Muhammad Ali Al-Marhoun

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals | KFUPM · Department of Petroleum Engineering

The molecular weight and specific gravity of heptane plus fractions (C7+) are essential in characterizing crude oils. The hydrocarbon analysis of reservoir fluid test usually reports molecular weight and specific gravity of C7+ in the PVT report. Sometimes these values are missing; therefore, estimating them is crucial. This study aims to develop n...

The coefficient of isobaric thermal expansion of crude oils is essential in thermal methods of production and surface facilities design. The literature has no simple mathematical model to predict the instantaneous thermal expansion coefficient. Therefore, this study presents an artificial neural network (ANN) model and an empirical correlation for...

Reservoir fluid properties at bubble points play a vital role in reservoir and production engineering computations. Ideally, the bubble point physical properties of crude oils are obtained experimentally. On some occasions, these properties are neither available nor reliable; then, empirically derived correlations or artificial neural network model...

The bubble point pressure is essential for planning and managing oil field development and production strategies. The conventional procedure of the determination of bubble point pressure and volume is a trial-and-error method. Consequently, this leads to the lack of uniqueness, accuracy, and repeatability of the solution. This paper describes a new...

The oil density at the bubble point is an important thermodynamic property required in reservoir simulation and production engineering. A higher-accuracy estimate of this property would improve the accuracy of reservoir and production engineering calculations. The bubble point oil density is obtained either from separator tests of reservoir fluids...

The compressibility factor (z-factor) of gases is a thermodynamic property used to account for the deviation of real gas behavior from that of an ideal gas. Correlations based on the equation of state are often implicit, because they require iteration and are computationally expensive. A number of explicit correlations have been derived to enhance...

This paper presents correlations to determine black oil properties from normally available or easily obtainable field data. The best available correlations were selected on the basis of statistical error analysis with a database of hundreds of reservoir-fluid studies of black oil samples representing all areas of the world producing black oils.

In the present study, an artificial neural network (ANN) constitutive model was developed to predict bubble point pressure for the case of Canadian data. The accuracy of prediction of bubble point pressure was compared using two sets of inputs to the model. One was based on composition of the oil and the other based on easily available parameters s...

Oil compressibility above bubble point pressure is important in reservoir simulation, material balance calculations, design of high-pressure surface-equipment and the interpretation of well test analysis. Accurate calculation of oil compressibility is very important for reservoir evaluation. The oil compressibility above bubble point pressure incre...

Reservoir fluid properties data are very important in reservoir engineering computations such as material balance calculations, well testing, reserve estimates, and numerical reservoir simulations. Ideally, those data should be obtained experimentally. On some occasions, these data are not available or reliable; then, empirically derived correlatio...

This study shows the utilization of the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) as a practical engineering tool for estimating the flow rate and selecting the optimal choke size. In this study, the existing choke correlations available in the literature were reviewed, evaluated and compared with the newly derived ANN. The new method can be used to predict...

The Atlantis-II-Deep's metalliferous sediments were recently discovered along the mid-ocean ridge system extending into the Red Sea, at a mean water depth of 2,200 m. The average thickness is 7 to 11 m in different sub-basins. The metal-bearing mud contains sulfides of zinc, cupper and iron with significant amounts of silver, gold and cobalt. A var...

This paper presents new correlations for formation volume factors (FVF) at, above and below bubblepoint pressure for oil and gas mixtures as empirical functions of solution gas oil ratio, gas relative density, oil relative density pressure, and reservoir temperature. The correlations are developed from a total of 11 728 experimentally obtained FVF...

As naturally fractured reservoirs present wide ranges of geological characteristics and complex flow mechanisms between matrix and fracture, reservoir simulation is highly necessary to properly evaluate production performance. Pressure maintenance by gas and/or water injection is often required in naturally fractured reservoirs to control productio...

Most of the existing correlations for estimating gas viscosity were developed in mid 60's and 70's of the last century. Limited number of data was used to develop them and their accuracies are questionable. Predicting accurate gas viscosity is extremely important in the oil and gas industry as it has a major impact on reservoir recovery, fluid flow...

Viscosity of crude oil is an important physical property that controls and influences the flow of oil through rock pores and eventually dictating oil recovery. Prediction of crude oil viscosity is one of the major challenges faced by petroleum engineers in production planning to optimize reservoir production and maximize ultimate recovery.This pape...

New Models with three different techniques have been developed to predict the dew-point pressure for gas condensate reservoirs. Traditional correlations, non-parametric approaches and artificial neural networks have been utilized in this study. The new models are function of easily obtained parameters (reservoir temperature, gas specific gravity, c...

