Petroleum Production Engineering, A Computer-Assisted Approach

Petroleum Production Engineering

A Computer-Assisted Approach

Boyun Guo, Ph.D.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

William C. Lyons, Ph.D.

New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

Ali Ghalambor, Ph.D.

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Gulf Professional Publishing

Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Preface

List of Symbols

List of Tables

List of Figures

Part I: Petroleum Production Engineering Fundamentals

Introduction

Chapter 1: Petroleum Production System

Publisher Summary

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Reservoir

1.3 Well

1.4 Separator

1.5 Pump

1.6 Gas Compressor

1.7 Pipelines

1.8 Safety Control System

1.9 Unit Systems

Summary

Problems

Chapter 2: Properties of Oil and Natural Gas

Publisher Summary

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Properties of Oil

2.3 Properties of Natural Gas

Summary

Problems

Chapter 3: Reservoir Deliverability

Publisher Summary

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Flow Regimes

3.3 Inflow Performance Relationship

3.4 Construction of IPR Curves Using Test Points

3.5 Composite IPR of Stratified Reservoirs

3.6 Future IPR

Summary

Problems

Chapter 4: Wellbore Performance

Publisher Summary

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Single-Phase Liquid Flow

4.3 Multiphase Flow in Oil Wells

4.4 Single-Phase Gas Flow

4.5 Mist Flow in Gas Wells

Summary

Problems

Chapter 5: Choke Performance

Publisher Summary

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Sonic and Subsonic Flow

5.3 Single-Phase Liquid Flow

5.4 Single-Phase Gas Flow

5.5 Multiphase Flow

Summary

Problems

Chapter 6: Well Deliverability

Publisher Summary

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Nodal Analysis

6.3 Deliverability of Multilateral Well

Summary

Problems

Chapter 7: Forecast of Well Production

Publisher Summary

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Oil Production during Transient Flow Period

