MATERIALBALANCE

EQUATION(MBE)
INTRODUCTION
Thepetroleumengineermustbeabletomakedependablees4matesof
theini4alhydrocarbonsinplaceinareservoirandpredictthefuture
reservoirperformanceandtheul4matehydrocarbonrecoveryfromthe
reservoir,suchasusingthematerialbalanceequa4on(MBE).
TheMBEisoneofthebasictoolsinreservoirengineering.Prac4callyall
reservoirengineeringtechniquesinvolvesomeapplica4onofmaterial
balance.
Althoughtheprincipleofconserva4onofmassunderliesthematerial
balanceequa4on,customhasestablishedthatthematerialbalancebe
wriDenonavolumetricbasis,becauseoileldmeasurementsare
volumetricandsignicantfactorscanonlybeexpressedvolumetrically.
Theprincipleofconserva4onunderpinstheequa4on:
Massofuidsoriginallyinplace=uidsproduced
+remainingreserves
Theequa4onwasrstpresentedbySchilthuisin1936andmanyreservoir
engineeringmethodsinvolvetheapplica4onofMBE.
Sincetheequa4onisavolumetricbalance,rela4ngvolumestopressures,
itislimitedinitsapplica4onbecauseofany4medependantterms.
Theequa4onprovidesarela4onshipwithareservoirscumula4ve
produc4onanditsaveragepressure.
Howeverwhencombinedwithuidowterms,wehaveabasistocarry
outpredic4vereservoirmodelling,forexampletoputa4mescaleto
produc4ongures.
Reservoirsimulatorshoweverapplythematerialbalanceapproachwithin
eachoftheirmul4dimensionalcells.Thevalueofthisclassicaltoolis
thatitenablestheengineertogetafeelofthereservoirandthe
contribu4onofthevariousprocessesinuidproduc4on.
Thebasicmaterialbalanceequa4onispresentedasavolumetric
reservoirbalanceasfollows:
Thereservoirvolumeofreservoirvolumeofuidsproduced
originaluidsinplace+volumeofremainingreserves

=
Whenuids(oil,gas,water)areproducedfromanoilreservoir,which
mayormaynothaveaprimarygascap,thepressureinthisreservoir
willdropbelowtheoriginalvalue.
Asaconsequenceofthispressuredrop,anumberofthingswillhappen:
theporevolumeofthereservoirwillbecomesmaller
Theconnatewaterwillexpand
oil,ifs4llundersaturated,willexpand
oil,ifatoralreadybelowbubblepoint,willshrinkwhilegaswill
comeoutofsolu4on
freegas,ifpresent,willexpand
watermaystartowingintothereservoir,forinstance,acrossthe
originaloil/watercontact(OWC)
Theques4onisnow;ifwestartowithagivenreservoir,anda[er
some4mewehaveproducedcertainquan44esofoil,gasandwater,
whatcanwesayabouttheaveragepressureinthereservoir,andwhat
canwesayabouttheaveragesatura4ondistribu4on?Theanswerto
theseques4onscanbeobtainedbyconsideringourreservoirattwo
stages:
(a) attheini4alpressurep
i
(b) whenwehaveproducedcertainamountsofoil,gasandwater,
bywhich4metheaveragepressurehasdeclinedtop(tobe
calculated)
Besidesthesenaturalphenomenatheequa4onalsohastobecapable
ofhandlingotherfactorsaec4ngbehaviour,forexampleinjec4nggas
andorwater.
Thereareanumberofwaysofdevelopingtheequa4on.Wewilllook
attwoapproaches,therstexaminingtheequa4onasappliedto
specicreservoirtypesandthenasimplevolumetricexpansion
approach.
LISTOFSYMBOLS
Symbols Units UnitsSI
B
g
Gasforma4onvolumefactor bbl/SCF M
3
/SCM
B
o
Oilforma4onvolumefactor bbl/STB M
3
/SCM
B
t
Totalforma4onvolumefactor bbl/STB M
3
/SCM
B
w
Waterforma4onvolumefactor bbl/STB M
3
/SCM
c
f
Porecompressibility vol/vol/psi vol/vol/MPa
c
w
Watercompressibility vol/vol/psi vol/vol/MPa
G Ini4algascapvolume SCF SCM
G
p
Cumula4vegasproduced=Gps+Gpc SCF SCM
G
ps
Cumula4vesolu4ongasproduced SCF SCM
G
pc
Cumula4vegascapproduced SCF SCM
m Ra4oini4alreservoirfreegasvolume bbl/bbl M
3
/M
3
toini4alreservoiroilvolume
N Stocktankoilini4allyinplace STB STM
3

N
p
Cumula4vetankoilproduced STB STM
3

p Averagereservoirpressure psi MPa

p
i
Ini4alreservoirpressure psi MPa
R
p
Cumula4vegas/oilra4o SCF/STB SCM/STM
3
R
s
Solu4ongas/oilra4o SCF/STB SCM/STM
3

