09 April 2019 1

Fluid Flow In Porous Media

Application To Reservoir Deliverability / Well
Inflow Performance
Darcy’s Law, Flow Regimes, Radial & Linear Flow, IPR, Future IPR

Notes & Problems from Tarek Ahmed, Heriot-Watt, Petroleum

Production Engineering (Boyun Guo) & Petroleum Production
Systems by Economides

Dr. Ajay Suri, Associate Professor

IIT (ISM) Dhanbad
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Main Areas of Production Performance

 3

c=0
Types of Fluids

Water, oil, c is small and almost

constant, order of 1e-5/psi

Gases, c is variable
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dp/dt = 0

dp/dt = constant

dp/dt = variable

Flow Regimes
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r
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Darcy’s Law ideally applies to

U
However Darcy’s Law is extended to
other flow regimes, compressible flow
and heterogeneous formation. For
turbulent flow the law is modified slightly
as it can deviate significantly
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Linear flow of Incompressible Fluids (In Cores)

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Linear flow of Incompressible Fluids (In Cores)

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Linear flow of Incompressible Fluids (In Cores)

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Example of Linear flow in Reservoir (Fractured wells)

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Darcy’s Law to Inclined Linear Flow

Field units equation

Note Dz is vertical distance between the point and the

reference depth. It is positive when measuring downwards
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Linear Flow Inclined

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Linear Flow
Inclined
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Slightly Compressible Linear Fluid Flow (SS)

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Slightly Compressible Linear Fluid Flow (SS)

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Slightly Compressible Linear Fluid Flow (SS)

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For Radial
Wells
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Radial Well Model

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Radial Well Model

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Radial Well SS Equation - Incompressible Fluid

Fluid is incompressible (approximately ok for liquids)

Pe, Pw, psi
q, STB/d
m, cp
B, RB/STB
k, md Eq. 6-27
H, ft
re, rw, ft
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Pressure Profile in the Reservoir during Steady State

Approximately apply to 1) Reservoirs with water /
gas injection & 2) Expanding gas cap

re
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Pressure Profile in the Reservoir during Steady State

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Pressure Profile in the Reservoir during Steady State

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Pressure Profile in the Reservoir during Steady State

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Pressure Profile in the Reservoir during Steady State

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Radial Flow (SS) - Slightly Compressible Fluid

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Radial Flow (SS) - Slightly Compressible Fluid

Choosing bottom hole pressure, pwf as the reference
pressure, and converting bottom hole rate to surface
rate as qo = qbhp/Bo

Eq. 6-33
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Radial Flow (SS) - Slightly Compressible Fluid

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Radial Flow (SS) - Slightly Compressible Fluid

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Productivity Index Plot

w
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Semi or Pseudo Steady State Model

• When reservoir is bounded and flow occurs due to the
expansion of fluid, the reservoir reaches a semi/pseudo
steady state with pressure depleting steadily at a constant
production rate
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Pseudo-steady state solution

• Fluid production
at r is provided
by fluid
expansion
between r and
boundary
• At a constant
rate, q
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Pseudo Steady State Equation

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Pseudo Steady State Equation Development

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Shape
Factors
for
Various
Drainage
Areas
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Shape
Factors
for
Various
Drainage
Areas
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Semi/Pseudo Steady State for Slightly

Compressible Fluids
• Note the well is produced at a constant rate, q, when
deriving the pseudo steady state equation from the
diffusivity equation with no flow boundary condition
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Radial Flow of Compressible Fluids (Gases)

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Steady State Solution for Radial Gas Flow

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Kirchoff’s Integral or Real Gas Pseudo-pressure

function m(P) or Y for Gas Flow (SS)

Po = reference pressure
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Steady State Solution for Radial Gas Flow

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Steady State Solution for Radial Gas Flow

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Steady State Solution for Radial Gas Flow

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Steady State Solution for Radial Gas Flow

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Approximate Solution for Radial Gas Flow (SS)

Valid for pressures < 2000 psia

or
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Approximate Solution for Radial Gas Flow (SS)

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Approximate Solution for Radial Gas Flow (SS)

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Approximate Solution for Radial Gas Flow (SS)

