Prosper® Tutorial 01:

Modelling a dry and

wet gas producer
 Modelling a dry and wet gas producer
The main objectives of this example are to show:

 How to set up a PROSPER model for a dry and wet gas well.

 How to enter basic black oil PVT data.

 How to enter the IPR data.

 How to describe the down hole equipment.

 How to perform a system calculation (VLP + IPR) to estimate the well flow rate for a
given WHFP.

 How to generate a well performance curve.

 How to generate and export lift curves to GAP / MBAL / REVEAL or any third party
software (Eclipse, VIP, etc).
 Statement Of The Problem

A well is to be drilled to produce gas from a gas reservoir.

Fluid data (PVT), reservoir data (IPR) and down hole equipment description (VLP) are
provided.

It is required to:

 Estimate the initial gas rate against a well head flowing pressure of 500 psig.

 Generate a well performance curve (Rate vs. well head flowing pressure).

 Generate lift curves to be utilised by a simulator (Reveal, GAP, MBAL, Eclipse, VIP, and
so on)
 PVT Input Data

Parameter Value
Gas gravity: 0.65 (Air =1)
Separator pressure: 250 psig
Condensate to Gas Ratio: 5 stb/MMscf
Condensate gravity: 50 API
Water salinity: 10000 ppm
Impurities (CO2, N2, H2S): None
 System Equipment Input Data

The system equipment input section is sub-divided into 5 sub-sections:

1. Deviation survey

2. Surface equipment

3. Down hole equipment

4. Geothermal gradient and

5. Average heat capacities

 System Equipment Input Data
Deviation survey:

In PROSPER, the deviation survey can have its origin anywhere: well head, sea-bed,
platform, RKB, mean sea level, seabed, and so on.

The key thing is to describe all the equipment in the well in a manner that is consistent with
respect to the origin selected.

The well head depth does not have to be the origin of the deviation survey.

Measured Depth in ft True Vertical Depth in ft

0 0

5000 5000
 System Equipment Input Data

Surface Equipment:

All equipment located downstream of the well head are part of the surface equipment. The
surface equipment can include: well head chokes, risers, flow lines, fittings, and so on.

In this example the surface equipment will not be modelled

 System Equipment Input Data
Down hole Equipment:

The down hole equipment include the tubings, casings, nipples, Sub-surface Safety
valves, and so on.

Equipment Measured Internal Roughness in

type depth in ft diameter in inches Rate multiplier
(down to) inches

Xmas Tree
(Well Head) 0 N/A N/A N/A

Tubing 4800 2.441 0.0018 1

Casing 5000 6.1 0.0018 1
 System Equipment Input Data

Static Geothermal Gradient.

The geothermal gradient expresses the rate of increase in temperature per unit depth. The
geothermal gradient is independent of the well flow rate.

When using the rough approximation temperature prediction method, the geothermal
gradient is entered versus measured depth. PROSPER internally converts the
measured depth into true vertical depth. It it is the temperature gradient based upon the true
vertical depth that is used during the calculation.
 System Equipment Input Data

Measured Depth in ft Static temperature in deg F

0 60

5000 180

The overall heat transfer coefficient is 3 btu/h/ft2/F.

Note: The overall heat transfer (also called U value) is a composite number that
captures the different heat transfer mechanisms taking place: conduction, convection and
radiation. It can be thought of as the inverse of the thermal resistance in the
surroundings of the wellbore.
 System Equipment Input Data

Average Heat Capacities.

The default average heat capacities are to be used:

Phase Heat Capacity in btu/lb/F

Oil: 0.53
Gas: 0.51
Water: 1
 Reservoir Input Data
PROSPER has around 20 different inflow models for gas wells. The IPR model
selection depends upon the purpose of the study, the suitability of the particular model and
the data available for the study.

IPR model: Petroleum Experts

Static Reservoir Pressure: 2500 psig
Reservoir Temperature: 180 degF
Water Gas Ratio: 0 stb/MMscf
Compaction Permeability Reduction model: No
Skin model: Enter skin by hand
Permeability: 25 mD
Reservoir Thickness (True stratigraphic 80 ft
thickness):
Drainage Area: 240 acres Note: The Petroleum Experts'
Dietz shape factor: 31.6 IPR method uses pseudo-
Well bore radius (Drill bit radius): 0.354 ft
Perforation interval: 60 ft pressure. It is transient and
Time since production: 0.1 days accounts for relative
Reservoir porosity: 0.2 permeability effects. Please
Connate water saturation: 0.2
Non-Darcy Flow Factor: Calculated
consult the online help for
Permeability entered: Total permeability more details.
Mechanical skin: +5
 Step by Step

The following pages provide a step-by-step procedure that will lead to the solution of the
problem:

- Construct a PROSPER model for a producing dry gas well.

- Use the PROSPER well model to estimate the flow rate against a WHFP of 500 psig.

- Generate a well performance curve.

- Generate well VLP for a numerical simulator.

 Step by Step
System Options:

Here, one simply needs to launch PROSPER if not already done.

Afterwards, simply selects | Options | Options and make the following choices.
Fluid: Dry and Wet Gas.

Select | Done to complete this

step.
 Step by Step
PVT data Input:

In order to enter the PVT data, simply select | PVT | Input Data and populate the screen as
shown below:

Parameter Value
Gas gravity: 0.65 (Air =1)
Separator pressure: 250 psig
Condensate to Gas Ratio: 5 stb/MMscf
Condensate gravity: 50 API
Water to Gas Ratio: 0 stb/MMscf
Water salinity: 10000 ppm
Impurities (CO2 , N2 , H2 S) None

Select | Done to complete this step.

 Step by Step
Saving the file:

To save a file, simply select | File | Save as ...

Afterwards, simply browse to the place where the file is to be saved.
It is suggested to save the file as *.OUT file.

The rest is
self-explanatory.
 Step by Step
System Equipment Description:

In order to describe the system equipment (i.e the hardware in and around the well
bore), simply select | System | Equipment (Tubing etc) | All

Now by selecting
| Edit, the software
will take the user
through all the
screens necessary to
input the equipment
data starting with the
deviation survey
 Step by Step

Deviation Survey:

Here are the data:

Measured Depth in ft True Vertical Depth in ft

0 0

5000 5000
Step by Step

Note:
It is possible to input or import a large
deviation survey table into PROSPER. A
filtering algorithm is implemented that will
select up to 20 of the most relevant data
points describing the well trajectory.
For this, the | Filter button located on the top
right of this screen is used.

In order to proceed with this example,

select | Done and the next screen
labelled Surface Equipment will follow.
 Step by Step
Surface Equipment:
This model will not include any surface equipment. Therefore, one simply needs to
select | Cancel to skip this step:

Selecting the "Cancel" button

located on the top left corner
of the screen will take the
user to the next screen: the
down hole equipment
description screen.
 Step by Step
Down Hole Equipment:

The down hole equipment includes the tubings, casings, nipples, Sub-surface Safety
valves, ...

Equipment Measured Internal Roughness Rate

type depth in ft diameter in in inches
(down to) inches multiplier

Xmas Tree
(Well Head) 0 N/A N/A N/A
Tubing 4800 2.441 0.0018 1
Casing 5000 6.1 0.0018 1
Step by Step
 Step by Step

The deepest entry in the down hole equipment section is the datum depth for the static
reservoir pressure that will be entered in the IPR section.
It is recommended to take the top perforation as the reference depth for the static
reservoir pressure. This implies that the down hole equipment description stops at the top of
the perforation. This is also true for a multiple-zone completion because the pressure
drop between the zones will be taken into account by the appropriate Inflow model (multi-
layer IPR model with dP or multilateral IPR model).

Select | Done to proceed to the next screen: the geothermal gradient.

 Step by Step
Geothermal gradient.

The data available are:

Measured Depth in ft Static temperature in deg F

0 60

5000 180

The overall heat transfer coefficient is 3 btu/h/ft2/F.

 Step by Step

The overall heat transfer

coefficient is 3 btu/h/ft2/F.

Select | Done to proceed to

the average heat capacity
screen.
 Step by Step
Average Heat Capacities:

The default average heat capacity values will be used for this example.

Note: The | Default button will reset any user-entered values.

 Step by Step

It will next be possible to visualise a sketch of the well bore with | Summary | Draw
Down hole.
 Step by Step
Equipment Summary:

From the Equipment Data screen, select | Summary and the following table listing the
various hardware components appear:

If one then selects | Draw Down hole, this is the sketch of the well bore that would
appear:
Step by Step

Select | Main to exit the screen.

 Step by Step
Saving the PROSPER file:

Like working with any other computer program, it is good practice to save the file
frequently in order to avoid data loss in case the computer crashes for instance.

