This total pressure drop is then composed of individual pressure drops as the reservoir fluid flows to the

surface. These pressure drops occur as the fluid flows through the reservoir and well completion, up the
tubing, through the wellhead equipment and choke, and through the surface flowlines to the separator.
Thus, the total pressure drop of Eq. 1 can be represented by Eq. 2.

....................(2)
These individual pressure drops can be divided into yet additional pressure drops to account for
restrictions, subsurface safety valves, tubing accessories, etc.
Systems analysis is based on the concept of continuity. At any given point in the production system, there
is a particular pressure and production rate associated with that point for a set of conditions. If there is any
change in the system, then there will be an associated change in pressure and/or production rate at that
same point. This concept allows the production system to be divided at a point of interest for evaluation of
the two portions of the system. This evaluation determines the conditions of continuity of pressure and
production rate at the division point, which is the estimated producing condition for the system being
evaluated.
The approach provides the flexibility to divide the production system at any point of interest within the
system to evaluate a particular component of the system. The most common division points are at the
wellhead or at the perforations, either at the reservoir sandface or inside the wellbore. The terminal ends of
the system will be the reservoir on the upstream end of the system and the separator at the downstream
end of the system or the wellhead if a wellhead choke controls the well.
The components upstream of the division point or node comprise the inflow section of the system, while the
components downstream of the node represent the outflow section. Once the system is divided into inflow
and outflow sections, relationships are written to describe the rate-pressure relationship within each
section. The flow rate through the system is determined once the conditions of continuity are satisfied: