Oil well performance

When considering the performance of oil wells, it is often assumed that a wells p
erformance can be estimated by the productivity index. However, Evinger and Musk
at[1] pointed out that, for multiphase flow, a curved relationship existed betwe
en flow rate and pressure and that the straight-line productivity index did not
apply to multiphase flow. The constant productivity index concept is only approp
riate for oil wells producing under single-phase flow conditions, pressures abov
e the reservoir fluids bubblepoint pressure. For reservoir pressures less than th
e bubblepoint pressure, the reservoir fluid exists as two phases, vapor and liqu
id, and techniques other than the productivity index must be applied to predict
oilwell performance.