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Approximate Solution for Linear Gas Flow (SS)

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Approximate Solution for Linear Gas Flow (SS)

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Approximate Solution for Gas Flow (SS)

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by applying linear gas flow rate

approximate equation (SS)
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Gas Well Inflow Performance (Steady State Radial flow)

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Gas Well Inflow Performance (Steady State Radial Flow)

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Radial Gas Flow (Semi-steady state)

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Multi-Phase Flow
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Multi-Phase Flow
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Multi-Phase Flow
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Multi-Phase Flow
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Multi-Phase Flow
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Reservoir not flowing (well

shut-in)

Radius of investigations

Unsteady state regime

(infinite acting)

Unsteady state regime

(infinite acting)
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Reservoir Deliverability
• Reservoir deliverability (RD) is the rate of oil or gas
production from a reservoir at a given bottom-hole
pressure.
• It primarily determines the
• Well completion
• Artificial lifts
• Well stimulation
• The reservoir factors are
• Pay thickness, permeability, relative perms.
• Well radius, boundaries and distance
• Reservoir fluid properties
• Near wellbore condition
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Productivity Index
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Productivity Index

Note PI should be measured when the

reservoir reaches the pseudo steady
state
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Productivity Index
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Productivity Index (J)

Drawdown, psi
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Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR)

AOF = Absolute
Open Flow
Potential, max rate
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Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR)

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IPR
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Modeling
• Flow is modeled mathematically on the basis of flow
regimes
• Transient flow
• Steady state flow
• Pseudo-steady state flow

• Analytical relation between bottom-hole pressure (bhp)

and production rate (q) is known as “inflow performance
relationship” (IPR)
 09 April 2019 75

Flow Regime in Cylindrical Reservoir

• Vertical well opened to
produce at rate q

• Creates a pressure funnel of

radius r around the wellbore

• h is reservoir thickness

• k is eff. horizontal res. perm.

• mo is viscosity of oil
Lateral view
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Flow Streamlines
• Bo is oil formation volume
factor

• rw is wellbore radius

• pwf is flowing bhp

• p is pressure in reservoir at
radius r

Top view
Radial flow
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Flow Regime - Transient

• Transient flow regime is where/when the radius of
pressure wave propagating from the wellbore has not
reached any boundaries of the reservoir.
• Early Transient
• Late Transient
• Developing pressure funnel is small relative to reservoir
size.
• Reservoir acts like an infinitely large reservoir from
transient pressure analysis point of view.
• Several analytical models for single phase flow in
textbooks and onepetro.org
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Oil Well Constant Wellbore Rate Solution

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Oil Well Constant Wellbore Rate Solution

(cont.)
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Oil Well Constant Wellbore Pressure Solution

Earlougher (1977)

Observation
• Oil rate decreases with flow time
Reason – radius of pressure funnel over which
drawdown (pi-pwf) acts, increases with time leading
to decreasing pressure gradient with time.
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Oil Rate Decreasing with Time at Constant Pwf

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Transient IPR for Single Phase Liquid Flow

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Dimensionless Variables Used in Well Testing

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Late Transient Solution for 1-Phase Liquid

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Material Balance (Pseudo-steady state)

Reservoir pressure is reduced from Pi to

Pavg while producing at a rate q
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Rate of Pressure Decline (Pseudo-steady state)

A constant decline given

by the right hand side
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Pseudo-steady state Pwf with Time

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Gas Well Transient Solution

Spreadsheet program –
PseudoPressure.xls
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Steady State Regime

• Steady-state flow is when the pressure at any point in the
reservoir remains constant over time.
• Prevails when pressure funnel reaches a constant
pressure boundary.
• Aquifer
• Water injection well

pe – constant
pressure boundary
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Steady State IPR

• Assumed single phase flow
• From Darcy’s law, following IPR can be derived
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Steady State IPR for Damaged Wells

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Pseudo-Steady-State Flow Regime

• “Pseudo-steady-state” flow is defined as a flow regime
where the pressure at any point in the reservoir declines
at the same constant rate over time

• Flow regime prevails when the pressure funnel reaches to

all no flow boundaries

• No flow boundary can be a sealing fault, pinch-out, or

boundaries of drainage areas of production wells.
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Pseudo-Steady-State Flow Sketch

Pe is pressure at the no-flow boundary at time t4

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Pseudo-Steady-State IPR
• IPR for a single-phase oil reservoir in a circular no-flow
boundary (at re) under pseudo-steady-state is given as:

pe is the pressure at the no-flow boundary

pwf is the wellbore flowing pressure
Both are decreasing with time at the same rate
keeping pe-pwf = constant
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J Below Bubble Point Pressure

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IPR Below Bubble Point Pressure

Slope = -1/J
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IPR Below Bubble Point Pressure

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Kro/(moBo) Below Bubble Point Pressure

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IPR Below Bubble Point Pressure (Not straight line)

Corelations for predicting IPR

below bubble point pressure
Note at least one field test point
is included in these
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Vogel’s
Method
A computer model
was used for
predicting the
reservoir
performance below
bubble point
pressure with time
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Dimensionless Rate
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Effect of fluid
type on IPR
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Vogel Reference Curve

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IPR’s from Reference Curve

with one match point
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Comparison of Reference curve with the

actual IPR’s with time
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Vogel’s IPR for Saturated Reservoir

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IPR for Two Reservoirs with Same Reservoir

Pressure but different GOR
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IPR for a Reservoir with Reservoir Pressure

Above Bubble Point
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Standing’s Extension
of Vogel’s Method
Vogel’s equation can be
rearranged with details
given on the right

Present no drawdown productivity

index, Jp* is defined as
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IPR for Undersaturated Reservoirs (Beggs 1991)

Undersaturated Reservoir
Eq. 7-6

Pb

Two assumptions made for IPR

before bubble point:
1. At Pb the IPR is continuous
2. The nature of the curve is Eq. 7-11
governed by Vogel’s curve
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IPR for Undersaturated Reservoirs (Beggs 1991)

Undersaturated Reservoir
Eq. 7-6

Pb

Saturated Reservoir

Eq. 7-11
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IPR for Undersaturated Reservoirs (Beggs 1991)

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IPR for Undersaturated Reservoirs (Beggs 1991)

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IPR for Undersaturated Reservoirs (Beggs 1991)

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IPR for Undersaturated Reservoirs (Beggs 1991)

The well was retested below bubble point pressure
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Same IPR when

the test point
was above
bubble point
pressure
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Future IPR with Pressure Depletion

• Material balance needed to calculate oil saturation and
relative permeability to oil
• If not available, two approximate methods in conjunction
with Vogel’s method can be used
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First Approximation Method (Future IPR)

• Approximate future maximum oil flow rate at the specified
future avg. reservoir pressure is calculated

• Once the max future rate is known, Vogel’s equation is

used to calculate the IPR at future avg. reservoir pr.
09 April 2019 122

Second Approximation Method (Future IPR)

• Fetkovich (1973) proposed another approximate future
maximum oil flow rate equation as followed

• Once the max future rate is known, Vogel’s equation is

used to calculate the IPR at future avg. reservoir pr.
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Future IPR
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Second
method gives
727 bpd
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IPR for 3 Phase Flow (Wiggin)

4 sets of rel. perm and fluid data was used in a computer model for a
saturated reservoir similar to Vogel for 3 phase flow (oil, gas, water)
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Future IPR for 3 Phase Flow (Wiggin)

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IPR for 3 Phase Flow (Wiggin)

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Pseudo-Steady-State Start Time

• Approximate time required for the pressure funnel to
reach the circular boundary is
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Pseudo-Steady-State IPR
• Because pe is not known at any given time, expression
with average reservoir pressure is used

• p with a horizontal line above is the avg. reservoir

pressure (all are in field units)
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PSS IPRs (Above bubble point) with Depleting Pavg

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PSS IPR for a Non-Circular Drainage Shape

• If no-flow boundaries are draining non-circular reservoir
shapes, following equation is used
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Shape
Factor,
CA
Dietz,
1965
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IPR for PSS Flow in Gas Reservoirs

• For non-circular gas reservoirs the IPR plot can be
generated from the following equation
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Production From a Horizontal Well

