Decline Curve Analysis Using
Type Curves for Two-Porosity Systems
Giovanni Da Prat, SPE, INTEVEP S.A.
Heber Cinco-Ley, SPE, U. of Mexico
Henry J. Ramey Jr., SPE, Stanford U.
Abstract
Constant producing pressure solutions that define
declining production rates with time for a naturally
fractured reservoir are presented. The solutions for
the dimensionless flow rate are based on a model
presented by Warren and Root. I The model was
extended to include constant producing pressure in
both infinite and finite systems. The results obtained
for a finite no-flow outer boundary are new and
surprising. It was found that the flow rate shows a
rapid decline initially, becomes nearly constant for a
period, and then a final decline in rate takes place.
A striking result of the present study is that
ignoring the presence of a constant flow rate period
in a type-curve match can lead to erroneous estimates
of the dimensionless outer radius of a reservoir. An
example is presented to illustrate the method of type-
curve matching for a naturally fractured system.
Introduction
Naturally fractured reservoirs consist of het-
erogeneous porous media where the openings
(fissures and fractures) vary considerably in size.
Fractures and openings of large size form vugs and
interconnected channels, whereas the fine cracks
form block systems which are the main body of the
reservoir (Fig. 1). The porous blocks store most of
the fluid in the reservoir and are often of low per-
meability, whereas the fractures have a low storage
capacity and high permeability. Most of the fluid
flow will occur through the fissures with the blocks
acting as fluid sources. Even though the volumetric
average permeability in a naturally fractured system
is low, such systems often exhibit an effective per-
meability that is higher than the block matrix per-
meability, and behave differently from ordinary
homogeneous media.
0197·7520/81/0006·9292$00.25
Copyright 1981 SOCiety of Petroleum Engineers of AIME
354
These systems have been studied extensively in the
petroleum literature. One of the first such studies was
published by Pirson 3 in 1953. In 1959, Pollard 4
presented one of the first pressure transient models
available for interpretation of well test data from
two-porosity systems. The most complete analysis of
transient flow in two-porosity systems was presented
in 1960 by Barenblatt and Zhdtov. 5 The Warren and
Root I study in 1963 is considered the forerunner of
modern interpretation of two-porosity systems. Their
paper has been the subject of study by many
authors. 6 ,7,2,8 The behavior of fractured systems has
long been a topic of controversy. Many authors 1, 7
have indicated that the graphical technique proposed
by Pollard in 1959 is susceptible to error caused by
approximations in the mathematical model.
Nevertheless, the Pollard method still is used. The
most complete study of two-porosity systems appears
to be the Mavor and Cinco-Ley 8 study in 1979. This
study considers well bore storage and skin effect, and
also considers production, both at constant rate and
at constant pressure. However, little information is
presented concerning the effect of the size of the
system on pressure buildup behavior.
Although decline curve analysis is widely used,
methods specific to two-porosity fractured systems
do not appear to be available. It is the objective of
this paper to produce and study decline curve
analysis for a naturally fractured reservoir. The
Warren and Root model was chosen as the basis for
this work.
Partial Differential Equations
The basic partial differential equations for fluid flow
in a two-porosity system were presented by Warren
and Root I in 1963. The model was extended by
Mavor and Cinco-Ley 8 to include wellbore storage
and skin effect. The fundamental partial differential
equations are
SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL
 aPmD
(1- w) -~ = A (PjD -PmD) , ........... (2)
atD
where w is the dimensionless fracture storage NATURALLY
FRACTURED
parameter 9 : RESERVOIR
(1)VC)j
w , ............... (3)
(1)Vc)j+ (1)Vc)m
and A is the dimensionless matrix to fracture per-
SCHEMATIC
meability ratio: REPRESENTATIONS
km 2
A = 0: - r w ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (4)
kj
FRACTURED PURELY
0: is the interporosity flow shape factor in ft - 2 , and MEDIUM FRACTURED
P D and t D are defined in the Nomenclature. MEDIUM
In Eq. 3, V is the ratio of the total volume of one
system (either fissures or blocks) to the bulk volume ~