7.3 Oil Production during Pseudo–Steady Flow Period

7.4 Gas Production during Transient Flow Period

7.5 Gas Production during Pseudo–Steady-State Flow Period

Summary

Problems

Chapter 8: Production Decline Analysis

Publisher Summary

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Exponential Decline

8.3 Harmonic Decline

8.4 Hyperbolic Decline

8.5 Model Identification

8.6 Determination of Model Parameters

8.7 Illustrative Examples

Summary

Problems

Part II: Equipment Design and Selection

Introduction

Chapter 9: Well Tubing

Publisher Summary

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Strength of Tubing

9.3 Tubing Design

Summary

Problems

Chapter 10: Separation Systems

Publisher Summary

10.1 Introduction

10.2 Separation System

10.3 Dehydration System

Summary

Problems

Chapter 11: Transportation Systems

Publisher Summary

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Pumps

11.3 Compressors

11.4 Pipelines

Summary

Problems

Part III: Artificial Lift Methods

Introduction

Chapter 12: Sucker Rod Pumping

Publisher Summary

12.1 Introduction

12.2 Pumping System

12.3 Polished Rod Motion

12.4 Load to the Pumping Unit

12.5 Pump Deliverability and Power Requirements

12.6 Procedure for Pumping Unit Selection

12.7 Principles of Pump Performance Analysis

Summary

Problems

Chapter 13: Gas Lift

Publisher Summary

13.1 Introduction

13.2 Gas Lift System

13.3 Evaluation of Gas Lift Potential

13.4 Gas Lift Gas Compression Requirements

13.5 Selection of Gas Lift Valves

13.6 Special Issues in Intermittent-Flow Gas Lift

13.7 Design of Gas Lift Installations

Summary

Problems

Chapter 14: Other Artificial Lift Methods

Publisher Summary

14.1 Introduction

14.2 Electrical Submersible Pump

14.3 Hydraulic Piston Pumping

14.4 Progressive Cavity Pumping

14.5 Plunger Lift

14.6 Hydraulic Jet Pumping

Summary

Problems

Part IV: Production Enhancement

Introduction

Chapter 15: Well Problem Identification

Publisher Summary

15.1 Introduction

15.2 Low Productivity

15.3 Excessive Gas Production

15.4 Excessive Water Production

15.5 Liquid Loading of Gas Wells

Summary

Problems

Chapter 16: Matrix Acidizing

Publisher Summary

16.1 Introduction

16.2 Acid–Rock Interaction

16.3 Sandstone Acidizing Design

16.4 Carbonate Acidizing Design

Summary

Problems

Chapter 17: Hydraulic Fracturing

Publisher Summary

17.1 Introduction

17.2 Formation Fracturing Pressure

17.3 Fracture Geometry

17.4 Productivity of Fractured Wells

17.5 Hydraulic Fracturing Design

17.6 Post-Frac Evaluation

Summary

Problems

Chapter 18: Production Optimization

Publisher Summary

18.1 Introduction

18.2 Naturally Flowing Well

18.3 Gas-Lifted Well

18.4 Sucker Rod–Pumped Well

18.5 Separator

18.6 Pipeline Network

18.7 Gas-Lift Facility

18.8 Oil and Gas Production Fields

18.9 Discounted Revenue

Summary

Problems

Appendix A: Unit Conversion Factors

Appendix B: The Minimum Performance Properties of API Tubing

Index

Preface

Dr. Boyun Guo,     Chevron Endowed Professor in Petroleum Engineering University of Louisiana at Lafayette June 10, 2006

The advances in the digital computing technology in the last decade have revolutionized the petroleum industry. Using the modern computer technologies, today’s petroleum production engineers work much more efficiently than ever before in their daily activities, including analyzing and optimizing the performance of their existing production systems and designing new production systems. During several years of teaching the production engineering courses in academia and in the industry, the authors realized that there is a need for a textbook that reflects the current practice of what the modern production engineers do. Currently available books fail to provide adequate information about how the engineering principles are applied to solving petroleum production engineering problems with modern computer technologies. These facts motivated the authors to write this new book.

This book is written primarily for production engineers and college students of senior level as well as graduate level. It is not authors’ intention to simply duplicate general information that can be found from other books. This book gathers authors’ experiences gained through years of teaching courses of petroleum production engineering in universities and in the petroleum industry. The mission of the book is to provide production engineers a handy guideline to designing, analyzing, and optimizing petroleum production systems. The original manuscript of this book has been used as a textbook for college students of undergraduate and graduate levels in Petroleum Engineering.

This book was intended to cover the full scope of petroleum production engineering. Following the sequence of oil and gas production process, this book presents its contents in eighteen chapters covered in four parts.

Part I contains eight chapters covering petroleum production engineering fundamentals as the first course for the entry-level production engineers and undergraduate students. Chapter 1 presents an introduction to the petroleum production system. Chapter 2 documents properties of oil and natural gases that are essential for designing and analysing oil and gas production systems. Chapters 3 through 6 cover in detail the performance of oil and gas wells. Chapter 7 presents techniques used to forecast well production for economics analysis. Chapter 8 describes empirical models for production decline analysis.

Part II includes three chapters presenting principles and rules of designing and selecting the main components of petroleum production systems. These chapters are also written for entry-level production engineers and undergraduate students. Chapter 9 addresses tubing design. Chapter 10 presents rule of thumbs for selecting components in separation and dehydration systems. Chapter 11 details principles of selecting liquid pumps, gas compressors, and pipelines for oil and gas transportation.

Part III consists of three chapters introducing artificial lift methods as the second course for the entry-level production engineers and undergraduate students. Chapter 12 presents an introduction to the sucker rod pumping system and its design procedure. Chapter 13 describes briefly gas lift method. Chapter 14 provides an over view of other artificial lift methods and design procedures.

Part IV is composed of four chapters addressing production enhancement techniques. They are designed for production engineers with some experience and graduate students. Chapter 15 describes how to identify well problems. Chapter 16 deals with designing acidizing jobs. Chapter 17 provides a guideline to hydraulic fracturing and job evaluation techniques. Chapter 18 presents some relevant information on production optimisation techniques.

Since the substance of this book is virtually boundless in depth, knowing what to omit was the greatest difficulty with its editing. The authors believe that it requires many books to describe the foundation of knowledge in petroleum production engineering. To counter any deficiency that might arise from the limitations of space, the book provides a reference list of books and papers at the end of each chapter so that readers should experience little difficulty in pursuing each topic beyond the presented scope.

