Wet Gas

Wet gas reservoirs
It is the second type of natural gas reservoir fluid. In this type, reservoir
temperature exceeds hydrocarbon system cricondentherm, so the
reservoir fluid always remains in the gas phase as the reservoir pressure
decrease. No condensate liquid is formed in the formation as a result of
the pressure path does not inside the phase envelope as shown in a wet
gas phase diagram . Some of the liquid is formed at the surface due to
separator conditions (separator pressure and temperature) still inside the
phase envelope and is called condensate. The expression of “wet gas”
does not mean that the gas is wet with water but means condensation that
occurs at the surface .
Figure 3. Wet gas reservoir phase diagram.

Physical characteristics identification:
• Gas-oil ratios (GOR): is very high producing gas-oil ratios reached
from 60,000 to 100,000 SCF/STB. During wet gas reservoir life,
the gas-oil ratio does not change.
• Stock-tank gravity (API): as gravities of retrograde gas condensate
reservoir and reach above 60° API. Also during wet gas reservoir
life, stock-tank gravity of condensate liquid remains constant.
• Color: water-white.
Natural gas that contains significant heavy hydrocarbons such as propane,

butane and other liquid hydrocarbons is known as wet gas or rich gas.
The general rule of thumb is if the gas contains less methane (typically
less than 85% methane) and more ethane, and other more complex
hydrocarbons, it is labelled as wet gas.
Wet gas exists solely as a gas in the reservoir throughout the reduction in
reservoir pressure. Unlike retrograde condensate, no liquid is formed
inside the reservoir. However, separator conditions lie within the phase
envelope, causing some liquid to be formed at the surface. This surface
liquid is normally called condensate, and the reservoir gas is sometimes
called condensate-gas, which leads to a lot of confusion between wet
gasses and retrograde condensate.
The entire phase diagram of a wet gas will lie below the reservoir
temperature. Note that the pressure path line does not enter the phase
envelope, meaning no liquid is ever formed inside the reservoir.
Wet gases produce stock tank liquid with the same range of gravities as
the liquids from retrograde gases. However, the gravity of the stock tank
liquid does not change during the life of the reservoir. Also, producing
GOR are very high ( > 50000 scf/stb) for wet gases and remains
constant.
Gas -Liquid Equilibrium
To determine the equivalent volume of each STb of oil
𝑚
𝑣=
𝜌
𝑚 =𝑛∗𝑀
𝑛∗𝑀
𝑣=
𝜌
𝜌𝑣
𝑛=
𝑀
v for liquid will be vl & n for liquid nl
5954 42.43𝛾𝑜
𝑀𝑤𝑜 = =
𝜌𝑜 𝐴𝑃𝐼 − 8811 1.008 − 𝛾𝑜
𝜌𝑜 𝑣𝑙 (1.008 − 𝛾𝑜 )
𝑛𝑙 =
42.43𝛾𝑜
𝑛𝑙 = 𝑛𝑔
𝑃𝑣𝑔
𝑛𝑔 =
𝑅𝑇
𝑃𝑣𝑔 𝜌𝑜 𝑣𝑙 (1.008 − 𝛾𝑜 )
=
𝑍𝑅𝑇 42.43𝛾𝑜
𝜌𝑜 𝑣𝑙 (1.008 − 𝛾𝑜 )𝑍𝑅𝑇
𝑣𝑔 =
42.43𝛾𝑜 𝑃
And divide by 5.615 to be in ft3 units so it will be:
𝜌𝑜 𝑣𝑙 (1.008 − 𝛾𝑜 )𝑍𝑅𝑇
𝑣𝑔 =
238.2445𝛾𝑜 𝑃
And here it is each 1 STB liquid on the surface will
𝝆𝒐 𝒗𝒍 (𝟏.𝟎𝟎𝟖−𝜸𝒐 )𝒁𝑹𝑻
equal ft3 in the reservoir
𝟐𝟑𝟖.𝟐𝟒𝟒𝟓𝜸𝒐 𝑷
Material Balance
A wet gas reservoir is a reservoir that contains only gas. However as the
gas rises to the surface, liquid drops out due to a decrease in temperature.
Once again, to produce the material balance equation for a wet gas
reservoir, we must consider the initial state and current state of the
reservoir. In the back of our mind we must also be able to picture the
phase diagram for a wet gas reservoir. Consider the states of a wet gas
