he diagnostic plot is a log-log plot of the pressure change and pressure derivat

ive (vertical axis) from a pressure transient test vs. elapsed time (horizontal
axis).
Fig. 1 shows an example of a diagnostic plot. The diagnostic plot can be divided
into three time regions: early, middle, and late. At the earliest times on a pl
ot (the early-time region), wellbore and near-wellbore effects dominate. These e
ffects include wellbore storage, formation damage, partial penetration, phase re
distribution, and stimulation (hydraulic fractures or acidization). At intermedi
ate times (the middle-time region), a reservoir will ordinarily be infinite acti
ng. For a homogeneous reservoir, the pressure derivative will be horizontal duri
ng this time region. Data in this region lead to the most accurate estimates of
formation permeability. At the latest times in a test (the late-time region), bo
undary effects dominate curve shapes. The types of boundaries that may affect th
e pressure response include sealing faults, closed reservoirs, and gas/water, ga
s/oil, and oil/water contacts. Several common flow regimes and the diagnostic pl
ots associated with these flow regimes are discussed here.
Fig. 1

Diagnostic plot showing time regions.

Contents [hide]
1 Volumetric behavior
2 Radial flow
3 Linear flow
4 Bilinear flow
5 Spherical flow
6 Flow regimes on the diagnostic plot
7 Nomenclature
8 Noteworthy papers in OnePetro
9 External links
10 See also
11 Category
Volumetric behavior
Volumetric behavior is defined as that pressure response time dominated by the w
ellbore, reservoir, or part of the reservoir acting like a uniform-pressure "tan
k" with fluid entering or leaving the tank. The most common example of volumetri
c behavior is wellbore storage, which dominates during the early-time region. Th
e "tank" is the wellbore, in which the pressure is uniform. Fluid either leaves
this tank (earliest times in a flow test, before the reservoir begins to respond
) or enters the tank (earliest times in a buildup test). Another example is pseu
dosteady-state (boundary-dominated) flow in a