Short-Time Well Test Data Interpretation in the Presence of Skin Effect and Wellbore Storage

1970 ◽  
Vol 22 (01) ◽  
pp. 97-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.J. Ramey
1972 ◽  
Vol 12 (05) ◽  
pp. 453-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry J. Ramey ◽  
Ram G. Agarwal

Abstract The modern trend in well testing (buildup or drawdown) bas been toward acquisition and analysis of short-time data. Pressure data early in a test are usually distorted by several factors that mask the conventional straight line. Some of the factors are wellbore storage and various skin effects such as those due to perforations, partial penetration, non-Darcy flow, or well stimulation effects. Recently, Agarwal et al. presented a fundamental study of the importance of wellbore storage with a skin effect to short-time transient flow. This paper further extends the concept of analyzing short-time well test data to include solutions of certain drillstem test problems and of cases wherein the storage constant, CD, undergoes an abrupt change from one constant value to another. An example of the latter case is change in storage type from compression to liquid level variations when tubinghead pressure drops to atmospheric Arks production. The purpose of the present paper is to: production. The purpose of the present paper is to:present tabular and graphical results for the sandface flow rate, qsf, and the annulus unloading rate, qa, as a fraction of the constant surface rate, q, andillustrate several practical well test situations that require such a solution. Results include a range of values of the storage constant, CD, and the skin effect, s, useful for well test problems. problems. Annulus unloading or storage bas been shown to be an important physical effect that often controls early well test behavior. As a result of this study, it appears that interpretations of short-time well test data can be made with a greater reliability, and solutions to other storage-dominated problems can be obtained easily. Techniques presented in this paper should enable the users to analyze certain short-time well test data that could otherwise be regarded as useless. Introduction In a recent paper, Agarwal et al. presented a study of the importance of wellbore storage with a skin effect to short-time transient flow. They also presented an analytical expression for the fraction presented an analytical expression for the fraction of the constant surface rate, q, produced from the annulus Although the rigorous solution (inversion integral) and long- and short-time approximate forms were discussed, neither tabular nor graphical results ofdpwD the annulus unloading rate, CD, were given.dtD It now appears that such solutions are useful in certain drillstem test problems and in cases wherein the storage constant, CD, changes during a well test. An example is change in storage type from compression to liquid level change when tubinghead pressure drops to atmospheric during production. pressure drops to atmospheric during production. The purpose of this study is to (1) present tabular and graphical results for the sandface flow rate and the annulus unloading rate and (2) illustrate several practical well test situations that require the practical well test situations that require the solutions. THE CLASSIC WELLBORE STORAGE PROBLEM The problem to be considered is one of flow of a slightly compressible fluid in an ideal radial flow system. SPEJ P. 453


1970 ◽  
Vol 10 (03) ◽  
pp. 279-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ram G. Agarwal ◽  
Rafi Al-Hussainy ◽  
H.J. Ramey