As naturally fractured reservoirs (NFR) present wide ranges of geological characteristics and complex flow mechanisms between matrix and fracture, reservoir simulation is highly necessary to properly evaluate production performance. The production performance depends on fracture distributions and matrix/fracture properties as well as on fluid prope...

Oil compressibility plays an important role in reservoir simulation, material balance calculations, design of high-pressure surface-equipment and the interpretation of well test analysis, specifically for systems below the bubble point pressure. Accurate information on the oil fluid compressibility above and below bubble point pressure is very impo...

This paper, precisely, evaluates two famous below bubble point viscosity correlations and tries to create a new Neural Network model for estimating this property. The new created model outperforms the two investigated correlations namely Khan Model (1987) and Labedi Model (1992). The new technique (Artificial neural network) found to be successful...

This paper, precisely, evaluates two famous below bubble point viscosity correlations and tries to create a new Neural Network model for estimating this property. The new created model outperforms the two investigated correlations namely Khan Model (1987) and Labedi Model (1992). The new technique (Artificial neural network) found to be successful...

Abstract Knowledge of chemical and physical properties of formation water is very important in various reservoir engineering computations especially in water flooding and production.Ideally, those data should be obtained experimentally.On some occasions, these data are not either available or reliable; then, empirically derived correlations are us...

This study evaluates the most frequently used pressure–volume–temperature (PVT) empirical correlations to determine reservoir–fluid properties for Middle East crudes. The best available correlations were selected and their predictions compared with a large database of reservoir–fluid studies of samples representing all active areas of the Middle Ea...

The actual reservoir process is neither flash nor differential. Thus, regardless of the testing procedure, some adjustment needs to be made to the resultant data to approximate the fluid behavior in the oil production process. The conventional method of adjustment extrapolates to negative values of solution gas-oil ratio and formation volume factor...

This paper presents a new correlation for the coefficient of isothermal compressibility of black oils at pressures above the bubble point. The correlation is expressed as an empirical function of oil relative density at bubble point pressure, reservoir temperature, bubble point pressure and the reservoir pressure. A total of 3412 data points from 1...

Reservoir fluid properties data are very important in reservoir engineering computations such as material balance calculations, well testing, reserve estimates, and numerical reservoir simulations. Ideally, those data should be obtained experimentally. On some occasions, these data are not either available or reliable; then, empirically derived cor...

Knowledge of reservoir fluid properties is a fundamental requirement for all types of petroleum calculations such as determination of hydrocarbon flowing properties, and design of fluid handling equipment. This presentation provides a review of the state of the art of the reservoir fluid properties and outlines the outlook for future development. T...

The first practical coriolis mass flowmeter was introduced in 1977. Today, there are several manufacturers which offer various coriolis mass flowmeters with different sensing tube configurations and geometry. These meters continue to evolve, gain wide acceptance, and are used in the chemical, petroleum, food and beverage industries because of the s...

The paper presents a new empirical correlation to predict the dewpoint pressure of gas-condensate fluids from readily available field data. The new correlation relates the dewpoint pressure of a gas-condensate fluid directly to its reservoir temperature, pseudoreduced pressure and temperature, primary separator gas-oil ratio, the primary separator...

Reservoir fluid properties are very important in reservoir engineering computations such as material balance calculations, well test analysis, reserve estimates, and numerical reservoir simulations. Ideally, these properties should be obtained from actual measurements. Quite often, however, these measurements are either not available, or very costl...

This study evaluates the most frequently used pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) empirical correlations for Pakistani crude oil samples. The evaluation is performed by using an unpublished data set of 22 bottomhole fluid samples collected from different locations in Pakistan. Based on statistical error analysis, suitable correlations for field appli...

The rheological property and corrosion behavior relationship of mild steel type 1018 in a typical drilling fluid used in deep drilling and hot wells was studied. The tests were conducted under conditions that simulate flow, temperature, and pressure encountered during drilling operations. Physical properties that were considered are: shear stress‐s...

The present method used by petroleum engineers to smooth experimental flash liberation data involves graphical technique to abram the bubblepoint volume. A trial-and-error procedure that utilizes the Y-correlation is then used to obtain the bubblepoint pressure and smooth the data below the bubblepoint pressure_ The data points above the bubblepoin...

This paper evaluates several empirical correlations for estimating the bubblepoint oil formation volume factor (FVF) for worldwide application. A total of 674 experimentally obtained pressure-volume-temperature (PVT) data gathered from different published sources is used for analysis of correlated parameters of physical properties and for compariso...

