PRODUCTION

ESTIMATION
@
A

Inflow Performance Relationships for Solution-Gas Drive Wells

Jo V. VOGEL SHELL OIL CO.
MEMBER AIME BAKERSFIELD, CALIF,

Abstract a well cannot be said to have a single PI because the

value of the slope varies continuously with the variation
Its calculating oilwell production, it has commonly been in drawdown, For this reason, Gilbert’ proposed methods
assumed that producing rates are proportional to draw- of well analysis that could utilize the whole curve of
downs. Using thi,s assumptimt, a well’s behavior can be producing rates plotted against intake pressures. He termed
described by its productivity index (Pi). This PI relation- this complete graph the inflow performarwe relationship
ship was developed from Darcy’s law for the steady-state (IPR) of a well.
radial flow oj a single, incompressible fhid. Although
Muskat pointed out tha~ the relationship is not valid when
Although the straight-line approximation. is known to
both oil and gas jiow in a reservoir, its use has continued
have limitations when applied to ttio-phase tlow in the
reservoir, it still is used primarily because no simple sub-
for lack of better approximations, Gilbert proposed meth-
ods of well analysis utilizing a curve of producing rates
stitistes have been available: The calculations necessary to
compute IPR’s from two-phase flow theory have been
plotted against b ot!om-hole well pressures; he termed this
extremely tedious. However, recently the approximations
complete graph rhe infiow performance relatiorsship (IPR)
of Welled for a solution-gas drive r~.servoir were pro-
of a well.
grammed for computers. The solutior, invoived the fol-
The calculations necessary to compute IPR’s from two- lowing simplifying assumptions: (1) ihe reservoir is cir-
phme fiow theory were extremely tedious bejore advent of cular and completely bounded with t. completely pene-
the computer. Using machine computations, IPR curves trating well at its center; (2) the porous medium is
were calculated for wells producing from several fictitious uniform and isotropic with a constant water saturation
solution-gas drive reservoirs that co>ered a wide range O! at all points; (3) gravity effects can be neglected (4)
oil PVT properties and reservoir relative permeability char- compressibility of rock and writer can be neglected (5)
acteristics. Wels with hydraulic fractures were also in- the composition and equilibrium are constant for<oil and ,
cluded. From these curves.. a reference IPR curve was gas (6) the same pressure exists in both the oil and gas
developed that is simple to apply and, it is believed, can phasex and (7) the semisteady-state assumption that the
he used for most solution-gas drive reservoirs to provide tank-oil desaturation rate is the same at all points at a
more accurate calculations for oil well productivity than given instant. Weller’s solution did not require the con-
can be secured with PI methods. Field verification i.s stant-GOR assumption.
needed. The resulting computer program proved convenient to
use and gave results closely approaching those furnished
Introduction by the more complicated method of West, Garvin and
In calculating the productivity of oil wells, it is corn Sheldon.’ The program also includes the unique feature
monly assumed that inflow into a well is directly pro- —
portional to the pressure differential, between the reservoir
and the wellbore — that production is directly propor-
tional to drawdown. The constant of proportionality is
the PI, derived from Darcy’s law for the steady-state rad-
ial flow of a single, incompressible fluid. For cases in
which this relationship holds, a plot of the producing
rates vs the corresponding bottom-hole pressures results
in a straight line (Fig. 1), The PI of the well is the inverse
of the slope of the straight line.
However, Muskat’ pointed out that when two-phase
liquid and gas flow exists in a reservoir, this relationship
should not be expected to hold; he presented theoretical
calculations to show that graphs of producing rates vs
bottom-hole pressures for two-phase flow resulted in
curved rather than straight lines, When curvature exists, \ MA KIMUM

Original matmacript received in Society of Petroleum Engln*rs o~@e

July 11, 1966. Revised manuscript reaekd Dec. S, 1967. PaPer (SPE
1476) wae presented at SPE 41st Annual Fall Meetbra held in Dallas,
Tex,, Oot, 2.5, ISSC. @CbRyrlght 1S6S American Institute of Minims,
Metallurgical, and Petroleum Errsineers, k,
Ps4nwclns SATE, bwd
preferences given at end of papsr.
This paper will be printed hr Transactions Volume 24L3, which will
cover 196S. Fig. l—Straight-line inflow performance relationship.

JANUARY, 19611
of making complete IPR predictions for a reservoir. $mch the bubbie point, Computations were made for reservoirs
predictions for a typical solution-gas drive reservoir are initially above the bubble point, but only to ensure that
shown as a family of IPR cur:’ s on Fig. 2. Note that this initial condition did not cause a significant change in
they confirm the existence of curkdure. behavior below the bubble point.
U appeared that if several solution-gas “drive reservoirs
were examined with the aid of this program, empirical Shape of Inflow Performance Relationship
relationships might be established that would apply to Curves with Normal I’/eterioration
solution-gas drive reservoirs in general. This p&per sum-
marizes the results of such a study that dealt with several As depletion proceeds in a solutlon-gas drive reservoir,
simulated reservoirs covering a wide range of conditions. the productivity of a typical well decreases, primarily
These “conditions included differing crude oil character- because the reservoir pressure is reduced and because
istics and differing reservoir relative permwbiiity charac- increasing gas saturation causes greater resistance to oil
teristics, as well as the effects of well spacing, fractwing flow, The result is a progressive deterioration of the IPRs,
and skir~restrictions. typified by the IPR curves in Fig. 2. Exarr.ination of these
The i:westigation sought relationships valid only below curves does not make it apparent whether they have any
properties in common other ‘:han that they are all con.
2800
cave to the origin.
One useful operation is to plot all the IPR’s as “di-
RESERVOIR CONDITIONS:
ORIGINAL PRESSURE I 2130 Psi
mensionless IPR’s”. The prissure for each point on an
2400 BuBBLE POINT , 2130 psi IPR curve is divided by the maximum or shut-in pres-
CRUDE OIL PVT CHARACTERISTICS sure for that particular curve, and the corresponding pro-
FROM FIG. A-10 duction rate isdivided bytt.e maximum (l OOpercentdrtw-
~ RELATIvE PERMEABILITY CHAR-
ACTERISTICS FROM FIG. A-20
down) producing rate for the same curve. When this is
- 2000
w
a WELL SPACING * 20 ACRES done, the curves from Fig, 2 can bereplotted as shown in
WEI L RAOIUS I 0.33 FOOT Fig. 3. It is then readily ~ppaI’entthat with this construe.
J
tion the curves are,, remmkably similar throughout most
g, 1600
CUMULATIVE RECOVERV,
of the producing life of the reservoir
-1 , !,
‘14+ PERCENT OF ORIGINAL
d
. k k \ “o. I OIL IN PLACE
2500 ———
A+PR FROM FIG 2FCIR Npfld ’01%
BIPRw IT HP DIFFERENT CRUDE OIL
FLOWING, ALI. OTHER CON OIIIONS
2000
BEING THE SAltE. CRUOE OIL PROP-
~TIE” FRO M)”l G, A-lb,

1500 -
B

@
1000 \

.—
.0
500
PRODUCING RATE , bo$~

r~
Fhr.
., 2—Contrx4ter-culculatetl inflow performance F\ \ ~~
o l—_L_L~
relationships for a solution-gas drive reservoir. 50 100 !50 200 250 300
PRODUCING RATE , bopd
I .0
(al ACTUAL IPR’S
k!
a

g g 0,8

& Np/N=OJ%,2eh,4”l.

:go, 6“le,8”h
~g ‘
.3b Io%

~z
~o
g ~ 0.4 I 2 “A
v I 4“/.
ZS
ok
1- --
RESERVOIR CONDITIONS
g go.?
SAME AS FIG.2
.J.

“.. 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

o 0.2 0.4 0,6 0.8 1.0 ROOUCIN5 RATE klD~%)maa), fRACTION
PRODUCING”RATE”fqo /~o)mox), FRACTION OF MAXIMUM OF MAXIM1’M
(b} DIMENSIONLESS IPR’S
NE. 3—Dimensionless injlo’w performance relationships jor
a solution-gasdrive reservoir. Fig. 4-Eflect of crude oil properties on IPR*s.

n.s ,–– — JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM T13CHNO_&OCY

 Effect of Crude Oil Characteristics
On IPR Curves
From the foregoing results it appears that IPR curves
differing over the life of a given reservoir actually possess
a co,mmon rekdtionship. To determine whether this same
relationship would be valid for other reservoirs, IPR cal-
culations were made on the computer for different con-
ditions, The first run utilized the same relative perme-
abilities but a complete] y different crude oil. The new
characteristics included a viscosity about half that of the
first and a sohrtion GOR about twice as great.
Fig. 4a compares the initial IPR’s (~{P/N = 0.1 per-
cent) for the two cases. As would be expected, with a
less viscous crude (Curve B) the pr~ductivity was much
greatec than in the first case (Curve A). However, when
plotted on a dimensionless basis (Fig. 4b) the IPR’s are
quite sim!lar, As lPR.’s for the second case deteriorated
with depletion, no greater change of shape occurred than
was noted in the previous section. These two crude oils
had about the same bubble point, IPR’s were then calcu-
lated for a third crude oil with a higher bubble poirit.
Again, the characteristic shape was noted,
Two further” runs were made to explore the relationship
under more extreme conditions. C)ne utilized a more vis-
cous crude (3-cp minimum compared with 1-cp minimum ),
and the other used a crude with a low solution GOR
(300 scf/STB). With the more viscous crude, some straight-
ening of the IPR’s W?.Snoted. The low-GOR crude ex-
hibited the same curvature noted in previous cases.
Runs were a[so made with the initial reservoir pres-
sure exceeding the bubble point, During the period while
the reservoir pressure w-as above the bubble point, the”
slopes of the IPR curves were discontinuous with the
upper part being a straight line until the well pressure
was reduced below the bubble point. Below this point
the IPR showed curvature similar to that noted previous-
ly. After the reservoir pressure went below the bubble
point, all the dimensionless IPR curves agreed well with
the previous curves.

1,

w
K 0.
a
m
u)
w
a
a
E
5
>
a
w
m
w
a
0,

PRODUCIN9 SATE (qo/(qo )ma*), FfSACTION OF MAXIMUM

Fig. 5-Irrf70w performance relationship for solution-gas drive reservoirs.

m
JANUARY, 1968
 ,, ,-

Lo

TWO-PHASE FLOW
(REFERENCF CURVE I
0.8 1-

g
u 1.0
a
0.6 -
!==
>
LIQUIO FLOW
.;
,REFERENCE CURVE 0.4 -

,,

08 2-

12% 0 ~—
I 4 “/. 0 0.2 0,4

. cl/qmQR
RESERVOIR CONDITIONS
sAME AS FIC.2 Fig. G-Comparison of IPR’$ for !iquid flow, gas flow
and fwo-phase ffow.

0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 LO

To explore further the generality of the relationship,
o
t- PROOUCIMG RATE (qo /@o)max), FRACTION oF MAXIMUM
a run was made in which the crude oil PVT curves and
1-
0 the relative permeability curves were roughly approxi-
m
mated by straight linss. It was surprising to fi,ld that, even
Fig. 6—Con?pmison of reference curve with computer- with no curvature in either the graphs of crude oil char-
ca[culated IPR curves. acteristics or the relative permeability input data, the out-
put IPR’s exhibited about the same curvttturc as those
Effect of Relative Permeability and
from previous computer runs.
Other Conditions
-. Calculations also were made for different wdl spacings.
‘l’he same basic shape of the curves was noted when
for fractured wells and for WCIISwith positive skhs.
the study was extended to cover a much wider range of
Good agreement was noted in all cases except for the
conditions, Runs were made with three different sets of
well with a skin effect, in which case the IPR’s more
relative permeability curves in various combinations with
the different crude oils. The results were in ‘agreement nearly approached straight lines.
sufficient to indicate that the relationship might be valid in summary, calculations for 21 reservoir conditions
for most conditions. resulted in IPR’s generally exhibiting a similar shape.
\
“oo~ ‘-— RESERVOIR CONDITIONS SAME AS FIG. 2

2000~\poNToFMATcH(
1800
wELLTEsT)
o
\
1600 -
\
\
\ \
1400
\

4’\ —STRAIGHT. LINE EXTRAPOLATION

I 200 t~+ \

Y? ~
[000
\ { ‘~,

800 k+ COMPUT*FR -< AL CULATED IPR

\ \f2 \ \
600 \
\-\ \@ \ i, \

\\. ? i\
400
~IPREXTRApOLAJF~\
\~o’f \\\
~\;\ \ :tiv:EFERENcE \
20 0
so
\\ i, \ , \
~“ \ \ ‘ %.-
1 lU 1 Ii 1
II 1 I,i ! \\r l\ I 1 1 1 ! 1 1\
OK
0 20 40 60 60 100 120 f40 [60 180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 :

PRODUCING RATE , b@Pd

I Fig. 7—Deviations when IPRs are predicted by reference curve from well tests at low drawdowns.

JIO URNA?. OF PETROLEUM ‘CECEN(SLOGY

86
Significant deviation was no:ed only for the more viscous Proposed Reference IPR Curve
crude, for a reservoir initially above the bubble point,
If the IPR curves for other solution-gas drive reser-
and for a well producing through a restrictive skin. Even
in these cases, definite curvature was still apparent, voirs exhibit the same shape as those investigated in thk
study, well prodl.activities can be calculated more accur-
The curves of crude oil characteristics and of relative
ately witha simple reference curve than with the straight-
permeability that furnished the input data for the various
Iine PI approximation method currently used.
conditions studied are given in Appendix A. Dimension.
less IPR curves calculated for various conditions are Applying one reference curve to all solution. gas drive
shown in Appendix B. reservoirs would not imply that all these reservoirs are,

““[’ooo~”o :[:+—-----:
200 - [600 - 4.0

I 50 . - 1200 .-
N
o
- 3,0 ; 150
I I 1200
-w ~w RS
K* a- \
x K“’
Pg
- 100 - 800 - - 2!0 *O I 00 800

.
L m“

1
-1 .~f$ B.
m
50 - - 1.0 50 400 1,0

PO
0 - f) Jo nflt I -10
. “-o 1000 Zooo “o 1000 2009
PRESSURE psi PREsSURE, psi

(o) Pb : 2r30 psi (b) : 2130 psi

250 2000 5.0

I/Bg
r
25:[ 2000+5017”0
200 1600 - 4,0 - 6.0

t
[50 - 3,0N: .. ~,f)
I 200
l/Bg ~
m
e a’” 2
‘9 am
100 800 - 2.0 “ - 440
m“
-1. ~
%
B. ,0
50 400 3.0
~o

onI Y& - o‘: 2,0

-o 1000 2000
PRESSURE, psi PRESSURE, psi.

(c) Pb : 2130 psi (d] pb : 2130 psi

““[’
ooo~”o “or ‘o”o~~’(o
II
200 [600 - 4.0
N
0
l;!3g
I50 1200 - 3,0 “m
m a.
: K- L
100 s 00 - 2,0 ?
Pg
II”
B.
50 IL 400 Po - 1.0

;1.OIAZI=Z!ZI=Z!O o 1000 2000

PRESSURE, psi PRESSURE, psi

(e) pb :3000 psi ~ (f) pb : 2130 psi

Fig, 9-Input data, crude oil PVTchoracteristics (c,= 12 XIO-gin all cases).