LISTOFSYMBOLS
Symbols Units UnitsSI
S
w
Averageconnatewatersatura4on frac4on frac4on
W
e
Cumula4vewaterinux bblorSTB M
3
orSTM
3
W
p
Cumula4vewaterproduc4on bblorSTB M
3
orSTM
3
Othersubscripts
i atini4alcondi4ons
b atbubblepoint
MATERIALBALANCEFORGASRESERVOIRS
Thesimplestmaterialbalanceequa4onisthatappliedtogasreservoirs.
Thecompressibilityofgasisaverysignicantdrivemechanismingas
reservoirs.
Itscompressibilitycomparedtothatofthereservoirporevolumeis
considerable.
Ifthereisnowaterdriveandchangeinporevolumewithpressureis
negligible(whichisthecaseforagasreservoir),wecanwritean
equa4onforthevolumeofgasinthereservoirwhichremainsconstant
asafunc4onofthereservoirpressurep,thevolumeofgasproduced
SCF,theoriginalvolumeofgas,SCF,andthegasforma4onvolume
factor.
Arepresenta4onoftheequa4onforagasdrivereservoirwithnowater
driveisgivenbelow.
Foradrygasreservoirnowaterdrive

G.B
gi
= GG
p
( )
B
g
Ifthegasreservoirissupportedbywaterdrivethenasgasisproduced
waterwillencroachintothegasporespace,andsomeofthiswatermay
bealsobeproduced.
B
g
ibasedonz
i
,p
i
,T
i
B
g
besedonz,p,T
pV=znRT
Foradrygasreservoirwithwaterdrive

GB
gi
= GG
p
( )
B
g
+ W
e
W
p
Ifthegasreservoirissupportedbywaterdrivethenasgasisproduced
waterwillencroachintothegasporespace,andsomeofthiswatermay
bealsobeproduced.
Figureaboveillustratesthecontactwithasuppor4ngaquifer.
Becausethemobilityofgasisfargreaterthanwater,evidenceintheform
ofproducedwatermaybedelayedasthewaterkeepstothegaswater
contact.
Thesupportfromthewaterwouldbeevidencedhoweverbythepressure
supportgiventothereservoir.Inearlieryearsthismaynotbesoeasyto
detect.
Withwaterdrivewaterwillenterporevolumeoriginallyoccupiedbygas
andsomewatermaybeproduced.

G.B
gi
= GG
p
( )
B
g
G 0.00504
z
i
T
i
p
i






= GG
p
( )
0.00504
zT
p






G
z
i
p
i






= GG
p
( )
z
p






G
p
= G
p
z






Gz
i
p
i






GraphicalMaterialBalance

0.00504
zT
p
HenceplotofG
p
vs
p/zshouldgivea
straightline
B
g
=
IfgaswasidealaplotofG
p
vspwouldbeastraightline.Itiso[en
prac4cetodothisandgetarela4velystraightline,butcau4onhasto
betaken,sincedevia4onfromastraightlinecouldindicateaddi4onal
energysupport.
whenp/z=0G
p
=Gtheoriginalgasinplace
whenG
p
=0p/z=p
i
/z
i
Thisprocedureiso[enusedinpredic4nggasreserves.
O[entheinuenceofwaterdriveisignoredresul4nginaseriouserror
inreserves.
Thissimpleanalysismethodforgasreservoirshasgainedwide
acceptanceintheindustryasahistorymatchingtool,todeterminefor
exampleanes4mateofini4algasreservesbasedonproduc4ondata.
Thegure,canthenbecomparedtoes4matesfromexplora4on
methods.Itcanalsogiveindica4onsofgastobeproducedat
abandonmentpressures.
Greatcau4onhastobetakenwhenusingthismethod.Waterdriveis
consideredtobezero,thatisthegasisbeingsolelyproducedasaresult
ofgascompressibility.
Ifwaterdriveexiststhiswillcontributetopressuresupport.
IfaplotofG
p
vsp/zdeviatesfromlinearitythanthatgivesevidenceof
waterdrivesupport.
IfastraightlineisDedtothisdataassumingnopressuresupportfrom
waterthengasreservesareenhanced,beyondwhattheyareinactuality.
Ifthereiswaterdrivethenthisequa4onapplied:

GB
gi
= GG
p
( )
B
g
+ W
e
W
p
B
w
p/zforwaterdrive
gasreservoir
EXAMPLE
Adrygasreservoirhasproducedasfollows:
Data
ReservoirTemperatureT=100F
GasGravitySG=0.68
1. Determinetheoriginalpressureandoriginalgasinplace.
2. Whatwillbetheaveragereservoirpressureatthecomple4onofa
contractcallingfordeliveryof20MMSCFDfor5years(inaddi4onto
the9,450MMSCFproducedto11Jan69?)
WetGasReservoirs
Inthesereservoirsproduc4onalsoincludesliquidsaswellasgas,although
inthereservoirtheliquidswereinagaseousstate(seegure).
Intheapplica4onofthematerialbalanceequa4ontothesereservoirsitis
importanttoconvertoilproduc4ontogasequivalentgurestoaddtothe
gasproduc4ongures.
Theequa4onalreadyproducedassumedthattheforma4onofliquid
condensatecausesinsignicanterrorinthequality.
ForcondensatesystemstheG
p
producedshouldincludetheproduced
condensateandtheproducedwater(originallydissolvedingas).
Thevolumeof1STBofcondensateofmolecularweightM
o
andspecic
gravity
o
followsfromequa4on
GasCapExpansion
IfagasreservoirisaDachedtoanoilreservoir(gurebelow),an
equa4on
GB
gi
=(GG
pc
)B
g
canbewriDentodescribethechangeingascapvolumeduetooil
produc4onandproduc4onofgas.
Inthiscaseitissuggestedthatsomegashasbeenproducedfromthegas
cap,G
pc
.
Changeingascapvolumeis(GG
p
)B
g
GB
gi

MATERIALBALANCEFOROILRESERVOIRS
AbovetheBubblePoint
Abovethebubblepointtheproduc4onofthereservoirisduetothe
expansionoftheliquid(includingwater)inthereservoiraspressure
declines,andthereduc4oninporevolumeduetothedecreasein
pressure.
Assumingthattheproduc4onisdueen4relytoliquidoilexpansion,a
materialbalanceforanoilreservoirissimilartothatforagasreservoir.
NB
oi
=(NN
p
)B
o
whereNistheoriginaloilvolumeinthereservoirandtheN
p
isthe
volumeofoilproducedbothexpressedinstocktankbarrels.
Clearlythisisapoorassump4onbutisusefulinillustra4ngtheequa4on
development.Porevolumechangeswillbeconsideredlaterinthe
contextofporespaceandconnatewater.
GasLiberaTonBelowtheBubblePoint
Whentheoilinthereservoirreachesthebubblepointpressure,gaswill
beliberatedandwillcon4nuetobeliberatedasthepressuredeclines.
Thisisthemechanismofsolu4ongasdrivedescribedpreviously.Aswe
observedinthismechanism,theproduceduidsarenowoilwithits
containedsolu4ongasandgaswhichhascomeoutofsolu4onfromthe
oil.Notallofthisreleasedfreegaswillbeproducedtothesurface,some
willremaininthereservoir.
ThefreegasinthereservoircanbewriDen:
Freegasinreservoir=originalgasinsolu4onremaininggasinsolu4on
producedgas(G
ps
).
Freegasinreservoir=originalgasinsolu4onremaininggasinsolu4on
producedgas(G
ps
)
=NR
si
(NN
p
)R
s
G
ps
SCF
=(NR
si
(NN
p
)R
s
G
ps
)B
g
bbl
Thevolumeoffreegasandtheremainingoilcannowbeaddedtothe
originaloilvolume
NB
oi
=(NN
p
)B
o
+(N
Rsi
(NNp)
Rs
G
ps
)B
g
Theequa4oncanbewriDenintermsoftheoriginalstocktankvolumein
thereservoir.

N =
N
p
B
o
+ B
g
G
ps
N
p
R
s
( )
B
o
B
o
i
+ R
si
R
s
( )
B
g
MaterialBalancewithGasCapandWaterDrive
Theequa4onjustdevelopedassumesnochangeinreservoirvolume.
Ifuidencroachesintooriginaloilbearingvolumeeitherfroman
expandinggascaporanencroachingwaterdrivetherewillbelossto
thereservoirvolume.
Changeinvolumeduetogascapexpansion=(GG
pc
)B
g
GB
gi
Changeinvolumeduetowaterencroachment=(W
e
W
p
)
Totalchangeinvolume=originaloilvolume
(oilvolume+freesolu4ongas)


(W
e
- W
p
) +(G- G
pc
)B
g
- GB
gi
=NB
oi
- ((N- N
p
)B
o
+(NR
si
- (N- N
p
)R
s
- G
ps
)B
g
)
Thatis:
Thegasproduc4onisseparatedintogascapandsolu4ongas,G
pc

andG
ps
.However,thetwocanbecombinedsothatG
p
=G
pc
+G
ps

then:


N=
N
p
B
o
+ B
g
G
ps
N
p
R
s
( )
GG
pc
( )
B
g
GB
gi ( )
W
e
W
p
( )
B
o
B
oi
+ R
si
R
s
( )
B
g


N=
N
p
B
o
+ B
g
G
p
N
p
R
s
( )
G B
g
B
gi
( )
W
e
W
p
( )
B
o
B
oi
+ R
si
R
s
( )
B
g
EectofPoreVolumeChanges
CompressibilityEects
Thecompressibilityofwaterisabout10
6
psia
1
comparedtooilataround
10
5
psia
1
andalthoughitisalowvalueitcancontributesignicantlyto
thehydrocarbonporevolumechangewhenpressuredeclines.
Anothercontribu4ngeecttoreduc4onofporevolumeavailableto
hydrocarbonsisthecompressibilityoftheporevolumeitself.The
reduc4oninporevolumewithdeclineinpressureisduetotwofactors.
reduc4oninthebulkvolumeofreservoir
increaseinvolumeofthereservoirgrains
Figureillustratestheimpactof
overburdenstress
OverburdenPressure
Areservoirissubjectedtoanoverburdenpressurecausedbytheweight
oftheforma4on,equivalenttoabout1psi/[ofdepth.Thesepressures
simplyapplyacompressiveforcetothereservoirrock.
Thepressureintheporespace,theporepressure,isabout0.5psi/[.
Ifthereservoirsandsarehighlyunconsolidatedthenthispressurecould
behigherastheoverburdenpressureistransmiDedtotheuidsinthe
porespace.
Whentheporepressureisreducedthentheeec4veopposingpressure
isincreasedandthebulkvolumeisslightlyreduced.Atthesame4me
sincetherockgrainsarecompressiblealbeitonlyslightlytheeectofa
reduc4oninreservoirpressurewillbetoexpandtherockgrains.
Compressibilityofrock
whereV
p
isthevolumeofthepores.

hence reduce V
b
and increase V
s



decrease in porosity


c
f
=
1
V
p
V
pr

p
V
pr
= c
f

p
V
p
ConnateWater
Expansionofconnatewatercancontributetothereduc4oninpore
volumeforthehydrocarbons.
Thecompressibilityofthewatercanbeexpressedas:
Thistermcanbeaddedtothematerialbalanceequa4oninthesame
waythatwaterencroachmentcanbeconsidered.
Porevolume:
Compressibilityeectofwaterandpores:
Iftheoriginalvolumeofporesalsoincludesthatassociatedwiththe
gascap,thentheporevolumeisequalto:
wheremisthera4ooftheoriginalreservoirgascapvolumetothe
originalreservoiroilvolume.
Somechoosenottoaddthismfactortermsinceiffreegasispresent
asagascapthenthecompressibilityassociatedwiththegasisfar
greaterthantheporeandwatercompressibilityvalues.

V
p
=
NB
oi
1S
wc

V
pw+pores
=
NB
oi
1S
wc
c
w
S
w
+ c
f
( )
p

V
p
= 1+ m
( )
NB
oi
1S
wc
THEGENERALMATERIALBALANCEEQUATION
Combiningalltheeectsofgascapexpansion,waterencroachment,pore
volumechangesandequa4ngthesetothevolumechangesassociated
withtheoilgivesthegeneralmaterialbalanceequa4onbelow.
Netwaterinux
Porevolumereduc4on
Gascapexpansion
Originaloil
Oilandfreesolu4ongas
Theaboveequa4onisthegeneralMBE.Insometextstheporesconnate
watercompressibilitytermincludesaproductwith(1+m).Thisincludes
porevolumesassociatedwithagascapasmen4onedabove.
Theequa4oncanberearrangedfordierentapplica4ons,forexample
rearrangementbyArcher,helpstoiden4fythecons4tuentpartsofthe
equa4on.
Intheliteraturesome4mestheequa4onispresentedusingthetotal
forma4onvolumefactorB
t
andthera4ooftheini4alreservoirfreegas
volumetotheini4alreservoiroilvolumem,G
p
,isalsoexpressedasa
func4onofproducedgasoilra4oG
p
.
totalforma4onvolumefactorB
t
whereB
t
=B
o
+(R
si
R
s
)B
g

m=
G
p
=N
p
R
p

Subs4tu4ngthesefactorsthegeneralmaterialbalanceequa4on
because:


N=
N
p
B
t
+ B
g
R
p
R
s
( )
B
g ( )
W
e
W
p
( )
B
t
B
ti
+
c
f
+ c
w
S
w
( )
pBti
1swc
( )
+ mB
ti
B
g
B
g
i
( )
B
gi


GB
gi
NB
oi
MODIFICATIONSTOTHEGENERALEQUATION
Allthetermsofthegeneralequa4onasjustpresentedmaynotbe
signicantallthe4me.
Forexampleabovethebubblepointanumberoftheparameterswillbe
zero.Abovethebubblepointthesolu4ongasoilra4oisconstantand
thereforeG
p
N
p
R
s
=0sinceonlysolu4ongaswillbeproducedabovethe
bubblepoint.
Ifweareopera4ngabovethebubblepointthentherewillforthe
majorityofreservoirsbenogascap,andthereforethegasinplaceterm,
Gorm,willalsobezero.(Somereservoirswithacomposi4onalgradient
canhaveagascapandalsoatthelowerpartoftheforma4onadierent
composi4onwithundersaturateduid.)
Theterminthedenominator,R
si
R
s
,willalsobezero.
Theequa4onthereforeabovethebubblepointreducestoasimple
equa4on,associatedwithcompressibilitytermsoftheoil(theforma4on
volumefactors)andthoseoftheconnatewaterandporespace.
Whenthereservoirisbelowthebubblepointthen,thetermsdescribed
abovebeingzerointheundersaturatedcondi4on,havesignicanceand
arenotzero.
Howevertheterminrela4ontothecompressibilityoftheconnatewater
andporespacealthoughcontribu4ngtotheoverallbalanceisverysmall
whencomparedtothatfromfreegascompressibility.
Itcouldbearguedthattheabsolutechangesinthewaterandpore
compressibilitytermislessthantheerrorsassociatedwiththefreegas
terms,whenthesystemisbelowthebubblepointtheequa4onalso
includesatermwithrespecttowaterdrive,W
e
.
Othertermscanalsobeaddedtoincludear4cialdrive,forexamplegas
injec4on,G
i
andwaterinjec4onW
i
.
Clearlywhenanyofthesethreedrivesupports,naturalorotherwise,are
notac4vethenclearlytheyarezero.Althoughtheremaynotbeanywater
drive,W
e
orW
i
,theres4llcouldbewaterproduc4onasaresultof
mobilisa4onofconnatewater.
DERIVATIONOFTHEMBEBYEQUATINGSUBSURFACE
VOLUMEOFPRODUCEDFLUIDSTOEXPANSIONOFORIGINAL
FLUIDSPLUSPOREVOLUMEREDUCTION
Thesimpledeni4onofcompressibility,c,
Theindividualexpressionsofthecompressibilityoftheoil,gas,water
androcksare,c
o
,c
g
,c
w
andc
f
.Thesecompressibili4esdependonthe
natureoftheuidsandrocksandbetweenthemhavesignicant
varia4ons.Gasisthemostcompressibledowntowaterandrock
dependingonitscomposi4onandnature.
C
g
=500x10
6
to1500x10
6
psi
1
C
o
=10x10
6
to20x10
6
psi
1
C
w
=3x10
6
to5x10
6
psi
1

