DETERMINATION OF ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE PERMEABILITY USING WELL TEST ANALYSIS

A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERING AND THE COMMITTEE ON GRADUATE STUDIES OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FORTHEDEGREEOF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

B Y Abdul-Jaleel Abdullah Al-Khalifah February 1988

I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opinion it is fully adequate,

in scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

(Co-advisor)

I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opinion it is fully adequate,

in scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

(Co-advisor)

I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opinion it is fully adequate,

in scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

c

I certify that I have read this thesis and that in my opinion it is fully adequate,

in scope and quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Approved for the University Committee on Graduate Studies&

Dean of Graduate Studics

0 Copyright 1988

by
Abdul-Jaleel Abdullah Al-Khalifah

To my father who is no longer but present in my thought

Among those whom I respect for their endless support

Acknowledgement
I would like to acknowledge first and foremost. Dr. Roland N. Home and D r . Wid
Aziz for their continued inspiration, support throughout this study. When no hope seemed in

sight, Dr. Homes ever optimistic view kept me going.

I am also grateful to Dr. H. J. Ramey, Jr., and Dr. W. E. Brigham for their excellent

suggestions and constructive criticism. Their kindness, I will never forget.

Very many thanks are due to ARAMCO for providing my scholarship. While I am

elated at this opportunity, I remain deeply indebted to many friends in ARAMCO for their kind assistance and on going support. During the course of this work computer facilities and software provided by Apollo, Gould and ECL were used. I am grateful to all these organizations. Also, computer facilities supported by the Reservoir Simulation Industrial Affiliates Program (SUPRI-B) and the Stanford Center for Reservoir Forecasting ( S o were used. Fellow graduate students: I. Kocabas, M.Riley, A. Ambastha, J. Kikani and R. Bratfold,
I appreciate your stimulating discussions and review of the manuscript.

Finally, my deepest sincere appreciation goes to my family. Their patience and kindness gave me the faith and support t o amve at this point.

- iv -

ABSTRACT
Multiphase flow is modeled with a diffusivity equation using p 2 as the dependent variable. Such a model applies to systems in which a gas phase is present (i.e. gas-oil and gasoil-water reservoirs) where it represents the physics of multiphase flow better than existing models and with fewer restrictive assumptions. This new approach allows reasonable estimates of reservoir and wellbore parameters such as effective oil permeability a n d wellbore skin.

This dissertation also presents a new method to estimate two- and three-phase relative
permeabilities in-situ, using pressure transient analysis. The technique requires a short drawdown test, consisting of a number of steps of increasing flow rate. The resulting estimates of relative permeabilities reflect the properties of the entire drainage m a , rather than those of a

s m a l l laboratory core. The method estimates the relative permeabilities at sandface saturations.
which cover a range of reservoir conditions that will take place in the future. The proposed relative permeability method applies solutions of a multiphase diffusivity equation in terms of the pseudopressure function, m@). These solutions had already been reported for constant rate tests in solution gas-drive reservoirs by Raghavan (1976). This work extends the pseudopressure solutions to three-phase systems. Two- and three-phase solutions were then superposed to obtain multiple-rate solutions. The saturation equation developed by
B$e et al. (1981) for solution gas-drive reservoirs, is extended to three-phase reservoirs. These

solutions are then used to estimate relative permeability-saturation values during the test. When reservoir absolute permeability is not known, the proposed relative permeability technique results in estimates of the effective permeability as a function of the saturation. These results can then be fitted with a simple relation to infer the absolute permeability.
A rate-normalization method applicable to multiphase well tests is formulated and applied

to simulated tests with varying flow rates. Such a normalization results in reasonable estimates of individual phase permeabilities and thereby an accurate value of total system mobility.

-v-

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................

v
vi

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................

LIST OF FIGURES

x
xii
1

..........................................................................................................

1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................

2. BACKGROUND
2.1.

.........................................................................................................

4 4

Single Phase Theory ...................................................................................

2.2. Multiphase Theory

.....................................................................................

5
7

2.3. Multiphase Flow Parameters

......................................................................

2.4. Current Measurement Methods 2.4.1. Laboratory Methods

..................................................................

.......................................................................
.....................................................................

9
12

2.4.2. Performance Methods 2.4.3. Well Testing

...................................................................................

13
13

2.4.3.1. Pemne's Approach

.......................................................... ......................................................

2.4.3.2. Raghavan's Approach 2.4.3.3. State of the Art 3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

16
23 24

................................................................

.........................................................................

.vi .

4 . NEW APPROACH TO MULTPHASE WELL TEST ANALYSIS 4.1. 4.2. 4.3. 4.4.

.......................... 25
25 31 36 39 57 65 69 74 78 79

Mathematical Model Line Source Solution Empirical Slope

................................................................................ ...............................................................................

.......................................................................................

Applications .............................................................................................
4.4.1.

Volatility

.....................................................................................

4.5.

Discussion of Pemne's Approach

........................................................... ............................................................
...............................................

4.6. Discussion of the New Approach

4.7. Fetkovich's Isochronal Testing Approach 4.8. Fetkovich's Material Balance Relation 4.9. The Pressure-Saturation Relations

....................................................

............................................................

5 . RELATIVE PERMEABILITY TECHNIQUE FOR

SOLUTION GAS-DRIVE RESERVOIRS ............................................................

5.1. Methodology ............................................................................................ 5.2.

81 82 83 84 85 86 88 88

Constant-Rate Drawdown Testing

5.2.1. 5.2.2.

...........................................................
..................................................

Relative Permeability Equations

Saturation Equation ......................................................................

5.2.3. Drawdown i n Practice 5.3.

.................................................................

Multiple-Rate Testing
5.3.1.

..............................................................................

Superposition principle

................................................................
..................................................

5.3.2. Relative Permeability Equations

90

.vii .

5.3.3. Saturation Equations 5.4. Test Procedure 5.5. Test Analysis

....................................................................

93

.........................................................................................

94
96

...........................................................................................

5.6. Numerical Applications 5.6.1. Discretization

........................................................................... 97
97 98

...............................................................................
..................................................................

5.6.2. Homogeneous System 5.6.3. Composite System

....................................................................... 117
.................................................
122

5.7. Estimation of the Absolute Permeability

6. RELATIVE PERMEABILITY TECHNIQUE FOR THREE-PHASE FLOW RESERVOIRS ............................................................... 126 6.1. Pseudopressure Solution for m e - P h a s e Flow 6.2. Relative Permeability Equations 6.3. Saturation Equations

......................................

126 130

..............................................................

................................................................................ 130

6.3.1. Early Time Period 6.4. Numerical Applications

........................................................................ 135
136

...........................................................................

7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................... 144 7.1. Conclusions ..............................................................................................

144

7.2. Recommendations ....................................................................................

NOMENCLATURE ..........................................................................................................

147 149 153 158

REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................
APPENDIX A: ECLIPSE SIMULATOR

......................................................................

.viii .

APPENDIX B: THE CHANGE OF k,, / (

PoBo ) WITH PRESSURE......................

164

B.l. Theory .............................................................................................

B.2. Simulated Examples ........................................................................ B.3. Summary

164 166 176

........................................................................................

APPENDIX C: RATE NORMALIZATION OF MULTIPHASE WELL TESTS

..........177
178

C.l. Theory .............................................................................................

C.2. Example Applications

....................................................................

185
200

C.3. Discussion

......................................................................................

.ix .

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1 :

Second set of PVT data for a volatile o i l ...................................................

41 41 42
44

Table 4.2 : First set of PVT data for oils of low volatility Table 4.3 :

..........................................
......................................

Second set of PVT data for oils of low volatility

Table 4.4 : Reservoir and test data for volatile oil system

...........................................

Table 4.5 : Reservoir and test data for drawdowns of small pressure drop 4 and following buildups in systems of low volatility ................................. 4 Table 4.6 : Reservoir and test data for drawdowns of large pressure drop and following buildups in systems of low volatility ................................. 45 Table 4.7 : Effective oil permeabilities for volatile oil systems Table 4.8 :

................................... Effective gas permeabilities for volatile o i l systems ..................................

.................................................

53
53
54

Table 4.9 : The wellbore skin for volatile o i l systems Table 4.10: Table 4.1 1: Table 4.12: Table 4.13: Table 4.14: Table 4.15: Table 4.16: Table 4.17: Table 5.1 : Table 5.2 : Table 5.3 : Table 5.4 : Table 5.5 : Table 5.6 :

Effective oil permeabilities for drawdowns of small pmsure drop and following buildups in systems of low volatility .......................... Effective o i l permeabilities for drawdowns of large pressure drop and following buildups in systems of low volatility ..........................

54
55

The set of PVT data for the volatile oil ...................................................... 58 The set of PVT data for the oil of low volatility........................................ 59 Effective oil permeabilities for the volatile oil............................................ 61 Effective oil permeabilities for the o i l of low volatility.............................. 63

Results of drawdown tests analyzed using Pemnes approach .................. 73 Results of drawdown tests analyzed using the new approach General input data to the three tests (Case 1)

...................

73
99

...........................................

Data of first test (Case 1) .......................................................................... Relative permeabilities for first test (Case 1) ............................................

101 102 102 105 106

Oil saturations for first test (Case 1) .........................................................

Data of second test (Case 1)

.....................................................................
.......................................

Relative permeabilities for second test (Case 1)

-x-

Table 5.7 : Table 5.8 : Table 5.9 : Table 5.10: Table 5.11: Table 5.12: Table 5.13: Table 5.14: Table 5.15: Table 5-16: Table 5.17: Table 5.18: Table 5.19: Table 5.20: Table 5.21: Table 5.22: Table 6.1 : Table 6.2 : Table 6.3 : Table 6.4 : Table 6.5 : Table 6.6 : Table 6.7 : Table 6.8 : Table B.l : Table B.2 :

O i l saturations for second test (Case 1)

....................................................

106
107

Data of third test (Case 1) .........................................................................

Relative permeabilities for third test (Case 1) ........................................... 108

O i l saturations for third test (Case 1) .......................................................

Input data (Case 2)

108
111 111

...................................................................................
..........................................................................

Data of the test (Case 2)

Relative permeabilities for the test (Case 2)

............................................. Oil saturations for the test (Case 2) ......................................................... Input data (Case 3 ) ................................................................................... Data of the test (Case 3 ) ......................................................................... Relative permeabilities for the test (Case 3) .............................................
Oil saturations for the test (Case 3)

112 112 114 114 115 115 119 119 125 125 138 138 139 139 140 140 141 141

.........................................................

Relative permeabilities for the composite system .....................................

O i l saturations for the composite system ..................................................

Effective permeability-saturation results for the first test (Case 1) .................................................................... Effective permeability-saturation results for t h e second test (Case 1) ................................................................ Water relative permeability data for the three phase r u n s ........................................................................... Input data for all three phase runs

............................................................
...................................................... ..............................................

Relative permeability for the first test

O i l saturations for the first test

.................................................................

Relative permeabilities for the second test

............................................................. Relative permeability for the third test ....................................................

O i l saturations for the second test

O i l saturations for the third test

................................................................

Reservoir properties and testing conditions for Examples 1 and 2 ........... 167 Reservoir properties and testing conditions for Examples 3 and 4 ........... 172

.xi

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 : Figure 4.1 : Figure 4.2 : Figure 4.3 :

.................. 8 PVT properties. B e et a l. (1981) .............................................................. 33 Sandface oil saturation vs. time for a simulated constant-rate drawdown test ............................................................................... 33 k,d( poBo ) vs. p ( rw I ) for a simulated drawdown test. ................. 34
A typical example of two-phase relative permeability curves

Figure 4.4 : kJ( 1 , Bo ) vs.p ( r ) at 'p = 4105 Days.............................................. Figure 4.5 : The three sets of relative permeability data used in the simulation runs ......................................................................... Figure 4.6 : Figure 4.7 : Figure 4.8 : Figure 4.9 : Figure 4.10: First drawdown for volatile oil systems. Test No. 1 in Table 4.4

34 40

............ 46

........46 Third drawdown for volatile oil systems. Test No. 3 in Table 4.4 ........... 47 Fourth drawdown for volatile oil systems. Test No. 4 i n Table 4.4 ......... 47
Second drawdown for volatile o i l systems. Test No. 2 i n Table 4.4 First buildup for volatile oil systems. 'p =310 Days. Test No. 5 in Table 4.4 ........................................................................
48 48 49 49

Figure 4 . 1 1 : Second buildup for volatile oil systems. , ,? =lo01 Days. Test No. 6 in Table 4.4 ........................................................................ Figure 4.12: Figure 4.13: Figure 4.14: Figure 4.15: Figure 4.16: Figure 4.17: Figure 4.18: First drawdown of small pressure drop in systems of low volatility. Test No . 1 i n Table 4.5 ........................................................ Second drawdown of small pressure drop i n systems of low volatility. Test No. 2 in Table 4.5 ........................................................
Third drawdown of small pressure drop in systems of low n Table 4.5 ........................................................ volatility. Test No 3 i

50

A buildup following a drawdown of small pressure drop in

systems of low volatility

......................................................................

50
51

First drawdown of large pressure drop in systems of low volatility. Test No . 1 in Table 4.6 ................................................. Second drawdown of large pressure drop in systems of low volatility. Test No. 2 in Table 4.6 .................................................

51

First buildup. following a drawdown of large pressure drop in systems of low volatility. Test No. 3 in Table 4.6 .......................... 52

.xii .

Figure 4.19: Figure 4.20 Figure 4.2 1: Figure 4.22: Figure 4.23: Figure 4.24: Figure 4.25: Figure 4.26: Figure 4.27: Figure 4.28: Figure 4.29: Figure 4.30: Figure 5.1 : Figure 5.2 : Figure 5.3 : Figure 5.4 : Figure 5.5 :
Figure 5.6 :

Second buildup following a drawdown of large pressure drop in systems of low volatility. Test No. 4 i n Table 4.6 .......................... A drawdown test of large pressure drop simulated in oils

52

of high volatility .................................................................................... of high volatility

60

A drawdown test of small pressure drop simulated in oils

.................................................................................. 60
62 62 66 66
68

A drawdown test of large pressure drop simulated in oils

of low volatility ..................................................................................... of low volatility ...................................................................................

A drawdown test of small pressure drop simulated in oils

kr0 / ( p,, Bo ) with p ( rw ,f ) of a simulated drawdown test in a simulated oil-water system with no flowing gas ............................
A drawdown test for a simulated oil-water system with no flowing gas ( p vs. log t ) ....................................................................
A drawdown test with a flow rate of lo00 S T B D

.................................. A drawdown test with a flow rate of 5000 S T B D ..................................

A drawdown test in a simulated oil-water system with no flowing gas ( p 2 vs. log t Fig. 4.25 ..................................................

68

).

70

m/D. (Fig. 4.26) ...............72 A drawdown test with a flow rate of So00 S T B D . (Fig. 4.27) ............... 72
A drawdown test with a flow rate of 1000

Sandface saturation vs. time for a constant-rate drawdown test Sandface saturation vs. time for a simulated multiple-rate test

.............. 87
............... 89
95

......................................... Relative permeabilities from the three tests (Case 1) .............................. Relative permeability vs. oil saturation (Case 2) .....................................
Pressure and flow rate for a multiple-rate test
Relative permeability vs. oil saturation (Case 3)

109
113

The test of Case 2 repeated with a 3% error in starting o i l saturation..... 113

Figure 5.7 : Figure 5.8 : Figure 5.9 : Figure 6.1 :

.....................................

116

Relative permeability vs. o i l saturation for the composite system. Example 1 .......................................................................... Relative permeability vs. oil saturation for the composite system. Example 2 ..........................................................................

120
120

Oil relative permeability vs. o i l saturation for the three phase tests ...... 142

Figure 6.2 : Figure B.l :

Figure B.2 :
Figure B.3 :
Figure B.4 :

Figure B.5 : Figure B.6 : Figure B.7 : Figure B.8 : Figure C.l :
Figure C.2 :

.... 143 k , , / ( p. B. ) vs. pressure for a simulated constant drawdown test ...... 168 The two sides of Eq . B-9 vs. pressure ..................................................... 168 ..k / ( . p B. ) vs. pressure for a simulated constant drawdown test ...... 170 The two sides of Eq. B-9 vs. pressure ..................................................... 170 . . k / ( p. B. ) vs. pressure for a simulated constant drawdown t est. Example 3 ...................................................... 173 The two sides of Eq . B-9 vs. pressure. Example 3 .................................. 173 ..k / ( p. B. ) vs. pressure for a simulated constant drawdown test. Example 4 ...................................................... 175 The two sides of Eq . B-9 vs. pressure. Example 4 .................................. 175
Ap
/ q. for three drawdown tests simulated at different rates in volatile oil system ....................................................................

Gas relative permeability vs. gas saturation for the t h r e e phase tests

180

A p / q. for two drawdown tests simulated at different rates in oils of low volatility .................................................................. A p2 / q. for three drawdown tests simulated at different rates in volatile oil system .....................................................................
A p 2 / q. for two drawdown tests simulated at different rates in oils of low volatility ..................................................................

180
182 182

Figure C.3 : Figure C.4 : Figure C.5 : Figure C.6 : Figure (2.7 : Figure C.8 : Figure C.9 : Figure C.10: Figure C.ll: Figure C.12: Figure C.13:
Figure C.14:

The normalized response of four drawdown tests simulated at different voidage rates in the same system. Perrine's approach............................ 184 The rate profile of Example 1 ..................................................................
186

The pressure response of Example 1........................................................ 186 The normalized response of Example 1. Perrine's approach ................... 187 The normalized response of Example 1. the new approach ..................... The rate profile of Example 2 .................................................................. The response of Example 2. in terms o f p .............................................. The response of Example 2. in terms o f p2.............................................
187 189 190 190

The normalized response of Example 2. Penine's approach................... 191 The normalized response of Example 2. the new approach .................... The rate profile of Example 3..................................................................
191
192

Figure C.15:

.xiv .

Figure C.16: Figure C.17: Figure C.18: Figure c.19: Figure C.20 Figure C.21: Figure C.22: Figure C.23: Figure C.24:

The response of Example 3. in terms of p .............................................. 193 The response of Example 3. in terms of p 2.............................................
193

The normalized response of Example 3. Penine's approach ................... 194 The normalized response of Example 3. the new approach .................... The afterflow profile. oil rate in S T B D and total rate in RB/D. for Example 4 ...................................................................... The response of Example 4. i n terms of p .............................................. The response of Example 4. i n terms ofp2.............................................
194
197 198 198

The normalized response of Example 4. Penine's approach ................... 199 The normalized response of Example 4. the new approach ....................
199

.xv .

1. INTRODUCTION
Reliable description of petroleum reservoirs is essential for accurate performance forecasting. Besides geology and seismology, several branches of the petroleum industry have contri-

buted in describing petroleum reservoirs, e.g. well testing, well logging and c ~ r e analysis. Well testing is an efficient tool capable of estimating in-situ reservoir properties. Normally, the flow rate is perturbed while monitoring the flowing or shut-in pressure during a test. This pressure transient can be matched to analytical solutions that are functions of some significant reservoir properties, e.g. conductivity and storativity. The reservoir properties inferred from matching the data are usually insensitive to small scale features, and therefore represent some average of the entire scale of investigation. Well testing in single-phase reservoirs is commonly used to obtain an estimate of the absolute permeability, k, which fully characterizes the conductivity for single-phase flow. The situation is different for multiphase reservoirs. The conductivity for each of the phases is less than t h a t of single phase flow. For multiphase flow, the phase conductivity is the effective phase permeability, k,, which is normalized to a specific base permeability, yielding the phase relative permeability. These phase relative permeabilities are smng functions of the saturation, the fraction of the pore space filled with the specific fluid. Therefore, an entire set of relative permeability-saturation c w e s is needed to characterize multiphase flow. The objective of this work was t o explore whether well testing may be used to generate relative permeabilitysaturation curves. The flow mechanism in multiphase reservoirs is more complicated than that in singlephase reservoirs. A single flow equation is capable of describing single-phase flow. For multiphase flow, there is one flow equation for each component. These flow equations are coupled

by the saturation terms. Almost all rock and fluid properties are pressure and/or saturation dependent, leadiig to highly nonlinear coupled equations. This explains why well testing is not as advanced in describing multiphase reservoirs as it is in single phase reservoirs. Pemnes (1956) approach, later verified by Martin (1959), and Raghavans (1976) approach are

-2-

currently used to analyze multiphase well tests. Penine pointed out t h e possibility of estimating reservoir relative permeability without need for t o t a l system compressibility (Ramey, 1987). Perrines idea has not been considered since none of the cumnt well testing approaches yields relative permeability w e s . Raghavans approach can estimate the absolute permeability of solution gas-drive reservoirs assuming laboratory relative permeability curves apply to reservoir conditions. In s u m m a r y , multiphase well testing is at an early stage of investigation, and awaits the development of accurate approaches capable of estimating both t h e absolute and the relative permeability. The a i m of t h i s work was to explore the development of new methads for describing multiphase xeservoirs utilizing well test analysis. A physical understanding of multiphase flow allowed some simplification of highly nonlinear terms encountenxi in the flow equations. Upon simplification, new solutions were developed which made it possible to retrieve estimates

of reservoir parameters. These reservoir parameters are relative permeability-saturation curves

and the absolute permeability. Chapter 2 presents a background of multiphase flow theory, and reviews the literature on multiphase well test analysis. After summarizing the state of the art in this field, Chapter 3 states the problem to be considered in this work. Chapter 4 describes the simplification of multiphase flow equations to a difisivity equation in t e r n of p2. This equation can be solved for linearized sets of initial and boundary conditions. As an example, the line source solution is derived a n d utilized to analyze several simulated, and previously published well tests. This practical approach is shown to yield reasonable estimates of effective phase permeabilities and wellbore skin. Moreover, it is the basis

of several multiphase relations that have already been reported in the literature. i.e. the Fetkovich empirical isochronal testing approach (1973) and the Fetkovich empirical material balance relation for solution gasdrive reservoirs (1980). In the course of deriving the diffusivity q u a tion, Martins total compressibility (1959) is rederived from basic principles, and his pressuresaturation relations are rederived and investigated.

-3-

Chapter 5 intmduces a technique t o estimate two-phase relative permeabilities under reservoir conditions of wettability, heterogeneity and fluid composition. This technique utilizes a drawdown test consisting of a number of steps of increasing flow rates. The pressure response during such a test is analyzed analytically to estimate the sandface saturations and relative permeabilities. Since the sandface saturation reaches values that can only be attained
by the reservoir saturation very much later in its life, this approach is a good forecasting tool
with no need for extrapolation or extensive historical production data. Several multiple-rate

tests were generated using the ECLIPSE simulator for both homogeneous and composite systems. These tests were then analyzed and found to produce matching relative permeability results with the input curves. Chapter 6 extends the theory of Chapter 5 to three-phase reservoirs. A three-phase di ffusivity equation in terms of the pseudopressure function, m@), is derived and solved to obtain the line source solution, which was used to derive the relative permeability equations.

Also, the two-phase saturation equation of B+e et

al. (1981)

is extended to three-phase flow,

where two pressut.e-saturation relations are obtained. These analytical relations are used to analyze simulated three-phase multiple-rate tests whereby relative penneabilities are obtained.
A rate-normalization applicable to multiphase well tests is formulated and applied to

buildup tests with afterfiow effects and drawdown tests with wellbore unloading behavior. The proposed normalization was shown to be practical and superior to that currently used.

r e : Three main objectives achieved in this work a

l).. the development of a new approach to analyze multiphase well tests which yields reason-

able estimates of effective phase penneabilities and wellbore skin,

2)

development of an approach to estimate two- and three-phase relative permeabilities, as well as the absolute permeability at reservoir conditions, and

3)

a rate-normalization for multiphase tests with varying flow rates.

-4-

2. BACKGROUND
Petroleum reservoirs often encounter multiphase flow during normal production operations. Typical examples

= solution gas-drive, gas cap, water drive and enhanced recovery

processes. The most common representation of multiphase flow is a modification of single phase theory using several redefined parameters. The modifications of the single-phase theory, the nature of the multiphase flow parameters, and methods currently available to measure them

are discussed in the following sections.

2.1 Single Phase Theory

The single phase flow equation is a combination of Darcys law (1856) and the conservation principle. For single phase flow, Darcys law may be written as follows:

v = - -k (Vp-yVz) P
where
k = absolute permeability of the rock

p = flowing fluid viscosity

v = Darcy velocity

p = pressure
z = vertical elevation, positive in the downward direction

y = hydrostatic pressure gradient

In Darcys equation, the absolute permeability is a macroscopic statistical average of complex behavior a t the microscopic level. When Darcys equation is combined with the principle of conservation of mass, the resulting single phase flow equation can be written as follows:

where:

-5-

p = fluid density

Q = formation porosity
t=time
Rock properties (porosity and permeability) and single phase fluid properties (viscosity

and density) are the only parameters in Eq. 2-2. This is not the case with multiphase flow where several other parameters are needed to describe the flow, as will be discussed in t h e following sections.
2.2 Multiphase Theory

Darcys (1856) law can be modified to accommodate multiphase flow. During multiphase flow, two or three phases flow simultaneously in the reservoir. The conductivity of the formation differs for each of the phases and is less t h a n that for a single phase fully saturating the formation. While the single phase conductivity is represented by the absolute penneabiiity, k, the multiphase conductivities are specific for each phase and are called effective phase permeabilities, kk When phase 1 effective permeability, kl, is normalized to a specific base permeability, such as absolute permeability, k; the relative permeability, view, Darcys equation for multiphase flow may be written as:

kl, results.

Based on this

where the subscript 1 represents a specific phase. Phase 1 relative permeability, kl,is a macroscopic statistical average of the complex mdtiphase behavior at the pore scale. Rapoport and Leas (1951) verified this definition of relative permeability, and found it to be valid provided the following conditions exist:

-61. flowing phases are continuous,

2. microscopic flow is laminar, and

3. a flow path exists along which saturation can be defined.

Muskat and Meres (1936) modified Darcy's equation, Eq. 2-1, to accommodate multiphase flow. They viewed a multiphase flow system as a fluid structure of dynamic properties superimposed on a rock structure of static properties. As fluid saturations change with space and time, rock structure retains the same properties, but fluid structure properties continue to change. Tkse changing properties are rock-fluid interaction parameters (relative permeability and capillary pressure curves) and fluid-fluid interaction parameters (total system compressibility). Although relative permeability and saturation terms are explicitly used in the multiphase equations, total system compressibility is not. However it is imbedded in the t h r e e phase accumulation terms. Assuming negligible gravity and capillary pressure effects, no mass transfer between water and both gas and oil phases, and no evaporation into the gas phase, the following multiphase equations were derived:

For Oil: (24-a)

P o Bo

For Gas:

(2-4-b)

For Water:
(24-c) where:
B, = phase I formation volume factor,

Rs = solution gas-oil ratio,

-7S, = saturation of phase 1.

This set of equations describes multiphase flow under t h e following conditions:

1. Darcys law applies. 2. thermodynamic equilibrium exists, and

3. fluid PVT properties reflect interphase mass transfer.

2 3 Multiphase flow parameters

The only parameters required to describe single phase flow are the fluid properties (PVT data), and t h e rock properties (porosity and permeability). On the other hand, when several phases flow in a reservoir, they interact with each other as well as with the rock surface. Therefore, both the PVT data and the relative permeability-saturation curves are required for each of the phases present, as can be seen in Eq. 2.4. Amyx et a l . (1960). Marle (1981) and Honarpour et al. (1986) studied the characteristics of relative permeability curves and found them to depend on:
1. pore size,

2. pore size distribution,

3. wettability,
4. fluid saturation and composition, and
5. fluid saturation history ( drainage

- decreasing wetting phase saturation; imbibition -

increasing wetting phase saturation) Fig. 2-1 shows a typical set of two-phase relative permeability curves. Current methods to measure these relative permeability curves, rock absolute permeability and fluid PVT properties discussed in the following sections.

IOC

s
t 80
I D

a
e 40
W

=E

a 60

> I 20 a
J

PERCENT LIQUID SATURATION

Figure 2.1:

A typical example of two-phase relative permeability curves

(Wyckoff and Botset, 1936; Scheidegger, 1974)

-92.4 Current Measurement Methods

Measurement of multiphase parameters has been the subject of hundreds of publications. Published literature has considered laboratory measurement of PVT properties, from which phase and total system compressibilities are determined. Most of the literature has been concerned with laboratory methods to measure relative permeability curves. While a few publications have proposed performance methods which utilize historical production data of the field, to my knowledge there has been no successful attempt to apply well testing for such applications. The next sections present a brief review of the laboratory and performance methods, and a suwey of multiphase well testing literature.
2.4.1 Laboratory Methods

Fluid PVT properties may be measured directly in the laboratory. The basis for almost a l l

laboratory methods is the Dodson et al. (1953) approach. Their approach combines both reservoir differential liberation and wellbore-stock t a n k flash liberation processes. However this experimental procedure is tedious and costly. Therefore laboratory reports correct the differential liberation results using the correlation given by Amyx et al. (1960) and later by Dake (1978). Moses (1986) has reviewed the subject in detail. Macias and Ramey (1986) showed that the total system compressibility, calculated using
total formation volume factor, B,, is much higher than Martins total compressibility calculated

using the individual phase formation volume factors. The Macias-Ramey compressibility is defined for an adiabatic system a s :

c f

where:
c, = t o t a l system compressibility

cf = formation rock compressibility

-10Martins compressibility was expressed a s :

where R , is the solution gas-water ratio. Macias and Ramey concluded that Martins relation underestimates the total compressibility for most flow conditions, due to thermodynamic equilibrium effects which neglect heat exchange from the rock. In Chapter 4 Martins relation is derivr.d from basic principles without Martins assumption of negligible saturation and pressure gradients. There is another possible reason for underestimation of the total compressibility, besides that of the thermodynamic effects. It is that current laboratory measurement methods, based on the Dodson et el.
(1953) approach, do not represent the liberation processes occurring in the formation. When

gas is liberated from the oil, some time is required to reach the critical gas saturation before gas can move in the reservoir. Throughout this production period, reservoir fluids undergo a flash process, which can not be represented by a differential process as is done in laboratory experiments. After gas starts to move, the process is neither a complete flash nor a complete differential process, rather it is somewhere in between. Again, the laboratory methods do not consider such a mixed process. In general, laboratory methods do not reflect interphase mass transfer as it actually happens in a reservoir, This results in an underestimation of the t o t a l isothermal compressibility obtained using individual phase PVT properties measured in a laboratory. This basic difficulty deserves fbrther investigation in future research. Extensive work has been done on the theory, instrumentation and procedure of several laboratory methods used to measure two-phase relative permeability curves. Steady-state and unsteady-state methods are the two conventional choices in the laboratory. In the steady-state method, the two phases flow simultaneously until stable flow rates are measured at both ends

- 11 of the core. In the unsteady-state method, the core is saturated with one phase and then the other phase is injected into one end and produced from the other end. Several variations of these two methods are currently in use. Three-phase relative permeabilities are not easily measured in a laboratory. Experimental procedure is tedious and is less advanced than that of two-phase flow (e.g. Honarpour et al., 1986). Results of measurements reported in the literature are often controversial. An alternate approach to estimate three-phase relative penneabilities is to use probability models proposed
by Stone (1970); see the discussion by Aziz and Settari (1979). These models combine two

sets of two-phase relative permeabilities t o obtain three-phase relative penneabilities. Such a combination assumes that both water and gas relative penneabilities are only functi 111s of their individual saturations. It also assumes that there is at most one mobile phase in each channel of the porous medium. Not only do probability models distort the physics of three-phase flow. they also involve the problems associated with two-phase relative permeability measurements discussed later. Nevertheless, these models provide a practical approach for reservoir simulation studies. Relative penneabilities for unsteady state flow are difficult t o measure in a laboratory. Kimbler and Caudle (1957) stated that the steady-state fluid distribution is different from the unsteady state one. Hence, relative permeability curves should be different. In another study, Rafigul-Islam and Bentsen (1986) concluded that the application of steady-state relative permeability a w e s to describe unsteady-state flow is questionable. This argument is still subject to investigation. Core wettability and fluid composition are two other problems of laboratory methods. Although relative permeability curves are strong functions of both wettability and fluid composition, drilling a n d core recovery operations normally alter both of them. Cores are either preserved, or restored in an attempt to represent conditions existing in a reservoir. Nevertheless, none of these methods appears to be particularly successful in doing so.

- 12 Corey and Rathjens (1956) studied the effects of stratification on laboratory relative permeability curves. Flows both parallel and perpendicular to stratifications were considered. The critical gas saturation, SgC, was found to be low in the first case, but high in the second. Oil relative permeability was a severe function of high oil saturations for the perpendicular flow case. Gas relative permeability was sensitive to slight stratification, while oil relative permeability was not. This experiment supported the fact that relative permeability is a strong function of rock heterogeneity. Such a conclusion was also reached by Huppler (1970) and Johnson and Sweeney (1971). Laboratory experiments use small pieces of reservoir
rocks,

i.e. cores. These cores

represent small-scale heterogeneities, compared to the entire formation. Such drawback of laboratory methods necessitated the search for other methods to measure relative permeabilitysaturation curves that reflect the whole reservoir.
2.4.2 Performance Methods

In an attempt to resolve problems with laboratory procedures, performance methods were

proposed to measure relative permeability curves from long-term production data. These methods are applicable to depletion reservoirs (e.g. Mueller et al., 1959, and apply after a long production time for which performance data are available. These methods also assume uniform average pressure, saturation, and gas-oil ratio over the entire reservoir. Fmally, these methods only produce a short segment of the relative permeability ratio, k,dkr,,, vs. saturation curve.

t othe most recent data point), Since these results are limited to historical values of saturations (
they must be extrapolated to forecast future performance. Fetkovich et al.(1986) utilized decline curves to analyze performance data for depletion reservoirs. Their method assumed uniform average pressure, saturation and gas-oil ratio over the well drainage area. Pore volume was only calculated at the start of pressure decline and was assumed constant over flow rate changes. Their method was based on another important assumption, which is that 4, / p , , Bo is a linear function of average reservoir pressure. Besides

- 13these assumptions, Fetkovich et al. (1986) method requires both extensive production history data and extrapolation beyond present values of saturation in order to be useful for future reservoir calculations.
2.4.3 Well Testing

One of the major tools used to characterize petroleum reservoirs is well test analysis. The monographs by Matthews and Russell (1967). and Earlougher (1977) and the text book by
Lee (1982) have reviewed pressure transient theory and application for many reservoir and test-

ing conditions. Of the many publications in this field, only a few have considered multiphase flow theory and only one, Nygcird (1982), studied the possibility of estimating relative penneability curves from well test data. The few publications reported on multiphase flow can be divided into two main categories. First is the pressure approach by Penine (1956). Second is the pseudopressure approach by Raghavan (1976). These approaches and their related Literature are reviewed as follows.
2.4.3.1 Perrines Approach

Penine (1956), based on empirical obsewations, modified single-phase flow the~ryt o incorporate multi-phase flow effects. This was done by:
1. replacing single-phase mobility k / p, by the total mobility:

2. replacing single-phase compressibility by the total-system compressibility obtained by weighting phase compressibilities by their average saturations, as defined in Eq. 2-6. Perrines approach results in the total-system mobility, the individual phase mobilities, and the wellbore skin. The solution for individual phase mobilities summarized by Earlougher (1977) may be expressed as:

- 14The solution for total system mobility, &, applied by Fetkovich and Vienot (1984) as well as
Raghavan (1986). may be written a s : 162.6 qf m h

ht=WCL),=
where:

and m* is the slope of the semilog straight line in the p versus log t or log (

At+r, At

) plot.

s : The solution for wellbore skin, based on Penines approach, may be written a
s = 1.151
At - log ( ) + 3.23 Q Cf r2,

(2-1 1)

Martin (1959) showed that Pemnes approach was based on the following pressure

diffbivity equation: (2- 12)

Martin derived this equation assuming neghgible pressure and saturation gradients. The total

compressibility-mobility ratio was assumed constant with pressure to linearize Eq. 2-12.

M a r t i n did not discuss the linearization of the inner boundary conditions (constant oil rate)
written as:

(2-13)

WeUer (1966) discussed testing depletion reservoirs, where both oil and gas are flowing. His study was an evaluation of Pemnes approach. He concluded that such an approach is valid for engineering accuracy. He also stated that as gas saturation increases, Pemnes results become less reliable. This was not reported by Earlougher et al. (1967) who studied the same

- 15 problem. Kazemi (1975) developed a near-wellbore simulator to study multiphase well testing. In his runs, pressure started above the bubble point and declined until abandonment. Kazemis simulator considered wellbore storage, skin effect, and non-uniform gas saturation. He simulated several transient tests and compared his results with those of Penines. He concluded that h e region around the wellbore, liquid compressibility when gas saturation develops only in t should be used to calculate the skin and the average reservoir pressure. He stated that the results improve rapidly as gas saturation becomes uniform in the drainage area of the well. He also found that in most cases Pemnes method produced very good approximations to the correct values, but in a few cases it led to large errors. Raghavan (1986) reviewed the state of the art in this field and reported a field application, which he analyzed using Perrines approach. Raghavan concluded that for solution gasdrive reservoirs t h e drawdown rate normalization suggested by Winestock and Colpitts (1965)

h e instantanmus total rate (qI in Rb/D), and the buildup rate normalization given applies using t
by Uraiet and Raghavan (1980) applies using the total rate at shut-in (q, at At = 0 in Rb/D).

Raghavan also reported identical pressure changes for both buildup and drawdown
(Pi

- P W=~~ w s PwfJ
Chu et al. (1986) investigated the sensitivity of Pemnes approach to saturation gradient

for two phase, oil-water, systems. They simulated several testing conditions with and without saturation gradients. They concluded that, in general, a good estimate of t o t a l mobility, L,, can

be obtained using Eq. 2-9. However to determine individual phase mobilities using

Eq.

2-8,

one of two conditions should prevail. Either the saturation distribution must be uniform, or the producing fluid ratio must be representative of the flow ratio in the investigated zone. They
also considered the case of a saturated wellbore region within an undersaturated reservoir. They

reported that using the total fluid rate the oil mobility could be estimated. Ayan and Lee (1986) considered the effect of non-uniform saturation distribution within
the well drainage area during buildup tests.

They concluded that Pemnes approach

- 16overestimates the wellbore skin They found that calculated skin was a function of the saturation distribution and the "blockage" caused by the buildup of gas around the wellbore. This overestimation in skin increases as completion interval and vertical permeability decreases. Penine's approach can be applied to two- and three-phase reservoirs without need for tedious calculations. Unfortunately, Pemne's method neither estimates the absolute permeability nor the the relative permeability-saturation curves.
2.4.3.2 Raghavan's Approach

Evinger and Muskat (1942) studied the effects of multiphase flow on the productivity index of a well. They examined the radial flow of both oil and gas on a steady state problem.
They expressed the oil flow rate as:
kh

40 =

(2-14)

lrl
where:
re = external radius

h = thickness

Note that kro is a function of oil saturation. Therefore, this integral can be evaluated if the saturation-pressure relationship is available, an example of which is the producing gas-oil ratio: (2-15) Equation 2-15 may be used, as follows, t o relate kr8 /kro to the pressure at which the GOR is monitored. For a transient test, both bottomhole pressure and GOR may be monitored along the test. The kg / boterm can then be evaluated using Eq. 2-15 for any monitored GOR. The
kr8 / bovalues obtained can then be tabulated versus monitored bottomhole pressures. Utiliz-

ing a kr8 /bo - saturation plot, saturations may be used instead of kr8 / kro in the previous table, resulting in a pressure-saturation table. Using a k,-saturation graph, saturations may be

- 17replaced by corresponding kro values, leading to a new table of kro versus pressure. Such a table can then used to evaluate the integral of Eq. 2-14.
Levine and Pram (1961) studied the behavior of solution gas-drive reservoirs. Using

numerical simulation, they found that the maximum variation of the gas-oil ratio from the outer

to the inner boundary was only 10 9% for the cases they considered. However they did not discuss the variation of gas-oil ratio with time. Fetkovich (1973) studied the isochronal testing of oil wells in solution gas-drive reservoirs. He compared oil well behavior with that of a gas well. Based on his empirical observations, he proposed the following deliverability equation:
4 , = J ; ( $ - P l & f2)
R

(2-16)

where:
J , = back-pressure curve coefficient,

jT= average reservoir pressure,

pwf= wellbore flowing pressure, and

n = exponent.

This relation is identical to the back pressure equation for gas wells. This approach has
been in use since 1973. Chapter 4 derives this empirical approach, and discusses the inherent assumptions behind it. Fetkovich (1973) also proposed the use of a pseudopressure function, m@), for both transient and pseudosteady state solutions. The pseudopressure function suggested was: (2-17)

where prcf is a base pressure. He formulated the two-phase, gas-oil, equations utilizing this m@) , and obtained the solutions for both t h e transient and the pseudosteady state periods, which can be written a s :

- 18 For the transient period:

90 =

kh

0.5 In f D + 0.4045 + 'A

(2-18)

For the pseudosteady state period: (2-19)

where:
go = oil rate,

p i = initial pressure,
$= average pressure,

s = skin
= dimensionless time, given by:

(2-20) Raghavan (1976) utilized this pseudopressure approach for analyzing buildup and drawdown tests in solution gas-drive reservoirs to estimate absolute permeability and wellbore skin. Raghavan used the producing gas-oil ratio, GOR, given by Eq.2-15 to relate saturation to pressure and thereby to evaluate the integral of Eq. 2-17 as explained earlier. For drawdown, he used the instantaneous producing gas-oil ratio, while for buildup he utilized the producing gasoil ratio at the instant of shut-in. Since these pressure-saturation relations are different from each other, Raghavan concluded that superposition does not apply in solution gasdrive reservoirs. Perhaps due to the tedious nature of the computations required for the evaluation of m@)

as a function of pressure for every value of GOR, only one application was reported (see Verbeek, 1982). Moreover, Aanonsen (1985,a) stated that the pseudopressure approach is sensitive

to the accuracy of the relative permeability curves. Since reservoir relative permeability curves

are not available, laboratory curves were used to evaluate the pseudopressure function, rn(p).

- 19Considering the fact that resewoir relative permeability curves may be different from laboratory Curves, Raghavans approach may lead only to approximate results. Furthermore, Ragha-

van (1976) reported that his approach does not apply during the pseudosteady state
where the slope of 21t cannot be observed.

period,

B @ e et. al. (1981) presented a theoretical background for Raghavans approach and his use of the producing gas-oil ratio to evaluate the integral of Q. 2-17. They simplified the two phase equations by using the Boltzman transformation ( y =

d), as follows: 4kr

(2-21)

-$ [Y+[;]*Ydm,
where :

dy

(2-22)

(2-23)

SO
-*

(2-24)

BO

For any two-phase variable, x2 (such as a and p), the derivatives can be defined as: (2-25)

(2-26) Assuming that the

[t]

* term is constant, B@eet al. (1981) solved Eq. 2-21 and reported

the following logarithmic approximation of the line source solution of Eq. 2-21:

m @ w ) = m@J -

141e2O kh

[ 0.5 [InrD + 0.80907 + 2s 11

(2-27)

- 20 where :

(2-28)

B@ et

at. (1981) presented an analytical pressure-saturation relation which is applicable

assuming Boltzmans transformation applies. This relation relates saturation changes at the sandface to changes in flowing bottomhole pressure. This important relation can be written a s :

-a 0

N (a& - a a ) (a

(ab- a $)
(2-29)

dP

- a =) 5 + (ab - a 6 )
Y

where:
(2-30)

(2-3 1)

and:

N= Y

4 0t 13.44 2 h @ a

(2-32)

Bee et al. verified this relation using simulated drawdown and buildup tests. They also suggested that this relation could eliminate the need to measure the producing gas-oil ratio. In addition, they concluded that the producing gas-oil ratio quickly stabilizes and remains constant during the infinite-acting period of a drawdown test. For buildup, Raghavans approach which uses the producing gas-oil ratio before shut-in, works better for evaluating the integral of Eq. 2-17. The reason for this was explored by Aanonsen (1985,a), and is reviewed later. Nygcird (1982) attempted t o estimate oil and gas relative permeability curves using a drawdown test. He tried to calculate the pseudopressure, rn(p), curves using different sets of relative permeabilities. These sets of relative permeability curves were functions of the pore distribution factor, h, and the critical gas saturation, Sgc However, he obtained the same

- 21 pseudopressure curves for all different combinations of h and Ssc. Therefore, his method was not capable of retrieving the input parameters for the different sets of relative permeability curves he had used. Whitson (1983) applied Evinger-Muskats (1942) approach to multiple-rate tests. Whitson found his results t o agree with those obtained using Fetkovichs (1973) empirical approach Every rate in both Whitsons and Fetkovichs multiple-rate tests extended into the pseudosteady state period.
Al-Khalifah (1985) developed a theory for pulse testing in solution gas-drive reservoirs in

terms of the pseudopressure function, me),defined by Eq. 2-17. He reported that the same set
of revised pulse testing correlation cham applies forboth single- and two-phase tests provided

the corresponding variables are used. Aanonsen (1985,a) studied non-linear effects during transient flow in solution gasdrive reservoirs. He indicated that for constant-rate drawdown, pressure is monotonic with radius, r, and time, t, which is not strictly the case for pressure buildup. However, for practical applications, it can be assumed so. He also reported that for any given test, fluid saturation is a specific function of both radius and time. He argued against B e et al.3 (1981) conclusion that saturation is a unique function of pressure in an infinite reservoir. He concluded that theoretically, the non-linear two-phase equations do not indicate such a conclusion, even though both pressure and saturation are strictly monotonic with Bolaman transform variable, y. However, Aanonsen agreed that both physical understanding and numerical application verify B$e et al.s relation, to a good approximation. Aanonsen also gave a rigorous definition of the pseudopressure function as follows:

(2-25) Therefore, the pseudopressure function can be evaluated for any radius at any time using two terms. the first term is an integral over time at a given point while the second term is an integral over radius for a fixed time. At the wellbore, the second term of E q . 2-25 drops and

- 22 Eq. 2-17, applied by Raghavan (1976), is obtained.

Aanonsen (1985,a-b) described different flow regions in the well drainage m a , in which he considered different simplifying assumptions. For drawdown, he designated the first region

as the nearest to the wellbore, in which he neglected the time derivative of t h e flow equations
shortly after the start of the test. The second region was the outside one in which dependent variables change slowly, and their functional coefficients could be assumed constant. The relative sizes of those different regions depend on the degree of non-linearity of the equations. Aanonsen (1985,a) studied the variation of both (c /

X ) * , defined by Eq. 2-20, and c, I At,

the total compressibility mobility ratio, with pressure for both buildup and drawdown. Both appeared to increase in value as pressure declined. However their .elation with pressure did not seem reversible. Therefore, buildup values of (c / h)* and c, / h, at any pressure value, may be different from their values at the same pressure of a drawdown test. Aanonsens reported results show that (c /

X ) and C,/ X, are both independent of radial position for drawdown, but

not for buildup. A possible reason is that t h e producing gas-oil ratio in a drawdown test is approximately constant with time during the infinite-acting period, and with space during the pseudosteady state period, while for the buildup test the gas-oil ratio vanes with both space and time. Aanonsen used drawdown values of definition of a pseudotime for buildup tests. Aanonsen (1985,a) also stated that superposition should not apply to the non-linear twophase solutions. However he considered multiple-rate testing, in which each rate extends into the pseudosteady state period, a special case where superposition should work. He also warned that care should be taken when superposition is applied to other test conditions. In this dissertation, superposition was found to apply to transient multiple-rate testing, as will be justified in Section 5.3.1. One of Aanonsens (1985,a) important conclusions was that small inaccuracies in relative permeabilities greatly influence the accuracy of Raghavans approach. Since laboratory curves were used to evaluate the pseudopressure function, me),it is fair to state that unless reservoir
C,/

h, to replace (c / h)* in an empirical

- 23 and laboratory curves are identical, Raghavans pseudopressure approach would not be reasonable. Thus, laboratory curves should not be used in the pseudopressure approach. unless approximate results only are needed.
Jones and Raghavan (1985) studied well test analysis for gas-condensate reservoirs. They

introduced two new pseudopressure integrals, one for the sandface pressure and the other for the reservoir pressure. Making use of the steady flow solutions, they were able to evaluate the pseudopressure transformation proposed in their work. Based on their results, a drawdown test

results in estimates of both the permeability-thickness product and the wellbore skin. On the
other hand, a buildup test results in estimates of the permeability-thickness product, the average pressure, and only the upper and lower bounds of the wellbore skin.
2 . 4 . 3 3 State of the Art

Multiphase well test analysis has been a trade-off between the two current approaches of Penine (1956) and Raghavan (1976). Pemnes approach was reported in two forms. The first form is expressed by Eq. 2-9 and is used to obtain reasonable estimates of total system mobility. The second form is expressed by Eq. 2-8 and was reported t o underestimate individual phase permeabilities for some cases. Raghavans approach is sensitive to the accuracy of the relative permeability curves used in the analysis. On the other hand, Raghavans approach needs a tedious computation for almost every test, which apparently made it less friendly in practice. Neither of the current approaches, Pemnes or Raghavans, is capable of estimating relative pemeability-saturation curves. Measurements of absolute permeability for oil-gas-water or oil-water reservoirs are still unavailable. In summary, neither the absolute permeability nor the relative permeability-saturation curves can be estimated using current well testing techniques.

3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Development and Management of petroleum reservoirs relies heavily on the available descriptive picture for the reservoir. To insure a high recovery of valuable petroleum resources, several fields of science and engineering are involved in characterizing reservoir rock and fluid properties. Among those is pressure-transient analysis which has proven efficiency in describing single-phase reservoirs. Because normal situations in practice involves multiphase flow, this dissertation explored the development of new methods for describing multiphase reservoirs using well test analysis.
In multiphase flow, a phase permeability is the absolute permeability of the formaticn

multiplied by the relative permeability at the existing phase saturation. While rock absolute permeability may be considered a static property, phase saturations change with space and time and so do their relative permeabilities. Thus, the management of multiphase reservoirs requires the entire relative permeability-saturation curves, together with rock absolute permeability. The prime objective of this work was the development and application of new multiphase well testing theories for accurate estimation of effective phase pemeabilities, wellbore skin, absolute permeability and relative permeability-saturation curves.

- 25 4. NEW APPROACH TO MULTIPHASE WELL TEST ANALYSIS

Multiphase flow is commonly encountered in reservoirs of intenzst to petroleum engineers. Equations describing rnultiphase flow are nonlinear and do not yield simple analytical solutions. Hence, very little work has been done in the estimation of reservoir properties from multiphase well tests.

This chapter presents a new approach to analyze multiphase well tests. In this approach,
multiphase flow is modeled using the diffusivity equation with p2 as the dependent variable.
This approach is applied to analyze simulated and literature multiphase tests for a range of

PVT properties. Results of this approach are compared to those obtained by the pressure
approach (penine, 1956)' which is shown to be a special case of the new approach. Fetkovich's empirical approach (1973) for isochronal oil-well testing has been in use
without theoretical justification. His approach is derived here using the pseudosteady state solu-

tion of t h e diffusivity equation in terms of p2. The possibility of extending isochronal testing to three phase systems is also discussed.
This chapter also derives the pmsure-saturation relations, reported by both Muskat

(1949) and Martin (1959). Martin's total compressibility is derived without the assumption of negligible pressure and saturation gradients. 4.1 Mathematical Model

The flow of a three-phase, three-component, oil-gas-water system can be represented by

the following equations: For oil:

For gas:

(44)

Be V .

[[s +
PgBg

Po Rs

Bo

1'

Vp] = B,[z

;.[

a +sg
+

'

(4-5)

:oso]]

and

The right hand side of Eq. 4 4 can be expanded t o :

as, R, as, +a t - + B, Bo at

(4-7)

Similarly the right hand side of Eq. 4-5 can be expanded t o :

- 27 The right hand side of Eq. 4-6 is similarly expanded to:

Equations 4-7, 4-8, and 4-9 are substituted into Eqs. 4 4 , 4-5 and 4-6 rcspectively, and the resulting equations are added to obtain:

(4-10)

Note that when summing t h e equations, the saturation derivatives add up to zero. Equation 4- 10 may then be reduced to :

+B,V.

[*
uy B ,

V p ] = Qc, i at k

(4-1 1)

where c, is the total system compressibility, defined a s :

- 28 -

(4- 13)

The derivation of Eq. 4-13 does not require Martins (1959) assumption of negligible

o t a l compressibility applies pressure and saturation gradients. Therefore, Martins definition of t

to any flow condition provided thermodynamic equilibrium is reached and the PVT properties
reflect the interphase mass eansfer that takes place in the reservoir. Expanding the flow terms in Eq. 4- 11:

*
at

= (Bo-E, R,)

v ~ ~ + B,(GoR1 V2P Bo Bo
k0 k0

Po

Po

k0 +B,WOR-V2 p

P o Bo

B8 V p . V G O R -P:Bo]

[-

B, V p . V

[-

WOR-

k0

(4-14)

P O B O

where the following definitions apply for all ( r, t) :

t o t a l gas (both solution and f r e e gas) per stock tank barrel of oil flowing in the reservoir is:

and total water per stock tank barrel of oil flowing in the reservoir is:

Equation 4-14 may be reduced to:

- 29 -

B, [V W m . V p ]

A
CL, Bo

(4- 15)

Equation 4-15 may be rearranged to:

+ [Bo -

Bg R,

Bg GOR

+ 1

B, WOR V p . V

+
where:

B ko - V p . V G m P o Bo

+ Bwko v p . v w o R
P,
Bo

(4-16)

(4- 17)

n Chapter 2, neglects a l l of the terns on the right Penines (1956) approach, discussed i
hand side of Eq. 4-16 except the first. It will be seen later that the new approach neglects only the last two terms. Equation 4-16 reduces to:

$ c , S = AJ2p

-bo+ xg + x,
k0

v p

.v

[P:Bo]

(4- 18)

+ P o Bo L [Bg[Vp.VG~]+Bw[Vp.VW~]]

-30-

&

v2p

v p . Vpn(Po ko Bo 111

(4-19)

Further simplification yields:

+k Po " Bo

[?

[Vp.VGX]+?

[vp.vm]]

(4-20)

As shown by Handy (1957) and applied by Fetkovich (1973) the term ko / ( po Bo ) can

reasonably be assumed to vary linearly with pressure in gas-oil systems. Fetkovich considered this linear relation t o have a zero intercept a t the origin. (Though this intercept is not zero in real systems, Appendix B justifies using a zero intercept). This linear relation of zero intercept and constant slope a can be expressed a s :
- k0 =
P o Bo

aP

(4-2 1)

The linear relation, Eq. 4-21, may be utilized to change Q. 4-20 t o :

+k Po " B*

[?[ v p . v m ] + $

[vp.vm]]

(4-22)

+k Po " Bo

[a

[vp.vm]+$ [vp.vm]]

(4-23)

- 31 When Eq. 4-23 is multiplied by 2p, the following equation in terms of p 2 results:

V p 2 .V G X ]
P o Bo

+$ [Vp2.

+V2p2 =

" % at

'

(4-24)

Levine and Prats (1961) performed simulation runs to investigate the change in GOR over the drainage area. They found a maximum variation of 10% over the drainage area. Numerical examples generated using ECLIPSE, also showed that:

ko L !
PODO

[ V G m .V p 2 ] cc V 2 p 2

It can also be shown that:

For example. a drawdown test simulated at 10% initial gas saturation in a solution gas-drive reservoir resulted in a value for ( ko B, ) / ( po Bo A, ) V G X . V p 2

which is less than

one percent of that for V 2 p 2 . Based on such observations, Eq. 4-24 may be reduced to the following diffusivity equation in terms of p2:

(4-25)
4.2 Line Source Solution

The multiphase diffusivity equation in terms of p 2 can be linearized by assuming that the

t o t a l compressibility-mobility ratio, c, /

A,, is constant. Such an assumption was necessary to

derive Pemne's (1956) and Raghavan's (1976) solutions. The linearized difisivity equation

can then be solved for any linear set of initial and boundary conditions. The following is the
derivation for a line source. The reservoir is assumed to be infinite, homogeneous and isotropic. It is also assumed

- 32 that the flow is isothermal and that t h e well penetrates the entire thickness. It is worth noting
that the proposed approach is based on the assumption that 4, / ( p, Bo ) changes linearly with

pressure, and that this assumption only holds for gas-oil and gas-oil-water systems. Section 4.6 shows that the new approach does not apply to oil-water systems with no flowing gas.

Initial and boundary conditions a r e :

initial:

p2 = p;
outer boundary:
p2 = p:

at t = 0,

for all r,

(4-26-a)

for r+

, for dl t,

(4-26-b)

inner boundary (constant oil rate): (4-26-C)

To linearize the inner boundary condition, k, /

pressure, p ( r 4 , t). To verify this assumption, k ,/

( c l , Bo) is assumed to vary linearly with

( p , BJ

is considered t o be a combination

of o i l effective permeability k, and PVT terms l/@, B J . It is an accepted assumption that the

PVT term l/(poBo) varies linearly with pressure in saturated oil systems, an example is the PVT properties reported by B$e et al. (1981) and plotted in Fig. 4-1. sandface saturation was
found to adjust to a nearly stabilized value over most of a test (Fig. 4-2 shows the sandface saturation for a simulated drawdown test in a gas-oil system). When the sandface saturation stabilizes, so does the sandface effective oil permeability. Hence, for systems with gas phase present, k , drops approximately to a constant value over most of the test Thereafter, the term

ko / ( p, Bo ) is approximately a linear function of pressure at the sandface. This was verified

numerically using the ECLIPSE simulator. An example of computed ( k , , / poBo ) vs. p 4 is shown in Fig. 4-3 for a gas-oil system. The starting point k, /

( p , BJ

. lies above the extrapo11

lation of the approximately straight line (see Appendix B for more examples).

70

1070

2070

3070

4070

5070

pressure, psi
Figure 4.1:

PVT properties, Bqe et al . (1981).

0 v3

Figure 4.2:

Sandface oil saturation vs. time for a simulated constant-rate drawdown test.

-34-

0.58

0.57

0.56 3400

3450

3500

3550

3600

Figure 4.3:

kro / ( p , Bo ) vs. p ( r,,, , t ) for a simulated drawdown test.

1.134

4234.5

4244.5

4254.5

4264.5

4274.5

Figure 4.4:

kro / ( p , Bo ) vs. p ( r ) at f p = 41.05 days.

- 35 Ihetcrm~,/(p,B,)wasassumedtobealinearfunctionofp(t)atanyradiaIloca-

tion for Eq. 4-21 t o reduce t o the difiusivity equation, Eq. 4-25. In general, kt, I( p , Bo ) involves highly nonlinear functions of pressure, e.g. So (r,t). Since So (r,z) keeps changing dming a test, unlike the sandface saturation shown in Fig. 4.2,Eq. 4-21 is only an approximation

i o the actual behavior. ~ g u r 4 e. 4 is an example of the relationship between A,, / ( po B , ) and

p ( r ) at a time of 4105 days. It may be argued t h a tk , , / (p , Bo ) should be considered
piecewise linear, but the results will not be as simple nor as practical. Through the course of

this wok, the simple linear relation, Q. 4-21, was used assuming it reflects the overall
behavior of the system. Appendix B justifies using a zero intercept in such a relation. The inner boundary condition, for the constant o i l rate, can be written :s:

.
(4-27)

(4-28)

(4-29)

Derivations of the solution to the pressure diffusivity equation, presented in the SPE Monograph 1 by Matthews and. Russell (1967) and Monograph 5 by Earlougher (1977). as well as solutions in terms of p2 documented in the ERCB manual (1975). were followed to
obtain the line source solution. The initial and boundary conditions. Eqs. 4-26-a, 4-26-b and

4-29,were applied to solve t h e diffusivity equation in terms of pz, Eq. 4-25.The following line

source solution was obtained:

PT -' P
When the logarithmic approximation applies, Eq. 4-30 can be written in field u n i t sa s :

(4-30)

- 36 pz,-p+

325.2 qo
ah

- 3.228 + 0.869

(4-31)

where the skin effect has been added to obtain t h e wellbre flowing pressure. The skin equation is written for multiphase flow in terms of p 2 :

s = 1.1513

[kip] log[&]

+ 3.228}

(4-32)

where m is the slope of the semilog straight line in a p$ versus log t graph. The line source solution is considered here as a simple application of the general approach For other reservoir or testing conditions, single-phase pressure solutions may be applied similarly
to obtain the multiphase solutions in terms of p2. In general, the difisivity equation, expressed

by Eq. 4-25 can be solved for any linearized set of initial and boundary conditions.
4.3 Empirical Slope, u

The assumption that ko /( po Bo ) is directly proportional t o pressure is only valid for systems in which a gas phase is present (Section 4 . 6 ) . This assumption was utilized to linearize both the diffusivity equation and its inner boundary condition for gas-oil and gas-oil-water systems. If this linear relation was exact, the slope, u, could be evaluated at any pressure. This relation is only appmximately correct because highly nonlinear PVT and relative permeability data are involved. Therefore, the appropriate pressure at which the slope should be evaluated

is the subject of the following investigation. Three choices for evaluating the slope, u, are considered:

1) The empirical slope, u, is evaluated at the average pressure over a semilog cycle from a p2
vs log t plot, as described below. The slope, m, of the same cycle may then be used in the

effective o i l permeability calculation. For illustration, the semilog cycle, (t = lhr t o t = 10hr) was chosen here, where the slope of the cycle is:
(4-33)

- 37 And the empirical slope, a, is evaluated at:

P=
Hence:

Plh + Plohr

(4-34)

(4-35)

where ko / ( poBo) is evaluated at

(pl

+ plo h) /2.

Applying this in the l i e source solution

of Eq. 4-31, the following relation was obtained:

ko =
which may be reduced to :

m h

(4-36)

ko =

m* h

(4-37)

where m* is the slope per the cycle (1 hr to 10 hr) of a pwfversus log t graph. Equation 4-37 is identical to Penines (1956) solution, except for the different pressure at which the ( poBo )

term is evaluated. It seems that the estimate of effective oil permeability, obtained by Penhes
method, corresponds to the stabilized oil saturation shown in the saturation-time graph of Fig.
4-2 (i.e. it corresponds to ( plh + p l w ) / 2). This estimate of ko was less than ko at p i which

corresponds t o the average reservoir saturation. The higher the pressure drawdown, the lower the stabilized saturation cornpaxed to the average reservoir saturation, and therefore, the greater the underestimation of the effective oil permeability encountered in Penines method. This behavior of Penines method was investigated in this dissertation and discussed in detail in Section 4.5 and in Appendix C. To overcome this underestimation, it was proposed that

should be evaluated at a pressure which is higher than that given by Eq. 4-34. Po
k0

Bo

- 38 2) The empirical slope. a, is evaluated at the initial pressure, hence (4-38)

This slope, when substituted in the l i n e source solution of Eq. 4-3 1, yields:
(4-39)

For buildup tests, this empirical slope is evaluated at the average reservoir pressure. and the corresponding relation is :

where jF is average reservoir pressure, ( poBo ) tern is evaluated at jT, m is the slope of Homer
(1951) or Miller-Dyes-Hutchin (MDH) (1950) plots i n terms of p2.

These relations, Eqs. 4-39, and 4 4 0 wefe applied to well test simulations for reservoirs of both volatile and low volatile o i l s . As will be shown i n Section 4.4, results were good for a l l ranges of pressure drawdown in volatile oils. For oils of low volatility, results were reasonable for drawdown of small pressure drop and following buildups. On the other hand, results tended

to overestimate effective phase permeabilities for drawdowns of large pressure drop and subsequent buildups. Therefore, a third choice was investigated for drawdowns of large pressure drop and following buildups in oils of low volatility.
3) The empirical slope, u, was evaluated for oils of low volatility as follows. For drawdowns

of large pressure drop, u was evaluated at p = p*

u was evaluated at p = pw
(A f

(f

= 0.1 hr ). For the following buildups,

= 10 hr ). Hence, the following relations were obtained:

drawdown of large pressure drop:

- 39 Following buildup:

As can be seen in Section 4.4, these times (0.1 hour for drawdown and 10 hours for buildup)
can not be related to the permeability of the system. These pressures were found to avoid the
underestimation of the first choice (which reduces to Penine's approach, 1956), and the overestimation of the second choice. When a drawdown test is dominated by wellbore storage, the semilog straight line may

be extrapolated to obtain po.lk. Though this procedure was not applied in this work, it is
expected to work based on the storage-free, simulated tests presented next.
4.4 Applications

The validity of the new approach was investigated using several simulated drawdown and buildup tests including a buildup test reported by Raghavan (1976). These tests were simulated in systems where a gas phase was present, those were gas-oil and gas-oil-water systems. Effective phase permeabilities and wellbore skins were calculated ami compared to the input values. The simulated tests were generated using the ECLIPSE simulator with a Wblock radial model. Time step sizes were short at the beginning and increased with time, to allow close monitoring of the early time data. Three different sets of relative permeabilities were used in the simulation runs. These are shown in Fig. 4.5. The proposed approach was applied for systems of both volatile and low volatile oils. Two sets of PVT data for volatile oils were used, firstly those reported by

BN et al. (1981).

and secondly the PVT set presented in Table 4-1 . T h e first PVT data set for oils of low volatility is given in Table 4-2. The oil PVT properties of this set are approximately the Same as those reported by Raghavan (1976). Table 4-3 shows a second PVT data set for oils of low

0 . 8

' I / / I

a w

0.4

0.2

0.4

0.6

0 . 8

OIL SATURATION, So

Figure 4.5:

The three sets of relative permeability data used in the simulation runs.

41

Table 4.1: Second set o f PVT data for a volatile o i l PI psi

14.7 414.7 814.7 1214.7 1614.7 2014.7 2414.7 2814.7 3214.7 3614.7 4014.7 4214.7 4414.7 4514.7 5014.7

RBIMSCF
8.459 4.194 2.755 2.0445 1.626 1.3553 1.1665 1.03 1 0.9279 0.8495 0.8174 0.7907 0.7783

4.

R,
0.0 0.044 0.129 0.222 0.3 19 0.41 1 0.5 15 0.637 0.766 0.931 1.108 1.224 1.356 1.450

BO.

PO*

c p MSCFISTB
0.0102 0.0137 0.0148 0.0157 0.0167 0.0178 0.0191 0.0206 0.0224 0.0246 0.0274 0.0292 0.03 11 0.0323

RBBTB 1 .00 1.0668 1.1344 1.1707 1.2152 1.2663 1.3224 1.38 17 1.46 1.5507 1.6505 1.7131 1.7956 1.85001 1.8254

cp
1.00

0.604
0.482 0.419 0.373 0.339 0.307 0.279 0.255 0.230 0.208 0.199 0.186 0.181 0.1891

Table 4.2: First set of PVT data for o i l s of l o w volatility

~ ~~ ~~~

P I

psi
14.7 500.0 4.54 4.06 3.3 2.85 1.958 1.953

Pr.

Rn

BO,

cp
0.011 0.0118 0.0122 0.0130 0.0138 0.0152 0.0154

MSCFBTB
0.102 0.2 0.22 0.240 0.26 0.3

RBISTB
1 .o 1.18 1.195 1.205 1.21 1.215 1.23 1.26 1.278 1.274

cb.

cp
3.O 2.34 2.2 2.12 1.98 1 1.92 1.82 1.78 1.7645 1.77

6 0 0 . 0
700.0

8 0 0 . 0
1ooo.o

1200.0 1400.0 1500.0 1600.0

0 . 3 4
0.36 0.38

~~

~~~

~~

- 42 Tabk 4 3 Second set of PVT data for oils of low volatility

P .
Psi
400.0 520.0 652.0 777.0

B,
RBFlscF 7.28 5.54 4.36 3.62 3.09 2.70 2.38 2.17 2.12 1.57

k *
Cp

JL
MSCFBTB
0.102 0.127 0.155 0.180 0.204 0.226 0.249 0.270

80.

L.
Cp

RB/sTB
1.123
1.133

0.0122 0.0125 0.0128 0.0130 0.0133 0.0135 0.0138 0.0141 0.0142 0.0156

1.76 1.65 1.56 1.47 1.40 1.34 1.29 1.27 1.28 1.32

1.144 1.154 1.163 1.172 1.181 1.189 1.188

1.183

9 0 0 . 0
1025.0
1150.0

1275.0 1300.0 1800.0

- 43 volatility. These four sets represent a wide range of PVT properties over which the empirical slope, a,may be investigated.
For volatile oils. Eqs. 4-39 and 4-40 were applied to estimate effective oil permeability.

The corresponding relations for oils of low volatility were: drawdown of large pressure drop & following buildup: drawdown of small pressure drop & following buildup:

Eqs. 4-41 or 442, Eqs. 4-39 or 4-40.

The results were compared with those from Penines solution obtained by Eq. 4-37, as well as

to the input values. Effective gas permeability was estimated utilizing the producing GOR.
The following relation was applied:

kg = (GOR - R,)

P B
P o B*

ko

(443)

The PVT properties in Eq. 4 4 3 were evaluated at the initial pressure.

o Buildup tests after pseudosteady state drawdowns using the proEquation 4 4 3 was applied t
ducing GOR before shutin with all PVT properties evaluated at the average reservoir pressure. Effective water permeability for three-phase systems was evaluated using the producing water-oil ratio, WOR, as follows:

The skin factor was evaluated for drawdown tests using Eq. 4-32. For buildup, that relation changes to the following:

The Penine (1956) approach and the new approach were used to compute effective phase permeabilities and wellbore skin. Results were then compared with the input values.

-44Table 4.4: Reservoir and test data for volatile oil systems

Test No.

Pi Or

k, set

PvTset ft

Psi

First drawdown
Second drawdown

4065.7 3414.7 5202.3 5202.3 3054.7 4147.7

0.87

0.13 0.20 0.20 0.10 0.3 1 0.13

2
2
1

100 100 100 100 100 100

0.60
0.50 0.50 0.69 0.87

2 2 2 2 1

Third drawdown

Fourth drawdown First buildup

Second buildup

1
1

Table 4.5: Reservoir and test data for drawdowns of small pressure drop and

following buildups in systems o f low volatiliy

Test No.

Test

k, set

PVTset ft

1 2
3

First drawdown

1137.0 1288.22 1288.22 1497.4

0.91 1.0 1.0

0.09

100
1 0 0

Second drawdown
Third drawdown

0 0
0.01

2 2
1

100 100

First buildup

0.99

- 45 Table 4.6: Reservoir and test data for drawdowns of large pressure drop and following buildups in systems of low volatiliy.

TEST No.

Test

Pi

aY
Psi

soi

sgi

First drawdown

1137.0 1281.22 1180.9 1 O O O . O

0.91
1.o

0.09

2
3
4

Second drawdown

0.0

First buildup
hghavan buildup ( 1976 )

0.79
0.88

0.21 0.12

1.2eW

8e46 0.1

10

100

t, hrs
Figure 4.6: First drawdown for volatile oil systems, Test No. 1 in Table 4.4

1.7e47

1S e 4 7

pwf

1.3ei-07

l.le47

9e+06

1.3e47
0

I I I l l

I 1 I l l

I I I l l

8eN6

3eN6 0. I

10

100

t,
Figure 4.9:

hrs

Fourth drawdown for volatile oil systems, Test No. 4 in Table 4.4

- 48 -

7e

2
PWS

figure

2 Pws

Figure 4.9:

Second buildup for volatile oil systems, Test No. 6 i n Table 4.4

'p

= 1001 Days,

P t

I I l l

I I Ill1

I I l l

0.1

10

100

t, hrs
Figure 4.12: First drawdown of small pressure drop in systems of low volatility, Test No. 1 in Table 4.5

1.2e46

8e45 0.1

1 I

IIII
1

I I I Ill1

10

100

t, hrs
Figure 4.13: Second drawdown of small pressure drop i n systems of low volatility, Test No. 2 in Table 4.5

-3
I
I I
1 I

I I I I

I I l l l l

I I I l l

0.1

10

100

t, hrs
Figure 4.14: Third drawdown test of small pressure drop in systems of low n Table 4.5 volatility, Test No. 3 i

2.2e+06

2e&

Pws

t, hrs
Figure 4.15:
A buildup following a drawdown test of s m a l l pressure drop i n

s y s t e m s of low volatility

E\

t, hrs
Figure 4.16:

First drawdown of large pressure drop i n systems of low volatility, n Table 4.6 Test No. 1 i

5e45

3e45

le45 0.1

10

t, hrs
Figure 4.17: Second drawdown of large pressure drop in systems of low volatility, Test No. 2 in Table 4.6

2
PWS

t, hrs
Figure 4.18:
First buildup following a drawdown of large pressure drop i n systems

of low volatility, Test No. 3 in Table 4.6

t, hrs
Figure 4.19: Second buildup following a drawdown of large pressure drop in systems of low volatility, Test No. 4 in Table 4.6, Raghavan (1976)

- 53 Table 4.7: Effective oil permeabilities for volatile oil systems

Test No.

4 0 .
STBP

Input

Perrine's Approach

New Approach

k , , , md
556
14.4

S, md
3.50 11.3 2.45 2.92 37 4.16

ko. md
4.64 14.42 3.38 3.96 45.3 4.972

1500 3000
1000

3.66
5.0 47.6 5.3

2000
1lo00

2000

Table 4.8: Effective gas permeabilities for volatile oil systems

Test No.

GOR,
MSCFISTB

Input

Pemne's Approach

New Approach

A,, md
0.24 4.O

kg,md
0.5% 2.29 1.01 0.429 8.29
0.56

k,, md
0.4 1 2.13 1.24 0.4 1 9.36 0.27

2.42 3.19 12.64 4.5 8.5 1 1.94

2 3 4

0.8
0.2 9.6 0.24

5 6

-54-

Table 4.9: The wellbore skin for volatile oil systems

Test No.

CI.

rw.

Input
S

Perrine's Appmtch
S

New Approach
5

psi-'

ft
0.3
0.3

0.15 0.2 0.15

0.15

1.19e-04 1.5e-04 4.9e-05 2.3e-05 1.5e-04

1.104

0 0
0

-0.623 -0.37 -0.75

0.00

0.28 0.1 18

0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3

0 0
0

- 1.292
0.83 -0.33

0.2
0.2

-0.964 - 1.29 - 1.096

Table 4.10 Effective oil permeabilities for drawdowns of small pressure drop and following buildups in systems of low volatiliy

Test No.

4 0 .
S T B P

Input

Perrine's Approach

New Approach

k , , , md
65

400 2000
1000

66.21
70.01 75.64 8.4

k,, md

100

88.3 84.1 9.18

100
10

100

- 55 Table 4.11: Effective oil permeabilities For drawdowns OF large pressure drop and following buildups in systems of low volatility

Test No.

qo,

Input

Perrines Approach

New Approach

S T B P
1

KO, md
65
100

k,, md
45.9

k,, md
1

2000
5000
100

66.3

2
3

46-0
3.66
2.8

89*5

25

~~ ~~

- 56 Applications are reported in three categories: (1) tests run in reservoirs of volatile oils, (2) drawdowns of small pressure drop and subsequent buildups in oils of low volatility, and (3) drawdowns of large pressure drop and following buildups in oils of low volatility. Separate tables are presented for each category. These are Tables 44. 4-5 and 4-6 respectively.

Results from the new method are compared with those from the Penine method and the input
values. For volatile oils, Table 4-7 presents oil

and Table 4-8 presents gas permeabilities,

while Table 4-9 presents the wellbore skin results. For low volatility oils, effective oil permeabilities are given i n Table 4-10 for drawdowns of small pressure drop and Table 4-11 for drawdowns of large pressure drop. Test data were plotted as J? versus log t, as shown i n Figs. 4.6 to 4.19. The slopes of

t h e semilog straight lines were used i n Eqs. 4-39 t o 442 for effective oil permeabilities, and i n

Eqs. 4-32 and 445 for wellbore skin. Gas permeabilities were evaluated using Eq. 443,
while water permeabilities were evaluated using Eq. 4 -4 4 . For Pemine's approach, oil permeabilities were obtained using Eq. 4-37, while wellbore skins were obtained using Eq. 2-11. For Penine's (1956)approach, the slope used is that of a p versus log t graph. For all cases studied, the proposed approach seemed to offer a practical way of estimating effective oil pemeabiity to a good accuracy. An improvement over Pemne's approach is evident i n Tables 4-9 to 4-1l . Figures 4.16 and 4.17, drawdown tests of large pressure drop in oils of low volatility, exhibited more than one semilog slope where the early semilog slope was

used here. This behavior of the pressure squared solution was not observed for volatile oil systems, nor for tests of small pressure drop in oils of low volatility. Appendices B and C investigate such behavior in detail.
Based on the cases considered, buildup tests, run in oils of low volatility following large

pressure drawdowns exhibited only one semilog slope, Figs. 4.18 and 4.19. These buildup
tests seemed to result in more reasonable estimates of effective o i l permeabilities than draw-

down t e s t s .

- 57 4.4.1 Volatility

The vohtility defined in this work reflects the amount of gas dissolved in the oil phase.
Since o i l shrinks as gas comes out of solution, the following parameters arc related t o volatility:
1) bubble point pressure, Pb
2) solution gas-oil ratio, R,

3) formation volume factor, Bo.

The two sets of PVT data for volatile oils used in this study had the following values: Bo was 1.806 and 1.85001 RB/STB, R, was 1.45 and 1.50 MSCF/STB, and P b w ~ S 4514.7 and 5703
psi. T h e two sets of PVT data for oils of low volatility had the following values: Bo was

1.278 and 1.189 RBBTB, R, was 0.38 and 0.27 MSCFBTB, and P b was 1500 and 1275 psi. Two more sets of PVT data were used, one for the volatile o i l given in Table 4.12 and

the other for the oil of low volatility given in Table 4.13. The volatile o i l has the following
properties: Bo is 1.909 RBBTB, R, is 1.315 MSCF/STB and P b is 2900 psi. The o i l of low volatility has the following properties: Bo is 1.44 RB/STB, R, is 0.75 MSCF/STB and P b is 2800 psi. Each of these two data sets was used to simulate two drawdown tests, one with a
large and the other with a small pressure drop. These simulated tests were analyzed using Eq.

4-39 for both drawdown tests of volatile oil, Eq. 4-41 for the drawdown of large pressure drop and Eq. 4-39 for the drawdown of small pressure drop in oils of low volatility. The test data for two drawdown tests, simulated using the first PVT data set, were plotted
in Figs. 4.20 and 4.21. The results obtained were compared to the input values in Table 4-14.

Similarly, t h e tests simulated using the second PVT data

set

were plotted in Figs. 4.22 and

4.23, with results compared to input values in Table 4-15. In general reasonable agreements were achieved using the proposed solutions.

- 58 Table 4.12: The set of PVT data for the oil of high volatility index

P .
psia
100.0 193.14 300.0 622.48 700.0 1051.8 1100.00 1481.17 1500.0 1910.5 2100.0 2339.9 2500.0 2769.35 2900.0

B**
RB/MSCF

Clr,
Cp

0.277 17.8 0.01 13 0.339 3.38 0.0125 0.463 2.85 0.0138 0.587 1.959 0.0152 0.71 1
1.46

1.331

0.5284

1.368

0.5046

1.442

0.457

1.5 16

0.4094

1.59

0.3618

0.0166 0.927 1.707 0.295

1.175

0.0181 1.105 1.7% 0.2639

0.997

0.0195 1.315 1.315 1.909

1.905

0.2403 0.2405

3 100.0
3 198.7
0.873
0.021

- 59 Table 4.13: The set of PVT data for the oil of low volatility

P*
psi
193.14 500.0 622.48 700.0 1051.8 1300.00 1481.17 1500.0 1910.5 2000.0 2339.9 2500.0 2769.35 2800.0 3100.0 3198.7 0.873 0.021 0.997 0.0195 0.75 0.75
1.44
BO.

p09

RWMSCF
17.8

CP

RWSTB

0.13 1.12

CP

0.01 13

0.92

3.38

0.0125 0.18 1.14 0.84

2.85

0.0 138
0.33 1.23 0.65

1.959

0.0 152 0.36 1.25 0.62

1.46

0.0166

0.5 1
1.175 0.0181

1.33

0.52

0 . 6 8

1.4

0.45

0.43

1.43

0 . 4 4

0.1

10

100

4 hrs
Figure 4-20:
A drawdown test of large pressure drop simulated in 0% of high

volatility

t,
Figure 4.21:

hrs

A drawdown test of small pressure drop simulated in oils of high

volatility

- 61 Table 4.14: Effective oil permeabilities for the volatile oil

Test

I low drawdown I l o o 0 I 100 I 2700.0 I 10% I

40

3 7 . 6

E
E
0.1
1

' t
10
100

t, hrs
Figure 4.22:
A drawdown test of large pressure drop simulated in oils of low

volatility index

4.9e4-06

4.7e+06

4.5e+06 0.1

10

100

t, hrs
Figure 4.23:
A drawdown test of small pressure drop simulated in oils of low

volatility index

- 63 Table 4.15: Effective oil permeabilities for the oil of l o w volatility

Test

high drawdown
low drawdown

8000
1000

100
100

2300 2300

10 46
10 %

40
40

41.6
31.7

-64-

The following range of volatility parameters was investigated in this work. The values of
Pb

ranged from 3100 to 5703 psi for volatile oils and from 1275.0 to 2800.0 psi for oils of low

volatility. The values of Bo ranged from 1.806 t o 1.909 RB/SB for volatile oils and from 1.189 to 1.44 RB/STB for oils of low volatility. The values of R, ranged from 1.315 to 1.50 MSCFBTB and from 0.27 to 0.75 MSCF/STB for oils of low volatility. The values of the bubble point pressure were very close in range for both oils, while those of the solution gas-oil ratio, R, were very wide in range. This may suggest the use of R, or Bo value at the bubble
point pressure as an index value. Such a recommendation needs to be investigated in future

work.

- 65 4.5 Discussion of Perrines Approach

Although much of the literature on multiphase well testing deals with Perxines (1956)
approach, an important aspect concerning the inner boundary condition (constant o i lr a t e )has
not been cansidered. Penhes solutions reported in the literature estimate effective phase per-

meabiities, using the following equation:

Martin (1959) linearized the multiphase diffusivity equation in terms of pmsure. However,
the linearization of the inner boundary condition, Eq. 4-27, has not been discussed. Assuming

ko of Eq. 4-27 t o be co,lstant throughout a test, the inner boundary condition is linearized
P o Bo

as follows:

Martins difisivity equation can be solved using this linear inner boundary condition t o obtain Perrines solutions, Eq. 4-46. The assumption that ko / ( po Bo ) is c o n s t a n t through the
test

holds well for oil-water

systems with no gas flowing in the reservoir or water coning into the wellbore. A simulation

run in an oil-water system showed a negligible change of this term through the test, see Fig.
4.24. Thus, Penines approach is applicable t o oil-water systems provided

no gas is flowing

and no water is coning. Figure 4.25 shows a semilog plot of pressure versus time for a drawdown test in an oil-water system. When the semilog slope of Fig. 4.25 was used in Pemnes solution, Eq. 446, it resulted in a 395.64 md-ft oil permeability thickness compared to its input value of 388.0 md-ft, The same test is analyzed utilizing the new approach and presented i n Section 4.6. Since the new approach only applies to systems w i t h gas phase present, Perrines approach is superior for application in oil-water systems.

0.25

b-

0.15

1500

1700

1900

2100

2300

Figure 4.24:

k, / ( p , B, ) vs. p

( r,,, , t ) of a simulated drawdown test for an oil-water system with no flowing gas.

t,
Figure 4.25:

Days

A drawdown test for a simulated oil-water system with no flowing gas (p vs. log t).

- 67 For systems in which gas phase is present, the necessary assumption for Pemne solution,

4.446,

that the ko / ( po Bo ) is constant through the test is invalid. Simulation runs (Figs.

4.3 and 4.4) showed that the change of

is approximately linear with pressure in gas-oil Bo

k0

Po

and gas-oil-water systems (Figures in Appendix B show that t h e highest ko / ( poBo ) value is

a t the initial reservoir pressure). The well pressure measured throughout the test is always
lower than the initial pressure. Hence, if a constant value of ko /( po Bo ) is used, t h e estimated effective o i l permeability would be that at a pressure much lower than the initial pressure. Such ko corresponds to the stabilized oil saturation i n Fig. 4.2, which is less t h a n the
correct k , that corresponds t o the average reservoir saturation. Hence, Pemnes (1956) solu-

tion may underestimate effective oil penneabilities, as investigated later. Perrines solution for effective oil permeability is a special case of the more general approach proposed here. The first approach to evaluate the empirical slope. u, reduces the new solution to 4.4-37, which is almost identical to Pemnes solution, Eq. 446.

In this work, Penines (pressure) approach was also tested for flow rate effects. Two
drawdown tests were simulated in a gas-oil system. Keeping the system properties identical for both tests, the only difference was the flow

rate.

The o i l rate of the first test was lo00

~IC

S T B D , while the o i l rate of the second test was 5000 STBD. The pressure responses

plotted i n Figs. 4.26 and 4.27 respectively. Fig. 4.26, for the low rate test, exhibits a single semilog straight line with the correct slope. On the other hand, Fig. 4.27, for the high rate test, exhibits two semilog straight lines with a long transition period, which might be seen t o

be indicative of a no-flow boundary. Neglecting the 6rst slope, which will probably be masked
by wellbore storage, the second slope was used for analysis here. Results from this test were compared to those of the first test as well as with input values in Table 4.16. The results were
far from the input values for the high flow rate. These two tests simulated in systems where

gas phase was present, as well as many others presented in Appendix C, demonstrates that Pemnes approach is rate sensitive and appears to hold better at low rates.

t,
Figure 4.26:

Days

A drawdown test w i t h a flow rate of lo00 S T B D .

3500

3000

2500

2000 0.001

0.0 1

0.1

10

t,
Figure 4.27:

Days
STB/D.

A drawdown test w i t h a flowrate of 5 ( ) 0

- 69 4.6 Discussion of the new approach

The new approach is based on the assumption that k ,

/ ( p, B, ) changes linearly with

pressure. Simulation r u n s validated this assumption for systems in which gas phase was present (see Figs. 4.3 and 4.4, also Appendix B ) . For oil-water systems with no gas flowing, Simulation runs showed a negligible change of k , / ( p, Bo ) with pressure through the test (Fig. 4-24). thus breaking the basis of t h e new approach. An example test in oil-water systems, plotted i n Fig. 4.25 in tems of p , was plotted i n Fig. 4.28 i n terms of p2. While Fig.
4.25 exhibited only the correct slope, Fig. 4.28 exhibited two semilog slopes where the first

slope resulted in the correct oil permeability thickness product of 382.55 md-ft and the second slope resulted in an overestimated product of 439.4 md-ft. The occurrence of rwo semilog slopes indicates that the new approach does not represent the physics of flow in oil-water systems for which the change of k, / ( p , B, ) is negligible with pressure. Thus, the Pemne (1956) method is superior for applications in oil-water systems.

The linear change of k , / ( p, B, ) with pressure is pronounced in gas-oil and gas-oilwater systems. As investigated in Section 4.3, there exist several choices for evaluating the empirical slope, u of this linear =lation. The first choice applied in Section 4.3 reduced the new solution t o Pemnes solution, Eq. 4-37, which may result in an underestimate of effective oil permeability. This underestimation caused by the first choice suggested the need to apply

h e empirical slope, a. In order t o other choices where higher pressures were used to evaluate t
choose an appropriate pressure, different sets of PVT data for both volatile and low volatile

oils were used to simulate several drawdown and buildup tests. When these tests were
analyzed, the appropriate pressure at which to evaluate the empirical slope was found t o be different for different oils. These different pressures are discussed in the following section. For volatile oils, the use of initial pressure for drawdowns and average pressure for build-

ups gave good results. The same pressure was also appropriate for drawdowns of small pressure drop, or following buildups in oils of low volatility. However, use of these pressures was

- 70 -

4.5e+06

2.5e+06

le-05

O.OOO1

0.001

0 . 0 1

0.1

10

t, Days
Figure 4.28:
A drawdown test fora simulated oil-water system with

no flowing gas (p2 vs. log t), Fig. 4.25.

- 71 found to overestimate effective o i l permeability for tests with large pressure drops in o i l s of low volatility. Instead, the following pressures were found to wok. for drawdowns of large pressure drop: for following buildups :

pwf ( t = 0.1 hr ) ,

pws ( A t = 10.0 h r ) .

The times at which these pressures were chosen could not be related to t h e permeability of the system.

The new approach was also tested for flowing rate effects. The two drawdown tests, run
in volatile o i l s and considered in Section 4.5, were also analyzed using the proposed method.
The rate of the first test was IO00 = / D while , the rate of the second test was SO00 STB/D. The responses are plotted in terms of p2 in Figs. 4.29 and 4.30, respectively. Figure 4.29 corresponds to Fig. 4.26, and exhibits a single semilog straight line with the correct slope. On the other hand, Fig. 4.30 corresponds to Fig. 4.27. Interestingly enough, Fig. 4.30 in terms of

p2, exhibits only a reasonable single slope over most of the test, while Fig. 4.27, in terms of p ,
showed two semilog straight lines with a long intermediate transition
period.

Both tests

yielded reasonable results when analyzed using the new approach, as can be seen in Table 417. Figure 4.30 began to exhibit a slightly lower slope by the end of the test. However, this bending was slight, unlike the continuous bending of the pressure curve i n Fig. 4.27. For systems of low volatility, both the pressure and the pressure squared approaches were found t o be rate sensitive and applied better at low flowing rates. The reason behind this behavior is discussed extensively in Appendix B. Illustrative examples are presented in Appendix C. For all tests studied in gas-oil and gas-oil-water systems, Penines approach appeared t o be flow rate sensitive and applied better at low flow rates, while the new approach was only sensitive to rates in systems of low volatility. The pressure squared approach was insensitive
to flowing rate for volatile o i l systems. Appendix C elaborates on this obsewation, and shows

a new rate-normalization method in terms of p2 applicable to multiphase well tests of varying flow rates.

2.5e+07

I I I I Ill

I I I Ill

1 I I Ill

2 . M

2.3e+07

I IIIll

I I I Ill

I I I Ill

0.001

0.0 1

0.1

10

t, Days
Figure 4.30:
A drawdown test with a flow rate of 5

= / D (Fig. , 4.27)

- 73 Table 4.16: R e s u l t s of drawdown tests analyzed using Perrines approach

Input

k, h = 1542.5 md-ft

Results for q,, = loo0 S T B P

k, h = 1412.7 md-ft

Results for q, = 50oO STB/D

k, h = 813.6 md-ft

Table 4.11: Results of drawdown tests analyzed using the new approach

Input

k, h = 1542.5 md-ft

Results for q, = 1000 S T B p

k, h = 1527.0 md-ft

Results for qo = 5000 S T B p

k, h = 1632.1 md-ft

- 75 initial condition:
(4-52)

outer boundary:
(4-53)

inner boundary, (constant o i l rate):

(4-54)

In order to linearize the inner boundary condition, the assumption of a linear

[Pa.B.1
(4-55)

versus p relation is made:

[A]

= ap

Here a is an empirical slope, which can be evaluated a t iT such (hat:

(4-56)

Thereafter, the linearized inner boundary condition can be rewritten a s :

(4-57)

where 6 corresponds to jX

Following the derivation of the pseudosteady state solution in terms of p reported in the
literature, Eq. 4-25 was solved for the initial and boundary conditions given i n Eqs. 4-52,4-53
and 4-57. The solution obtained is:

- 74 4.7 Fetkovich's Isochronal Testing Approach

This section derives Fetkovich (1973) empirical approach for isochronal oil well testing.
Based on empirical results, Fetkovich suggested that the deliverability m e for solution gas-

drive systems follows the relation:

h e back-pressure cuwe coefficient of a well producing under solution gasdrive, Here Jo' is t
and n is an exponent. The pseudosteady state behavior may not develop in gas-oil systems. Nevertheless, the pseudosteady state solution of the oil-gas diffusivity equation in terms of p2 was found neces-

sary to derive the Fetkovich relation, Eq. 448. This solution was developed following the pressure solution derivation. reported in the monograph by Matthews and Russell (1967). for a
closed reservoir producing at a constant oil rate The oil-gas diffusivity equation in terns of p2 is:

where c, is t h e total system compressibility of oil-gas system (from Eq. 4- 13):

(4-50)

and

x,

ko kg +Po

(4-51)

P g

The initial and boundary conditions for a closed outer boundary system producing at a
constant o i l rate are:

- 76 -

[z
This solution may be expanded t o :

rd

- A] 4

(4-58)

This pseudosteady state solution applies at the wellbore for re

r,,, and for large rD.

(4-59)

In ordzr to reduce Eq. 4-59 to the Fetkovich empirical relation, the tern j F 2 has to be
introduced in the derivation. This could be done assuming the following equation holds:

Equation 4-60 is a material balance equation for oil-gas systems whose basis is discussed in Section 4.8. To better understand this material balance equation, it may be rewritten as:
(4-61)

For single-phase flow reservoirs, the material balance equation is:

(4-62)

For solution gas-drive reservoirs, the left hand side of

a. 4-62 will be larger than the right

hand side due to the evolution of gas. This evolved gas restricts oil flow, thus consuming

o move the same amount of oil. At the same time the evolved gas additional pressure energy t
increases the total compressibility of the system, c,. Therefore, the value of the f i r s t part of the right hand side tern of Eq. 4-61 is less than
unity.

On the other hand, the &

term always

has a value greater t h a n unity for two-phase reservoirs. If the second part of the right hand

- 77 side of Eq. 4-61 i s multiplied by t h e first part, the result may be less, equal t o or greater than
u n i t y . This value must be greater

t h a n unity because [ Z

on the right side of Eq. 4-61 is less

than

b i

on the left side of the same equation. Such a condition will not be satisfied in all

cases. Hence, when the material balana equation given by Eq. 4-60 does not hold, the

exponent, n, of Fetkovich relation will differ from

unity.

Equation 4-60 is substituted i n Eq. 4-59 t o obtain:

(4-63)

is the relative permeability corresponding t oj T Here go The rate tern can be expressed a s :

' W

Equating Eq. 4-64 with the Fetkovich empirical relation, Eq. 4 4 8 , the following relation is obtained:

(4-65)

Equation 4-65 defining Jo' is identical t o Eq. (A-21) of the Fetkovich paper (1973). The present derivation emphasizes the inherent oil-gas material balance equation given by Eq. 4-60, which was implicit in Fetkovich's approach. When this material balance equation is reasonable, the exponent n becomes unity, provided non-Darcy flow is negligible. On the other hand,
if this equation is not appropriate, n will differ from unity, and may also vary with time. This

is in agreement with simulation results reported by Camacho and Raghavan (1987) for Darcy flow systems, which demonmated that the exponent n may be a function of time.

- 78 In summary, Fetkovichs empirical relation for solution gas-drive systems was derived in

this work using a gas-oil material balance equation. Furthermore, it is intuitive that the same

o three-phase reservoirs based on the thm-phase diffusivity equaapproach may be extended t

tion in terms of p2. The derivation follows exactly t h e same steps, but with total Compressibility defined by Eq. 4-13, and total mobility defined by Eq. 4-16. The material balance equation
, expressed in Eq. 4-60, has to hold for the three-phase derivation in terms of three-phase c,

and X,. It appears that this observation has not been reported previously in t h e literature.
4.8 Fetkovichs Material Balance Relation

The oil-gas material balance equation given by Eq. 4-60, necessary to derive Fetkovich isochronal testing approach, has an empirical basis. Fetkovich (1980) reported an empirical material balance relation for forecasting the performance of solution gas-drive reservoirs. This relation can be written a s : (4-66) Here

t initial condition, which is referred to as p i in this is the average reservoir pressure a

work; Np is cumulative oil production; and Np is the cumulative o i l production to a reservoir shut-in pressure of zero pia. This relation is identical to Eq. 27 of t h e Fetkovich paper
(1980). Fetkovich empirical relation, Eq. 4-66, can also be expressed a s :

N p = Constant

(p:

- #)

(4-67)

The material balance equation given by Eq. 4-60 can be related to the empirical relation of Eq. 4-67. Equation 4-60, can be rewritten a s : (4-68) Considering the linear change of ko / ( p0 Bo ) with pressure, Eq. 4-56, and assuming that
c, /

& is constant throughout the production period, Eq. 4-68 reduces to Eq. 4-67. That is the

material balance equation given by Eq. 4-60 becomes identical to that proposed by Fetkovich based on empirical observation and given by Eq. 4-67.

- 79 4.9 Pressure-Saturation Relations

The pressure-saturation relations, derived by Muskat (1949) and Martin (I959), are rederived here, and their assumptio~ls are explicitly demonstrated. Muskat found t h a t the following pressure-saturation relation applies for t a n k models:
(4-69)

where:

The same relation was derived by Martin assuming negligible pressure and saturation gradients. The derivation presented here offers another view of this simple relation. Phase saturations are assumed to be only pressure dependent. Using this assumption, Eq. 4-1 for o i l flow

can be expanded to:

v[&].vp=-

-v2p
Po k0 Bo

(4-70)

This equation can be substituted into Eq. 4- 18 a s :

(4-71)

(4-72)

which can be reananged to :

(4-73)

(4-74)

which can be rearranged to obtain Eq. 4-69.

A similar water relation was presented by Martin (1959) as follows:

(4-75)

The same relation can be obtained when Eq. 4-18 is combined with the expanded water equation, utilizipg t h e same assumptions involved in deriving the o i l saturation equation.

The pressure-saturation equations derived in this section are simple but limited
Throughout the derivation, phase saturations were assumed to be functions of pressure only.

This assumption applies only during the infinite acting period, as has been shown by Aanonsen
(1985) for solution gasdxive reservoirs. Therefore, Eqs. 4-69 and 4-75 are only applicable during the infinite acting period of a transient test.

- 81 5. RELATIVE PERMEABILITY TECHNIQUE FOR SOLUTION

GAS-DRIVE RESERVOIRS
This section describes a new method to estimate two-phase relative permeabilities in-situ,
using pressure transient analysis. T h e technique requires a short drawdown test, consisting of a number of steps of increasing flow r a t e s . The resulting relative permeabilities reflect the pro-

perties of the entire drainage area, rather than those of a small laboratoq core. The proposed
technique is an improvement over ament historical performance methods. These methods require data over long periods of time, yet yield results for a range of saturation to present conditions. Fume projections require extrapolation. By contrast, the new method provides esti-

mates of relative permeabilities at sandface saturations, which cover a range of future reservoir
conditions. A well test can then be repeated at a later stage of depletion to forecast further into

the f u t u r e .

The proposed technique applies the solution of a multiphase difisivity equation in terms
of the pseudopressure function, m@). The solution has already been reported for constant-rate

tests in solution gas-drive reservoirs, see Raghavan (1976) and

BN et al. (1981). These solu-

tions were superposed to obtain multiple-rate solutions, which formed the basis for the twophase relative permeability equations. A saturation equation developed originally by B@eet al.

(1981) for solution gas-drive reservoirs was used to estimate sandface saturations during the test. TGical well tests were simulated over a 40% range in gas saturation, using the ECLIPSE simulator. Analysis of these tests by the proposed method shows good agreement with input relative permeability curves. In cases where relative permeability is not homogeneous within the drainage area, t h e resulting estimates of relative permeability curves were representative of in-situ heterogeneities.

This section also explains and demonstrates that the relative permeability technique may
be used to estimate the absolute permeability of solution gas-drive reservoirs.

- 82
5.1 Methodology

Normally, well tests span a short production time, during which average reservoir saturation can be assumed constant. Well test analysis methods proposed by Perrine (1956). Raghavan (1976). or the new method discussed in Section 4 yield only a single effective permeabiity which corresponds to the average reservoir saturation. Contrary to this, the technique proposed here generates a portion of the relative permeability c w e over a range of saturations. This is achieved by calculating the relative permeability a t the sandface saturation. The sandface

i l saturation changes significantly during a well test, and more importantly, reaches low o
saturations t h a t will not be reached by the average reservoir o i l saturation until much later in the life of the reservoir. The new technique is, therefore, a useful forecasting tool in that it is

u t u r e . able to estimate relative permeabilities at saturations that will exist in the f

The basic approach is to create a pressure drawdown at the wellbore which generates an increasing gas saturation at the sandface. The greater the drawdown below the bubble point pressure. the larger the saturation range. Analytical expressions are derived to describe relative permeability changes over the saturation range developed at the sandface. Such expressions
e s t s . If estimates of utilize an input absolute permeabiity estimated from prior single-phase t

absolute permeability are not available, only effective permeability-saturation results are obtained. However, these results can be used to estimate reservoir absolute permeability as discussed later. There are several ways to cnate a wellbore drawdown. This wok investigated two different ways. The first was constant-rate drawdown testing, and the second was multiple-rate testing. The theoretical basis of both tests is presented here. However, as w l i be discussed in Section 5.2.3, it seems that the analysis of a constant-rate drawdown test is often not practical with available instrumentation for monitoring early rate and pressuxe changes. On the other hand, multiple-rate testing was found to be practical, and may be useful to estimate relative permeabilities for a 10-15% range in gas saturation. Later in this Section, several simulated two-phase multiple-rate tests are presented. When these tests were analyzed, the resulting rela-

- 83 tive permeabilities were found to be in good agreement with the input data Following is the discussion of both constant- and multiple-rate tests and the analysis proc e d w proposed for their interpretation.

53 Constant-Rate Drawdown T e s t i n g
BI$~ et

al. (1981) derived the

logarithmic appmximation of the line source solution in

terms of m(p) for solution gas-drive reservoirs. Such approximation of the l i n e source solution
can be written, in field units, a s :

m @ 3 = m@i]

- 141a2 kh

' O

[OS[ In to + 0.809O7 + 2s 11

where :

where a is defined in Eq. 2-23, and

is defined in Eq. 2-24.

For any parameter of two-phase flow, x2, the following definitions, given in Eqs. 2-25 and 2-26 respectively, hold:

Super dot defines partial derivative of two-phase parameter to o i l saturation at constant pres-

t constant sure, and super prime defines partial derivative of two-phase parameter to pressure a

o i l saturation.

-84-

5.2.1 Relative Permeability Equations

From Eq. 5-1,the transient response of a constant-rate drawdown test exhibits a semilog line on a m( pwf) vs. log t graph. The slope of the semilog straight line is defined as :

which can be written a s :

am@,l

3Pwf
alog t

=-

apwr
Since:

162.6 qo kh

(5-5)

Eq. 5-5 can be expressed a s :

162.6 qo kh

[*]
[POM p ] 0 '
Bo WO

Eq. 5-6 is the o i l relative permeability equation which yields boat any flowing pressure
in tern of the input absolute permeability, and pressure-rate data for the drawdown test. The producing gas-oil ratio, GOR, monitored at flowing bottomhole pressure, p,+ is related t o reservoir and fluid parameters through:
GOR=Rs+-

k g
so

yB g

(5-7)

Therefore, the gas relative permeability, krg, can be evaluated at any flowing pressure using:

5.23 Saturation Equation

B+e et al. (1981) derived an analytical expression which relates the change of sandface

saturation t o the flowing bottom-hole pressure. Their relation applies to solution gasdrive reservoirs as long as boundary effects are negligible, and t h e Boltzman transformation applies.
B e et al. (1981) relation for the change of oil saturation with pressure is:

cis,

(a a - ua) 2
V

(a b

- u p)

The B+e et aL notation is used here, and is delined in t h e nomenclature. For the early production m t i e s , 2 to 5 minutes, they found that Eq. 5-9 reduces to a simplified relation which may be written a s :
(5-10)

B e et

al. (1981) demonstrated that

both relations were reasonable through simulated draw-

down and buildup tests.

A drawdown test starts from known phase saturations, ( Sot Sgi ), and known relative per-

meabilities (

k+oi,

k +

). When

the well begins to flow, pressure declines, and relative per-

meabilities are computed using Eqs. 5-6 and 5-8. Pressure-saturation relations require two levels of input data. The initial level is at the
starting values of pressure, saturations and relative permeabilities. The next level is the moni-

tored p r e m at which new relative permeabilities are calculated. Therefore, for solution gasdrive reservoirs the new oil saturation is the only unknown of Eq. 5-9 or 5-10. and is usually obtained through an iterative procedure. In general, as pressure declines, t h e same procedure
can be repeated to calculate new relative permeabilities and the corresponding saturations.

The two-phase derivations, presented in this section, are for solution gasdrive reservoirs.
Extension of the derivation t o oil-water systems is straightforward. Equation 5-6 will still be the oil phase relative permeability equation. For an oil-water system, the water-oil ratio

- 86 measured during the test may be related to reservoir and fluid parameters t h r o u g h :

(5-11) Hence, the following equation allows an estimate of water relative p e m e a b i i at any flowing preSSUre:
(5-12)

The corresponding pxessure-saturation relation can be derived from t h e oil and water flow
equations, following the

B e et al. (1981) approach.

Sandface saturations change slightly dur-

ing a test for oil-water reservoirs. Hence, the relative pemeabilities a~ obtained over a small range of phase saturations.
In general, there is a basic assumption in the derivation. It is that the distribution of phase

saturations is uniform over the entire reservoir thickness. This work does not include the
effect of segregated flow on relative permeability determination.

5.23 Drawdown in Practice

To check the practicality of drawdown testing, several tests were generated using the
ECLIPSE simulator. An important observation, common to all t e s t s , was an almost instantane-

ous adjustment of sandface saturation to t h e producing rate. Figure 5-1 shows sample sandface
saturation-time data graph for a simulated drawdown t e s ~In most of the cases, sandface oil saturation dmpped in a few minutes to a reasonably stabilized value until t h e end of the test.
This early period is often dominated by wellbore effects and operating conditions. In addition,

it is not practical to monitor the rapid change of producing GOR w i t h i n this short time. Thus,

the current state of instrumentation often does not permit estimation of relative pemeabilities
from a constant-rate test.

Besides this impracticality, other problems are also encountered in attempting to analyze constant-rate tests. The early response, during which most of the vs. S changes occur,

- 87 -

Figure 5.1:

Sandface oil saturation vs. time for a simulated constant-rate drawdown test.

- 88 reflects a small area around the wellbore. Hence, the resulting relative permeabilities do not represent a large area of investigation. In cases where the wellbore is damaged, the computed results may be inappropriate because they reflect a skin region of low absolute permeability.
All of these problems suggest that t h e late time response is better analyzed to represent

the bulk of the drainage area, and t o minimize the skin and other wellbore effects. Since the
late response results in only one stabilized S

- S value, constant-rate testing results in only

such a stabilized value and does not meet the goal of generating several values to construct a curve. This conclusion led to consideration of another option: multiple-rate testing. 5.3 Multiple-Rate Testing Multiple-rate testing resolves difficulties encountered with constant-rate drawdown testing. Because a change of sandface saturation is dependent on the producing rate, a stepwise increasing o i l rate will cause a stepwise increasing gas saturation. Figure 5-2 shows a stepwise decrease i n sandface o i l saturation for a simulated increasing o i l rate steps. Analytical relations were derived to analyze the late time response of each rate step. These relations permit estimation of the stabiied saturation and the comsponding relative permeabilities. A number of

i l rate steps will be obtained to generate a relative pexmeadata points equal to the number of o
bility curve. The proposed multiple rate test starts with a low constant o i l rate, ami proceeds with increasing o i l rate steps as time increases. The highest rate (at the end of the test) should be

t h e maximum possible o i l rate expected w i t h i n operating conditions. The time length of each
rate step determines the area of investigation for which the conresponding relative penneabilities are estimated.

53.1 Superposition Priiciple

T h e use of the pseudopressure function, m@), partially linearizes the two-phase flow
equations. However, the diffusivity tern was shown by Aanonsen (1985.a) to be a function of the dependent variable, m@). The diffusivity equation obtained for solution gas-drive

- 89 -

v 3

z^ 0 i :

vj

TIME ,minutes

Figure 5.2:

Sandface oil saturation vs. time for a simulated multiple-rate drawdown test.

-90-

reservoirs can be wxitten a s :

(5-13)

Fetkovich (1973) and

B e et al. (1981) derived the solutions for drawdown and buildup tests

r u n in solution gasdrive reservoirs assuming constant (cA)'. Raghavan (1976) applied these
solutions using different pressure-saturation relations for buildup and for drawdown tests. He

h a t superposition can not be applied for concluded that these two tests are not reversible and t
such systems. Aamnsen (1985.a) showed that (clh)' varies with m(p). He also concluded

that although superposition applies to pseudosteady state multiple-rate tests reported by Fetkovich (1973) and Whitson (1983). c m should be taken in other cases.

The technique proposed in this chapter applies superposition to transient multiple-rate

testing based on the following considerations. Erst, the diffusivity term is assumed constant in order to derive the existing constant-rate solutions. Raghavan (1976). and

BW

et

al. (1981)

have shown that reasonable accuracy can be obtained with this assumption. Second, the same pressure-sahuation relation is used for all steps of the proposed multiple-rate test. Pressure and

h e entire test. As saturations continue to change monotonically with radius and time during t
will be shown later, reasonable results were obtained when superposition was applied in this

manner. 53.2 Relative Permeability Equations The multiple-rate solution was prepaxed by superposition of line source solutions. Derivation of this superimposed form is well documented in the monographs by Matthews and Russell (1967) and by Earlougher (1977) for single phase flow. The same p'ocedure was applied to superpose the line source solution in terms of m@). The following multiple-rate solution was obtained for solution gasdrive reservoirs:

- 91 -

+1 6 k2 h . 6fog[-&
where:
qj : surface rate during step j,

($)I 3.2275

+ 0.86895

(5-14)

rkl : starting time of step j, and

qn : the final rate.

When considering the response of a specific rate step, n, Eq. 5-14 simplifies t o :
m@,,,-) =

--

log [t - +I]}

C,

(5-15)

where C2 is a constant defined a s :

162.6 qn

3.2275

+ 0.86895

(5-16)

In general, the response of a specific rate step, n, of a transient multiple rate test is a
straight line on a plot of:

The slope of the straight line is:

162.6

kh

(5-17)

Equation 5-17 can be rewritten a s :

a Pwf

mkd --162.6

kh

(5-18)

- 92 -

Eq. 5-18 becomes:

162.6 -kh

a PuF

(5-19)

This relation allows an estimate of oil relative permeability at any flowing pressure in terms of
input absolute permeability and rate-pressure data for a multirle-rate test. The pressure-summation derivative can be evaluated by choosing a short time interval
within the rate step n. This time interval is chosen late enough

t o represent a large area of

investigation and to minimize wellbore and skin effects. The i n s t a n ~ u s pressuresummation derivative may be approximated by the slope of a line over this short time intervaL For example, if (tl

- r2) is a short interval within the rate step n, then:

(5-20)

Both tl and r2 are within the specific rate step, n, for which the stabdized oil relative pemeability is to be estimated. Also the

tern i n Eq. 5-19 is to be estimated a t :

(5-21)

Choosing the ( tl

-t 2 ) interval late in step n, results in a large area of investigation, and,

hopefully, minimal wellbore effects. Gas relative permeability, kW, may be computed using

Eq. 5-8, which requires the stabilized producing GOR measured for the rate step, n. All other
parameters i n Eq. 5-8 should be evaluated at the mean flowing pressure defined by Eq. 5-21.

- 93 533 Saturation Equations

The stepwise decrease in sandface oil saturation cornsponds to a stepwise increase in

producing oil

rate.

A l l simulated multiple-rate tests showed that adjustment of the sandface

saturation takes less than a few minutes, after which sandface saturation nearly stabfizes u n t i l the next rate step. T h e stabiition might take as long as ten or twenty minutes for low flow rates, but takes less and less time as the flow rate gets higher. Figure 5-2 presents sandface saturation vs. time for a simulated multiple-rate test.

The pressure-saturation relations, Eqs. 5-9 and 5-10, were applied here, but differently
from t h e approach used by B$e et al. (1981). In their work, they used laboratory relative permeability cu~yesto compute a continuous change in sandface saturatio~ with flowing bottomhole pressure. In this work, a single relative permeabiity value was determined for each rate step using Eqs. 5-19 and 5-8. This estimate of phase relative permeability cornsponds to an unknown stabilized saturation for each rate step. No relative permeabii information is obtained in the saturation range between rate steps. Therefore, the B e et al. relation can not
be used as such to compute the continuous change in saturation from previous to m n t stabilized saturations. Rather, their relation may be used t o compute only the stabiized saturation of

each rate step using the corresponding relative permeability obtained. Simulated multiple-rate tests showed a rapid change in sandface saturation with a change in oil rate, as shown in Fig. 5-2. Since the saturation change is almost instantaneous (less than five minutes for the cases simulated), Eq. 5-10 was assumed to apply for solution gasdrive reservoirs. Equation 5-9 is applicable as well. Such presswe-saturation relations are USBd only

to compute the stabilized oil saturation values at which the relative permeabilities have been
obtained using Eqs. 5-19 and 5-8.

The pressure-saturation relation, Eq. 5-10, may be used to compute the stabilized phase
saturations of any step, n, using two levels of input data. The first data level is the stabilized
relative permeabilities-saturation values for step n-1, together with the flowing bottomhole pressure just before the start of step n, and the second data level is the stabilized relative

-9 4 permeabilities for step n, with the flowing bottomhole pressure soon after the start of step n. The pressure drops just after the instantaneous saturation change. The simulation runs showed that for low starting rates, an appropriate time a t which to take this pmsure is between 0.5 and
3 minutes after the rate change. For high rates, the pressure may be talcen a& less than 0.5

minute after t h e rate change. In most of the applications reported in this work, 05 minute was used for the early low rates and 5 t o 10 seconds was used for the late high rates. This early pressure response prevents possible underestimation of Q. 5-10 that could happen if the late pressm response was to be used, see Bt$e et al. (1981).
As discussed in Section 5.2.2 for drawdown testing, simple iteration with Eq. 5-10 yields

a new stabilized oil saturation. The same process is repeated for step n+l. The two le rels of input data are now those for steps n and Wl, and the unknown is the stabilized saturation for step n+l. The saturation relations, Eq 5-9 or 5-10, can be used to obtain an estimate of stabilized saturation for each rate step. Each of these stabilized saturations has its own estimated stabilized relative permeability. Therefore, the resulting relative permeability curves a~ made up of a number of data points equal to the number of rate steps.
5.4 Test Procedure

Figure 5-3 presents a typical pressure and rate data during a multiple-rate test. The main
r e : aspects of the test a
1)

The well is produced at a series of constant o i l rates increasing in steps with time. The length of each rate step is determined based on the radius to be investigated and the time needed to minimize afterflow.

2)

Stabilized oil and gas rates are measured at the surface for each rate step. Pressure versus time is monitored throughout the entire test.

3)

- 95 -

loo00

I
Oil Rate, STJ3/D

Pressure Response ,psi-

0' 0

6
TIME,

10

12

hrs

Figure 5.3:

Pressure and flow rate for a multiple-rate test

-965 5 Test Analysis

The proposed approach was derived for solution gas-drive reservoirs assuming a uniform

saturation distribution at the start of the test. The effects of coning, f i n g e w and segregated flow on t h e proposed technique were not investigated in this w o k Initial input parameters required for the method a~ the initial average presswe, initial average saturations, initial relative penneabiities and the absolute penneability. If an estimate of the absolute permeabiity is not available from single-phase tests, the proposed technique

results in estimates of the effective permeabiities versus saturation. These values can be used
to estimate the absolute p e r m e a b , as i will be discussed in a later section.

Some of the initial input parameters can be obtained with the help of other types of well
tests, e.g. a buildup test run after a pseudosteady state flow period. Such a buildup test, when

analyzed using the proposed approach discussed in Section 4, results in estimates of average drainage area effective oil

p e m e a b w . An average effective gas permeabii can also be

obtained, using the pseudosteady state producing GOR before shutin, and average reservoir

o produce average relative pressure in Eq. 5-8. The effective phase permeabilities can be used t
permeabilities when divided by the absolute permeabiity. The average values of relative permeabilities can then be used with the k, - S results of a previous multiple-rate test to estimate the comsponding average reservoir saturation (average reservoir saturation can also be obtained through material balance). The average v flues of saturation and relative penneabilities can then be used as initial input parameters for a following multiple-rate test covering another

range in phase saturations.

Investigation showed that values of saturations obtained were relatively insensitive t o the initial relative permeability values r e q u i r e d to estimate the phase saturations for the first rate

step. Hence, laboratory relative penneabity values may be used to obtain the saturation value
of the first rate step, if reservoir values are not available. The proposed analysis can be used to produce a single k,-S data point for each rate step.

This data point represents stabilized conditions after an early adjustment period. To summarize

- 97 t h e method, the following procedure is recommended for each rate step, n:

1) Stabized relative permeabilities are estimated using: Eq. 5-19 for s t a b i l i z e d bo, and Eq.
5-8 for stabilized kg,
2)

The corresponding stabilized sandface saturation is estimated using Eq. 5-9, or Eq. 5-10.

5.6 Numerical Applications

The validity of the proposed technique was investigated for several two-phase multiplerate t e s t s . These tests were simulated for both homogeneous and composite systems. For the homogeneous case, a single set of relative penneabiity curves represented the entire drainage

area. The composite system had two sets of relative permeability curves applying for different
regions of the drainage area. All other rock properties were considered homogeneous.
5.6.1 Discretization
An o i l reservoir is usually considered a physically continuous entity. However, numerical

modeling represents discrete volumes over increments of time.

The proposed analysis technique uses the derivative of the pressure response. An objective of this work was to reduce discretization errors to a degree where practical accuracy could

be obtained. In all the simulation runs, short time steps were chosen. The time step started
with 1 K 2minute and ended within the range of 0.25 t o 1.25 minutes. When longer time steps

of around 15 t o 20 minutes were used, results were found to be sensitive t ot h e time interval

used in Eq. 5-20.

- 98 5.62 Homogeneous System

A one-dimensional, @block radial model was

consmcted using the ECLIPSE simulator.

This model was then used t o verify the proposed approach. A l l simulation runs used the PVT

properties reported by B4e et aL(1981). In homogeneous systems, multiple-rate tests were generated using a single set of relative

permeabii curves describmg the whole drainage area. Following is a detailed analysis of the aPpliCatiOIE3.
Case 1 :Corey-Type Relative Permeability

The following Corey-type (1954) relative permeability relations were used:

kro = ( s : )3"
(5-22)
(5-23)

k , = 0 . 9 ( 1 - s.,
where :

)*eo

and:

s ,

= 0.20

Each multiple rate test covered a range of 8-1596 change in sandface saturation. Therefore,

three multiple-rate tests were simulated at different stages of depletion to cover a total range of
35% in gas saturation. Input data common to a l l three tests are given in Table 5-1. Following is a demonstration of the test analysis explained in Section 5.5. Relative permeabilities and the corresponding saturation are calculated for one rate step of the first multiple-rate test.

Table 5.1: General input data for the three tests (Case 1)

parametea

Input value

Wellbore Radius

0 . 3 ft.
0.15

Fbmsity
Rock Compressibility
Oil Density
Gas Density

3 . 0 x 10- psi-'
45.0 Lb/SCF

0.068735 Lb/SCF.
10 md.
150 f t

Absolute Permeability

Thickness

Relative Permeabilities: Rate-pressure data from t h e first test, as well as the starting conditions, are presented in Table 5-2. Oil relative permeability is evaluated using Eq. 5-19 expressed a s : 162.6

[k]P4

-kh

a Pwf

The pressure-summation derivative was evaluated by choosing a short time interval within the considered rate step. For example, the time interval was taken to be ( 0 . 0 4 4to 0.05 day) within

the first rate step which extended to 0.05 day. Using Eq. 5-20 expressed a s :

where r l was 0.044 day and f2 was 0.05 day, the following was obtained:

1 (
The 0,BJ

an e n n

= 0.06413

a n n in Eq. 5-19 is estimated at [ pWf(tl) + p d ( f 2 ) ] / 2 = 5546.85 psi to be

0.53798 cp RF%/STB.Substituting this value and others (k and h given in Table 5.2) in Eq. 519, the relative pemeability at 5546.85 psi flowing pressure was found to b e :
so

162.6 OS3798 = 0,9093 10x150 0.06413

Using this calculated o i l relative permeability, gas relative permeability may be obtained using

Eq. 5-8 expressed a s :

- 101 Table 5.2: Data of first test (Case 1) Step No.

1

40, S T B P
500

MSCFISTB
1.47

D
0.0007 0.003 0.008 0.013 0.0 18 0.038

P, psia
5604.46 5584.79 5571.32 5564.69 5560.21 5549.78 5547.74 5545.96 5435.99 5414.66 5401.08 5392.08 5386.39 5312.46 5368.92 5366.12 5119.23 5065.42 5033.22 5015.84 5003.50 4974.82 4967.71 4961.5 1 5 119.23 4334.07 4201.99 4111.01 4053.58 4024.40 3957.57 394 1.87 3926.93 3474.51 2893.69 2657.27 2483.17 2414.32 2357.89 2250.56 2235.28 2218.36

0 . 0 4 4
2 1000 1.46 0.05 0.0507 0.053 0.058 0.063

0 . 0 6 8
0.088

0.094
3
2000 1.48 0.10 0.1007 0.103 0.108 0.113 0.1 18 0.138 0.144 0.15 0. 1500289 0.1507 0.153 0.158 0.163 0.168 0.188 0.194 0.20 0.2000289 0.2007 0.203 0.208 0.2 13 0.218 0.238 0.244 0.25

4000

1.66

2.12

Initial Pressure = 5703 psi Initial Oil Saturation = 100 %

- 102Table 53: Relative permeabilities for first test (Case 1)

I
P
D
1

ReSUltS
km

I
krl

(a1.
P &

Pa
5547.74 5368.92 4%7.71 3941.87 2235.28

D
0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25

0.044 0 . 0 9 4
0.144 0.194
0.244

5545.96 5366.12 4%151 3926.93 2218.36

0.90934
0.8598 0.7474 0.6886 0.6053

9.466e-04 2.544e-03 6.133e-03 1.52 14e-02 2.532e-02

2 3
4

Table 5 . 4 O i l saturations for first test (Case 1)

1
Step No.
p (tl).

Results
so2

kml

k,,l

Sol

p(
psia

1 ,

km2

k-2

P h
1

5703.0
5545.96

1.0 0.909 0.859 0.747

0.0
9.47 2.54e-03 6.13e-03 1.52e-02

1.0 0.986 0.97 0.936

5604.97 5435.99 5119.23 4651.85 3474.57

0 . 9 0 9
0.859 0.747 0.6886

9.47e-04
2.54e-03

0.986
0.97

3
4

5366.12 4%1.99 3926.93

6.13e-03 1.52-02 2.53e-02

0.936
0.894

0.6886

0.894

0.6053

0 . 8 3 4

- 103 For first rate step, GOR was 1.47 MSCF/!jB, and other PVT data were taken at 5546.85 psi flowing pressure and substituted as follows:
= (1.47 - 1.438) ( 0.01774 )(0.9093) = 9.466~100.53798

For the first rate step, the resulting estimate of the o i l relative permeability was 0.9093 and that for the gas relative permeability was 9.466~10- . The same calculations were repeated for other rate steps whose pressure-rate data are given in Table 5-2. Test data used in Eqs. 5-19 and 5-8 as well as the resulting estimates of relative permeabilities are summarized in Table 53 for all rate steps.

Phase Saturations: After calculating the relative permeabilities for any rate step, the comsponding phase saturations may be calculated using Eqs. 5-9 or simply Eq. 5-10. Equation 5-10 is:

a. -4J

ab - a @ up- ad

which can be written in expanded form a s :

Such an equation requires two levels of input data. The initial level is at the starting values of

i l and gas saturations and o i l and gas relative penneabilities. The next level is the pressure, o
very early flowing pressure of the rate step together with its calculated relative penneabilities. The only unknown is the stabilized oil saturation during the rate step, which can be obtained
through an iterative procedure. An initial guess of the o i l saturation change, A So during the

rate step is used. If the two sides of Eq. 5-10, equate to each other, then the guess is correct Otherwise, this guess is either increased or decreased and the iteration is repeated until
Eq. 5-10 is satisfied.

- 104The following is a demonstration of the iterative process applied to the fim rate step of the first test. The initial pressure was 5703.0 psi and the early flowing pressure was 5604.97 psi. The starting relative permeabilities were 1.0 for the oil and 0.0 for the gas, while the relative permeabilities calculated for this first rate step were 0.909 for the oil and 9.47~10- for
the gas. The initial oil saturation was 10096, and the stabilized saturation of this first rate step

was t o be determined iteratively using Eq. 5-10. Using these values along with a porosity

n Table 5-1). an initial guess for A So was taken t o be 0.002. The convalue of 0.15 (given i
vergence criteria for the iteration was that the two sides of Eq. 5-10 equate t o each other
within a tolerance of 2x10-

'.

when an iteration did not converge, A So was increased by

another 0 . 0 0 2 . A total of seven iterations were needed to m e r g e in the first rate step, with a total saturation change of 0.014. Therefore, the stabilized o i l saturation for the l i r s t rate step of the first test was 0.986. The oil saturation obtained for the first step along with corresponding relative permeabilities were then used as starting values for the second step. The starting pressure of the second step was 5545.96 psi, and the early flowing pressure was 5435.99. The relative permeabiities

h e second step are also given in Table 5.3. A similar iterative process was also calculated for t
performed for this rate step as well as the others. The data used in the iteration process of Eq.
5-10 together with the resulting saturations are presented in Table 5-4.

Results:
The other two tests were also analyzed following the same steps. Tables 5-5 through 5-7 present results for the second test, and Tables 5-8 through 5-10 present results for the third
test. The

relative pemeability-saturation results of the three tests are shown in Fig. 5-4, as

well as the reservoir simulation input data curves. A good comparison between input and calculated results was obtained over t h e entire saturation range.

- 105 Table 5.5 Data of second test (Case 1)

.p No. 1
t

P
psi
4534.32 4515.67 4475.55

D
0.000347 0.0007 0.003 0.008 0.013 0.018 0.038

4449.0
4436.57 4427.57 4406.52 4402.42 4398.86 420 1.85 4178.61 4129.63 4095.84 4076.61 4062.98 4030.93 4024.40 4018.58 375 1.61 3408.49 3300.84 3 196.3 1 3143.21 3104.80 3025.15 3008.% 2994.49 2585.02 17%.0 1266.50 1056.91 955.46 666.77

0 . 0 4 4
2

0.05 0.050347 0.0507 0.053 0.058 0.063 0.068 0.088

0 . 0 9 4
3
0.10 0.1000289 0.1007 0.103 0.108 0.113 0.118 0.138 0.144 0.15 0. 1500289 0.1507 0.157 0.162 0.167 0.187 0.193 0.1990

608.34
560.54

Initial pressure = 4700 psi, Initial gas sahmtion = 14 9 6 . Initial oil saturation = 86 9 6 .

- 106Table 5.6: Relative permeabilities for second test ( C a s e 1)

I
Step No.
1

Data used in Eq. 5-19

tl

1
P W )

Results

P(11)
psi

f2

Psi

0.044

4402.31

0 . 0 5

4398.75 4018.66 2 9 9 4 . 8 1 5 5 7 . 2 0

2
3

0.094 4024.48 0 . 1 4 4 0 . 1 9 4 3009.28 606.12

I 1
0 . 1 0 0 . 1 5 0 . 2 0

40 . 4 9 0 3 0.4685

3.381e-02 4.035e-02

2
0 . 2 7 8

Table 5.7: Oil saturations for second test (Case 1)

I
I

Data used in Eq. 5-10

1 1
3
~~~

