Gas Condensate Reservoirs

Forming Dewdrops:
A gas condensate is a single-phase fluid at original reservoir

conditions. It consists predominantly of methane [C1] and other
short-chain hydrocarbons, but it also contains long-chain
hydrocarbons, termed heavy ends. Under certain conditions of
temperature and pressure, this fluid will separate into two
phases, a gas and a liquid that is called a retrograde condensate.
Gas-condensate fluids are termed retrograde because their
behavior can be the reverse of fluids comprising pure
components. As reservoir pressure declines and passes through
the dewpoint, liquid forms and the amount of the liquid phase
increases with pressure drop. The system reaches a point in a
retrograde condensate where, as pressure continues to decline,
the liquid revaporizes.
As a reservoir produces, formation temperature usually doesnt
change, but pressure decreases. The largest pressure drops occur
near producing wells. When the pressure in a gas-condensate
reservoir decreases to a certain point, called the saturation
pressure or dewpoint, a liquid phase rich in heavy ends drops out
of solution; the gas phase is slightly depleted of heavy ends. A
continued decrease in pressure increases the volume of the
liquid phase up to a maximum amount; liquid volume then
decreases. This behavior can be displayed in a pressure-volumetemperature (PVT) diagram.
Phase diagram of a gas-condensate system

This pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) plot indicates singlephase behavior outside the two-phase region, which is bounded
by bubblepoint and dewpoint lines. Lines of constant phase
saturation (dashed) all meet at the critical point. The numbers
indicate the vapor phase saturation. In a gas-condensate
reservoir, the initial reservoir condition is in the single-phase
area to the right of the critical point. As reservoir pressure
declines, the fluid passes through the dewpoint and a liquid
phase drops out of the gas. The percentage of vapor decreases,
but can increase again with continued pressure decline. The
cricondentherm is the highest temperature at which two phases
can coexist. Surface separators typically operate at conditions of
low pressure and low temperature.
The amount of liquid phase present depends not only on the
pressure and temperature, but also on the composition of the
fluid. A dry gas, by definition, has insufficient heavy
components to generate liquids in the reservoir, even with nearwell drawdown. A lean gas condensate generates a small volume
of the liquid phase, less than 100 bbl per million ft3, and a rich
gas condensate generates a larger volume of liquid, generally
more than 150 bbl per million ft3.
Once reservoir fluids enter a wellbore, both temperature and
pressure conditions may change. Condensate liquid can be
produced into the wellbore, but liquid also can drop out within
the wellbore because of changes in conditions. If the gas does
not have sufficient energy to carry the liquid to surface, liquid
loading or fallback in the wellbore occurs because the liquid is
denser than the gas phase traveling along with it. If the liquid
falls back down the wellbore, the liquid percentage will increase
and may eventually restrict production.
Dewdrops in a Reservoir:
Near a producing well, once bottomhole pressure drops below
the dewpoint, a near-well pressure sink forms around the well.
As gas is drawn into the pressure sink, heavier hydrocarbons
(C7+) condense out as a liquid (condensate). As the condensate
drops from solution in the gas while still in the porous media,
capillary pressure effects are present [due to the generation of a
second immiscible phase which has a finite interfacial tension
between it and the gas phase]. This capillary pressure traps the
discrete drops of condensate in the central portion of the pore
system and does not allow them to move until the saturation
*
increases to the point where the individual droplets of condensed

hydrocarbon liquid can accrete together and form a continuous
condensate "film" in the porous media. Once this occurs, the
condensate phase acquires finite relative permeability and can
then flow as a separate and distinct phase in the rock. The value
of the condensate saturation, which must build up before
mobility occurs, is commonly referred to as the "critical" or
"mobile" condensate saturation. It can have values ranging from
less than 1% (at low IFT conditions and in high permeability
rocks which have very low capillary pressure) to values in
excess of 40% in poorer quality porous media. After a brief
transient period, enough liquid accumulates that its mobility (the
ratio of relative permeability to viscosity) becomes significant.
The gas and liquid compete for flow paths, as described by the
formations relative - permeability relationship. Condensate
blockage is a result of the decreased gas mobility around a
producing well below the dewpoint.
Condensate blockage:
Once bottomhole pressure in a well falls below the dewpoint,
condensate will drop out from the gas phase. Capillary forces
favor having condensate in contact with the grains (inset, right).
After a brief transient period, the region achieves a steady-state
flow condition with both gas and condensate flowing (inset,
top). The condensate saturation, SO, is highest near the wellbore
because the pressure is lower, which means more liquid dropout.
The oil relative permeability, kro, increases with saturation. The
*
decrease in gas relative permeability, krg, near the wellbore

illustrates the blockage effect. The vertical axis, represented by a
wellbore, is schematic only.
Reservoir pressure dropping below the dewpoint has two main

results, both negative: gas and condensate production decrease
because of near-well blockage, and the produced gas contains
fewer valuable heavy ends because of dropout throughout the
reservoir, where the condensate has insufficient mobility to flow
toward the well.
Gas-Condensate Reservoir Management:

