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The final objective or reservoir engineering is to characterize the reservoir with the main
purpose of producing as much as quantity of hydrocarbon at the correct time. We will address
the rock and fluids properties and the interaction between them which are the basic of the
processes that take place at the reservoir
Any reservoir study involves a review of the basic reservoir engineering parameters. This work
conducts to: Integration with geological model and integration with reservoir simulation. As
we will see at the end of the module 0, all the parameters involve in reservoir description will
be an essential part of the input data for reservoir simulation.
Analysis of the fluid and rock properties conducts to know ( ) the energy mechanisms present
in the reservoir.
Production process is possible thanks to the energy presents that allows the fluids to flow
because of some kind of expansion that results in a displacement.
With all data obtained from reservoir description, we perform reservoir simulation as an
analysis tool for ( ) reserve calculation.
Reserves are the combination of stock tank oil initial in place by recovery factor.
The calculation of stock tank oil initial in place involves many disciplines as Geophysics,
geology, petrophysics and reservoir engineering.
And in a simplified manner, recovery factor depends on technical and economic factors.
Let’s start with reservoir description.
We could say that all Reservoir Engineer has twelve relatives: 5 rock properties and ( ) 7 fluid
properties.
We are going to focus in the rock properties: 3 “pure” rock properties, and 2 rock‐fluid
properties. We will see the different very soon.
The first one is Porosity (which is dimensionless) , permeability (which unit is mD),
compressibility (psi minus 1), Capillary pressure (psi) and relative permeability which is
dimensionless.
POROSITY: it provides hydrocarbon storage capacity. It is a measurement of the void space.
The porosity of interest to the reservoir engineer, which allows the fluids in the pores to
circulate, is the effective porosity. It corresponds to the pores connected to each other and to
other formations. A distinction is made between intergranular porosity, dissolution porosity
(as in limestone, for example), and fracture porosity. The measurement can carry out for
example in helium pycnometer equipment. Values lower than 5% are related to igneous rocks
and values greater than 40% are related to chalks. For fractured rocks, the fracture porosity
related to the rock volume is often much less than 1%.
Different types of porosity can be determined but, at the end, ( ) for reserves calculation, only
the effective porosity should be taken into account.
As at laboratory is not possible to measure the isolated pores, if purposes of fracking, for
example will be taken into consideration, other field measurements techniques could take into
account.
Permeability is a measurement of the ability of a rock to allow fluid to flow through it.
Permeability controls the production rate for a given pressure drop from the field to the well
and then to the surface. We could say that it’s similar to hydraulic conductivity which is
measured in square meters. Instead of this measurement, the unit applied for permeability
measurement is Darcy, to honor to this French Engineer.
Different types of reservoir give different scales of permeability measurements, thus
conventional reservoir are related to Milidarcy, tight gas sands reservoir are related to
microdarcy and fracturated sales are related to nanodarcy.
Permeability can be measured at the lab or in the field. As we have said before, permeability,
K, is a constant of the field (rock) which is related to flow rate through the rock and to the
pressure drop from one point to another one. This relation is expressed by Darcy´s law and it
can be applied to measurements made by liquid or gas. Depending on the fluid, the flow rate
could be laminar or turbulent. Conditions for absolute permeability measurements with
liquids are; laminar flow, no reaction between fluid and rock and only single phase present at
100% pore space.
In case we carry out the measurements with gas, it is necessary to take into account the gas
compressibility which is related to gas temperature. In these cases it’s also necessary to apply
the Klinkemberg correlation for obtaining absolute permeability value with gas.
Then the last property we will see today in this video is rock Compressibility.
Compressibility is the relative volume change of matter per unit pressure change under
conditions of constant temperature. Increasing pressure causes volume of material to
decrease (compression). Decreasing pressure causes volume expansion. The total pressure at
any reservoir depth, due to the weight of overlying fluid saturated rock column, is called the
overburden pressure. The total pressure at any depth is the sum of the overlaying fluid‐column
pressure and the overlying grain or matrix column pressure. The weight of the overburden
applies a compressive force to the reservoir. The pressure in the rock pore spaces does not
normally approach the overburden pressure. Normal sedimentary processes of compaction
compress the rocks, reducing porosity and sometimes changing the shape and size of rock
grains.
Compressibility is important because it provides a natural drive mechanism to help expel fluids
from the reservoir, also, compressibility causes reduction in porosity and permeability with
reservoir pressure depletion, and, in some cases, it can lead to surface subsidence and
wellbore stability problems.
The last two rock properties are considered as rock‐fluid properties since they express the
interaction between rocks and fluids inside the reservoir. Somehow they are responsible for
the fluids distribution in the reservoir.
We will continue with reservoir description during the next video. Hope to see you soon.