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Estimating reserves
Production
Drive mechanisms
Solution-gas drive
Gas cap drive
Aquifer (water) drive
Water and gas injection
Gravity drainage
Gas & gas condensate
reservoirs
See also
References
Formation
Crude oil is found in all oil reservoirs formed in the Earth's crust from the
remains of once-living things. Evidence indicates that millions of years of
heat and pressure changed the remains of microscopic plant and animal into
oil and natural gas.
Plankton and algae, proteins and the life that's floating in the
sea, as it dies, falls to the bottom, and these organisms are
going to be the source of our oil and gas. When they're buried
with the accumulating sediment and reach an adequate
temperature, something above 50 to 70 °C they start to cook.
This transformation, this change, changes them into the liquid
hydrocarbons that move and migrate, will become our oil and
gas reservoir.[1]
In addition to the aquatic environment, which is usually a sea, but might also
be a river, lake, coral reef or algal mat, the formation of an oil or gas reservoir
also requires a sedimentary basin that passes through four steps:[2]
Traps
A trap forms when the buoyancy forces driving the upward migration of
hydrocarbons through a permeable rock cannot overcome the capillary forces
of a sealing medium. The timing of trap formation relative to that of
petroleum generation and migration is crucial to ensuring a reservoir can
form.[5]
Petroleum geologists broadly classify traps into three categories that are
based on their geological characteristics: the structural trap, the stratigraphic
trap and the far less common hydrodynamic trap.[6] The trapping
mechanisms for many petroleum reservoirs have characteristics from several
categories and can be known as a combination trap.
Structural traps
Structural traps are formed as a result of changes in
the structure of the subsurface due to processes such as
folding and faulting, leading to the formation of domes,
anticlines, and folds.[7] Examples of this kind of trap Fold (structural)
are an anticline trap,[8] a fault trap and a salt dome trap
trap. (see salt dome)
Stratigraphic traps
Stratigraphic traps are formed as a result of lateral and vertical variations in
the thickness, texture, porosity or lithology of the reservoir rock. Examples of
this type of trap are an unconformity trap, a lens trap and a reef trap.[9]
Hydrodynamic traps
Hydrodynamic traps are a far less common type of trap.[10] They are caused
by the differences in water pressure, that are associated with water flow,
creating a tilt of the hydrocarbon-water contact.
The membrane seal will leak whenever the pressure differential across the
seal exceeds the threshold displacement pressure, allowing fluids to migrate
through the pore spaces in the seal. It will leak just enough to bring the
pressure differential below that of the displacement pressure and will
reseal.[12]
Estimating reserves
After the discovery of a reservoir, a petroleum engineer will seek to build a
better picture of the accumulation. In a simple textbook example of a uniform
reservoir, the first stage is to conduct a seismic survey to determine the
possible size of the trap. Appraisal wells can be used to determine the location
of oil-water contact and with it, the height of the oil bearing sands. Often
coupled with seismic data, it is possible to estimate the volume of oil bearing
reservoir.
The next step is to use information from appraisal wells to estimate the
porosity of the rock. The porosity, or the percentage of the total volume that
contains fluids rather than solid rock, is 20-35% or less. It can give
information on the actual capacity. Laboratory testing can determine the
characteristics of the reservoir fluids, particularly the expansion factor of the
oil, or how much the oil expands when brought from high pressure, high
temperature of the reservoir to "stock tank" at the surface.
The difficulty is that reservoirs are not uniform. They have variable porosities
and permeabilities and may be compartmentalised, with fractures and faults
breaking them up and complicating fluid flow. For this reason, computer
modeling of economically viable reservoirs is often carried out. Geologists,
geophysicists and reservoir engineers work together to build a model which
allows simulation of the flow of fluids in the reservoir, leading to an improved
estimate of reserves.
Production
To obtain the contents of the oil reservoir, it is usually necessary to drill into
the Earth's crust, although surface oil seeps exist in some parts of the world,
such as the La Brea tar pits in California, and numerous seeps in Trinidad.
Drive mechanisms
A virgin reservoir may be under sufficient pressure to push hydrocarbons to
surface. As the fluids are produced, the pressure will often decline, and
production will falter. The reservoir may respond to the withdrawal of fluid in
a way that tends to maintain the pressure. Artificial drive methods may be
necessary.
Solution-gas drive
This mechanism (also known as depletion drive) depends on the associated
gas of the oil. The virgin reservoir may be entirely liquid, but will be expected
to have gaseous hydrocarbons in solution due to the pressure. As the reservoir
depletes, the pressure falls below the bubble point, and the gas comes out of
solution to form a gas cap at the top. This gas cap pushes down on the liquid
helping to maintain pressure.
