Material Balance Method Presentation

Material Balance Method
Dr. Mahbubur Rahman
Department of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Engineering

Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology
Short Course on
Petroleum Reserve Estimation, Production and
Production Sharing Contract (PSC)
Directorate of Continuing Education (DCE)

BUET
29-30 April, 2008
Presentation Outline
• Introduction
• Material Balance Method- Basic Principle
• Material Balance Equation (MBE)
– General Form
– Linear Form
• Applications
– Oil Reservoirs
– Gas Reservoirs
• Flowing Material Balance
• Drive Mechanisms
• Conditions for Application
• Conclusions
Introduction
• Reserve Estimation Methods: More than one available.
• Different methods applicable at different stages of
development.
• Data requirement different for each method, with some
common
• predominant methods:
1.Volumetric Method
• Early stage of reservoir development
• Geology, Geophysics, Rock and Fluid properties
• Recovery Factor (RF) assigned arbitrarily
• No time dependency, No Production data
2.Material Balance
• Later stage of development (after 20% of initial oil/gas is
produced, or 10% of initial reservoir pressure has
declined)
• Geological data, Rock and Fluid properties, Production
data
• RF is calculated
• Time dependant
Introduction (contd.)
3.Decline Curve Analysis
• Later stage of development, when production rate
undergoes natural decline
• Mostly Production data
• RF is calculated
• Time dependant
4.Reservoir Simulation
• Can be applied at any stage but more useful and reliable
for matured reservoirs
• Geological data, Rock and Fluid properties, Production
data
• More useful as reservoir management tool
• Uncertainties associated with each method

• More than one method should be used when
applicable
Material Balance Method- Basic Principle
• A = Increase in HCPV due to the
expansion of the oil phase (oil +
dissolved gas).
• B = Increase in HCPV due to the
expansion of the gas phase (free gas
in the gas cap).
• C = decrease in HCPV due to the
combined effects of the expansion of
the connate water and the reduction
in reservoir pore volume.
• D = decrease in HCPV due to water
encroachment (from aquifer)
Volume changes in the reservoir associated with a finite

pressure drop ∆p;(a) volumes at initial pressure pi (b)
at the reduced pressure p.
Underground withdrawal
(oil + gas + water) = Expansion of oil + dissolved gas (A)
+ Expansion of gas-cap gas (B)
+ Reduction in HCPV (C)
+ Cumulative water influx (D) (1)
Material Balance Equation (MBE)
Np [Bo + (Rp – Rs) Bg] + Wp Bw [

= N (Bo − Boi )+ (Rsi − Rs )Bg ]
+ m N Boi (Bg / Bgi – 1)
(1+ m)NBoi
+ (cwSwc + c f )∆p
(1− Swc )
+ We Bw (15)
N = oil originally in place (STOIIP), (stb)

G = Initial free gas in place in the gas cap (GIIP), (scf)
We = Cumulative water influx into the reservoir (stb)
HCPV = total hydrocarbon pore volume (oil zone + gas cap) (rb)
m = Initial gas cap ratio
Initial hydrocarbon volume of the gas − cap GBgi

m= =
Initial hydrocarbon volume of the oil NBoi
MBE- Definitions of Variables
Production data
Np = Cumulative oil produced (stb)
Gp = cumulative gas produced (scf)
Wp = Cumulative water produced (stb)
Rp = Gp/Np = Cumulative produced gas-oil ratio (scf/stb)
Reservoir Data
pi = Initial mean pressure in the reservoir (psi)
p = current mean pressure in the reservoir, (psi)
Swc = connate water saturation, (fraction)
cf = Compressibility of formation (psi-1)
Fluid PVT Data
Bgi = Initial gas volume factor at pi (ft3/scf)
Bg = Gas volume factor at current pressure p (ft3/scf)
Boi = Initial oil volume factor at pi (rb/stb)
Bo = Oil volume factor at current pressure p (rb/stb)
cw = Compressibility of water (psi-1)
Bw = Formation volume factor of water at current pressure p (rb/stb)
Rsi = solution gas-oil ratio at initial pressure pi (scf/stb)
Rs = solution gas-oil ratio at current pressure p (scf/stb)
MBE in Linear Form
F = summation of production terms Np [Bo + (Rp – Rs) Bg] + Wp Bw (rb)
Eo = Oil and Dissolved gas [(B