- i.e., (Vm+Vj ) equals unity. The symbol 1> is the

porosity of a particular system (ratio of pore volume
in the system to the total system volume) - i.e.,
(1) m + 1>j) is the total system porosity, 1>.
A complete mathematical definition requires J
additional equations which represent the appropriate - ~
- - ' -J
MATHEMATICAL
initial and boundary conditions. For a system at MODEL
constant pressure, the initial condition is
Fig. 1 - Schematic representations of a fractured
PjD (r D'O) = O. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (5) medium. 1,2

The inner boundary condition in the case of constant

pressure is
log evaluation,IO when both matrix and fracture
pjD_S(ap/D) = 1, ............... (6) compressibilities are equal. The parameter A reflects
at D r[) = I the intensity of the fluid transfer between the matrix
where S is the skin factor. Two outer boundary and the fractures, and is representative of the
conditions are considered: an infinitely large geometry of the system as included in the shape
reservoir and a closed outer boundary. For an in- factor, 0:.
finitely large reservoir the condition is Crawford et al. II observed that wand A should be
obtained from field performance, and that it is
lim PjD (rD,t D) = O. .. ............. (7) difficult to deduce detailed reservoir geometry from
rD- oo
these two parameters. wand A should be considered
For the closed outer boundary, the condition is two parameters that can be used im a simulator to
compute the behavior of the system. To associate
aa'PfD I = O. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (8) physical meaning with wand A is equivalent to
rD r[) = relJ
dealing with the well-known "inverse problem" in
The dimensionless flow rate into the well bore is given any simulation.
by.
Method of Solution
q D ( t D) -- _ (aap jD ) ' ............... (9) A common method for solving Eqs. 1 and 2 under
rD r[)= I
the conditions given by Eqs. 5 through 9 is to use the
and q D is defined in the Nomenclature. Laplace transformation. The advantages of this
The cumulative production is related to the flow method have been described by van Everdingen and
rate by Hurst. 12 The equations are transformed into a
d(QD)
system of ordinary differential equations which can
-- = qD' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (10) be solved analytically. The resulting solution in the
dtD transformed space is a function of the Laplace
These equations define the statement of the variable s and the space variable rD' To obtain the
problem. Compared with a homogeneous system, the solution in real time and space, the inverse Laplace
parameters wand A define the behavior of a two- transform is used. This can be done several ways.
porosity system. w is the ratio of the storage capacity The simplest method is to look for the function and
of the fracture to the total capacity of the medium. It the inverse in tables for Laplace transforms (e.g.,
is similar to the partitioning coefficient used in well Abramowitz and Stegun 13). In our work, the inverse
JUNE 1981 355
 w = 1 (HOMOGENEOUS)
w=0.01--
A=O
Fig. 2 - qo vs. to for constant pressure production -
infinite reservoir, skin factor of zero.
was found by using an algorithm for approximate
numerical inversion of the Laplace space solution.
This algorithm was presented by Stehfest 14 in 1970)
and has been used with success by many authors. 8,1)
In addition, short- and long-time approximations are
derived.
Transient Rate Solutions
Two types of two-porosity systems are considered:
the unbounded reservoir and the closed, bounded
reservoir. The solutions for the unbounded system
have appeared elsewhere in the literature. 8 The
solutions for the bounded, closed system are new,
and are the main objective of this study. For each
type of reservoir, short- and long-time ap-
proximations are derived for the dimensionless flow
rate. The equations obtained verify the numerical
algorithm, and appear to be useful in the in-
terpretation of the observed results.
Infinite Outer Boundary
The transient rate solutions for an infinite reservoir
reflect the behavior before boundary effects become
present. The solution in Laplace space is given by 8,16
qD(S) = constant terminal pressure case. Tsarevich and
~Sj(s)KI(JSj(Sj) .' .... (II)
s[Ko es!(s») +S~s!(s)KI (~s!(s»)1
where
w(1-W)S+A
!(s) = . . ............... (12)
(l-W)S+A
Lower case s is the Laplace transform of time and
capital S is the skin factor. Fig. 2 shows the solution
in real space and time for different values of wand A,
assuming zero skin. For a given value of A (different
from zero), the flow rate depends initially on tD and
w. As time increases, the interaction between matrix
and fracture is reflected in a period of constant flow
rate, after which the solution becomes the same as
that for a homogeneous system. A short-time ap-
356
10 - 3 L.J....-"---L--'--=-'_L-..L....---'-----'---"---'---'-~'_____'___"__...l.J
100 10 4 10 8 10'2
to
Fig. 3 - qo vs. to for constant pressure production -
infinite reservoir, " = 0, S = o.
proximation yields the following expression for the
flow rate. 16
qD = V7r(tD)-1h
-; -: , ................... (13)
or, in terms of cumulative production, QD:
2V7r
QD (tD) - (wtD)1h . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (14)
7r
For w = 1 (only fracture porosity or homogeneous
reservoir), Eq. 14 is identical to Eq,' 30 presented by
van Everdingen and Hurst. 12 The expression for the
dimensionless flow rate at short times represents a
homogeneous system with an effective time tb =
tDlw. Thus, a two-porosity system in an infinite
medium does not sense the presence of the matrix
porosity initially. For A = 0 (zero matrix per-
meability), the solution depends on t D and w (see Fig.
3). Several curves are shown for the degree of w.
Closed Outer Boundary
The behavior of a homogeneous closed outer
boundary reservoir has been studied by many
authors. van Everdingen and Hurst 12 presented the
solution for the cumulative production for the
Kuranov 17 presented both cumulative production
and production rate for the constant terminal
pressure case, and showed that the logarithm of rate
becomes a linear function of time for the closed outer
boundary case. This observation apparently was not
made in the Western literature until about 17 years
later. Fetkovich 18 observed that exponential rate
decline is a long-time solution of the constant ter-
minal pressure case. It is evident that exponential rate
decline is also an important type of production which
would follow pseudo steady-state for constant rate
production from a depletion shape. That is,
pseudosteady-state would end when producing
pressure finally drops to some limiting lower pressure
(atmospheric, pipeline pressure, etc.), and then
exponential depletion at a constant producing
SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL
 10 ' I
0
( HOMOGENEOUS 10
SOLUTION
10 0 (w =1) NUMERICAL
/ INVERSION
10- 1 SOLUTION