This occurs when the natural gas is in a cap below the oil. When the well is
drilled the lowered pressure above means that the oil expands. As the
pressure is reduced it reaches bubble point and subsequently the gas bubbles
drive the oil to the surface. The bubbles then reach critical saturation and
flow together as a single gas phase. Beyond this point and below this pressure
the gas phase flows out more rapidly than the oil because of its lowered
viscosity. More free gas is produced and eventually the energy source is
depleted. In some cases depending on the geology the gas may migrate to the
top of the oil and form a secondary gas cap.
By properly managing the production rates, greater benefits can be had from
solution-gas drives. Secondary recovery involves the injection of gas or water
to maintain reservoir pressure. The gas/oil ratio and the oil production rate
are stable until the reservoir pressure drops below the bubble point when
critical gas saturation is reached. When the gas is exhausted, the gas/oil ratio
and the oil rate drops, the reservoir pressure has been reduced and the
reservoir energy exhausted.
This is present in the reservoir if there is more gas than can be dissolved in
the reservoir. The gas will often migrate to the crest of the structure. It is
compressed on top of the oil reserve, as the oil is produced the cap helps to
push the oil out. Over time the gas cap moves down and infiltrates the oil and
eventually the well will begin to produce more and more gas until it produces
only gas. It is best to manage the gas cap effectively; that is, placing the oil
wells such that the gas cap will not reach them until the maximum amount of
oil is produced. Also a high production rate may cause the gas to migrate
downward into the production interval. In this case over time the reservoir
pressure depletion is not as steep as in the case of solution based gas drive. In
this case the oil rate will not decline as steeply but will depend also on the
placement of the well with respect to the gas cap.
The water may be present in an aquifer (but rarely one replenished with
surface water). This water gradually replaces the volume of oil and gas that is
produced out of the well, given that the production rate is equivalent to the
aquifer activity. That is, the aquifer is being replenished from some natural
water influx. If the water begins to be produced along with the oil, the
recovery rate may become uneconomical owing to the higher lifting and water
disposal costs.
Gravity drainage
The force of gravity will cause the oil to move downward of the gas and
upward of the water. If vertical permeability exists then recovery rates may be
even better.
References
1. "The Making of Oil: Birth of a Reservoir" (https://web.archive.org/web/200
51120073151/http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/makingoi/birth/ind
ex.htm). Schlumberger Excellence in Educational Development. Archived
from the original (http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/makingoi/birth/
index.htm) on November 20, 2005. Retrieved January 30, 2006.
2. "What is a Reservoir?" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060427134445/htt
p://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/makingoi/birth/birth.htm).
Schlumberger Excellence in Educational Development. Archived from
the original (http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/makingoi/birth/birth.
htm) on April 27, 2006. Retrieved January 30, 2006.
3. "Rise and Fall of the North Sea" (https://web.archive.org/web/200511222
32002/http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/makingoi/birth/nsea.htm).
Schlumberger Excellence in Educational Development. Archived from
the original (http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch/makingoi/birth/nsea.
htm) on November 22, 2005. Retrieved January 30, 2006.
4. "What is a Reservoir? - What are some characteristics?" (https://web.arc
hive.org/web/20110816134826/http://www.planetseed.com/node/15282).
Schlumberger Excellence in Educational Development. Archived from
the original (http://www.planetseed.com/node/15282) on August 16,
2011. Retrieved January 30, 2006.
5. Gluyas, J; Swarbrick, R (2004). Petroleum Geoscience. Blackwell
Publishing. ISBN 978-0-632-03767-4.
6. Basin Analysis: Principles and Applications. Allen, P.A. & Allen, J.R.
(2005). Second Edition. Publ. Blackwell Publishing
7. Structural traps (http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/systems/traps/structural/
structural.html)
8. Schlumberger - Search Results (http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/Displ
ay.cfm?Term=anticlinal%20trap)
9. The Oil Trap (http://www.priweb.org/ed/pgws/systems/traps/traps_home.
html)
10. Gluyas, J; Swarbrick, R (2004). Petroleum Geoscience. Blackwell
Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-632-03767-4.
11. Watts, N.L., 1987, Theoretical aspects of cap-rock and fault seals for
single- and two-phase hydrocarbon columns, Marine and Petroleum
Geology, 4, 274-307.
12. Peter J. Ortoleva (1994). "Basin compartments and seals" (https://books.
google.com/books?id=K-UO2-hM5nQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gb
s_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false). AAPG Memoir. AAPG.
61: 34. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
13. Waterdrive (http://www.glossary.oilfield.slb.com/en/Terms/w/waterdrive.as
px) at Schlumberger Oilfield Glossary