,.. . 87
JANUARY, 196S
 ,

identical any more than wou!d the preser.: use of straight- The equation of a curve that gives a reasonable empirical ‘1
line PI’s for all such reservoirs. Rather. the curve can be fit is
regarded as a general solution af the solution-gas drive ,qo _
reservoir flow equaticms with the constants for particular /. 1 – 0.20&- – 0,80 &M~\’ , , , (1)
solutions depending on the individual reservoir charac- (q. )nmx Pn \ Pli /

teristics, where g. is the producing rate corresponding to a given

Although one of the dimensionless curves taken from well intake pressure p,,,, ~;, is the $orrespcnding reservoir
the computer calculations could probably be used as a pressure, and (qO),,,,,. is the maximum (100 percent draw-
reference standard, it seems desirable to have a mathe- down) producing rate, Fig. 5 is a graph of this curve.
matical statement for the curve to insure reproducibility, For comparison, the relationship for a straight-line 1PR
permanency and flexibilityy in operation. is

0.40

t
0.35 Sgc : 2.1 % Sgc : .s,0%

: 19.49/0 Sw : 19840/”
Sw
+ : 13.90/. .# : 13,9%
0.30
h : 23.5fl h’ = 23.5ft
k : 20md k : 20md

0.25
k ~. (l OO?/. s,,): 0,444 k ~. (100% s,,1= 0.444 ‘
[

I k ro

k
k
rq
ro

I k
f9 \ /

-0,3 0,4 0.5 0(6 0.7 0,8 0.9 1,0 0,3 ‘ 0,4 0,5 C,6 0,’7 OS 0.9 1.0
(0) (b)
0.45

0,40

0835 : 10% Sgc , ‘5% /

Sgc
: 19,470 Sw : 19.4°/0
Sw
: 13.90/0 + : 13,970
‘$
0.30 k
h : 23.5fi ro h

k :20md k : 20md
L1 25 kro (l OOO/OS+l ): 0.444

r“” ..[
0.20 -

0.15 -

k
r9
0.10 -

0.05 -

1 L 1 1 1
0’ b
0.3 0,4 0,5 0.6 0,7 08 0!9 1,0 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 0,7 o#E 0.9

S( TOTAL LIOUID] S(TOTAL LIOUIO]

(cl (4)

Ffg. 10—Input data, relative permeability curves.

—
.

When q./(q.)~., from Eq, 1 is plotted vs p,,,/5,, the
dimensionless IPRreference curve results, Onthe basis of
the cases studied, it is assumed that about the same curve
will result for all wells, If q,, is plotted vs p~,, the actual
lPR curve fora particular well should result.
A comparison of this curve with those calculated on
the computer is illustrated in Fig. 6. The curve matches
more closely the IPR curves for early stages of depletion
than the IPR curves for later stages of depletion. In this
way, the percent of error is least when dealing with the
kigher producing rates in the early stages of depletion.
The percentage error becomes .greater in the later stages
of depletion, but here production rates are low and, as
a consequence, numerical errors would be less in absolute
magnitude,
Use of Reference Curve
The method of using the curve in Fig. 5 is best illu-
strated by the following example problem. A well tests
65 130PD with a flowing bottom-hole pressure of 1,500
psi in afield where rhe average reservoir pressureis2 ,000
psi, Find (~) the maximum producing rate with 100 per-
cent drawdown, and (2) the producing rate if artificial
lift were installed to reduce the producing bottom-hole
pressure to 500 psi.
The solution is: (1) with p., = 1,500 psi, p.,/~R=
1,530/2,000=0,75, From Fig, 5, when p,,j/~k =0.75,
q.~(q,)t,,ii. = 0.40> 65/(qr>)[tlrix = 0,4j, (q. ),,,,. = 162
BOPD; (2) with p., = 500 psi, p,. J/p,, = 500/2,000 =
0,25, From Fig. 5,q./(q,, ),,,,,, = 0.90, q./l62 = 0.90, q. =
146 BOPD,
If the same calculations had been made by straight-line
PI extrapolation, the productivity with artificial lift would
have been estimated as 195 BOPD rather than 145 IK)PD.
..This illustrates a significant conclusion to be drawn for
cases in which such IPR r.,xvature-exists, Production in-.
creases resulting from pulling a well harder will be less
thafi those calculated by the straight.line PI extrapolation;
conversely, production losses resulting from higher back
pressures will be less than those anticipated by straight-
Iine methods,
It is ditlicult to overstate the importance of using sta-
bilized well tests in the calculations. In a low-permeability

