12--Permeability Anisotropy

Exercise 12-1—Vertical Well In Anisotropic Reservoir

You have just drilled a well in a new reservoir. There is evidence that the reservoir is
naturally fractured, with kx = 40 md parallel to the direction of the natural fractures and ky
= 5 md perpendicular to the direction of the natural fractures.

A. If the field were developed on 40 acre spacing with each well at the center of a 40
acre square, what would the permeability and drainage area dimensions of the well
spacing for the equivalent isotropic system be? Assume the sides of the 40-acre square
are aligned with the principal axes of permeability.

k = k xk y = (40 )(5) = 14.1 md

x = y = 43,560 A = (43,560 )(40 ) = 1,320 ft

x' =
k
x=
14.1
(1,320 ) = 784 ft
kx 40

y' =
k
y=
14.1
(1,320 ) = 2,217 ft
ky 5

B. What would the apparent skin factor be?

1 ⎡⎢⎛ k y ⎞ ⎛ kx ⎞ ⎤
1
⎡⎛ 5 ⎞ 4 ⎛ 40 ⎞ 4 ⎤
1 4 1 1
4
1
s = − ln ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ + ⎜ ⎟ ⎥ = ln ⎢⎜ ⎟ + ⎜ ⎟ ⎥ = −0.129
2 ⎢⎝ k x ⎠ ⎜k ⎟ ⎥ 2 ⎢⎣⎝ 40 ⎠ ⎝ 5 ⎠ ⎥⎦
⎣ ⎝ y⎠ ⎦

C. What would the area of investigation be for a 24 hour test, if the viscosity were 0.75
cp, the porosity were 20%, and the total compressibility were 1.5×10-6 psi-1?

xi =
k xt
=
(40)(24 ) = 2,120
(948)(0.2 )(0.75)(1.5 × 10 −6 )
ft
948φµct

yi =
k yt
=
(5)(24 ) = 750
(948)(0.2 )(0.75)(1.5 × 10 −6 )
ft
948φµct

Ai = πxi yi = π (2,120)(750) = 115 acre

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 12--Permeability Anisotropy

Exercise 12-2—Hydraulically Fractured Well In Anisotropic

Reservoir
You have just drilled and fractured a well in a new reservoir. The well does not appear to
be as stimulated as it should be if the reservoir were isotropic. The fracture was designed
to have a half-length of 500 feet and a fracture conductivity of 1,000 md-ft. If the
hydraulic fracture followed the path of existing natural fractures, and the reservoir had a
permeability kx of 0.4 md along the natural fractures and a permeability ky of 0.025 md
perpendicular to the natural fractures, what would the equivalent isotropic system be?

Solution:

k = kxk y = (0.4)(0.025) = 0.1 md

′
Lf =
k
Lf =
0.1
(500) = 250 ft
kx 0.4

⎛ ⎞⎛ k ⎛ 0.1 ⎞⎛ 0.1 ⎞
(wk )′ = ⎜⎜ ⎟⎜ k f ⎞⎟ =
⎟⎝ 0.4 ⎟⎠(1,000) = 500 md ⋅ ft
k k k
wf wk f = ⎜⎜ ⎟⎜
f
⎟⎜⎝ k x ⎟⎠
⎝ ky ⎠ ky kx ⎝ 0.025 ⎠

FcD
′
=
(wk )
′
f
=
500
= 20
kLf
′ (0.1)(250)

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 12--Permeability Anisotropy

Exercise 12-3—Horizontal Well In Anisotropic Reservoir

Find the equivalent isotropic system for a horizontal well with a 5,000 ft lateral in a
reservoir with kx = 50 md, ky = 400 md, and kz = 1 md. The wellbore radius is 0.25 ft, and
the reservoir dimensions are h = 25 ft, xe = 10,000 ft, and ye = 3,000 ft.

Solution:

k ′ = k = 3 k x k y k z = 3 (50)(400)(1) = 27.1 md

L′ =
k
L=
27.1
(5,000) = 3,684 ft
kx 50

h′ =
k
h=
27.1
(25) = 130 ft
kz 1

′
xe =
k
xe =
27.1
(10,000) = 7,368 ft
kx 50

′
ye =
k
ye =
27.1
(3,000) = 781 ft
ky 400

aw =
k
rw =
27.1
(0.25) = 1.3 ft
kz 1

bw =
k
rw =
27.1
(0.25) = 0.065 ft
ky 400

′ a + bw 1.3 + 0.065
rw = w = = 0.6825 ft
2 2

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