• All flow regimes would also occur in a horizontal well
• Transient
• Stead-state flow
• Pseudo-steady-state flow
•
• Literature should have IPR for transient and
Pseudo-steady-state flow

• Steady-state flow IPR from Joshi (1988) will be

presented.
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Drainage Pattern From a Horizontal Well

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SS IPR (Joshi, 1988) for a Horizontal

Producer
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SS Rates from a Horizontal Producer

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Ratio of SS PI for Horizontal and Vertical Wells

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Example Problem 1
• Construct/Determine IPR of a vertical well in an oil
reservoir. Consider
• 1. Transient flow at 1 month
• 2. Steady-state flow
• 3. Pseudo-steady-state flow
• Given data:
• Porosity = 0.19, k = 8.2 md,
• h = 53 ft, pe/pavg = 5,651 psia, pb = 50 psia,
• Bo=1.1, mo = 1.7 cp, ct=1.29e-5 1/psi,
• A=640 acres, rw=0.328 ft
• S=0
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Solution Problem 1 (Transient PI)

• 1. Transient flow Productivity Index (J*) at 1 month,

• Note with increasing time, J* decreases, hence slope

increases in IPR
 09 April 2019 144

Solution Problem 1 (Transient IPR)

• 1. Transient flow IPR at 1 month,

Slope magnitude = 1/J*

With increasing time, J*
decreases, slope increases

Increasing
time until it
reaches PSS
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Solution Problem 1 (SS PI)

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Solution Problem 1 (Pseudo-Steady-State IPR)

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Solution Problem 1 (IPRs)

PSS IPR

Transient IPR

SS IPR
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Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR) for Oil Well

IPR is used for
evaluating reservoir
deliverability in
production
engineering

IPR curve is a
graphical
presentation of the
relation between the
flowing bhp and
liquid production rate
 09 April 2019 149

Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR) for Oil Well

Single phase
region – Above
bubble point
pressure

pb
J is not constant in
the two-phase flow Two phase region – Below
regime. bubble point pressure
 09 April 2019 150

Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR) for Oil Well

• Reservoir/well IPR are constructed using reservoir inflow
models from either a theoretical basis or an empirical basis

• Essential to validate these models with test points for field

applications
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Liquid Performance Relationship (LPR)

• Single phase liquid flow is valid for under-saturated
reservoirs (above bubble point pressure)

1
Pwf = Pi - q
On y-axis
(unknown)
J* On x-axis
(known/given/ass
Intercept of the umed)
line on the y-axis Slope of the line
 09 April 2019 152

Liquid Steady-State Performance Relationship

• For radial steady-state flow around a vertical well

1
Pwf = Pe - q
J*

On y-axis Intercept of
Slope of On x-axis
(unknown) the line on
the line (known/given/assum
the y-axis ed)
 09 April 2019 153

Liquid Pseudo-Steady-State Performance

Relationship
• For pseudo-steady-state flow around a vertical well

1
Pwf = P - q
J*
On y-axis Intercept of On x-axis
(unknown) the line on Slope of (known/given/assum
the y-axis the line ed)
 09 April 2019 154

Liquid Steady-State Performance Relationship

for Horizontal Well
• For steady-state flow around a horizontal well

1
Pwf = Pe - q
J*
On y-axis Intercept of On x-axis
(unknown) the line on Slope of (known/given/assum
the y-axis the line ed)
 09 April 2019 155

Observations on Liquid IPR

• Note J* is the Productivity Index (PI) above the bubble
point pressure

• J* is constant (except transient state) and independent of

the production rate

• IPR is simply a straight line up to the bubble-point pressure

 09 April 2019 156

IPR for 2 Phase Reservoirs

• Below bubble point pressure, reservoir oil will turn into oil
and gas, i.e. solution gas will turn into free gas and there
would be two phases

• Free gas would occupy some pore space and would

reduce oil permeability (kro<1)

• Oil viscosity would increase with lighter solution gas

dropping out

• Rel perm and viscosity effects lower oil rate at given Pwf,
making the linear IPR into deviated IPR as shown earlier
 09 April 2019 157

IPR for 2 Phase Reservoirs

• At higher drawdowns the reduction in PI is higher, this
could be due to Non-Darcy effects of gas

