ABSTRACT

There is three stages of hydrocarbon production. The first stage is primary recovery,
and continue to secondary recovery, and tertiary recovery with enhanced oil recovery
method. Primary recovery in which natural reservoir energy, such as gas drive, water drive
or gravity drainage, displaces hydrocarbons from the reservoir, into the wellbore and up to
surface. Muskat defines primary recovery as the production period "beginning with the
initial field discovery and continuing until the original energy sources for oil expulsion are no
longer alone able to sustain profitable producing rates." In the Primary recovery, there is
pressure maintenance methods. Muskat defines pressure maintenance as "the operation of
(fluid) injection into a reservoir during the course of its primary-production history." The
main effect of pressure maintenance is to mitigate the reservoirs pressure decline and
conserve its energy. The purpose of pressure maintenance is ultimately to improve oil
recovery. The most common injected fluids for pressure maintenance are water and separator
or residue gas. "Partial" and "complete" pressure maintenance describe the general
effectiveness of a given pressure-maintenance operation to retard the rate of pressure decline.
Partial pressure maintenance refers to fluid injection while a general state of pressure decline
still exists. Full or complete pressure maintenance refers to fluid injection while the reservoir
pressure remains essentially constant. Pressure maintenance operations can be divided into
two main categories. Firstly, gas injection in gas zone and secondly water injection in water
zone at the reservoir. The difference between pressure maintenance which is in primary
recovery and secondary recovery is that pressure maintenance is done when the drive
mechanism and flow rate still large enough to flow the oil into the wellbore and up to
surface, and reservoir pressure is still above or near bubble point pressure. While secondary
recovery is done when reservoir pressure is already passed the bubble point pressure.

1
 INTRODUCTION
Muskat defines primary recovery as the production period "beginning with the initial
field discovery and continuing until the original energy sources for oil expulsion are no
longer alone able to sustain profitable producing rates." Primary recovery is also sometimes
referred to as pressure depletion because it necessarily involves the decline of the reservoir
pressure. Primary recovery should be distinguished clearly from secondary recovery. Muskat
defines secondary recovery as "the injection of (fluids) after the reservoir has reached a state
of substantially complete depletion of its initial content of energy available for (fluid)
expulsion or where the production rates have approached the limits of profitable
operation." One of the most popular secondary-recovery methods is waterflooding. Because
primary recovery invariably results in pressure depletion, secondary recovery requires
"repressuring" or increasing the reservoir pressure.
Primary recovery includes pressure-maintenance methods. Muskat defines pressure
maintenance as "the operation of (fluid) injection into a reservoir during the course of its
primary-production history." The main effect of pressure maintenance is to mitigate the
reservoirs pressure decline and conserve its energy. The purpose of pressure maintenance is
ultimately to improve oil recovery. The most common injected fluids for pressure
maintenance are water and separator or residue gas. "Partial" and "complete" pressure
maintenance describe the general effectiveness of a given pressure-maintenance operation to
retard the rate of pressure decline. Partial pressure maintenance refers to fluid injection while
a general state of pressure decline still exists. Full or complete pressure maintenance refers to
fluid injection while the reservoir pressure remains essentially constant.
According to Muskats definition of pressure maintenance, secondary-recovery
methods such as waterflooding are not strictly pressure-maintenance operations because they
begin after pressure depletion. However, if water injection takes place before the end of
pressure depletion, which is not uncommon, it is considered a pressure-maintenance method.
If water is injected before the end of primary recovery, the reservoir is classified as an
artificial water drive. Since Muskat first proposed his definition, others have loosely applied
the term pressure maintenance to include any fluid-injection strategy at any stage in the
reservoirs production.

