WellTestInterpretation

SKM4323

CONVENTIONAL
INTERPRETATIONMETHODS
Azmi Mohd Arshad
DepartmentofPetroleumEngineering

WEEK04

PressureBuildup HornersMethod
Mostoftheinformationfromawelltest
comesfrominterpretingthepressure
buildups.
Interpretingadrawdowntestislimitedby
theflowratefluctuationsinherentto
production.
Thezeroflowratethatcorrespondsto
pressurebuildupsdoesnotcausethistype
ofproblems.

PressureBuildup HornersMethod/2

PressureBuildup HornersMethod/3
Pressurebuildupisanalyzedusingtheflowrate
superpositionprinciplementionedbefore:
p i p ws (t) = [p i p wf (t p + t)] - [p i p wf (t)]

(4.14)

Thevariationsinflowingpressurearegivenbyequation
(4.3)oncethewellborestorageeffecthasended.Replacing
thetworighthandtermsofequation(4.14)bythesemi
logarithmicexpressionofradialflow(equation4.3)gives:
t p + t
qB
ln
p i p ws (t) =
4 kh
t

(4.15)

PressureBuildup HornersMethod/4
Whichiswritten:
inpracticalUSunits
t p + t
162.6 qB
p i p ws (t) =
log
kh
t

(4.16)

inpracticalmetricsunits
t p + t
21.5 qB
p i p ws (t) =
log
t
kh

(4.17)

PressureBuildup HornersMethod/5
Interpretation
Equations(4.15)to(4.17)showthatthebottomhole
pressurevarieslinearlyversuslog(tp +t)/t.
Ifthevalueofpressuremeasuredatthebottomofthehole
isplottedversusthelogarithmicof(tp +t)/t,onagraph,
oncethewellborestorageeffectshasendedastraightline
withaslopeofmcanbeobserved:
162.6 qB
m=
kh
m=

21.5 qB
kh

(in practical US units)

(4.18)

(in practical metric units)

(4.19)

PressureBuildup HornersMethod/6
Interpretation
Aswithdrawdown,thevalueofslopemisusedtocompute
thereservoirskh:

162.6 qB
kh =
m
kh =

21.5 qB
m

(in practical US units)

(4.20)

(in practical metric units)

(4.21)

PressureBuildup HornersMethod/7
Interpretation
Theskin valueiscomputedfromthedifferencebetween:
thevalueofthepressurerecordedafter1hourofbuilduponthesemi
logstraightline(Fig.4.3):

p i p (1 h) =

162.6 qB
log ( t p + 1)
kh

andthevalueofthepressureatshutintime:

162.6 qB
p i p wf (t p ) =
kh

k
log t p + log
3.23 + 0.87 S
2
c t rw

PressureBuildup HornersMethod/8
Interpretation
Subtractingthetwoexpressionstermbyterm,theskincanbe
deduced:
p1h p wf (t p )

t p +1
k

S =1.151
+ log
log
+ 3.23 (US)
2

c t rw
tp
m

(4.22)

p1h p wf (t p )

t p +1
k
+ log
log
+ 3.10 (metric) (4.23)
S =1.151
2

m
t
c
r

p
t
w

Thetermlog(tp +1)/tp)isusuallynegligiblecomparedtothe
otherterms

PressureBuildup HornersMethod/9

PressureBuildup HornersMethod/10
Interpretation
Ifthepressurebuildupwascontinueindefinitely,the
bottomhole pressurewouldbeequaltotheinitialreservoir
pressure.
Theinitialreservoirpressurecanbereadonthepressure
buildupfor
t p + t
t = , i.e,
t
Thispressurevalueiscalledtheextrapolatedpressureandis
writtenp*.
Itisequaltotheinitialreservoirpressureinmostinitialtest.

Example2
(Inclassworkshop)

PressureBuildup MDHMethod
Iftp islargecomparedtot:
t p + t t p

Equation(4.15)becomes:
p i p wf =

qB
(ln t ln t p )
4 kh

Thebottomholepressurevarieslinearlyversuspressure
builduptime.
Thismeansthatduringbuildupthepressuredropdueto
previousproductionisdisregarded

PressureBuildup MDHMethod/2

Figure4.4illustratesthisinterpretationmethoddevelopedbyMiller
DyesandHutchinson,i.e.theMDHmethod:
therealpressurebuildupisp;
thepressurebuildupdealtwiththeMDHispMDH.

PressureBuildup MDHMethod/3
ThedifferencebetweenpandpMDH isnegligible
whentissmallcomparedtotp,i.e.:
atthebeginningofbuildup;
afteralongperiodofconstantflowrate.

PressureBuildup MDHMethod/4
Interpretation
Thepressurevarieslinearlyversusthelogarithmoftime.
ByplottingpMDH versust,asemilogstraightlinewitha
slopeofm(Fig.4.5)canbeseenoncethewellborestorage
effecthasended;
162.6 qB
m=
kh

(in practical US units)

(4.24)

21.5 qB
m=
kh

(in practical metric units)

(4.25)

PressureBuildup MDHMethod/5

PressureBuildup MDHMethod/6
Interpretation
Theslopeisusedtocomputethereservoirskh:

162.6 qB
kh =
m
kh =

21.5 qB
m

(in practical US units)

(4.26)

(in practical metric units)

(4.27)

PressureBuildup MDHMethod/7
Interpretation
TheskiniscomputedthesamewayasintheHorner
method:
p1h p wf (t p )

S =1.151
log
+
3.23
2
m
c t rw

(US)

(4.28)

p1h p wf (t p )

S =1.151
log
+ 3.10
2
m
c t rw

(metric)

(4.29)

PressureBuildup MDHMethod/8
Interpretation
Theadvantageofthismethodisthatitisverysimple,
howeverithastwomajordrawbacks:
itcannotbeusedtofindtheextrapolatedpressure;
itcanbeusedonlyforvaluesoftthataresmall
comparedtotp.

Whenproductiontimeisshortorclosetot(initial
testsonawell),thelastbuilduppointsarelocated
underthetheoreticalsemilogstraightlineinthe
MDHrepresentation(Fig.4.6).

PressureBuildup MDHMethod/9

Example3
(Inclassworkshop)

References
1. Bourdarot,Gilles:WellTesting:Interpretation
Methods,ditions Technip,1998.
2. Internet.