CHAPTER 2

THE GENERAL MATERIAL BALANCE EQUATION

The general material balance equation was first developed by Schiltuis in 1936. This
equation can provide great insight for the practicing reservoir engineer.

DERIVATION OF MATERIAL BALANCE EQUATION

The general material balance equation is simply a volumetric balance, which states that
since the volume of reservoir (as defined by its initial limits) is a constant, the algebraic sum of the
volume changes of the oil, free gas, water and rock volumes in the reservoir must be zero. For
example, if both the oil and gas reservoir volumes decrease, the sum of these two decreases must
be balanced by changes of equal magnitude in the water and rock volumes. If the assumption is
made that complete equilibrium is attained at all times in the reservoir between the oil and its
solution gas, it is possible to write a generalized material balance expression relating the quantities
of oil, gas and water produced, the average reservoir pressure, the quantity of water that may have
encroached from the aquifer, and finally the initial oil and gas content of the reservoir. In making
these calculation the following production, reservoir and laboratory data are involved :

1. The initial reservoir pressure and the average reservoir pressure at successive intervals after
the start or production
2. The stock tank barrels of oil produced, measure at 1 atm and 60, at any time or during any
production interval
3. The total standard cubic feet of gas produced. When gas is injected into the reservoir, this
will be different between the total gas produced and that returned to the reservoir.
4. The ration of the initial gas cap volume to the initial oil volume, symbol m.

=

If the value can be determined with reasonable precision, there is only one unknown (N) in
the material balanced on volumetric gas cap reservoirs, and two (N and W e) in water-drive
reservoirs.
5. The gas and oil volume factors and the solution gas-oil ratios. These are obtained as function
of pressure by laboratory measurements on bottom-hole samples by the differential and
flash liberation methods
6. The quantity of water that has been produced
 7. The quantity of water has been encroached into the reservoir from the aquifer.
In the development of the general material balance equation, the following terms are used :
Initial reservoir oil, STB
Initial oil formation volume factor, bbl/STB
Cumulative produced oil, STB
Oil formation volume factor, bbl/STB
Initial reservoir gas, SCF
Initial gas formation volume factor, bbl/SCF
Amount of free gas in the reservoir, SCF
Initial solution gas-oil ratio, SCF/STB
Cumulative produced gas-oil ratio, SCF/STB
Solution gas-oil ratio, SCF/STB
Gas formation volume factor, bbl/SCF
Initial reservoir water, bbl
Cumulative produced water, bbl
Water formation volume factor, bbl/STB
Water influx into reservoir, bbl
Water isothermal compressibility, psi-1

Change in average reservoir pressure, psia
Initial water saturation
Initial void space, bbl
Formation isothermal compressibility, psi-1

Change in the oil volume :

Initial reservoir oil volume =

Oil volume at time t and pressure p = ( )

Change in oil volume = ( )

Change in Free Gas Volume :

[ ] = =

Initial free gas volume = =

 [ ] = [ , ] [ ]
[ ]

= [ + ] [ ] [( ) ]

[ ] = [ + ( ) ]

[ ] = [ + ( ) ]

Change in water volume :

Initial reservoir water volume =

Cumulative water produced at t =
Reservoir volume of cumulative produced water =
Volume of water encroached at t =

Change in the Void Space Volume :

Initial void space volume =

[ ] = [ ] =

Or because the change in void space volume is the negative of the change in rock volume :

[ ] =

Combining the changes in water and rock volumes into a single term, yileds the followong :

= +

+
Recognizing that = and that = 1
and substituting, the following is obtained

+
= + [ ] ( + )
1

Or
 +
= + (1 + ) ( )
1

Equating the changes in the oil and free gas volumes to the negative of the changes in the water and
rock volumes and expanding all terms

+ + [ ] + +

+
+ = + (1 + ) ( )
1

Then grouping terms :

+ [ + ( ) ] + [ + ( ) ] + ( )
+
[ ] = + (1 + ) ( )
1

Now writing = and [ + ( ) ] = , where is the two phase formation

volume factor, and defined by :

( ) + [ + ( ) ] + (1 ) = + (1 +

+
) ( )
1

This is the general volumetric balance equation. It can be rearranged into the following form that is
useful for discussion purposes.

