Case History of Reservoir Performance of a Highly Volatile Type Oil Reservoir

Abstract

Published in PetroleumTransactions, AIME, Volume 204, 1955, pages 156–159. Abstract The case history of performance of a highly volatile type oil reservoir which is now greater than 80 per ant depleted is presented. The reservoir is at a depth of approximately 8,200 ft and includes an area greater than 7,500 acres. The reservoir has been exploited by 10 wells which to date have yielded about 10,880,000 bbl of stock tank oil by pressure depletion. Reservoir pressure has declined from an original of 5,000 psi to approximately 1,450 psi. Produced gas/oil ratio has increased from 3,200 to 23,000 cu ft/ bbl with a corresponding increase in API gravity of the stock tank oil from 44° to 62°. Pressure and fluid data are given for different stages of depletion. Introduction In papers by Sloan, and Cook, Spencer and Bobrowski, properties of highly volatile type reservoir oil were discussed in detail and methods were presented for predicting performance of reservoirs containing this type of fluid. The purpose of this paper is to present performance history of a highly volatile type oil reservoir designated as Reservoir A which has been produced by pressure depletion and field separation without processing of gas. Geology The reference field which includes Reservoir A is a structural feature north of a trend of major folding along a northeast-southwest axis. In the area of development, the structure has the appearance of a dome with formation dip of three to four degrees, but structural relations between the reference field and the axis of major folding to the south have not been determined. No faulting within the field is evident. Oil and gas productive sands have been found at depths of 7,000 ft to 10,000 ft in a columnar section of Mio-Oligocene age. The sand bodies in the section are lenticular and usually continuity of sand is limited to a small area. Sand A which forms Reservoir A at a depth of 8,200 ft, however, has exceptional continuous development in the reference field.