The contact surfaces in reservoir segregating fluids with different densities (normally between gas, oil and water) formed by gravity and capillary pressure.


Oil Water Contact (OWC)


Gas Oil Contact (GOC)

Gas Water Contact (GWC)


Free Water Level (FWL)


HC-Water Transition


Fig. 1. Fluid contact schematic: gas in yellow, oil in green, hydrocarbon-water transition in blue and free water in aqua.


Usually the fluid contacts are relatively flat but varying reservoir properties may lead to inclination of the contact surface.

The exact knowledge of fluid contacts is critical in reserves estimation and field development planning.



See Also


Geology / Petroleum Geology

Petroleum Industry / Upstream / Subsurface E&P Disciplines / Petrophysics



References



https://www.spec2000.net/01-index.htm

http://web.mst.edu/~numbere/cp/chapter%203.htm

http://www.ux.uis.no/~s-skj/ipt/Proceedings/SCA.1987-2004/1-SCA1998-07.pdf

https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/1/24363/2/Haddad-R-2011-Pet-Eng-MSc-thesis.pdf





SPE 71326, Saturation Height Methods and Their Impact on Volumetric Hydrocarbon in Place Estimates, B. Harrison (Enterprise Oil) and X.D. Jing (Imperial College, London), 2001 

А.Ф. Ямалетдинов, М.Н. Ханипов (ТатНИПИнефть) – Комплексный подход к созданию геолого-технологических моделей. Повышение качества моделирования.