Drawdown testing and

Semilog analysis

Azeb D Habte
Jan 2017
PDB 3013
UTP
 Lesson Content
Semilog plot of pwf versus log(t)
Determination of permeability and skin factor
Early, middle and late time pressure behavior

CO1: To analyze drawdown and build up test using analytical

solutions.
 Lesson Outcomes
Apply semilog straight line analysis method to
determine permeability and skin factor from the
middle time drawdown test data.
Estimate wellbore storage coefficient from early
time drawdown test data.
Estimate reservoir volume from late time
drawdown test data.
CO1: To analyze drawdown and build up test using analytical
solutions.
Semilog plot of pwf versus log (t)
Drawdown test
Is conducted by producing a well at a known rate or rates while
measuring changes in bottomhole pressure (BHP) as a function of
time.

It is designed to determine permeability and skin factor

If the pressure transient is affected by outer reservoir boundary,

drawdown test can be used to establish the outer limits of the
reservoir and to estimate the hydrocarbon volume (reservoir-limit
test).
Drawdown Contd
Ei function solution
Ei -function solution (line-source solution) is first proposed by Matthews and Russell in 1967. It is
based on the following assumptions:
Infinite acting reservoir, i.e., the reservoir is infinite in size.
The well is producing at a constant flow rate.
The reservoir is at a uniform pressure, , when production begins.
The solution has the following form:
70.6 948 2
, = + (1)

where, p(r,t) = pressure at radius r from the well after t hours

t=time, hrs
k=permeability, md
Qo =flow rate, STB/D


=

 Logarithmic approximation
For x<0.01, the function has the following logarithmic
approximation:
= ln(1.781) (2)
948 2
where, =

Substituting Eq. 2 into Eq. 1 gives:
(3)
For the bottomhole flowing pressure, i.e., @r= , at any time, Eq. 3 can be
rewritten as:
162.6Qo Bo o kt (4)
p wf pi log 3.23

o ct rw
2
kh
The skin effect
Skin due to damage Skin due to stimulation

(ks > k)

(ks < k)
The skin effect contd
Where
141.2
= (5)

= additional pressure drop due to skin effect
S= skin factor

Skin factor (S) is a dimensionless variable used to quantify the

magnitude of skin effect.
Incorporating skin into the Ei-Function solution
For rw r rs
70.6 948 2
, = + 2

For r > rs
70.6 948 2
, = +

For r=rw
70.6 948 2
= + 2

Log approximation to the Ei-Function
For r=rw
162.6
= 2 3.23 + 0.8686

Determination of permeability and skin factor
Skin and permeability
Skin and permeability contd
2 1
=
log 2 log(1 )
 Example 1
A well has been produced at a constant
rate of 250 STB/D. During the flow
period, bottom-hole flowing pressures
were recorded as tabulated below. The
following rock and fluid properties are
known:
=4412 psi h= 69 ft
=0.8 cp =3.9%
=0.198 ft = 17e-6 psi-1
B=1.136 bbl/STB

Estimate permeability and skin factor.

Solution

162.6 162.6 250 0.8 1.136

= = = 7.65
70 69

1
= 1.151 + 3.23
2

4412 3652 7.65

= 1.151 + 3.23
3582 psi 70 0.039 0.8 17 106 0.1982
=6.355
Early, Middle and Late Time Pressure Behavior
Lesson Outcomes
At the end of this topic, students should be able to
Describe two main causes of wellbore storage effect.
Calculate wellbore storage coefficient (C) from early time region (ETR).
Calculate reservoir volume from late time region (LTR).
Typical drawdown test pressure behavior
Early time flow is dominated by
wellbore storage.
Middle time (transient) flow is a
period where the reservoir act as
an infinite. i.e. a semilog plot of
Pwf versus t is a straight line which
can be used to determine
permeability.
Late time flow is a flow period
where the pressure data is
dominated by boundary effects.
Can be used to calculate the size
and shape of the reservoir.
Early time region (ETR) pressure behavior
The time period when surface production is primarily due to fluids
flowing out of the tubing or tubing-casing annulus is called wellbore
storage dominated flow period.

During this period, the reservoir is not producing fluids, and pressure
versus time data do not contain reservoir information.

Wellbore storage effect can be caused by either fluid-filled wellbore

(fluid expansion/compression) or falling/rising liquid level.
Early time region (ETR) pressure behavior contd
During drawdown During buildup
Early time region (ETR) pressure behavior contd

Falling/rising fluid level

1/
Falling/rising
fluid level
Early time region (ETR) pressure behavior contd

Falling/rising
fluid level
Effect of wellbore storage on pressure
Example 2: Wellbore storage calculation
The well is 2600 ft deep and has 6.625, 24lb/ft casing (5.921 ID). The bottomhole pressure is 1690 psi. If
the well is filled with water ( = 4 106 1 ). What is the wellbore storage coefficient?

Solution:
For fluid filled wellbore
=
=
2 2
5.921 1
= 2 = = = 0.191 2
2 2 144

= 0.191 2 2600 = 497.154 3

3
= 497.154 4 106 = 1.989 103


= 3.542 104

 Wellbore storage from pressure transient test data

From material balance, the pressure in the

wellbore is directly proportional to time during
wellbore storage dominated period of the test

(psi)
Unit slope
line

=
24
Where = for drawdown and =
@=0

On log-log plot of pressure drop ( ) versus

time, this gives a characteristic straight line of
(hrs)
unit slope.
170000 0.14
(hr)
= (bbl/psi) =
24


 Example 3: Wellbore storage calculation from PTT
p=pi-pwf, p=pi-pwf,
Determine wellbore storage coefficient t, hrs psi t, hrs psi
(C) from the data and table below, which 0.0109 24 0.437 648
0.0164 36 0.491 698
were obtained in a pressure drawdown 0.0218 47 0.546 744
test on an oil well. 0.0273 58 1.09 1048
0.0328 70 1.64 1172
q=500 STB/D rw=0.3 ft 0.0382 81 2.18 1232
0.0437 92 2.73 1266
=0.2 h=56 ft
0.0491 103 3.28 1288
=0.8 cp Bo=1.2 RB/STB 0.0546 114 3.82 1304
Ct=1e-5 psi-1 Pi=3000 psia 0.109 215 4.37 1316
0.164 307 4.91 1326
0.218 389 5.46 1335
0.273 464 6.55 1349
0.328 531 8.74 1370
0.382 592 10.9 1386
0.437 648 16.4 1413
0.491 698
 Example 3: Wellbore storage calculation from PTT

10000 . .
= =


1000 = . /
p, psi

100
(0.045 hrs, 100 psi)

10

1
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
, hrs
Middle time region (MTR) pressure behavior
During this period, the reservoir is producing fluids, and pressure
versus time data contains reservoir information.
The straight line on semilog graph, whose slope is related to effective
permeability of the flowing phase, usually occurs during this period.
The straight line is called the correct semilog straight line
Late time region (LTR) pressure behavior
During this period, the pressure transient encounters
reservoir boundary.
The semilog curve deviates from the straight line established
during the middle-time region.
The bottomhole flowing pressure for a no-flow boundary can
be estimated using:

0.234 162.6
= 2 log + 0.351 + 0.869

Late time region (LTR) pressure behavior contd
Based on late time straight line on Cartesian plot of vs. :

0.234
=

0.234
= ( 3 )

The time to reach pseudo steady-state in a cylindrical
reservoir can be estimated from:
1190 2
= (hr)

 Example 4: Reservoir volume calculation from PTT
Table 2: PTT data
t, hr Pwf, psi t, hr Pwf, psi
1.00E-03 4991.26 3.98E-01 4934.4
The data provided in Table 1 and 2 are pertinent to a reservoir
1.58E-03 4987.1 5.01E-01 4933.9
limit test (RLT) conducted in a fully-penetrating oil well 2.00E-03 4984.7 6.31E-01 4932.7
producing at a constant rate. Estimate the pore volume (Vp) of 2.51E-03 4981.8 7.94E-01 4932.4
the reservoir. 3.16E-03 4978.8 1.00E+00 4930.7
Table 1: Rock and fluid properties 3.98E-03 4975.2 1.58E+00 4927.2
5.01E-03 4971.8 2.51E+00 4926.8
q=200 STB/D rw=0.328 ft 6.31E-03 4968 3.16E+00 4925.2
7.94E-03 4965 3.98E+00 4924.9
=0.2 h=30 ft 1.00E-02 4961.4 5.01E+00 4921.9
1.26E-02 4958.5 6.31E+00 4922.2
=0.8 cp Bo=1.25 RB/STB 1.58E-02 4955.5 7.94E+00 4919.1
2.00E-02 4953.1 1.00E+01 4915.5

Ct=1 105 psi-1 Pi=5000 psia 2.51E-02

3.16E-02
4951.2
4948.8
1.26E+01
1.58E+01
4912.7
4909.8
3.98E-02 4948.8 2.00E+01 4904.1
5.01E-02 4945.9 2.51E+01 4897
6.31E-02 4944.8 3.16E+01 4889
7.94E-02 4943.7 3.98E+01 4880
1.00E-01 4942.2 5.01E+01 4868
1.26E-01 4940.7 6.31E+01 4852
1.58E-01 4939.9 7.94E+01 4833
2.00E-01 4939
3.16E-01 4936.4
 Example 4: Reservoir volume calculation from PTT
Solution: 5000
4980
Step 1: Plot pwf vs t on a Cartesian graph paper. 4960
Step 2: Calculate the slope (m*) of the straight line at late time. 4940
Step 3: Calculate Vp using the equation

Pwf, psi
4920
4900 (40 hrs,4880 psi)
0.234 3
= = ( ) 4880
(50 hrs,4868 psi)

4860
4840
4820
1.0E-3 1.0E+1 2.0E+1 3.0E+1 4.0E+1 5.0E+1 6.0E+1 7.0E+1 8.0E+1 9.0E+1
t, hrs

4880 4868
= = 1.2 /
40 50

0.234 200 1.25

= = 5 = 4.88 106 3
1.2 1 10
= 0.869 106 bbl
 ETR, MTR and LTR pressure behavior
0.234 162.6
= 2 log + 0.351 + 0.869


=
24

162.6
= 3.23 + 0.869
2