OTC-24757-MS

Inflow Performance Relationship for Horizontal Wells Producing from Multi-Layered

Heterogeneous Solution Gas-Drive Reservoirs
Muhammad Ali Khalid, Dr Sami Alnuaim and Muzammil Hussain Rammay, KFUPM

Copyright 2014, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Offshore Technology Conference Asia held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2528 March 2014.
This paper was selected for presentation by an OTC 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 Offshore Technology Conference and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Offshore Technology Conference, its
officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Offshore Technology Conference 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 OTC copyright.

Abstract
Oil well performance is very important matter to oil companies due to its direct impact on their fields total oil production and
future development investment. Hence, it is essential to drill and maintain oil wells as healthy as possible. Oil well
performance is measured by the assessment of its Inflow Performance & Outflow Performance Relationships (IPR & OPR).
Since 1968, Vogel equation has been used extensively for analyzing the IPR of flowing oil wells under solution gas drive.
However, the Vogel curve was originally developed for vertical wells and may not be applicable to horizontal wells due to the
fact that the flow into a horizontal well, with overlying gas cap, is different than flow into a vertical well. In addition, current
used inflow performance relationship models for horizontal wells are impractical in nature, mainly developed for
homogeneous reservoirs, and not suitable for multi-layered systems with different permeability. Thus, there is a need for new
practical IPR model that considers the effects of reservoir heterogeneity on IPR curves for horizontal wells producing from
two-phase reservoirs overlaid by gas cap.
This study investigates the effects of reservoir heterogeneity on IPR curves for horizontal wells drilled in heterogeneous
reservoirs. To achieve the desired objective, commercial simulator Eclipse, is utilized to develop IPRs for horizontal wells
producing from solution gas drive reservoirs. Firstly, a simulation model is developed where a base case is considered with
typical rock, fluid and reservoir properties using black oil model. Dimensionless IPR curves are generated by obtaining a set
of points relating flowing bottom-hole pressures to oil production rates. The effects of several reservoir and fluid properties
such as bubblepoint pressure, oil gravity, residual oil saturation, critical gas saturation, initial water saturation, porosity and
absolute permeabilities on the calculated curves are investigated. Reservoir heterogeneity is included in the simulation model
by introducing the concept of semi-variogram function. Finally, an attempt is made to converge the results into one simple
model in order to get a new empirical IPR correlation for horizontal wells producing from heterogeneous solution gas drive
reservoirs suitable for systems with different reservoir permeability. The new empirical IPR model was then compared to the
published correlations and found to have a small and acceptable average absolute error of less than 2%. Furthermore, the study
also shows that bubblepoint pressure has significant effect on dimensionless IPR curves. However, plots for other properties
indicate that although the curves are not identical, they are similar in shape and demonstrate much less variance than the
bubble point pressure plot. Therefore, these variables have only minor effect on calculated, dimensionless IPR curves.
Introduction
Deliverability of a well is analyzed by estimating the production rate for any given bottom hole pressure. Inflow into a well is
directly proportional to pressure drop between the reservoir and the wellbore and can be represented by the straight line IPR
relationship for single phase under-saturated reservoirs. However, this relationship is no longer linear in two phase flow of oil
and gas in saturated oil systems.
Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR) of a well is an essential tool to assess the well performance. It indicates the production
behavior of a well and assists in determining the feasibility of oil wells. The IPR curve describes the relationship between the

OTC-24757-MS

wells producing bottom hole pressures and its corresponding production rates under a given reservoir condition. The shape of
the curves is influenced by many factors such as the reservoir properties, fluid composition, well characteristics, and existence
of well zones and behavior of fluid phases under reservoir flowing conditions. The simplest and most widely used IPR is the
straight-line IPR, implying that rate is directly proportional to pressure drawdown for under-saturated reservoirs. The constant
of proportionality is defined as the Productivity Index (PI), another way to define inflow performance. One of the main
objectives of production engineering is to maximize the oil well flowrate for a given pressure drawdown without jeperdizing
the ultimate recovery.
Horizontal well drilling can be considered as an efficient and economical alternative to conventional vertical well drilling. Its
main objective was to augment the well productivity, minimize water and gas coning effects which enhance reservoir fluid
recovery as well as improve well economics. In horizontal well drilling, both IPR and OPR serve as an important tool to
estimate hydrocarbon reserves as well as to generate well deliverability curves in order to prdict optimal well production rate.
Inflow performance relationships of horizontal wells are different than the ones for vertical. The two most pronounced factors
are; the flow streamline is a combination of radial flow around the well and linear flow away from the well. The inflow
performance depends not only on horizontal permeability, but also on vertical permeability. Therefore the anisotropic ratio of
the reservoir becomes important when modeling a horizontal well performance. These yield additional difficulty to obtain
analytical IPR models of horizontal well. In addition, using single-phase inflow relationship (Straight line IPR) to predict twophase flow well performance can result in significant deviation in flow rate and pressure distribution in the wellbore, and
deliver misleading information for well performance and decision making.
Several investigators have utilized reservoir simulation to study the behavior of a horizontal well producing from solution-gas
drive reservoirs. These investigations have led to proposed empirical inflow performance relationships (IPRs) to predict the
rate-pressure behavior of horizontal oil wells. However, all the previous developed IPR models for horizontal wells assume
homogeneous reservoirs and are not suitable for stratified multilayered reservoirs. Therefore, the available IPR relationships
do not provide accurate performance of such reservoirs. It is the intent of this paper to consider the effects of reservoir
stratification on IPR curves for horizontal wells producing from solution gas drive reservoirs. Accordingly, a new empirical
model is generated for such reservoirs.
Literature Review
In 1968, Vogel performed a classic numerical study on several types of solution gas drive reservoirs and proposed a curve
fitted equation. The equation for a vertical well is:
(

where
and are flowing bottomhole pressure and average reservoir pressure respectively.
rate at the maximum drawdown or at zero bottomhole flowing pressure for single-phase oil flow.

is the oil production

Fetkovich introduced a similar correlation to improve the deficiency of Vogel correlation which is often not accordance with
field data:

) -

Plahn et al.1 were the first to attempt to predict horizontal well performance in solution gas drive reservoirs. They generated
type curves based on numerical simulations using an array of assumptions.
Bendakhlia and Aziz in 1989 developed IPRs for horizontal well production using a series of rock and fluid properties. A
combination of Vogels and Fetkovichs work was suggested as:

OTC-24757-MS

)(

) +

Cheng in 1990 generated an equation to calculate well deliverability for slanted wells. His simulation data were obtained
from the NIPER simulation model for slanted and horizontal wells. His empirical equation was presented as:
(

Kabir in 1992 proposed IPRs for slanted & horizontal wells based on the Fetkovich approach used for vertical wells. He
presented a method to estimate the absolute open flow potential (AOFP) or
for horizontal wells. He differentiated the
dimensionless IPR and calculated
in terms of productivity index which is given as:

Retnanto and Economides correlation presented a model to estimate the two-phase inflow performance in horizontal wells in
1998. They used the numerical simulator, VIP, to generate the reservoir inflow performance for horizontal wells. The
empirical equation was given as:
(

Where,
[

) ](

Harrison suggested a correlation that works for both positive and negative values in place of Vogel and Fetkovich correlations
given as:
(

Wiggin`s in 2005 developed generalized IPR for horizontal wells producing from solution-gas drive reservoirs. The
production rate ratios were regressed on the pressure rate ratios. The first empirical relationship is based on all the generated
data while the second relationship is developed as a function of reservoir recovery or depletion. The resulting generalized IPR
was given as:
(

Jabbari and Economides in 2008 developed IPR of horizontal wells by simulating 31 theoretical solution gas drive
reservoirs. Nonlinear regression techniques were used to develop an equation that include the effects of skin, depletion and
bubble point pressure which was given as:

( ) *
( )

)(

) +

OTC-24757-MS

Fuad Qasem in 2012 proposed a new IPR model for vertical wells producing from two or multi layered solution gas drive
reservoirs considering the effect of cross flow. Simulated annealing was used to generate permeability realizations among the
layers. The proposed IPR model was similar to Vogels equation, however the coeficients (a and b in the equation) varied
depending on the permeability ratios average reservoir pressure. Parameter a and b have different values which are reported
in the paper. The proposed IPR model for two layer reservoirs with cross flow was given as:
(

)(

The proposed empirical IPR model for multi layered system with fluid cross flow was given as:
(

)(

Jabbar and Alnuaim in 2013 proposed a new correlation to estimate horizontal well performance flowing from solution gas
drive reservoirs by regressing the coefficients of the Harrison exponential equation. A field case study was considered & the
absolute error calculated for proposed correlation was (0.5468%) which was the lowest as compared to the other previous
correlations. The proposed empirical equation was given as:
(

It is very important to note here that all of the previous mentioned horizontal wells IPR models are not suitable for
multilayered reservoir with varying permeability.
Methodology
Model Description.
Reservoir Model & Grid Characteristics.
A three phase, three dimensional, general purpose black oil simulator is used for modeling solution gas-drive reservoirs.
Horizontal well is placed in the center of the reservoir. There are 15 cells in x-direction, 15 cells in y-direction and 5 cells in zdirection. The size of grid in x-direction is 500 feet (per grid), 500 feet in y-direction and 50 feet in z-direction. The wells
location is given as follows:
Table 1: Co-ordinates of the well locations in the grid.
X1

X2

Y1

Y2

Z1

Z2

10

Reservoir Characteristics.
The base case is modeled as a box-shaped reservoir with a constant thickness of 250 ft. The porous medium has a homogenous
porosity of 0.25 allowing areal permeability isotropy and vertical anisotropy with values in x, y and z directions of 200, 200
and 50 md, respectively. A horizontal well of radius 0.33 ft is located in the middle of the reservoir. A constant and immobile
water saturation of 22% is assigned to all cases. A bubble point pressure of 4000 psi is used in all cases. The black oil
properties used for the base case are reported in Table 2. The base case data used for IPR developments is reported in Table 3.
Non-darcy flow effects and capillary pressure effects are neglected. Neither damage nor stimulation is present in the vicinity of
the wellbore.
IPR Development.
Bottom-hole pressure and production rates are required for IPR calculations. A small time step was applied at the beginning of
each simulation run to model the initial stages of well production. The simulation results were generated starting from an
initial pressure that is less than the bubble point pressure. Dimensionless IPR curves are generated by dividing the pressure

OTC-24757-MS

coordinate of each point on an IPR curve by the average reservoir pressure and the oil rate coordinate by the maximum oil rate,
corresponding to 100% pressure drawdown. Dimensionless IPR curves are made in order to compare their curvature or the rate
of change of oil production rate with flowing bottomhole pressure.
Two types of simulation runs are examined. In the first, the well is constrained by a constant flowing bottom-hole pressure. In
the second, a constant oil production rate is specified. For the same number of simulation runs, constant pressure runs result in
better IPR curve resolution than constant oil rate runs. For this reason, all runs are done at constant wellbore pressure
constraint. The performance of each case is simulated using 9 different bottom-hole pressures as illustrated in Table 4.
Factors Affecting IPR Curve Calculations for Horizontal Wells.
Figures 1 through 7 show the effects of several variables on generated IPR curves. The effects of bubble point pressure, oil
gravity, residual oil saturation, critical gas saturation, initial water saturation, porosity and absolute permeability is
investigated. It is clear that bubble point pressure has significant effect on dimensionless IPR curves. However, plots for other
properties indicate that although the curves are not identical, they are similar in shape and demonstrate much less variance than
the bubble point pressure plot. Therefore, these variables have only minor effect on calculated, dimensionless IPR curves.
Inclusion of Reservoir Heterogeneity in the Simulation Model.
The next step is to include permeability variations in the simulation model to represent the stratified nature of reservoirs. As
our horizontal well is placed in five z-direction (layers) grids, heterogeneity is added in each of the grids by assuming different
permeability values ranging from 0.1 md to 5000 md. Dykstra Parson (1950) coefficient, VDp, was considered as a non-spatial
measure of heterogeneity. This method assumes that permeability data is log-normal distributed. However, spatial correlation
of permeability data is important for heterogeneous reservoirs. The semi-variogram, (h), is one way to measure or quantify
spatial variability/continuity. For logarithms of permeability data, log (k), a semi variogram is defined as:
( )

( )

( )

( )

( ) ]2

Where n (h) is the number of pairs of permeability values at distance h (lag distance) apart.
A total of ten cases of different permeability values are used. Figure 8 shows the simulator generated image when permeability
variations are included in the simulation model. The simulation model with added permeability variations (heterogeneity) is
run and dimensionless IPR curves are plotted for each case. Moreover, semi-variogram value was calculated for each case. The
calculated semi-variogram values represent the variability of the permeability data points for that particular case.
Figure 9 shows the effect of different permeability variations (reservoir heterogeneity) on dimensionless IPR curves plotted for
ten assumed cases. As heterogeneity values are changing, there is deviation in the curvature of dimensionless IPR curve.
Moreover, the shape of IPR curve is not similar to those of homogenous reservoirs.
Empirical IPR Model - Horizontal wells producing from heterogeneous solution gas-drive reservoirs.
A new generalized IPR model (Khalid, Alnuaim & Hussain) is developed that considers the effect of permeability variations
in two-phase horizontal wells. Linear regression techniques are applied to develop empirical equation that fit dimensionless
flowrate as a function of dimensionless pressure. The following empirical equation is found to best fit the IPR data obtained
for horizontal wells producing from stratified solution gas-drive reservoirs given as:

)(

)(

In the above proposed IPR model, represents the semi-variogram function. Moreover, the above equation can be used for
homogeneous reservoirs by substituting zero in the semi-variogram function. The proposed IPR model (Khalid, Alnuaim &
Hussain) is then compared to the published correlations, Chengs, Retnanto & Economides, Harrison and Wiggins, using
simulation results of three data sets. Table 5 presents the summary of the statistical accuracy of Khalid, Alnuaim & Hussain
model with other published correlations. It is evident from the table that the new empirical IPR model is in good agreement
when compared to the published correlations which results in an acceptable average error of less than 2%.

OTC-24757-MS

Conclusions
A new empirical Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR) correlation for horizontal wells in under-saturated oil heterogeneous
stratified reservoirs with multilayered zones had been developed. The new model includes the effect of reservoir heterogeneity
on IPR curves for horizontal wells producing from solution gas-drive reservoirs by introducing the concept of semi-variogram
function. The empirical model is suitable for systems with different permeability layers and relating dimensionless flowrate to
dimensionless pressure. The new model was tested and proved to be sound and suitable as a general reference curve for
horizontal wells producing from heterogeneous two-phase reservoirs with absolute average error < 2% when compared to
other published models using actual field tests. The new IPR model allows simple means with broader applications to predict
the performance of such wells. In addition, the effects of several reservoir and fluid properties on the calculated IPR curves
were investigated and found to be sensitive only with respect to the bubble point pressure.
Nomenclature
J = productivity index, STB/psi
Pb = bubble point pressure, psi
Pr = average reservoir pressure, psi
Pwf = flowing bottomhole pressure, psi
qo = oil flow rate, STB
qo (max) = absolute open flow potential, STB
Bg = gas formation volume factor, SCF/bbl
Bo = oil formation volume factor, bbl/STB
IPR = inflow performance relationship
n(h) = number of pairs in the semi-variogram function
k = permeability, md
VDp = Dykstra-Parson coefficient
Rs = solution gas/oil ratio (GOR), SCF/STB
o = oil viscosity, cp
g = gas viscosity, cp
Greek Symbols.
= viscosity, cp
(h) = semi-variogram function
Subscripts.
g = gas phase
o = oil phase
max = maximum
References
Vogel, J. V.: Inflow Performance Relationships for Solution-Gas Drive Wells, JPT (Jan. 1968), 83-92
Fetkovich, M.J.: The Isochronal Testing of Oil Wells, SPE 4529, 1973
Bendakhlia, H. and Aziz, K.: Inflow Performance Relationships for Solution-Gas Drive Horizontal Wells SPE 19823, 1989
Retnanto, A. and Economides, M. J.: Inflow Performance Relationships for Horizontal and Multilateral Wells in a SolutionGas Drive Reservoir, SPE 50659, 1998
5. Kabir, C. S.: Inflow Performance of Slanted and Horizontal Wells in Solution-Gas Drive Reservoirs, SPE 24056, 1992
6. Cheng, A.M.: Inflow Performance Relationships for Solution-Gas Drive Slanted/Horizontal Wells, SPE 20720, 1990
7. Jabbari, H. and Economides, M. J.: A New Approach to IPR Curves of Horizontal Wells in Two-Phase Reservoirs, SPE
115918, 2008
8. Qasem, F. ,Malallah A. ,Nashawi I.S. ,Irfan M.: Modeling Inflow Performance Relationships for Wells Producing from
Multi-Layer Solution-Gas Drive Reservoirs, SPE 149858, 2012
9. Wiggins, M.L. and Wang, H.S.: A Two-Phase IPR for Horizontal Oil Wells, SPE 94302, 2005
10. Jabbar, M.Y. and Nuaim, S.A.: Analytical Comparison of Empirical Two phase IPR correlations for Horizontal Oil wells,
SPE 164143-MS, 2013
1.
2.
3.
4.

