Reservoir Engineering I (PCB2023)
Tutorial 2: Relative Permeability Concepts
Q1. The following data shows the results of a steady-state oil-water relative
permeability experiment measured at several water saturations at room
temperature:
Absolute permeability: 500 md
Core length: 8 cm
Core diameter: 2.6 cm
Oil viscosity: 2.1cp
Brine viscosity: 1.2 cp
Oil flow rate
(cm
3
/s)
Brine flow
rate
(cm
3
/s)
Pressure
drop
(psi)
S
w
(%)
1.82 0.00 220 15
1.57 0.08 220 20
1.33 0.15 220 25
1.12 0.32 220 30
0.87 0.60 220 40
0.53 0.98 220 55
0.35 1.42 220 65
0.18 1.53 220 72
0.00 1.75 220 80
i. Plot the steady state relative permeability curves for this sample and
comment on their characteristics.
Reservoir Engineering I (PCB2023)
Q2. A section of a reservoir is 875 ft long and 80 ft wide. The net pay zone is 30
ft with an average k
abs
of 30 md. The pressure at one end of this section is 3400
psia and pressure at the other end is 2000 psia. Properties of fluids are in the
following TABLE 1 and relative permeability data for this reservoir is in FIGURE 1
TABLE 1
Oil viscosity 0.70 cp
Water viscosity 0.30 cp
Oil formation volume factor 1.23 res bbl/STB
Water formation volume factor 1.02 res bbl/STB
FIGURE 1
a). Find the oil effective permeability at the critical water saturation, S
wc
.
b). Determine the oil initial production rate. Assume that Darcys law for a
linear incompressible fluid in field units is applicable i.e.
L
P kA
q
001127 . 0
c). Calculate the oil production rate (STB/day) at 40% S
w
.
d). Calculate the water production rate at 60% S
w
.
e). Is this section of the reservoir water-wet or oil-wet? Comment.
Relative permeability data
0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
water saturation, Sw
W
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