Chokes are one of if not the most important flow controllers in oil producing wells. Selecting the optimum choke size is the first step in choke design. An empirical correlation that relates the choke size to other parameters was developed. The correlation covers a wide range of flow rates and choke sizes. It was based on 3554 production test data...

In **Correlation of PVT Properties for UAE Crudes **(SPE Formation Evaluation, March 1992, Pages 41-46), Dokla and Osman developed a correlation for bubble point pressure that used 51 data points. They recommended the use of this correlation for UAE crudes because it gave better approximation than the correlations of Al-Marhoun, Glassø and Standing...

Saudi Arabia has realized the huge potential in its natural gas resources and has therefore developed petrochemical industries which utilize the various gas components as their input. Natural gas is associated with oil production, a glut in the oil market reduces the oil production quota and hence the supply of gas (mainly methane and ethane) to th...

The gas input into the petrochemical industry in Saudi Arabia involves mainly methane and ethane as fuels and feedstocks. These gases are produced from the separation of natural gas into its components. The majority of the natural gas produced in Saudi Arabia is as an associated gas. But the associated-gas production is heavily tied to crude-oil pr...

An empirical correlation for oil viscosity at the bubble point was developed based on Canadian and Middle Eastern oil data. The correlation postulates a simple relationship between oil viscosity and density at the bubble point. Error analysis shows that the new correlation is superior to others when tested on the same data.

The rate of corrosion of drill pipe due to different drilling fluid compositions has been studied. Polymers used to formulate different fluid samples are: cellulose ethers, lignosulfonates and synthetic copolymers. Samples are stressed chemically by adding gypsum and lime and heated up to a temperature of 230°C. Both electrochemical and weight-loss...

Drilling fluid property changes due to elevated temperature and aging time frequently cause problems in drilling deep wells. A laboratory investigation of the effect of high temperature (490°F), high pressure(10000 psig) and long aging time (30 days) on water-base drilling fluid properties is made with Fann Model 70 HTHP Viscometer and Baroid Rolle...

Over the past years, a variety of test equipment has been developed by individual investigators to study the performance of drilling fluid under simulated downhole conditions. These tests require more elaborate equipment, are time consuming and also pose limitations in using the acquired data for field operations. API standard equipment for laborat...

Empirical equations for estimating bubblepoint pressure, oil FVF at bubblepoint pressure, and total FVF for Middle East crude oils were derived as a function of reservoir temperature, total surface gas relative density, solution GOR, and stock-tank oil relative density. These empirical equations should he valid for all types of oil and gas mixtures...

This paper addresses the class of tarmat reservoirs subject to bottomwater drive. Different shapes of tar layers are simulated physically and numerically to study the behavior of WOR and oil recovery. Four different cases were studied: a square barrier beneath the well, a disk beneath the well, a hollow square or disk beneath the well, and a half p...

The Atlantis II Deep is a stratified metalliferous deposit located along the medium valley of the Red Sea at a water depth of about 2200 m. The metal-bearing mud contains sulfides of zinc, copper and iron with significant amounts of silver, gold and cobalt. Mining geostatistics was applied to estimate the Red Sea offshore mineral resources. Kirging...

Empirical equations for estimating viscosity: above, at, and below the bubble point pressure were developed based on data from Saudi Arabian crude oils. Both statistical and graphical techniques have been employed to evaluate these equations as compared to other published crude oil viscosity correlations using the same data. It is shown that the de...

In routine core analysis, porosity and permeability, both relative and absolute, are measured on rock samples which are not under net overburden (confining) pressure. Using these data to predict reservoir performance or estimate reserves can lead to serious errors since all reservoirs are under net overburden pressure. Data collected from constant...

Empirical equations for estimating bubble-point pressure, oil formation volume factor (FVF) at bubblepoint pressure, and total FVF were derived as a function of reservoir temperature, total surface gas relative density, solution gas-oil ratio, and stock tank oil relative density. These empirical equations should be valid for all types of oil and ga...

Due to instability and degradation of the conventional drilling fluids specially under high shear rate, elevated temperatures and chemically complex environments of deep and geothermal wells, it is essential to modify and develop stable batches of clay suspensions that can perform adequately under these conditions. To obtain batches, a reliable set...

A new mathematical and graphical approach to analyze the interference tests is presented. This is based on a mathematical manipulation of the line source solution to the diffusivity equation. This approach yields the exact exponential integral function solution in a straight line form if pressure versus the inverse of time is plotted on a specially...

A new approach to the application of direct method in petroleum reservoir simulation is introduced, This new approach is based on a modified form of the alternating diagonal ordering scheme that will rearrange each type of elements along different secondary diagonals in the coefficient matrix. In a typical 2-dimensional 3-phase petroleum reservoir...