GAS FIELD ENGINEERING

Gas Well Performance

CONTENTS

6.1
6.2
6.3

Gas Well Performance

Static Bottom-hole Pressure(static BHP)
Flowing Bottom-hole Pressure(flowing BHP)

LESSON LEARNING OUTCOME

At the end of the session, students should be able to:

Determine static bottom-hole pressure(static BHP) using
different methods
Determine flowing bottom-hole pressure(flowing BHP) using
different methods

Gas Well Performance

Figure (6.1) Gas Production Schematic

Gas Well Performance

Deliverability

The ability of reservoir to deliver a certain quantity

of gas depends upon:
1. inflow performance relationship (IPR)
2. flowing bottom-hole pressure (FBHP)
Well & Facilities Performance

Flowing bottom-hole pressure depends upon:

1. Separator pressure

2. Configuration of the piping system

Gas Well Performance

These conditions can be expressed as:
(8.1)

(8.2)

Bottom-Hole Pressures (BHP)

The bottom hole pressure (BHP) must be known in order to
predict the productivity or absolute open flow potential (AOF) of
gas wells.
Preferred method is a BHP gauge (down-hole pressure gauge).
However, BHP can be estimated if following is known:

well head pressure,

well head temperature,
formation temperature,
well depth
gas specific gravity

Basic Energy Equation when no flow

For a static gas column, the basic energy balance is:

OR

Further assume that the local g equals

the g constant (g = gc) and re-arrange:

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Static BHP for Slanted Wells

For slanted wells as shown below, total
length L and depth Z are related:

Relates Inclination to
Pipe Length & angle
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BHP for slanted wells

In differential form:

Where dZ is the change in the elevation in the upward

direction and dL is positive upwards.
-- Assuming a single-phase fluid that obeys the real gas
equation of state (EOS), gas density can be expressed as a
function of pressure:

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BHP for slanted wells

Combining the equations yields:

Combine with:

AND

To get:

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Root of all methods for BHSP calc.

Relates the change in wellbore pressure

as a function of depth and gas density.
Derived from Energy Balance
Assumed static conditions (no kinetic
energy, friction loss or work done)
Replaced density with EOS (equation of
state)

Average Temp. & z-Factor Method

Both gas density & z factor are p & T

dependent and change with well depth
Solving the root equation is thus difficult
If T & z-factor are assumed constant then
a solution can be obtained as follows:

whose solution is

Solution Technique

Because depends on p which is unknown,

solution requires an iterative process.
1. Assume a value of BHSP,
, A good
guess can be obtained from:

2. Compute avg pressure & temperature & use it

to find avg z-factor
3. Calculate
with the earlier equation.
4. Iterate on steps 2 through 4 until
converges.

Example for Class Participation

Since depends on p which is unknown,

solution requires an iterative process.
1. Assume a value of BHSP,
. A good
guess can be obtained from:

2. Compute avg pressure & temperature

& use it to find avg z-factor
3. Calculate
with the earlier equation.
4. Iterate on steps 2 to 4 until
converges.

Example Solution

Example Solution

Because of the simplifying assumptions made in its

development, this method is not accurate for deeper
wells and alternate methods should be used.

Q&A

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Thank You

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