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 LITERATURE

Ultimate recovery from oil reservoir can often be substantially increased by

augmentating the natural reservoir energy. This increased recovery is due primarily to one or
both of the following factors:
1. Decreasing the depletion drive index by maintaining reservoir pressure the maximum
possible amount.
2. Replacing the natural displacing forces with a more efficient displacing force, as for
example, replacing a gas cap drive with an artificial water drive. Returning gas to the
reservoir to maintain reservoir pressure and displace the oil from the reservoir by an
expanding artificial gas cap could be classified in both of the categories, since
depletion drive index will be reduce, and the expanding external gas drive is certain
to be more efficient than the dissolved gas drive.
Pressure maintain operation can be divided into three categories:
1. Gas injection
2. Water injection
3. Combination of the aforementioned fluid
The installation of the pressure maintenance facility often required the expenditure of
large sums of money and although additional oil recovery is almost assured, this additional
oil recovery must more than pay the cost of installing and operating the pressure
maintenance facility. Thus it is of the utmost importance to be able to accurately predict the
amount of increased production and also the volume of injected fluid required to recover this
additional oil.
Two different techniques are commonly use to predict recovery from pressure
maintenance operation.
1. Conventional material balance prediction
2. Frontal drive prediction method

There are two severe limitations of the conventional material balance method of
predicting reservoir performance under pressure maintenance operation. One of these
limitations is the difficulty of the developing usable oil saturation equation. The injected
fluid must be assumed to either effectively reduces the size of the oil zone, or else be
distributed uniformly throughout the oil zone. The latter assumption is entirely incorrect, but
if the first assumption is used than some methods must be devised for determining the
fraction of injected fluid which will be produced. In any pressure maintenance project,
substantial quantities of the injected fluid will be produced and this produces fluid will have
quite an effect on the oil saturation equation.

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 METHODOLOGY

Pressure maintenance by Gas Injection

Gas has been the most widely used fluid for pressure maintenance operation. There
are several reason for this:
1. Gas is readily available in many areas, either from reservoir being produced, or from
extraneous source.
2. Since the gas is non reactive with the reservoir rock it can be injected into the reservoir
with a minimum amount of trouble.
3. It may be desirable to converse the produce gas for of future gas market, and than the
gas can be returned to the reservoir where it will not only be stored for future used,
but where it will also displace some oil from the reservoir.
4. State regulatory agencies may force the return of gas as a conservation measured

Predicting performance by Gas Injection

Predicting performance with Tarner Method.
The conventional tarner method can usually be applied with good result provided reliable
data available, and the proper precautions. The material balance equation must be modified
to study the effects of gas injection. The correct material balance for a reservoir with an
original gas cap and a water drive is derived as follows:

SCF Gas Originally = SCF Gas Produced + SCF Gas Remaining.. (1)

Equation (1) can be developed where part of the gas will be returned to the reservoir, the
following relationship holds true:

SCF Gas Produced = SCF Gross Gas Produced SCF Gas Injected (2)
= NpRp Gi (3)
Where: Gi = Cumulative gas injected, SCF.

{[()+( 1 )]+()++()}

NpRp = . (4)

Quite frequently it will be desirable to inject some fraction of the total gas produced.
Due to losses in gathering system and in the plant, and to various field uses, such as in
heaters and fuel for engines, it is never possible to inject all of the produced gas back into the
reservoir, except where an extraneous source of gas is available.

Where the injected gas is some fraction of the produced gas, the material balance equation (4)
can be very conveniently simplified since:
Gi = FNpRp (5)
Where : F = fraction of produced gas which is injected.

{[()+( 1 )]+()+()}

NpRp = (1)
(6)
Equation 6 is used with the instantaneous gas-oil ratio equation and the oil saturation
equation to study the effect of a gas injection pressure maintenance program.

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Injected gas Drive Index
the relative efficiency of the gas injection pressure maintenance operation can be
determined by rearranging equation above to solve for the index of combination drive
reservoirs into the equation (7) below

[()(1)()] {( () ()

1= + + +

The term is the injected gas drive index. For a depletion drive reservoir the gas cap and
the water influx termns are zero, and equation reduces to:

[()()
1= + (8)

Theoretically, the greatest recovery would occur at constant reservoir pressure .

however, economic factors may dictate some pressure reduction, as it may be uneconomic, or
physically impossible, to return enough gas to the reservoir to maintain a constant pressure.
Therefore, in practice, the reservoir pressure declines continuously in most pressure
maintenance operations. A periodic check on the index of drives will show the efficiency of
gas injection operations.

