Evaluation of Transport Properties Effect on the Performance of Gas-Condensate Reservoirs Using Compositional Simulation

Abstract

Gas-condensate productivity is highly dependent on the thermodynamic behavior of the fluids-in-place. The condensation attendant with the depletion of gas-condensate reservoirs leads to a deficiency in the flow of fluids moving toward the production channels. The impairment is a result of condensate accumulation near the production channels in an immobility state until reaching a critical saturation point. Considering the flow phenomenon of gas-condensate reservoirs, tight formations can be inevitably complex hosting environments in which to achieve economical production. This work is aimed to assess the productivity gas-condensate reservoirs in a naturally fractured setting against the effect of capillary pressure and relative permeability constraints. The severity of condensate coating and magnitude of impairment was evaluated in a system with a permeability of 0.001 mD using an in-house compositional simulator. Several composition combinations were considered to portray mixtures ascending in complexity from light to heavy. The examination showed that thicker walls of condensate and greater impairment are attained with mixture containing higher nonvolatile concentrations. In addition, the influence of different capillary curves was insignificant to the overall behavior of fluids-in-place and movement within the pores medium. A greater impact on the transport of fluids was owed to relative permeability curves, which showed dependency on the extent of condensate content. Activating diffusion was found to diminish flow constraints due to the capturing of additional extractions that were not accounted for under Darcy's law alone.