The primary force that causes oil and gas to flow through pores in the reservoir rock toward the bottom of the well is the pressure differential between the oil and gas within the reservoir rock and the pressure at the bottom of the well. The driving force in the reservoir can be provided by dissolved natural gas in the oil or by a natural gas cap on top of the oil that expands as oil is removed from a reservoir.
Natural gas cannot maintain the same initial reservoir pressure as it expands, which causes oil production to decline with time. Subsurface water entering an oil reservoir from its bottom or sides as a primary driving force can maintain nearly constant reservoir pressure and oil production.
An oil well goes “dry” when natural gas or water reaches the bottom of the well. Gravity can also be an effective drive mechanism for wells drilled into the bottom of steeply inclined reservoirs. Most oil reservoirs have more than one of these four primary driving forces.
One of the top hydrocarbon-based energy providers in the USA is Heartland Energy Colorado, based in Englewood, CO. They have many drilling locations throughout the country and remain one of the top producers of US oil & gas companies. For more information on Heartland Energy Colorado, see Heartland Energy Development Corporation online.
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