0.80 -

0.60 - I4 %

I2 %

Io%
I 4 % ——
0,4( -
~
CRUOE OIL PROPERTIES, FIG A-1o
RELATIVE PERMEABILITY ,FIG, A-20 ~

0.20 WELL SPACING z 20 ACRES

WELL RADIUS :0,33 FOOT SAME AS CASE 1, ExCEPT WITH
INITIAL RESERVOIR PRESS URE:21300$I .40-ACRE SPACING
BuBBLE POINT= 2130psi
\
1 1 1 1
0
(o) (b)

I 00

0.80 -

I 4 “/.

12”/e—
0.60 - 14%
E
I 9 “A
?
6 “/e, 8 %
~:
0.40 -

CASE 3

SAME AS CASE I, EXCEPT WITH SAME AS CASE I, EXCEPT TIIAT WEI. L

0.20 -
ABSOLUTE PERMEABILITY OF 200md IS FRACTURED (PSEUDO WELL
RADIuS = 50 FEETI

1
1 ! 1 I
o
o 020 0.+0 0.60 0.80 0 0<20 040 0.60 0.80 1.00

qo/(%lmaa

[d]
 .

ieservoir it frequently will be found that significant changes The maximum error for the reservoir considered in Fig.
in producing conditions should not be made for several 7 is less than 5 percent !hroughout most of its producing
“days preceding an important test. This presents no prob- iife, rising to 20 percent during final stages of depiction.
lem if a well is to be tested at its normal producing rate, Although the 20 percent error may seem high, the actual
but it becomes more difficult if multi-rate tests are required magnitude of the error is less than ?4 BOPD,
Accuracy of Reference Curve It is obvious from Fig. 7 that if well tests are made
It is anticipated that the most common use of the refer- at higher drawdowns than the extreme cases illustrated,
ence IPR curve will be ‘to predict producing rates at high- the point of match of the estimated and actual IPR curves
cr drawdowns from data measured at lower drawdowns. is shifted further out along the curves and better agree-
For example, from well tests taken under flowing condi- ment will result,
tions, predictions will be made of productivities to be Maximum-erro: calculations were made for all the res-
expected upon installation of artificial lift. It is necessary ervoir conditions investigated. Except for those cases with
to arrive at the approximate accuracy of such predictions, viscous crudes and with flow restricted by skin effect,
Maximum error will occur when well tests made at very it appears that a maximum error on the order of 20 per-
cent should be expected if al! solution-gas drive IPR’s
low producing rates and correspcmdingly low drawdowns
follow the reference curve as closely as have the several
are extrapolated with the aid of the reference curve to
cases investigated. For comparison, the maximum errors
estimate maximum productivities as [he drawdown ap-
for the straight-line PI extrapolation ‘method were gen-
proaches 100 percent of the reservoir pressure. The error
that would result under such conditions was investigated, erally between 70 and 80 percent, dropping to about
30 percent only during final stages of depletion.
and typical results are shown in Fig, 7. in this figure the
dashed lines represent IPR’s estimated from well tests at The figures cited above refer to the maximum errors
low drawdowns (1 I to 13 percent), and the solid lines that should be expected. In most applications the errors
represent the actual IPR’s calculated by the computer. should be much less {on the order of 10 percent) be-