C
f
=1x10
6
to25x10
6
psi
1

c = -
1
V
dV
dP
ItisbeDertoconsiderrockcompressibili4esinthecontextofthe
reservoirbehaviourintermsofporevolumecompressibility,sinceitis
theporevolumewhichisavailableforcontaininguids.
Ifthecompressibilityisintermsofthechangeinporevolumeperunit
bulkvolume,dividingitbytheporositychangesthenumericvaluewhen
expressedasporevolumeperporevolume.Forexample,ataporosity
of20%,acompressibilityof1x10
6
porevolumeperbulkvolumeis5x10
6

porevolumeperporevolumeperpsi.
Eventheseporecompressibili4esaresmallbuttheirsignicanceshould
notbeneglectedpar4cularlyabovethebubblepoint.This
compressibilityperspec4veasanalterna4vewaytoderivethematerial
balanceequa4onisbasedonthefollowingphilosophy.
Visualiseagainareservoiratini4alpressurep
i
containingoilplus
dissolvedgas,aprimarygascapandconnatewater(nextFigure).
Supposethatthepressurewerereducedfromp
i
top.Obviouslythis
couldnotbedonewithoutproduc4on,butletusseewhateectsuch
pressurereduc4onwouldhave.Thevolumesofthethreephaseswill
expandasshowninthelastFigure.
TheremayalsohavebeenawaterinuxW
e
.Also,thetotalavailable
porevolumewillbecomesmaller,throughporecompressibilityeects
justdescribed.Clearly,thenewuidvolumes,plusthewaterinux,do
nottanylongerintheavailableporespace,thereisashortageof
spaceequivalenttothesumoftheshadedareasintheFigures.
Consequently,anequalvolumeofuidscannolongerbepresentinthe
forma4on,andmustthereforebethesameasthereservoirvolumeat
pressurepoftheproduceduids.
Withthisinmind,wecanstatethematerialbalanceasfollows:
Reservoirvolumeat expansionofprimarygascap
pressurepofthe +expansionofoilplusoriginallydissolvedgas
produceduids +expansionofconnatewater
+waterinux
+reducTonoftotalporevolume

=
OrputinanotherwaybyDake:
Undergroundwithdrawal=expansionofthesystem
+cumulaTvewaterinux
Theindividualcomponentsinthisequa4oncanbequan4edasfollows:
(i) ReservoirVolumeatpofProducedFluids
Produc4onconsistsof:
N
p
STBofoil,G
p
orN
p
R
p
SCFofgasandW
p
STBofwater
ThesubsurfacevolumeatpressurepofoilisN
p
B
o
res.bbl.including
anamountofdissolvedgasequivalenttoN
p
R
s
SCF.
WehaveproducedN
p
R
p
SCF,thereforetheequivalentofN
p
R
p
N
p
R
s

SCFmustexistasfreegasinthereservoiratpressurep.Itssubsurface
volumeisN
p
(R
p
R
s
)B
g
res.bbl.Hencethereservoirvolumeatpressureof
producedhydrocarbons,HCPVis:
producedHCPV(p)=N
p
B
o
+N
p
(R
p
R
s
)B
g
(res.bbl.)
=N
p
(B
o
+(R
p
R
s
)B
g
)(res.bbl.)
ReservoirvolumeofproducedwaterisaboutequaltoW
p
B
w
barrels,
hence:
Res.volumeatpofproduceduids
=N(B+(RR)B)+W(res.bbl.)
(ii) Expansionoil+originallydissolvedgas
Theoriginalvolumeoftheoilis:NB
oi
,whenthepressureisreduced
theoilshrinksandgasisliberated.
Volumechangeofoilis:
N(B
o
B
oi
).
Duringthisprocessgascomesoutofsolu4onwhosereservoir
volumeis:
N(R
si
R
s
)B
g

