PVT Studies - Study of Undersaturation during Repressuring and Supersaturation during Flow of Oil to Wells

This paper concerns the magnitude of the amount of supersaturation that occurs in an underground reservoir during the flow of oil and gas to wells and to the amount of undersaturation that occurs during repres-suring of an oil reservoir where some effective permeability to gas exists. The study is based on earlier laboratory findings of other investigators on the rate of diffusion of gas in oil as a function of the depth of oil. Utilizing these relationships and the principles of reservoir mechanics, a quantitative estimate of undersaturation and super-saturation was calculated. The results showed that the diffusion of the gas is rapid enough that for all practical purposes no supersaturation exists during the flow of oil to wells or undersaturation during repressuring in reservoir sands having some effective permeability to gas. The reason diffusion of the gas virtually keeps the oil saturated is the long time required in radial flow for oil to reach the well and the slow rate at which pressure in reservoirs is increased during repressuring. INTRODUCTION Knowledge of the phase relationships during flow of gas and oil in an underground reservoir is essential to operating the reservoir in the most efficient manner. In material-balance calculations and in fluid-flow studies, the oil is assumed to contain all the gas that it will dissolve at given temperature and pressure. Pressure-volume-temperature relationships are normally obtained in the laboratory using "bottom-hole" or combined samples of the reservoir fluids. In such laboratory determinations equilibrium is obtained between the oil and gas in the pressure cells by mechanical agitation. During the flow of oil and gas in reservoirs, however, no comparable agitation occurs to mix thoroughly these fluids to aid in effecting equilibrium between the two phases. During repressuring of a partly depleted underground reservoir, the gas is usually injected into the reservoir faster than the oil can absorb it; consequently, the oil is undersaturated. On the other hand, as the oil flows through the reservoir to the wells during producing operations the pressure decreases faster than the gas in solution can diffuse through the oil to the gas phase. The oil therefore is supersaturated with gas. Where the oil is undersaturated, gas diffuses away from the gas-oil interface, and where it is supersaturated the gas diffuses toward the interface. In either case the gas moves from a higher to a lower saturation. This report contains the results of a study of the factors influencing the degree of nonequilibrium of the phase relations of oil and gas in porous mediums during the flow of oil through reservoirs to wells and also during the injection of gas into partially depleted sands. Data from an underground reservoir are presented and the degree of supersaturation during the flow of the oil through the reservoir to the well is approximated. Also data from another reservoir are used and the degree of undersaturation during the repressuring operation is calculated. In addition, the flow rates of oil in laboratory experiments and in underground reservoirs are compared, as data from the laboratory are often used to interpret events in the reservoir, and the rates of flow influence appreciably the degree of nonequilibrium. Much of the contents of this report was prepared in 1943; but, because of other activities during and since the war, the manuscript was left untouched until 1952, when it was decided to include an estimate of the amount of undersaturation during repressuring as well as supersaturation during flow.