) through the dimensionless
scaling groups. Later Croes and Scwarz (1955) presented the influence of the oil/water viscosity ratio on immiscible
displacements through a diagram representing the cumulative oil recovery for the various water-oil viscosity ratios ranging
from 1 to 500. They assumed linear displacement of the oil by water in homogeneous reservoir. Scaling relationship of
immiscible displacement of oil by cold water derived through inspectional analysis was presented for the first time by
Rapoport (1955). This was further extended by Geertsma et al. (1956) for hot water displacement and solvent displacement
and by Carpenter et al. (1962) for the homogeneous media having different permeability in the communicating strata. Effects
of gravity segregation in miscible and immiscible displacements in five spot models were presented by Craig et al. (1957)
through two correlations. First one accounted the ratio of vertical to horizontal pressure gradient and the oil recovery at
breakthrough for various mobility ratios. Second correlation represented the relation between the experimental oil recovery
and a dimensionless gravity number.
Scaling criteria presented by Perkins and Collins (1960) accounted the relative permeability and capillary pressure curves
through the representation of the reservoir heterogeneity. Geostatistical and generic characterization generated heterogeneity
scaling groups were derived through image representation technique by Li and Lake (1995) to scale the immiscible oil
displacement by waterflooding in heterogeneous reservoirs. Gharbi et al. (1995) used an artificial neural network technique
to scale the immiscible displacements in homogeneous reservoir by using vertical wells through fine mesh simulation data.
The combined effects of the gravity, viscous and capillary forces were accommodated into a new dimensionless group by
Grattoni et al. (2001). They developed a linear relationship between this new group and the total recovery based on the
experimental investigations to include the pore scale effects. Flow through the heterogeneous 2D anisotropic reservoir was
scaled by Gharbi (2002) through the inspectional analysis to match thirteen dimensionless scaling groups for the miscible
solvent flooding.
Shook et al. (2002) presented dimensionless scaling groups for the waterflood applicable to represent the two phase flow
through homogeneous 2-dimensional Cartesian dipping reservoir. Kulkarni and Rao (2006) presented the effect of
dimensionless groups on the final recovery based on various immiscible and nearly miscible gas assisted gravity drainage
field data and laboratory experimental data. The continuous CO2 flooding in a dipping waterflooded reservoir was scaled by

SPE 115065

Wood et al. (2006, 2008) through ten dimensionless groups to develop a screening model based on Box-Behnken
experiments. The results obtained from CMGs GEM simulator are then used to predict the oil recovery and CO2 storage
potential. Trivedi and Babadagli (2008) proposed new group incorporating the matrix-fracture diffusion transfer to scale the
miscible displacement in fractured porous media based on the laboratory experiments.
In this paper, the GAGD-EOR method is scaled for the first time through the dimensionless scaling groups especially
using gas injection and production pressures at the respective wells and gravity number dependent on the difference of the
pressure between the injection well and producing well. Identification of the important parameters that dominate during
GAGD-EOR method is carried out through the risk analysis using PALISADEs @RISK software. Due to lack of
experimental data, CMGs IMEX simulator is used to generate the parametric data. The dimensionless groups are then used
to study the sensitivity individual parameters by varying their values. The values of the parameters are then varied so that the
final dimensionless group values remain constant to validate their application to the GAGD-EOR method.
Dimensionless Scaling Groups: GAGD-EOR
In this study, an immiscible gas injection is carried in the non-dipping horizontal type reservoir for enhancing the oil
recovery by gravity drainage mechanism. The knowledge of parameters that may influence the overall gravity drainage oil
recovery is essential while selecting the scaling groups for the sensitivity analysis. Since the GAGD-EOR method is a topdown process, higher vertical permeability is favoured for the selected reservoir candidates. As the recovery method is driven
by the gravity force, it is imperative that the dimensionless groups that have the critical parameters contributing to gravity
(density) should be included in the scaling. Additionally the rate of gas injection is maintained constant for a recovery
operation, which contributes to the relative fluid velocities within the reservoir. Moreover the pressures of the injection wells
and the producing wells have been kept constant during the entire GAGD-EOR gas injection operations. Other important
parameters include the relative mobilities and viscosities of the all operational phases (oil, water and gas) and residual oil
saturations of water and gas. Keeping in mind these considerations with regards to GAGD-EOR method, the scaling groups
are obtained through the dimensionless analysis.
Rigorous inspectional analysis procedures carried out in the previous studies for dipping reservoirs (Gharbi et al., 1998;
Shook et al., 1992) to produced dimensionless scaling groups that can be modified to implement sensitivity analysis for the
horizontal type reservoir under investigation in this study. Secondary waterflooding based gravity number (ratio of the
gravity to the viscous forces) from Shook et al. (2002) is dependent on the rate of the water injection. To consider the
GAGD-EOR process dependent constant pressures condition of the injection wells and the production wells, and the highly
compressible nature of the injectant (CO2), the gravity number is modified to make it applicable to the horizontal type
reservoir. Saturation groups are included in the scaling group to study the better understanding for the quantification of the oil
recovered. The following 10 dimensionless groups are used to scale the GAGD-EOR process.