qo qo
10"2
10- 2

10- 3
10- 3
10"4 L LONG TIME
APPROXIMATION,
Eq.16
10- 5 10- 4
3 10- 3 10
0
10
3
10
6
10° 10
to to

Fig. 4 - qo vs. to for constant pressure production - Fig. 5 - qo vs. to, numerical and long·time approximation
closed boundary (reO = 50, skin factor 0). = (w = 0.01, A = 10 -6, 'eO = 50, skin factor 0). =

pressure would follow. argument. Inverting the resulting function for the
For naturally fractured systems, little has been flow rate 16 yields
published concerning the behavior of the flow rate A
for a well producing at a constant pressure. The
solution for the dimensionless flow rate q D in
qD(tD) =
f 2 -1
(T )A
- -tD
e 1-w , ......... (16)

Laplace space is given by
QD = [~sf(s) [11 (~sf(s) feD )K1 (~sf(s»)
-K1 (~sf(S)feD))I1 (~sf(S»)]]
S[K1 (~sf(S)feD)Io(#(S»)
+11 (~sf(s)reD)KO(~sf(s»)
and inverting the resulting function for the
cumulative production yields A
2 _~
feD-l[
QD(tD) = - 2 - (w-l)e 1-W]
+1 . . . (17)
I Eq. 16 is appropriate for dimensionless times, t D
~ 100. This condition is proper for all values of w
and A. However for small values of wand A, the
following relations are also valid.

