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During the life of a producing oil property an operator is faced with many perplexing problems. Any attempt to determine proper well spacing, optimum rate of
production, or the desirability of pressure
maintenance requires the evaluation not
only of a host of economic and practical
operating factors but also of the future performance of the reservoir. Although in
some cases economic or operating considerations may be of primary importance
in planning a development or production
program, the anticipated effect on ultimate
recovery is more likely to be the decisive
factor.
The soundest basis for evaluating reservoir performance is past experience with
oil fields, but pertinent data are difficult to
obtain or. apply under conditions normally
encountered in California fields. Many of
these fields are characterized by thick
sections of alternating sands and shales
complicated by faulting and rapidly changing lithologic conditions. Further compliManuscript received at the office of the
Iastitute Oct. 23. 1942. Revised Dec. 21. 1943.
Issued as T.P. 1664 in PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY. January 1944.
Union Oil Co. Santa Fe Springs. California.
E. C. BABSON
121
One source of great concern to the production engineer is the decline in productivity
J2"2
1//1 =
_ I_
p..(3)
fP.K./Kr
p. - P .. K./K I.lP,.
,.,..,8
dP
[1]*
E. C. HABSON
------ t-10
-----1------1------+------+------~
~___:h_~~-~I __~lJ
500
1000
PRESSURE
,~oo
P.ll.!.
zooo
Z5QO
3000
ABS.
FIG. I.-RELATION BETWEEN PRODUCTIVITY INDEX, GAS-OIL RATIO, AND PRESSURE AT Z:; "En (,1':NT
WATER SATURATION.
If the well is then opened' up to a differential of 1000 lb. per sq. in., the saturation
distribution around the well will tend to
change and the productivity index will
tend to decrease. Since a large volume of
oil must be moved in order to alter the
saturation distribution, the process requires considerable time. If a t(;3;' .)
made on the well a day or two alter the
prodil.ction ratt; ha:; been 111':ieaseci., i.t i"
probable that the saturation distribution
will have changed only slightiy and the
productivity index will be practically the
same as at the lower rate. Because of this
124
12 5
E. C. BABSON
al
'"
';::...::;
r--
4000
ASSUMlpTIONS
I
"I.
POROSITY
21
INTERSTITIAL WATER
GAS-OIL RATIO IN PLACE 700 CU. FT/BIIL
BUBBLE POINT
3000 P.S.I. AilS.
2S1.
~
...
(3
--
zooa
:1'"
2000
'--...i - -
OJ
a:
...
'"~
1000
Go
o
.8
~ r-...
50
100
5.8
11.6
CUMULATIVE
150
'\
'"
.............
200
IU
ZU
OIL PRODUCTION
r--
Z50 DBL.,AC.I'T.
n.o
...
._- 1------ -
70
I~:m~:~ ~
.~ =~~~~~
GAS-OIL RATIO
600
.,/
bS
...v
~
98
.. \ - . -
I,,--
60
...a:
I/)
...
0
~
....0
/~
--
55
1950
RESERVOIR PRESSURE
PRODUCING PRESSURE
I 0
ION PER WE ~~
92
GAS-~!Q.
OIL PRODUC
>-
~ 50
I
z
i=
..:
ct
45
.....:
I"
:>
..
VI
~~I ~~~D_U:;\~6
1000
RESERVOIR PRESSURE
40
35
~1
50
100
150
DISTAN~E
52
-;t--
RESERVOIR PRFSSURE
PRESSURE
m~~;"~ RATIO
OILPROCvC ION PERWEL
335
50cig
Z6
.- --- I--
~l
I<~~'l.
..-~
~.-
1~~E';'7..URE
200
250
300
E. C. BAbSUN
_Q~ dig
A dS.
(4)
f -
100
- I + K.Il.
--
[5]
KgfJ..
128
I{\
*1
FIG.
I--
I /
/ '! I~
II J \ \
1l/
w
s, (GAS
SATURATION)
~
~
60
1f.
E. C. BABSON
12 9
.00
,-,,\
,
500
.
.....
,
I
I
l-
00
~~~~~~~W~~~~~~~~~~~~=---~~~
GAS
FIG.
SATURATION -
70
3000
130
TABLE
+
+
E. C. BABSON
used in this paper is not rigorously applicable to a water drive at any pressure
below the bubble point because of the
complications introduced by variable gas
saturation. In order to approximate the
recovery to be expected at 400 lb. per
sq. in., it was assumed that the gas saturation behind the front would be constant
at 5 per cent. Recovery ahead of the front
then becomes 405 bbl. per acre-foot and
the recovery to 90 per cent water in the
well effluent is 472 bbl. per acre-foot.
TABLE
2.-Summary of Recovery
Calculations
since the data entering into these calculations are applicable only to the
particular sand on which the laboratory
tests were made. Permeability-saturation
relations for California oil sands under
reservoir conditions are not yet available
in the literature, hence it is impossible
at present to make reliable predictions of
field performance from laboratory data.
The preliminary investigation reported
in this paper, however, suggests that
future application of such information
may furnish workable solutions to some
of the perplexing problems facing the
industry.
Total Recovery
Method of Depletion
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Bbl. per
Acre-ft.
Per
Cent
293
34
435
51
348
580
41
68
472
55
NOMENCLATURE
P
,.
(J
K
p
R
.M
o
</>
u
Subscripts:
o refers to oil phase.
g refers to gas phase.
e refers to conditions at drainage radius.
w refers to conditions at the well face.
1
refers to arbitrarily chosen standard
conditions.
REFERENCES
I.
2.
132
through
Consolidated Sand. Trans.
A.I.M.E. (1940) 136,91.
6. H. K:rutter: Secondary Recovery of Petroleum by Air Drive. Oil Weekly (June
9, 1941) 103, (1), 21.