Thereforethetotalchangeinvolumeis:
N[(B
o
B
oi
)+(R
si
R
s
)B
g
]
(iii) Expansionofprimarygascap
Theoriginalhydrocarbonporevolumeofthegascapis:mNB
oi
Thesurfacevolumeis:scf
Atalowerpressure,p,thereservoirvolumeis:
Theexpansionofthegascapistherefore:


mNB
oi
B
g
B
gi


mNB
oi
B
g
B
gi
1










mN
B
oi
B
gi
(iv) Expansionofconnatewater
Connatewaterhasalowcompressibilitybutissignicantin
undersaturatedcondi4ons.
Thecompressibilityofthewateris:
Theexpansionoftheconnatewaterwithpressuredeclineis
therefore:dV
w
=c
w
V
w
p
V
w
isthetotalvolumeofthewater.Thisisapropor4onS
w
ofthe
totalporevolume.
Thetotalporevolumeisthatassociatedwiththeoilandagascap.
Theporevolumeoftheoilatasatura4onof(1S
wc
)orS
o
is:NB
oi
,the
porevolumeincludingthewaterisNB
oi
/(1S
wc
).

V
w
=
1
V
w
dV
dP
Forthegascap,thehydrocarbonporevolumeismNB
oi
,and
includingwaterismNB
oi
/(1S
wc
).
Thetotalporevolumeassociatedwiththegascapandoil,including
connatewater,is:(1+m)Nboi.
Theporevolumeofconnatewateris:
Theexpansionoftheconnatewateristherefore:

1+ m
( )
NB
oi
S
wc
1S
wc
( )

1+ m
( )
NB
oi
S
wc
c
w
p
1S
wc
( )
(v) PoreVolumeChanges
Theimpactofpressurereduc4onontheporevolumeisto
reducevolumeavailableforhydrocarbonsandthereforecanbe
treatedasanexpansiontermalongsidetheexpansionterms
associatedwiththeoil,gasandconnatewater.
Thechangeinvolumeoftheporesassociatedwiththetotalpore
volumeistherefore:

1+ m
( )
NB
oi
c
f
p
1S
wc
( )
(vi) Waterinux
Ifthereisanaquifer,thenaspressureisreducedwaterinuxes
intothereservoirvolume.ThiswaterinuxisWe(res.bbl.)
Wecannowaddalltheseexpansiontermsandmakethen
equivalenttothereservoirvolumeofproduceduids.Thisgives
thefullmaterialbalanceequa4on.
reservoirvolumeof expansionofoiland
produceduids dissolvedgas
expansionofgascap porevolumereduc4on

N
p
B
o
+ R
p
R
s
( )
B
g [ ]
+ W
p
B
w
= N B
o
B
oi
( )
+ R
si
R
s
( )
B
g
[ ]
+mNB
oi
B
g
B
gi
1








+
1+ m
( )
NB
oi
c
w
S
w
+ c
f
( )
p
1S
wc
( )
+ W
e

N
p
B
o
+ R
p
R
s
( )
B
g ( ) [ ]
=
NB
oi
B
o
B
oi
( )
+ R
si
R
s
( )
B
g
B
oi
[
\
|