I 2 I 4398.75 I 0.49 I 3.3&-02 I

4018.66
~~ ~

I
I

4700

1
I

0 . 5 3

I
I

2.7%-03

1
I

0 . 8 6
0.844

I
I

4573.08

1
I

0 . 4 9

I
I

3.38e-02

I
I

0.844

0 . 4 6 8
~

4.Oe-02
~~ ~

I 4255.02 I 0.468 I 4.Oe-02 I

0.8276
~~

1
~

3751.27
~~

0 . 4 2 6 0 . 2 7 8

5.44e-02

0*8276

0 . 7 9 8 0.763

3751.27

0 . 4 2 6

5.44e-02

0.798

2585.02

1 . 2 2 6 e -0 1

-107Table 5.8: Data of the third test (Case 1).

tep No.

GOR

t
&YS

P
psia

Msc4s-m
1

500

2 2 . 5 0

0.000349 0.0007 0 . 0 0 3
0 . 0 0 8

3756.86 3 6 % . 2 5 3590.93 3 5 2 8 . 2 3 3493.02 3467.07 3407.08 3395.91 3386.25 2916.77 2408.67 2302.52 2214.23 2045.03 1908.22 1823S O 1 6 5 3 . 1 8 1 5 7 3 . 3 6 1540.77

0 . 013

0.018 0.038
0 . 0 4 4

0 . 0 5
2

1000

3 9 . 6 9

0.05003 0.050347 0.0507 0 . 0 5 3 0 . 0 5 8 0 . 0 6 3

0.068

0 . 0 8 8
0 . 0 9 4

0 . 1 0

Initial Pressure = 4200 psi Initial gas saturation = 2 . 8 96 Initial oil saturation = 72 96

~-

- 108Table 5.9: Relative permeabilities for third test (Case 1)

Data used in Eq. 5-19

Step No.

rl

p ( tl )

t 2

psi

0 . 0 4 4
0 . 0 9 4

I I

3 3 9 5 . 9 1 1 5 7 3 . 3 6

I I

0 . 0 5 0 . 1 0

l---t-1 5 4 0 . 7 7
I

0.1376

1.558e-01I

Table 5.10: Oil saturations for third test (Case 1)

Data used in

m.5-10
I
~~ ~

2 1 1 /
0 . 2 9

I I I
0.249
4200*0 3756.86

1.063e-01 0 . 8 6

1 . 2 2 6 e -0 1

I I I 1
0.6886

3756.86

0 . 2 1

I 1.226e-01
1 . 5 2 e 0 1

3386.25

0.1376

0.6886

-109-

Test ## 1

0.5 -

Test # 2 Test ## 3

0.5

0 . 6

0 . 7 0.8 OIL SATURATION

0.9

Figure 5.4:

Relative permeabilities f r o m the three tests (Case 1)

- 110Case 2: Straight Line Relative Permeability

Exploring the limits of the technique, the following set of relative permeability was used t o simulate a multiple-rare test

curyes

krl

Sl

(5-24)

Here I stands for both o i l and gas phases. The input data for the model in this case is given in Table 5-11. Results are presented in Tables 5-12 through 5-14, and graphed in Fig. 5-5, which shows good agreement with the input relative penneabilities. Sensitivity of the proposed analysis technique to a possible error in the value of initial reservoir saturation was

tested.

Analysis of this test was repeated using an input value of 97

9b for the initial o i l saturation, that is 3 96 less than the correct value. Such an e m r did not

introduce any change in estimated relative permeabities. The reason was t h a t SatuIiition is not used in Eqs. 5-8 and 5-19 t o calculate relative permeabilities On the other hand, it resulted in approximately 3 9b constant shifts for all saturations obtained using Eqs. 5.9 or 5.10 (see Fig. 5-6). This s h i f t was equal to the e m r introduced in initial o i l saturation. Case 3: Quadratic Relative Permeability Another attempt to test the technique was to consider the case when:

4 1 =s :
Here I stands for both o i l and gas phases.

(5-25)

The general input data for the model for this case is given in Table 5-15. The test started

at the bubble point pressure, pb = 5703 pia. Test data and results are given in Tables 5-16

through 5-18. Figure 5-7 presents the resulting relative permeability-saturation

reasonable agreement was obtained.

c u r v e s .

Again

- 111 Table 5.11: Input data (Case2)

Parameter

In

ut value

10 md.

Table 5.12: D a t a of the test (Case 2)

S&/D

GOR MSCF/STB
2.33

P
Psi
5472.75 5310.3 5240.86 5189.4 5165.85 5149.78 5112.99 5105.44 5099.23 4855.58 4654.65 4565.30 4494.16 4459.62 4436.33 4376.93 4365.02 4354.60 3749.36 3 196.78 2935.83 2745.02 2633.42 2562.68 2379.31 2344.13 2312.83

D
0.000029 0.0007 0.003 0.008 0.013 0.018 0.038

500

0.044
1000 3.90
0.05 0.050029 0.0507 0.053 0.058 0.063

~~

2000

5.56

0.068 0.088 0 . 0 9 4 0.10 0.100029 0.1007 0.103

0.108 0.113 0.1 18 0.138 0.144 0.15

Initial pressure = 5703 psi, Initial oil saturation = 100 %.

- 112 Table 5-13: Relative permeabilities for the test (Case 2)

Data used in Q. 5-19

Step No.

1 2
3

0.044 0.094

I
0.144

I l

5105.44 4365.02 2344.13

I l

0.05
0.10

0.15

Table 5.14: Oil saturations for the test (Case 2)

0.5

0.7

0.8 0.9 OIL SATURATION

Relative permeability vs. oil saturation (Case 2)

Figure 5.5:

E 1 -

.
0.5

.
00 . 7
0.8 0.9 OIL SATURATION

Figure 5.6:

The test of Case 2 repeated with a 3 % emf in starting oil saturation

- 114 Table 5.15: Input data (Case 3)

Table 5.16: Data of the test (Case 3)

t

D
o.Ooo349 0.003 0.008 0.013 0.0 18 0.038 0.044 0.05 0.050349 0.053 0.063 0.088

P psi
5637.26 5616.33 5606.7 5602.06 5598.88 5591.56 5590.12 5588.85 5519.44 5498.67 5483.01 5468.61 5466.51

0 . 0 9 4
0.10 0.100349 0.103 0.1 13 0.138 0.144 0.15 0. 150349 0.1507 0.153 0.163 0.188 0.194 0.20 0.2000289 0.2007 0.203 0213 0.238

5464.64
5317.24 5270.55 5239.55 5212.78 5208.5 1 5204.75 4896.74 4861.57 4787.85 4709.63 4650.18 4641.25 4633.02 4443.46 4230.39 4150.11 4053.16 3968.78 3956.07 3944.58 3727.04 3463.25 3358.08 3231.14 3204.21 3105.54 3088.74

0.244
0.25 0.2500289 0.2507 0.253 0.263 0.268 0.294 0.30

- 115 Table 5.17: Relative permeabilities for the test (Case3)

Data used in Eq. 5-19

Step No.

