MBAL

ANALYTICAL RESERVOIR ENGINEERING TOOLKIT

MBAL enables reservoir analysis throughout the full field life, from early appraisal to mature fields, using minimal data such as PVT and cumulative production.

MBAL BROCHURE

Material Balance

MBAL estimates hydrocarbon in place and drive mechanisms for oil, gas, and condensate systems using black oil or compositional approaches, including cases with PVT variation. It also models complex compartmentalised reservoirs using multi-tank transmissibility, and is often used alongside numerical simulators for fast checks and history matching.

History Matching

MBAL guides engineers through history matching using standard graphical methods such as Cole, Campbell, and P/Z plots to identify drive mechanisms and validate data quality. Once matched, it can simulate historical performance to compare against measured data and generate pressure, saturation, and production profiles. These outputs also enable calibration of relative permeability curves, including well-specific curves based on drainage behaviour, improving model realism beyond classical approaches.

Aquifer Modelling

MBAL models aquifer strength and size using both steady-state and transient methods, including industry-standard and proprietary formulations. By calibrating pressure support against production data, it enables reliable forecasting once matched to field behaviour.

Forecasts

MBAL supports forecasting either as a standalone tool or within integrated models, using history-matched aquifers and relative permeability data. It generates physically based well-specific relative permeability curves that reflect reservoir position and behaviour, enabling differentiated well responses and more accurate predictions. Multi-tank transmissibility models also allow simulation of compartmentalised reservoirs and fault-driven flow during depletion.

1D Model

The 1D Model applies Buckley-Leverett and fractional flow theory to simulate oil-water displacement in single-layer systems. In multilayer cases, it generates layer-specific relative permeability curves using established analytical and simulation-based methods, which can then be fed into MBAL for further matching and analysis.

Multilayer Production

For multi-layer completions, MBAL uses IPR-based back-allocation to distribute surface production rates to individual layers more accurately than traditional permeability-based methods. These allocations can be iteratively history matched within MBAL, alongside multi-tank, gas recycling, and inter-tank transmissibility modelling for complex reservoir systems.

Tight Reservoirs

In tight reservoirs where pressure propagation is slow, MBAL uses type curves such as Blasingame and Agarwal-Gardner to estimate GIIP and production behaviour. These methods support unconventional IPR generation for forecasting and are often used as a screening step before more advanced analysis.

Coal Bed Methane

MBAL models coal bed methane systems using Langmuir and modified Langmuir isotherms to describe gas desorption. It captures both dewatering and production phases and integrates reservoir behaviour with well and surface network responses for forecasting.

Streamlines

The Streamlines module provides fast 2D analysis of sweep efficiency, breakthrough time, and water-cut evolution for injector-producer patterns. It is used when full numerical simulation is too costly or when MBAL lacks sufficient history data, offering a rapid way to assess flood performance and production support pathways.

View all Products

Next Product: Reveal

Interested in this product?
Speak to our team, today.

Get im touch with our specialists today for a personalised quote, technical guidance or to answer any questions you have about our product range. We're here to ensure you get exactly what you need.

Interested in this product?<br/>Speak to our team, today.

IPM Suite

Case Studies

Petex: North Sea – Surveillance and Allocation

Splitting the bill without a receipt. PETEX's Digital Oil Field platform turned murky North Sea well allocation into a trusted, physics-based system.