)
j
+ m
B
g
B
gi
1
[
\
|
|

)
j
j
+ 1+ m
( )
c
w
S
wc
+ c
f
1S
wc
[
\
|

)
j
p
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
+ W
e
W
p
B
w
( )
Thissimpliesto:
(vii)InjecTonterms
Ifthereiswaterinjec4onW
i
andorgasinjec4onG
i
thesecanalsobe
added,totheequa4oneitherasaddedtotheexpansiontermsor
subtractedfromtheproduc4onterms.
ASSUMPTIONSINMATERIALBALANCEEQUATION
TheMBequa4onhassomebasicassump4onsandlimita4onswhichcan
causesomeerrorswhenappliedtosomereservoirs.
Pressure
TheMBequa4onisatankmodeltrea4ngthereservoirasalargetankat
whichthepressureisconstantthroughoutthereservoiratapar4cular
4me.Itclearlyignorespressurechangeswhichmayariseacrossthe
reservoir.
Intheradialowsec4onitwasclearthattherearelargepressure
varia4onsaroundtheproducingandinjec4onwells.
Inordertoapplytheequa4onatapar4cular4meanaveragepressure
hastobeselectedbeingrepresenta4veofthereservoirpressureatthe
par4cular4me.
Alluidproper4esareevaluatedatthispressure.
Temperature
Changesinareservoirgenerallytakeplaceatisothermal,constant
temperature,condi4ons,unlessmajorexternaltemperaturesareimposed
thoroughforexamplethermalrecoveryprocessesandinsomecaseslarge
coldwaterinjec4onschemes.
ProducTonRate
WhenthingshappenisnotpartoftheMBequa4onasthereisnoterm
presentincluding4me,forthispermeabilitywouldberequired.Rate
sensi4vityisthereforenotpartoftheequa4onandforthosesitua4ons,
forexampleinwaterdrive,whicharedependantonrateofproduc4on
thematerialbalanceequa4onrequirestheapplica4onofother
equa4ons.
RepresentaTvePVTdata
ThePVTmeasurementsshouldbemadeinanaDempttoreectthe
behaviourinthereservoir.Althoughthismaynotbetotallypossible
condi4onsasneartotherealsitua4onareused,forexampleinthe
dieren4altesttoreectbelowbubblepointcondi4ons.
GoodproducTondata
Itisimportantintheapplica4onoftheMBequa4ontohavereliable
produc4ondatanotonlyoilandgasbutalsowater.
SIGNIFICANCEANDUSAGEOFTHE
MATERIALBALANCEEQUATION
Thematerialbalanceisroughlyarela4onbetweenfourquan44es:
oilandgasinplace(N,morG)
produc4on(N
p
,R
p
,W
p
)
waterinux(W
e
)
averagereservoirpressure(pressuredependentPVTparameters
and:pinpore/watercompressibilityterm)
Thismeansthatifthreeofthesequan44esareknown,thefourthcan
becalculated.
Ifproduc4onandpressuredateareknownasafunc4onof4me,andoil
andgasinplaceisavailablefromavolumetrices4mate,thewaterinux
W
e
canbedeterminedasfunc4onof4me.Itsmagnitudehasadirect
bearingonsecondaryrecoveryplans.
Ifthereisnoevidenceofanaturalwaterdrive(W
e
=0)theoilinplace
canbecalculatedfromproduc4onandpressuredata.Thismayhavean
inuenceonthegeologicalinterpreta4on(volumetrices4mate)and
thusonthefurtherdevelopmentofthereservoir.
Foraknownoilinplace,thepressureatfuturedatescanbecalculated
forapostulatedproduc4onplan(makingsomeassump4onsregarding
thefuturewaterinux).Theresultofthiscalcula4onmayhelpin:
(a)decidingwhetherorwhenar4cialli[facili4eswillbeneeded.
(b)es4ma4ngthereserveofthereservoirdowntoacertain
abandonmentpressure,alsoasfunc4onofthecumula4vegas
oilra4oR
p
.
Dakehasalsoexaminedthestatusofthevariousparametersofthe
equa4onwithrespecttotheapplica4onoftheequa4on.Hedividesthe
parametersintoshouldbeknownandpoten4alunknown.
Shouldbeknown Poten4alunknown
N
p
N
R
p
W
e
W
p
p
c
w
B
o
,B
g
,R
s
S
wc
m
B
w
c
f
Fromthislistthereappearstobe6knownsand8unknowns,
demonstra4ngthechallengefacingreservoirengineeringinneeding
sucientindependentequa4onstosolvetodeterminethenumberof
unknowns.
AsDakepointsoutthesitua4oninreservoirsimula4onisevenworsewith
moreunknownsofreservoirgeometryanddescrip4onintermsof
porosity,andavarietyofrela4vepermeabili4es.

Dake,L.P.ThePrac.seofReservoirEngineering.ElsevierAms.1994.
Inexaminingtheknowns,hepointsoutthatalthoughN
p
andR
p
are
generallythebestknown,inoldandremoteeldsgoodrecordsmaybe
suchthatoil,gasandwaterproduc4onguresmaynotbesoreadily
available.Hepointsoutthatpetrophysicalevalua4onisalwayscorrect.
Soforexampletheconnatewatersatura4onS
wc
isobtainedbyaveraging
itsvaluesoverallintervalsandwellsassociatedwiththeanalysis.
Inrela4ontotheunknowns,thematerialbalance,onceproduc4onand
pressureinforma4onisavailable,providesausefulroutetoupgradingthe
originales4mateofinplace,STOIIP,N,whichhaspreviouslybeen
es4matedfromacombina4onofpetrophysicalrelatedinforma4on.
Thematerialbalancegeneratedresultprovidesamoreeec4vevalue
sinceitwouldnotincludevolumesinundrainedorlowpermeabilityareas
ofthereservoir.
Waterdriveasdiscussedinthedrivemechanismchapterisavery
eec4vedrivemechanism.Inreservoirdevelopmentitprovidesa
majorchallengeinpredic4ngitsrole.
Topredicttheinuxofwaterfromanaquiferrequiresagood
characterisa4onoftheaquifer,itsgeometryandtheimportantow
relatedproper4es.
Todeterminesuchforwhatiscomparedtotheassociatedoilreservoir
averylargesystemisverycostlyandisdiculttojus4fy,forsomething
whichonlyproduceswater!Thenatureofwaterdriveisbest
determinedwhenitsimpactonactualreservoirperformanceis
observed.
Clearlyifwaterunderlaysthehydrocarbonforma4onasaboDomwater
drivesystem,thentheadvancingwateroilcontactcanbeloggedinthe
well.Howeverifedgewaterdriveisoccurringthenactualwell
observa4onsmaynotbepossible.
Thematerialbalanceequa4on,azerodimensionalmodel,ortank
model,requiresanaveragepressureandthisaveragepressureis
reectedimplicitlyinrela4ontoPVTparametersandexplicitlyin
rela4ontocompressibilityofwaterandrock.Thisaveragepressure
determina4onmaybeobtainedfromarangeofpressuresfromwells
withinthedrainagearea.
Thematerialbalanceisalsoabackboneinallmathema4calreservoir
simulators,wherepressuresinindividualgridblocksarecalculated
(apartfromproduc4ondata)onthebasisofinuxesfromoreuxesto
adjacentgridblocks.
Overrecentyearstherehasdevelopedanpercep4onbysomethatthe
simplematerialbalanceapproachhasbeensupersededbythemore
comprehensivereservoirnumericalsimula4on,withitspoten4alof
analysisatsmalldimensionlevelscomparedtothefulleldtanksizeof
theMBequa4on.
Un4lhisrecentdeath,Dakeandothershaverecognisedthevalueofthe
MBin'feeling'thereservoirandalsoprovidingusefulinputtothemany
uncertain4esassociatedwithimplemen4ngafullreservoirsimula4on
study.
SOURCESOFDATATOBEUSED
INTHEMATERIALBALANCE
Arangeofsourcesprovidethekeydatafortheapplica4onoftheMB
equa4on.Thesesourcesarealsothesourceforothersimula4ontools.
PVTData
FromPVTreportsofindividualwells.Averagingandcorrec.ngPVT
datapriortouseinandM.B.mayalsoberequired.
Produc4onData
Fromwellandreservoirrecords(databanks)orthesubjectof
calcula.on.
OilandGasinPlace
Fromvolumetrices.matesorsubjectofthecalcula.on.
ConnateWaterSatura4on
S
w
:frompetrophysics
WaterCompressibility
c
w
:atoileldtemperaturesandpressures:Shouldbedetermined.
4to5x10
5
atm
1
=about3x10
6
psi
1
PoreCompressibility
InthepasthasoXenbeenassumedfromtexts.Shouldbemeasured.
ReservoirPressures
Frompressuresurveysintheeld,orsubjectofthecalcula.on.Inthe
nextchapterwewillseehowanaveragepressurecanbeobtained
fromareservoirwheretherearedierentdrainagezones.
WaterInux
Thesubjectofwaterinux,W
e
iscoveredinasubsequentchapter.
LIMITATIONSOFTHEMATERIALBALANCE
AMBisazerodimensionalmathema4calmodel,inwhichuidproper4es
andpressuresareaveragedovertheen4rereservoir.Varia4onsinini4al
uidproper4es,forinstance,achangeinbubblepointeitherlaterallyoras
func4onofdepth,asaresultofcomposi4onalvaria4ons,cannotbe
handledadequately.ThedegreetowhichtheresultsofanM.B.calcula4on
areinvalidateddependsonthemagnitudeofsuchvaria4ons.
WiththeMB,theaveragesatura4ondistribu4on(S
o
,S
g
,S
w
withS
o
+S
g
+S
w

