Variable Flow Rate Reservoir Limit Testing: SPE-AIME, Scientific Software Corp
Variable Flow Rate Reservoir Limit Testing: SPE-AIME, Scientific Software Corp
Variable Flow Rate Reservoir Limit Testing: SPE-AIME, Scientific Software Corp
Introduction
The conventional reservoir limit testl- 4 can be used We shall present here a theoretically sound reser-
to estimate reservoir size if the test well operates at voir limit testing procedure for a cyclic two-flow-rate
a constant flow rate during the test. Unfortunately, situation. Simulated pressure-time data for more
it is not always feasible to perform a test at a con- complicated rate schedules experimentally extend the
stant rate, at Jeast for more than a few hours. This analysis technique to more realistic situations. The
is particularly true when flow rate varies cyclically analysis techniques and suggestions for its use are
as in oil wells that are pumped cyclically, water sup- presented, and an example, using data from an exist-
ply wells, and waste-disposal wells. ing industrial waste-disposal well, is included for
This paper shows how to estimate reservoir size illustration.
from pressure data in wells operating with a cyclic
rate schedule. The method applies to both injection Reservoir Limit Test Analysis
and production wells. The important requirement is The familiar reservoir limit test ' - 1 requires that a well
the cyclic rate: rate must oscillate about a mean be operated at constant rate until pseudosteady-state-
value within some relatively regular period. When flow conditions have existed for some time. Then,
this condition is satisfied, reservoir limit testing is reservoir size can be calculated from
fairly simple. This requirement can be relaxed, in
which case there will be a corresponding reduction - - O.23395qB f
A ~h - ~ ,cut (1)
in the accuracy of the calculated result. This is an moel
important consideration when the engineer has no where: q = flow rate for the well, STB/D
control over the quality of data - for instance, when
the engineer has several years of historical data from q > 0 for production, q < 0 for injection
a well. If he knows only rate and pressure at several m* = slope of the linear portion of the pres-
points in time, he cannot apply a very accurate, sure vs flowing-time plot, psi/hr
sophisticated analysis technique. The method of this
paper allows him to estimate reservoir size from such The slope, m*, is the constant rate of pressure change
data, although the accuracy may be less than de- during pseudosteady-state flow; 111* is negative for
sired. This method should not be used if a better production, positive for injection.
approach is available. Its value lies in providing rea-
sonable engineering estimates when conditions pre- Two-Rate Test
vent testing and analysis under more ideal conditions. Consider the cyclic rate history of Fig. 1; the rate is
With this technique, reservoir size can be estimated from pressure data taken from
either production or injection wells operating on a cyclic rate schedule. So long as the
requirement is satisfied that the flow rate vary cyclically rather than increasing or
decreasing monotonically, reservoir limit testing is quite simple and an engineer can
accomplish it without computer aid.
:c ~1600
L PSEUDO-STEADY
I PERIOD -
2q ... ~ o
o 0 0
*
/ m '-0.0348 PSI/HR
cr
.
:f
:::>
:1400
1500 /Q'1700 STBIB
...- .
~
-= ~ 1300
i *
21200~~:;~~:::m::'-:~0:3~64;P~S;I/:HR~~~~;';~~J.
o
.,
/Q'3400 STIlID
11000 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200
; .. 2 ;=3 FLOW TIME, t, HR
i=n
Fig. 2-Simulated pressure drawdown data for a two-rate
cyclic history, Rates are 1,700 and 3,400 STB/D,
TIME, ,
changing every 10 hours. = 2,550 STB/D. q
Fig. 1-Two-rate cyclic flow history_ Conditions of Table 1 apply.
cu ft. (Note: q = 1,599 is used in Eq. 2 for both Fig. 4-Pressure data taken every 12 hours for random
rate and time variations. Rate varies as in Fig. 3, ± 15
percent. Time period is 3 hours ± 15 percent. = 1,599 q
STB/D. Conditions of Table 1 apply.
0 ~ m*:~0.0155
1200 2
..... nO
0 0
"0
0 0
'i 1200 8 J
.
'"
w" 1600
1600 J
w.. l600
! *
...
~
/ " " m '-0.0169
5 5 u
0 0 nn ,.,0
n 0
f 1600 7 OU 0 0'0
... 0 r!"
Fig. 3-Simulated pressure drawdown for an eight-rate Fig. 5-Simulated pressure data for completely random·
cyclic history. Rates change every 3 hours in num- rate, random-time drawdown. 800 ~ q ~ 2,400
bered sequence shown. = 1,600 STB/D.q with q = 1,610 STB/D; 1 D.t 5 hours. < <
Conditions of Table 1 apply. Conditions of Table1 apply.
°
2. Pick pressure-time points in a specific rate in-
terval. A rate interval of 5 to 1 percent of the total
rate variation should provide good results. Plot these
o - - - - - - - 5,140 BID data as in Figs. 5 and 6 for several rate ranges.
...'" o -10,280B/D (Ideally, the plotted pressure data should all be at
15,420 BID
<) - - - - - -
<)
the same time interval after a rate change.)
~ 400 3. Use the least-mean-square method to calculate
w
OK
~~~-->~~
o the best straight-line slope for each set of pressure
~
<)
o
oo 0 __0-
data. Results will be better than if "eyeball" straight
...
OK
~300
.
~
-- -- -- -- -- -- _~_--o-: lines are drawn.
4. Use Eq. 2 to calculate reservoir pore volume
~
.5l-0'- ---- o for each set of data points. The over-all average rate
must be used for each set of data; this is not the rate
-0
for that data set.
INJECTION TIME
5. Apply engineering judgment to decide what
Fig. 6--Data for example calculation; 5 years of injection
reservoir pore volume to use. Be wary of pressure
history for a disposal well with three injection rates. data that show many slope reversals, such as the
q = - 9,660 STB/D during period shown. diamond-shaped points in Fig. 5. These data should
1426 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY
probably be ignored. Once questionable data are (tDA)PSS = dimensionless time based on area, at the
omitted, choose the most frequently occurring result beginning of pseudosteady - state flow
as the best estimate of reservoir size. There appears t::..t = time period, hours
to be little value in averaging the results from several fJ. = viscosity, cp
rate-interval data sets. cp = porosity, fraction
6. If the system has not been operated long enough
for pseudosteady-state conditions to apply (Eq. A-5), Subscripts
calculated results will be too low. In this case, one D = dimensionless
has a conservative estimate. For large systems it may DA = dimensionless based on area
be months or years before pseudosteady state is i = index on time
reached and the technique can be applied. j = index on time
There is a possibility that a complete regression pss = beginning of pseudosteady state
analysis could be used to estimate shape, well loca-
tion, and size. 7 Acknowledgment
R. C. Earlougher, Sr., posed the problem that pro-
Conclusions vided the idea for the analysis technique given here.
Reservoir limit testing is feasible when flow rates vary
cyclically. Reservoir pore volume is calculated just References
as in the better known techniques, except that aver- 1. Jones, Park: "Reservoir Limit Tests," Oil and Gas I.
age flow rate is used. This approach has a sound (June 18, 1956) 184.
2. Jones, L. G.: "Reservoir Reserve Tests," I. Pet. Tech.
theoretical basis when only two rates occur in the (March, 1963) 333-337.
cycle. Analysis of simulated pressure behavior for 3. Matthews, C. S. and Russell, D. G.: Pressure Buildup
varying rate drawdown situations indicates that the and Flow Tests in Wells, Monograph Series, Society of
technique is applicable to much more complex situa- Petroleum Engineers, Dallas (1967) 1.
4. Earlougher, Robert C., Jr.: "Estimating Drainage Shapes
tions. If the system is large enough to be a good pro- from Reservoir Limit Tests," I. Pet. Tech. (Oct., 1971)
ducing or disposal reservoir, it may take several 1266-1268.
months, or years, to reach conditions for which this 5. Dietz, D. N.: "Determination of Average Reservoir
analysis can be applied. The larger the system, the Pressure from Buildup Surveys," I. Pet. Tech. (Aug.,
1965) 955-959.
longer the time until this technique can be used. 6. Earlougher, Robert C., Jr., Ramey, H. J., Jr., Miller,
F. G. and Mueller, T. D.: "Pressure Distributions in
Nomenclature Rectangular Reservoirs," J. Pet. Tech. (Feb., 1968)
199-208.
a = coefficient of time in generalized pseudo- 7. Earlougher, Robert c., Jr., and Kersch, Keith M.: "A
steady-state representation of dimen- Computer Method for Automatic Analysis of Transient
sionless pressure, Eq. A-7 Test Data," J. Pet. Tech. (Oct., 1972) 1271-1277.
A = area, sq ft 8. Ramey, H. J., Jr.: "Short-Time Well Test Data for
Oil Wells in Presence of Skin Effect and Wellbore
b = constant in pseudosteady-state represen- Storage," J. Pet. Tech. (Jan., 1970) 97-104.
tation of dimensionless pressure, Eq. 9. Agarwal, Ram G., Al-Hussainy, Rafi and Ramey, H.
A-8 J., Jr.: "An Investigation of Wellbore Storage and Skin
Effect in Unsteady Liquid Flow: I. Analytic Treat-
B = formation volume factor, RB/STB ment," Soc. Pet. Eng. I. (Sept., 1970) 279-290.
Ct = total compressibility, psi- 1 10. Ramey, H. J., Jr., and Cobb, William M.: "A General
C A = shape factor Pressure Buildup Theory for a Well in a Closed Drain-
age Area," I. Pet. Tech. (Dec., 1971) 1493-1505.
h = thickness, ft
J = index at which pseudosteady-state condi- APPENDIX
tions begin, Eq. A-9
k = permeability, md Reservoir Limit Testing Theory for
m* = slope of pseudosteady straight line used A Square-Wave Rate History
for calculating reservoir pore volume, A square-wave rate variation pattern is shown in Fig.
psi/hr 1. We can write the pressure behavior for that rate
n = upper limit on time index schedule using the principle of superposition3 :
P = pressure, psi n
PD = dimensionless pressure 141.2Bft ~ ( . _ . )
Pi = initial reservoir pressure, psi Pi - Pwi ()
t = kh i.J. q, q,.,
i=!
Pwf = flowing bottom-hole pressure, psi
q = flow rate at surface conditions, STB/D;
q > 0 for production, q < 0 for in-
• {PD ([t-U- 1)t::..t]D) +s}
jection (A-I)
qi = flow rate during time interval i
q = average flow rate, STB/D where
r w = wellbore radius, ft 0.0002637 kt
s = skin factor tD = (A-2)
f = time, hours
cpfJ. C t rw 2
tD = dimensionless time The dimensionless pressure, PD, may be calculated
fDA = dimensionless time based on area with well known approximations or determined from
DECEMBER, 1972 1427
tabulated or plotted data. 3, 6,~, 9 Note from Fig. 1 that
qi -qi-1 = q for i even (A-3a)
qi-qi-1 = -q for i odd (A-3b)
::::; Y2 at - 71'(tDA)P8,' (A-II)
Using these relations, Eq. A-I becomes
We use Eq. A-II and
_ 141.2 qB fL {
Pi - Pwr(t) - kh . PD(tD) +S -
q = Y2 (2q + q) = T3 q (A-12)
n/2
c,!is the shape factor. 3-:; From Eq. A-5 we see that
1:
Eq. A-6 can be used in Eq. A-4 if
(tn.1) p8s A
rw 2
This is equivalent to -PD ([(n-2j)M]D)] (A-16)
tn -- (t IH )P88 (~)
rw
pn( [t-(2J+l)Llt]n ) -pn( [t-(2J+2)Llt]D)
2 LltD
= pn( [(n-2J-l)Llt]D) -Pn ([(n-2J-2)Llt]D)
When j ~ J we can substitute Eq. A-6 into Eq. A-4
and write
J
_ 141.2qB fL { ~
Pi - Pwr(t) - kh at + b + S + ~ aLlt
j=1
n/2
(A-17)
= m* t + constant, (A-I9)
This term (for j = J + 1) depends only on the interval where
over which the cyclic rate acts, tit. It does not depend
on t, n, or J. Thus, the entire summation term of Eqs. - 0.23395qB
(A-20)
A-13 and A-16 must be a constant, R, as long as t is ¢ct hA
large enough to satisfy Eq. A-5: Eq. A-19 indicates that a plot of Pw( vs t should
nl2 be a straight line with slope m* given by Eq. A-20,
R = .1: {PD( [t-(2j-l)tit]D ) as long as t is large enough so Eqs. A-5, A-6, and
J='J,. 1 A-I5 are satisfied. Thus, the mechanics of reservoir
limit testing are the same for this situation as for the
- PD ( [t - 2j M]D)} = constant (A-I 8)
constant-rate case 3 ,4 with q in place of q.
The paper by R. C. Earlougher, Jr., has a sound to the boundary for the periodic flow-rate compo-
and practical approach. It must be emphasized that
the method of the paper applies to injection and pro- nent, A e iwt •
duction reservoir situations where: (1) the flow rate
oscillates periodically about the average flow nite,
When t > t[IRS' then PD(tD) = at + b,
where
(2) the period of oscillation is a small fraction of total
time t, and (3) t > tJiSS (tJiSS is the beginning of pseudo- (27T )(0.0002637) k
steady-state flow for constant flow rate). This can be a=
¢fJ.ct A
proved by superposing the pressure change due to
the average flow rate, q, on that due to periodic flow b= Y2 In (2.2':58A)
rw-C.!
rate variation about q. For instance, we apply such a
principle to a well in a rectangular reservoir: If the Thus, a plot of Pw( (t) vs t has a trend whose slope is
average flow rate is q and if the periodic part about m* = - 0.23395 qB (D-2)
_ ~ iwt _( A iwt ) ¢CthA
q is Ae , then the flow rate q is q = q 1 + e q •
From Eq. D-2 we obtain
Now, based on the work of Carslaw and Jaeger' (their
Eq. 13, Page 263) we write A h = - 0.23395 qB (D-3)
¢ m*Ct