Analysis of a Saturated Oil Reservoir using Material Balance Tool : A Case Study in an Onshore Niger Delta Field

Abstract

The continual necessity in the oil and gas industry to establish the exact amount of oil and gas initially in place in the reservoir is of great relevance. This research work is primarily aimed at studying the performance of a saturated oil reservoir in an onshore Niger Delta field using Material Balance Analysis, with specific goals of estimating the initial oil in place, determining the presence of an aquifer and its strength, estimating a suitable drive mechanism, and determining the best operational production scheme that would maximize recovery. The majority of the data used in this study was obtained from Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL). IDSL also provided the software used in this study. The Material Balance (MBAL) tool, which is a simplified analytical tool used to discover reservoir features utilizing the principle of material balance(conservation of mass), is the simulation software that was employed for the case of this study. The material balance software predicts reservoir behavior using a conceptual model based on its effect on reservoir fluid production and gas-to-water injection. From the MBAL software, the reservoir was seen to have 104.06 MMSTB of oil initially in place and the predicted volume of water in place to be 81706.1 MMft3. Furthermore, the effect of the aquifer on reservoir pressure demonstrates that water drive is the most predominant driving mechanism responsible for production.