kv
kh

RL =

L
H

N =

L
tan
H

M wo =

M go =

k rw / w
k ro / o
k rg / g

k ro / o
H k v ro g
N gI =
L
uT
Hg
N gP =
P
Pinj
PinjD =
PMM
Pprod
PprodD =
PMM

Effective aspect ratio

Dip angle

..... (1)

... (2)

Mobility ratio (Water-oil) . (3)

Mobility ratio (CO2-oil)

. (4)

Gravity number (based on the gas injection rate)

.. (5)

Gravity Number (based on the gas injection and oil production pressures)
Injection pressure group

... (6)

. (7)

Producing pressure group . (8)

SPE 115065

S orw
S org

Residual oil saturation to water (water-oil system)

.. (9)

Residual oil saturation to gas (gas-oil system)

(10)

GAGD-EOR performance is analyzed using the fractional oil recovery in the form of dimensionless oil recovery (RD)
curves over the dimensionless time (tD). Dimensionless recovery is the amount of the oil recovered that was available just
before the start of gas injection in the GAGD-EOR stage. Values of the involved parameters are varied so that the final
groups values remain unchanged. Then the sensitivity of these groups towards the changes in the operational parameters is
studied using numerical simulation results from the CMGIMEX software. If the ultimate dimensionless recovery
performance over the dimensionless time, represented in the form of ratio of the cumulative gas volumes injected to the pore
volume, matches for the cases under consideration then the dimensionless scaling group can sufficiently scale the GAGDEOR process.
Risk Analysis of the operational parameters
The identification of the relative dominance of the parameters operational in the gas-oil gravity drainage EOR process is
carried out using PALISADEs @RISK software. Correlation based approach is adopted for this purpose. Three
dimensionless groups were selected because of the availability of variable parameters within the correlation. They are gravity
number (Ng), water-oil mobility ratio (Mwo) and gas-oil mobility ratio (Mgo). Monte Carlo simulations are carried over the
ranges of parameters given in Table 1 through 5000 iterations. Deterministic parameters (e.g.: length, depth etc.) do not
change for the process under consideration for a given reservoir settings. Probabilistic parameters are defined in two types of
probability distribution function (PDF), i.e. normal and triangular. Total fluid velocity, uT (ft/d) and mobility ratio are
assumed as normal PDFs represented by its mean and standard deviation. Other parameters are defined as triangular PDFs
with its minimum, most likely, and maximum value (Table 1). Values of the parameters (except gravity number and mobility
ratio) are based on the gas injection gravity drainage field case studies.

Table 1: Ranges of the parameters (GAGD-EOR process) values used in the risk analysis
Parameter

Deterministic

H (ft)

1500

L (ft)

30000

kz (mD)

1200

Probabilistic
Minimum

Most Likely

Maximum

100

1200

3400

10

52.8872

120

krw

0.18

0.3

0.48

kro

0.35

0.7

0.85

krg

0.1

0.3

0.4

o (cP)

0.19

0.5

3.7

w (cP)

0.25

0.3647

0.58

CO2 (cP)

0.0182

0.056

0.11

ro
3

(lb/ft )
2

g (ft/s )
uT (ft/D)

Mean

Std Dev

0.28226

0.08318

52.8872
32.174
0.00647

0.00179

The Monte Carlo simulations using the @RISK software are first carried out separately on each of the group and then
cumulatively on all the groups. The risk analysis results are presented in Figure 2 [(a), (b)] and Figure 3 [(a), (b)] in the forms
of Tornado diagrams. As seen in Figure 2 (a) for gravity number, the vertical permeability is shown to have the largest
impact on the gravity number followed by the density difference between the injected CO2 and oil. It is so in GAGD-EOR
process because the reservoir oil is displaced downward towards the horizontal producers placed at the bottom of the payzone. Good vertical communication between the layers is one of the necessary conditions. Also larger the density differences
between the injected fluid and the reservoir oil, the higher are the gravity segregation effects and the gravity-drainage oil
displacement. Total superficial velocity (uT) of the fluids and the end point oil mobility (ro) follow kv and . Total
superficial velocity contributes the viscous forces which in turn competes with the gravity forces. This is also one of the
important parameters while assessing the overall gravity drainage recovery performance.

