SPE 147506

Pressure Transient and Production Data Analysis of Horizontal Well in

Unconsolidated Formation in Frade, Brazil
Yan Pan1, Russ Ewy1, Don Ringe2, Medhat M. Kamal1, Ralph Affinito2 and Oluwole Sotunde1
1
Chevron Energy Technology Company, 2Chevron Global Upstream & Gas

Copyright 2011, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Denver, Colorado, USA, 30 October2 November 2011.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to
reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
Frade Asset is a medium-heavy-oil field located in the Northern Campos Basin, approximately 75 miles offshore from Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil in 3500 ft water depth. The structure is a low relief anticline with two main fault blocks consisting of four
stacked unconsolidated reservoirs. First production started in June 2009, and field development target peak production is
80,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Currently, the field is producing from 9 horizontal oil wells with 3 vertical water injection
wells to maintain reservoir pressure. Continuous well monitoring and reservoir characterization is the key to cost-efficient
development in this deep-water subsea field. Therefore, most wells in Frade are equipped with permanent down-hole gauges
for reservoir surveillance.
In this paper, we discuss the impact of three efforts on field performance: 1) monitoring the pressure and production data
from horizontal wells since first production, 2) the real-time pressure transient analysis (PTA) of a series of buildup tests, and
3) the transient study combined with long-term production data analysis (PDA). The study results provide insight into
formation quality and the change of well conditions with time. The estimations of current drainage area, average reservoir
pressure, and original oil in place help to optimize the field development plan. The impacts of pressure-dependent oil
properties and rock compaction were also studied, and the first quantitative evaluation of pressure-dependent
permeability/porosity reduction was performed using both long-term dynamic well data and laboratory core experiment
results. The applications of PTA and PDA in Frade showed that using current advanced technologies properly can yield
valuable well and reservoir information from well pressure and rate data.
The positive impact of focused efforts to measure and analyze pressure transient and production data, and to use pressuredependent permeability and porosity values in managing a large asset, demonstrated best practices that may be followed in
other oil and gas fields.
Introduction
Frade is a medium-heavy-oil field offshore from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which consists of stacked unconsolidated reservoirs
(Fig. 1). The development strategy includes horizontal production wells and deviated injection wells for water flooding to
maintain reservoir pressure. At the very beginning of the field development, the asset management team realized the
challenges of this particular field in this offshore environment and made the decision to install permanent down-hole gauges
at every production and injection well drilled with a reservoir surveillance plan in place to monitor well and reservoir
performance.
The active reservoir surveillance enabled engineers to make sound and quick operation decisions, such as shutting in wells,
changing chokes, or planning well intervention, etc., based on the dynamic data collected at wells continuously. It also
provided real-time information for improved reservoir characterization, model forecasts, and optimized future development
plans. As the data streams in continuously, the cycle from data collection, to updating reservoir models, to field performance
forecast, to development optimization, can be shortened.

SPE 147506

Fig. 1 Frade reservoirs and well information.

Because the reservoirs in Frade consist of unconsolidated sands, capturing the changes of formation properties with time is
important for field management. The availability of continuous pressure measurements made it possible to utilize the
transient data collected during all shut-in periods including scheduled buildup tests, operation required shut-ins, and
unplanned shut-ins. Permanent downhole gauges also allowed real-time analysis of buildup tests to obtain valuable well and
reservoir information earlier and to optimize the shut-in duration while testing to minimize the production loss without
sacrificing data quality.

Example Well: Producer #2

Horizontal well Producer #2 is located in the up-thrown fault block (Fig. 2) which has an original reservoir pressure of 3079
psia and reservoir temperature of 110 deg F. The net pay is approximately 42 m, and the horizontal well was drilled 30 m
above the sealing bottom of the reservoir. The well trajectory is parallel to the fault in the southwest and the axial fairway
edge in the north east. The well is completed with an open-hole gravel pack, and the total completion length is 507 m. The
permanent downhole gauge is installed above the top of the gravel pack completion.
N

N570 Axial
Fairway Edge

Toe

Heel

Prod #2
Fault

OWC

OWC

Km

Fig. 2 Frade reservoir top structure map.

Production history and observations

Producer #2 has been producing since July 2009. The oil gravity is about 19 deg API and oil viscosity is around 14 cp.
Continuous pressure measurements are available from permanent down-hole gauges. The production rates used in the
analysis are allocated daily rates based on well test data. In addition, the rate data was further calibrated (rate changes and
shut-in) according to pressure behavior and the cumulative production for each period. Figure 3 shows the pressure and rate
history since first production. Figure 4 shows the overlay of pressure and pressure derivative curves of a series of buildup

SPE 147506

periods (marked by arrows with dates in the corresponding color in Fig. 3) in the log-log plot. Some of the buildup periods
were scheduled transient tests, such as the one conducted in October 2009 for reservoir characterization purpose. Some of the
shut-ins were unplanned due to operational or other reasons. Nevertheless, all data collected could be used to obtain well and
reservoir information.
The first real-time analysis for this well was performed for the October 2009 buildup test. One of the test objectives was to
estimate the reservoir size. From geological information and 3D seismic mapping, the general shape of the reservoir was
known (Fig. 2), but the distances to boundaries still needed to be validated. After about 100 hours of shut-in, the real-time
analysis indicated that the transient response to the two boundaries closer to the well in the northeast and southwest had been
observed, but the expected duration to detect the two far away boundaries in the east and west would require more than onemonth of shut-in time. With the knowledge that combining the buildup test analysis and long-term production data analysis
later on (which does not require shutting in the well) would help us estimate the reservoir size, the decision was made at that
point to terminate the buildup test and put the well back into production. This further reduced production loss, and the
remaining test objectives were later fulfilled by subsequent production data analysis.
As Fig. 4 shows, the pressure transient behavior of buildups at different times was consistent. From the pressure derivative
(lower curves in Fig. 4), it was observed that the effective oil permeability was decreasing with time. The pressure change
(upper curves) indicated that the well total skin (if assuming constant kh value) was increasing with time. The well bottomhole pressure had dropped below bubble point (2842 psi); however, there was no apparent increase in the Producing gas oil
ratio. Its possible that some gas had come out of solution in the formation, and the reduction of formation effective
permeability might be partially due to multiphase effects.
Oct 2009 Dec 2009 Feb 2010 Mar Apr

Jul 2010

Oil rate
(STB/D)

Pressure (psi)

Jul 2009

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

2010

Pressure and pressure

derivative (psi)

Fig. 3 Frade Well Producer #2 production history.

1000

Skin increased
Koeff decreased

100

10
1E-3

0.01

0.1

10

100

Time (hr)
Fig. 4 Frade Well Producer #2 buildup test overlay in log-log plot.

When the effective oil permeability estimated from pressure transient analysis of different buildup periods using constant oil
PVT properties was normalized (Fig. 5), it clearly shows the formation permeability as a function of downhole pressure after
removing the data points with high uncertainty in rate measurements. As the reservoir was depleted, the formation pressure
decreased, and the absolute permeability of the unconsolidated sand was reduced. Figure 6 shows the skin estimation
changed with time when a constant kh value (from July 2009 buildup) was assumed. These calculated total skin factors
include possible mechanical damage, the effects of rock compaction, and possible multiphase flow.

SPE 147506

11

1.1

Effectiveskinfactor

Normalizedeffectivekh

0.9
0.7
0.5

Rate uncertain

0.3
0

200

400

600

pi pwf psi

800

1000

1200

Fig. 5 Producer #2 normalized kh estimation as

a function of pressure.

9
7
5
3
1
1
Jul09 Sep09 Nov09 Jan10 Mar10 May10 Jul10

Fig. 6 Producer #2 skin estimation from buildup periods

at different time assuming constant kh.