reservoir as illustrated below:
From the figure above, it should be clear that at the initial reservoir
pressure and final pressure, a wet gas reservoir only contains gas. As the
fluid rises to surface, condensate drops out of the gas in the pipelines and
separator at the surface as indicated by the phase diagram. The phase
diagram of a wet gas reservoir shows the initial state indicated by the
number 1 and the final state indicated by the number 2. Separator
conditions are indicated by the letter “S”. Again, consider the macrocopic
material balance equation. Because we know the reservoir states and
general pressure decline path of a wet gas reservoir on a phase diagram,
we can intelligently begin to eliminate terms that do not apply. The
results are shown below:
𝑩𝒕𝒊
=[ (𝒄 + 𝑺𝒘 𝒄𝒘 )𝜟𝒑 +] + 𝑾𝒆
𝟏 − 𝑺𝒘 𝒘
𝑵𝒑 𝑩𝒕 + 𝑩𝒈 𝑮𝒑 + 𝑾𝒑 − 𝑾𝒊 − 𝑮𝒊 𝑩𝒈𝒊
𝑵𝑩𝒕𝒊
= 𝑵(𝑩𝒕 − 𝑩𝒕𝒊 ) + 𝑮(𝑩𝒈 − 𝑩𝒈𝒊 ) + (𝒄
𝟏 − 𝑺𝒈 − 𝑺𝒘 𝒘
𝑮𝑩𝒈𝒊
+ 𝑺𝒘 𝒄𝒘 )𝜟𝒑 + (𝒄 + 𝑺𝒘 𝒄𝒘 )𝜟𝒑 + 𝑾𝒆
𝟏 − 𝑺𝒐 − 𝑺𝒘 𝒘
• N = 0: no oil is initially in place
• Gi = 0: assume no gas injected into the reservoir
• Rs =undefined: no solution gas evolving out of the oil
• Wp = 0 : assume negligible water production
After eliminating the unnecessary terms, the material balance equation for
a gas condensate reservoir becomes the following:
𝑵𝒑 𝑩𝒕 + 𝑩𝒈 𝑮𝒑 − 𝑾𝒊
𝑮𝑩𝒈𝒊
= 𝑮(𝑩𝒈 − 𝑩𝒈𝒊 ) + (𝒄 + 𝑺𝒘 𝒄𝒘 )𝜟𝒑
𝟏 − 𝑺𝒐 − 𝑺𝒘 𝒘
+ 𝑾𝒆
The above result should makes sense. We initially have gas in the
reservoir, thus G is defined. No matter how far the pressure declines, we
always have single phase gas in the reservoir. Therefore, two phase gas
formation volume factor Bt gets converted to the single phase gas
formation volume factor Bg. On the phase diagram, as the fluid arrives to
the surface, two fluids are produced: (1) oil condensate and (2) gas.
Therefore Np is defined because liquid drops out of the gas. Bt is defined
because the condensate oil shrinks as it rises to the surface. Because the
pressure decline path never enters the Therefore Bg , Bo, Rs and are
defined. The reason Rs is not defined is because the pressure decline path
never enters the retrograde region (highlighted in gray). Therefore, the
condensate that drops out at the surface does not revaporize. The equation
below shows which terms are eliminated if one assumes a volumetric
reservoir:
𝑵𝒑 𝑩𝒕 + 𝑩𝒈 𝑮𝒑 − 𝑾𝒊 = 𝑮(𝑩𝒈 − 𝑩𝒈𝒊 )
• Assume volumetric reservoir: 𝑾𝒆 =0 , 𝑾𝒊 = 0, and 𝒄𝒘 =0
After eliminating terms with the volumetric assumption, the material

balance equation for a volumetric gas condensate reservoir There we have
it! The macrocopic material balance equation combined with our
knowledge of phase behavior results in a simple expression to describe
the production of a wet gas reservoir.
References
• https://topdogengineer.com/material-balance-of-wet-gas-reservoir/
• Abdus Satter, Ghulam M. Iqbal, in Reservoir
Engineering, 2016
• Katz, D. L., 1959, Handbook of Natural Gas Engineering: New York, McGraw-Hill.
• Jump up↑ Society of Petroleum Engineers, 1981, Phase behavior: Dallas, TX, SPE
Reprint Series No. 15.

Wet Gas

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Wet gas reservoirs

Figure 3. Wet gas reservoir phase diagram.

Natural gas that contains significant heavy hydrocarbons such as propane,

• Assume volumetric reservoir: 𝑾𝒆 =0 , 𝑾𝒊 = 0, and 𝒄𝒘 =0

After eliminating terms with the volumetric assumption, the material

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