-~sf(s)S[K1 (~f(S)feD)I1 (JS](s») If A 4l 1, then t D > 100 wf eb '

-K1 (#(S»)I 1)vfs](S)f eD)]] ....... (15) and
2 1
Fig. 4 shows the solution for qD as given by the If w 4l 1, then tD > 100 feD - }:
inverse Laplace transform of Eq. 15 for feD = 50
and several values of wand A. The results are sur- Fig. 5 shows the solution for q D obtained by
prising: the flow rate shows a rapid decline at first, numerical inversion and the solution given by Eq. 16.
and then becomes almost constant for a long period, Fig. 5 shows that the numerical inversion is correct
after which a final decline takes place. The long for long-time solutions. The expression for q D given
period of constant rate has not been reported by Eq. 16 shows that for long times, the logarithm of
previously and is one major finding of this study. For flow rate is a linear function of time. Thus, a known
short times, the flow rate depends on tD and w, but result for homogeneous systems can be extended to
for long times it depends on t D' w, A, and feD' Fig. two-porosity systems. However, in a two-porosity
lOB shows the same result happens for large values of system, the final rate decline takes place later in time
feD . Compared with the homogeneous system or compared with the homogeneous case. Nevertheless,
system of fracture porosity only (w = 1), a longer the cumulative production is the same for both cases
time is required to deplete a two-porosity system at long times (see Fig. 6) 16:
completely. The value of the flow rate during the
constant rate period depends strongly on the
r1m QD = --
l feb- ................ (18)
matrix/fracture permeability ratio, A. A short-time tD-oo 2
approximation for the closed outer boundary case is The observed period of constant flow rate in Figs.
exactly the same as for the infinite outer boundary 4 and 5 is equal to the term:
case given by Eqs. 13 and 14.
A long-time approximation for qD or QD is ob- qD "" (
b-l
T)'
f
A .................... (19)
tained by substituting the asymptotic Bessel func-
tions in Eq. 15 valid for small values of the This can be seen by taking the limit of Eq. 16 as tD -
JUNE 1981 357
 zero. Thus, the magnitude of the flow rate during
this period depends strongly on Afor a given reD'
3
10
I
Initial Decline and Production
HOMOGENEOUS
SOLUTION" rE'02-1 Forecast Analysis
2
10 -2- From an engineering economic viewpoint, the initial
Qo
1
decline could be a key factor in deciding whether to
10 A' complete or abandon a well. In the case of a
10- 7
10- 6 homogeneous system, this decline is the only one
0 10- 5
10 observed; but for naturally fractured sysfems, the
10- 4
initial decline does not always represent the final
-1 state of depletion. For instance, let us take the case
10
w'OOOl where w = 0.001 and A = 10 -6. The dimensionless
10- 2 flow rate behavior is shown in Fig. 4. On the basis of
the initial decline only and using the solution for a
I
10 0 10
4
10 8 10 1; homogeneous system, one would conclude that the
to reservoir had a dimensionless outer radius, reD' Jess
than 5. The final cumulative production should be
Fig. 6 - Qo vs. to tor a closed boundary (reO = 50, skin about 12 (Eq. IS). Considering that the reservoir is
factor 0).= naturally fractured, in reality the dimensionless
well bore outer radius is 50 and the final cumulative
production is 1,250. Thus, ignoring the presence of a
fractured reservoir can lead to an error of 90070 in reD
and 99070 in QD for this particular case!
Let us start the analysis of the initial decline
considering the simple case of a noncommunicating
matrix (A = 0). Fig. 7 shows the dimensionless flow
rate behavior for different values of storativity, w. In
this case an analytical expression for q D can be
derived from the dimensionless well bore pressure for
constant rate production after the onset of
pseudosteady state, van Everdingen and Hurst 12
showed that QD and PwD are related in Laplace
space. In a similar manner, it can be shown that q D
and P wD are related by
_ 1
qD = 2--- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (20~
S PwD
to For a naturally fractured system, PwD is given by 8,16
Fig. 7 - qo vs. to for different values of w (reO = 50, A = 0, 27rf DA 1 (2.245SA )
skin factor 0). = PwD=--+-ln 2 ' . . . . . . . . . (21)
w 2 CAr w
provided fDA /w ~ 0.1 and A = O.
Taking the Laplace transform of Eq. 21, sub-
NUMERICAL stituting in Eq. 20, and inverting yields the following
INVERSION
SOLUTION expression for q D' valid for a bounded circular
reservoir.
LONG TIME
SOLUTION FOR A
NONCOMMUNICA-
TING MATRIX
(A: 0), Eq.22 (In reD-3/4)
-2
. exp ( -~2~---­ fD) ~ . . . . . . . (22)
(reD (In reD -3/4
Thus, for the case of a noncommunicating matrix,
LONG TIME the initial decline is exponential in nature and is the
SOLUTION, only one observed. This decline can be described by
Eq.16
10- 4 '---'---"--~---'---'----'--'-:_-'-----'_--'--,.l------'-.J
Eq. 22. To allow for a skin factor, the effective
10
3 wellbore radius, r:V = r we -s, should be substituted
to for r w' The skin effect causes reD to appear small.
For a communicating matrix (A ;r. 0), the initial
Fig. 8 - qo vs. to numerical inversion solution and lon~. decline does not represent the final state of depletion.
time approximations (reo = 50, w = 0.01, A = 10- ,
and skin factor = 0). This in turn may be considered an indication of a
naturally fractured system. For this case, the solution
358 SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL
 100~,-",,-'-'-n'-'-'-n!-'--"~-'-'~
---__ - - HOMOGENEOUS RESERVOIR (w= 1)
----_ - - NATURALLY FRACTURED
........., __ ~ RESERVOIR

