Abstract
This chapter discusses various primary recovery mechanisms and their effects on the overall performance of oil reservoirs. The basic principles of the material balance equation and other governing relationships that can be used to predict the volumetric performance of oil reservoirs are presented. The driving mechanisms that provide the natural energy necessary for oil recovery includes rock and liquid expansion drive, depletion drive, gas cap drive, water drive, and gravity drainage drive. A depletion drive reservoir is characterized by a rapidly increasing gas and oil ratio from all wells, regardless of their structural position. Oil recovery by gas cap expansion is a frontal drive displacing mechanism, which yields considerably larger recovery efficiency than that of depletion drive reservoirs. The mechanism of gravity drainage occurs in petroleum reservoirs as a result of differences in densities of the reservoir fluids. The material balance equation which is one of the basic tools of reservoir engineers for interpreting and predicting reservoir performance is also analyzed.
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