=1)canbecalculated.However,noconclusionmaybeinferredhowa
calculatedgassatura4onisdistributed,i.e.whetherthisfreegasisspread
moreorlessevenlyovertheen4rereservoir,orwhetherthegasis
concentratedinsomelocalisedareas.
TheMBdoesnotcontain4measaparameter.AlthoughanM.B.
calcula4onmaytelluswhatwillhappen,itcannotsaywhenitwillhappen.
Wecancalculatethattheaveragepressureofagivenreservoirwilldropby
1973psiforanoilandgasproduc4onof88and59MMMSCFrespec4vely,
buttheMBwillnottelluswhetherthissitua4onwillbeachievedin1,10
or100years.Bycombiningthematerialbalanceresultswithother
methodsforexamplewellproduc4vityequa4ons,4meinforma4oncanbe
addedtotheproduc4on/pressurepredic4onsfromMBmethods.
CONCLUSION
Summarising:thematerialbalanceisanimportantandindispensable
reservoirengineeringtoobutithasitslimita4onsofwhichtheusershould
beaware.
Muskatviewed(ReservoirEngineeringNewsLeDerSeptember1947).iss4ll
applicable:Thematerialsbalancemethodisbynomeansauniversaltool
fores.ma.ngreserves.Insomecasesitisexcellent.Inothersitmaybe
grosslymisleading.Itisalwaysinstruc.vetotryit,ifonlytondoutthatit
doesnotwork,andwhy.Itshouldbeapartofthestockintradeofall
reservoirengineers.Itwillboomerangifappliedblindlyasamys.chocus
pocustoevadetheadmissionofignorance.Thealgebraicsymbolismmay
impresstheold.merandhelpconvinceaCorpora.onCommission,butit
willnotfoolthereservoir.Reservoirspayli_leheedtoeitherwishful
thinkingorlibellousmisinterpreta.on.Reservoirsalwaysdowhatthey
oughttodo.Theycon.nuallyunfoldapastwhichinevitablydeesallman
madelaws.Topredictthispastwhileitiss.llthefutureisthebusinessof
thereservoirengineer.Butwhethertheengineeriscleverorstupid,honest
ordishonest,rightorwrong,thereservoirisalwaysright.
CONCLUSION
HavingworkedthroughthischaptertheStudentwillbeableto:
Presentamaterialbalance(MB)equa4onforadrygasreservoirwith
andwithoutwaterdrive.
DemonstratethelinearformoftheMBequa4onforagasreservoir
withwaterdriveandcommentonitsapplica4on.
Beabletoderivethematerialbalanceequa4onincludinggascap
expansion,waterinuxandcoreandwatercompressibility.
Giventheequa4onbeabletoiden4fythecomponentpartsoftheMB
equa4on,e.g.gascapexpansionetc.
Commentbrieyontheassump4ons,signicance,use,dataand
limita4onsoftheMBequa4on.