WELL TESTING

Well Testing Purpose

In order to develop an ideal artificial lift system for any well it is important to understand
the flow capability of the well. Well testing is the approach taken to get this understanding.
The main aim is to find the maximum stabilized production rate the reservoir can deliver to
the bottom of the well. With well testing we can also find out other factors such as skin
damage, permeability, initial reservoir pressure etc, and with diagnosis of these factors,
remedies can be implemented to improve the productivity of the well.
In beam lifting, well testing particularly finds application in determining the load acting on
beam lifting equipment’s and liquid level in the well- two important factors concerning
beam lifting.

Data Required for Well Testing

One or more flow rates and their corresponding bottomhole pressure needs to be measured
for well test operations.

Flow Rates
Since more than one flow rates are required, a different rate can be measured by simply
changing the size of choke in the well giving us a new flow rate which can be either greater
or smaller than the previous rate depending on the size of choke. An important factor to
note here is that the flow rates and their corresponding pressure need to be stabilized
before being accepted as viable data for predicting well performance.
Stabilized pressure and rates mean that pressure and rate values cease to change over a
period. Most reservoirs are in state of continuous pressure decline and may require artificial
lift to flow. So even though a rate and pressure might be stable one day, that rate and
pressure could change over time. In such cases stabilized conditions are considered when
rate and pressure cease to change for a short period of time, that is the well test must
continue until flow rate and pressure at the bottom of the well don’t change for a short
term.
Stabilized rates can also be obtained with the help of a test pumping unit- submersible,
electrical, beam etc. Different flow rates can be obtained by altering the speed of pump or
changing the frequency of electrical pumps. Other artificial lift such as gas lift can also b
used if gas supply at the correct injection pressure is available. In gas lift operations in order
to avoid gas cycling back to the surface the injection pressure of gas should be less than
static bottom hole pressure (SBHP). In this operation CO2 or Nitrogen can be used in place
of natural gas but both come with their own set of problems. Carbon Dioxide will react with
water creating carbonic acid which will create a corrosive environment harming the
equipment whereas nitrogen pumping unit is an expensive option. Different flow rates can
be measured by changing the volume of gas injected.
In order to measure the flow rate accurately portable test separators are used in facilities
that separate liquid, oil and gas and meters each stream. Test separators are considered the
most accurate way to measure flow rates.

Bottomhole Pressure
The flowing bottomhole pressure can be measured directly using bottomhole pressure
gauge. If it is not advisable to run the bottomhole pressure gauge then pressure can be
computed by the amount of fluid in the annulus, the density of the fluids at the given depth.
This relation is given by the formula:
p= 0.433 γL × ( D−FL )+ pg
p= pressure at depth D (psig)
γL= specific gravity of the liquid below the liquid level (dimensionless)

D= depth in the well from surface (ft)

FL= depth from surface to gas free liquid level (ft)
pg= gas pressure at the top of liquid level (psig)

The gas pressure at the top of liquid level can be computed using the mechanical energy
balance:

pg= pS + 1+ ( FL
40000 )
pS = surface pressure on the annulus (psig)

The liquid level in the well can be determined using swab line, wireline conveyed pressure
gauge or an acoustic sounder.
The wireline conveyed pressure gauge is run inside the tubing and can measure pressure at
any depth. Care should be taken to not run the wireline in the annulus space between the
tubing and the casing as the wireline could become wrapped and tangled around the tubing
making its retrieval very difficult. The gauge is stopped at every 100ft to 200ft to take a
pressure reading. This data is used to create the pressure traverse plot. The liquid level can
be identified by the plot at the point where the line changes slope. This change in slope is
due to the change in pressure caused by the presence of a denser fluid.
The liquid specific gravity can also be computed using two pressure data points and is given
by the formula:

γ L=
( p 2− p1
0.433 ( D2−D1 ) )
Swab line is also used to determine the liquid level in the well. The swab cup falls into the
tubing in freefall hindered only by friction. When the swab cup falls into the liquid there is
sudden loss of weight as a result of momentum transfer caused by swab cup falling into the
denser fluid. This weight loss can be detected by a weight indicator. The liquid level can be
determined by the length of swab line in the tubing at this point.
Well testing can also provide us with the static or average pressure of the reservoir. This
pressure can be found out by carrying out either of the transient pressure tests. The average
reservoir is estimated in the shut-in period between the well tests and the installation of
artificial lift equipment. If the shut-in pressure in reservoir ceases to change then it’s the
average pressure of the reservoir. The time taken to achieve this static pressure depends
upon the reservoir rock and fluid characteristics. The time taken to reach average reservoir
pressure can be computed by the formula:
2
1200× ∅ × μ× Ct × r e
ts =
i
k
t s = approximate shut-in time (hrs)
i

∅ = reservoir porosity (fraction)

μ = reservoir fluid viscosity (cp)
C t = reservoir total compressibility (1/psi)

r e = reservoir drainage area (ft)

k = effective permeability to the reservoir fluid (md)

Use of the Data to Create Productivity Index

The data gathered from well test is further used to create the productivity index (PI) of the
reservoir. Depending upon the condition of the reservoir fluids one of the two well
performance models can be used to define the productivity index.