o − Boi ) + (Rsi − Rs )Bg ]
expansion terms
Eg = Gas cap expansion = Boi (Bg / Bgi – 1) (rb/stb)
term
( 1 + m ) B oi
Ef,w = rock and water (c S + c )∆ p
compression/expansion terms (1 − S wc ) w wc f
The complete material balance equation (MBE)
F= N (Eo + m Eg + Ef,w) + We Bw (16)
Equation 16 can be modified as equations of straight lines,

which can be applied to different types of reservoirs.
Some of the applications are illustrated next.

MBE Applications: Saturated Oil Reservoirs
Slope = N
Eo
Case 1 MBE for under saturated Case 2 MBE for under saturated oil
volumetric oil reservoirs reservoirs with strong water drive
Volumetric depletion, We = 0 Strong water drive, We ≠ 0

No Gas Cap, m = 0 No Gas Cap, m = 0
Efw = negligible Efw = negligible
F = N Eo F/Eo = N + We / Eo
MBE Applications: Under-saturated Oil Reservoirs
Case 3 Volumetric under saturated oil Case 4 under saturated oil reservoirs
Reservoir with strong water drive

Gas Cap present, m ≠ 0 Gas Cap present, m ≠ 0
F We
= N +
F/Eo = N + m N Eg /Eo (Eo + m ⋅E g ) (Eo + m ⋅E g )
MBE for Gas Reservoirs
For GAS RESERVOIRS- MBE (equation 15) can be reduced to:
Gp Bg + Wp Bw = G(Bg – Bgi) + We Bw (19)
For volumetric gas reservoir, We = 0

Assuming water production is negligible, Wp = 0
Equation 19 becomes:
Gp Bg = G(Bg – Bgi) (20)
Applying the definitions of gas volume factor

 z p sc T   z p T   z p sc T 
G   − G  i sc i  = G p  
 p T sc   p i T sc   p T sc 
Assuming Isothermal changes in the reservoir (T = Ti)

p pi pi
= − G p + (22)
z zi G zi
MBE Applications: Gas Reservoirs
Case 5 MBE for Volumetric Gas Case 6 MBE for Gas reservoirs with water
reservoirs influx

p p p G pBg + W pBw
= − i Gp + i G +
We
=
z zi G zi B g − B gi B g − B gi
Flowing Material Balance
• Developed for Gas reservoir – later extended for oil

reservoirs
• Does not account for water drive
• Requires pseudo-steady state flow regime:

– Reservoir boundaries are ‘felt’
– pressures at all locations in the reservoir declines
at the same rate
• Requires constant flow rate- later extended for

variable rate
Flowing Material Balance (contd.)
• Classical MBE
– p/z plot requires average
reservoir pressure
– Requires lengthy shut in
tests to determine average
reservoir pressure
• Flowing MBE
– Flowing bottom hole
pressures is used
– pwf/z vs Gp is plotted
– Well head pressures can also
be used
MBE Plotting Technique – Detecting Water Drive
For some water drive gas reservoirs, deviation from p/z plot is not
detected until much later
Error in GIIP- large difference between volumetric and MB estimates
Error in Drive mechanism – wrongly assumed depletion type
Alternative plotting technique is more sensitive
Drive Mechanisms & Drive Indices
• A reservoir can have a predominant drive

mechanism, or can have a combination of
mechanisms.
• Identifying the drive mechanism is important for

development strategy and ultimate recovery.
• The drive indices show the relative magnitude of

each drive mechanism contributing to total
production.
Drive Mechanisms & Drive Indices (contd.)
Dividing through equation 15 by LHS:
[
N ⋅ (Bo − Boi ) + (Rsi − Rs ) ⋅ Bg ]
Depletion Drive Index (DDI) N p (Bo + (R p − Rs ) ⋅ Bg )
 Bg 
N ⋅ B oi ⋅ m ⋅  − 1
 B gi 
Segregation Drive Index (SDI)  
N p (Bo + (R p − Rs ) ⋅ B g )
( 1 + m ) NB oi
(c S + c )∆ p
(1 − S wc ) w wc f
Compaction Drive Index (CDI) N p ( Bo + ( R p − R s ) B g )
(We − W p ) ⋅ Bw
Water Drive Index (WDI) N p ( Bo + ( R p − Rs ) ⋅ B g )
DDI + SDI + CDI + WDI = 1