SPE 115065

(a)

(b)

Correlations for Ng / det/B13

kv (mD) / @RISK/H7

o (cP) / @RISK/H11

.703

(lb/ft3) / @RISK/H9
??

Correlations for Mwo / det/B14

.888

krw / @RISK/H8

.534

.282

@RISK Student Version

@RISK Student Version

For Academic Use Only

For Academic Use Only

-.414

-.24

uT (ft/s) / @RISK/H11

ro / @RISK/H8
?ro

-.225

.056

-1

-0.75

-0.5

-0.25

kro / @RISK/H9

0.25

0.5

0.75

-1

-0.75

-0.5

w (cP) / @RISK/H12

-0.25

0.25

0.5

0.75

Correlation Coefficients

Correlation Coefficients

Figure 2: Tornado diagram: Relative dominance of multiphase parameters in GAGD-EOR process Gravity number (Ng) (b) Mobility
ratio: water-oil (Mwo)

For GAGD-EOR application to a non-dipping horizontal reservoir in this study, the vertical permeability is kept constant.
Also the difference in the density between the reservoir oil and the injected fluid (CO2) changes marginally during the
process due to the immiscible gas injection. Therefore, these parameters are selected as the deterministic (constant)
parameters. The next critical parameters - total superficial velocity of the fluids and the end point mobility of the oil - are
considered as variable parameters in the sensitivity studies.
(a)

(b)

Correlations for Mgo / det/B15

Correlations for Ng / det/B13

kz (mD) / @RISK/H7

o (cP) / @RISK/H11

.694

?? (lb/ft3) / @RISK/H9

.801

.561
-.386

uT (ft/s) / @RISK/H11

/ @RISK/H8
?ro
ro
-.414

.038
-.018

CO2 (cP) / @RISK/H13

@RISK Student Version

-.018
@RISK Student
Version

For Academic Use Only

krg / @RISK/H10

kro / @RISK/H9

.309

-.231

.017

w (cP) / @RISK/H12

.01
-.009

kro / @RISK/H9

-.008

CO2 (cP) / @RISK/H13

-.007

kro / @RISK/H9

krw / @RISK/H8

o (cP) / @RISK/H11

-1

-0.75

-0.5

-0.25

Correlation Coefficients

0.25

o (cP) / @RISK/H11

For Academic Use Only

krg / @RISK/H10

0.5

0.75

-1

-0.75

.007

-0.5

-0.25

0.25

0.5

0.75

Correlation Coefficients

Figure 3: Tornado diagram: Relative dominance of multiphase parameters in GAGD-EOR process (a) Mobility ratio (Mgo) (b) All the
operational parameters

With regard to mobility ratios (Mwo and Mgo), the oil viscosity is shown to be the most critical parameter. Mobility ratio is
directly proportional to the changes in the oil viscosity (Figure 3 (a) and (b)). Therefore, its reduction is one of the important
objectives for enhanced oil recovery method especially through gas (CO2) injection. Relative permeability to water and oil,
followed by the water viscosity, were shown to be next critical parameters for the Mwo. For gas-oil mobility ratio, gas
viscosity is shown to be the next critical parameter followed by the relative permeability of gas and oil.