There are two main categories of problems commonly
associated with gas-condensate reservoir systems:
I. Formation damage effects associated with the condensate
dropout.
2. Permanent loss of valuable light condensate liquids due to
trapping effects in the reservoir.
Periodic treatments to attempt to "remove" a portion of the
trapped condensate liquids from around the wellbore are often
used to try to increase production rates.
Water Injection/ Flooding:
Fluid (water or gas) injection is used to maintain the reservoir
pressure above the dew point pressure and prevent condensate
dropout in the reservoir.
Gas Cycling/ Gas Re-injection:
It involves injecting produced lean or rich gas into a formation
to keep reservoir pressure above the dewpoint slowly displaces
valuable heavy ends that are still in solution in the reservoir gas.
Well Stimulation Techniques:
All techniques that involve stimulation through the same
(producing) well.
Hydraulic Fracturing (or Fracking):

Hydraulic fracturing is the most common mitigating technology
in siliciclastic reservoirs. Hydraulic fracturing is performed by
injecting high pressure fluids into the wellbore and into the
perforation tunnels to cause the rock formation to fracture.
Well acidizing:
Pumping diluted acid mixtures from surface
into the well to dissolve the offending
material is used in carbonate reservoirs.
Steam Injection:
A method of thermal recovery in which a
well is injected with steam and then
subsequently put back on production.
Horizontal or inclined wells are also being
used to increase contact area within
formations. The condensate still builds up
around these longer wells, but it takes a
longer time.
Artificial lift:
It is a method used to lower the producing
bottomhole pressure (BHP) on the formation
to obtain a higher production rate from the well. This can be
done with a positive-displacement downhole pump, to lower the
*
flowing pressure at the pump intake. It also can be done with a

downhole centrifugal pump. Many gas wells benefit from
artificial lift to take liquids (condensates) off the formation so
gas can flow at a higher rate.
Well Abandonment:
In mature gas condensate wells, the accumulation of condensate
fluids in the well can decrease and sometimes stop gas
production. A well is said to reach an "economic limit" when its
most efficient production rate does not cover the operating
expenses, including taxes. When the economic limit is reached,
the well becomes a liability and is abandoned. In this process,
tubing is removed from the well and sections of well bore are
filled with concrete to isolate the flow path between gas and
water zones from each other, as well as the surface. Completely
filling the well bore with concrete is costly and unnecessary. The
surface around the wellhead is then excavated, and the wellhead
and casing are cut off, a cap is welded in place and then buried.
In actual reservoir conditions, we

seldom reach to the lower dew
point pressure as the field
abandonment pressure is much
higher than the lower dew point
pressure.
Pabandonment 500 psi >> Patmospheric
=14.7 psi
Question: Why does

condensate oil comes out of
the gas?
Natural gas compounds with more
carbon atoms (e.g. blends of butane, pentane and other
hydrocarbons with additional carbon atoms i.e. C7+ components)
exist as liquids at ambient temperatures. The lighter components
like methane (C1) have very low intermolecular forces, and are
gases at ambient temperature. The lighter components are faster
and as pressure difference is provided, these components, being
lighter, rush towards the pressure sink. The slower, heavier
components upon experiencing pressure depletion would lose
energy. These components slow down and their attractions cause
them to bond to become a liquid. Upon accumulation of
molecules, condensate vapors appear.
Types of Gases:
*
Natural gas mixtures fall into two general categories: dry or lean
natural gas has high concentrations of methane and ethane
(typically 95 percent or more), while wet, or rich, gases have
higher concentrations of propane, butane and the intermediateweight hydrocarbons pentane (C5) through heptane (C7).
Types of Forces in reservoir:

Darcy Force/ Pressure Gradient Force:
The change in pressure measured across a given distance is
called a "pressure gradient. The pressure gradient results in a
net force that is directed from high to low pressure and this force
is called the "pressure gradient force".
Gravity Forces:
Force on a body due to gravity. The more the denser a fluid is,
the more force on it gravity exerts.
Capillary Pressure (Two-Phase):
In porous media, capillary pressure is the force necessary to
squeeze a hydrocarbon droplet through a pore throat (works
against the interfacial tension between oil and water phases) and
is higher for smaller pore diameter. It is defined as the difference
in pressure across the interface between two phases. Similarly, it
has been defined as the pressure differential between two
immiscible fluid phases occupying the same pores caused by
*
interfacial tension between the two phases that must be

overcome to initiate flow.
Note: In reservoir, fluid flow is governed, mainly (and
predominantly) by Darcy forces, as the influence of gravity is
negligible as compared to the extent of P.

Gas Condensate Reservoirs

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Forming Dewdrops:

A gas condensate is a single-phase fluid at original reservoir

Phase diagram of a gas-condensate system

increases to the point where the individual droplets of condensed

decrease in gas relative permeability, krg, near the wellbore

Reservoir pressure dropping below the dewpoint has two main

Gas-Condensate Reservoir Management:

Hydraulic Fracturing (or Fracking):

flowing pressure at the pump intake. It also can be done with a

In actual reservoir conditions, we

Question: Why does

Types of Forces in reservoir:

interfacial tension between the two phases that must be

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