• With increasing time the reservoir pressure will deplete

leading to further reduction in oil mobility leading to further
reduction in productivity index

• The effect of future IPR will be discussed at the end

09 April 2019 158

Relative Perm to Oil with Increasing Gas

Saturation
 09 April 2019 159

IPR for 2 Phase Reservoirs

• Lower the reservoir pressure below bpp, larger the
deviation from linear trend

• When initial reservoir pressure is below bpp, its termed as

two-phase reservoir

• Only empirical equations are available to model IPR of

two-phase reservoirs
09 April 2019 160

Empirical IPR’s for 2 Phase Reservoirs

• Vogel’s (1968) equation extended by Standing (1971)

• Fetkovich (1973) equation

• Bandakhlia and Aziz’s (1989) equation

• Zhang (1992) equation

• Retnanto and Economides’ (1998) equation

 09 April 2019 161

Vogel’s IPR for 2 Phase Reservoirs

• Vogel’s (1968) equation (based on numerical simulations)
is widely used in the industry

• qmax is the max rate or AOF and is an empirical constant

 09 April 2019 162

Standing’s Extension
of Vogel’s Method

Vogel’s equation can be

rearranged with details
given on the right

Present no drawdown productivity

index, Jp* is defined as
 09 April 2019 163

Standing’s Zero-drawdown PI related to PI

If rel. perm data not available

 09 April 2019 164

Standing’s Method for Future IPR

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Fetkovich Analytical Approach to IPR

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Fetkovich Analytical Approach to IPR

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C & n with Declining Res. Pr. (Klins & Clark, 1993)

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C & n with Declining Res. Pr. (Klins & Clark, 1993)

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Eq. 7-42
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More Problems on Vogel IPR

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J* for Vogel’s Example Two-Phase Reservoir

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Vogel’s IPR
 09 April 2019 199

Generalized Vogel’s IPR for 2 Phase Reservoirs

• If Pavg is above Pb (single liquid phase), but Pwf < Pb (two-
phase near the wellbore)

• Partial two-phase reservoir

• Straight line IPR model is combined with Vogel’s two-

phase IPR model
09 April 2019 200

Generalized Vogel’s IPR for 2 Phase Reservoirs

or PR
09 April 2019 201

Generalized Vogel’s IPR for 2 Phase Reservoirs

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Generalized Vogel’s IPR Example Problem

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Generalized Vogel’s IPR Example Problem

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Generalized Vogel’s IPR Example Problem

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Generalized Vogel’s IPR Example Problem

 09 April 2019 206

Observations on Vogel’s IPR & Fetkovitch

• Frequently found that Vogel’s IPR is not matching field data

• 2 parameters (C and n) Fetkovich’s equation fits better for

2-phase oil reservoirs and is also used for gas wells
 09 April 2019 207

IPR Construction Using Test Points

• IPR can be constructed using ko, mo, A, rw, and S that gives
PI (J*)
• Values of above parameters not always available
• Test points (measured production rates and pwf) are used
instead frequently
• For single-phase reservoir

• q1 is tested production rate at testing pwf1

 09 April 2019 208

IPR Using Test Points for Partial 2-P Reservoir

• If tested fbhp >= bpp

• If tested fbhp < bpp

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IPR for Well A

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Well A Well B
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Vogel’s and Fetkovich’s IPR Compared

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Vogel’s IPR
09 April 2019 216

Fetkovich’s IPR
09 April 2019 217

Vogel’s and Fetkovich’s Flow-rates Compared

Vogel Fetkovich
09 April 2019 218

Vogel’s and Fetkovich’s IPR Compared

09 April 2019 219

Comment on IPR Comparison

• Fetkovich’s IPR will capture more variation due to 2
parameter model than Vogel’s IPR
 09 April 2019 220

Future Productivity Index / IPR

• Reservoir deliverability (AOFP) usually declines with time

• The decline could be due to further oil mobility reduction at

lower reservoir pressures because of
• Decreased effective permeability to oil
• Increased oil viscosity