SPE 115065

Sensitivity Analysis: GAGD-EOR

In sensitivity studies, the value of each scaling group under consideration representing GAGD-EOR process is calculated.
Using data obtained in the reservoir simulations for each individually-changed parameter in each of the group, the fractional
oil recovery in the form of dimensionless recovery (RD) over the dimensionless time (tD) for each of the case is obtained. The
dimensionless recovery (RD) is the percentage of the available oil in place (for GAGD-EOR study) recovered after the CO2
injection whereas the dimensionless time (tD) is the ratio of the cumulative CO2 volume injected and pore volume. In all
sensitivity studies, Case-II shown in Table 2 is taken as the basis for varying the parametric values in the scaling group under
consideration thereby keeping the values of other scaling groups constant.
Reservoir Description
The reservoir model is a three-dimensional hypothetical system constructed using the CMGs commercial implicit
explicit black oil simulator IMEX. A conventional Cartesian grid without corner point geometry or local grid refinement is
used in this purpose - 50 blocks in the X-direction, 30 blocks in the Y-direction and the 10 layers in the Z-direction
constitutes 15000 grid block model with dimensions 600ft, 400ft and 150ft in I, J and K-directions respectively. Cell (1,1,1)
is at a depth of 8000 feet at the centre of the cell top.
The homogeneous anisotropic reservoir is based on parameters (cf. Table 1) adopted from the field data in the literature.
The average reservoir porosity is 0.22% and I and J-direction permeabilities are 1200 mD with a ratio of vertical to horizontal
permeabilities (Kv/Kh) of 1.0. The four-component (oil, gas, water and chase gas) pseudomiscible option with no chase gas
was invoked to simulate three phase flow of fluids. The reservoir fluid used is the 35 oAPI gravity black oil with the solution
gas gravity of 0.65. The PVT properties of the oil and gas were generated using correlations incorporated in the CMGs
WINPROP module. The associated formation water properties namely the salinity, formation volume factor, compressibility,
viscosity and the density are also simulated using WINPROP at the reference pressure of 4000 and the reference depth of
9250 psi. The solvent (CO2) properties including solution gas ratio, formation volume factor, the viscosity and the mixing
parameter between the oil and solvent responsible for the miscibility were determined using the pseudomiscible option of
WINPROP.
The reservoir is considered a water-wet reservoir. The respective values of the connate water saturation (0.15), the critical
gas saturation (0.05) and end point saturations of oil, gas and water were assigned in the model to calculate the relative
permeability values using the Stone-II model. All Corey exponents were set at 2.0. The relative permeability curves were
constructed using these values. The initial reservoir temperature is 180 oF with an average reservoir pressure of 3837 psi. The
saturation pressure of the reservoir oil is 3703.327 psi. The oil-water-contact (OWC) and the gas-oil-contact (GOC) are at the
depths of 8450 ft and the 9150 respectively with the pay zone thickness of 700 ft. With these data the initialization of the
model yields the relative in-place distribution of oil, water and gas of 6138 MMSTB, 1296 BCF and 6316 MMSTB,
respectively. Total 21 wells were used in the reservoir development stage that included 10 production wells (perforated in the
layers 5, 6 and 7) in primary production stage, three vertical water injection wells (layer 10) in the secondary production
stage, three CO2 vertical injectors (layer 3) and five horizontal producers (layer 7) in GAGD-EOR stage.
Gravity number group
Depth, height and vertical permeability of the reservoir, relative permeability and viscosity of the oil, the difference of the
density between the oil and injected gas, acceleration due to gravity and the total superficial velocity of the fluids constitutes
the gravity number that is based on the constant gas injection rate constraint. Risk analysis of these parameters showed that
the superficial velocity is the most critical parameter with the constant vertical permeability and the injected gas and oil
density difference for a GAGD-EOR setting given in Table 2. Therefore the average total superficial velocity of the fluids is
adapted from IMEX simulations while studying the sensitivity of gravity number. Its variation with the dimensionless
recovery is as shown in figure 4a. uT increases with the higher injection rates. For a particular injection rate, it increases
gradually yielding nearly stable gravity number (Figure 4b). With the further advancement of the gas floodfront towards the
wellbore, uT increased at higher rate. Gravity number further decreased corresponding to the uT variation. It sharply rises
after the gas breakthrough. With each successive higher gas injection rate combination, the lower gravity number responses
were observed. These results suggest that the gravity number is sensitive to the superficial velocity (gas injection rates)
changes, which is in agreement with the risk analysis on the gravity number. Respective gravity drainage oil recovery
performance is analyzed by constructing dimensionless recovery (RD) vs. dimensionless time (tD) (Figure 5a). At low gravity
numbers, higher dimensionless recoveries are obtained as seen in Case-I while for the higher gravity number Case-III, lower
oil recoveries were obtained. This suggests that the dimensionless recoveries are inversely proportional to the gravity
number. In all the cases gravity number variation is not very significant owing to the dominating gravity drainage oil
recovery mechanism.

SPE 115065

Table 2: Multiphase operational parameters considered for the sensitivity analysis of GAGD-EOR
process. Group value of one of the scaling group is varied while keeping other group values constant
Parameters

Case-I

Case-II

Case-III

Groups

Case-I

Case-II

Case-III

L (ft)

30000

30000

30000

RL

20

20

20

w (ft)

12000

12000

12000

H (ft)

1500

1500

1500

Mw

0.21

0.21

0.21

P (psia)

3837

3837

3837

Mg

1.36

1.36

1.36

180

180

180

Soi

0.85

0.85

0.85

kV (md)

1200

1200

1200

Sorw

0.2

0.2

0.2

kH (md)

1200

1200

1200

Sorg

0.1

0.1

0.1

53.002

53.002

53.002

T ( F)

o (lb/ft )
3

CO2 (lb/ft )

0.1148

0.1148

0.1148

o (cP)

0.2026

0.2026

0.2026

w (cP)

0.3687

0.3687

0.3687

CO2 (cP)

0.056

0.056

0.056

krw

0.3

0.3

0.3

kro

0.8

0.8

0.8

krg

0.3

0.3

0.3

ICO2(SCFD)

5.10E+07

6.75E+07

9.00E+07

1.6E-07

1.0E+13
Case-I
Case-II

1.4E-07

Case-I

Effectofgravityonrecovery

(b)

Case-II

9.0E+12

Case-III

case-III

8.0E+12
1.2E-07

Gravity Number, Ng

Total superficial velocity of the fluids, uT (ft/s)_

(a)

1.0E-07
8.0E-08
6.0E-08

7.0E+12
6.0E+12
5.0E+12
4.0E+12
3.0E+12

4.0E-08

2.0E+12
2.0E-08

1.0E+12
0.0E+00

0.0E+00
0

10

15

20

25

Dimensionless Recovery, RD (%)

30

35

10

15

20

25

30

Dimensionless Recovery, RD (%)

Figure 4 (a) Total superficial velocity (uT) and (b) Gravity Number (Ng) vs dimensionless recovery (RD)
GAGD oil recovery is based on the constant gas injection and oil producing pressure as well. Therefore the gravity
number based on these parameters is obtained by converting the gas injection rate constraints to the pressure constraints. The
term describing the potential difference across the reservoir due to viscous forces (uT.L/kv.) is replaced by the difference of
the pressure between the gas injection well and the oil production well (Pinj-Pprod). Three sample reservoirs with the pressure
based gravity numbers of 17000, 11600 and 8200 are created. For this purpose, the reservoir parameters of the Case-II given
in Table 2 are used to vary pressure parameter while keeping other scaling group values constant. Figure 5b depicts the
dimensionless recovery performance of these sample reservoirs. As seen in figure, the pressure dependent gravity number
produced very similar dimensionless GAGD-EOR performance.

SPE 115065

(a)

3.5E+01

35

(b)

Ng-P 1.7E+04
Ng-P 1.16E+04
Ng-P 8.2E+03

30

Dimensionless Recovery (RD) %

DimensionlessRecovery,RD(%)

3.0E+01

2.5E+01

2.0E+01

1.5E+01

1.0E+01
Case-I

5.0E+00

25
20
15
10
5

case-II
Case-III

0.0E+00
0

10

15

20

25

30

35

Dimensionlesstime,tD

0
0

10
15
Dimensionless time, tD

20

25

Figure 5: Dimensionless recovery (RD) vs. Dimensionless time (tD) of the GAGD-EOR process using scaling group (a) Gravity
number (injection rate based) and (b) pressure based gravity number.

Pressure group
Three combinations of the injection well and producing well pressures are used while keeping other scaling group values
constant (Case-II combination shown in Table-2). They are 2800 psia and 2650 psia, 2750 and 2550, and 2700 and 2450
with their respective dimensionless group values of injection and producing pressure groups as given in Figure 6. At higher
values of the injection and producing pressure group, a lower recovery is obtained. At lower pressure combination, the oil
recovery yield is higher with a delayed production of about 7 years compared to the highest pressure group combination.
Flattened recovery curves are the oil recoveries obtained after gas breakthrough. Hence, the amount of oil displaced in the
GAGD-EOR process is inversely related to the pressure at the gas injection and oil production well, so the injection pressure
and production pressure group.

35

PinjD 0.5253 PprodD 0.4767

PinjD 0.5350 PprodD 0.4961
PinjD 0.5447 PprodD 0.5156

Dimensionless Recovery (RD) %

30

25

20

15

10

0
0

10

15

20

25

Dimensionless time, tD

Figure 6: Dimensionless oil recovery performance of GAGD-EOR method for three sample pressure groups. Other scaling group
values are kept constant.

Mobility ratio group

Mobility ratio represents the relative mobility of the phases present in the reservoir. Movement of the oil, water and gas at
the reservoir conditions play an important role on the outcome of the recovery performance of the water and gas injection
operations. An unfavorable mobilities of these phases results in oil bypassing, viscous fingering, channeling. Sensitivity of
mobility ratios on the GAGD-EOR process is studied in three settings for water-oil and CO2-oil system.
For the sensitivity studies of the water-oil mobility ratio (Mwo), relative permeability of water is varied from 0.18, 0.3 and
0.48 while relative permeability to oil is kept constant at 0.8. Other dimensionless group values were maintained constant.
Dimensionless recovery performance over the dimensionless time is as shown in Figure 7a. The results indicate that water-oil
mobility ratio of three cases start to differ after few years of the production, which continue to rise in the later stage of the
flooding operations. Higher oil recovery is obtained at lower Mwo suggesting that the dimensionless oil recovery is inversely

10

SPE 115065

proportional to the water-oil mobility ratio in GAGD-EOR method. For gas (CO2)-oil mobility sensitivity study, four sample
reservoirs were created with the scaling group values of 0.45, 0.90, 1.36 and 1.81 by varying the relative gas permeability as
0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4. Dimensionless recoveries obtained over the dimensionless time are as depicted in Figure 7b.
Dimensionless recovery performance curves start to differ from each other in the middle of flood. It becomes more
pronounced in the last quarter of the gas flooding, which further increases after gas breakthrough (flattened portion of the
curve). This is in contrast with the flood performance of the water-oil mobility ratio. Deviations between the individual
recoveries were high in the middle of the flood which continues to rise. In case of the Mgo, the relative mobility of the CO2 to
displace the oil in the reservoir downward towards the producing wells is critical for the success of the GAGD-EOR method.

(a)

35

35

(b)

Mwo 0.11

Mgo 1.81

Mwo 0.21

Mgo 0.90

30

Dimensionless Recovery (RD) %

30

Dimensionless Recovery (RD) %

Mgo 1.36

Mwo 0.33

25

20

15

10

Mgo 0.45

25

20

15

10

0
0

10

15

20

25

12

15

18

21

Dimensionless time, tD

Dimensionless time, tD

Figure 7: Curves depicting the dimensionless oil recovery vs. dimensionless time (tD) for the sensitivity analysis of (a) water-oil
mobility ratio (Mwo) (b) gas-oil mobility ratio (Mgo)in GAGD-EOR method. Other Scaling group vlaues are kept constant.

Residual oil saturations

Residual oil saturation to water (Sorw) and gas (Sorg) is studied for its sensitivity in the GAGD-EOR process. Residual oil
saturation to water is varied in three cases mainly, 0.2, 0.25 and 0.3 while residual oil saturation to gas is varied as 0.1, 0.2
and 0.3. Other dimensionless scaling group values are kept constant. Results of the sensitivity analysis are as shown in Figure
8a for the residual oil saturation to water and Figure 8b for the residual oil saturation to gas.

(a)

35

(b)

Sorw 0.2

35

Sorg 0.1
Sorg 0.2

Sorw 0.25
Sorw 0.30

Sorg 0.3

30

Dimensionless Recovery (RD) %

Dimensionless Recovery (RD) %

30

25

20

15

10

25

20

15

10

0
0

10

15

Dimensionless time, tD

20

25

10

15

20

25

Dimensionless time, tD

Figure 8: Dimensionless recovery performance of GAGD-EOR process for the residual oil saturations to water (Sorw) and gas (Sorg).
Values of other dimensionless scaling groups are kept constant while varying the values of the Sorw and Sorg

Results represented through the dimensionless oil recovery showed that the residual oil saturation to water and gas has
considerable impact even with a minor variation in their values. In case of residual oil saturation of water, the dimensionless
recovery is low for the higher Sorw values. It begins to deviate right from the start of the GAGD CO2 injection from other
dimensionless recoveries of the lower residual oil saturations. For the residual oil saturation of gas, these deviations are
higher. At the lower residual oil saturation to gas, very high dimensionless oil recovery is obtained compared to the residual
oil saturation to water. Flattened shape of the curves represents the oil recoveries after CO2 breakthrough. Lower residual oil
saturation to gas delays the gas breakthrough as seen for Sorg of 0.1 by the changed course of the dimensionless recover