Agarwal, Ram G., Pan American Petroleum Corp. Tulsa, Okla., Pan American Petroleum Corp. Tulsa, Okla., Al-Hussainy, Rafi, Junior Members AIME, Mobil Research and Development Corp., Dallas, Tex., Ramey Jr., H.J., Member AIME, Stanford U. Stanford, Calif. Abstract Due to the cost of extended pressure-drawdownor buildup well tests and the possibility of acquisitionof additional information from well tests, the moderntrend has been toward development of well-testanalysis methods pertinent for short-time data."Short-time" data may be defined as pressureinformation obtained prior to the usual straight-lineportion of a well test. For some time there has been portion of a well test. For some time there has been a general belief that the factors affecting short-timedata are too complex for meaningful interpretations. Among these factors are wellbore storage, variousskin effects such as perforations, partial penetration, fractures of various types, the effect of a finiteformation thickness, and non-Darcy flow. A numberof recent publications have dealt with short-timewell-test analysis. The purpose of this paper isto present a fundamental study of the importance ofwellbore storage with a skin effect to short-timetransient flow. Results indicate that properinterpretations of short-time well-test data can bemade under favorable circumstances. Upon starting a test, well pressures appearcontrolled by wellbore storage entirely, and datacannot be interpreted to yield formation flowcapacity or skin effect. Data can be interpreted toyield the wellbore storage constant, however. Afteran initial period, a transition from wellbore storagecontrol to the usual straight line takes place. Dataobtained during this period can be interpreted toobtain formation flow capacity and skin effect incertain cases. One important result is that thesteady-state skin effect concept is invalid at veryshort times. Another important result is that thetime required to reach the usual straight line isnormally not affected significantly by a finite skineffect. Introduction Many practical factors favor short-duration welltesting. These include loss of revenue during shut-in, costs involved in measuring drawdown or buildupdata for extended periods, and limited availabilityof bottomhole-pressure bombs where it is necessaryto survey large numbers of wells. on the other hand, reservoir engineers are well aware of the desirabilityof running long-duration tests. The result is usuallya compromise, and not necessarily a satisfactoryone. This situation is a common dilemma for thefield engineers who must specify the details of specialwell tests and annual surveys, and interpret theresults. For this reason, much effort has been givento the analysis of short-time tests. The term"short-time" is used herein to indicate eitherdrawdown or buildup tests run for a period of timeinsufficient to reach the usual straight-line portions. Drawdown data taken before the traditional straight-lineportion are ever used in analysis of oil or gas portion are ever used in analysis of oil or gas well performance. Well files often contain well-testdata that were abandoned when it was realized thatthe straight line had not been reached. This situationis particularly odd when it is realized that earlydata are used commonly in other technologies whichemploy similar, or analogous, transient test. It is the objective of this study to investigatetechniques which may be used to interpret informationobtained form well tests at times prior to the normalstraight-line period. THEORY The problem to be considered is the classic oneof flow of a slightly compressible (small pressuregradients) fluid in an ideal radial flow system. Thatis, flow is perfectly radial to a well of radius rwin an isotropic medium, and gravitational forces areneglected. We will consider that the medium isinfinite in extent, since interest is focused on timesshort enough for outer boundary effects not to befelt at the well. SPEJ p. 279


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
K. Razminia ◽  
A. Hashemi ◽  
A. Razminia ◽  
D. Baleanu

This paper addresses some methods for interpretation of oil and gas well test data distorted by wellbore storage effects. Using these techniques, we can deconvolve pressure and rate data from drawdown and buildup tests dominated by wellbore storage. Some of these methods have the advantage of deconvolving the pressure data without rate measurement. The two important methods that are applied in this study are an explicit deconvolution method and a modification of material balance deconvolution method. In cases with no rate measurements, we use a blind deconvolution method to restore the pressure response free of wellbore storage effects. Our techniques detect the afterflow/unloading rate function with explicit deconvolution of the observed pressure data. The presented techniques can unveil the early time behavior of a reservoir system masked by wellbore storage effects and thus provide powerful tools to improve pressure transient test interpretation. Each method has been validated using both synthetic data and field cases and each method should be considered valid for practical applications.


1972 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alain C. Gringarten ◽  
Henry J. Ramey ◽  
R. Raghavan

INTRODUCTION During the last few years, there has been an explosion of information in the field of well test analysis. Because of increased physical understanding of transient fluid flow, the entire pressure history of a well test can be analyzed, not just long-time data as in conventional analysis.! It is now often possible to specify the time of beginning of the correct semilog straight line and determine whether the correct straight line has been properly identified. It is also possible to identify wellbore storage effects and the nature of wellbore stimulation as to permeability improvement, or fracturing, and perform quantitative analyses of these effects. These benefits were brought about in the main by attempts to understand the short-time pressure data from well testing, data which were often classified as too complex for analysis. One recent study of short-time pressure behavior2 showed that it was important to specify the physical nature of the stimulation in consideration of stimulated well behavior. That is, statement of the van Everdingen-Hurst infinitesimal skin effect as negative was not sufficient to define short-time well behavior. For instance, acidized {but not acid fraced) and hydraulically fractured wells did not necessarily have the same behavior at early times, even though they might possess the same value of negative skin effect.


1970 ◽  
Vol 10 (03) ◽  
pp. 291-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Wattenbarger ◽  
H.J. Ramey

Abstract An investigation of the effect of wellbore storage and skin effect on transient flow was conducted using a finite-difference solution to the basic partial differential equation. The concept of skin partial differential equation. The concept of skin effect was generalized to include a composite annular region adjacent to the wellbore (a composite reservoir). The numerical solutions were compared with analytical solutions for cases with the usual steady-state skin effect. It was found that the solutions for a finite-capacity skin effect compared closely with analytical solutions at short times (wellbore storage controlled) and at long times after the usual straight line was reached. For intermediate times, presence of a unite-capacity skin effect caused significant departures from the infinitesimal skin solutions. Two straight lines occurred on the drawdown plot for cases of large radius of damage. The first had a slope characteristic of the flow, capacity of the damaged region; the second straight line had a slope characteristic of the flow capacity of the undamaged region. Results are presented both in tabular form and as log-log plots of dimensionless pressures vs dimensionless times. The log-log pressures vs dimensionless times. The log-log plot may be used in a type-curve matching plot may be used in a type-curve matching procedure to analyze short-time (before normal procedure to analyze short-time (before normal straight line) well-test data. Introduction Skin effect was defined by van Everdingen and Hurst as being an impediment to flow that is caused by an infinitesimally thin damaged region around the wellbore. The additional pressure drop through this skin is proportional to the wellbore flow rate and behaves as though flow through the skin were steady-state. Wellbore storage is caused by having a moving liquid level in a wellbore, or by simply having a volume of compressible fluid stored in the wellbore. When surface flow rates change abruptly, wellbore storage causes a time lag in formation flow rates and a corresponding damped pressure response. A recent study was made to determine the combined effects of infinitesimally thin skin and wellbore storage. Analytical methods were used along with numerical integration of a Laplace transformation inversion integral. Tabular and graphical results were presented for various cases. It was recognized during the study that this representation of skin was oversimplified; that skin effect should be thought of as a result of formation damage or improvement to a finite region adjacent to the wellbore. It was suggested that a skin effect could arise physical in a number of ways. One simple example physical in a number of ways. One simple example would be to assume that an annular volume adjacent to the wellbore is reduced uniformly to a lower permeability than the original value. This would be similar to the composite reservoir problem. Perhaps a better example would be to problem. Perhaps a better example would be to assume that the permeability increases continuously from a low value at the wellbore to a constant value in the undamaged reservoir. In either case, the damaged region would have a finite storage capacity and would lead to transient behavior within the skin region. A negative skin effect could arise from an increase in permeability within an annular region adjacent to the wellbore. This might physically result from acidizing. But it is believed that cases of more practical importance are those in which negative skin effects are caused by hydraulic fracturing. A high-permeability fracture communicating with the wellbore gives the appearance of a negative skin effect. For the purposes of this study, it was decided to represent a skin effect, either positive or negative as an annular region adjacent to the wellbore with either decreased or increased permeability. permeability. SPEJ P. 291


2010 ◽  
Vol 01 (05) ◽  
pp. 387-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Vasin ◽  
Georgy Skorik ◽  
Evgeny Pimonov ◽  
Fikri Kuchuk

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zohrab Dastkhan ◽  
Ali Zolalemin ◽  
Kambiz Razminia ◽  
Hadi Parvizi

1984 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 1991-2001
Author(s):  
W.C. Chu ◽  
J.C. Chen ◽  
A.C. Reynolds ◽  
R. Raghavan
Keyword(s):  

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