Pressure transient analysis of horizontal well

The development strategy of Frade is to produce from horizontal wells. Monitoring the well performance and analyzing the
pressure and rate data collected at wells requires the understanding of the transient behavior of a horizontal well. Figure 7
shows a typical buildup pressure response from Producer #2. At the early time, the flow is dominated by wellbore storage
effects where the pressure curve (green) and pressure derivative curve (red) are aligned at unit-slope straight line. Then
reservoir response follows, which starts with the vertical radial flow around the horizontal well, and the product of the
contributing well length (usually smaller than the total drilled length) and the average permeability in the plane perpendicular
to the horizontal well trajectory, Lw*sqrt( kv*kr ), and well skin factor could be estimated. After that, the flow reaches
pseudoradial flow (the flat portion of pressure derivative curve) where the flow capacity kh and hence the horizontal
permeability kr, could be calculated. The late-time behavior is affected by boundaries. For Producer #2, the two no-flow
boundaries close to the well (Fig. 2) were observed during buildup tests that were longer than two days. The distances to the
far end boundaries, and hence the reservoir size, were determined by analyzing the entire 14-month pressure and production
data while honoring the initial pressure.

Pressure and pressure derivative -psi

Applying pressure transient analysis techniques assuming constant fluid and rock properties, the well and reservoir properties
were obtained with an uncertainty range from the buildup data at Producer #2. The estimation of initial (July 2009) formation
effective kh value was 112,000 mD-m and 40,000 mD-m in July 2010. The effective skin factor changed from -0.3 in July
2009 to 10.5 in July 2010. The minimum connected reservoir size was between 2.1~3.7 km2. An estimation of average
reservoir pressure is also possible from this analysis. The calculated pressure (red curve) and pressure derivative (black
curve) match the data (green cross and red circle) reasonably well as shown in diagnosis loglog plot Fig. 7 and Cartesian
history plot Fig. 8. Since the well skin was changing with time, time-dependent skin was used to match the data (Fig. 8). The
match using the same consistent model for different buildup tests is also shown in Fig. 9.

Wellbore
storage

100

skin

kh

10

Two far away

Boundaries

Lw and
kv/kr
1
1E-3

First two
Boundaries

0.01

0.1

1
10
100
Time - hr
Fig. 7 Producer #2 horizontal well transient behavior and analysis results in log-log plot.

SPE 147506

skin6

< skin7

Oil rate

Pressure

skin1 < skin2 < skin3 < skin4 < skin5 <

0
Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

2010

Fig. 8 Producer #2 pressure transient analysis results in Cartesian history plot.

Feb. 2010
100

10

1
1E-3

Pressure and pressure derivative -psi

Pressure and pressure derivative -psi

100

July 2009

10
1E-3

0.01

0.1

100

0.01

Oct. 2009

0.1

Time [hr]

100

10
1E-3

Dec. 0.01
2009

0.1

10

100

Time [hr]

100

10
1E-3

0.01

0.1

1
Time [hr]

0.01

0.1

10

100

10

Apr. 2010

100

10
1E-3

0.01

0.1

10

Jul. 2010

Time [hr]

10
1E-3

10

Mar. 2010

Time [hr]

100

Time - hr
10
1E-3

0.01

0.1

10

Time - hr
Fig. 9 Producer #2 transient analysis results in log-log plots of different buildup tests.

Production data analysis

The availability of long-term continuous measurements of pressure at wells enabled the application of production data
analysis to obtain reservoir information that a buildup test with limited duration could not achieve. The advantage of
production data analysis is that by using rate-normalized pressure integral and equivalent time (cumulative production / rate)
it converts the pressure response to long-term production with various rates to a format that is similar to an equivalent
drawdown test with constant rate. Conventional pressure transient analysis techniques can then be used to diagnose different
flow regimes and estimate well and reservoir properties. Figure 10 shows the normalized pressure versus equivalent time
from Producer #2 in log-log plot. The early time was noisy due to the normal variation of rates during production. However,
the late-time data clearly indicated the forming of a unit-slope straight-line trend, which implied the detection of multiple noflow boundaries. Therefore, the minimum connected reservoir volume could be estimated. Combining pressure transient
analysis of the buildup periods and production data analysis of the entire history, the well and formation properties as well as
the minimum reservoir size were obtained for Producer #2. The calculated rates, pressure, and cumulative production (red
curves) match the rate measurements (brown), pressure data (green), and cumulative volume (orange) reasonably well as
shown in Fig. 11.

