Water Influx

Dr.Mostafa Mahmoud
Kinawy

 Nearly all hydrocarbon reservoirs are surrounded

by water-bearing rocks called aquifers. These
aquifers may be substantially larger than the oil or
gas reservoirs they adjoin as to appear infinite in
size, or they may be so small in size as to be
negligible in their effect on reservoir performance.
As reservoir fluids are produced and reservoir
pressure declines, a pressure differential develops
from the surrounding aquifer into the reservoir.
Following the basic law of fluid flow in porous
media, the aquifer reacts by encroaching across
the original hydrocarbon-water contact. In some
cases, water encroachment occurs due to
hydrodynamic conditions and recharge of the
formation by surface waters at an outcrop.

 In many cases, the pore volume of the aquifer is

not significantly larger than the pore volume of the
reservoir itself. Thus, the expansion of the water in
the aquifer is negligible relative to the overall
energy system, and the reservoir behaves
volumetrically.
In this case, the effects of water influx can be
ignored. In other cases, the aquifer permeability
may be sufficiently low such that a very large
pressure differential is required before an
appreciable amount of water can encroach into the
reservoir. In this instance, the effects of water
influx can be ignored as well.

 This chapter focuses on those reservoir-aquifer

systems in which the size of the aquifer is large
enough and the permeability of the rock is high
enough that water influx occurs as the reservoir is
depleted.
This chapter also provides various water influx
calculation models and a detailed description of the
computational steps involved in applying these
models.

CLASSIFICATION OF
AQUIFERS
Many gas and oil reservoirs produced by a mechanism
termed water drive. Often this is called natural water
drive to distinguish it from artificial water drive that
involves the injection of water into the formation.
Hydrocarbon production from the reservoir and the
subsequent pressure drop prompt a response from the
aquifer to offset the pressure decline. This response
comes in a form of water influx, commonly called
water encroachment, which is attributed to:
Expansion of the water in the aquifer
Compressibility of the aquifer rock
Artesian flow where the water-bearing formation
outcrop is located structurally higher than the pay
zone

Reservoir-aquifer systems are commonly

classified on the basis of:
Degree of pressure maintenance
Flow regimes
Outer boundary conditions
Flow geometries

Degree of Pressure
Maintenance
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
The term active water drive refers to the water
encroachment mechanism in which the rate
of water influx equals the reservoir total
production rate. Active water-drive reservoirs
are typically characterized by a gradual and
slow reservoir pressure decline.

Outer Boundary Conditions

The aquifer can be classified as infinite or finite
(bounded). Geologically all formations are finite, but
may act as infinite if the changes in the pressure at
the oil-water contact are not felt at the aquifer
boundary. In general, the outer boundary governs
the behavior of the aquifer and, therefore:
a. 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.
b. 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.

Flow Regimes
There are basically three flow regimes that
influence the rate of water influx into the
reservoir. Those flow regimes are:
a. Steady-state
b. Semi-steady (pseudo-steady)-state
c.

Unsteady-state

Flow Geometries

Reservoir-aquifer systems can be

classified on the basis of flow geometry
as:
a. Edge-water drive
b. Bottom-water drive
c. Linear-water drive

Recognition of Natural Water

Influx
Normally very little information is obtained during
the exploration-development period of a reservoir
concerning the presence or characteristics of an
aquifer that could provide a source of water influx
during the depletion period.
Natural water drive may be assumed by analogy
with nearby producing reservoirs, but early
reservoir performance trends can provide clues. A
comparatively low, and decreasing, rate of
reservoir
pressure
decline
with
increasing
cumulative withdrawals is indicative of fluid influx.

Figure 1. Flow geometries

Linear-water Drive

Indications of fluid influx.

Early water production from edge wells is
indicative
of
water
encroachment.
Such
observations must be tempered by the possibility
that the early water production is due to formation
fractures; thin, high permeability streaks; or to
coning in connection with a limited aquifer. The
water production may be due to casing leaks.
If the reservoir pressure is below the oil saturation
pressure, a low rate of increase in produced gasoil ratio is also indicative of fluid influx.
Calculation of increasing original oil-in-place from
successive reservoir pressure surveys by using the
material balance assuming no water influx is also
indicative of fluid influx.

WATER INFLUX MODELS

Several models have been developed for estimating
water influx that are based on assumptions that
describe the characteristics of the aquifer.
The mathematical water influx models that are
commonly used in the petroleum industry include:
Pot aquifer
Schilthuis steady-state
Hursts modified steady-state
The Van Everdingen-Hurst unsteady-state
- Edge-water drive
- Bottom-water drive
The Carter-Tracy unsteady-state
Fetkovichs method
- Radial aquifer
- Linear aquifer

The Pot Aquifer Model

The simplest model that can be used to estimate the
water influx into a gas or oil reservoir is based on
the basic definition of compressibility. A drop in the
reservoir pressure, due to the production of fluids,
causes the aquifer water to expand and flow into the
reservoir.
The
compressibility
is
defined
mathematically as:
V = c V p

.. (1)

Applying the above basic compressibility definition

to the aquifer gives:
Water influx = (aquifer compressibility)
volume of water) (pressure drop)

(initial

or
We = (cw + cf) Wi (pi - p)

.(2)

where We = cumulative water influx, bbl

cw = aquifer water compressibility, psi-1
cf = aquifer rock compressibility, psi-1
Wi = initial volume of water in the aquifer, bbl
pi = initial reservoir pressure, psi
p = current reservoir pressure (pressure at oilwater contact), psi

 Calculating the initial volume of water in the

aquifer requires the knowledge of aquifer
dimension and properties. These, however, are
seldom measured since wells are not deliberately
drilled into the aquifer to obtain such information.
For instance, if the aquifer shape is radial, then:

(3(

 Equation (2) suggests that water is

encroaching in a radial form from all
directions. Quite often, water does not
encroach on all sides of the reservoir, or the
reservoir is not circular in nature.
To account for these cases, a modification to
Equation (1) must be made in order to
properly describe the flow mechanism. One of
the simplest modifications is to include the
fractional encroachment angle f in the
equation, to give:
We = (cw + cf) Wi f (pi - p)

.(4)
..(5)

 The above model is only applicable to a small

aquifer, i.e., pot aquifer, whose dimensions are of
the same order of magnitude as the reservoir
itself. Dake (1978) points out that because the
aquifer is considered relatively small, a pressure
drop in the reservoir is instantaneously
transmitted throughout the entire reservoiraquifer system. Dake suggests that for large
aquifers, a mathematical model is required which
includes time dependence to account for the fact
that it takes a finite time for the aquifer to
respond to a pressure change in the reservoir.

Schilthuis Steady-State
Model
Schilthuis (1936) proposed that for an aquifer
that is flowing under the steady-state flow
regime, the flow behavior could be described
by Darcys equation. The rate of water influx
ew can then be determined by applying
Darcys equation:

(6)

 The last relationship can be more

conveniently expressed as:

.
(7)

 The parameter C is called the water influx

constant and is expressed in bbl/day/psi. This
water influx constant C may be calculated from
the reservoir historical production data over a
number of selected time intervals, provided that
the rate of water influx ew has been determined
independently from a different expression.
If the steady-state approximation adequately
describes the aquifer flow regime, the calculated
water influx constant C values will be constant
over the historical period.
Note that the pressure drops contributing to influx
are the cumulative pressure drops from the initial
pressure.

 In terms of the cumulative water influx We, the

common Schilthuis expression for water influx is:

(8)

Equation (8) may be written in the following

form:

Hursts Modified Steady-State

Model
.(9)
One of the problems associated with the
Schilthuis steady-state model is that as the
water is drained from the aquifer, the aquifer
drainage radius ra will increase as the time
increases. Hurst (1943) proposed that the
apparent aquifer radius ra would increase
with time and, therefore the dimensionless
radius ra/re may be replaced with a time
dependent function, as:

ra/re = at

(10)

 Substituting Equation (10)into Equation (6)

gives:
..
(11)
..
(12)
..
(13)

 The Hurst modified steady-state equation

contains two unknown constants a and C, that
must be determined from the reservoir
aquifer pressure and water influx historical
data. The procedure of determining the
constants a and C is based on expressing
Equation (11) as a linear relationship.