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 Result And Discussion

Reservoir X, used to illustrate the Tarner method for predicting behavior of depletion
drive reservoirs, will also be used to show the calculated effects of pressure maintenance by
gas injection. The conventional Tarner method will also be used for the gas injection study.
The necessary data are shown in tables 1 and 2 and in figures 4-3, 4-4, and 4-5 below:

Table 1
Engineering Data for Reservoir X Depletion Drive Reservoir
Structure Low-relief stratigraphic trap

Average depth 6500 feet

Original Reservoir Pressure 2925 psia

Reservoir Saturation Pressue 2100 psia

Reservoir Temprature 175 F

Interstitial Water Saturation 15%

(Swi)
Original Oil In Place 100,000,000 STB(from geologic
data)

Table 2
Basic Data Reservoir X

pressure Z Rs Bo Bg Bt Bo/Bg o/g

2100 0.842 1340 1.480 0.001283 1.480 1152 34.1
(Psat)

1800 0.854 1280 1.468 0.001518 1.559 967 38.3

1500 0.869 1150 1.440 0.001853 1.792 777 42.4
1200 0.888 985 1.399 0.002365 2.239 590 48.8
1000 0.901 860 1.360 0.002885 2.745 471 53.6
700 0.929 662 1.287 0.004250 4.167 303 62.5
400 0.960 465 1.202 0.007680 7.922 156 79.0

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 o
Pressure 1500 = 42.4
Figure 1. Reservoir Viscosity Ratio Data, Reservoir X

So 66.2%Kg/Ko 0.362

Figure 2. Relative Permeability ratio data, reservoir X

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 Figure 3. Determining True Value of Np1

Beginning at 1800 psia reservoir pressure, 75% of the produced gas is to be returned to the
reservoir. In order to simplify the calculations it will be assumed that 75% of all the gas which
has been produced from the saturation pressure at 2100 psia, down to 1800 psia, will be
returned.
The Material Balance equation will be:
( ) + ( )
=
2! (1 0.75)
A simplified oil saturation equation will be used wherein the assumption will be made that
the injected gas is distributed uniformly throughout the oil zone. The oil saturation equation
then will reduce to :

= (1 ) (1 )
()
Table 3 shows the calculated results obtained by injecting 75% of produced gas. Beginning at
1800 psia, table 3 shows a summary of the calculations for the performance prediction. While
calculation 1 and 2 shows example calculations for gas injection. The predicted additional
recovery as a result of returning 75% of the produced gas to the reservoir shown in figure 4.

Table 3
Summary of Result of Gas Injection Reservoir X
Pressure Np/N R(GOR) Np Npt1
(psia) (scf/stb) (bbl x (bbl
106) x106)

1800 0.0393 1936 3.795 7.240

1500 0.1810 10470 17.476 20.921

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 1200 0.2265 20085 21.870 25.315

1000 0.2475 27460 23.879 27.342

700 0.2709 39112 26.157 29.602

400 0.2894 47465 27.943 31.388

Answer & explanation

Pressure maintenance of reservoir X can be determined by predicting the reservoir
performance with calculation (1) below. In this example problem, we try to comparing the
actual data after injected 75% gas produced with equations in calculation (1). Evidently, the
actual data and calculation data is quite similar which means that the equation is valid
enough to help us predicting reservoir performance that already injected by x% gas or water.
Example in other case, if you only have actual pressure data and want to inject gas to
maintain pressure at your reservoir, you can predict the result first and you can get many
data (So, Kg/Ko, GOR, Ggor) in hope you can get the picture of the effect of pressure
maintenance itself .back to the example problem. In reservoir x, data at (table 3) is a actual
reservoir data that already injected by 75% of produced gas. If you compare data before
injection (table 2) with (table 3) you will know from the solution gas-oil ratio (Rs) before
injection is less than after gas injection. After calculating you can see that if you assuming the
(Np/N) closer to the actual value you will get more accurate prediction data. (see the assume
Np=0.20N vs assume Np=0.18N) the more detail of calculation predicting reservoir
performance given in figure 5, 6, and 7.

Calculation (1)
1. Np/N actual @ 1500 psia = 0.1810
2. Assume Np near actual data @ 1500 psia = 0.20 N
3. Calculate gas injection at first period with equation below. (the other data
given at table 2) *sat.=saturated
( . ) ( . )
= 22 =
(1 0.75)
(1.7921.480)0.20(1.7921.3400.001853)
=1+ 0.250.001853
= 972.0
4. Calculate Gmb2 = gas injection gas actual
Gmb2 = Np2Rp2 Np1Rp1
= 972.0N 64.34N = 907.66N
5. Calculate oil saturation (So)
1.440
= (1 )
(1 Swi) = (1 0.20) (
.
) (1 0.15) = 0.662
1.480

6. Plot So = 0.622 at figure 2 to get value of 0.362
7. Calculate producing gas-oil ratio (R)
o
Plot reservoir pressure 1500 psia at figure 1 = 42.4
o
R= + = 0.362 42.4 777 + 1150 = 13070

8. Calculate Ggor2

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 2 + 1 13070 + 1936 2
Ggor2 = ( ) (2 1) = ( ) (0.20 0.0393) = 1205
2 2
Repeat the calculation until you achieve complete data of predicting reservoir performance
(table 4)

N=initial oil in place in reservoir

Np=cumulative oil produced
Rp=cumulative gas-oil ratio
Rs=solution gas-oil ratio(gas solubility in oil)
Bt=total (two-phase) formation volume factor
Bo=oil formation volume factor
Bg=gas formation volume factor
G=total initial gas in place in reservoir
We=cumulative water influx(encroachment)
Wi=cumulative water injected
Gi=cumulative gas injected
f = barrels of net water injected per barrel of oil produced
F = fraction of produced gas which is injected

How are the injection requirements for pressure maintenance programs determined?

The first signs of reservoir trouble generally are detected from a study of the reservoir
behavior after the field has been developed and produced. Rapidly falling reservoir pressure,
increasing gas-oil ratio (GOR), and increasing water production may be the first indicators of
trouble. This interpedence (connection) of two or more reservoirs must be evaluated
thoroughly before an effective pressure maintenance program can be developed. After
assume that a reservoir performance study has been made and its concluded that pressure
maintenance program is required. The objectives of most studies is to determine the best
location and the number of injection wells required for the maximum ultimate recovery from
the reservoir

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 Conclusions
From all these papers and book about pressure maintenance that I have read, I can conclude
that :

a) 3D physical model is developed and successfully used to investigate the suitability of

pressure maintenance and improving oil recovery with immiscible CO2 injection in
heavy oil reservoir.

b) The well configuration shows a considerable effect of well configurations on pressure

maintenance and oil recovery with CO2 injection in heavy oil reservoir the well
configuration with a horizontal producers (scenario 2 & 3 ) not only achieves a higher
oil recovery during the waterflooding process, but also shows a better performance in
CO2 injections process than the conventional five spot well pattern (scenario 1).
Scenario 3 yields the highest oil recovery, indicating that two horizontal well located
at bottom of the reservoir are favorable for oil recovery.

c) Pressure maintenance can be predicted by calculating reservoir performance with

Conventional Material Balance Tarner Method Equation

d) Reservoir and potentiometric model analyzers are only as useful as the reservoir
engineering using them. The engineers knowledge of reservoir mechanics, the
accuracy of data employed, the limitations of the machines and the ability to interpret
the data obtained from the electronic brains are paramount in all studies. It is
proved fact that model studies can play very important part in the design of an
efficient pressure maintenance program.

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 REFERENCES

1. http://petrowiki.org/Primary_drive_mechanisms

2. http://petrowiki.org/Material_balance_in_oil_reservoirs

3. http://petrowiki.org/PEH:Oil_Reservoir_Primary_Drive_Mechanisms

4. http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Terms/p/primary_recovery.aspx

5. https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Enhanced_oil_recovery

6. https://www.onepetro.org/journal-paper/SPE-944012-G

7. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0920410513002891

8. https://www.onepetro.org/journal-paper/SPE-1240-G

9. https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/SPE-170126-MS

10. https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/SPE-172517-MS

11. https://www.onepetro.org/journal-paper/PETSOC-66-01-02

12. https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/SPE-19071-MS

13. https://www.onepetro.org/journal-paper/SPE-947112-G

14. https://www.onepetro.org/journal-paper/SPE-2130-PA

15. W. Cole, Frank. 1961. Reservoir Enginering Manual. Houston,

Texas: Gulf Publishing Company

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