Modelling Trapped Gas Expansion in Water-Drive Reservoirs

Abstract

Abstract Imbibition only relative permeability is commonly used to model water influx in water-drive gas reservoirs, however an aquifer is rarely strong enough to maintain constant pressure support. Continued pressure depletion in the part of the reservoir swept with watercauses expansion and remobilisation of trapped gas behind the waterfront. This paper presents a reservoir simulation study on modelling the expansion and remobilisation of trapped gas due to pressure depletion as secondary drainage flow using relative permeability hysteresis. Previous studies in literature on relative permeability show the secondary drainage curve during blowdown is below the primary imbibition curve. This is based on field cases and core experimental studies, which establish the existence of a gas remobilisation threshold above residual saturation to reconnect the gas phase. Commonly used hysteresis models by Killough (1976) and Carlson (1981) are unable to model secondary drainage flow below the primary imbibition curve. The ODD3P hysteresis model developed by Hustad et al. (2010) was identified as the most appropriate method to model trapped gas expansion as secondary drainage flow below the imbibition curve. A reservoir simulation study was performed using the ODD3P hysteresis model to test scenarios which model trapped gas remobilisation as secondary drainage flow during pressure blowdown after waterflooding. The conclusion of this study is that the standard formalisms used to model relative permeability hysteresis (Killough, Carlson) should not be used to model trapped gas remobilisation due to blowdown as they do not incorporate a gas remobilisation threshold and a secondary drainage curve underlying the primary imbibition curve. By assuming no mobility threshold above residual gas saturation, the total recovery of residual gas will be overestimated. Instead, by adopting the ODD3P hysteresis model, gas production will be lower and water production higher due to the correct use of secondary-drainage relative permeability curves in a gas reservoir invaded by water. This will lead to a significant improvement in results from reservoir simulation and the subsequentevaluation of trapped gas recovery. The expansion and remobilisation of residual or trapped gas saturations has a major impact on the prediction and/or matching of production and pressure response from a reservoir. This study intends to understand these impacts and serve as a preliminary guideline in modelling trapped gas expansion and remobilisation as secondary drainage flow, which is applicable to many water-drive gas reservoirs.