ReSUlts
p

tl

p ( tl )

t2

( t 2)
psi

k,

k'l

D
1
0.044
0.094

psi

D
0 . 0 5

5590.12 5 4 6 6 . 5 1

5588.85 5464.64 5204.75

I

0.963 0.9648 0.9078

4.83e-04 1 . 6 7 e 0 3

2
3

0 . 1 0

1
I

0 . 1 4 4

I
I

5208.51

I 1
0 . 1 5
I I

1
I

3.899e-03 9.55e-03 1.58e-02 2.09e-02

I 0.194 I 4641.25 I 0.20 I 4633.02 I 0.8535 I

0.244

5
6

3956.07

0 . 2 2

3944.6 3088.74

0.849 0 . 7 7 3

0.294

3105.54

I I
0 . 3 0

I I

Table 5.18: O i l saturations for the test (Case3)

I
P (tl)
kol

Data used in Eq. 5-10

k,,1

Sol

P( 1 2 )

5703.0 5585.85

1 . 0 0.963

0 . 0

1 . 0 0 . 9 8 8

5637.26 5519.44

2
3

4.83e-04

I
I

5464.64 0.964

1.67e-03 0 . 9 7 6

I 5204.75 I 0.908 I 3.9e-03 I 0.952 I 4896.74

I 1

I
I

I
I

5317.24 0.908 0 . 8 5 5 0 . 8 4 9
I

I
I

3.9e-03

I
I
I

0.952 0 . 9 1
o-88 0 . 8 5

I
I

I 9.55e-03 I
1.58e-02 2.m-02

3944.58

0.849

1.58e-02 0 . 8 8

3727.04

0 . 7 7 3

- 116 -

0.5

Results

0.7

0 . 8

0.9 OIL SATURATlON

1
-

Figure 5.7:

Relative permeability vs. oil saturation (Case 3)

- 117 5.63 Composite System The relative permeabiity technique developed in this section implicitly assumes the following two conditions:
1)

the entire drainage area is described by a single set of relative permeability curves, and fluid properties are uniform over the entire drainage area. While the second condition may be reasonably correct in many cases, the first condition

2)

may fail because of rock heterogeneity and wettabiity changes. Heterogeneities cause variation in relative permeability, and can be divided into small scale and large-scale heterogeneities. Relative permeability changes noticed in a laboratory using different cores from the same well are typical examples of the influence of small-scale heterogeneities. Examples of large-scale heterogeneities composite, or layered reservoirs. with completely different rela-

tive permeabiity behavior in each of the regions or layers. Single-phase homogeneous models average small scale changes of absolute permeability. However, for large-scale heterogeneities, different models have been developed for more complex systems, such as composite, layered, or fractured reservoirs as reviewed by Earlougher
(1977). The same overall approach can be extended to non-uniform relative permeabiity

within well drainage area. This is the type of heterogeneity considered in this section. As a test of t h e proposed technique to a more complex problem, the model presented earlier was used used t o analyze two multiple-rate tests in simulated composite relative permeability reservoirs. The theory of single-phase well testing in reservoirs with composite absolute permeability is well documented in the literature. For example, Ambastha and Ramey (1987) reported that the early pressure response reflects inner region properties, while the late response reflects outer region properties. The same rule was found here t o apply to the case of composite relative permeability systems.

Simulated Examples

The proposed relative permeability technique works well for both small and large inner

h e response, regions. For small inner region, the effects of the outer region quickly dominate t
resulting in outer region relative permeabilities. For large inner region, the outer region may not be felt u n t i l much later in t h et e s t , resulting in inner region relative permeabilities. Following are two examples simulated in composite relative permeability systems. The first was run for a system with a 2.5 ft radius inner region, and the second was run for a system w i t h a 600

ft radius inner region. For both examples, the total reservoir radius was 3300 ft.
Example 1 2.5 ft Inner Region

The one-dimensional, radial, two-phase model, discussed before was divided i n t o two regions with two different sets of relative permeabilities. The inner 2.5 f t radius region was

n Eqs. 5-22 and 5-23. The outer represented by Corey-type relative permeability relations, as i
region was described by a quadratic relative permeability relation, defined by Eq. 5-25. All other rock properties were the same for both regions. The average gas saturation at the start of the test was 10 96, and increased at the sandface to 20 % by the end of the test. Table 5-19 presents the relative permeabiZity calculations, while Table 5-20 shows the saturation results from each of the flow rate steps. The resulting estimates of the relative permeabilities graphed i n Fig. 5-8 were found t o match the quadratic relative permeabilities of the outer region. This indicates that the response of the outer region quickly dominated the response of the small inner region. Hence, the effects of such small regions die quickly, and do not prevent the use of the relative

p e r m e a b m interpre-

tation technique. This application demonstrates one of the advantages of the proposed technique over laboratory methods. When the inner region extends further in the reservoir, but is

still small, the rate step could be made longer to allow the effects of the inner region to die.

- 119 Table 5.19: Relative permeabilities for the composite system

5 2 0 2 . 3 psi 10%

1
Step No.
qo

Data used in Eq. 5-19

tl D

Results

I
I

STBP

500.0 1OOO.O
2NMl.O

0.14584 0.29584 0.44584 0.59584 0.74584

4996.31 4762.94 4246.30 3618.47

I 0.15 I 4995.93 I 0.794% I

1.385e-02

2
3

I I
0 . 3 0 0 . 4 5

4762.33 4245.01

0.7515 0.7115

1.68&-021 2.346e-02

4 5

3OOO.O
4OOO.O

I 1

0 . 6 0 3616.67

w
3.61e-02

Table 5.20: O i l saturations for the composite system

Data used in

m.5-10
5 0 8 6 . 0 7

I I
I

0.795

I I
I

1.385e-02

I I
I

0.885

I
I
1

4639.74

0 . 7 11

2.346eQ2

0.854

0.7

0.8 0.9 OIL SATURATION

Figure 5.8 :

Relative permeability vs. oil saturation for the composite system, Example 1

0.5

0 0.7

0.8 0.9 OIL SATURATION

Figure 5.9 :

Relative permeability vs. oil saturation for the composite system, Example 2

- 121 Example 2 600 f't Inner Region

The one-dimensional, radial two-phase model used t o simulate Example 1, was also used for this example with the following changes. The inner region was 600 ft radius, and had the quadratic relative permeability relations defined by Eq. 5-25. For this example, the outer region relative permeabiilities were represented by Corey-type relative permeabiiity relations, as

in E ~ s 5-22 . and 5-23.

The multiple-rate test was repeated at the same starting saturation and pressure of Example 1. The d t i n g relative permeability curves are shown in Fig. 5.9. As can be seen, the effects of the outer region did not appear until late in t h e test. Such a test could be repeated
with shorter rate step periods i n order to reduce t h e outer region effects.

- 122 5.7 Estimation of the Absolute Permeability

Both the pressure and pressure-squared methods described in Section 4 result in estimates of effective phase permeabiities. If the reservoir average saturation is known, and the corresponding resewoir relative permeability is available, an estimate of the absolute pemeability can be obtained. Raghavan's method for solution gas-drive reservoirs, extended in Section 6 to three-phase flow reservoirs, is reasonable if reservoir relative permeabilities are u s e d . Therefore, unless single-phase tests are available, estimation of absolute permeability will require the (yet to be found) reservoir relative permeability. The relative permeability technique yields effective permeabilities as functions of saturation if absolute permeability is not known. When the technique is applied to a multiple-rate

test, the effective permeabilities can be obtained for a 10 - 15 % change in the sandface saturation. At a later stage of depletion, the test can be repeated to cover further saturation ranges. Results of one or more tests can be used to estimate the absolute permeability. The wetting phase effective permeabilities for the saturation range tested can be matched by the following relation:

k, =k(S,)"

(5-26)

Here, w refers to the wetting phase.

A regression match of the data with

Eq. 5-26 can be obtained for the wetting phase

effective permeabilities over the entire range of tested saturation. This match should result in both the absolute permeability, k, and an exponent, n'. Since the saturation i n Eq. 5-26 is not normalized, the exponent obtained is not the same as that in the Corey-type equation

(Eq.

5.22). In general, the absolute permeability obtained falls in a range of acceptable accuracy, as
will be seen in the following two examples.

Results of this approach can be improved as more multiple-rate tests are analyzed to cover large saturation ranges. If a long segment of the wetting phase effective permeability

- 123 curve is available, more representative relations would result from the match. It may also be possible to use other relative permeability relations (e.g. Chierici, 1984). This kind of match may yield both the absolute permeability and the residual wetting phase saturation. The absolute permeability obtained is sensitive to the accuracy of multiple-rate test results. Nevertheless, this application of the relative permeability technique offers a direct method to estimate reservoir absolute permeability.

Example 1
Table 5-21 shows the results of the f h t test (Case 1) previously reported. This test started at the bubble point pressure which declined to form an oil-gas region mund the wellbore. Therefore, normal (pressw or pressure squared approaches) analysis may result in underestimated absolute permeability. The wetting phase (oil) relative permeability m e used
to generate the test data was:

where:

s :

- 0.20 ) ( 1 - 0.20 )
( s,

Therefore, the input wetting phase effective permeability curves used to generate the first test

were:
hi+, = 10.0 ( s :
)3.3

Where, the input absolute permeability is 10.0 md.

A regression fit by Eq. 5-26 results i n both k and n', but here. In t h i s example. approxi-

mate results were obtained using only two points in E q . 5-26. When the first two points of Table 5-21 were used, the following was obtained:

n' = 3.458

- 124 k = 9.544 md.

The resulting absolute permeability is in good agreement with the input value of 10.0 md.

Example 2

Table 5-22 shows the results from the second test (Case 1) previously discussed. The wetting phase (oil) relative permeability m e used in Test 1 was also used to generate t h i s
test.

When a regression fit was performed using all points in Table 5-22, the following values
for the parameters were obtained:

? = 4.925 i
k = 11.71 md.
The estimate obtained for absolute permeability compared reasonably with the 10 md input value. This application of the proposed technique demonstrates a way t o estimate the absolute permeability of multiphase resexvoirs.

-125-

Table 531: Effective permeability saturation results for the first test (Case 1)

El
0.936 7.47

Table 5-22: Effective permeability saturation results for

the second test (Case 1)

so

k o .
md
4.90 4.68 4.26 2.78

0.844
0.8276 0.798 0.763

- 1266. RELATIVE PERMEABILITY TECHNIQUE FOR THREE-PHASE

FLOW RESERVOIRS
Simultaneous flow of oil and gas in the presence of mobile water can be described by three-phase relative permeabilities. Three-phase flow occurs during carbon dioxide injection, steam drive, in-situ combustion, and other EOR prwxsses. Three-phase flow also occuls for reservoirs producing by simultaneous gas and water drive. When produced by water drive, solution gasdrive reservoirs encounter three-phase flow.
This Section describes an extension of the relative permeability technique (discussed in

Section 5 for two-phase flow) to three-phase flow reservoirs. The three-phase diffusivity equation was derived in terms of the pseudopressure function, m (p). This equation was then solved and supexposed to obtain the multiple-rate transient solution in tern of m @), the basis of the three-phase relative pexmeabiity equations. Following an approach similar to that of B@ et al. (1981). equivalent three-phase pressure-saturation equations were derived to permit calcu-

lations of the sandface saturations.

The proposed approach was investigated with several multiple-rate tests generated using

t h e ECLIPSE simulator. These tests covered a range of 30 96 in both oil and gas saturations.
6.1 Pseudopressure Solution for Three-phase Flow

The three-phase flow equations, given in Eqs. 4-1 to 4-3,may be expressed a s :

for oil:

v . [avp]
for gas:

= k

at

v . [a vp]

k at

and for water.

where:
a, B, a, b were defined i n Eqs. 2-27, 2-28, 2-30 and 2-39 respectively. Other parametem

are defined as follows:

y=

sw LB W

These flow equations neglect both gravity and capillary effects. It was also assumed t h a t

o i l does not evaporate into the gas phase, and that gas does not dissolve in the water phase.
The resewoir was assumed to be homogeneous and isotmpic. Following a treatment simiiar to that of B+e et

al. (1981) for a solution gas-drive reser-

voir, the three-phase pseudopressure function, m@), can take any of the following definitions:

Equation 6-6 represents constant oil rate, Eq. 6-7 applies for constant liquid rate, and Eq. 6-8 applies for constant total rate. In the following derivation, Eq. 6-6 constant oil rate, is used for the inner boundary condition For simplicity, mob) will be written as m@). The Boltvnan transformation was applied to the flow equations in terns of m@). The

- 128 Boltzman transform variable, y, is defined a s :

y =

4 2
4kt

Equation 6-1 can be written for radial flow a s :

(6-10)

which can be expressed using the Boltzman transform, a s :

(6-11)

and reduced to:

(6-12)
However, from Eq. 6-6:

(6-13)
The variable g is a function of pressure and any two of the time saturations. Hence:

(6-14)
where the following definitions apply for any three phase parameter, x3:

x;=

[2]sJa

(6-15-a)
(6-15-b)
(6-15-C)

Substituting Eqs. 6-13 and 6-14 in Eq. 6-12 results in:

- 129 (6-16)

which can be rewritten a s :

Using the following definition:

**

[f]

[p*+

( I a (ip 0

-+ p*

a 1

(6-18)

Equation 6-17 can be written a s :

(6-19)

The term (c / (c /

A)** is the three-phase compressibility-mobility ratio, which corresponds to

constant,

X ) * for solution gas-drive reservoirs. When (c / A)** is assumed

Eq. 6-19

becomes a linear equation in terms of me). Equation 6-19 can be solved using standard procedures for single-phase pressure equations. The line source solution can be written, in field units, a s :
70.6 qo kh

m@,,,$ = m@i)+

.[-

569OO 4 kt

(6-20)

If the logarithmic appmximation applies, Eq. 6-20 reduces t o :

(6-21)

where
=

0.000264 k t

4 (c / A)***

(6-22)

When Eq. 6-22 replaces Eq. 5-2,Eq. 6-21 derived for three-phase flow becomes identical
to Eq. 5-1 derived by B$e et a l . (1981)for solution gas-drive reservoirs.

- 1306.2 Relative Permeability Equations

The following multiple-rate solution can be obtaiied for three-phase flow reservoirs:

kh where:
q, : surface rate during step j,
fkl

3.2275 + 0.86895 s

(6-23)

: starting time of step j,

qn : the final rate&

When considering the response of a specific rate step, n, Eq. 6-23 simplifies t o : (6-24)

s : where C, is a constant defined a

C3=m(pJ 162.6 qn kh

3.2275 + 0.86895

(6-25)

Equation 6-24 is similar to Eq. 5-15 with C3defined by Eq. 6-25 replacing C2defined by

Eq. 5-16. Based on this, the o i l relative permeability equation is identical t o that for two-phase
systems and given by Eq. 5-19. Similarly, gas and water relative permeability equations are identical to Eqs. 5-8 and 5-12 respectively.
6.3 Saturation Equations

The three-phase saturation equations were derived, following a procedure similar to that applied by B$e at al. (1981) in deriving the two-phase saturation equations for solution gasdrive resetvoirs (which are Eqs. 5-9 and 5-10). The Boltzman transformation p e r m i t s to write the oil flow equation as (Eq. 6-12):

dy [ a 4 =

-y 4 dy i

(6-26)

- 131 Similarly the gas and water flow equations may be written a s : (6-27) (6-28) Any three-phase parameter, x3, is a function of the pressure and any two of the three phases

saturations. Hence, the total derivative is:

(6-29)
Or:

(6-30) The following definitions a~ also used i n the derivation: (6-3 1) Equation 6-27 can be rearranged to: (6-32) which can be written a s : (6-33) The derivatives of a and b i n Eq. 6-33 may be expanded, using Eq. 6-30:

- 132 which can be simplified, applying the definitions of Eq. 6-31, t o :

N [ i i

+
r

h -K + a * ~ + ] a -dv Y Y dy
1

(6-35) Grouping the terms of this equation, it reduces t o :

a dy g

+ N[d$

+b]

K[u$

+ b]
(6-36)

Similarly for the oil phase, Q. 6-13 leads t o :

+ ~ a - + + *= O
Also for water, Fq. 6-28 yields:

I*;
+

(6-37)

MT

N[i$

yrtr

53

K[y

$ + 51
(6-38)

+ L y - + I ; ' = O

[*;
MT The term can be evaluated, using Eq. 6-38:
dy

+;[ $ +

i*]

(6-39)

- 133 Substitution of Eq. 6-39 into Eq. 6-36 yields:

Y
+ N U -

e.]- y [
b '

YE
Y

q-qr'"
1

1 I:
+
KU-

c*l
J

b]

.[a*

b*]

= o

which can be multiplied by

and factored to yield:

-K N {[uy

- ay]? +
a y*] ai]}

[y6 - .t]}
[y b*

[a* y

+ +

e*]}

" Y{ [ y . .

[yb8 - a < ] = 0

From the definitions of Eq. 6-31, the following hold:

If these relations are substituted into Eq. 6-41, the following results:

+
[yu- a

y]

[yb - a

41
1

Similarly, i f Eq. 6-39 is substituted into Eq. 6-37 the result is:

Na Y --

Ka

[#$.e.]

[y$+t]

[y*?+c*J

- 134 which, if multiplied by

2 and factored, yields:

N

N {[ya*

a?]

+ bb* -

ai*]}

" [y a ' - ay +
Y

.I

[yb'-a( I

This equation can be written a s :

Equating Eqs. 6 4 7 and 6 4 yields the following pressure-saturation relation for gas phase :
A = 11 -

ds

dP

where:

and:

[a

- y a*] E +
Y

[a

e* - y b*]

+ +

[yb-ac]
[u

[u f

- y u*]

e* - y b*]

(6-50)

- 135 Equation 6-48 may be substituted into Eq. 6-47 to obtain the following presm-saturation relation for the o i l phase:

(6-51)

Equations 6-48 and 6-51 for three-phase flow are equivalent to Eq. 5-9 for solution gasdrive reservoirs. While there is only one variable saturation for two-phase flow in Eq. 5-9, there are two variable saturations for three-phase flow described by Eqs. 6 4 8 and 6-5 1. Simultaneous iteration of both equations is necessary to yield the two unknowns (So and SB).
6.3.1 Early Time Period

At very early times, as t tends to zero, the Boltman transform variable, y, tends to
infinity.

Since N is bounded, the t e r m N tends to zero for the early producing times.

Therefore, Eq. 6 4 8 reduces t o :

A = Iv & I11

ds

(6-52)

where: (6-53) and: (6-54) Similarly, Eq. 6-51 reduces t o : (6-55)

- 136 Equations 6-52 and 6-55 provide three-phase pressure-saturations relations that apply at early times. Such equations may be used to estimate rapid changes in sandface saturations that occur

i r s t few minutes of a well test. within the f

6.4 Numerical Applications
A one-dimensional, 40-block radial model was constructed using t h e ECLIPSE simulator.

This model was then used to test the proposed approach for a homogeneous system.
Multiple-rate tests were generated using a single set of relative permeability curves describing

the entire drainage area. A l l simulation runs used the PVT properties reported by B+e et a l .
(1981). In general, the proposed approach allows any phase relative permeability t o be a function

of any pair of phase saturations. This can be seen in the delinition of the total derivative of Eq.
6-30. Hence, this approach is likely to be more applicable t h a n probability models which con-

sider gas and water relative permeabilities t o depend only on their individual saturations. Three multiple-rate tests were simulated using the following o i l and gas relative permeability relations, defined as :

s* =

(6-56) (6-57)

s* = s;
Water relative permeabilities are presented in Table 6-1.

For all of the simulated tests, water saturation changed only slightly during each multiple-rate t e s t . Water saturation change should be more pronounced for situations where gas is allowed to dissolve in t h e water phase. All three multiple-rate tests were simulated at the same starting water saturation, S , =30%

. This mobile water saturation changed only within

the range of 28 - 30% at the sandface, during each test. The same initial water saturation was
used for all three tests to simplify the demonstration which covered a considerable range of gas
and o i l saturations at the sandface.

- 137 Three multiple-rate tests were simulated at different stages of depletion, but all were at the Same initial water saturation. These three tests covend a range of 30% gas and oil saturation changes. Relative permeabilities were evaluated using Eqs. 5-19, 5-8, and 5-12. Sandface saturations were estimated by a simultaneous iteration on Eqs. 6-52 and 6-55. Input data for all three tests is given in Table 6-2. The relative permeability results for the first test are pmented in Table 6-3, while the saturation results are shown in Table 6 4 . The corresponding tables for the second test are Tables 6-5 and 6-6, and those for the t h i r d test

are Tables 6-7 and 6-8. T h e resulting estimates of oil relative permeabilities for all the three
tests are plotted in Fig. 6-1, and compared with the input, "reservoir", data (curves). A reasonable match was obtained. Oil relative permeability is normally plotted on a ternary saturation diagram. However, for this simple demonstration, water saturation was almost constant for a l l

three tests. Therefore, o i l relative permeability was plotted against o i l saturation only. In general, oil relative permeability obtained by the proposed approach should contribute a part of the oil relative permeability ternary diagram. The resulting estimates of gas relative permeabilities are presented in Fig. 6-2, and found

t o be in good agreement with the input data cufves. Water relative permeability was equal to a
reasonably constant value of 0.018 throughout the tests. The obtained water relative permeability was in good agreement with the input value of 0.02, and was constant because water

saturation did not change much during these simulated tests. The proposed technique produced three-phase relative permeabilities of reasonable values.
A transient multiple-rate test may be run at any stage of depletion to cover a range of 10-15%

in fume gas saturation. Neither long production data, nor extrapolation is required for this method.

- 138 Table 6.1: Water relative permeability data for the three phase runs.

sw

R,
0 . 0
0 . 0 2 0 . 0 6
0.15
0.25

0 . 2
0 . 3
0 . 4
0.5

0 . 6

Table 6.2 : Input data for all three phase runs.

Input value

0 . 3ft
0.15

3 . 0 x 10- psi-'

20 md.
100 ft. 1 RbISTB

1 cp.

- 139 Table 63: Relative permeability for the fist test

Data used in Eqs. 5-19 and 5-8

Step No.
q.,

I
P(t2)

Results

tl

P(t1)

s,

kv

S T B D

D
0.044
0 . 0 9 4
0.144 0.194

psi
5477.75 5221.01 4663.03 3992.18 3170.83 2609.02

D
0.05

Psi
5475.03 5217.18 4654.77 3980.34 3155.92 2594.23 0.447 0.472 0.43 0.413 0.4 16 0.352 0.000714 0.0021 1 0.00486 0.0079 0.0133 0.0138

1 2 3 4 5 6

500
loo0 2000 3000 4000 4500

0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30

0.244
0.294

Table 6.4: O i l saturation for the first test

Data used in Eqs. 6-52 and 6-55
Step No. P (t1>
Sol

Results
km2 krl2 so2

P (t2)

psi
5703.0 5474.83 5216.71 4653.97 3978.29 3152.92 0.49 0.447 0.472 0.43 0.4 13 0.416

psi
0.0
7.14e-04 2.1 le-03 4.86e-03 7.k-03 1.33e-02 0.7 0.687 0.6773 0.65 1 0.62
5560.0

0.447 0.472 0.43 0.413 0.416 0.352

7.14e-04 2.1 le-03 4.86e-03 7.9e-03 1.33e-02 1.38e-02

0.687 0.6773 0.65 1 0.62 0.602 0.59 1

5342.5 4940.18 4333.31 3786.28 3044.74

0 . 6 0 2

- 140Table 65: Relative permeability for the second test

Step No.

4 0
S T B D

rl

P ( W

a
D

Psi
4895.7

psi
4892.11 4533.44 0.334 0.321

0.044

0.05

0.094
~ ~ ~

4539.16
_ _ _

I I
0.10

I I I

0.0158 0.0215

0.244

778.03

I I
025

741.40

0.304

0.0529

Table 6.6: Oil saturation for the second test

Data used in Eqs. 6-52 and 6-55
P

I
k 2

Results

(a),
psi

5202.0 4891.44 4530.53 3691.07 2544.87

0.36 0.347 0.334 0.321 0.314

0.01 1.31e-02 1.5842 2.15e-02 2.77e-02

0.6 0.59 0.582

0564

5101.35 4796.32 4317.89 3433.60 2229.81

0.347 0.334 0.321 0.314 0.304

1.3le-02 1S8e-02 2.15e-02 2.77e-02 5.29e-02

0.59 0.582
0.564

2 3 4
5

0 . 5 4 3
0.523

0543

- 141 Table 6.7: Relative permeability for the third test

~~

Data used in Eqs. 5-19 and 5-8

Step

I
P W )
psi

Results

No.

Qo

11

e(t1) Psi

a
D

A ,

krI

STBD
1 2
I

500

0.044
0 . 0 9 4

4064.7 3449.45

0.05
0.10

4058.9 3439.28
I

0.236 0.221

0.0493 0.05166

1000
I

2000

I
I

0.144

I
I

1659.66

I 1
I

0.15

1629.79

I
I

0.209

I
I

0.0753

Table 6.8: Oil saturation for the third test

Data used in Eqs. 652 and 6-55

1
0.236 0.221 0.209 4.93e-02 5.166e-02 7.53e-02

Results

1 2 3

4502.0 4056.65 3428.26

0.25 0.236 0.221

0.04
4.93e-02 5.166e-02

0.5 0.48 0.4597

4282.62 3732.79 3024.62

0.48

0.4597 0.43

- 142 -

Test# 1

0.5

Test # 2 Test # 3

0.4

0.5 0.6 OIL SATURATION, So

Figure 6.1:

O i l relative permeability vs. oil saturation for the three phase tests

Test# 1 Test # 2

Test# 3

0.2 GAS SATURATION, Sg

0.1

0.3

Figure 6.2:

G a s relative permeability vs. gas saturation for the three phase tests

- 144 -

7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

7.1 Conclusions

This wok can be divided into two parts. The first part is the new approach to analyze
multiphase well t e s t s . The second part is the technique to estimate the absolute and the relative permeabilities. The New Approach to Multiphase Well Test Analysis
In t h i s work, a practical approach to analyze multiphase well tests has been presented. This approach applies to systems in which a gas phase is present (i.e. gas-oil and gas-oil-water

systems). Such an approwh may be used to obtain estimates of effective phase permeabilities and wellbore skins. The multiphase flow equations were simplified to a diffusivity equation in terms of p2. Line source solutions were applied to both simulated and published multiphase data Semiempirical observation was used to account for different volatilities of oils. This resulted in three different forms of the solution. One of the forms was shown to reduce t o Perrines (1956) approach. However, other forms were different and they provided better estimates of effective oil permeabilities.
1. Multiphase flow was modelled by a diffusivity equation in terms of p2. This equation was

linearized assuming a constant total compressibility-mobility ratio. T h e inner boundary condition was also linearized based on the physical behavior, of the system. The linear diffusivity equation was then solved with its linear boundary conditions to obtain the line

source solution in terms of p2. In general, pressure solutions reported in the literature can
be followed to solve the diffusivity equation in terms of p2 for any reservoir and testing condition. 2. Linearization of the inner boundary condition allowed different solutions t o be considered.
One of the solutions was found to reduce to P e d e s (1956) approach. Since Pemnes

solution underestimates effective oil permeability, other solutions were also investigated.
A generally applicable solution was found for volatile oils. For oils of low volatility two

- 145 solutions were chosen: t h e first was t h e same as that for volatile oils and was valid for drawdowns of small pressure drop and the following buildups, while the second was different and held for drawdowns of large pressure drop and their subsequent buildups. These solutions were found to estimate effective o i l permeability more accurately than Penines approach for all cases considered. Estimates of wellbore skin obtained by the new approach were accurate for drawdown tests, and slightly low for buildup pared t o those obtained by Perrines approach.
3. Perrines approach was found superior for application in two-phase, oil-water systems. For
tests,

com-

gas-oil and gas-oil-water systems, Perrines approach was found to be rate sensitive and better applies at low flowing rate?. The rate normalization method, based on Penines approach and c m n t l y used in the oil industry, applies only at low rates. Its sensitivity to
rates is due to the terms neglected in deriving Perrines approach and most importantly the

improper linearization of the inner boundary condition. Such normalization requires t h a t the total rate ( o i l and gas r a t e s )be monitored throughout the test. It results in Underestimated values for t h e total system mobility and yields no individual phase permeability.
4. The new approach was found to apply for all rates in volatile oil systems. Based on this

approach, a new rate normalization method was proposed for volatile oil systems. This method suggests that the t e s t response i n terms of$ be nomazed using surface oil rates. Such a method is relatively insensitive to rates due to the proper linearization of the inner boundary condition and the proper treatment of the nonlinear terms when deriving the line
source solution in terms of p2. Moreover, it results in accurate estimates of individual

phase permeabilities and thereby an accurate value for total system mobility.
5. The relation of k, / ( poB, ) with pressure was assumed to have a constant slope and

a zero intercept. This assumption facilitated the practical use of the pressure squared approach which was found applicable to all rates in volatile oil systems. On the other hand, the new approach was found to be rate-sensitive in oils of low volatility.

- 146 6. Martin's t o t a l compressibility was derived from basic principles. Martin's original assumption of negligible pressure and saturation gmhents was avoided in t h i s derivation. This demonstrates that Martin's relation is valid for any flow condition, provided thennodynamic equilibrium is reached and PVT properties reflect interphase mass transfer in the reservoir.
7. The Fetkovich empirical approach for isochronal oil-well testing was derived using the

pseudosteady state solutions in terms of p2. This approach, originally developed for solution gasdrive reservoirs, may be applicable to three-phase systems.
The Relative Permeability Technique

This work also developed a technique to estimate two- and three-phase relative permeabilities in-situ, using constant or multiple-rate tests. The proposed technique applies the solutions of the multiphase diffusivity equation in terms of a pseudopressure function, m@), which is defined by Eq. 2-17. The saturation equation of B e et al. (1981) was extended t o three-phase systems and applied to estimate the sandface saturations during the t e s t . Several

two- and three-phase multiple-rate tests were simulated and analyzed t o demonstrate the validity of the proposed technique. The proposed technique is an improvement over current laboratory and historical performance methods. The resulting relative permeability curves reflect the in-situ reservoir heterogeneity, wettability and fluid composition, rather t h a n those of a small core. The existing historical performance methods need data over long periods, yet only cover a range of saturation o present conditions - all future projections require extrapolation. By contrast, the proprior t
posed technique estimates relative permeabilities at values of sandface saturations t h a t will not
be reached by the average reservoir saturation u n t i l much later in the life of t h e field. The new

technique is therefore a good forecasting tool in that it estimates t h e relative permeabilities at saturations that will exist far into the sions are warranted:

future.

Based on the work done, t h e following conclu-

- 147 1. The proposed technique estimates two- and three-phase relative pemeabilities to a good practical accuracy. A transient multiple-rate test may be run at any stage of depletion, to cover a range of 10-1546 in future gas saturation Neither long term production data, nor extrapolations m needed for the approach.
2. The proposed technique was found applicable to reservoirs with composite relative pemea-

bility regions. When the inner region is very s m a l , this technique yields t h e relative permeability curves of the outer region On the other hand, when the inner region is very large, the obtained curyes represent the inner region. The proposed method seems to be the most direct approach available to estimate relative permeabilities over a representative drainage area.
3. The relative permeability technique was also applied to estimate the absolute pemeabiity

of multiphase reservoirs. An effective pemeability-saturation relation, with both the absolute permeability and an exponent as u n k n o w n s , was used t o fit the results. Such a fit resulted in reservoir absolute pemeabiity to a m n a b l e accuracy.
7.2 Recommendations

Extension of t h e pseudopressure solutions to three-phase reselvoirs will have several other applications, besides the one reported here. Drawdown tests, run in three-phase reservoirs, may be analyzed using the pseudopressure approach to obtain an estimate of the reservoir absolute permeability. The three phase saturation equations may be coupled with the pseudopressure solutions to facilitate the analysis of these drawdown tests.
In general, multiphase well testing is very hard to tackle rigorously, thus simplifying

assumptions have been used to facilitate the analytical treatment of the problem. This implies that there may be room for improvement in seeking a better, more accurate, way of simplifying the problem. Physical understanding of the multiphase flow will be essential for significant achievements in the future. Following are some of the pending problems in this field:

- 148 1 . Applications of these techniques to both gas condensate and geothermal reservoirs, 2. Field applications of t h e relative penneabiiity technique. The resulting c u ~ e s could then

be compared to core relative permeabilities, thus suggesting a scaling procedure.

o other types of heterogeneities, i.e. lay3. Application of the relative penneabiity technique t
ered systems or randomly distributed sets of relative permeability curves, 4. Effect of wellbore storage on the Rlative permeabiity technique,
5. An index or a correlation for oil volatility.

- 149 NOMENCLATURE

= formation volume factor of phase I, RB/STB, RB/MSCF = formation volume factor of phase 1 at jF

= compressibility, psi-' = rock compressibility, psi-'

= compressibility of phase 1, psi-'

= total system compressibility a. 9). psi-'

= compressibilityhnobility ratio for solution

gas-drive reservoir (Eq. 5-3)

= compressibilityhnobility ratio for three-phase

reservoir (Eq. 6-12-a)

= two-phase constant

= three-phase constant = producing gas-oil ratio, MSCF/SIB = GOR at any (r,t), MSCF/STB = thickness, feet
= back-presswe curve coefficient, STB/D/psi&

= absolute permeability, md = effective permeability of phase 1, md = effective permeability of phase 1 at F, md

= effective permeability at Sb md = relative permeability of phase 1

= relative permeability of phase 1 at p

= slope of the semilog straight line in

p2 plot, psi2/log

- 150 = slope of the semilog straight line in p plot, psi/log = pseudopressure function (Eq. 2-17), ( p s i / c p ) / ( ~ ~ / s ~ ~ )
= exponent of Fetkovich relation

= exponent of Corey's relative permeability relation for the wetting phase

= cumulative o i l production, STB

= cumulative o i l production t o a reservoir pressure of 0 psi, STB

40 t in field units 13.44 h $01

= pressure, psi
= pressure at tl, psi

= pressure at 12, psi

= initial pressure, psi = flowing bottom hole pressure, psi = flowing bottom hole pressure at Ar = 0.0, psi

= shutin bottom hole pressure, psi

= average pressure, psi

= pi

-p

~for f drawdown, psia

= pWS- p w f ~ for buildup, psia

= pp - p$ for drawdown, psi' = p&

- p$$

for buildup, psia2

= flow rate, sTB/D = flow rate of step j, STB/D = last flow rate which affects t h e pressure, STB/D

= varying o i l flow rate, S T B D

= sandface flow rate, STB/D = total voidage rate, RB/D

- 151 = q,

qhl, STB/D for multiple-rate test

= q ( Ar ) - 4 ( Ar = 0.0 ), S T B D for oil rate or R B D for total rate = radial distance, feet

= dimensionless radius
= external radius, feet = welibore radius, feet = solution gadoil ratio, M S C F / S T B

= saturation of phase Z = saturationofphaseZatratestepj = residual oil saturation

= time,hrs = start of the time interval

= end of the time interval

= dimensionless time based on wellbore radius ( E q . 5-2 for solution gas-drive, and Eq. 6-22 for three-phase nxervoirs)
= shutin time, hrs = water/oil ratio, BBMTB

= WOR at any (r,t), B B M T B

= any three-phase parameters

= Boltzman transform variable (Eq. 6-9)

S O
P o Bo
so

Q -B O

- 152 -

= m o b i l i t y of phase 1, -, md/cp CLI

kI

hl
p r

= Ao+Ag++mmd/cp
= viscosity of phase 1, cp = viscosityofphaselat8,cp

pl

= porosity

V
V*

= gradient operator = Laplacianoperator

Subscripts
8
i j

=gas

= initial = index
= liquid o r phase

1
0

= o i l = total

t
W

= water o r wetting

- 153 REFERENCES
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McGRAW-HILL, New Yo&, 184-210. Ayan, C. and Lee, W.J.: "The Effects of Multiphase Flow on the Interpretation of Buildup Tests," paper SPE 15537 presented at the 61st Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in New Orleans, LA October 5-8, 1986.
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Bilhartz, H.L. and Ramey, H.J.,Jr.: 'The Combined Effects of Storage, Skin, and Partial Penetration on Well Test Analysis," Paper SPE 6753 presented at the 52nd Annual Fall Technical Conference and Exhibition, Denver, Colorado, Oct. 9-12, 1977.

B$e, A., Skjaeveland, S.M. and Whitson, C.S.: "Two-Phase Pressure Transient Test Analysis," Paper SPE 10224 presented at the 56th Annual Fall Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, Oct. 5-7, 1981. Camacho, R.G. and Raghavan, R.: "Inflow Performance Relationships for Solution Gas-Drive Reservoirs," Paper SPE 16204 presented at the 1987 Production Symposium.

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Evinger, H.H. and Muskat, M.: "Calculation of Theoretical productivity Factor AIME (1942) 146, 126-139.

,'I

Fetkovich, M.D., Guerrero. E.T., Fetkovich, M.J. and Thomas, L.K.: "Oil and Gas Relative Permeabilities Determined from Rate-Time Performance Data," Paper SPE 15431 presented at the SPE 61st Annual Meeting, New Orleans, October 5-8, 1986. Fetkovich, M.J.: * * T h e Isochronal Testing of Oil Wells," Paper SPE 4529 presented at the 48th Annual Fall Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada, Spet. 30 - October 3, 1973. (SPE Reprint Series No. 14, 265.) Fetkovich, MJ.: "Decline Curve Analysis Using Type Curves," J . Per. Tech. (June 1980) 1065-1077. Fetkovich, M.J.: Personal Discussion (Dec. 1986). Fetkovich, M.J. and Vienot, M.E.: "Rate Normalization of Buildup Pressure by Using Afterflow Data," J . Pet. Tech. (Oct. 1980) 1813-1824. Fimzabadi, A.R, and Aziz, K.: "Relative Permeability From Centrifuge Data," Paper SPE 15059 presented at the 56th California Regional Meeting, Oakland, CA April 2-4. 1986.

- 155 Firoozabadi, A., Nuttaki, R., Wong, T. and Aziz, K . : "EOS Predictions of Compressibility and phase Behavior in Systems Containing Water, Hydrocarbons, and COz," Paper SPE 15674 presented at the 6 1 s Annual Technical Meeting, New Orleans, LA October 5-8, 1986. Gladfelter, R.E., Tracy, G.W., and Wilsey, L.E.: "Selecting Wells Which W i l l Respond t o Production-Stimulation Treatment," Drill. and Prod. Pruc., API, Dallas (1955) 117-128. Handy, L.L.: "Effect of Local High Gas Saturations on productivity Indices," Drill. and Prod. Pruc. , API (1957). Honarpour, M.. Koederitz, L. and Harvey, A. H . :Relative Permeability of Perroleurn Reservoirs (1986) CRC Press, Boa Raton, 1-134. Homer, D.R: "Pressm Build-up in Wells," Proc., Third World Pet. Cong., The Hague (1951) I I , 503-521. Huppler, J.D.: "Numerical Investigation of the Effects of Core Heterogeneities on Water Flood Relative Permeability," SOC.Per. Eng. J., 10, 381, 1970. Hum, W.: "Establishment of the Skin Effect and its Impediment to Fluid Flow into a Wellbore," Per. Eng. (Oct. 1953) B6-Bl6. Johnson, C.E., Jr. and Sweeney, S.A.: "Quantitative Measurement of Flow Heterogeneity in Laboratory Core Samples and its Effect on Fluid Flow Characteristics," Paper SPE 3610 presented at the SPE 46th A M UMeeting, ~ New Orleans, October 3,1971. Jones, R and Raghavan, R.: "Interpretation of Flowing Well Responses in Gas Condensate Wells," Paper SPE 14204 presented at the 60th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition of the SPE of AIIvlE, Las Vegas, Nevada, Sept. 22-25, 1985. Kazemi, H.: "A Reselvoir Simulator for Studying Productivity Variation and Transient Behavior of a Well in a Reservoir Undergoing Gas Evolution," Truns. AIME (1975) 259, 1401-1412. Kimbler, O.K. and Caudle, B.H.: "New Technique for Study of Fluid Flow and Phase Distribution in Porous Media," Oil and Gas J., (1957), Kucuk, F.: "Gladfelter Deconvolution," Paper SPE 16377 presented at the 5 7 t h Annual California Regional Meeting held in Ventura, California, April 8-10, 1987.

Lee. W. J., Harrel, R.R..

and McCain, W.D.: "Analysis Procedure for Variable-Rate Pressure Drawdown Data," J. Pet. Tech., (Jan. 1975) 115-116.

Lee, W. J.: WeN Testing, Textbook Series, Society of Petroleum Engineers of A I M E , Dallas, (1982) 1, 45-50.

Levine, J.S. and Prats, M.: "The Calculated Performance of Solution Gas-Drive Reservoirs," Soc.Pet. Eng. J. (Sept. 1961) 222, 142-152. Macias, L.C. and Ramey, H.J.: "Multiphase, Multicomponent Compressibility in Petroleum Reservoir Engineering," Paper SPE 15538 presented at the 61st Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition of the SPE, New Orleans, LA October 5-8, 1986.

- 156 Mule. C.M.: Multiphase Flow in Porous Media (1981) ,iibTlONS " E c H N I p , paris, 23-34. Vol. 55. 85. Martin, J.C.: "Simplified Equations of Flow in Gas Drive Reservoirs and the Theoretical Foundation of Multiphase Pressure Buildup Analysis," Trans. AIME (1959) 216, 309311.

Matthews, C.S. and Russell, D.G.: Pressure Buildup and Flow Tests in Wells, Monograph Series, Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, Richardson, T X , (1967) I , 130-133. Meunier, D., Wittman, M.J., and Stewart, G.: "Interpretation of Pressure Buildup Test Using In-Situ Measurement of Afterflow," Paper SPE 11463 presented at the 1983 SPE Middle East Oil Technical Conference and Exhibition, Manama, Bahrain, March 14-17. Miller, C.C., Dyes, A.B. and Hutchinson, C.A., Jr.: "The Estimation of Permeability and Reservoir Pressure from Bottom-Hole Pressure Build-up Characteristics," Trans. AIME (1950) 189,91-104. Moses, P.L.: "Engineering Applications of Phase Behavior of Crude Oil and Condensate Systems," J . Pet. Tech. (July 1986) 715-723. Mueller, T.D., Warren, J.E. and West, W.J.: "Analysis of Reservoir Performance kg /k, Curves and a Laboratory kg /k, Curve Measured on a Core Sample," Trans. AIME (1955) 204, 128-131. Muskat, M . : Physical Principles of Oil Production. International Human Resources Development Corporation (1949) 404-431. Muskat. M. and Meres. M.W.: 'The Flow of Heterogeneous Fluids Through Porous Media," Physics (Sept. 1936) Vol. 7, 346-363. Nygcird, R.: Calculating Relative Permeabilities From Two-Phase Drawdown Tests, thesis for the Cand. Techn. Degree. Rogaland Regional College, Stavanger (1982) (In Norwegian). Penine, R.L.: "Analysis of h.essure Buildup Curves," Drill and Prod. Prac., API (1956), 482-509. Rafigul-Islam, M.and Bentsen, R.G.: "A Dynamic Method for Measuring Relative Permeability," J. Can. Pet. Tech., (Jan-Feb. 1986) 39-50. Raghavan, R.: "Well Test Analysis: Wells Producing by Solution Gas Drive Wells," SOC. Pet. Eng. J. (Aug. 1976) 196-208. Raghavan, R.: "Well Test Analysis for Multiphase Flow," paper SPE 14098 presented at the SPE 1986 International Meeting on Petroleum Engineering held in Beijing, China March 17-20, 1986. Ramey, H.J. Jr.: Personal communication (Dec. 1987). Ratney, H.J. Jr.: "Non-Darcy Flow and Wellbore Storage Effects in Pressure Build-Up and Drawdown of Gas wells," J. Pet. Tech., (Feb. 1965) 223-233; Trans., AIME, 234.

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- 158 APPENDIX A
ECLIPSE SIMULATOR
ECLIPSE is a fully implicit, three phase, three dimensional black oil simulator. Its pro-

gram is written in Fortran 77. Therefore, ECLIPSE may operate on any computer with enough
storage and standard Fortran 77 compiler, i.e. CRAY,IBM 3081 and VAX 1lD80.
Fully Implicit Procedure

ECLIPSE is a fully implicit simulator. Hence, it has no problem of instability. Newton's method is applied to solve the nonlinear equations with the Jacobian fully expanded in all its variables. In order to accelerate the convergence, Nested Factorization is utilized to solve simultaneously the linear equations resulting after each Newton's iteration. Nested Factorization helps solving large problems implicitly and with very small residual sums, material balance errors.
Three-phase Relative Permeability

ECLIPSE uses an effective simple model to obtain the three-phase oil relative permeability of the two sets of two-phase relative permeabilities. The model can be expressed as such:

where:

krog is the oil relative permeability for the oil-gas system,

k,m is the oil relative permeability for the oil-water system,

Swc is the connate water saturation.
Well Control

There is a wide spectnun of options that ECLIPSE allows to control the well. Some options are for the well individually, while others are either for a group of wells or for the

- 159 whole field. The set of options for controlling individual wells include: specified o i l rate, water rate, gas rate, liquid rate, reservoir voidage rate, and bottom hole or tubing head pressures. In all the runs that I did, I specified a constant oil rate which when not satisfied the

well control changed automatically to a constant bottom hole pressure and reported t h a t in the
output file.

Input File
Two choices are available for ECLIPSE users. First is the special ECLIPSE EDIT screen with its help facility. Second is the free format input through keyword systems using any standard screen editor. A copy of one of my input files is shown at the end of t h i s section. As can be seen, the main sections of input data
ax^

as follows:

RUNSPEC: has several flags for dimension, phases, storage and others,

GRID: defines the geometry and the various rock properties for each grid block,
PROPS: includes the tables of rock and fluid properties as functions of saturation and pressure,
SOLUTION: initializes the model with the values of pressure, saturation and gas/oil ratio for

each grid block,

SUMMARY: states the variables whose values are to be reported in each summary tile,
SCHEDULE: specifies the type of process to be simulated, i.e. production or injection, and

also the times for which the output report is needed,

E N D : indicates t h e end of the data file.

- 160INPUT FILE FOR THE ECLIPSE SIMULATOR THREE-PHASE RUN RUNSPEC ................................................ NDIVIX NDIVIY ndiviz qrdral numres qnncon mxnaqn mxnaqc qdporo qdperm 40 1 1 T 1 F 0 0 F F / OIL WATER GAS DG VG T T T T F / UNITS 'FIELD' / NRPVT NPPVT NTPVT NTROCC QROCKC QRCREV 20 20 1 1 F T / NSSFUN NTSFUN QDIRKR QREVKR QVEOPT QHYSTR 20 1 F T F F / NDRXVD NTEQUL NDPRVD QuieSC Qthprs Qrevth 20 1 10 F F T / NTF IP QPAIR 1 F / NWMAXZ NCWMAX NGMAXZ NWGMAX 1 1 2 I / QIMCOL NWCOLC NUPCOL F 0 4 / mxmflo mxmthp mxmwfr mxmgfr mxmalq nmmvft 1 mxsflo mxsthp nmsvft / naqfet ncamax / DAY MONTH YEAR 1 ' J A N ' 1983 / QSOLVE NSTACK QPMTOU QFMTIN 8 T T / T GRID =I====I=D=EZII=E======================= DRV 0.05 0.1 0.2 0.5 1.0 3.0 5.0 8.0 10.0 15.0 7*18.0 5*30.0 5*40.0 2*60.0 4*80.0 2*120 150 2*250.0 500.0 lOOO.O/ INRAD 0.3 / D W 360.0/ DZ 40*100. / PERMR 40*20. / COPY 'PERMR' 'PERMTHT' 1 40 1 1 1 1 / / PERMZ 40*20. / PORO 40*0.15 / TOPS 40*00 / RPTGRID 5*1 / PROPS ..................................................... DENSITY 45. 62.4 0.068735 /
ROCK

2000.

3.e-06

-PVTO

RS

Bo

Visc

0.030 70.0 1.02 1.40 / 0.0443 193.14 1.058 1.35 / 0.119 622.48 1.088 1.164 / 0.196 1051.8 1.121 1.011 / 0.279 1481.17 1.159 0.881 / 0.367 1910.5 1.202 0.768 / 0.462 2339.9 1.249 0.671 / 0.564 2769.35 1.302 0.587 / 0.674 3198.7 1.36 0.515 / 0.813 3699.5 1.434 0.446 / 0.964 4200.5 1.516 0.391 / 1.605 1.128 4701.5 0.348 / 0.317 / 1.306 5202.3 1.702 1.471 5631.6 1.791 0.300 / 0.298 1.5 5703.0 1.806 6000.0 1.800 0.3000 /

p PVTW

--

BW
1.00

CW
0.

VW
1.00

DVW

14.7

0.

40.0 50.0 0.011 193.14 17.8 0.0113 622.48 3.38 0.0125 1051.8 2.85 0.0138 1481.17 1.959 0.0152 1910.5 1.46 0.0166 2339.9 1.175 0.0181 2769.35 0.997 0.0195 3198.7 0.873 0.021 3699.5 0.774 0.0228 4200.5 0.712 0.0246 4701.5 0.659 0.0263 5202.3 0.623 0.0281 5631.6 0.603 0.0295 5703.0 0.596 0.0298 6000.0 0.590 0.0300 /

- 162 -

SGFN Sg Krg Pclg 0.0000 0.000 0.0 0.000001 0.000000000001 0.005 0.000025 0. 0.0001 0.01 0. 0.0004 0.02 0. 0.0016 0.04 0. 0.0064 0.08 0.0 0.10 0.01 0.0 0.12 0.0144 0. 0.16 .0256 0. 0.18 .0324 0. 0.20 .04 0. 0.22 0.0484 0. 0.25 0.0625 0. 0 -28 0.0784 0. 0.09 0.30 0. 0.1521 0.39 0. 0.16 0.40 0. 0.6400 0.8000 0.0

--

0.

--

so

Krow

Krog 0.000 0.00 0.00 0.09 0.16 0.1936 0.2209 0.250 0.2756 0.3025 0.3306 0.36 0.3969 0.4624 0.49 0.64

SOF3 0.000 0.0000 0.100 0.000 0.2000 0.000 0.3000 0.0900 0.4000 0.160 0.44 0.1936 0.47 0.2209 0.5000 0.2500 0.525 0.2756 0.55 0.3025 0.575 0.3306 0.6000 0.3600 0.63 0.3969 0.68 0.4624 0.7000 0.4900 0.8000 0.640 SW Krw Pcow SWFN 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.30 0.02 0.0 0.40 0.06 0.0 0.5 0.15 0. 0.6 0.25 0. 0.8 0.40 0. /

--

RPTPROPS

- 163 -

SOLUTION PRESSURE

EPE=P=PPEIEI========I=E=------------= = = I =

-------

40*4502.0
SGAS

/
/
/

40*0.20
SWAT

40R0.30
RS

40*1.12 /
su"ARy

RPTSOL

1 0 0 1 / ----___----=----------------==-----=----------------=-------

-------=-----

----_

FGOR WGOR SCHEDULE TUNING

I=II========EEID=I=====PI=====II-==EE===

0.0000001 /
RPTSCHED

0.0002
1
1 0
'PROD1'

0.00002 0 0
'P'

/
0
1 1

/
'OIL'

WELSPECS

0 0

/
0.3 /

/
COMPDAT 'PROD1'

'OPEN'

0.

/
WCONPROD 'PROD1'

'OPEN'

'ORAT'

500.0 /

/
TSTEP

2*0.000029 3*0.0000579 0.000116 0.000347 0.0007 0.00161 3*0.005 0.01 0.01 2*0.006

/
WCONPROD 'PROD1'

' OPEN'

'ORAT'

1000.0 /

/
TSTEP

2*0.000029 3*0.0000579 0.000116 0.000347 0.0007 0.00161 3*0.005 0.01 0.01 2*0.006 /
WCONPROD 'PROD 1'

' OPEN'

'ORAT'

2000.0 /

/
TSTEP

2*0.000029 3*0.0000579 0.000116 0.000347 0.0007 0.00161 3*0.005 0.01 0.01 2*0.006

/ / END

-164-

APPENDIX B
THE CHANGE OF

, k
P o Bo

WITH

PRESSURE

The pressure squared solution was derived in Section 4 assuming a linear relation of

S O with pressure. Throughout the derivation, this linear relation was assigned a zero interPo Bo

cept. It was expressed a s :

In Eq. B-1, a is defined differently from t h a t of Section 4, Eq. 4-21, by an absolute pemeabil-

ity factor. Nevertheless, the recommendations of Section 4.3 are used t o evaluate the empirical

slope u O f Eq. B-1.

The intercept of the So/
Eq.
(po

Bo ) relation with pressure was assumed to be zem i n

B-1. This however is not the case for real systems (see Figs. 4-3 and 4-4). A more

representative relation can be expressed a s :

-=
S O

a p + b

Po Bo

here a is the actual slope and b is the intercept. Both pressure and saturation data are required
to evaluate these two constants, a and b. S i c e saturation change during a test is normally not

available, these two constants are hand t o evaluate. This explains why Eq. B-1 neglected the intercept b and used an empirical slope a to replace the actual slope a. The following sections investigate the consequences of using Eq. B-1 instead of Eq. B-2 when deriving the pressure squared approach.

B.l Theory
In this section, Eq. B-2 is used to derive a new pressure squared solution. This solution

is different f r o m that derived in Section 4 using Eq. B-1. A comparison between both

- 165 solutions is made to show how different they are for different reservoir and testing conditions.
The logarithmic approximation of t h e line source solution, derived by B e et

al. (1981) in

terms of rn ( p ), is:

where:

and:

Using E ~ s B-2 . and Eq. B-5, EQ. B-3 will be:

Equation B-6 may be simplified t o :

Equation B-7 is t h e new pressure squared solution which retains the two constants, a and b. These two constants make the new solution difficult to apply in practice.
The pressm squared solution of Section 4 can be obtained by neglecting the term
[ 6 ( pi

-p

~) 1, f and replacing the actual slope a by the empirical slope a, a s :

The simplicity of t h e solution given by Eq. B-8 makes it applicable to pressure transient t e s t s .

The right hand side terms of Eqs. B-7 are different from those of Eq. B-8. To insure the
accuracy of Eq. B-8 (i.e. to justify using Eq. B-1 instead of Eq. B-2), the following should

- 166 hold:

Equation B-9 can be checked through well tests generated using a simulator. The pressuresaturation output of a simulated test can be used to plot so /( p , Bo ) vs. pressure. The slope of such a plot is a, and the intercept is b. On the other hand, the empirical slope, a, may be evaluated according to the recommendations discussed in Section 4.3.

B . 2 Simulated Examples
Equation B-9 was checked through simulated well tests. Four drawdown tests were simulated with different magnitudes of pressure drop. Following are Examples 1 and 2 for volatile oils and Examples 3 and 4 for systems of low volatility.
Example 1

In this example, a drawdown test with a considerable pressure drop was simulated in a volatile oil system. The set of PVT data reported by B@ et al. (1981) was used. The fluid relative permeabilities were:
s o

= sz, krg = S i

Other input data is summarized in Tables B-1. The output pressure-saturation values at the sandface were used to graph so / (poBo ) vs. pressure ( Fig. B.l). Except for the starting value, most other points are on a straight line in
this graph. The elapsed time from the initial value to the start of the straight line was about

five seconds for this example. Both the slope, a, and the intercept, b, of Eq. B-9 were obtained from Fig. B.l. On the other hand, the empirical slope, a, was evaluated for such volatile oils at the initial pressure, using Eq. 4-39, a s :

~~~

- 167 Table B . l : Reservoir properties and testing conditions for Examples 1 and 2

Input value
100 ft
100 md

0.15 5200 psi

10 96

8Ooo s T B p

1.4

700

500

300

4650

4750

4850

4950

P
Figure B.2:
The two sides of Eq. B-9 vs. pressure

- 169 a = 1.4629 x l K 4
b = 0.661
a = 2.88656 x 10-

Using these values, the two sides of Eq. B-9 were plotted vs. pressure in Fig. B.2. The dots were for the right hand side and the solid curve was for the left hand side. The small difference between both sides, seen in Fig. B-2, verifies that Eq. B-9 holds for these conditions (large pressure drops in volatile oils). It also justifies using Eq. B-1 instead of Eq. B-2.

Example 2
In this example, a drawdown test of small pressure drop was simulated in volatile o i l system. The gas saturation was 20 % and t h e initial pressure was 4200 psi. System properties were identical t o those of Example 1.
The output pressure-saturation values at the sandface were used to graph

so/

(po

Bo ) vs.

pressure, as shown in Fig. B.3. Both the slope, a, and the intercept, b, of Eq. B-9 were
obtained from Fig. B.3. On the other hand, the empirical slope, a, was evaluated for such

volatile oils a tt h e initial pressure using Eq. B-12. For this simulated drawdown test, the following values were obtained:

a = 2.03564 x 10b = 0.214522

a = 2.5705 x 1(r4

Using these values, the two sides of Eq. B-9 were plotted vs. pressure in Fig. B.4. The dots were for the right hand side and the solid cuwe was for the left hand side. The difference shown in Fig. B-4 is smaller than that of Example 1. Again, such a small difference verifies
that Eq. B-9 holds for these conditions (small pressure drops in volatile oils).

1.07

1.06

1.05 4100

4120

4140
9

4160

4180

4200

p psi
Figure B.3:

ko / ( p0 Bo ) vs. pressure for a simulated constant-rate drawdown test

g 70 O

4100

4 120

4 140

4 160

4180

4200

P
Figure B.4: The two sides of Eq. B-9 vs. pressure

Example 3
In this example, a drawdown test with a small pressure drop was simulated in o i l s of low

volatility using the set of PVT data given in Table 4-2. The fluid relative permeabiities were given by Corey-type relation, Eqs. 5-22 and 5-23, a s :

kg= 0.9 ( 1 -so'

where:

)20

03-14)

so* =
and

1 4 ,

s ,

= 0.20

Other input data are summarized in Tables B-2.

o graph so/ (poBo ) vs. The output pressure-saturation values at the sandface were used t
pressure, as shown in Fig. B.5. Both the slope, a, and the intercept, b, of Eq. B-9 were obtained from Fig. B.5. Because

this drawdown tests was of a small pressure drop, the empirical slope, a, was evaluated at the
initial pressure using Eq. B-12. For this simulated drawdown test, the following values were obtained:

a = 6.3646 X 10b = 0.237628

a = 2.72642 X 10-

Using these values, the two sides of Eq. B-9 were plotted vs. pressure in Fig. B.6. The dots

are for the right hand side and the solid curve is for the left hand side. The difference between
the two sides of Eq. B-9 is negligible at early times and is small for late times. Therefore, Eq. B-9 holds for these conditions (small pressure drops in oils of low volatility).

- 172 Table 8.2: Reservoir properties and testing conditions for Examples 3 and 4
InDut value
100 ft
100 md

0.2 1137 psi

9%

300 S T B P

0.3

1050

1070

1090

1110
9

1130

1150

p psi
Figure B.5:

ko / ( p, Bo ) vs. pressure for a simulated constant-rate drawdown test, Example 3

22

17

12

7
1080

1100

1120

P
Figure B.6: The two sides of Eq. B-9 vs. pressure, Example 3

- 174 Example 4 The drawdown test of Example 3 was simulated again but with a large pressure dmp. The flowing oil rate was 2000 S T B D for this run as compared to ux)!3B/D for Example 3. The output pressure-saturation values at the sandface were used to graph 5, /
(po

Bo ) vs.

pressure, as shown in Fig. B.7. Most of the points plotted on a straight line in such a graph. Both the slope, a,and the intercept, b, of Eq. B-9 were obtained from Fig. B.7. For such drawdown tests with a large pressure drop in oils of low volatility, the empirical slope, a, was evaluated a t peel using Eq. 4-41, a s :
kro ) a = (P o Bo
POJ t

1 P0.l hr

For this simulated drawdown test, the following values were obtained:

a = 7.61818 x I F 5
b = 0.223375
u = 3.5064 X 1 r 4

Using t h e s e values, the two sides of Eq. B-9 were plotted vs. pressure in Fig. B.8. The dots are for the right hand side and the solid curve is for the left hand side. As can be seen in Fig.
B.8, the difference is significant at early times, but tends t o decrease with rime. The consider-

able difference between the two sides of JZq. B-9, and most importantly the curved-shape of the dots, indicate that Eq. B-9 does not hold for these conditions (drawdown tests with large pressure drops in oils of low volatility). This, in essence, explains the rate sensitivity of the pressure squared approach in o i l s of low volatility seen in Figs. 4.16 and 4.17 and discussed i n Appendix C.

0.29

0.27

0.25 500

700

900

1100

Figure B.7:

k , / (p , B, ) vs. pressure for a simulated constant-rate

drawdown test, Example 4

170

120

70
500

600

700

800

900

P
Figure B.8: The two sides of Eq. B-9 vs. pressure, Example 4

- 176 B 3 Summary
The rate sensitivity of the pressure squad approach was not seen for drawdown tests
with either large or small pressure drop in volatile oils (Examples 1 and 2). nor was it Seen for

drawdown tests of small pressure drop in oils of low volatility (Example 3). Such a rate sensitivity developed only for the case of drawdown tests with a large pressure drop in systems of low volatility (Example 4). This rate sensitivity was pointed out i n Section 4.4, where it developed for drawdown tests run under similar conditions (see Figs. 4.16 and 4.17) but it did not develop for subsequent buildups (seeFigs. 4.18 and 4.19).

The pressure squared solution, given by Eq. B-8, holds to a good engineering accuracy
for volatile o i l s . For oils of low volatility, the pressure squared approach applies better for drawdown tests with small pressure drops. For drawdown tests of large pressure drops in such systems, assumptions implicit in Eq. B-1 are not justified, resulting in a loss of accuracy.

-177-

Appendix C

Rate Normalization of Multiphase Well Tests

Solutions of well test equations are derived based on the assumption of umstant rate or constant wellbore pressure. In practice, neither of these parameters can be held constant during a pressure transient test. The variation of rate may be attributed to afterflow effects in a buildup test or wellbore unloading effects in a drawdown test, which for some tests dominate most of the transient response. This distorted transient response can only be analyzed when it is properly normalized t o obtain the pressure response of a fictitious constant rate t e s t . Such normalization has become possible with the development of bottomhole rate and pressure measurement devices (Meunier et al. ,1983). There are several ways to normalize the pressure-rate data of a single phase test. The
first and most straightforward is that proposed by Gladfelter et al. (1955). They suggested t h a t

the pressure rise after shut-in divided by the instantaneous change in rate caused by afterflow should be plotted versus the logarithm of shut-in time to obtain a modified Miller-DyesHutchinson buildup plot. Ramey (1965) confirmed such normalization which he then extended

to wellbore unloading effects during drawdown tests. Winestock and Colpitts (1965) proposed
a similar rate normalization of pressure for drawdown tests in gas wells with monotically declining rate. Using numerical simulation, Lee et al. (1975) confirmed Winestock-Colpitts approach for gas wells. Ramey (1976) provided further discussion of Gladfelter et

al. and

Winestock-Colpitts normalization procedure. Kucuk (1986) stated that Gladfelter normalization works for any change in rate that is linear with time. Rate normalization of multiphase tests has not been studied in much detail. Fetkovich and Vienot (1984) followed a normalization procedure based on Penines (1956) pressure solution. Applying Gladfelter normalization, they utilized the change in total afterflow rates to normalize the pressure rise after shutin. As a result, they obtained the total system mobility but not individual phase mobilities. Along the same lines, Raghavan (1986) normalized the

- 178 drawdown response using the instantaneous total rate and t h e buildup response using the total rate at shut-in, qr (At = 0 . 0 ) (Uraiet and Raghavan, 1980). Raghavan also indicated t h a t such normalization yields only the total system mobility a s :
162.6 Xf=(R/p),=m h

where:

and m* is the semilog slope of a ( p i - p v f ) / qf versus time plot for a drawdown test and of a
( pws - p~~ ) / qf ( At

= 0.0 ) versus time plot for a buildup test. The total m e , qf in RB/D is

defined a s :

The normalization applied by Fetkovich-Vienot and Raghavan was based on Penines pressure solution, Eq. C-1. With the new approach derived in Section 4, a bemr normalization scheme is possible for systems in which gas phase is present. This scheme applies at all rates and results in individual phase mobilities as well as in total system mobility. The following is a presentation of the theory as well as demonstrations of the scheme using several example well tests simulated under varying rate profiles.
C.l Theory

Multiphase flow was modeled in Section 4 by the diffusivity equation with p 2 as the dependent variable, Eq. 4-25. Line source solution of this equation was also derived. When

this solution was used to analyze drawdown and buildup tests (Section 4.4), they yielded reasonable estimates of individual phase mobilities. Unliie Pemnes (1956) approach, the proposed solution was insensitive to oil rates in volatile oils. For oils of low volatility, both approaches were sensitive to rates. This has already been discussed i n Sections 4.6, 4.7 and Appendix B, and will be investigated in more detail here.

- 179 Penines solution to obtain oil permeability, Eq. 2-8, is :

Equation C-4 is based on the solution of Martins diffusivity equation, Eq. 2-12, using the linearized inner boundary condition, Eq. 447. This solution can be written a s :

Assuming that Eqs. C-4 and C-5 hold, the unit response can be computed through dividing the pressure change by the o i l rate, Ap I qw In essence, this is the basis of Gladfelter et al. normalization applicable t o single phase oil flow. When several drawdown tests are run in the same system but at different rates, their responses can be collapsed t o that of a unit rate when normalized using their different rates. If the responses do not collapse to that of a unit rate, then the underlying assumption, that Eqs. C 4 and C-5 hold, is not valid. Perrines approach was tested through t h r e e drawdown tests simulated at 1000, 3000 and
5000 STB/D oil rates in volatile

o i l system (every other parameter was held the same for all

tests). The PVT set of data reported by

B e et al. (1981) was used.

Test responses were then

normalized as ( pi - p ~) , f/ ( 40 ) j where j refers to a specific test, and plotted in Fig. C. 1. Only the normalized response for the lo00 S T B Do i l rate test resulted in the correct unit response. Tht, higher the oil rate the more the normalized response shifts from the comxt one and the mofe o i l permeability is underestimated. Penines approach was also tested in o i l s of low volatility using the PVT set given in Table 4-2. Two tests were simulated at 300 and
2000 STBD , see Examples 3 and 4 in Appendix B. Test responses were then normalized as
( pi

- p*

) , / ( qo ) )

where j refers to a specific test, and plotted i n Fig. C.2. This diversion of

the correct slope indicates the importance of the neglected terms in deriving Penines solution. It also magnifies the consequences of the improper linearization of the inner boundary condition applied to obtain Eq. 4-47.

- 180-

IO00

sm/D
0
0 0

0 0

0.52

3O00sTB/D

dp
40

0.001

0.01

0.1

10

t, Days
Figure C. 1 :
A p / qo for three drawdown tests simulated at different rates i n volatile oil systems.

0
0

0.18
0
0

0.08

0.01

'

e
e
I * I I
I 1 1 1 1

I I I l l

I I l l

0.1

10

t, Days
Figure C . 2 :
A p / qo for two drawdown tests simulated at different rates i n oils of low volatility.

- 181 The line source solution of the multiphase difisivity equation, Eq. 4-25, in terms of p2,

was given by Eq. 4-30 and written as:

where u is the empirical slope whose definition (which is different for oils of different volatilities, Section 4.3) is combined with Eq. C-6 to estimate effective o i l permeability. For example, the following relation can be derived for volatile oils:
325.2 Bo po pi (C-7) mh where rn is the semilog slope of a ( p; p g ) / qo versus time for a drawdown test, and of a

ko =

( p$

- pGJ ) / qo ( Ar = 0,9) versus time for a buildup test.

The o i l rates are in S T B D .

The unit response can be computed through dividing the change in p2 by the surface o i l rate, A p 2 / qo. This solution was also tested with the same three drawdown tests run in volatile oil system. These tests were simulated at 1o00, 3000 and So00 S T B D oil rates. Test responses were then normalized as (p'

- p s ) , / ( qo )j where j refers to a specific test, and

plotted in Fig. C.3. The responses of the three drawdown tests collapsed to a single straight line of the correct slope. For very high rates, there is a tendency towards lower slope at late
times which results in a small overestimation of oil phase permeability. Therefore for volatile

o i l systems, surface oil rate can be used to normalize the multiphase response in terms of p2.
This normalization allows the determination of estimates for individual phase permeabilities t o
good accuracy. The pressure squared solution was also tested with the same two drawdown tests run in the system of low oil volatility. These tests were simulated at 300 and 2000
S T B D oil rates. Test responses were then normalized as ( p;

- p$

) , / ( 40) j where j refers t o

a specific test, and plotted in Fig. C.4. This deviation from the correct slope indicates the importance of the intercept neglected in deriving the pressure squared solution, see Appendix

B. T h i s behavior was also seen in Section 4.4 (see Figs. 4.16 and 4.17).

4p2

t, Days
Figure C.3:
A p2 / qo for three drawdown tests simulated at different n volatile o i l systems. rates i

470

370

270
L -I
I I

170 0.01

1 1 1 1 1

I I I I l l 1

I I l l

0.1

10

t,
Figure C.4:

Days

A p 2 / qo for two drawdown tests simulated at different rates in oils of low volatility.

- 183 The rate normalization applied by Ferkovich-Vienot (1984) and Raghavan (1986) utilizes the

total and not the oil rate. This normalization i s based on Penine's pressure solution for

Martin's difksivity equation, Eq. 2-12, but with an inner boundary condition that is different
from Eq. 447. This inner boundary condition is written a s :

where qt is delined by Eq. C-3 and It is delined by Eq. C-2. The solution obtained is formulated in Eq. C-1 which yields total system mobility using the
total voidage rate, Eq. C-3. This normalization is also tested with four drawdown tests simu-

lated at 2000,6000,13000 and 18000 RB/D total rates m e corresponding surface o i l rates
9 0 , 2750,5300 and 6700 were 9

!j"'B/D). These four tests were run with the volatile oil sys-

tem (all other parameter were held the same for all t e s t s ) . Test responses were then normal-

ized as ( pi - p d ) j / ( qt ) j where j refers to a specific test, and plotted i n Fig. C.5. Only the normalized response for the 2000 RB/D total rate test resulted in the correct unit response through the whole test. The normalized response for the 6OOO RB/D t o t a l rate test asymptoticaUy matches the coma slope after a long time. Higher rates shifted from the correct unit

response and had no definite semilog slope. In general, their slopes were higher than t h e

correct slope which resulted in underestimates of

total system mobility.

In general, the devia-

tion h m the correct slope, pronounced at high rates, indicates that t o t a l rate can not be used to normalize pressure response under such conditions.

-184-

0.25

I I I I Ill

I I 1 Ill

I I I Ill

0.2

0.15

I I IIll

I I I I I111

0.001

0.01

0.1

10

t,

Days

Figure C.5 :

The normalized response of four drawdown tests run at different voidage rates i n the same system, Pemnes approach.

- 185 C2 Example Applications

Example well tests were generated using the ECLIPSE simulator, where rate! is made to

vary with time to resemble that of an afterflow following a buildup or wellbore unloading during a drawdown. The currently used normalization (Fetkovich-Vienot, 1984, and Raghavan, 1986). is applied using total voidage rates to normalize the change in pressure.
Also, t h e nor-

malization scheme, proposed in this work, is demonstrated using surface o i l rates to normalize the change in p2. Gladfelter et al. (1955) normalization is applied here to simplify the demonstration. Such normalization is applicable when the rate changes are linear with time (Kucuk, 1986). Results can be generalized for applications in more robust deconvolution techniques.
Example 1
A drawdown test with the rate profile shown in Fig. C.6 was simulated utilizing the set

of PVT properties provided by B@ et

al. (1981). The relative permeability

relations were

given by Eqs. 5-22 and 5-23, Corey-type relations with a 3.3 exponent for oil and a 2.0 exponent for gas. The reservoir had a thickness of 100 ft, a porosity of 0.15 and a permeability of 20 md. The test started at an initial pressure of 5202 psi and 10 96 gas saturation. The pressure response is plotted in Fig. C.?. It does not exhibit a single semilog slope in the transient period. When the total voidage rate was used to normalize the pressure change, the response exhibited a single slope, Fig. C.8. This slope was used in Q. C-1 and resulted in a total mobility of 22.18 md/cp compared to the input value of 56.85 md/cp. This underestimation of total system mobility is significant. In order t o resolve this problem, the proposed

i l rates. Figure C.9 normalization is applied. The change in p2 is normalized using surface o
shows the normalized response which exhibited a single slope. This slope was used in Eq. C-7 and yielded an o i l permeability of 11 md which compared reasonably to the input value of 13.1 md.

- 186-

loo00

Total Rate, RbD

I
Oil Rate ,STB/D

lea5

1
t,

Days

Figure C.6 :

The rate profile for Example 1.

4Ooo

P
3000

t,
Figure c.7 :

Days

The pressure response of Example 1.

0 0.28 . 3 ~
0.18 0.001
I I I I I Ill

I I I I1111

I I I I Ill1

I I 1 1 1 1

0.01

0.1

t, Days
Figure C.8 :

10

The normalized response of Example 1, Perrines approach.

t, Days
Figure C.9 : The normalized response of Example 1, the new approach.

- 188 Example 2

This drawdown test was simulated with the rate profile shown in Fig. C.10. The reservoir thickness was 40 ft and the absolute permeability was 10 md. A l l other parameters were
similar t o those used in Example 1.

h e pressure q u a m response plotted Neither the pmsure response plotted in Fig. C.11 or t
in Fig. C.12 exhibited a single semilog slope in the transient period. When t o t a l rates were used to normalize pressure changes, the response exhibited two semilog slopes, Fig. C.13. Such a response may be misinterpreted as an indication of a composite system. In order t o resolve this problem, the proposed normalization is applied. Changes in p2 were normalized

i l rate. Figure C.14 showed the normalized response which exhiusing changes in surface o
bited a single slope. This slope was used in Eq. C-7 and yielded an oil permeabiity of 5.3 md which compared reasonably to the 6.5 md input value.
Example 3

This drawdown test was simulated with the rate profile shown in Fig. C.15. This rate
profile was simulated to reflect wellbore unloading effects that result in a linear change of rate with time. The resewoir thickness was 1 0 0 ft and the absolute permeability was 50 md. A l l other parameters were similar to those used in Example 1. The pressure response plotted in Fig. C .16 and the pressure squared response plotted in Fig. C.17 were dominated by the unloading effects of wellbore fluids. When total voidage rates we= used to normalize pressure changes, the response exhibited a late semilog slope in addition to an early asymptotic semilog slope, Fig. C.18. This shape of the semilog plot was expected for a linear change of rate with time (Kucuk, 1986). The second semilog slope was used in Eq. C.1 and resulted in 78.44 md/cp.

- 189 -

2000

1500

loo0

li
Oil Rate, S T B D

-I

500 -

le-05

Days

Figure C.10:

The rate profile for Example 2.

- 190-

I I I I Ill

I I I I Ill

1 I I I Ill

3700

3200

O
0

0
0
0

i
I I I I IIII I

I I I I Ill

I I l l

0.001

0.01

0.1

10

t,
Figure C. 11:

Days

The response of Example 2, in terms of p .

I I I Ill

1 I I I Ill

I I I I Ill

I 1 I Ill

1S e a 7

P2

0
0

. 0
0

0
O.

.
0 0
I I I Ill04

lea7I 5e+06'
0.001

I I I Ill

I I IIIII

0.0 1

0.1

10

t,
Figure C.12:

Days

The response of Example 2, in terms of p2.

1.6

1.1

0.6 0.001

I I II

IIII
0.01

I I lllll

I I I I IIII

I l l

0.1

10

t, Days
Figwe C.13: The normalized response of Example 2, Perrines approach.

Z O O 0

A R~

Zoo00

15000

loo00 0.001

I I I Ill

I I I111

I I I Ill

Ill11

0.0 1

0.1

10

t,
Figure c.14:

Days

The n O n m b d response of Example 2, the new approach.

-192-

6OOo

I
Total Rate, Rb/D

4Ooo -

2000

Oil Rate, S T B D

t , Days

Figure C.15:

The rate profile for Example 3.

4800

4600
0.001

I I I IIII

I I I Ill

I I1I I I I

0.0 1

0.1

10

t, Days
Figure C.16:
The response of Example 3, in terms of p .

2.6e+07

P2
2.4ei-07
0

t, Days
Figure C.17:
The response of Example 3, in terms of p2.

t, Days
Figure C. 18: The normalized response of Example 3, Penines approach

1 I IIII

1 I IIll

I l l

0.001

0 . 01

0.1

10

t, Days
Figure C.19: The normalized response of Example 3, the new approach.

- 195 Another approach (Kuculc, 1986) to analyze such response is to utilize the difference in Ap / 41 at any given time between the late slope and the extension of the early slope in the following relation:

where the index 2 refers to the value on the late slope and the index 1 refers to the value on the early slope. When Eq. C-9 was used, the estimate obtained for the total system mobility was 81.3 md/cp which is close to 78.44 md/cp obtained using the late slope in Eq. C-1. Both

values were underestimates of the input total mobility of 128.4 md/cp. In order to resolve t h i s
problem of underestimation, the proposed normalization is applied where the change in 3 is

i lr a t e . Fig. C.19 showed the normalized response normalized using the change in surface o
which exhibited a late slope, and an early slope similar t o that seen in Fig. C.18. The late slope was used in Eq. C-7 and yielded an o i l permeability of 28.08 md compared to the 32.8 md input value. A relation similar to Eq. C-9 can be derived in terms of p2as:

(e-10)
where a is the empirical slope defined in Section 4.3. When this definition for volatile o i l is applied to Eq. C- 10, the following relation d t s : (C-11)

i l permeability which is close to the input value of The use of Eq. C.l resulted in a 31.7 md o
32.8 md. This shows the improvement in accuracy obtained using the proposed approach

- 196 Example 4

This is a buildup test simulated with an afterflow profile shown in Fig. C.20. The rate
profile was made t o reflect afterflow effects. The reservoir thickness was 100 ft and the absolute permeability was 30 md. The well was shut-in after 100 days of production time at an average pressure of 5125 psia and at an average gas saturation of 12 9 b . AU other parameters were similar to those used in Example 1. The pressure response plotted in Fig. C.21 and the pressure squared response plotted i n Fig. C.22 were dominated by the afterflow effects. When the total voidage rate was used to

normalize pressure change, the response exhibited a single slope, Fig. C.23. This slope was
used i n Eq. C-1 and resulted in a 49.5 md/cp
total

mobility. compared to the input value of

78.9 md/cp. In order to resolve this problem, the proposed normalization was applied where

the c h g e in p2 was normalized using the change in surface o i l rate in SB/D. Figure C.24 showed the normalized response which exhibits a single slope. This slope was used in Eq. C-7 and yielded an oil permeability of 16 md compared to the input value of 18 md. Again, this example shows the reasonable accuracy obtained using the proposed normalization compared t o the underestimation of that currently used in the oil industry.

- 197 -

4 f

I
0 '

qo

0.2

0.05

0.1

0.15

Days

Figure C.20:

The afterflow profile, o i l rate i n S T B D and total rate in RbD, for Example 4.

5000

E0
- 4

P
4600

ie-05

0.0001

0.001

0.01

0.1

10

t, Days
Figure C.21:
The response of Example 4, in terns of p .

2.7e47
I

2.5e47
0 0.

2.3eW

2.1e 4 7

k
O.OOO1

le-05

0.001

0.01

0.1

10

t, Days
Figure C.22: The response of Example 4, in terns of p2.

0.3

0 . 2

dp
qt
0.1

Figure C.23:

The normalized response of Example 4. Penine's approach

3500

2500

1500

500
~~

ie-05

0.0001

0.001

0.01

0.1

10

t,
Figure C.24:

Days

The normalized response of Example 4, the new approach.

(2.3 Discussion

The Gladfelter et al. (1955) normalization was applied to simply demonstrate certain
points of interest to multiphase flow. These observations are discussed here, and considered to

apply to other robust deconvolution schemes.

The rate normalization, based on Penines approach and currently used in the industry for
multiphase flow, was shown to apply only at low

rates. Its sensitivity to rate for oils of both

high and low volatility is due to the terms neglected in deriving Penines approach and the improper linearization of the inner boundary condition in terms of pressure. This normalization requires that the total rate in RB/D be monitored throughout the test. This is not easily satisfied in practice due to the difficulties encountered in measuring gas r a t e s . Furthermore,

this normalization results in underestimated values for total system mobility and yields no individual phase mobility.

The rate normalization proposed in t h i s work was shown t o be insensitive to rates for
volatile oils, due to the proper linearization of the inner boundary condition and improved treatment of the nonlinear terms when deriving the diffusivity equation in terms of p2, Eq. 425. This normalization requires only surface oil rates. Moreover, it results in reasonable estimates of individual phase permeabilities and thereby accurate values of total system mobility.
On the other hand, the proposed rate normalization was also seen to be sensitive to rate for o i l s

of low volatility.

This section also investigated the limits of Perrines approach and the rate normalization
currently applied in the industry. T h e Penim (1956) approach was seen t o be sensitive to flow

rates in oils of both high and low volatility. Perrins solution was also seen to underestimate the t o t a l system mobility for high rate tests. On the other hand, the pressure squared solution applies for a l l rates in volatile oils, and yields reasonable estimates of individual phase as well

as total system mobilities. For oils of low volatility, the pressure squared approach applies at
low rates, but may develop several semilog slopes at high rates.