" ...... ,----~--"--

........ """ ........--
"\ "500"
200 '\
\ \
\ \
\ \

-2
10

Fig.9A - qo vs. to for constant pressure production Fig.9B - qo vs. to for constant pressure production
(w = 0.01, A = 5 X 10- 6 , and skin factor = 0). (w = 0.01, A = 5 X 10- 6 , and skin factor = 0).

given by Eq. 22 and the long-time solution given by
Eq. 16 can be used to study the observed behavior.
Fig. 8 shows the solution for the case where w = 0.01
and "A = 10 - 6. The solution for "A = 0 and the long-
time solution provide a lower boundary to the actual
solution.
From a practical viewpoint, given an initial value
for the flow rate, it is important to know the time
required to deplete the two-porosity system. As seen
in Fig. 8, the flow rate starts declining until it reaches
a value given by Eq. 16 which has an asymptotic
value of
reb -1 )
qD "'" ( - 2 - ."A. . ................. (19)
This will occur at a time given by
In[ r eD2- 1 "A(inreD-3/4)]
2 and is shown in Figs. 9A and 9B. The other type
tD = --"A-----2----
After this time, the flow rate stays constant until the
exponential term in the long-time solution, Eq. 16,
dominates. It dominates until the flow rate becomes
zero as the final depletion state.
Type-Curve Analysis
Fetkovich 18 describes a procedure for using log-log
type-curve matching for analyzing rate-time data for
a homogeneous system. The same technique can be
applied to naturally fractured systems. However, the
relationship between q D and t D is controlled by w
and "A, as well as by other parameters. Thus, more
than one type curve may be necessary, especially iCw
and "A cannot be obtained from pressure buildup
data. Two type curves are presented here. (Ref. 16
may be consulted for other type curves.) One type
curve corresponds to w = 0.01 and "A = 5 X 10- 6 ,
curve corresponds to w = 0.001 and "A = 10- 9 , and
..... (23) is shown in Figs. lOA and lOB for a range of values
reD from 10 to 10,000.
The solution for a homogeneous system may be