Regarding presentation, this book focuses on presenting and illustrating engineering principles used for designing and analyzing petroleum production systems rather than in-depth theories. Derivation of mathematical models is beyond the scope of this book, except for some special topics. Applications of the principles are illustrated by solving example problems. While the solutions to some simple problems not involving iterative procedures are demonstrated with stepwise calculations, complicated problems are solved with computer spreadsheet programs. The programs can be downloaded from the publisher’s website (http://books.elsevier.com/companions/9780750682701). The combination of the book and the computer programs provides a perfect tool kit to petroleum production engineers for performing their daily work in a most efficient manner. All the computer programs were written in spreadsheet form in MS Excel that is available in most computer platforms in the petroleum industry. These spreadsheets are accurate and very easy to use. Although the U.S. field units are used in the companion book, options of using U.S. field units and SI units are provided in the spreadsheet programs.

This book is based on numerous documents including reports and papers accumulated through years of work in the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. The authors are grateful to the universities for permissions of publishing the materials. Special thanks go to the Chevron and American Petroleum Institute (API) for providing Chevron Professorship and API Professorship in Petroleum Engineering throughout editing of this book. Our thanks are due to Mr. Kai Sun of Baker Oil Tools, who made a thorough review and editing of this book. The authors also thank Malone Mitchell III of Riata Energy for he and his company’s continued support of our efforts to develop new petroleum engineering text and professional books for the continuing education and training of the industry’s vital engineers. On the basis of the collective experiences of authors and reviewer, we expect this book to be of value to the production engineers in the petroleum industry.

List of Symbols

A area, ft²

Ab total effective bellows area, in.²

Aeng net cross-sectional area of engine piston, in.²

Afb total firebox surface area, ft²

A′i inner area of tubing sleeve, in.²

A′o outer area of tubing sleeve, in.²

Ap valve seat area, gross plunger cross-sectional area, or inner area of packer, in.²

Apump net cross-sectional area of pump piston, in.²

Ar cross-sectional area of rods, in.²

At tubing inner cross-sectional area, in.²

oAPI API gravity of stock tank oil

B formation volume factor of fluid, rb/stb

b constant 1.5 × 10−5 in SI units

Bo formation volume factor of oil, rb/stb

Bw formation volume factor of water, rb/bbl

CA drainage area shape factor

Ca weight fraction of acid in the acid solution

Cc choke flow coefficient

CD choke discharge coefficient

Cg correction factor for gas-specific gravity

Ci productivity coefficient of lateral i

Cl clearance, fraction

Cm mineral content, volume fraction

Cs structure unbalance, lbs

Ct correction factor for operating temperature

ct total compressibility, psi−1

Cp specific heat of gas at constant pressure, lbf-ft/lbm-R

specific heat under constant pressure evaluated at cooler

Cwi water content of inlet gas, lbm H2O/MMscf

D outer diameter, in., or depth, ft, or non-Darcy flow coefficient, d/Mscf, or molecular diffusion coefficient, m²/s

d diameter, in.

d1 upstream pipe diameter, in.

d2 choke diameter, in.

db barrel inside diameter, in.

Dci inner diameter of casing, in.

df fractal dimension constant 1.6

Dh hydraulic diameter, in.

DH hydraulic diameter, ft

Di inner diameter of tubing, in.

Do outer diameter, in.

dp plunger outside diameter, in.