SPE 147506

Rate-normalized
pressure integral -psi

100

10

1
1

10

100

1000

10000

Pressure [psia]

Liquid rate [STB/D]

Equivalent time - hr
Fig. 10 Producer #2 production data analysis results in log-log plot.

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec
Jan
2010

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Fig. 11 Producer #2 production data analysis results in Cartesian history plot.

Uncertainty of contributing well length

One of the uncertainty factors in horizontal well transient analysis is the unknown effective well length. Due to reservoir
heterogeneity (different permeability distribution along the well trajectory) or possible plugging, usually the fraction of the
well that contributes to flow is less than the total drilled length. Because of the complex deployment method and associated
high cost and risk, production logging is seldom run in horizontal wells, and direct measurement of the effective well length
is usually unavailable. The well contributing length is directly correlated with the ratio of formation vertical permeability to
horizontal permeability and the well skin factor (Kamal et al. 1993, Yildiz and Ozkan 1998, and Ozkan 2001). Hence,
different combinations of parameters could provide similar results. Table 1 shows three sets of solutions with different
assumptions of the contributing well length, and the calculated corresponding pressures overlap each other with all matching
the data reasonably well as shown in Fig. 12. This poses an additional challenge for horizontal well transient analysis that
does not exist in vertical well transient analysis. However, using all available data from well logs, core analysis, and analogs,
the uncertainty ranges were narrowed allowing for acceptable solution ranges.
TABLE 1 UNCERTAINTY OF CONTRIBUTING WELL LENGTH
Lw , m

500

310

100

kv/kr

0.005

0.011

0.088

Skin 1

2.46

1.70

0.19

Skin 2

4.80

4.00

2.50

Rate (STB/D) Pressure (psia)

SPE 147506

Lw310k2107
Lw500k2107
Lw100k2107

8/5/2009

8/24/2009

9/12/2009

10/1/2009

10/20/2009

time
Fig. 12 Producer #2 pressure transient analysis results with different contributing length.

Uncertainty of total compressibility

Frade reservoirs are all unconsolidated sand. There is uncertainty of the total compressibility, which includes the
compressibility of fluids and rocks in the reservoir. Because the estimation of distance to boundary is directly correlated to
the square root of total compressibility, the uncertainty of compressibility is carried over to the estimation of reservoir size.
For the Producer #2 well, the total compressibility ranges from 5.6E-5 psi-1 to 8.6E-5 psi-1 for clean axial sand based on rock
mechanics testing done on Frade core samples. This implies that the reservoir size calculation has 54% uncertainty due to the
uncertainty in total compressibility. As more data are collected and more reliable lab analysis results are available, the
uncertainty in total compressibility could be reduced. At that stage, all transient analysis results need to be updated
accordingly to provide more accurate reserve estimation.

55

1.15
Viscosity [cp]

Reservoir to SC liquid volume ratio [B/STB]

Impact of pressure-dependent fluid properties

In classic pressure transient analysis of oil wells, the oil is assumed as a slightly compressible fluid and the PVT properties
are constant throughout the test period. In Frade, the oil properties, especially viscosity, are strong functions of pressure. The
oil viscosity in the near-wellbore region increased 38% from 13 cp to 18 cp during the 14-month production period of
Producer #2. As Fig. 13 shows, the oil formation volume factor is a linear function of pressure. Fig. 14 shows the oil
viscosity decreases with pressure. When pressure drops below 2000 psia (as is the case for Producer #2 starting in August
2010), non-linear behavior dominates the fluid flow. When that occurs, the assumptions of the linearity and constant PVT
properties are not valid any more. To study the impact of pressure-dependent fluid properties, the pressure and rate data were
analyzed again using pseudopressure functions (Evinger and Muskat 1942) to take into account the change of oil formation
volume factor and oil viscosity due to pressure drawdown in the reservoir. Even though the total compressibility is also a
function of pressure due to software limitation, it was not investigated in this study. The pseudopressure function is defined
as,
p dp
.
(1)
m ( p ) = ( Bo o ) ref
0 B
o o