NATURALLY FRACTURED RESERVOIR

10°r-'-""-'-'''~'-''nT-'-.-n,-'-'-~

10- 1 ~"",:--",,:::::::-----------------j

5000

2000

~~~~~~~1~0~6~~~1~0~7~-L~10~L-~~109
tD

Fig. 10A - qo vs. to for constant pressure production Fig.10B - qo vs. to for constant pressure production
(w = 0.001, A = 10- 9 , and skin factor 0). = (w = 0.001, A = 10 -9, and skin factor =0).

JUNE 1981 359

 TABLE 1 - DATA FOR SIMULATED EXAMPLE PROBLEM
t q
Conditions (days) (BID)
Pi -Pwf = 6,500 psi 0.02 740
S = -4.09 0.03 680
h=480ft 0.04 620 MATCH POINT
q , 100 BID, qo' 0.03
d = 1 cp 0.06 540 ( I::: 1 day, t ::: 1500

B = 1 RB/STB 0.08 470 I

rw = 0.25 ft 0.12 360

re = 1,500 ft 0.17 250
r~d = 100 0.21 210
r;"=15ft 0.27 160
0.34 125 10
-2

0.40 105
0.50 88
0.70 79
0.90 76
1.20 76
2.00 74

Fig. 11 - Type-curve matching example problem.

obtained by setting w = 1, and is shown in Figs. 9A 2.63 x 10- 4 (0.15) 24

and 9B for comparison with the fractured system
results (see dashed lines). This case is the same
solution as that presented by Fetkovich 10 as Figs. 2A
and 2B. The chosen values for wand '"' are
representative of naturally fractured reservoirs. 11,19
It should be possible to obtain wand,", from pressure
buildup data, and either generate or select which type
curve to use. That is, once wand,", are known, a type
curve can be created similar to Fig. 9 or Fig. 10 which
can be used to compute production rates for that
particular reservoir.
Example
Let us illustrate the use of type-curve matching with a
simulated constant pressure drawdown test. The
simulated field data used are shown in Table 1. The
production rate was plotted as a function of time on
tracing paper, and then placed over the type curve
corresponding to w = 0.01 and,", = 5 X 10- 6 (see
Fig. 11). From the match point, the fracture per-
meability and the total storage can be calculated.
Using data in Table 1, k j is obtained from the flow
rate -qD match point (at q = 100 BID, qD = 0.03).
(1 )(0.25)2 1,500
10.1 x 10- 6 pSi-1 .............. (25)
The value obtained for the fracture permeability k j
was 0.15 md, and 10.1 x 10- 6 psi -I was obtained
for the total storage. Because '"' and w were deter-
mined by selection of the type curve, some in-
formation about the reservoir geometry can be
obtained as indicated by the shape factor ex. As
presented by Warren and Root, I the parameter ex is
related to the matrix block dimension. One approach
is to assume uniformly spaced fractures and to allow
variations in the fracture width to satisfy the con-
dition of anistropy. Then,
ex = 4n(n+2)/f2 , • • • . . . . . . . . . • • . . • • • • (26)
where f is a characteristic dimension of the
heterogeneous medium and n is equal to the number
of normal sets of fractures, 1, 2, or 3. If the blocks
have the dimensions x = a, Y = b, and z = c, I can
be estimated from the surface-volume ratio:
3abc
f = (ab+bc+ca) , n=3, ............. (27)

2ab
I' = a + b ' n = 2, .................... (28)
or and
141.2(1)(1) (100)
kj = (480)(6,500) 0.03 =0.15 md . . . . (24) I' = a , n = 1. . ...................... (29)
In the simple case of one normal set of fractures (n =
Similarly, from the time - t D match point (t = 1 1), I' = a, and ex may be found from Eq. 26:
day, tD = 1,500), the total storage [(¢Vc) m +
(¢Vc)j] is given by 12
ex = 2 ' .......................... (30)
a
[(¢Vc)m+(¢Vc)j]
As observed by Crawford et al., II calculated values
= 2.637 x !0-4kj (!...-) for fracture spacing based on '"' are dependent on the
assumed geometry. The meaning of ex in this study is
Ww tD M subject to the assumption of an equivalent block-
or structured reservoir as presented by Warren and
360 SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL
Root, 1 which may have little relationship with the · . Iess fl ow rate, - 141.2q B
existing physical spacing. d ImenSlOn - - - -/l -
Eq. 4 may be used to compute (exk m ) from 1\ and kjh(Pi -Pwj)
k j . For this example, the product (exk m ) is equal to Laplace transform of q D