• Future IPR can be predicted by Vogel’s or Fetkovich’s

methods
 09 April 2019 221

Future IPR – Vogel’s Method

• Let Jp* be present PI and Jf* be future PI

 09 April 2019 222

Future IPR Equation – Vogel’s Method

• q is the future production rate at a future pf with bar and pwf

 09 April 2019 223

Future IPR Equation – Vogel’s Method - Example

 09 April 2019 224

Future IPR Equation – Vogel’s Method - Example

 09 April 2019 225

Future IPR Equation – Vogel’s Method - Example

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Future Production Rates – Vogel’s Method - Example

 09 April 2019 227

Present & Future IPRs – Vogel’s Method - Example

 09 April 2019 228

Future IPR – Fetkovich’s Method

• Reservoir inflow relationship for two phase flow

• With pi at the outer boundary (wrongly written pe above in

the integral) at re and f(p) = kro/mo/Bo
 09 April 2019 229

Future IPR – Fetkovich’s Method

• Key assumption is that kro/(moBo) is a linear function of p

and is a straight line passing thru the origin

• Integrating the equation in the previous slide

 09 April 2019 230

Future IPR – Fetkovich’s Method

or

where
 09 April 2019 231

Observation 1 - Future IPR – Fetkovich’s Method

Derivative of

Rate of change of q w.r.t. pwf is lower at lower values of pwf

 09 April 2019 232

Observation 2 - Future IPR – Fetkovich’s Method

• In practice pavg is not constant but decreases

• Assumption Ji’ decreases in proportion to decrease in Pavg
• Thus, for pavg or pe < pi, IPR becomes

or

where
 09 April 2019 233

Example - Future IPR – Fetkovich’s Method

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Example - Future IPR – Fetkovich’s Method

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Example - Future IPR – Fetkovich’s Method

 09 April 2019 236

Effects of Water Production

• Water is mostly
present in the
reservoir at
saturation Swc or
higher

• Hence effective perm

to be used instead

• Relative perm plots

calculated from lab
 09 April 2019 237

Effects of Water Production

• kro and krw are functions of saturations

• Phase pressure drops are used in calculating the phase
flow rates
• qw/qo is termed as water to oil ratio
• In depleted reservoirs water to oil ratio could be > 10
09 April 2019 238

Bo (Oil Formation Volume Factor)

09 April 2019 239

Bg (Gas Formation Volume Factor)

09 April 2019 240

Rs (Solution/Dissolved Gas Oil Ratio)

09 April 2019 241

Gas Well Performance

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Gas Well Performance

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Gas Well Performance

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Gas Well Performance

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Gas PVT Data

2p
09 April 2019 246

Gas Well Performance (High Pressure Region)

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Gas Well Performance (Intermediate Pressure Region)

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Gas Well Performance (Low Pressure Region)

09 April 2019 249

Gas Well Performance (Low Pressure Region)

Note J has different units

now (Mscf/day/psi2)
09 April 2019 250

Gas Well Performance

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Gas Well Performance

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Gas Well Performance Modified Due to Turbulence

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Gas Well Performance Modified Due to Turbulence

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Gas Well Performance Modified Due to Turbulence

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Simple Method for Gas Well Performance

Using the pressure squared approach, a simplified
relation could be developed for gas well performance

In field known as gas

deliverability or back
pressure equation

n is introduced for the turbulence effect (n=1 for

laminar flow), (n=0.5 for fully turbulent flow)
 09 April 2019 259

Gas Deliverability or Back Pressure Equation (Gas IPR)

Eq. is used for

more than 60
2 years in the
industry
2

log

log
09 April 2019 260

Analytical Method - Laminar Inertial Turbulent (LIT) (At Low Prs.)

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Analytical Method - Laminar Inertial Turbulent (LIT) (At Low Prs.)

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Analytical Method - Laminar Inertial Turbulent (LIT) (At Low Prs.)

Note method applicable

for pR and pwf < 2000 psi
09 April 2019 263

Analytical Method - Laminar Inertial Turbulent (LIT) (At High Prs.)

Note method applicable

for pR and pwf > 3000 psi
 09 April 2019 264

Analytical Method - Laminar Inertial Turbulent (LIT) (At Medium Prs.)