1.00
—
‘\
\
\
\
\ BuBBLE POINT

0.s0
=. ~Np/N: 0,1’/.,6”/,,10”/.
\-
\
\
\
0.50 yA
K

< 14% \ 16%

5
la
\
\
0.40 \
\ I o “/.
\
CASE 5 CASE6
\
\ SAME AS CASE 1, EXCEPT THAT
020 SAME AS CASE 1, ExCEPT WELL HAS
PLUS 5 SKIN \ RESERVOIR PRESSU2E IS INITIALLY
ABOVE THE BuB@LE PO IN T, BEING
3040psi IN STEAO 0F2130Psi

0
, 1 1 [

(o)
1.00

0.s0

I4 “/. 8%

12 ●
{*
0.40

CASE 7 C=

SAME AS CASE 1, EXCEPT WITH *SAME AS CASE 1. EXCEPT WITH MORE

0,20
LESS VISCOUS CRUOE OIL FROM VISCOUS CRUQE OIL FROM FIG. A-id
FIG. A-lb

1
1 I I I
“o 0.20 0.40 0.60 0,60 1,00 0 0,20 0.40 0460 0.80 1, )

qo/(%)mOx

(cl (d)

Fig. 12-Calculated dimensionless IPR curves. I

I
cause better agreement is noted between IPR’s and refer- it appears intuitively that some curvature should be ex-
ence curve throughout most of the prodhcing life of the pected in the IPR’s whenever free gas is flowing in a
reservoirs and because well tests are ordinarily made at reservoir, For radial flow, this curve should lie some-
greater drawdowns. ..=,,=—. where between the straight line for a single-phase liquid
flow and the curve for single-phase gas flow, The dimril-
Application of Reference Curve: sionless IPR’s for the two types of single-phase flov, are
Other Types of Reservoirs compared with the suggested reference curve for mlution -
The proposed dimensionless IPR curve results from gas drive reservoirs in Fig. 8.
computer analysis of the two-phase flo}” and depletion
Conclusions
equations for a solution-gas drive reservoir only and
would not be considered correct where other types of IPR curves calculated both for differeut reservoirs and
drive exist. In a major field with partial water drive, how- for the same reservoirs at different stages of depletion
ever, there can be large portions of the field that are ef- varied several-fold in actual magnitude, Nevertheless, the
fectively isolated from the encroaching water by barrier curves generally exhibited about the same shape.
rows of producing wells nearer the encroachment front, This similarity should permit substitution of a simple
It appears that tht reference curve could be used for the empirical curve for the straight-line PI approximations
shielded wells for at least a portion of their producing commonly used, Maximum errors in calculated produc.
lives. Similarly, the reference curve might give reasonable tivities are expected to be on the order of 20 percent
results for a portitin of the wells producing from a res- compared with 80 percent with the PI method, Productiv-
ervoir in which expansion of a gas cap is a significant ity calculations made with the reference curve method
factm. rather than with the PI method will show smaller produc-
Since the referecce curve is for the two-phase flow of tion increases for given increases in drawdowns and, con-
oil and gas only, it would not be considered valid when versely, less lost production for given increases in back-
three phases (oil, gas and water) are flowing. However, pres?urcs.

[.00

0.80 -

10 “/0
= 060 -

c 16%
? o “/”
5
n
0.40 -

CASE 9 cASE 10

02:t:,;:,E~,;,,,,,;,,?
\ SAME AS CASE I, ExCEPT WITH HIGHER SAME AS CASE 1, EXCEPT wITH
BUBBLE POINT CRUDE OIL FROM FIG. A-le PERMEABILITY CHARACTERISTICS
FROM FIG. A-2b

(a)

Loo

\
\
0.80 - yA

\
20 %
\ Io %
Io %
= 0.60 - N ~ IN =0.1%
\’
< 18 “A
28”/*— \
; \
a \
040
\
\,” CASE 12
CASE [1

SAME AS CASE 1, ExCEPT WITH sAME AS CASE I, EXCEPT WITH

0.7.0
PERMEABILITY CHARACTERISTICS PERMEABILITY CHARACTERISTICS
FROM FIG. A-2c [ FROM FIG. A-2b ANDCRUDEOIL PROP-
ERTIE!3 FROM
L~
F! G. A-lb
~~ ~

) o 0!20 0.40 )

qo/(qOl mox f.lo /(qol mol.

