Category: The Role Of Petroleum Production Engineering

We have used “oilfield” units throughout the text, even though this system of units is inherently inconsistent. We chose this system because more petroleum engineers “think” in bbl/day and psi than in terms of m3/s and Pa. All equations presented include the constant or constants needed with oilfield units. To employ these equations with SI… Continue reading Units and Conversions

1.3.1. The Objectives of Production Engineering Many of the components of the petroleum production system can be considered together by graphing the inflow performance relationship (IPR) and the vertical flow performance (VFP). Both the IPR and the VFP relate the wellbore flowing pressure to the surface production rate. The IPR represents what the reservoir can… Continue reading Well Productivity and Production Engineering

After the fluid reaches the top, it is likely to be directed toward a manifold connecting a number of wells. The reservoir fluid consists of oil, gas (even if the flowing bottom-hole pressure is larger than the bubble-point pressure, gas is likely to come out of the solution along the well), and water. Traditionally, the… Continue reading The Surface Equipment

The zone surrounding a well is important. First, even without any man-made disturbance, converging, radial flow results in a considerable pressure drop around the wellbore and, as will be demonstrated the pressure drop away from the well varies logarithmically with the distance. This means that the pressure drop in the first foot away from the… Continue reading The Zone near the Well, the Sandface, and the Well Completion

The presence of a substantial porosity usually (but not always) implies that pores will be interconnected. Therefore the porous medium is also “permeable.” The property that describes the ability of fluids to flow in the porous medium is permeability. In certain lithologies (e.g., sandstones), a larger porosity is associated with a larger permeability. In other… Continue reading Permeability

Favorable conclusions on the porosity, reservoir height, fluid saturations, and pressure (and implied phase distribution) of a petroleum reservoir, based on single well measurements, are insufficient for both the decision to develop the reservoir and for the establishment of an appropriate exploitation scheme. Advances in 3-D and wellbore seismic techniques, in combination with well testing,… Continue reading Areal Extent

All hydrocarbon mixtures can be described by a phase diagram such as the one shown in Figure 1-3. Plotted are temperature (x axis) and pressure (y axis). A specific point is the critical point, where the properties of liquid and gas converge. For each temperature less than the critical-point temperature (to the left of Tc in Figure 1-3) there exists a pressure… Continue reading Classification of Reservoirs

Oil and/or gas are never alone in “saturating” the available pore space. Water is always present. Certain rocks are “oil-wet,” implying that oil molecules cling to the rock surface. More frequently, rocks are “water-wet.” Electrostatic forces and surface tension act to create these wettabilities, which may change, usually with detrimental consequences, as a result of… Continue reading Fluid Saturations

Often known as “reservoir thickness” or “pay thickness,” the reservoir height describes the thickness of a porous medium in hydraulic communication contained between two layers. These layers are usually considered impermeable. At times the thickness of the hydrocarbon-bearing formation is distinguished from an underlaying water-bearing formation, or aquifer. Often the term “gross height” is employed… Continue reading Reservoir Height

All of petroleum engineering deals with the exploitation of fluids residing within porous media. Porosity, simply defined as the ratio of the pore volume, Vp, to the bulk volume, Vb, is an indicator of the amount of fluid in place. Porosity values vary from over 0.3 to less than 0.1. The porosity of the reservoir can be… Continue reading Porosity