..
(14)

Figure 2: Modified Steady State

Water Influx Model
Equation (14) indicates that a plot of (pi p)/ew versus ln(t) will be a straight line with a
slope of 1/C and intercept of (1/C)ln(a), as
shown schematically in Figure (2).
Determination of C and n

Everdingen-Hurst Unsteady-State
Model
The mathematical formulations that describe the
flow of crude oil system into a wellbore are identical
in form to those equations that describe the flow of
water from an aquifer into a cylindrical reservoir, as
shown in Figure (3)
When an oil well is brought on production at a
constant flow rate after a shut-in period, the pressure
behavior is essentially controlled by the transient
(unsteady-state) flowing condition. This flowing
condition is defined as the time period during which
the boundary has no effect on the pressure behavior.
The dimensionless form of the diffusivity equation, is
basically the general mathematical equation that is
designed to model the transient flow behavior in
reservoirs or aquifers.

Figure 3. Water influx into a cylindrical

reservoir.

 In a dimensionless form, the diffusivity equation

takes the form:
(15)
Van Everdingen and Hurst (1949) proposed solutions
to the dimensionless diffusivity equation for the
following two reservoir aquifer boundary
conditions:
Constant terminal rate
Constant terminal pressure

 For the constant terminal rate boundary

condition, the rate of water influx is assumed
constant for a given period; and the pressure
drop at the reservoir-aquifer boundary is
calculated. For the constant terminal pressure
boundary condition, a boundary pressure drop is
assumed constant over some finite time period,
and the water influx rate is determined.
In the description of water influx from an aquifer
into a reservoir, there is greater interest in
calculating the influx rate rather than the
pressure.

 This leads to the determination of the water influx

as a function of a given pressure drop at the inner
boundary of the reservoir-aquifer system.
Van Everdingen and Hurst solved the diffusivity
equation for the aquifer-reservoir system by
applying the Laplace transformation to the
equation. The authors solution can be used to
determine the water influx in the following
systems:
Edge-water-drive system (radial system)
Bottom-water-drive system
Linear-water-drive system

Edge-Water Drive

Figure 4. shows an idealized radial flow system

that represents an edge-water-drive reservoir.
The inner boundary is defined as the interface
between the reservoir and the aquifer.
The flow across this inner boundary is
considered horizontal and encroachment occurs
across a cylindrical plane encircling the
reservoir. With the interface as the inner
boundary, it is possible to impose a constant
terminal pressure at the inner boundary and
determine the rate of water influx across the
interface.

Figure 4. Idealized radial flow

model

Van Everdingen and Hurst proposed a solution to the

dimensionless diffusivity equation that utilizes the
constant terminal pressure condition in addition to
the following initial and outer boundary conditions:
Initial conditions:
p = pi for all values of radius r
Outer boundary conditions
For an infinite aquifer
p = pi

at r =

For a bounded aquifer

Van Everdingen and Hurst assumed that the aquifer is

characterized by:
Uniform thickness
Constant permeability
Uniform porosity
Constant rock compressibility
Constant water compressibility
The authors expressed their mathematical relationship
for calculating the water influx in a form of a
dimensionless parameter that is called dimensionless
water influx WeD. They also expressed the
dimensionless water influx as a function of the
dimensionless time tD and dimensionless radius rD,
thus they made the solution to the diffusivity equation
generalized and applicable to any aquifer where the
flow of water into the reservoir is essentially radial.

Figure 5. Dimensionless water influx WeD

for several values of ra/re. (Van
Everdingen and Hurst WeD. Permission to
publish by the SPE.)
The authors presented their solution in tabulated
and graphical forms .

 The two dimensionless parameters tD and rD

are given by:
(16(

(17)
(18(

 The water influx is then given by:

(19)

(20)

Table 10-1

Table 10-2

 Equation (20 )assumes that the water is encroaching in

a radial form. Quite often, water does not encroach on
all sides of the reservoir, or the reservoir is not circular
in nature. In these cases, some modifications must be
made in Equation (20) to properly describe the flow
mechanism. One of the simplest modifications is to
introduce the encroachment angle to the water influx
constant B as:
(21)

(22)

is the angle subtended by the reservoir

circumference, i.e., for a full circle = 360 and for
semicircle reservoir against a fault =180, as shown
in Figure 10-12.

Figure 6: Water Drive Reservoir