+
( ) + [ ] + (1 + ) ( ) +
1
= [ + ( ) ] +

Each term on the left-hand side accounts for a method of fluid production, and each term on the
right-hand side represent an amount of hydrocarbon or water production. The first two term on the
left-hand side account for the expansion of any oil/or gas zones that might be present. The third
term accounts for the change in void space volume, which is the expansion of the formation and
connate water. The fourth term is the amount of water influx that has occured into the reservoir. On
the right-hand side, the fisrt term represent the production of oil and gas and the second term
represent the water production.
Without eliminating any term, the equation above is used for the case of a saturated oil reservoir
with an associated gas cap. When there is no original free gas, such as in an undersaturated oil
reservoir, m=0 and reduces to :

+
( ) + [ ] + = [ + ( ) ] +
1

For gas reservoirs, it can be modifed by recognizinf that = and that = and
substituting these terms :

+
( ) + ( ) + ( + ) [ 1
] + = + ( ) +

When working with gas reservoirs, there is no initial oil amount; therefore, N and are equal to
zero. The general material balance equation for a gas reservoir can then be obtained

+
( ) + [ 1
] + = +

The material balance equation has been in general use for many years mainly for the following:

1. Determining the initial hydrocarbon in place.

2. Calculating water influx.
3. Predicting reservoir pressures.
As early as 1953, van Everdingen, Timmerman, and McMahon recognized a method of applying the
material balance equation as astraight line. But it wasnt until Havlena and Odeh published their
work that the method became fully exploited. Normally, when using the material balance equation,
an engineer considers each pressure and the corresponding production data as being separate
points from other pressure values. From each separate point, a calculation for a dependent variable
is made. The results of the calculations are sometimes averaged. The Havlena-Odeh method uses all
the data points, with further requirement that these points must yield solutions to the material
balance equation that behave linearly to obtain values of the independent variable.

The straight-line method begins with the material balance equation written as:

[ + ( ) ] +
+
= [( ) + (1 + )( ) + ( )] +
1
In Havlena and Odehs original development, they chose to neglect the effect of the
compressibilities of the formation and connate water in the gas cap portion of the reservoir. That is,
in their development the compressibility term is multiplied by N not by N(1+m). You may choose to
ignore the (1+m) multiplier in particular applications. Havlena and Odeh defined the following terms
and rewrote as:

= [ + ( ) ] +

+
, = [ ]
1

= + (1 + ) , + [ ] +

Chapter 3.5 Material Balance

The general material balance equation for a gas reservoir:

+
( ) + [ ] + = +
1

For most gas reservoirs, the gas compressibility term is much greater than the formation and water
compressibilities, and the second term on the left-hand side becomes negligible

( ) + = + (**)

When there is neither water encroachment into nor water production from reservoir of interest, the
reservoir is said to be volumetric. For a volumetric gas reservoir:

( ) =

Substituting expressions for and into the equation, the following is obtained:

( )( ) = ( )

( ) ( ) = ( )

= +

Because , , and G are constants for a given reservoir, the equation above suggests that a plot of
p/z as the ordinate versus as the abscissa would yield a straight line with:

= and =

If p/z is set equal to zero, which would represent the production of all the gas from a reservoir, then
the corresponding equals , the initial gas in place. The plot could also be extrapolated to any
abandonment p/z to find the initial reserve. Usually this extrapolation requires at least three years of
accurate pressure depletion and gas production data.

Equation (**) may be expressed in terms of initial pore volume, , by recognizing that =

[ 1] = +

For volumetric reservoirs, this equation can be reduced and rearranged to give:

Chapter 4.4 Use of Material Balance

Many gas-condensate reservoirs are produced under a partial or total water drive. When the
reservoir pressure stabilizes or stop declining, as occurs in many reservoirs, recovery depends on the
value of the pressure at stabilization and the efficiency with which the invading water displaces the
gas phase from the rock. The liquid recovery is lower for the greater retrograde condensation,
because the retrograde liquid is generally immobile and is trapped together with some gas behind
the invading water front. This situation is aggravated by permeability variations because the wells
become drowned and are forced off production before the less permeable strata are depleted. In
many cases, the recovery by water drive is less than by volumetric performance.

When an oil zone is absent, the material balance equation may be applied to retrograde reservoirs
under both volumetric and water-drive performance, just as for the single-phase (nonretrograde)
gas reservoirs for which it was developed:

( ) + = +

This equation may be used to find either the water influx or the initial gas in place G. The
equation contains the gas deviation factor z at the lower pressure. Because this deviation factor
applies to the gas-condensate fluid remaining in the reservoir, when the pressure is below the dew-
point pressure in retrograde resevoirs, it is a two phase gas deviation factor. The ideal volume is
calculated from the total moles of gas and liquid, assuming ideal gas behavior.

When laboratory data have not been obtained, the gas deviation factors of the initial reservoir gas
may be used to approximate those of the remaining reservoir fluid.