Dpump minimum pump depth, ft

Dr length of rod string, ft

E rotor/stator eccentricity, in., or Young’s modulus, psi

Ev volumetric efficiency, fraction

ev correction factor

ep efficiency

Fb axial load, lbf

FCD fracture conductivity, dimensionless

FF fanning friction factor

Fgs modified Foss and Gaul slippage factor

fhi flow performance function of the vertical section of lateral i

fLi inflow performance function of the horizontal section of lateral i

fM Darcy-Wiesbach (Moody) friction factor

Fpump pump friction-induced pressure loss, psia

fRi flow performance function of the curvic section of lateral i

fsl slug factor, 0.5 to 0.6

G shear modulus, psia

g gravitational acceleration, 32.17 ft/s²

Gb pressure gradient below the pump, psi/ft

gc unit

Gfd design unloading gradient, psi/ft

Gi initial gas-in-place, scf

Gp cumulative gas production, scf

cumulative gas production per stb of oil at the beginning of the interval, scf

Gs static (dead liquid) gradient, psi/ft

G2 mass flux at downstream, lbm/ft²/sec

GLRfm formation oil GLR, scf/stb

GLRinj injection GLR, scf/stb

GLRmin minimum required GLR for plunger lift, scf/bbl

GLRopt,o optimum GLR at operating flow rate, scf/stb

GOR producing gas-oil ratio, scf/stb

GWR glycol to water ratio, gal TEG/lbm H2O

H depth to the average fluid level in the annulus, ft, or dimensionless head

h reservoir thickness, ft, or pumping head, ft

hf fracture height, ft

HP required input power, hp

HpMM required theoretical compression power, hp/MMcfd

Ht total heat load on reboiler, Btu/h

Δh depth increment, ft

ΔHpm mechanical power losses, hp

pressure gradient in the vertical section of lateral i, psi/ft

J productivity of fractured well, stb/d-psi

Ji productivity index of lateral i.

Jo productivity of non-fractured well, stb/d-psi

K empirical factor, or characteristic length for gas flow in tubing, ft

k permeability of undamaged formation, md, or specific heat ratio

kf fracture permeability, md

kH the average horizontal permeability, md

kh the average horizontal permeability, md

ki liquid/vapor equilibrium ratio of compound i

kp a constant

kro the relative permeability to oil

kV vertical permeability, md

L length, ft, or tubing inner capacity, ft/bbl

Lg length of gas distribution line, mile

LN net lift, ft

Lp length of plunger, in.

M total mass associated with 1 stb of oil

M2 mass flow rate at down stream, lbm/sec

MWa molecular weight of acid

MWm molecular weight of mineral

N pump speed, spm, or rotary speed, rpm

n number of layers, or polytropic exponent for gas

NAc acid capillary number, dimensionless

NCmax maximum number of cycles per day

nG number of lb-mole of gas

Ni initial oil in place in the well drainage area, stb

ni productivity exponent of lateral i

nL number of mole of fluid in the liquid phase

Nmax maximum pump speed, spm

np number of pitches of stator

cumulative oil production per stb of oil in place at the beginning of the interval

forcasted annual cumulative production of fractured well for year n

predicted annual cumulative production of nonfractured well for year n

predicted annual cumulative production of non-optimized well for year n

forcasted annual cumulative production of optimized system for year n

NRe Reunolds number

Ns number of compression stages required

Nst number of separation stages – 1

nV number of mole of fluid in the vapor phase

Nw number of wells

ΔNp,n predicted annual incremental cumulative production for year n

P pressure, lb/ft²

p pressure, psia

pb base pressure, psia

pbd formation breakdown pressure, psia

Pc casing pressure, psig

pc critical pressure, psia, or required casing pressure, psia, or the collapse pressure with no axial load, psia

pcc the collapse pressure corrected for axial load, psia

Pcd2 design injection pressure at valve 2, psig

PCmin required minimum casing pressure, psia

pc,s casing pressure at surface, psia

pc,v casing pressure at valve depth, psia

Pd pressure in the dome, psig

pd final discharge pressure, psia

peng,d engine discharge pressure, psia

peng,i pressure at engine inlet, psia

pf frictional pressure loss in the power fluid injection tubing, psi

Ph hydraulic power, hp

ph hydrostatic pressure of the power fluid at pump depth, psia

phf wellhead flowing pressure, psia

phfi flowing pressure at the top of lateral i, psia

pL pressure at the inlet of gas distribution line, psia

pi initial reservoir pressure, psia, or pressure in tubing, psia, or pressure at stage i, psia pkd1 kick-off pressure opposite the first valve, psia

