Pressure-Transient Behavior of a Horizontal Well with a Finite-Conductivity Fracture within a Fractal Reservoir

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex R. Valdes-Perez ◽  
Leif Larsen ◽  
Thomas A. Blasingame
Keyword(s):  
Horizontal Well ◽  
Transient Behavior ◽  
Finite Conductivity ◽  
Pressure Transient

Pressure-Transient Behavior of Partially Penetrating Inclined Fractures With a Finite Conductivity

SPE Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (02) ◽  
pp. 811-833 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bailu Teng ◽  
Huazhou Andy Li
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Transient Flow ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Transient Behavior ◽  
Finite Conductivity ◽  
Linear Flow ◽  
Pressure Transient ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Elliptical Flow ◽  
The Matrix

Summary Field studies have shown that, if an inclined fracture has a significant inclination angle from the vertical direction or the fracture has a poor growth along the inclined direction, this fracture probably cannot fully penetrate the formation, resulting in a partially penetrating inclined fracture (PPIF) in these formations. It is necessary for the petroleum industry to conduct a pressure-transient analysis on such fractures to properly understand the major mechanisms governing the oil production from them. In this work, we develop a semianalytical model to characterize the pressure-transient behavior of a finite-conductivity PPIF. We discretize the fracture into small panels, and each of these panels is treated as a plane source. The fluid flow in the fracture system is numerically characterized with a finite-difference method, whereas the fluid flow in the matrix system is analytically characterized on the basis of the Green's-function method. As such, a semianalytical model for characterizing the transient-flow behavior of a PPIF can be readily constructed by coupling the transient flow in the fracture and that in the matrix. With the aid of the proposed model, we conduct a detailed study on the transient-flow behavior of the PPIFs. Our calculation results show that a PPIF with a finite conductivity in a bounded reservoir can exhibit the following flow regimes: wellbore afterflow, fracture radial flow, bilinear flow, inclined-formation linear flow, vertical elliptical flow, vertical pseudoradial flow, inclined pseudoradial flow, horizontal-formation linear flow, horizontal elliptical flow, horizontal pseudoradial flow, and boundary-dominated flow. A negative-slope period can appear on the pressure-derivative curve, which is attributed to a converging flow near the wellbore. Even with a small dimensionless fracture conductivity, a PPIF can exhibit a horizontal-formation linear flow. In addition to PPIFs, the proposed model also can be used to simulate the pressure-transient behavior of fully penetrating vertical fractures (FPVFs), partially penetrating vertical fractures (PPVFs), fully penetrating inclined fractures (FPIFs), and horizontal fractures (HFs).

A Finite-Conductivity Horizontal-Well Model for Pressure-Transient Analysis in Multiple-Fractured Horizontal Wells

SPE Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (04) ◽  
pp. 1112-1122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiming Chen ◽  
Xinwei Liao ◽  
Xiaoliang Zhao ◽  
Xiangji Dou ◽  
Langtao Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Pressure Drop ◽  
Transient Analysis ◽  
Horizontal Well ◽  
Horizontal Wells ◽  
Model Verification ◽  
Finite Conductivity ◽  
Pressure Transient Analysis ◽  
Pressure Transient ◽  
Fractured Horizontal Wells

Summary In this paper, we propose a new model for pressure-transient analysis in multiple-fractured horizontal wells (MFHWs) with consideration of pressure drop along the wellbore. To make the physical model better understood, the whole formation is divided into three parts: (1) reservoir, (2) fracture, and (3) wellbore. With incorporating frictional and acceleration pressure drops, a mathematical model with a finite-conductivity horizontal well (FCHW) is developed. Newton-Raphson iterations are used to solve the mathematical model and obtain the transient-pressure solutions of the MFHW. Model verification is performed by comparing with the solutions from a numerical software. On the basis of the field cases from the Ordos Basin, performance prediction, sensitivity analysis, type-curve matching, and evaluations of uncertainty parameters are conducted. Results show that the contribution of wellbore hydraulics to the total pressure drop increases first and then decreases after reaching the peak value. Ignoring wellbore hydraulics would cause erroneous results during the well-performance forecast. In addition, the dimensionless wellbore pressure of the MFHW increases with an increase in Reynolds number (Re); it decreases as the reservoir/wellbore constant (ChD) increases. Furthermore, the impact of pressure drop on the pressure performance of the MFHW becomes more serious with the increasing Re or the decreasing ChD.

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