Estimating the flow rate of an oil well with a change in bottomhole pressure relative to the saturation pressure

UDK: 622.276.3
DOI: 10.24887/0028-2448-2018-3-43-45
Key words: production rate, well productivity, productivity index, skin-factor, flowing well pressure, saturation pressure, volumetrically averaged pressure, drainage area, two-phase flow, well testing
Authors: L.N. Ikonnikova (Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov, RF, Arkhangelsk), A.B. Zolotukhin (Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov, RF, Arkhangelsk; Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas (National Research University), RF, Moscow)

It is known that the production rate of a well located in the center of the drainage zone and operated in a steady state at a bottomhole pressure higher than the saturation pressure can be determined using the Dupuit equation. If the bottomhole pressure of the production well becomes lower than saturation pressure in the zone where formation pressure is lower than saturation pressure a two-phase flow (gas + liquid) is formed. Formation of two-phases flow leads to a decrease in the well productivity. In this case, the Vogel ratio is usually used to determine the inflow performance, requiring at least one well test for the inflow. The combination of the Dupuit formula and the Vogel relation in calculating the well productivity index makes it possible to obtain a composite Vogel indicator curve. Skin-factor reflects any physical or mechanical phenomenon that reduces the fluid inflow into the well. It depends on partially penetrating well, wellbore damage (skin effect), well slant angle, the manifestation of inertial forces dependent on the production rate, etc. Suppose that using the skin-factor approach, one can take into account not only the degree of change in the properties of the wellbore zone, but also other effects that result to a change in well productivity. One of these effects can be the formation of a two-phase flow zone. The paper presents a generalized Dupuit – Vogel relationship for estimating the oil well productivity at any bottomhole pressure with respect to saturation pressure, as well as evaluating performance of actual oil wells.

References

1. Ikonnikova L.N., Zolotukhin A.B., Evaluation of flowing well bottom hole pressure at bottom hole pressure below buble point pressure (In Russ.), Vestnik Permskogo natsional'nogo issledovatel'skogo politekhnicheskogo universiteta. Geologiya. Neftegazovoe i gornoe delo = Perm Journal of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, 2012, no. 2, pp. 61–68.

2. Ikonnikova L.N., Zolotukhin A.B., Prediction of wells flow-rate after acid treatment when bottomhole pressure is lower than saturation pressure (In Russ.), Oborudovanie i tekhnologii dlya neftegazovogo kompleksa, 2013, no. 2, pp. 35–37.

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