pkfi flowing pressure at the kick-out-point of lateral i, psia

pL pressure at the inlet of the gas distribution line, psia

Plf flowing liquid gradient, psi/bbl slug

Plh hydrostatic liquid gradient, psi/bbl slug

pLmax maximum line pressure, psia

po pressure in the annulus, psia

pout output pressure of the compression station, psia

Pp Wp/At, psia

pp pore pressure, psi

ppc pseudocritical pressure, psia

ppump,i pump intake pressure, psia

ppump,d pump discharge pressure, psia

Pr pitch length of rotor, ft

pr pseudoreduced pressure

Ps pitch length of stator, ft, or shaft power, ft–lbf/sec

ps surface operating pressure, psia, or suction pressure, psia, or stock-tank pressure, psia

psc standard pressure, 14.7 psia

psh slug hydrostatic pressure, psia

psi surface injection pressure, psia

psuction suction pressure of pump, psia

Pt tubing pressure, psia

ptf flowing tubing head pressure, psig

pup pressure upstream the choke, psia

Pvc valve closing pressure, psig

Pvo valve opening pressure, psig

pwh upstream (wellhead) pressure, psia

pwf flowing bottom hole pressure, psia

pwfi the average flowing bottom-lateral pressure in lateral i, psia

pwfo dynamic bottom hole pressure because of cross-flow between, psia

critical bottom hole pressure maintained during the production decline, psia

pup upstream pressure at choke, psia

P1 pressure at point 1 or inlet, lbf/ft²

P2 pressure at point 2 or outlet, lbf/ft²

p1 upstream/inlet/suction pressure, psia

p2 downstream/outlet/discharge pressure, psia

average reservoir pressure, psia

reservoir pressure in a future time, psia

average reservoir pressure at decline time zero, psia

average reservoir pressure at decline time t, psia

ΔP pressure drop, lbf/ft²

Δp pressure increment, psi

δp head rating developed into an elementary cavity, psi

Δpf frictional pressure drop, psia

Δph hydrostatic pressure drop, psia

Δpi avg the average pressure change in the tubing, psi

Δpo avg the average pressure change in the annulus, psi

Δpsf safety pressure margin, 200 to 500 psi

Δpv pressure differential across the operating valve (orifice), psi

Q volumetric flow rate

q volumetric flow rate

Qc pump displacement, bbl/day

qeng flow rate of power fluid, bbl/day

QG gas production rate, Mscf/day

qG glycol circulation rate, gal/hr

qg gas production rate, scf/d

qg,inj the lift gas injection rate (scf/day) available to the well

qgM gas flow rate, Mscf/d

qg,total total output gas flow rate of the compression station, scf/day

qh injection rate per unit thickness of formation, m³/sec-m

qi flow rate from/into layer i, or pumping rate, bpm

qi,max maximum injection rate, bbl/min

qL liquid capacity, bbl/day

Qo oil production rate, bbl/day

qo oil production rate, bbl/d

qpump flow rate of the produced fluid in the pump, bbl/day

Qs leak rate, bbl/day, or solid production rate, ft³/day

qs gas capacity of contactor for standard gas (0.7 specific gravity) at standard temperature (100 °F), MMscfd, or sand production rate, ft³/day

qsc gas flow rate, Mscf/d

qst gas capacity at standard conditions, MMscfd

qtotal total liquid flow rate, bbl/day

Qw water production rate, bbl/day

qw water production rate, bbl/d

qwh flow rate at wellhead, stb/day

R producing gas-liquid ratio, Mcf/bbl, or dimensionless nozzle area, or area ratio Ap/Ab, or the radius of fracture, ft, or gas constant, 10.73 ft³-psia/lbmol-R

r distance between the mass center of counterweights and the crank shaft, ft or cylinder compression ratio

ra radius of acid treatment, ft

Rc radius of hole curvature, in.

re drainage radius, ft

reH radius of drainage area, ft

Rp pressure ratio

Rs solution gas oil ratio, scf/stb

rw radius of wellbore, ft

rwh desired radius of wormhole penetration, m

R² Ao/Ai

vertical pressure gradient in the curvic section of lateral i, psi/ft

S skin in.