Pressure above bubble point

Single phase liquids are present in oil reservoirs with pressure greater than the bubble point
pressure of oil. In this condition, water is present but there is no presence of gas. Radial
form of Darcy’s Law can be used to describe the flow rate of oil reservoir with pressure
above bubble point:
k 0 h ( pe − pωf )
q o=
141.2 B0 uo ¿ ¿

q o = oil flow rate (stock tank barrels of oil [STBO]/day)

k 0 = permeability to oil (md)

h = reservoir thickness (ft)

pωf = flowing pressure at the bottom of the well (psig)

pe = reservoir pressure at the drainage boundary (psig)

B0 = oil formation volume factor (bbl/STB)

uo = oil viscosity at reservoir conditions (cp)

s = skin factor (dimensionless)

r e = drainage radius (ft)

r ω = wellbore radius (ft)

Productivity index of the well can be calculated by rearranging this equation in terms of oil
flow rate per reservoir pressure drop.
q0 k0 h
J= =
pe − pωf 141.2 B0 uo ¿ ¿

J=¿ Productivity Index (STBO/day/psig)

The productivity index of the well remains constant if the reservoir and fluid properties on
the right side of equation remain constant. The productivity index is plotted as oil flow rate
vs flowing BHP and this plot is known as the Inflow Performance Curve (IPR). The slope of
this line is the reciprocal of the productivity index.

Pressure below bubble point

A free gas phase develops in the reservoir if the reservoir pressure is less than the bubble
point pressure. In this situation, gas along with water and oil compete for flow path to the
well. As gas saturation increases, permeability to gas also increases leading to decrease in oil
permeability. Radial form of Darcy’s Law is sued with combined flow of oil and gas for both
the cases.
k 0 h ( pe − pωf )
q o +q g=
141.2 B0 uo ¿ ¿

q g = q o (GOR)

k 0 h ( pe − pωf )
q o=
141.2 B0 uo ¿ ¿
u g = average gas viscosity in the reservoir (cp)

k g = permeability to gas (md)

q g = gas flow rate (Mscf/day)

GOR = gas-oil ratio (Mscf/STBO)

z = average gas deviation factor in the reservoir (dimensionless)

T = reservoir temperature (◦R)

In order to use this equation, the permeability of both oil and gas must be known but this
information is often not available. Vogel’s equation can be used to find out the oil flow rate
in reservoirs with pressure below bubble point. It is given by the formula:

[ ] [ ]
2
q0 p ωf pωf
=1−0.2 −0.8
qmax p p

q max = maximum oil flow rate at maximum drawdown (STBO/day)

p = average reservoir pressure (psig)

This equation can only be used under the condition that reservoir pressure is below bubble
point and gives us the value of maximum flow rate and average reservoir pressure using two
flow rates.
Pressure above and below bubble point
It can be possible that the reservoir has pressure above bubble point initially which
gradually falls below bubble point as reservoir pressure declines. In such case the IPR is
given by the combination of productivity index and Vogel’s equation. IPR defines the portion
above the bubble point and Vogel’s equation defines the part below it. The two models
meet at the bubble point.
If the tests show that one point is above bubble point and the other below it, the well can
be retested to obtain both the points above or below the bubble point. In this case the
above discussed methods can be used to find out the reservoir pressure, maximum oil flow
rate resulting IPR. When the test points show values above and below bubble point,
assuming the productivity index model can be used, an estimate of reservoir pressure can
be given using the two test points. Although, this estimate will be too large as second test
point is below the bubble point.
q1 p2 − p1 q2
pe =
q 1−q 2

The estimated reservoir pressure is now used to compute the flow rate at the bubble point
using the two models.
q1
J=
pe − pω f 1

q bJ =J ( pe − pω f 1
)
q2

[ ] [ ]
2
q max =¿ p ωf p ωf
1−0.2 −0.8
p p

[ ] [ ]
2
p p
q bv =q max [1−0.2 ωf − 0.8 ωf ¿
p p

Well Testing Best Practices

 Static BHP should be determined when well is not producing either by using
downhole pressure gauge or by fluid level measurement method.
 Well test should be carried out periodically and at different flow rates. The tests
should measure the flow rate of liquid, oil and gas, the fluid level, the flowing
wellhead pressure and specific gravities of all the fluids. All the data should be
recorded in the official well record.
 Only stabilized flow rates should be considered, and the tests should be carried out
for subsequent time to reach this stabilized condition.
 Special care needs to be taken for the presence of gas.
References
 The Beam Lift Handbook, Revised by Paul Bommer and A.L Podio.
 Kermit E. Brown, “The Technology of Artificial Lift Methods,” Vola 2a (Petroleum
Publishing co, 1980)