PRODUCTION LAB TUTORIAL 02

Basic Gas Well Model

Statement of the Problem:

A new over-pressured gas field, the Powderhall field, has been located and has just been
drilled. As an engineer in the operating company, you have been asked to create a well model
for the first well of a gas reservoir using PROSPER. Limited information is available at this time
but as the well is completed and tested this will change and the extra data will allow the model
to be progressively improved. The reservoir is on-land, and as the well has been drilled, the
deviation survey is known. The casing and tubing sizes to be used are also known and it is
envisaged that a safety valve will be located beneath the well head. Currently the well is
producing 1 STB/MMscf of water and it is believed that part of this water is vaporised within the
gas when it is travelling up the well. The model should therefore be set up to take into account
the condensation or vaporisation of this water within the wellbore. It is foreseen that the well will
produce at approximately 1500 psig flowing well head pressure and therefore an estimate of the
gas rate which will be produced in this case is sought.

Background Theory

Modeling a gas well in PROSPER requires understanding the interaction between reservoir
inflow and wellbore outflow, along with the behavior of gas and associated water under
changing pressure and temperature conditions.

1. Nodal Analysis

Nodal analysis is the fundamental technique used to predict well performance by dividing the
production system into two main components:

●​ Inflow (Reservoir → Wellbore)

●​ Outflow (Wellbore → Surface)

The operating condition of the well is determined at the point where these two relationships
intersect, giving the stable gas production rate at a specified flowing wellhead pressure
(FWHP).

2. Gas Well Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR)

For gas wells, inflow behavior is non-linear due to gas compressibility and is commonly
described using the backpressure (deliverability) equation

3. Vertical Lift Performance (VLP) for Gas Wells

The Vertical Lift Performance (VLP) represents pressure losses as gas flows up the wellbore.
For gas wells, VLP behavior differs from oil wells due to:

●​ Low density of gas → lower hydrostatic pressure

●​ High velocity → significant friction losses
●​ Multiphase flow (gas + water)

Key factors affecting VLP:

●​ Tubing size and deviation

●​ Gas rate and velocity
●​ Water production
●​ Flow regime (mist, annular, slug flow)

4. Multiphase Flow and Water Behavior

In this case, the well produces gas with water (1 STB/MMscf), and part of the water may:

●​ Vaporize into the gas at lower pressures

●​ Condense as pressure and temperature change

This creates a gas–water multiphase flow system, which significantly affects:

●​ Pressure gradients
●​ Flow efficiency
●​ Liquid loading risks

Accurate modeling requires accounting for phase changes within the wellbore, which
PROSPER handles using fluid property correlations.

5. Gas Compressibility and Real Gas Behavior

Unlike liquids, gas properties vary significantly with pressure and temperature. Real gas
behavior is described using the gas deviation factor (Z-factor)

In over-pressured reservoirs, deviations from ideal gas behavior are significant, making
accurate PVT modeling essential.

6. Flowing Wellhead Pressure (FWHP)

The Flowing Wellhead Pressure (FWHP) is a key boundary condition in well modeling.

●​ In this case: FWHP ≈ 1500 psig

●​ It directly controls the VLP curve
●​ Determines the final operating flow rate
Lower FWHP → higher production​
Higher FWHP → restricted flow

7. Effect of Well Deviation

The well is deviated, which influences flow behavior by:

●​ Altering hydrostatic pressure distribution

●​ Affecting flow regimes (liquid holdup)
●​ Increasing frictional losses compared to vertical wells

This must be incorporated into the model using deviation survey data.

8. Integrated Well Modeling in PROSPER

PROSPER integrates:

●​ Gas IPR models

●​ Multiphase VLP correlations
●​ PVT fluid behavior

to simulate well performance and predict gas production rate under specified conditions such
as FWHP.

Summary
Gas well performance is governed by the interaction between reservoir deliverability and
wellbore flow dynamics, with additional complexity introduced by gas compressibility and
multiphase flow behavior. By applying nodal analysis and incorporating phase changes and
real gas properties, PROSPER enables accurate prediction of gas production rates for given
operating conditions.
 SETTING UP THE MODEL
When you open prosper the screen you will see is the following window which we call the main

screen or home. It displays all the important details

In this window the important part is the ribbon on top which says file, options, wizard and help. It
can be used to open a file new or old along with other options which are not important for this
tutorial.
We will click on options which will bring down a
drop down menu. From here we will select options
to open the system summary window.