Chapter 5.3 Material Balance in Undersaturated Reservoirs

The material balance equation for undersaturated reservoirs was developed in Chapter 2 and is

+
( ) + [ ] + = [ + ( ) ] +
1

Neglecting the change in porosity of rocks with the change of internal fluid pressure, which is treated
later, reservoirs with zero or negligible water influx are constant volume or volumetric reservoirs. If
the reservoir oil is initially undersaturated, then initially it contains only connate water and oil, with
their solution gas. The solubility of gas in reservoir waters is generally quite low and is considered
negligible for the present discussion. Because the water production from volumetric reservoirs is
generally small or negligible, it will be considered as zero. From initial reservoir pressure down to
bubble point, then, the reservoir oil volume remains a constant, and oil, is produced by liquid
expansion. Incorporating these assumptions, we get

( ) = [ + ( ) ]

While the reservoir pressure is maintained above the bubble-point pressure and the oil remains
undersaturated, only liquid will exist in the reservoir. Any gas that is produced on the surfase will be
gas coming out of solution as the oil moves up through the wellbore and through the surface
facilities. All this gas will be gas that was in solution at reservoir conditions. Therefore, during this
period, , since the solution gas-oil ratio remains constant.
The material balance equation becomes

( ) =

= =

The material balance equation has been derived using the two-phase formation volume factor,
, , are related by

= + ( )

Below bubble point pressure, a free gas phase develops; and for a volumetric, undersaturated
reservoir with no water production, the hydrocarbon pore volume remains constant, or

= +

N and the fractional recovery, RF, for any undersaturated reservoir below the bubble point

[ + ( ) ]
=
( )

( )
= =
[ + ( ) ]

Gas-oil ratio control is important in solution gas-drive reservoirs, recoveries are inherently low
because the gas is produced faster than the oil. Outside of the energy stored up in the liquid above
the bubble point, the energy for producing the oil is stored up in the solution gas. When this gas has
been produced, the only remaining natural source of energy is gravity drainage, and there may be a
considerable period in which the oil drains downward to the wells from which it is pumped to the
surface.

Chapter 6.2 Material Balance in Saturated Reservoirs

The general Schilthuis material balance equation was developed in Chapter 2 and is as follows:
 +
( ) + [ ] + (1 + ) ( ) +
1
= [ + ( ) ] +

The initial oil in place :

[ + ( ) ] +
=
+
+ ( ) + (1 + ) [ 1 ]

Example 6.1 To calculate the stock tank barrels of oil initially in place in a combination drive
reservoir.

Given:

Volume of bulk oil zone = 112,000 ac-ft

Volume of bulk gas zone = 19,600 ac-ft
Initial reservoir pressure = 2710 psia
Initial FVF = 1.340 bbl/STB
Initial gas volume factor = 0.006266 cuft/SCF
Initial dissolved GOR = 562 SCF/STB
Oil produced during the interval = 20 MMSTB
Reservoir pressure at the end of the interval = 2000 psia
Average produced GOR = 700 SCF/STB
Two-phase FVF at 2000 psia = 1.4954 bbl/STB
Volume of water encroached = 11.58 MMbbl
Volume of water produced = 1.05 MMSTB
FVF of the water = 1.028 bbl/STB
Gas volume factor at 2000 psia = 0.008479 cuft/SCF

Solution:

= 1.3400 x 5.615 = 7.5241 cuft/STB

= 1.4954 x 5.615 = 8.3967 cuft/STB
= 11.58 x 5.615 = 65.02 Mmcuft
= 1.05 x 1.028 x 5.615 = 6.06 MM res cuft

Assuming the same porosity and connate water for the oil and gas zone:
 19,600
= = 0.175
112,000

20 106 [8.3967 + (700 562)0.008489] (65.02 6.06) 106

=
7.5241
8.3967 7.5241 + 0.175 (0.006266) (0.008489 0.006266)

= 98.97

Chapter 6.3 Material Balance as A Straight Line

= + (1 + ) , + [
] +

This equation is reduced for a particular application and arranged into a form of straight line. When
this is done, the slope and intercept often yield valuable assistance in determining such parameters
as N and m.

For the case of a saturated reservoirs with an initial gas cap, and neglecting the compressibility term,
, , the equation becomes

= + +

If N is factored out of the first two terms on the right-hand side and both sides of the equation are
divided by the expression remaining after factoring, we get

=+

+ +

If the water production values were not known, two dummy parameters are defined as F=F-WpBw
and We=We-WpBw. The equation then becomes

=+

+ +


The equation above is now in the desired form. If a plot of as the ordinate and as the
+

abscissa is constructed, a straight line with slope equal to 1 and intercept equal to N is
+

obtained.

The important point to remember is that if the Havlena-Odeh method is used, the condition of the
slope and/or intercept must be met for the particular case you are working with. This imposes
another restriction on the data and can be used to justify the exclusion of some data.