1.1

Non-linear
behavior
35

1.05
15

1
0

1000

2000
3000
Pressure [psia]

Fig. 13 Frade oil formation volume factor.

1000

2000
Pressure [psia]

3000

Fig. 14 Frade oil viscosity.

Pressure transient analysis was performed assuming oil formation volume factor and viscosity as functions of pressure. The
change of the average reservoir pressure over the 14-month period was around 150 psi (Fig. 15). This indicated that the
change of the ratio of oil formation volume factor and viscosity (Bo/o) due to the reservoir average pressure decline was
about 6%. If using constant PVT properties to estimate the average flow capacity kh in the reservoir, this would result in 6%

SPE 147506

3100

101%
100%

3050

99%
98%
97%
96%
95%

Bo/ o

pavg

3000
2950
2900

94%
93%

2850

Average reservoir pressure -psia

Change of oil FVF/viscosity

lower calculated kh values. However, there was additional pressure drawdown (about 900 psi) in the reservoir near Producer
#2, and hence bigger oil property changes, and the non-linearity of oil viscosity at low pressure (Fig. 14) also caused a
significant transient behavior difference. The end results of using pseudopressure functions to take into account of the oil
FVF and viscosity changes were that the kh estimation was 21% higher and the drainage area was 23% larger than the
original analysis assuming constant oil properties.

Jul09
Oct09
Jan10
Apr10
Jul10
Fig. 15 Frade oil property FVF/viscosity and average reservoir pressure versus time.

Impact of rock compaction

The Frade reservoirs consist of unconsolidated sand. Understanding the rock compaction effect helps to obtain more accurate
reservoir characterization. Like most unconsolidated sands, the porosity and permeability of the formation changes with the
reservoir pressure condition. A change in fluid pressure causes a change in effective stress, and the sand responds to this
change in effective stress. Reservoir pressure depletion results in an effective stress increase, which in turn causes a
reduction in porosity. Because permeability is directly tied to porosity and to pore-space connectivity via pore throats, this
porosity reduction is associated with a reduction in permeability. These changes in porosity and permeability can be directly
measured in laboratory tests. To quantify these changes, tests were performed on samples from recently-cored Frade wells.
Laboratory experiments
Two types of laboratory tests were performed to assess the impact of pressure depletion. The first test is a pore volume
compressibility, or compaction, test. The second is permeability versus stress test. Both tests were performed in Chevrons
in-house rock mechanics laboratory. Both tests were custom-designed for the in-situ stress conditions at Frade. For each
reservoir tested, values of initial effective vertical stress and effective horizontal stress were calculated. As seen in Fig. 1, the
Frade reservoirs cover a significant depth range. Coupled with the relatively shallow burial depth below sea-bottom, this
means that the initial (pre-depletion) effective stresses are quite different in the different reservoirs.
For both test types, the samples were first brought to an effective stress condition that is similar to the initial stress in that
particular reservoir. Depletion was then simulated by increasing the values of effective stress on the samples. In doing such
tests, it is important to use a stress path that is similar to that which would happen in the reservoir due to depletion. For the
pore volume compressibility test, this is accomplished by applying uniaxial-strain boundary conditions. This means that as
the sample is compacted due to increasing vertical effective stress, the lateral dimensions are not allowed to change. This
closely simulates the boundary conditions in the reservoirs. These boundary conditions result in a changing effective
horizontal stress during the test, but with a different magnitude of change than the vertical effective stress. This measured
stress path was then used to design the stress loading for the permeability tests. For the permeability tests, unequal stresses
were applied to the samples, and the stress changes were made to closely mimic the expected effective stress changes in the
reservoir. Permeability was measured in the direction parallel to the least stress (the horizontal stress) for these tests.
It was found in these tests that all the Frade reservoirs are quite sensitive to stress. Even the more deeply buried reservoirs,
with initial porosities in the range 28% - 33%, were quite compactable and displayed significant permeability reduction due
to simulated pressure depletion. However, the more shallow reservoirs, with ambient porosities as high as 39%, were the
most stress-sensitive. The measured result on some of these shallower samples from a well at similar depth as the production
zone of Producer #2 in the same stratigraphic sand is shown in Fig. 16. In this plot, a zero value on the x-axis corresponds to
the initial reservoir stress condition, and negative values indicate the amount of simulated reservoir pressure change. These
data indicate that the reduction of porosity is 7.7% and the reduction of permeability is 38.3% due to pressure depletion over
the 14-month period. Multiple samples were tested from each reservoir, and consistent results were obtained.

Normalizedpermandporosity

SPE 147506

1.2

(core sample @ 2050.55 m)

1.0
0.8

August 2010
0.6

k (core sample @ 2053.93 m)

0.4
0.2
0

300

600

900

1200

1500

1800

2100

p pref (psi)
Fig. 16 Frade core lab results of pressure-dependent porosity and permeability.

Pressure transient analysis with rock compaction

Incorporating the pressure functions for formation permeability and porosity derived from core lab results, the permanent
downhole gauge pressure data were analyzed again. The derived initial formation flow capacity kh (July 2009) is 29% higher
and the drainage area estimation is 36% larger than the analysis results assuming constant porosity and permeability.
Comparison of different factors
Frade is a complex oil field with various challenging characteristics. To understand the impact of different factors on pressure
response, a sensitivity study was performed on pressure dependent fluid properties and rock properties using a synthetic 14month constant-rate production history with the same cumulative production from Producer #2.
Case 1. The base case assumed that the oil properties, formation porosity and permeability were constant through the entire
production history. The reservoir was set to have an area of 3.7 km2, net pay of 40 m, a kh value of 88500 mD-m, and well
skin value of 5.0.
Case 2. The oil formation volume factor and viscosity were treated as functions of pressure, and the formation permeability
and porosity were constant.
Case 3. The formation permeability and porosity were functions of pressure, and the oil FVF and viscosity were constant.
Case 4. The oil FVF, viscosity, and formation permeability and porosity were all pressure-dependent.

Base Case 1. constant B o, o, k,

Case 2. Bo(p), o(p), constant k,
Case 3. k(p), (p), constant Bo, o
Case 4. B o(p), o(p), k(p), (p)

production at constant-rate of 5700 STB/D

4

Jul

Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar

2010

Apr May Jun

Jul

Aug

Pressure and pressure derivative -psi

Oil rate
quid
rate[STB/D]
[STB/D

Pressure [psia]

The pressure responses to the 14-month constant-rate production from different cases are shown in Cartesian plot (Fig. 17a)
and in the diagnosis log-log plot (Fig. 17b). The sensitivity study results indicated that:
After 14-month production, the pressure drawdown at the well caused by pressure-dependent oil FVF and viscosity (blue
curves) is 15% more than the base case (green).
Rock compaction alone (orange) induced an additional 20% pressure drawdown at the well compared to the base case
(green).
Pressure dependent oil properties and rock compaction (red) added 49% more pressure drawdown at the well in total
than the base case (green).

Case 1. constant B o, o, k,
Case 2. B o(p), o(p), constant k,
Case 3. k(p), (p), constant Bo, o
Case 4. B o(p), o(p), k(p), (p)
1000

100

Base case 1
10
0.01

0.1

10

Time - hr

100

1000

100
10000

(a) Pressure 14-month drawdown

(b) Log-log plot of drawdown period
Fig. 17 Producer #2 pressure transient analysis results considering different factors (a) rate and pressure history (b) log-log plot.

