Inflow Performance

Instructional Objectives
Calculate the IPR for oil wells
Calculate the IPR for gas wells

Reservoir Capabilities
Darcys Law
Liquid flow in Laminar Flow through
a permeable medium is described by
Darcys Law

7.08 X 10 k h p p wf
q

re
0.75 s
o Bo ln

r
w

Reservoir Capabilities
s = Skin Factor (dimensionless)

ra

s
1 ln
rw
ka

Productivity Index
A common indicator of liquid reservoir
behavior is PI or productivity index
Referred to as J in SPE
nomenclature

q
STB / D / psi
J
p p wf

Productivity Index in Terms

of Darcys Law
3

7.08 X 10 k h
J

re
0.75
o Bo ln
rw

Calculating Flowrate
Using PI, we can calculate flowrate, q,
quickly and easily from

q J (p p wf )

Exercise 1
Given reservoir parameters:
k
= 30 md
h
= 40 ft
o
= 0.5 cp
Bo

= 1.2 RB/STB

hole size = 8 inches

s
=0

Exercise 1
Calculate:
J for re = 1,000 ft
q for a drawdown (p p wf) of 750 psi
q for a drawdown of 1,000 psi
With p = 3,000 psia, calculate q for a
complete drawdown (absolute open
flow potential).

Multiphase Flow
Bubblepoint pressure (pb)
Pressure at which first bubble of gas
is released from reservoir oils

Multiphase Flow
Vogels Behavior
IPR Curve - Vogel plotted the data
using the following dimensionless
variables

p wf
p

and

q
qmax

Vogel Curve
1

0.8

pwf/pr

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

q/qmax

0.8

Multiphase Flow
Mathematical model for Vogels curve

pwf

1 0.2
qmax
p

pwf
0.8

Multiphase Flow
Mathematical relationship between
Vogel (qmax) and Darcy (AOF)

AOF J p
qmax

1 .8
1 .8

Finding Vogel qmax

1

0.8

pwf/pr

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

q/qmax

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

Exercise 2
Reservoir parameters:

p = 2,350 psia

= 140 md

= 35 ft

o = 0.8 cp
Bo = 1.25 rbbl/STB
re

= 2,000 ft

rw

= 0.411 ft

pb = 3,000 psia
s

= 2

Exercise 2
Calculate J
Calculate qmax
Construct IPR curve

Multiphase Flow
Combination Darcy/Vogel
p

Co
ns
ta
nt
J

Pressure

pb
Vo
ge
l

pwf

Be
ha
vi
or

J pb
qb

qmax

1.8

O
O

Rate

Multiphase Flow
How to find qmax:
for q qb , Darcy' s law applies : q J p p wf

for q qb then :

p wf
p
wf

q qb qmax qb 1 0.2
0.8
pb

pb

J pb
qmax qb
1.8

Gas Reservoirs
Pseudosteady State
The behavior of gas flowing in
laminar flow through a porous
medium (Darcys Law)

7.03X10 4 k h p 2 p2wf
q

re
0.75 s
g T z ln
rw

Calculation of IPR Curve

4000

pwfs, psia

3000

2000

1000

0
0

2000

4000

6000

q, Mscf/day

8000

10000

12000

Using the Real Gas

Pseudopressure (pp (p))

7.03 x 10 4 kh pp p pp p wf
q

re
0.75 s
T ln
rw

and
p

p
pp p 2
dp
p z
o

Exercise 3
Plot the IPR Curve
Given the following data and using the
pressure squared relationship:
k = 100 md
h = 20 ft
re = 1,500 ft
rw = 0.33 ft
s

= 0

= g0.02 cp

T
=z
=p
g

= 610R
0.9
4,000 psig
= 0.65

IPR in Gas Reservoirs

Jones Gas IPR
Problem Darcys law valid for laminar flow
only
High permeability gas wells
produce in turbulent flow near the
wellbore
2
2
2
p p wf aq bq

Definitions

re
0.75
1.424 x10 g z T ln

rw

kh
3

3.16 x10 12 g T z

hp2 rw

Determination of h

hp
h
hp

Solving Jones Equation

The flow rate is:

a a 4b p
2b

2
p wf

Solving Jones Equation

The value of the AOF is then given by:

a a 4bp
AOF
2b

Solving Jones Equation

Solve for the well flowing pressure:

p wf p b q a q

Exercise 4
Calculate the IPR curve for
hp = 20 ft and
hp = 10 ft with the data in notes
Calculate the IPR using Darcys law
only
Compare the three IPR curves

Transient IPR Curves

Assumptions
Darcys and Jones laws assume that the
average pressure
is constant
p
Drainage radius, re, is constant and that
These assumptions are true in pseudosteady state only, i.e. when all of the outer
boundaries of the reservoir are reached.

Transient IPR Curves

The time to reach pseudo-steady state
(pss), tstab, can be calculated with the
following equation

948 c t re
t stab
k

Exercise 5
Oil Well Stabilization Time
Find tstab with the following data
= 0.1
o = 0.5 cp
ct
re

= 2 X 10-5 psi-1
= 1,500 ft

For the following values of k:

0.1 md, 1.0 md, 10 md, and 100 md

Exercise 6
Gas Well Stabilization Time
Find tstab with the following data
= 0.1
g = 0.02 cp
ct
re

= 2 X 10-4 psi-1
= 1,500 ft

For the following values of k:

0.1 md, 1.0 md, 10 md, and 100 md

Transient Flow
pwf
p

tstab > t3 > t2 > t1

t1
t2
tstab

t3

Transient IPR Curves

Transient Flow Equation
for oil wells
k h p p wf
q
o

kt

3.23 0.87 s
162.6o Bo log
c r2

o t w

for gas wells (low pressure only)

qg

1638g T z

k h p 2 p2wf

k
t
3.23 0.87 s
log

c r2
g t w

References