Solution 1

a)

i) Surface tension, σ, the force acting in the plane of the surface per unit length of the surface. At
liquid-air interfaces, surface tension results from the greater attraction of liquid molecules to each
other (due to cohesion) than to the molecules in the air (due to adhesion). The net effect is an
inward force at its surface that causes the liquid to behave as if its surface were covered with a
stretched elastic membrane. Thus, the surface becomes under tension from the imbalanced forces,
which is probably where the term "surface tension" came from. Surface tension in the single vertical
pore can be calculated from: (2 Marks)

1 𝐹𝐹
𝜎𝜎 =
2 𝐿𝐿
(2 Marks)

ii) It is generally agreed that the pore spaces of reservoir rocks were originally filled with water, after
which oil moved into the reservoir, displacing some of the water and reducing the water to some
residual saturation. This difference in the saturating and desaturating of the capillary-pressure
curves is closely related to the fact that the advancing and receding contact angles of fluid interfaces
on solids are different. The whole process is called capillary hysteresis. (2 Marks)

Capillary pressure graph for capillary hysteresis process is provided below:

(2 Marks)

iii) In multiphase flow in porous media, the relative permeability of a phase is a dimensionless
measure of the effective permeability of that phase. It is the ratio of the effective permeability of
that phase to the absolute permeability. It can be viewed as an adaptation of Darcy's law to
multiphase flow.
 𝐾𝐾𝑒𝑒
𝐾𝐾𝑟𝑟 =
𝐾𝐾𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
(2 Marks)

Relative Permeability (Oil - Water)

1.1
1 k (S ) k (S )
rw wmax
ro wmin
0.9
0.8 k (S )
ro wcr
0.7

kr
0.6
0.5
o
k (S )
0.4 rw orw

w
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
S S Sw 1-S
wmi wcr orw

(2 Marks)

b)
𝑀𝑀𝑔𝑔
𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = 𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛𝑛 𝛾𝛾 =
𝑀𝑀𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎
𝑚𝑚 𝑚𝑚 𝑀𝑀𝑔𝑔 𝑧𝑧𝑧𝑧 𝑧𝑧𝑧𝑧
𝑝𝑝 = 𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 → = 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆: 𝐵𝐵𝑔𝑔 = 0.02827
𝜌𝜌 𝑀𝑀𝑔𝑔 𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌 𝑝𝑝 𝑝𝑝
(2 Marks)
𝑀𝑀𝑔𝑔 𝛾𝛾𝑀𝑀𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝐵𝐵𝑔𝑔 0.02827𝛾𝛾𝑀𝑀𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙𝑙
= = → 𝜌𝜌 = = 10.85 3
𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌 𝜌𝜌𝜌𝜌 0.02827 𝑅𝑅𝐵𝐵𝑔𝑔 𝑓𝑓𝑓𝑓
(2 Marks)

c)
i)

(2 Marks)
 (2 Marks)

(2 Marks)

ii)

(3 Marks)

Solution 2:

a. Three flow stages could be identified from well bore pressure in a square reservoir, these
are unsteady state flow (infinite acting or transient flow), late stage unsteady state flow, and
pseudo-steady state flow if the boundary is closed (no flow), or steady state flow if the out
boundary is with constant pressure. These flow regions are briefly illustrated using the well
bore pressure as below: (6 marks)

b. Calculate the tDA by:

  r 2  2.64 × 10 −4 kt  rw2  2.64 × 10 −4 kt 2.64 × 10 −4 × 50t
t DA = t D  w  = 
2 

 = = = 2.14 × 10 −4 t
 A µ ⋅ c t ⋅ φ ⋅ rw  A  µ ⋅ c t ⋅ φ ⋅ A 2 × 1 × 10 −5
× 0 . 2 × 15 × 10 6

⇒ t = 4673t DA
and then find tDA from the table for which the reservoir is infinite acting, the pseudo- steady state is
exact, and the pseudo- steady state is accurate to within 1%. (1 marks)

In this case, for infinite acting, t DA < 0.09 , that is t < 420.55 hours; for the pseudo- steady state is
exact, t DA > 0.1 , that is t > 467.3 hours; and for the pseudo- steady state is accurate to within 1%,
t DA > 0.05 ,that is t > 233.67 hours. (3 marks)
For t=10 hours, it is infinite acting, so the

2.64 × 10 −4 kt 2.64 × 10 −4 × 50 × 10
tD = = = 1320000
µ ⋅ ct ⋅ φ ⋅ rw2 2 × 1 × 10 −5 × 0.2 × 0.5 × 0.5

For r=5, 50, 100 ft

tD
rD = 10, 100, 40000 and = 13200, 132 and 33 (1.5)
rD2
So for these three cases,
2
1 rD 1 t 
p D (t D , rD ) = − Ei ( − ) ≈ ln( D2 ) + 0.80907 (1)
2 4t D 2  rD 
And using the definition of p D , which gives
kh ( pi − p ) 141.2qBµ
pD = ⇒ p (r, t ) = pi − pD
141.2qBµ kh
So the pressure at position r=5, 50, 100 ft after 10 hours of production is: (1.5)
141.2 × 500 × 1.2 × 2 ln (13200) + 0.80907
p (5,10) = 4500 − × = 2354.606psi
50 × 120 2
141.2 × 500 × 1.2 × 2 ln (132 ) + 0.80907
p (5,10) = 4500 − × = 2419.631psi
50 × 120 2
141.2 × 500 × 1.2 × 2 ln (33) + 0.80907
p (5,10) = 4500 − × = 2439.205psi
50 × 120 2

c. The production rate of vertical well in a bounded reservoir for pseudo-steady state flow
could be expressed as:
kh ( p − p wf ) dq kh dp
q= ⇒ =
  r  3  dt   r  3  dt
141.2 Bµ ln e  − + s  141.2 Bµ ln e  − + s 
  C A rw  4    C A rw  4 
Here
p is the averag pressure of the reservoir
p wf is the bottom hole pressure, constant
C A is shape factor, s is skin factor, constant
So the cumulative production could be written as, (1 mark)
 t t
kh ( p − p wf )
N p = ∫ qdt = ∫ dt
0 0   r  3 
141.2 Bµ ln e  − + s 
  C A rw  4 
The cumulative oil production after the production decline upon decline time can also be
evaluated based on the total compressibility: (1 mark)
ct N i kh ( pi − p )
Np =
B
ct is the total compressibility
N i is the initial oil in the well drainge area
Combine the two expressions of cumulative production will gives,
t
kh ( p − p wf ) ct N i kh ( pi − p )
Np = ∫ dt =
0   r  3  B
141.2 Bµ ln e  − + s 
  C A rw  4 
Take derivative of both sides of the above equation (2 marks)
kh ( p − p wf ) ct N i kh dp
q= =−
  r  3  B dt
141.2 Bµ ln e  − + s 
  C A rw  4 
dq kh dp
Recall, =
dt   r  3  dt
141.2 Bµ ln e  − + s 
  C A rw  4 
And the definition of decline rate, (2 marks)
1 dq 1 kh dp
D=− =
q dt c N
t i kh d p   re  3  dt
B dt 141 . 2 B µ ln  − + s 
  C Arw  4 
kh
= = constant
  re  3 
141.2ct N i µ ln  − + s 
  C A rw  4 
And the production rate could be write as,

q = qi exp[− Dt ]

d. We first calculate the decline rate and, D, and 1/D as given by: (2 marks) (two decimal places
is enough for the students in all calculations)

production rate,
time, year stb/day dq/dt/q D 1/D
0.1 9.63 -0.35595 0.355951 2.809375
0.5 8.35 -0.32642 0.326425 3.063492
1 7.09 -0.30023 0.300227 3.330808
1.5 6.1 -0.2732 0.273205 3.660256
2 5.32 -0.256 0.256 3.90625
2.5 4.68 -0.24009 0.240091 4.165094
3 4.15
we plot 1/D vs t, (2 marks)
4.5

3.5

3 y = 0.5664x + 2.7718
R² = 0.9981
2.5

1.5

0.5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

Di 1 1
Because, D = ⇒ = + bt (1 marks)
1 + bDi t D Di
And here b=0.5664, so it is a hyperbolic decline.
Solution 3:
a)
i.
Based on the degree of the reservoir pressure maintenance provided by the aquifer, the natural
water drive is often qualitatively described as:
• Active water drive
• Partial water drive
• Limited water drive
(3 marks)
ii.
• Infinite system indicates that the effect of the pressure changes at the oil/aquifer boundary
can never be felt at the outer boundary. This boundary is for all intents and purposes at a
constant pressure equal to initial reservoir pressure.
• Finite system indicates that the aquifer outer limit is affected by the influx into the oil zone
and that the pressure at this outer limit changes with time.
(3marks)

iii.
There are basically three flow regimes that influence the rate of water influx into the reservoir. As
previously described in Chapter 6, those flow regimes are: (3 marks)
• Steady-state
• Semisteady (pseudosteady)-state
• Unsteady-state
b)
In edge-water drive, as shown in the below Figure, water moves into the flanks of the reservoir as a
result of hydrocarbon production and pressure drop at the reservoir-aquifer boundary. The flow is
essentially radial with negligible flow in the vertical direction.
Bottom-water drive occurs in reservoirs with large areal extent and gentle dip where the reservoir-
water contact completely underlies the reservoir. The flow is essentially radial and, in contrast to the
edge-water drive, the bottom-water drive has significant vertical flow.
In linear-water drive, the influx is from one flank of the reservoir. The flow is strictly linear with a
constant cross-sectional area.

(6 marks)
c)
Step 1. Calculate F, Eo, and Eg

F Eo Eg
0.000 0 0.000
5.807 0.01456 0.072
10.671 0.0287 0.129
17.302 0.04695 0.201
24.094 0.06773 0.288
31.898 0.09365 0.374
41.130 0.1207 0.475

(6 marks)

Step 3. Calculate F/Eo and Eg/Eo

F/Eo Eg/Eo
398.85 4.94
371.83 4.51
368.51 4.29
355.74 4.25
340.61 3.99
340.76 3.93

(2 marks)

Step 4. Plot (F/Eo) versus (Eg/Eo)

400

380
(F/Eo)*10^6

360
y = 58.83x + 108.7
340

320

300
3.80 4.00 4.20 4.40 4.60 4.80 5.00
Eg/Eo

• Intercept = N = 108.7 MMSTB (2 marks)

Solution 4.

a. The factors that affect the oil recovery factor of waterflooding are oil-water ratio, water-oil
relative permeability, reservoir heterogeneity, well pattern, sweep efficiency and wettability
(1 mark each)

b. The first step is to calculate the relative permeability curves from the Corey’s correlations,
And the fractional flow curves along with relative permeability curves are presented in
the plot below, (5 mark for fractional flow curve, 3 marks for shock front
saturation, 2 mark for the related water cut)
Sw Kro Krw SwD 1-SwD fw df/ds
0.15 1 0 0 1 0 0.001827
0.2 0.64105 1.17E-05 0.071429 0.9285714 9.14E-05 0.045322
0.25 0.396569 0.000187 0.142857 0.8571429 0.002357 0.348151
0.3 0.235282 0.000949 0.214286 0.7857143 0.019765 1.633568
0.35 0.13281 0.002999 0.285714 0.7142857 0.101443 4.801428
0.4 0.070581 0.007321 0.357143 0.6428571 0.341515 6.880864
0.45 0.034815 0.015181 0.428571 0.5714286 0.685558 4.28884
0.5 0.015625 0.028125 0.5 0.5 0.9 1.496425
0.55 0.006196 0.04798 0.571429 0.4285714 0.974821 0.39615
0.6 0.002075 0.076855 0.642857 0.3571429 0.994629 0.088866
0.65 0.000544 0.117139 0.714286 0.2857143 0.999072 0.016301
0.7 9.68E-05 0.171503 0.785714 0.2142857 0.999887 0.002118
0.75 8.5E-06 0.242899 0.857143 0.1428571 0.999993 0.000138
0.8 1.33E-07 0.33456 0.928571 0.0714286 1 1.59E-06
0.85 0 0.45 1 0 1

As shown in the plot, the water saturation and water cut at shock front are, Swf=0.50, fwf=0.90,
respectively.
The relationship between water saturation at the outlet cross section, Sw2, and average saturation,
Swavg is given as,

1-f w ( S w ) 1-f ( S )
S wavg = S w + 1-f w ( S w )Qi = S w + ≈ S w + w w (1 mark)
∂f w ∆f w
∂S w ∆S w
so when the shock front reaches the out let of the system,

1-f w ( S w ) 1 − 0.90
S wavg ( S wf ) ≈ S wf + = 0.50 + = 0.567 (3 mark)
∆f w 1.5
∆S w
So the displacement efficiency when water breakthrough is calculated as

S wavg ( S wf ) − S wi 0.567 − 0.15

RF ( S wf ) = = = 0.49 (2 mark),
1 − S wi 1 − 0.15
c. For polymer flooding, it first improves the fractional flow curve by increasing the
viscosity of injected fluid; and secondary improve the sweep efficiency. The main
mechanism of surfactant flooding is reducing the interfacial tension between the
injected fluid and the hydrocarbon fluid, and then reduces the residual oil saturation.
(3 marks)