PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING

Gas Well Tests

Interpretation of
Gas Well Tests

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Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel

 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
Pseudo-Pressures

In solving the diffusivity equation, certain assumptions made on the fluid properties
are not applicable to gas. In particular
• Gas compressibility is high.
• Both viscosity and compressibility depend on pressure.
A deviation term ‘Z’ is required to model the PVT performance of real gases by the
equation of state PV = nZRT. It becomes then possible to use the diffusivity equation
if ‘pseudo-pressures’ are used instead of real pressures for gas cases.
The pseudo-pressure (or real gas potential) is expressed as:
P
m( p)= ∫
2p
Po
µ ( p )Z ( p )dp
in which Po is a reference pressure usually taken as 0 or atmospheric.
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Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel

 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
Pseudo-Pressures (cont’d)

In gas well test analysis, the pressure

is replaced by the gas potential m(p).
As a rule of thumb:
- If Pmax < 2000 psi, use m(p) = p².
- If Pmin > 3000 psi, use m(p) = p.
Assuming µCt is constant, the
dimensionless pseudo-pressure
becomes:

−5
1.987×10 khTsc[m( p)−m( pi)]
mD=
pscTqsc
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Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel

 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
Pseudo-Times

In tight reservoirs, the assumption that

µCt is constant may lead to a
distortion in the early time log-log
data.
Gas pseudo-time functions must be
used to account for gas
compressibility changes at early
times:

dtps = 1 =I ( p)
dt µ( p)Ct( p)

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Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel

 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
IPR of a Gas Well and Definition of AOF

2000 P1

P2

P3
I.P.
R. 1

I.P
.R.
2
1000 I.P
.R
.3

AOF
14.7 psi0
0 400 800 1200 1600
q0 (BOPD)
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Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel

 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
Isochronal Well Testing

• Gas well isochronal testing with a PL tool in the well allows simultaneously to
determine the AOF at downhole conditions, to obtain multirate flow profiles
(stabilized conditions), to perform the SIP analysis, and to test for both Darcy skin
and rate-dependent skin.

• Furthermore, the PL tool measurements open the possibility for Layered Reservoir
Testing, if these measurements are also recorded during the transient periods.

ΓΧ Gamma Experts
Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel

 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
Typical Isochronal Gas Test and Determination of Skin

Pwf1
Pwf2
Pwf3

Pwf4

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Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel

 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
Rate-Dependent Skin

In gas wells, and in some high flow rate oil wells, the flow in the reservoir may
become turbulent. This is because particular combinations of fluid parameters may
yield Reynolds numbers in excess of the maximum for laminar flow (around 2-3000).
The additional pressure drop thus created is termed ‘rate-dependent skin’.The total
skin measured by a well test will be the sum of a ‘mechanical’ skin S0 and of the
‘rate-dependent’ skin:

S’ = So + D Q
D is termed the ‘non-Darcy’ flow coefficient. It can be measured by multi-rate testing
techniques such as the Isochronal Test or the Selective Inflow Performance Test.

ΓΧ Gamma Experts
Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel

 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
Characterization of Skin with an Isochronal Gas Test

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Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel

 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
Rate-Dependent Skin Example

The interpretation of an isochronal test performed on a gas well has yielded the
following data
• Flow period 1 (5.1 MMCFG/D): S = 6
• Flow period 2 (9.2 MMCFG/D): S = 9.3
• Flow period 3 (12.8 MMCFG/D): S = 12.5
• Flow period 4 (17.0 MMCFG/D): S = 16

Is this well severely damaged?

What is the mechanical skin?
What is the rate dependence of the skin?
What would you recommend to improve the flow rates of this well?
ΓΧ Gamma Experts
Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel

 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
Modified Isochronal Test and Determination of AOF

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Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel

 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
AOF Determination Exercise

The data measured during a modified isochronal test on a ‘tight’ gas well are
summarized herebelow:
• Static reservoir pressure: 8190 psi.
• Flow period 1 (Q1 = 4.2 MMCFG/D): Pwf1 = 5550 psi
• Flow period 2 (Q2 = 7.0 MMCFG/D): Pwf2 = 5040 psi
• Flow period 3 (Q3 = 13.5 MMCFG/D): Pwf3 = 4030 psi
• Flow period 4 (Q4 = 19.5 MMCFG/D): Pwf4 = 3450 psi
• Stabilized extended flow at 19.5 MMCFG/D: Pwf = 2760 psi

Plot ∆m(p) vs Log Q and determine the AOF of this well (use m(p) = p).

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Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel

 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
Conventional Back Pressure Test

Flowing Pressure,
Pr
Pwf1
Pwf Pwf2
Pwf3
Pwf4

t1 t2 t3 t4
Time, t, hours
Flow Rate, q

q4
q3
q2
q1

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t1 t2 t3 t4 Gamma Experts
Petroleum Engineering
Time, t, hours
September 2002 Yves Chauvel
 PRACTICAL PRESSURE TRANSIENT TESTING
Gas Well Tests
Back Pressure Test: ‘C and N Plot’

Log (Pr2 - Pwf2)

q = C(Pr2 - Pwf2)n
n = 1/slope
C = Intersect on q axis
where Pr2 - Pwf2 = 1.0

Log Rate, q
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Petroleum Engineering

September 2002 Yves Chauvel