Note method applicable

at all pressures, but
definitely needed at
medium pressures
09 April 2019 265

Analytical Method - Laminar Inertial Turbulent (LIT) (At High Prs.)

Note method applicable

for pR and pwf > 3000 psi
09 April 2019 266

Analytical Method - Laminar Inertial Turbulent (LIT) (At High Prs.)

09 April 2019 267

Conventional Gas Deliverability Data Collection

09 April 2019 268

Conventional Gas Well Tests for Data Collection

09 April 2019 269

Conventional Gas Well Tests for Data Collection

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Eq. 8-28
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Eq. 8-38
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Avg. Error (%)

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Future IPR for Gas Wells – Simple Method

• Gas viscosity and Z are subject to change with pressure
as mentioned earlier
09 April 2019 286

Future IPR for Gas Wells – LIT Method

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Future IPR for Gas Wells – LIT Method

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Future IPR for Gas Wells – LIT Method

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Future IPR for Gas Wells

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IPR for Stratified Reservoirs

• Nearly all producing formations are startified (layered)

• Different layers can have different Pavg, ko, mo, h and S,

hence different J*

• Assuming no vertical communication between layers and

only communication via wellbore, production will be
mainly from higher ko layers

• As rate increased higher ko layers produces with

progressively lower GOR until it starts to have free gas
saturations which increases GOR again
09 April 2019 294

IPR for Stratified Reservoirs

• El-Banbi and Wattenbarger (1996,97) history matched
production data of commingled reservoirs

• However no IPR was given

09 April 2019 295

IPR Assumptions for Stratified Reservoirs

• Pseudo-steady-state flow in all layers

• Pwf is equal in all layers (negligible pressure losses in

wellbore)

• IPR of each layer is known

• Net mass flow rate from each layer to the well equals total
mass flow rate at well head
09 April 2019 296

IPR Assumptions for Stratified Reservoirs

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IPR Assumptions for Stratified Reservoirs

• Ignoring density changes from bottom hole to well head
the previous equation becomes
 09 April 2019 298

IPR for Stratified Reservoirs with Single Phase Liquid

• For undersaturated reservoirs, pwf > pb in all layers

• Note Ji* is the productivity index of layer i at and above

the bubble point pressure

• It is a linear composite IPR

 09 April 2019 299

IPR for Stratified Reservoirs with Single Phase Liquid

• Max Liquid Rate (Absolute open flow, AOF) of the well is

Pwfo is dynamic
flowing bhp
with layers
cross-flow
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When Layers Cross Flow Lead to qwh = 0

Pwfo is dynamic flowing bhp with layers cross-

flow
Note some layers have flowing pressure above
their reservoir pressure and have negative
production
 09 April 2019 301

IPR for Stratified Reservoirs with Two-Phase Flow

• For saturated reservoirs, we can use Vogel’s equation
 09 April 2019 302

IPR for Stratified Reservoirs with Partial Two-

Phase Flow
• For partial two-phase reservoirs with Pavgi > Pbi but Pwfi <
Pbi we use Generalized Vogel’s equation
 09 April 2019 303

Stratified Single Phase Reservoirs

Pb is very small, so approximately it is a single-phase reservoir

09 April 2019 304

IPRs of Layers/Groups in South China Sea

Group 1: Medium PI
& High Layer Pr.
Group 2: High PI
Medium Layer Pr.
Group 3: Low PI and
Low Layer Pr.
 09 April 2019 305

Net/Composite IPR of all Layers/Groups

• Net Production Rate from the well on the x-axis. Net > 0
only when pwf < 2,658 psi
 09 April 2019 306

Example Cross-flow (Negative Production)

• In A4 when Pwf > Layer Pr (2,254 psi) – flow goes from
other reservoir layers into this layer

• When Pwf > 2606 psi, Layers B4, C1 and C2 (group 2) will
be the major thief zones (cross flow with negative
production) as they have highest PI
 09 April 2019 307

Composite IPR When Some Groups are Completed

 09 April 2019 308

Production Rates from Different Layers

 09 April 2019 309

Production Rates from Different Layers

• Production is significant when pwf < 2335 psi from all layers

• Higher production is achieved at pwf > 2625 only if we shut

in Group 2 and Group 3