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    NATURAL GAS RECOVERY Some Practical Aspects of Unsteady-State Gas Flow Related to Gas-Well Performance KEVIN &, JONES WALTER C. PEARSON HOMER 6, RILEY MEMBERS AIME Abstract Predictions of gas-well performance utilizing commonly ‘accepted methods and short-term well test data can lead to serious errors due to the effects of unsteady-state flow. A computer program providing a numerical solution of the differential equation for unsteady-state radial flow under varying conditions of both gas and reservoir prop- erties was used 10 investigate these effects on gas-well performance. By systematic variation of flow parameters in computer solutions of well performance, the magnitude of error imposed by short-term test data became apparent. These errors are most serious in determining reserves by ‘material balance and in making long-range performance predictions. Within the range of conditions investigated, ‘gas-well recovery efficiencies are nearly independent of flow capacity. Conversely, the time required for depletion is directly related to the flow capacity of a well. Introduction The original objective of this study was to develop long-range gas-well performance predictions from short term well test data. It was believed that by trial-and.error ‘matching of actual short-term performance and well test data_a unique solution of the parameters governing the unsteady-state flow from tight reservoirs could be accom plished. These factors were then to be utilized as the basis for long-range predictions of pressure and flow-rate performance. The unsteady-state flow of gas through low-permeability reservoirs may be described by a second-order nonlinear partial differential equation, for which several approximate solutions have been developed."* This investigation was undertaken with a computer program designed to provide ‘a numerical solution of the nonlinear differential equation through the use of finite-dfference equations, This ap- proach, as presented in the Appendix, is quite similar 10 others described in the literature,"* except that provision was made for broad variation of gas properties in addition to variation of both formation and fracture permeability, SSF Re RT eset Seley ot Fegan Boge oe ‘scp oth Annast Fal Meting ot SPE. Oct. 5, 190, ty Dalls, JANUARY, 1963 SPE 142 U. OF KANSAS TAWRENCE, KANS. PAN AMERICAN PETROLEUM CORP, OKUMOMA CITY, OKLA fas well as fracture radius. Published correlations of gas viscosity and compressibility as functions of pressure and temperature were used to prepare tables for a range of gas specific gravities from 0.6 to 0.9. The arrangements for variation of reservoir rock properties are described in the Appendix. Facility to handle any desired variation ‘of each of these parameters was not available from earlier general solutions of this complex equation for unsteady state gas flow, Numerous computer solutions of long-term performance based on shorter test data indicated that the desired Unique solution for the parameters—such as fractional porosity, fracture radius and permeability, and interwell ppermeability—which govern flow might not be obtained. ‘A unique solution would have been extremely beneficial because accurate values of these reservoir parameters are unknown in most instances. Short-term performance could be matched by mere alterstion of imposed permeability and fracture conditions over extremely wide ranges of porosity, pay thickness and drainage radius. Short-term well test data proved to be very insensitive to the factors which determine gas in place, such as porosity and drainage radius. Because long-range predictions of gas well performance ate vitally dependent on gas in place, the original objective was not fully realized, Observations ‘made during this work did provide many benefits to the handling of other phases of the over-all problem discussed later. By systematically varying the flow parameters while making computer solutions of well performance, a great deal was accomplished in evaluating quantitatively the ide of error imposed by the unsteady nature of short-term well tests in low-permeability reservoirs. Table 1 illustrates the range of reservoir conditions investigated. Gas-well potentials from short-term tests appear to be controlied almost entirely by permeability and condition ratios imposed by formation fracturing, Condition ratio (CR) as used herein may be defined as the ratio of a as well’s steady-state flow capacity compared to the theoretical flow capacity were no fracture or wellbore damage present. Conversely, recoverable gas volumes are fixed by porosity and pay’ thickness, with only Iimited variations introduced by the factors controlling producing capacity, i abich ahet7O1 (Me 