SA axial stress at any point in the tubing string, psi

Sf specific gravity of fluid in tubing, water = 1, or safety factor

Sg specific gravity of gas, air = 1

So specific gravity of produced oil, fresh water = 1

Ss specific gravity of produced solid, fresh water = 1

St equivalent pressure caused by spring tension, psig

Sw specific gravity of produced water, fresh water = 1

T temperature, °R

t temperature, °F, or time, hour, or retention time, min

Tav average temperature, °R

Tavg average temperature in tubing, °F

Tb base temperature, °R, or boiling point, °R

Tc critical temperature, °R

Tci critical temperature of component i, °R

Td temperature at valve depth, °R

TF1 maximum upstroke torque factor

TF2 maximum downstroke torque factor

Tm mechanical resistant torque, lbf-ft

tr retention time ≈ 5.0 min

Tsc standard temperature, 520 °R

Tup upstream temperature, °R

Tv viscosity resistant torque, lbf-ft

T1 suction temperature of the gas, °R

average temperature, °R

u fluid velocity, ft/s

um mixture velocity, ft/s

uSL superficial velocity of liquid phase, ft/s

uSG superficial velocity of gas phase, ft/s

V volume of the pipe segment, ft³

v superficial gas velocity based on total cross-sectional area A, ft/s

Va the required minimum acid volume, ft³

Vfg plunger falling velocity in gas, ft/min

Vfl plunger falling velocity in liquid, ft/min

Vg required gas per cycle, Mscf

Vgas gas volume in standard condition, scf

VG1 gas specific volume at upstream, ft³/lbm

VG2 gas specific volume at downstream, ft³/lbm

Vh required acid volume per unit thickness of formation, m³/m

VL specific volume of liquid phase, ft³/mol–lb, or volume of liquid phase in the pipe segment, ft³, or liquid settling volume, bbl, or liquid specific volume at upstream, ft³/lbm

Vm volume of mixture associated with 1 stb of oil, ft³, or volume of minerals to be removed, ft³

V0 pump displacement, ft³

VP initial pore volume, ft³

Vr plunger rising velocity, ft/min

Vres oil volume in reservoir condition, rb

Vs required settling volume in separator, gal

Vslug slug volume, bbl

Vst oil volume in stock tank condition, stb

Vt At(D – VslugL), gas volume in tubing, Mcf

VVsc specific volume of vapor phase under standard condition, scf/mol-lb

V1 inlet velocity of fluid to be compressed, ft/sec

V2 outlet velocity of compressed fluid, ft/sec

v1 specific volume at inlet, ft³/lb

v2 specific volume at outlet, ft³/lb

w fracture width, ft, or theoretical shaft work required to compress the gas, ft-lbf/lbm

Wair weight of tubing in air, lb/ft

Wc total weight of counterweights, lbs

Wf weight of fluid, lbs

Wfi weight of fluid inside tubing, lb/ft

Wfo weight of fluid displaced by tubing, lb/ft

WOR producing water-oil ratio, bbl/stb

Wp plunger weight, lbf

Ws mechanical shaft work into the system, ft-lbs per lb of fluid

ww fracture width at wellbore, in.

average width, in.

X volumetric dissolving power of acid solution, ft³ mineral/ ft³ solution

xf fracture half-length, ft

xi mole fraction of compound i in the liquid phase

x1 free gas quality at upstream, mass fraction

ya actual pressure ratio

yc critical pressure ratio

yi mole fraction of compound i in the vapor phase

yL liquid hold up, fraction

Z gas compressibility factor in average tubing condition

Z gas compressibility factor

zb gas deviation factor at Tb and pb

zd gas deviation factor at discharge of cylinder, or gas compressibility factor at valve depth condition

zs gas deviation factor at suction of the cylinder

z1 compressibility factor at suction conditions

the average gas compressibility factor

ΔZ elevation increase, ft

Greek Symbols

α Biot’s poroelastic constant, approximately 0.7

β gravimetric dissolving power of acid solution, lbm mineral/lbm solution

ε′ pipe wall roughness, in.

φ porosity, fraction

η pump efficiency

γ 1.78 = Euler’s constant

γa acid specific gravity, water = 1.0

γg gas-specific gravity, air = 1

γL specific gravity of production fluid, water = 1

γm mineral specific gravity, water = 1.0

γo oil specific gravity, water = 1

γoST specific gravity of stock-tank oil, water = 1

γS specific weight of steel (490 lb/ft³)