System summary window:

​ ​ The system summary window is divided into fluid description, well, artificial lift,
calculation type, well completion, reservoir, user information and comments. As we are making a
basic gas well we will change the fluid to dry and wet gas and water vapour to calculate
condensed water vapour.
After entering the field name as logie field, company name as operating company and analyst
name Tehmaan Tariq khan 2023-PET-18 we clicked on done to save our changes.

PVT data input:

​ ​ Now we move onto entering PVT data into the model. For this we click on PVT
from the now extended ribbon and from the dropdown we select input data. We enter the
following data into the window.

As the Calculate Condensed Water Vapour option has been enabled, the PVT screen is also
used to calculate the Minimum WGR. This Minimum WGR is the WGR which is vaporised within
the gas at the reservoir conditions which therefore must be produced even if no other free water
is produced. If a WGR value lower than the calculated Minimum WGR is input for use in a
calculation, then this will be replaced by the Minimum WGR. In this case, when the reservoir
conditions (5300 psig and 166 o F) are entered the Minimum WGR is found to be 0.27114
STB/MMscf as shown in the water vapour [Link] is also possible to see how this Minimum WGR
changed with pressure and temperature by selecting Water Vapour Plot:

Equipment data:
​ ​ Click on system and from the dropdown menu select Equipment(tubing etc.). This
will bring up the equipment data [Link] will bring up the 'Equipment Data' screen. In order
to fill in data for all of the appropriate sections select All from the top ribbon and this will bring up
ticks next to each section:
The Edit button can now be selected to bring up each input section one at a time.
Deviation Survey:
​ ​ After clicking edit the deviation survey window will open up. In this window we will
enter the measured depth and TVD at different points. Cumulative displacement and angle will
be calculated automatically.

Surface Equipment:
 As there is no surface equipment in this model, this section can be left blank. In order to
proceed select the Cancel button
Downhole equipment:
​ Selecting cancel will open up the downhole equipment data window where we can enter
the following data.

After entering the data we click on done to open the next window.

Geothermal Gradient:
​ ​ ​ The next window to open is geothermal gradient where we enter the
following data
Average Heat Capacity Data
The default values for the heat capacities of the fluids will be used for this well but they can be
altered if necessary.

Equipment Summary:
From the equipment input screen it is possible to see a summary of the equipment by selecting
the Summary button on the top right of the screen:
It is then possible to see a drawing of the down-hole equipment by selecting Draw Downhole
To gain direct access to the main PROSPER screen, the Main button can be selected from the
plot ribbon bar.

Inputting IPR Data:

​ ​ The IPR input screen can be accessed by selecting System and then clicking on
Inflow Performance. In the Reservoir Model screen, the IPR model can be selected. The current
reservoir properties such as reservoir pressure and temperature, water cut and producing GOR
can be entered in the Reservoir Data section. In this case, the PI reservoir model should be
selected, which allows the PI to be entered in the model data screen as shown below
When this data has been inserted, click Calculate and Plot to view the IPR curve

The plot shows how both the bottom hole pressure and bottom hole temperature vary with flow
rate. The IPR should be recalculated any time the properties are changed as the AOF of the
well is used in many calculations to obtain the maximum range of rates to be used. Close the
plot window by selecting the 'X' in the top left of the window to return to the IPR screen and then
select Done to return to the main PROSPER screen. Please note that if this window is exited
using Cancel, none of the changes made will be saved.
Running System Calc
Now that the well data has been inserted into PROSPER, the next step is to calculate the rate at
which the well can flow at a given set of conditions. This can be done with the use of a System
Calculation which will combine the VLP and IPR plots to find the system point at which the well
will flow. The System Calculation screen can be accessed by selecting Calculations and then
clicking on System(VLP + IPR).
We entered the top node pressure as 500 psig and water cut as 0 and then clicked on continue.

We can then click on calculate and then plot and system plot to get the IPR v VLP [Link] the
plot and select Done to return to the main PROSPER screen.
Conclusion:
As we can see from the calculations portion we can see that at 1500 top node pressure we get
a gas rate of 85.1806MMscf/day and a water rate of 85.1806STB/day. As this is a wet gas
model we only get a gas rate and water rate.