Calculating volumetric gas reserves
This program makes a straightforward volume calculation,
but be aware that gas reserves are complicated. Gas is rarely the only
phase in a reservoir, and its ultimate recovery is a function
of many variables, not all geologic. Plumbing, economic, and
even regulatory restrictions cloud the issue, along with line
pressures and abandonment rates. Gas might exist as a free
phase at the top of the reservoir, and also as solution gas,
dissolved in associated oil, which won't come out of solution
until production drops the reservoir below the bubble point.
Gas might contain an undesirable amount of something like H2S
or nitrogen, or a desirable amount of something more
valuable, like helium. It is often the case that gas will
slowly change composition over the life of a producing field.
Volumetrics ignores all of these issues and makes a simple
initial guess at the amount of gas which could be in place in a
reservoir. As with estimating oil reserves, I find it helpful
to check the optimism of a volumetric gas estimate by using the
other LogCalc program that projects reserves based upon
expected production, decline, and abandonment rates.
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