Pressure
MBE: Conditions for Application
Pressure
Time Time
Figure 10: Individual well pressure declines Figure 11: Non-equilibrium pressure decline
displaying equilibrium in the reservoir in a reservoir
1. There should be adequate data collection on production,

pressure and PVT properties.
2. It must be possible to define an average pressure decline trend
for the system under study.
MBE: Conditions for Application (contd.)
The average pressure
pj, qj, Vj decline can be
determined by the
volume weighting of
pressures within drainage
area of each well
p (avg) = Σ pj Vj / Σ Vj
figure 12
• It is possible to verify the 2nd condition by plotting the individual well

pressures as a function of time (figure 10). It is not really necessary to
have rapid pressure equilibrium across the reservoir.
• Average pressure decline trend can be defined even if there are large
pressure differences across the reservoir under normal producing
conditions.
• Figure 11 shows such a reservoir, where each well has a distinct
drainage area and pressure decline (figure 12).
Conclusions
• Volumetric method is applied at early stage of a reservoir,
with mostly geological and fluid properties data. No
production or time dependency is incorporated in
volumetric estimates. As production continues, other
methods become applicable.
• Material balance can be applied when about 20% of the

initial estimated reserve is produced, or when 10% of
initial reservoir pressure has declined.
• MBE is a powerful tool that helps determine the reserves,

recovery factor, and drive mechanism.
• MBE can be applied to a variety of reservoirs, either with

or without water influx.
Conclusions (contd.)
• Unlike volumetric method, RF can actually be calculated by MBE.
• Volumetric method generally gives the absolute, theoretically

maximum possible hydrocarbon in place. MBE gives an
indication about the volumes that will actually flow.
• Flowing material balance technique can provide reasonably good

approximation of GIIP.
• Flowing material balance technique method removes the need

for determining static average reservoir pressure by long and
expensive shut in tests.
THANK YOU!
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What are the main methods for estimating hydrocarbon reserves?

What are the main methods for estimating hydrocarbon reserves?

When can the material balance method be applied?

When can the material balance method be applied?

Material Balance Method

Dr. Mahbubur Rahman

Department of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Engineering

Directorate of Continuing Education (DCE)

• Uncertainties associated with each method

Volume changes in the reservoir associated with a finite

Np [Bo + (Rp – Rs) Bg] + Wp Bw [

N = oil originally in place (STOIIP), (stb)

Initial hydrocarbon volume of the gas − cap GBgi

F = summation of production terms Np [Bo + (Rp – Rs) Bg] + Wp Bw (rb)

Eo = Oil and Dissolved gas [(B

The complete material balance equation (MBE)

F= N (Eo + m Eg + Ef,w) + We Bw (16)

Equation 16 can be modified as equations of straight lines,

Some of the applications are illustrated next.

Volumetric depletion, We = 0 Strong water drive, We ≠ 0

Volumetric depletion, We = 0 Strong water drive, We ≠ 0

For volumetric gas reservoir, We = 0

Applying the definitions of gas volume factor

Assuming Isothermal changes in the reservoir (T = Ti)

Volumetric depletion, We = 0 Strong water drive, We ≠ 0

• Developed for Gas reservoir – later extended for oil

• Does not account for water drive

• Requires pseudo-steady state flow regime:

• Requires constant flow rate- later extended for

• A reservoir can have a predominant drive

• Identifying the drive mechanism is important for

• The drive indices show the relative magnitude of

DDI + SDI + CDI + WDI = 1

1. There should be adequate data collection on production,

• It is possible to verify the 2nd condition by plotting the individual well

• Material balance can be applied when about 20% of the

• MBE is a powerful tool that helps determine the reserves,

• MBE can be applied to a variety of reservoirs, either with

• Volumetric method generally gives the absolute, theoretically

• Flowing material balance technique can provide reasonably good

• Flowing material balance technique method removes the need

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