7O) ae woe ees AS Effect of Unsteady-state Flow on Gas Material Balance Early determination of reserves to permit evaluation of development economics with a minimum commitment of drilling investment is a very real and vital problem to the petroleum engineer. This is normally accomplished utilizing a materiat-balance curve (p/z vs cumulative pro- duction, assuming a constant-volume reservoir) when some performance history i available, With this approach, tunsteady-state effects can introduce appreciable error in the indicated reserve, as shown by Figs. 1 and 2, The error usually arises from accepting as true reservoir’ pres- sure a value obtained from an insufficient shut-in period. In many gas provinees, field rules and accepted custom provide for 72-hour or shorter pressure measurements. The added cost to obtain stabilized pressure or the pressure build-up data which can be extrapolated to deter- mine true pressure is commonly deemed unnecessary for what may be a minor refinement. ig. 1 Effect of unsteady-state flow on observed performance. -W | |e! | E pe 2Eiffect of unsteady-state flow on observed performance, Of course, it is reslized that a material balance for a ‘gas reservoir involves pressure measurements and produc- tion for all wells in the reservoir combined with a suitable procedure for properly weighting the individual pressures. If individual pressures are in error, however, then any weighted average pressure will also be erroneous although the weighting process may reduce the total error to some degree. For simplicity, in the discussion which follows it ig assumed that each case well presented represents a ‘one-well reservoir, so that the errors introduced into the material balance by interpreting unstabilized pressures for ‘a well as true pressures can be qualitatively demonstrated, Tt will be noted that the error involved is affected both by reservoir permeability and the degree of pressure ‘drawdown prior to shutting-in the well. Figs. 1, 2 and 3 portray both effects, Each of these figures is intended only itative demonstration of the degree of error by unsieady-state effects, and should not be construed t0 represent valid correlations 10 be applied indiscriminately to any particular actual reservoir. Fig. 1 shows an interesting case originally studied to ‘evaluate operating conditions being considered for a rather extensive area, These conditions involved an initial producing rate of 10 per cent of total reserves per year for two years, followed by producing rates designed t0 deplete reserves in 20 years, Reserves were to be estab= lished by 72-hour pressure surveys taken quarterly the first year, semi-annually the second year and annually thereafter, The performance was calculated on the com- puter for well conditions as shown on Fig. 1. The permeability of 0.8 md is effective reservoir permeability, epresenting the lower range for the area under study The condition ratio of 1.9, indicating an improved con- ition of permeability existing adjacent 10 the wellbore, was simulated by using an assumed fracture radius of 100 f¢, with fracture permeability capacity of five times that of the interwell area. 'A well with these reservoir conditions could not main- tain the assigned production rate for the two-year period One point of particular interest on this exhibit is the material-balance indication of reserves obtained from the initial reservoir pressure and the 72-hour pressure taken after the first year. These points might be extrapolated to indicate a reserve only 27 per cent of that ultimately obtained. The high producing rate compared to potential ceauses this drastic effect. It is quite apparent that such an indication of reserve from an early material balance might result in very misleading development economics. It is also of interest (0 note that, at the end of the third year, a much closer approach t6 true reservoir pres- sure was realized when the 72-hour shut-in period followed ‘a reduced producing rate. A much closer approach to true reserve is obtained by extrapolating through the pressure points of the first two years, disregarding the original point. Fig, 2 is a similar computer run for a well with twice the Teservoir permeability, other factors held constant. Although the true flow capacity would be doubled, the apparent open-flow capacity was only 5,600 Mef compared to 3,000 Mef for the tighter reservoir. This occurs because the pressure transient has traveled farther within the two- hour flow period in the more permeable reservoir. The difference between the 72-hour and true reservoir pressure is considerably less for this higher-capacity well. Tt will also be noted that the 72-hour pressure more closely approaches the true pressure after reducing the producing rate