To save a file, simply select | File | Save and then simply answer YES to the question "Do
you want to overwrite this file?"
 Step by Step
Inflow Performance Relation (IPR):

For the selection of the IPR model, simply select | System | Inflow Performance and make
the appropriate choices as follow:

IPR model selection:

IPR model: Petroleum Experts
Static Reservoir Pressure: 2500 psig
Reservoir Temperature: 180 degF
Water Gas Ratio: 0 stb/MMscf

Compaction Permeability
Reduction model: No

Skin model: Enter skin by hand

 Step by Step

To proceed, simply select the Input Data button (red if invalid) in the top right corner of the
screen next:
 Step by Step
IPR Data entry:

Permeability: 25 mD
Reservoir Thickness (True stratigraphic
thickness) : 80 ft

Drainage Area: 240 acres

Dietz shape factor: 31.6
Well bore radius (Drill bit radius): 0.354 ft
Perforation interval: 60 ft
Time since production: 0.1 days
Reservoir porosity: 0.2
Connate water saturation: 0.2
Non-Darcy Flow Factor: Calculated
Permeability entered: Total permeability
 Step by Step

Note: Because the Non-Darcy Flow Factor D has been set to "Calculated", PROSPER will automatically compute
the Non-Darcy Flow Factor D. Otherwise, the User needs to enter it.
 Step by Step
From the screen above, select the tab "Mech/Geom Skin" at the bottom left corner of the
screen in order to enter the mechanical skin:

IPR : Skin value entry

Mechanical skin: +5
 System Equipment Input Data
IPR: Generating an IPR plot

Once the IPR data input is completed, it is good practice to create an IPR plot to verify that
everything make sense. For this, simply select | Calculate and the software will create
and display the following plot:

Please select | Main and then

save the PROSPER file with |
File | Save to secure all
changes made so far.
 Step by Step

Estimation of the well flow rate:

The response of a well bore combines fluid properties (PVT), reservoir data (IPR) and tubing
response (VLP).

The fluid properties are used to compute the reservoir response (IPR) and the tubing
response (VLP).

For a given set of boundary conditions (given reservoir pressure and well head flowing
pressure), the well flow rate is the intersection between the IPR curve and the VLP
curve.

In order to compute this intersection point with PROSPER, simply select | Calculation |
System (Ipr + Vlp) | 3 Variables as per screen-shot below:
 Step by Step

After selecting the system calculation, one needs to enter the well head flowing pressure as per screen-
shot next:
Step by Step
 Step by Step
The top node pressure is the pressure downstream of the system. Since here there is no
pipeline included in the model, the top node pressure is the well head flow pressure.

The parameters water-gas-ratio (WGR) and condensate-gas-ratio (CGR) were entered

earlier on the PVT screen and also on the IPR screen.

However, during the life of a well either of these two parameters may change. Therefore, this
screen allows one to sensitize on WGR and CGR.

When sensitizing on the WGR and /or the CGR, PROSPER will use the new sensitivity
values for the calculations. It will no longer use the WGR and CGR values entered on the
IPR or the PVT screen. The same principle applies to any other sensitivity variables.

Surface Equipment Correlation: This applies to any pipeline in the model. Since this model
does not include any pipeline, the choice of a pipeline correlation is irrelevant.
Vertical Lift Correlation: Petroleum Experts 2.
 Step by Step
Solution Node: Bottom Node
Rate Method: Automatic - Linear
Left-Hand Intersection: DisAllow

Here select | Continue | Continue and | Calculate with the following results:
 Step by Step
One can read a gas rate of 19.4 MMscf/d as solution rate in the right section of the screen
under | Solution. The corresponding BHFP reads: 2093.9 psig.

If one select | Plot | System Plot, the system plot (VLP + IPR plot) is displayed as follow:

Note: The "E" on the VLP

curves indicates that the
erosional velocity limit is
exceeded at the
corresponding rates.

Select | Main to get back to

the main PROSPER screen
and save the file to secure all
changes made so far.
 Step by Step

Well Performance Curve Generation:

A well performance is a plot of flow rate versus well head pressure at a given reservoir
pressure.

Therefore, generating a well performance is simply running sensitivities on the well head
flowing pressure.

In this example, we will vary the well head flowing pressure from a reasonably low well head
pressure to the highest well head pressure to be expected: 50 psig to 2200 psig.

For this, simply select | Calculation | System (IPR + VLP) | 3 Variables | Continue and here
select the sensitivity variable "First Node Pressure":
 Step by Step

One can manually populate the cells with the desired values or generate them
automatically with | Generate and here one need to enter the first value, the last value, the
number of values and choose the values generation algorithm:
 Step by Step

To complete the process, simply select | Generate and then the input cells are
populated accordingly:
 Step by Step

On can see that on this screen up to 3 variables can be sensitized on simultaneously. It is generally possible to
sensitize on any number of parameters.

With | Continue and then | Calculate, ten (10) set of VLP and IPR are computed.
 Step by Step

This is the plot of the Bottom Hole Flowing Pressure versus First Node pressure, the first
node being the well head (read the label for the Y-axis).
 Step by Step
In order to plot the gas flow rate versus the first node pressure, select | Variables and then |
Gas Rate for the Y axis variable:
 Step by Step
With | Done, the well performance curve appears as follow:

This completes this section.