OTC-24757-MS

Table 2-Reservoir fluid properties data

P

Rs

Bo

Bg

psi

SCF/STB

bbl/STB

SCF/bbl

cp

cp

14.7

1.34

1.0488

4.735205

2.7463

0.011799

280.38

44.26

1.0691

93.7407

2.1087

0.012107

546.07

97.64

1.0943

189.5318

1.6657

0.012543

811.76

156.32

1.122

292.2744

1.3725

0.013062

1077.44

218.77

1.1516

401.558

1.1684

0.013656

1343.13

284.19

1.1825

516.099

1.0193

0.014321

1608.82

352.09

1.2146

633.557

0.9059

0.015059

1874.5

422.13

1.2477

750.812

0.8168

0.015872

2140.19

494.06

1.2817

864.66

0.7451

0.016764

2405.88

567.68

1.3166

972.524

0.6861

0.017739

2671.57

642.84

1.3521

1072.83

0.6366

0.018804

2937.25

719.41

1.3883

1164.945

0.5945

0.019966

3202.94

797.29

1.4251

1248.922

0.5583

0.021231

3468.63

876.39

1.4625

1325.212

0.5268

0.022608

3734.31

956.63

1.5005

1394.469

0.4991

0.024106

4000

1037.95

1.5389

1457.424

0.4745

0.025736

Table 3-Reservoir data

Variable

Base Case Values

Units

Bubble Point Pressure

4000

Psi

Oil Gravity

50

API

Reservoir x coordinate

7500

ft.

Reservoir y coordinate

7500

ft.

Reservoir thickness

250

ft.

Permeability- x direction

200

md

Permeability- y direction

200

md

Permeability- z direction

20

md

Porosity

25

Critical gas saturation

Residual Oil Saturation

30

Initial water saturation

22

Well diameter

0.6667

ft.

Well length

2500

ft.

Gas density

0.06

lb/ft3

OTC-24757-MS

Table 4-Bottomhole pressures

No.

Pwf

14.7

400

800

1200

1600

2000

2400

2800

3200

Table 5- Comparison of statistical accuracy for IPR correlation

Author

Cheng

Retnanto &
Economides

Harrison

Wiggins

Proposed IPR
Model

Data Set

Abs Average Error

Relative Error

St. Dev.

01

23.391

-23.05

15.48

02

20.917

-20.58

13.94

03

22.267

-21.93

14.75

01

17.26

-17.26

12.55

02

14.92

-14.92

11.15

03

16.23

-16.23

11.92

01

13.72

-13.72

11.18

02

11.47

-11.47

9.92

03

12.72

-12.72

10.63

01

86.44

-86.44

91.23

02

82.87

-82.87

89.05

03

85.15

-85.15

90.89

01

1.68

1.68

1.43

02

1.91

16.44

9.44

03

0.25

-0.08

0.44

OTC-24757-MS

Figure 1: Effect of Critical gas saturation on dimensionless IPR curve

Sgc = 0.07

Sgc = 0.09

Sgc = 0.11

1.2

Pwf/Pr

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

qo/qo(max)

Figure 2: Effect of Residual Oil Saturation on dimensionless IPR curve

Sor = 0.32

Sor = 0.34

Sor = 0.36

1.2

Pwf/Pr

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6
qo/qo(max)

0.8

1.2

10

OTC-24757-MS

Figure 3: Effect of Initial water saturation on dimensionless IPR curve

Swi = 0.24

Swi = 0.26

Swi = 0.28

1.2
1

Pwf/Pr

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

1.2

qo/qo(max)

Figure 4: Effect of Porosity on dimensionless IPR curve

Porosity = 0.1

Porosity = 0.15

Porosity = 0.2

1.2

Pwf/Pr

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6
qo/qo(max)

0.8

OTC-24757-MS

11

Figure 5: Effect of API gravity on dimensionless IPR curve

API = 45

API = 40

API = 35

1.2
1

Pwf/Pr

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

qo/qo(max)

Figure 6: Effect of permeability on dimensionless IPR curve

Perm x=150, perm y = 150, perm z = 15

Perm x = 100, perm y= 100, perm z= 10

Perm x= 50, perm y= 50, perm z= 5

1.2

Pwf/Pr

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6
qo/qo(max)

0.8

1.2

12

OTC-24757-MS

Figure 7: Effect of Bubble Point pressure on dimensionless IPR curve

Pb = 4500 psi

Pb = 3500 psi

Pb = 3000 psi

Pb = 5000 psi

1.2
1

Pwf/Pr

0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

qo/qo(max)

Figure 8: Inclusion of Reservoir Heterogeneity in the Simulation Model (Eclipse generated Image)

1.2

OTC-24757-MS

13

Figure 9: Effect of Reservoir heterogeneity (permeability variations) on dimensionless IPR curve

1.823

0.381

0.0448

0.0368

0.0267

0.0198

1.445

0.6075

3.3646

4.4151

1.2

Pwf/Pr

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.6
qo/qo(max)

0.8

1.2