Another study was done to understand the impact of different factors to pressure transient analysis results. This investigation
used the same reservoir and well assumptions as Case 1 to generate the pressure response for the 14-month constant-rate

10

SPE 147506

production history. Then the pressures were considered as measurement data (green curve in Fig. 17a and Fig.17b), and
different pressure-dependent fluid and rock properties were used to match the same set of data. Table 2 listed the transient
analysis results.
Considering the pressure-dependent oil formation volume factor and viscosity, the estimation of formation kh value at
the beginning of production (July 2009) needed to increase 20.9%, well skin had to be increased 34%, and the reservoir
size estimation was also 23.3% bigger than the base solution with the assumption of constant fluid properties.
If oil FVF and viscosity were assumed constant, and only permeability and porosity were treated as pressure-dependent,
the initial permeability estimation was 28.8% higher, the skin was 44.4% bigger, and the drainage area was 36.4% larger.
When both pressure-dependent oil FVF and viscosity, and rock compaction effects were taken into account, the initial
permeability estimation was 48.0% higher, the skin was 60.0% bigger, and the drainage area was 76.7% larger.
TABLE 2 ANALYSIS RESULTS CONSIDERING DIFFERENT FACTORS
Cases
khinJuly2009
khratio
skin
skinratio
drainagearea
arearatio

4.
1.constant
2.
3.
B(p),(p),
B,,k, B(p),(p) k(p), (p)
k(p), (p)
mDm
88,500 107,000
114,000
131,000
1.000
1.209
1.288
1.480
5.0
6.7
7.2
8.0
1.000
1.340
1.440
1.600
2

km

3.735
1.000

4.606
1.233

5.096
1.364

6.600
1.767

Conclusion
1. Frade is a complex oil field with challenging characteristics. Efforts are being made to continuously measure and analyze
pressure transient and production data to monitor the performance of wells and characterize the reservoirs, which is key
to effective reservoir management.
2. Continuous well monitoring and real-time pressure transient analysis of scheduled and unplanned buildup tests made it
possible to obtain well and reservoir properties promptly with the minimum required shut-in time, and hence the least
production loss, and to provide important information for optimizing the operation decisions and development strategies.
3. Pressure transient study combined with long-term production data analysis provided insight into formation quality and
the change of well conditions with time. The estimations of current drainage area and average reservoir pressure helped
to optimize the field development plan.
4. The transient behavior of horizontal wells is complex, and the analysis results involve higher uncertainty than those of
vertical wells due to the large number of unknown parameters associated with horizontal wells, such as the contributing
well length and the ratio of vertical to horizontal permeabilities. However, information from other sources of data, such
as well logs, cores and analogs from similar wells and reservoirs, allows for a set of solutions within an acceptable
uncertainty range to be obtained.
5. When the oil properties (especially viscosity) are strong functions of pressure, as the case in Frade, the impacts on
transient analysis results should be investigated. The analysis on the Frade well example indicated that the formation
flow capacity kh could be underestimated by 21% if constant oil formation value factor and viscosity were used. The
uncertainty of drainage area estimation due to the uncertainty in total compressibility was also assessed.
6. The impact of rock compaction of unconsolidated sand in Frade was evaluated quantitatively using both long-term
dynamic well data and laboratory core experiment results of pressure-dependent permeability and porosity reduction. Its
impact was significant on reservoir property estimations and reserve calculation.

SPE 147506

11

Nomenclature
B
= formation volume factor, RB/STB
h
= formation net thickness, ft
k
= permeability, mD
= vertical permeability, mD
kv
= horizontal permeability, mD
kr
= effective well length, m
Lw
p
= pressure, psi
q
= flow rate, STB/D
s
= well skin factor

= viscosity, cp

= porosity
Subscripts
i
= initial
ref
= reference
wf
= flowing well
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Chevron, Petrobras, and Frade Japao Petroleo Limitada for permission to publish this work.
References
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