following the second year. Even though this well had an excellent potential by normal test methods, the material balance after one year of performance indicated only 52 per cent of the true reserve. JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY ‘The range of error from 72-hour pressures for a rather wide variation of reservoir conditions is illustrated by Fig. 3. The abscissa is producing rato expressed as per cent of short-term open-flow capacity, thereby representing the relative degree of drawdown prior to the shut-in period. The short-term open flow is that obtained by a normal four-point back-pressure test with a two-hour flow fon each point, progressing from the low to the high rate with no shut-in between points. The unsteady-state effect during a two-hour flow period will be quite different for various sets of reservoir conditions. Therefore, the short- term open flow is not directly proportional to permeability, which may account for the scattering of points on this exhibit, For the variation of reservoir conditions investigated, the 72-hour pressure ranged from 75 to 99 per cent of true static, with relative drawdown ranging from 28 to 5 per cent of open flow. From these results it is concluded that the use of 72-hour pressures in tight reservoirs can lead to serious etrors in material-balance reserve estimates Where it is impractical 10 obtain longer shut-in period or pressure build-up curves, it certainly would be prudent to run successive pressure surveys at identical shutin times with the same flow rate before the shut-in period, A ‘material-balance extrapolation from two such points would be of greater accuracy than utilizing an initial static pressure and one subsequent unstabilized pressure point, Unsteady-state Effects on Back-Pressure Behavior and Performance Predictions The back-pressure curve" which expresses the relation between the volume of gas flowing and the pressure drop within the reservoir is a valuable engineering tool in predicting future performance. The right-hand curve on Fig. 4 is a typical four-point back-pressure curve obtained by flowing the well two hours on each point, at increasing flow rates. The reservoir conditions assigned in the com- puter program, as shown, resulted in a favorable open-flow Potential of 7,800 Mcf/D. These short-term test data will ot predict actual performance for tight reservoirs. The parallel curve to the left represents essentially stable per- formance developed from calculations of the computer program, providing an open flow of only 2,650 Mef/D. Here again, the drastic effect of unsteady-state flow is manifested, ‘The top curve on Fig, 5 shows a performance prediction for flow against 700-psi sand-face pressure which was, the back-pressure curve and pressures from a pressure- cumulative production curve. For comparison, this exhibit also presents the performance calculated by the unsteady- state computer program. Although the ultimate recovery indicated by each curve is nearly equal, the actual flow capacity during the entire well producing life is much Tower than would be estimated from customary methods, AS a matter of interest, the flow capacity from the ‘computer-program curve was back-calculated at several Points to obtain the difference of squares of flowing and tue reservoir pressures for each flow rate. These points established the corrected or “pseudo stabilized” perform- ance curve on the left of Fig. 4. It will be noted that these points fall on a straight line nearly parallel to the short-term back-pressure curve, but translated appreciably to the left. This curve should have the same slope as an isochronal back-pressure tes.’ Similar results were obtained for all computer calculations, indicating one approach that might be utilized in predicting performance where an isochronal curve and at least one long-term flow rate are available without requiring any computer calculation, Fig. 6 shows the flow performance from Fig. 4 plotted ‘against time rather than cumulative production. This bisined through a sep-bystep process wsing rates from MS PN 3 . ST vn nar anams Eh — NL a eyo i oN | Bowowwn FE] f |S T i : 5 eee ete" G SS oe or \ ' St ros. Fig. 3Unsteady-state effect on 72-hour shut JANUARY, 1969 Fig. 5—Unsteady-state effect on performance predictions. demonstrates that actual time to deplete the well is much longer than would be predicted from a conventional back- pressure curve. It also demonstrates that the well is not able to maintain a flow rate of 1,000 Mef/D against 700-psi line pressure nearly as long as would be predicted by normal methods. Effect of Permeability on Gas Recovery Efficiency From a purely qualitative consideration, higher-potential gas wells might be expected to achieve more complete Tecovery of gas in place due to their ability to produce economic rates at lower reservoir pressures. The computer program was utilized to investigate the range of perme- ability that might appreciably affect recovery factors. Results of this investigation with a systematic variation of pay thickness, fracture radius and permeability ate pre~ sented on Fig. 7. Surprisingly, recovery factors, expressed as the per cent of gas in place that is ultimately recovered to an economic limit, changed only moderately at forma- tion capacities above 20 md-ft, although sharp changes occur at capacities below 10 md-ft. This lower capacity represents an extremely tight reservoir, equivalent to 20 ft of pay averaging 0.5 md. These data indicate that 2 recovery factor of about 75 per cent might be obtained from a capacity as low as 5 md-ft with a successful fracture. However, this may not represent commercial operation due to limited gas in place, An interesting observation from this exhibit is the greater improvement of recovery factor resulting from the fracture of a low-capacity compared to a higher \e wer ttattat cote \ capacity formation. For example, increasing the condition ratio from 1.0 to 1.775 elevates the recovery factor for 10 mé-ft capacity from 76 to 82 per cent, while the same inerease of CR elevates the recovery factor for 60 md-ft capacity only from 88.5 to 90 per cent. The productive capacity of gas wells is frequently in- corporated in proration formulas on the premise that higher-capacity wells represent greater reserves. This ap- pears to be correct only where the greater capacity results from greater pay thickness. From these sludies it appears that well potentials are controlled primarily by perme- ability variations and completion methods with pay thick- ress being of much less relative importance. This state- ‘ment is based on the general observation that pay-thickness variations in most reservoirs will vary in the ratio of 1:3 from the thinnest to the thickest pay, whereas well poten tials frequently show variations in the ratio of 1:100. Since there is no direct relationship between reserves and permeability or fracture conditions, productive capacity ‘would frequently be an inequitable allowable allocation factor, Effect of Permeability on Producing Life Although permeability exerts little influence on ultimate recovery, it does have a very important bearing on the producing life of a gas well. Several computer calculations ‘were made to establish this effect, which is portrayed by Fig. 8, To. eliminate the influence of pay thickness, the ordinate of this chart is open-low capacity (millions of cubic fect) divided by gas reserve (thousand cubic feet per day) for each well analyzed. Top allowable was considered to be a producing rate of 5 per cent of ‘gas reserve per year, assuming ultimate recovery of 85 per cent of gas in place. The abscissa is the number of years that each well could produce top allowable with a Sand-face flowing pressure of 700 psi. Initial pressure of all wells studied ranged from 2,200 to 3,200 psi. The years at top allowable might be considerably different for reservoir pressures outside this range. Although beyond this analysis, it is indicated that high-capacity wells in large fields might benefit by regional migration due to their ability to maintain top allowable rates longer than smaller-capacity wells. Effect of Producing Capacity on Compressor Operations ‘The recovery factor for several wells, representing a 82 : Fig, 7—Effect of permesbility on recovery factor Ability to sustain allowable rate of flow. wide range of the conditions shown by Table 1, was cal- culated for 2 700-psi flowing pressure and again for a 200-psi flowing pressure. An economic limit of 35 Mct/D ‘was applied t0 the first case, while 100 Mcf/D was ap: plied to the second. This simulates the approximate change in operating conditions and operating costs for a com- pressor installation, Results of these calculations are pre- sented on Fig. 9, with the increase of the per cent of gas. in place that is recovered due to the compressor installa tion plotted against initial open-flow capacity for the sev- eral wells involved, The increase is quite small for wells ‘with inital capacities below 3,000 Mef/D, while higher- capacity wells realize a favorable increase. However, com: pressors are necessary for Jow-capacity wells at a much earlier date than higher-capacity wells, For these reasons, it is very important to consider the recovery-factor in: crease along with gas in place to evaluate the economic aspects of each compressor consideration. The flattening of the curve at the upper limit represents the maximum, inerease that can be obtained with the imposed variation in flowing pressures. Effect of Fracture Radius on Well Behavior To evaluate the effect of hydraulic fracturing, a series of well behavior calculations were made with ‘reservoir conditions as noted on Fig. 10, varying only the radius of fracture. This analysis was conducied assuming a single, horizontal, concentric fracture was created near the mid point of the pay section. The calculated condition ratio is shown directly above the designated fracture radius, As might be anticipated for radial flow situations, the effect of fracture length appears to be a logarithmic fune- tion, Although the recovery factor is not greatly affected by fracturing, the depletion time required and the ability to maintain a specified rate are very greatly affected, A diminishing amount of improvement becomes evident as fracture radius exceeds 50 ft, It appears that the effect of fracturing is quite analogous to the effect of increasing reservoit permeability. The greatest benefits of fracturing appear to be the ability to sustain allowable rates longer and to reduce over-all producing life, Unsteady-state Problems Can Be Solved ‘Without Digital Computer Each of the several analyses of operating problems and behavior predictions comprising the subject investigation was conducted through widespread utilization of a digital computer program designed to handle the differential equation of unsteady-state flow with a maximum variation cof parameters. While the need for detailed long-range TT) Let im Fig, 9—Eeonomies of compressor operat ‘capacity. m related to well predictions may require the use of such a computer pro~ gram, there are numerous specific problems relating flow volumes and pressure changes that can very readily be solved with simple manual cslculations. This becomes especially evident when consideration is given to the wealth of data regarding solution of unsteady-state prob- Jems that is available in both graphic and tabular form from numerous technical papers on this subject. With the increasingly important role that natural gas is assum- ing, it becomes essential that engineers recognize the effects of unsteady state in the planning of gas development, producing and transportation operations. The calculation of these effects is now very defintely in the realm of everyday solution of engineering problems. As illustrated partially by portions of this paper, much can be accomplished in solving unsteady-state problems without the use of a digital computer, provided adequate and accurate well test data made’ available. Conclusions The analyses of problems discussed by this paper indi- cate the following conclusions are valid within the range of reservoir conditions investigated. 1. The use of reservoir pressures measured after brief shut-in periods, without recognition of and correction for lunsteady-state effects, can Iead to serious errors in reserve determination by material balance. 2. Long-range gas-well performance in low-permeability reservoirs cannot be adequately predicted from the short- term well test data usually recorded at well completion, 3. The recovery efliciency of a gas well is not greatly affected by reservoir permeability, although the time re- quited to achieve a given recovery is directly controlled by the flow capacity 4. Higher-potential wells are more favorable candidates for attractive compressor installation than extremely low- capacity wells. 5. The greatest benefis of hydraulic fracturing appear to be in the ability to sustain allowable rates longer and to reduce over-all producing life, with ultimate recoveries in the absence of regional migration being improved only slightly. Nomenclature P= pressure P= average pressure ‘7 = radius at which the average pressure exists 5. 1O—Effeet of fraete as on performance. total volume of gas thickness of producing zone porosity reservoir temperature compressibility factor radial distance from wellbore (subscripts de- ‘note zones in mathematical model) flow rate of gas flow rate at radius r permeability Acknowledgments ‘The authors wish to express their appreciation to Pan American Petroleum Corp. for permission to prepare this paper for publication. Appreciation is also extended 10 F. H. Allen for suggestions and counsel in pursuing the subject investigation, and to Jobn C. Miller for his con- tribution in the development and refinement of the com- puter program. References 1. Aronofsky, J. S, and Jenkins, Re: “Unsteady Radial Floe Cae Theough Porous MediaVariable Viscosity ‘and Com presibiity® Paper presented ot moeting of Applied Mechanics Biss ASME, Chteago Il (Nov, 1955) 2, Aronofsky, J. S. and Jenkins, Re “A Simplified Analysis of Unsteady Radial Gas Flow”, Trans, AIME (1954) 201, 149 3. Bruce, G. Hy P. 4, Miller, CC, Dyes, A. B. and Hutchinson, C. A. mation, of Permeability and Reservoir Preisires,and Botton: Tole Pressure Buildup Characteristics", Trans, AINE (1980) 189, 91 5. “Back Pressure Data on Natural Gas Wells”, Monograph 7, USEM. 6, Callender, M, H.z “The Isochronal Performance Method of Determining the Flow Charecteristies of Gas Well", Trans, AIME (1935) 204, 137, % Cornell, Ds “Analysis of Natural Gas, Well Back, Pressure ‘Test Data”, Paper 341-6 presented at 28th Annual Fall Meet ing of SPE in Dallas (1983). 8. Comal, D. and Katz, D. Ly: "Pressure Gradients in Natural Gas Revervoin”, Trans, AINE, (1983) 198, 61 ing of Stabilized Cae Well Performance ‘Beessure Test Data”, Trans, AIME. (1955) 10, Chatas, A. Tas “A Practical, Treatment of Nonsteady State Flow Broblems in Reservoir Systems", Pet. Eng. (1953) 29, No 5, BAZ; No 6, BSB; No 9, BU. APPENDIX Description of the Computer Program ‘Most solutions to the unsteady-state problem begin with the diffusivity equation.’ The program used to produce the results described in this paper, in effect, provides a predictive difference solution to the unsteady-flow problem, without direct use of the diffusivity equation. Instead, a more intuitive physical approach has been taken which seems to give good results with reasonable computer time. ‘The reservoir was assumed to be cylindrical and homo- ‘geneous except that provision was made for limited lateral variation of permeability. It was divided into several con centric regions for computational purposes, The number ‘of these regions varied from problem to problem and from time to time during one problem, 2s will be shown later. ‘The calculation starts with the pressure shown in each region, From these known pressures, the flow rates across ‘each interface are calculated using the steady-state radial Darey law for gases. It is assumed that these flow rates remain constant for some small time step (Av). At the end of the time step, 2 material balance is made for each rogion and the new pressure for each region is found. Our major effort was expended in improving the com- putational efficiency of the program. As simple as the scheme described in the previous paragraph is, it will give accurate results if small-enough regions are used. How- ever, it is well known that if small regions are used the time’ steps must be very small and, thus, an inordinate amount of time is required for computation. Concept of “Radius of Average Pressure” ‘The first step in improving efficiency consisted of the introduction of the “radius of average pressure” (r*). If the flow rates are to be calculated accurately for reason- ably large regions, the proper radius must be assigned to the pressure within each region, This pressure represents the average pressure within the region: but, in actual fact, there is only one radius at which this pressure will be found. This radius (r*) which locates the average pres- sure can be calculated in the following manner, and it thas been found to allow appreciably larger regions with- ‘out loss of accuracy. If the pressure is given as a function of 7, the total gas (standard cubic feet) within a zone may’ be determined by the expression _2 x 520nhg [™ a f mdr ses (AND ‘The average pressure will then be given by oA ITe Von “0, oe (By definition, pis = 7.) In the case of a gas under steady-state flow for which pr vs In r isa straight line, the integral in the first equa- tion cannot be evaluated. However, when p vs in ris a straight line, the integral can be evaluated, and r* is found to be and r, denotes r* for the nth annular zone. It has been found that this equation gives a reasonably accurate approximation for the gas case. The error is apparently negligible except when the pressure at the inner edge of the zone is a small fraction of the pressure at the outer edge of the zone. Adaptation to Short- and Long-Term Phenomena A second step was forced upon us by the generality which we wanted the program to have. In order to get ood definition for short-term phenomena, such as a four- point back-pressure test with one hour at each rate, it is necessary for the inner regions to be small. In this case we are willing to accept the required small Ar because the real time involved is also small, If, however, after making such a four-point test we then want to flow the well at a fixed rate for a long period, the computation time will be excessive. Over the longer period, the inner regions become unnecessary because they reach’ a “pseudo steady-state” condition in which the flow rates remain essentially constant with time. To handle both short- and long-term phenomena, an arrangement was devised whereby the inner regions were removed or added as needed, For instance, if a 72-hour shut-in pressure has just been computed and now the well, is to be flowed for a year, we could remove the first interface and combine what have been the first two regions into one. Other than computer housekeeping, all that is, required to do this is to perform a material balance to ensure that as much gas is in the remaining large region as was in the two smaller regions before the switch, There is 2 noticeable shift in wellbore pressure (for the fixed flow-rate case) at the instant of region reduction, but it appears to contribute no long-term inaccuracy. However, because of this, no region reduction is done immediately before results are required. Conversely, if the well has been flowing for a year and we now’ want 10 take a 72-hour pressure, we shall need more regions than we have been using. A reason- able method for estimating the pressures in the two re gions which are to be constructed from the larger inner region was contrived, but it also introduced a disturbance in the wellbore pressure. (As before, the requirement was. made that the total amount of gas temain unchanged by the addition of the region.) Because of this disturbance, it was necessary 10 add the new region a short time before changing the flow rate in order that the pressure profile would have time to adjust itself to the proper values. This process of reducing and adding regions, 2s needed, contributes markedly to the generality of the program by decreasing computer time with only 2 minor effect on accuracy. Assigament of Boundary Conditions Boundary conditions were handled quite simply at the far edge of the reservoir. The flow rate was assumed to bbe zero and was so assigned (q, = 0); or, if it was desired to investigate an infinite reservoir, r was made quite large and the flow rate across the outer boundary was set equal fo the flow rate across the next inner bound- ary, thus ensuring that the pressure in the outer region, remained at its initial value. At the wellbore several approximations were needed. First, a small auxiliary region was established with radius from 1 to 10 ft (¥,) immediately beyond the actual well- bore radius. Within the small region, true steady-state flow was assumed to hold. We found that this inner region not only speeded up the computation, but also that it was necessary to have such a region of about 10-ft Tadius and permeability up to 100 times the interwell permeability in order to obtain results which matched known well performance, With the permeability very large, it seems reasonable 10 assume that the flow in this region is truly steady-state. Since a pressure transient would pass through this short high-permeability zone in a vety short time, its incorporation in the model would have very little influence on the producing rates or pressures calculated after a time interval of 15 minutes This small region makes up one of three different per- meability zones which can be assigned in the program. ‘The second is a region in which it can be assumed that the formation has been either fractured or damaged. As fan approximation to the fracture effect, it was assumed that the permeability had been increased in a region from the small steady-state radius to some radius of fracture which is not related to the location of any of the com- putational radii. Finally, the remainder of the reservoir is assigned the interwell permeability, A certain amount of manipulation was required to calculate the average petmeability within the region where the fracture radius occurred, particularly if it was involved in the reduction cor addition of regions, but in the finished program the pressures may be plotted in a smooth curve to the fracture Tadius from either side with the proper discontinuity at the fracture radius. For the fixed-flow-rate case, the wellbore flow rate is assumed also to hold for the steady-state radius (r,). Darey’s law could be used to predict the pressure at the steady-state radius by assuming that the wellbore flow rate also holds between it and the first radius of average pressure. With a large first zone, it was found that this steady-state approximation introduced inaccuracies of con siderable magnitude in the calculated wellbore pressure ‘A reasonable approximation to unsteady-state behavior, except where transients exist, is given by the condition dg/dt = 0. The situation in’ which this condition is a reasonable approximation has been termed pseudo-steady state. It has been found that, although this condition is never precisely satisfied, it is a considerably better approxi- mation than the steady-state equation. Using this condi- tion, the following equations for pressure and flow rate at any point within a reservoir under pseudo-steady state will hold, fa ATV OT) | (Aa) Where dn and gy ate the gas flow rates at r and ry respectively (n

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