Select | Main to return to the main screen of PROSPER.
 Step by Step
Lift Curve generation for other applications:

1. Introduction.

Lift curves express the pressure drop across a tubing for a given set of variables. Different
software providers use different formats and acronyms for lift curves.

The most common acronyms are:

- VLP for Vertical Lift Performance.
- TPD for Tubing Performance Data.
- TPC for Tubing Performance Curves.
- VFP for Vertical Flow Performance and so on.

For naturally flowing gas wells, the variables involved in lift curve generation are:
- Gas rate.
- Well Head flowing pressure (= first node pressure).
 Step by Step

- Water Gas Ratio (WGR) and.

-Condensate Gas Ratio (CGR).

Even though four (4) variables are used, the lift curves for gas wells are conventionally referred
to as 3-Variables VLP. The rate variable is taken for granted as one cannot calculate pressure
drop without flow rate.
The 3 variables for a naturally flowing gas well model are: WHFP, CGR & WGR.

Recommendation:

In this example, we will demonstrate how to generate lift curves with PROSPER since lift curve
generation is a key task that PROSPER is designed to perform. However, if a project involves
the generation of lift curves for multiple wells, a more efficient approach would involve the use
of GAP, the network modelling and optimisation tool developed by Petroleum Experts.
 Step by Step

Here are the reasons why:

- GAP will instruct PROSPER to generate the lift curves using the very same PROSPER well
model created by the user and linked to the well icon in GAP.

- GAP will instruct PROSPER to generate the lift curves using the very same PROSPER well
model created by the user and linked to the well icon in GAP.

- GAP will use PROSPER to generate and save lift curves for any number of wells in batch-
mode. This can be done overnight for instance to save time.

- GAP will ask for the right VLP variables input depending upon the well type selected in GAP.
The variable selection for lift curves can sometimes be delicate because different
simulators use different names for the same quantity (example gas lift injection rate versus.
GLR injected).
 Step by Step
2. Steps.

In order to generate the VLP, one first needs to work out the variables involved. Here these
variables are gas rate, WHFP, CGR and WGR.
The second step is to choose values for the variables in such a manner that the host
application (GAP, MBAL, REVEAL, Eclipse, ..) can reasonably interpolate between them to
find the solution needed. Extrapolation and very large variable spacing are to be avoided.

In this example, the following values will be used:

 Gas Rate: from 0.1 MMscf/d to 30 MMscf/d. The performance curve generated earlier
shows that the well can produce maximum 20 MMscf/d.

 WHFP: from 50 psig to 2200 psig; Those values will cover the entire response of the well
as can be seen in the performance curve generated earlier.
 Step by Step

 WGR: from 0 to 300 stb/MMscf in this example. The right choice of the WGR values will
require more knowledge about the drive mechanisms of the reservoir. For a water- drive gas
reservoir, high WGR will be expected.

 CGR: for a dry and wet gas, the CGR is expected to remain constant by definition.

NOTE: The user must consider using the retrograde condensate fluid model if the CGR is not
expected to remain constant throughout. Beside the fully compositional approach, PROSPER
also have a black oil model for retrograde condensate with fully retrograde behaviour.

In order to enter the data for the lift curve generation, select | Calculation | VLP (Tubing Curves)
| 3 Variables.
 Step by Step

The next screen shot can be used to enter the range of rates to use:
Step by Step
 Step by Step
A few notes:

On this screen, the values for top node pressure, water gas ratio and condensate gas ratio will
be overwritten through the sensitivity variables.

The user must ensure that the appropriate VLP correlation is selected. Here, the
Petroleum Experts 2 correlation will be used.
The "User Selected" rate type gives control to the user over the rates he /she think will best
describe the response of the well.

The user must also ensure that the first and last node are correctly selected.

In order to proceed, select | Continue, select the relevant variables and populate the entries
as per screen-shot next:

Be patient as this might take a while!

At the end, a message will highlight that the calculation has completed.
 Step by Step

Now one shall select | Continue to proceed.

The lift curve calculation is triggered with | Continue | Calculate
 Step by Step

It is always a good practice to plot and visualise the lift curve before exporting them.
In this example, simply select | Plot and this is what would appear:
 Step by Step

Note: The "T" on the curve indicate that the rate are below the minimum Turner velocity criteria
whereas the "E" indicates that the erosional velocity limit is exceeded.
One can see that the lift curves have the right shape (J -curve) and look smooth. One can
return to the previous screen with | Finish.
In order to export the lift curve, select the button "Export Lift Curve"
 Step by Step

The following screen will appear where one has to select the format for the host
application:
Step by Step
 Step by Step

Select | File | Exit | Main and this step completes this exercise.