SPE 115065

11

curve. On the other side the higher Sorg (0.3) yield early gas breakthrough. For the Sorw dimensionless recoveries, the gas
breakthrough time was about similar. These results indicate that Sorw and Sorg should be included in the scaling GAGD-EPR
process.
Validation of the dimensionless scaling groups
The functional relationship between the dimensionless scaling groups and an immiscible GAGD-EOR performance in all
of the sensitivity studies is mapped through numerical simulations over the CMGS IMEX simulator. Now the dimensionless
recovery performance obtained through the dimensionless scaling groups should be matched for its validation. To achieve
this, the parameters making up the dimensionless scaling groups are changed so that the final values of the all the scaling
groups remain unchanged. Dimensionless recoveries of the sample reservoirs with equal dimensionless group values if
closely agrees with each other all the times, then these scaling groups could be sufficient to scale the GAGD-EOR process at
the field scale.
Table 3: Dimensional properties of three
sample reservoirs, (based on the pressures
of gas injection and oil production wells)

Table 4: Dimensionless group values of the three

sample cases of reservoirs
Scaling groups

Parameters

Reservoir-I Reservoir-II Reservoir-III

RL

Reservoir-I Reservoir-II Reservoir-III

20

20

20

L (ft)

30000

30000

30000

W (ft)

12000

12000

12000

Mw

0.21

0.21

0.21

H (ft)

1500

1500

1500

Mg

1.36

1.36

1.36

P (psia)

3837

3837

3837

NgP

1.70E+04

1.70E+04

1.70E+04

T (oF)

180

180

180

PiD

0.54

0.54

0.54

kV (md)

1200

1050

1400

PPD

0.52

0.52

0.52

kH (md)

1200

1050

1400

Soi

0.85

0.85

0.85

o (lb/ft3)

53.002

53.002

53.002

Sorw

0.2

0.2

0.2

CO2 (lb/ft3)

0.1148

0.1148

0.1148

Sorg

0.1

0.1

0.1

o (cP)

0.2026

0.2026

0.2026

w (cP)

0.3687

0.3687

0.3687

CO2 (cP)

0.056

0.056

0.056

Pi (psia)

2800

2800

2800

PP (psia)

2650

2650

2650

PMM (psia)

5140

5140

5140

krw

0.3

0.27

0.24

kro

0.8

0.72

0.64

krg

0.3

0.27

0.24

The individual values of the dimensional properties (of the operational multiphase parameters of the GAGD-EOR
process) and dimensionless scaling groups are as given in Table 3 and Table 4, respectively. Vertical and horizontal
permeability, end point relative permeabilities of water, oil and gas, saturations of oil, gas and water are changed in three
reservoir samples (I, II and III) so that the values of 10 dimensionless scaling groups remain constant. Vertical and horizontal
permeability values are varied as 1200 mD, 1050 mD and 1400 mD. krw and krg values are varied as 0.3, 0.27 and 0.24
whereas kro values are changed as 0.8, 0.72 and 0.64. The pressures in the gas injection and oil production wells are used in
obtaining the final injection pressure group, producing pressure group and the gravity number values. The calculated scaling
group values are as given in Table 4.
The dimensionless recovery for three cases is plotted against the dimensionless time for three sample reservoirs as
depicted in Figure 7. CMGs IMEX simulator is used to obtain the data required for validation of the scaling groups. The
results depicted in the figure showed that the dimensionless recoveries obtained for all the reservoirs under investigation are
identical. Maps produced are in close agreement with each other by just 10-12% variation until CO2 breakthrough. This
indicates that the results in the dimensionless quantities are reproducible. They are independent of scale. Therefore any
reservoir with the equal values of these groups should have same dimensionless recovery. Therefore, the results obtained
using the dimensionless groups in this study should be sufficient for scaling of GAGD-EOR process.

12

SPE 115065

Dimensionless Groups Validation

35

Dimensionless Recovery (RD) %

reservoir-I
Reservoir-II

30

Reservoir-III

25
20
15
10
5
0
0

10

15

20

25

Dimensionless time (Cum Vinj/PV), tD

Figure 9: Dimensionless recovery vs. Dimensionless time for the Sample reservoirs I, II and III. Operational parameters of the
scaling groups are changed while holding the values of each of the dimensionless scaling groups constant. Very close agreement is
reached between three sample reservoirs suggesting that the dimensionless scaling groups used in this study can appropriately
scale the GAGD-EOR process.

Conclusions
In this study, GAGD-EOR process is scaled with a special emphasis on the pressure-based gravity number and the residual
oil saturations of water and gas. Keeping in mind the various limitations and assumptions imposed in this study, the
following conclusions can be drawn:
1. Small changes in the residual oil saturations of water and oil can highly impact the GAGD oil recovery performance.
2. Dimensionless oil recovery performance study through the dimensionless groups indicates that the pressure-based
gravity number is more appropriate to scale the GAGD-EOR method compared to the gas injection rate based
gravity number.
3. The validation tests conducted on the scaling groups used in this study suggests that these groups could be adequate
to scale GAGD-EOR process especially in horizontal type (non-dipping) reservoir.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Santos Limited for its support to research on the CO2 EOR process within the Centre for
Improved Oil Recovery at the Australian School of Petroleum, University of Adelaide. The first author is a recipient of the
Santos Post-Graduate scholarship.
Nomenclature
Bo = Formation Volume Factor of the oil, Res bbl/STB, [L3/L3]
Bg = Formation Volume Factor of the gas, SCF/STB, [L3/L3]
Bsolvent = Formation Volume Factor of the solvent [L3/L3]
g = acceleration due to gravity, ft/s2 [L/t2]
H = thickness of the reservoir, ft [L]
ig = rate of gas injection, SCFD
kv = vertical permeability, mD, psia [L2]
kh = horizontal permeability within the reservoir, mD, psia [L2]
kro = permeability to oil of the porous medium, mD, psia [L2]
krg = permeability to gas of the porous medium, mD, psia [L2]
krw = permeability to water of the porous medium, mD, psia [L2]
L = characteristic length of reservoir or Well spacing, ft [L]
Mwo = water-oil mobility ratio, bbls [L3]
Mgo = gas-oil mobility ratio, bbls [L3]
Np = cumulative oil production, bbls [L3]
NgI = Gravity number based on the gas injection rate, dimensionless
NgP = Gravity number based on the pressure difference between the gas injection and oil production wells, dimensionless
N = Dip angle group, dimensionless

SPE 115065

13

Pinj = gas injection pressure, psia [M/LT2]

Pprod = Oil recovery (producing) pressure, psia [M/LT2]
PMM = minimum miscibility pressure, psia [M/LT2]
P = difference of pressure between the gas injection pressure and oil recovery pressure, psia [M/LT2]
qo = rate of the oil production, bpd, [L3/T]
RL = Effective Aspect ratio, dimensionless
Rs = solution gas-oil ratio
RD = Dimensionless recovery
S orw = residual oil saturation to water (water-oil system)

S org = residual oil saturation to gas (gas-oil system)

t = time [T]
tD = Dimensionless time
T = Temperature, oF []
uT = Average superficial velocity, ft/s, [L/T]
W = width (diameter of core) of the reservoir, ft [L]
Greek Symbols
o = density of reservoir fluid (oil), lb/ ft3[M/L3]
g = density of the gas, lb/ ft3[M/L3]
= difference of the density between the reservoir fluid (oil) and the injected gas, lb/ ft3 [M/L3]
ro = mobility of oil within the porous medium
rg = mobility of gas within the porous medium
rw = mobility of water within the porous medium
= Porosity, fraction
= angle of dip (tilt) of a particular reservoir section with respect to the horizontal
o = viscosity of the oil, cP [M/LT]
g = viscosity of the gas, cP [M/LT]
solvent = viscosity of the solvent, cP [M/LT]
Subscripts
x = x-direction
y = y-direction
z = z-direction
V = vertical
H = horizontal
s = solution
g = gas
o = oil
s = solvent
SI Metric Conversion Factors
E + 00 = g/cm3
141.5 / (131.5+ oAPI)
bbl 0.15899
E + 00 = m3
cp 1
E + 00 = mPa.s
E + 00 = oC
(oF 32) 0.55
ft 3.048
E + 00 = m
md 9.869
E - 09 = m2
psi 6.895
E + 00 = KPa

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