(d)
(c)
 1.00
\ \
\
\
, .A, NP/kz O.l”/e, 2% \
0.80 \\ \
\
\“’..\ \
\

“\ \:’’N=O’’*’*
N,
\
\
\ ‘\
10% 6 v, Iov. T,A
\ 20 “i.
\ 26%
0.4C \ \
\ \
CA \
.— SE13 \
CASE [4 \

\ \
0.20 SAME AS CASE 1, EXCEPT WITH LOW- \ SAME AS CASE 1, EXCEPT WITH \
GOR CRUDE FROM
“\\ FIG. A-if \ PERMEABILITY CHARACTERISTICS
\
‘Y FROM FIG, A-2b ANO CRUDE OIL
PROPERTIES FROM FIG. A-le

0
(b)

1,00

0.80

IO*A —
2% —

4 ‘(*

0,40

CASE [5 CASE 16

SAME AS CASE 1, EXCEPT WITH SAME 4.S CASE 1, EXCEPT PERMEABILITY

0.20
PERMEABILITY CHARACTERISTICS APPROXIMATELY FROM STRAIGHT LINES

FROM FIG, A-2c AN0 CRUDE OIL PROP- OF FIG, A.2d AND CRUDE OIL PROPERTIES
ERTIES FROtd FIG, A-[b APPROXIMATE FROM STRAIGHT LINES OF
FIG. A-Ic
~ 1 I 1 I I 1
0 )
0.40 0.60 0.80 Lc 0.20 0.40 0.60 0,80 I

%A%)maa
(c) (d)

Fig. 14--Calculated dim m@lcss IPR clirves,

This technique needs to be verified by a comparison APPENDIX B I

with field results, As meviously discussed, the conclusions
-L= L..”,.A -..1.. . . “1.”-.+- --1,,
>Ulutions involving several Computer-Calculated IPR Curves
I
..”,.
UaWJ UIIIY UII WJUpULCJ

simplifying assumptions as listed in the Introduction. l)imensionless IPR Curves

Figs, 11 through 14 are graphs of the theoretical [PR’s
I References calculated for various simulated reservoir conditions. So
I e-.
1. Evineer., -—.
H. _- Muskat, M,: “Calculation, of Theoretical
H, and that the IPRs under various conditions can be compared
%oductivity 1?actor”, Trans., AIME (1942) 146, 1;!6-139. more easily, the initial IPR curve (NP/N = 0,1 percent)
W. E,: “Flowing and Gm-IJft Well Performance”, from Fig 1 la is reproduced on all succeeding figures and
I 2. Gilbert,
Drill. and Prod. Prac,, API ( 1954) 126,
3. Weller, W. T,: “Reservoir Performance Duri;ng Two-Phase
is designated as Curve A,
Flow”, J. Pet, Tech. (Feb 1QK6~ ~Jn-~~~ w., .,””, .-r”-& TV,
In addition KOthe cases illustrated, five more calculations
4. West, W, J,, Garvin, W. W. and Sheldon, J. W.: “Solution were made in which individual curves of the crude oil
of the Equations Two-Phase Flow in Oil
of Unsteady-State properties in Fig, 9a were replaced one by one with the
Reservoirs”, Trans., AIME ( 1954) 201, 217-229. curves from Fig, 9b, ‘~he results were comparable to those
II shown, and, since the illustrations include the case in
APPENDIX A which the curves of Fig. 9a were completely replaced by
I Input Data those of Fig. 9b, it was not considered necessary to repro-
duce the cases in which the individual components were
Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate graphically the input data (crude

I
replaced. **
oil PV’T characteristics and relative permeability charac-
teristics) from which the theoretical behavior of simulated Editor’s no(e: A pictl(re and biograplzical sketch o/
reservoirs was calculated by the computer, J. V, Vogel appear on page 60.
“1