1.2 x 10- 5 md·ft-2. Thus, if k m can be obtained cumulative production, bbl (m 3 )
from core analysis, ex can be computed. The value of dimensionless cumulative production
ex may yield information about apparent matrix dimensionless radius, r Ir w
block dimensions. In a similar manner, Eq. 3, w, and
dimensionless outer boundary radius,
the total storage can yield the fracture storage:
re lr w
(<!>VC)j = w[(<!>Vc)j+ (<!>Vc)m] . wellbore radius, ft (m)
effective dimensionless well outer boundary
A value for (<!> Vc) j equal to 1.0 x 10 -7 psi -I was radius, relr'w
obtained for this example.
r'w effective wellbore radius, r w exp ( - S),
Discussion and Conclusions ft (m)
In dealing with naturally fractured systems, the s Laplace space variable
initial decline in production rate often is not S = skin effect
representative of the final state of depletion. Type- time, hours
curve matching based only on the initial decline can · . I' 2.637(10 -4)kjt
lead to erroneous values for the dimensionless tD d ImenSlOn ess tIme, 2
[(<!>VC)m + (<!>VC)j]W w
well bore outer radius reD if the system is considered
homogeneous. Because q D and t D are controlled by, t DA (t Dr ;,)/A, dimensionless
among other parameters, wand 1\, more than one V = ratio of total volume of medium to bulk
type curve will be necessary to obtain the best match. volume
In fact, the example shown here has to be considered ex = interporosity flow shape factor,
as illustrative of the present study. In reality, for a ft- 2 (m- 2 )
given reD' it would be necessary to consider at least 1\ = dimensionless matrix/fracture permeability
three or four values of w (i.e., 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, and ratio
1), and four or five values of 1\ (i.e., 10- 9 , 10- 7 , /l = viscosity, cp (Pa·s)
10- 6 ,10- 5 . and 10- 4 ) for each w (as many as 30
type curves). This process is difficult because it will
<!> = porosity, fraction
require the use of almost 20 type curves. The values w = dimensionless fracture storage
of wand 1\ are determined from the best match and Subscripts
this is particularly important in case these parameters
are not known a priori. However, if wand 1\ can be D = dimensionless
obtained independently from pressure buildup data, f = fracture
this defines the particular type curve to be used in m = matrix
production forecasting or matching for estimation of
reservoir size. Acknowledgments
Portions of this study were done by G. Da Prat to
Nomenclature complete graduate degree requirements. Financial
A drainage area, sq ft (m 2)
= support was provided by a grant from INTEVEP
B =
formation volume factor, RB/STB S.A. (Instituto Tecnologico Venezolano del
(res m 3 /stock-tank m 3 ) Petroleo), by Stanford U., and by U.S. DOE Grant
C = compressibility, psi - 1 (kPa - 1 ) No. 1673500.
CA dimensionless pseudosteady-state shape References
factor
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k permeability, md 4. Pollard, P.: "Evaluation of Acid Treatments from Pressure
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q volumetric rate, B/D (m 3 /d) Behavior of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs," paper SPE 7977

JUNE 1981 361

 presented at the SPE 1979 California Regional Meeting, held 17. Tsarevich, K.A. and Kuranov, l.F.: "Calculation of the Flow
in Ventura, April 18-20, 1979. Rates for the Center Well in a Circular Reservoir Under Elastic
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AIME (1949) 186, 305-324B. BID x 1.589 873 E - 01 m 3 /d
13. Abramowitz, M. and Stegun, l.A.: Handbook of ft x 3.048' E-Ol m
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City (1972).
KPa
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Original manuscript received in Society of Petroleum Engineers office July 8,
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(1980). Technical Conference and Exhibition, held in Dallas, Sept. 23·26,1980.

362 SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL