Petroleum Production
Engineering
Hydrocarbon Exploration & Production
Sylvia Yusim
Friday, 15th April 2016
K.102
13.00-15.30
References
Frank
Jahn et al, Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production
(Developments in Petroleum Science), second edition, 2008
Production
Technology Course Notes, Heriot-Watt University,
2012
Reservoir
Well Test Course Notes, Heriot-Watt University,
2012
[Link]
[Link]
Method of Deliverance and Rules
Method of Deliverance
Lecturing with open discussion and repeating process
Class Hands-on
Questions/ Sharing Experience
Rules
Keep cellphone/ laptop/ tablet off or in silent mode
Active participation is a must
Objective
Objective
of production engineering: to
maximize oil and gas production in a costeffective manner
To
achieve this objective, production
engineers need to have a thorough
understanding of petroleum production
system
Outline
Reservoir
Wellbore
Well
deliverability IPR
performance VLP
deliverability/ Nodal Analysis IPR and VLP
Timeline
Opening
(10 mins)
Introduction
Break
IPR
VLP
(30 mins)
1 (10 mins)
(45 mins)
(20 mins)
Break
Nodal
2 (15 mins)
analysis (20 mins)
Introduction of Production Engineering
OVERVIEW
INFLOW
OUTFLOW
ARTIFICIAL LIFT
7
E & P Life Cycle of Exploration, Appraisal, Development and Production
Petroleum Production System
VLP
IPR
Simplified Production System
During the hydrocarbon
fluid
flow
from
the
reservoir into the storage
tank, the pressure is
reduced
from
the
reservoir pressure to
atmosphere pressure in
a series of pressure loss
processes.
VLP
IPR
Pressure Across Production System
Pressure losses:
(1)In the reservoir and completion
(2)In the tubing
(3)At the surface
Nodal Analysis of the Production
System
Hydrocarbon Phase
Behaviour
The phase behavior of the
hydrocarbon fluid controls
the fluids gas/liquid ratio
as a function of bottom
hole pressure. This, in turn,
will effect flow rate. i.e
inflow
performance
relationship and outflow
tubing performance.
What
IPR
is the objective of production engineering?
and VLP(OPR) stands for?
What
is nodal analysis/ well deliverability?
Draw
a simplified productions system
Pressure
drop across production system exists
from?
How
hydrocarbon phase behavior affect flow
rate?
Revie
w of
Intro
ducti
on
Reservoir Deliverability
Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR)
Reservoir Deliverability
Definition: The oil/gas production
rate achievable from reservoir at
given bottom-hole pressure
This depends on several factors in
RESERVOIR
including
the
following:
Rock Properties
Fluid properties
Reservoir pressure
Well geometry
Well flowing pressure
Pressure Distribution Around the
Wellbore
Majority of pressure drop
caused by production is
near wellbore
Straight Line IPR for Undersaturated
Oil
Derived from
Darcys Law
Slope of IPR curve is called
Productivity Index
AOF: Absolute Openhole Factor/ qmax = flowrate at zero wellbore flowing
pressure
Productivity Index
Productivity
Index (PI/J): the ability of reservoir to deliver
fluids to wellbore
Example:
a
well flows at a 1000 stbbls/d with a flowing (sandface)
pressure of 1500 psi and at an average reservoir pressure of
2000 psi, then the productivity index is:
PI = 1000 / (2000 - 1500) = 2 stbbls/d / psi
Skin Factor
Positive skin from mud and shale
plugging
A dimensionless factor calculated to
determine the production efficiency
of a well by comparing actual conditions
with theoretical or ideal conditions.
A positive skin value indicates some
damage or influences that are
impairing well productivity.
A negative skin value indicates
enhanced productivity, typically
resulting from stimulation.
Example of Skin
Example of Negative Skin
Stimulation:
improve permeability and reduce skin
Acidizing
Hydraulic
Fracturing
Construct a straight line IPR
The IPR is routinely measured using bottom hole pressure
gauges at regular intervals as a part of the field monitoring
program.
The following data are given:
Reservoir pressure 5,000 psia
Bubble point pressure 3,000 psia
Tested flowing bottom-hole pressure 4,000 psia
Tested production rate 300 stb/day
Task: Calculate Productivity Index and construct an IPR
B
P flowing bottom
P rservoir
hole
5000
5000
5000
0
C=A-B
P
drawdown
0
5000
D= C*Productivity
Index
Q (stb/day)
0
1500
Straight line IPR Construction
6000
5000
4000
IPR Points
3000Flowing
Bottom hole
Pressure, Pwf, psia
Linear (IPR Points)
2000
1000
0
0
200
400
600
800
1000
Production Rate, Q, stb/day
1200
1400
1600
Typical IPR
In single phase flow
this is a straight line
but when gas is
moving
in
the
reservoir,
at
a
pressure below the
bubble point, this in
not
a
linear
relationship.
IPR for two-phase reservoirs: Vogel &
Fetkovitch
Vogels
equation is widely used in the industry
NO NEED TO REMEMBER THIS
EQUATION
Example of IPR that showing reservoir
depletion
Composite IPR
What
is IPR?
Transient,
Pseudo-steady state, steady state?
Productivity
Calculation
Index and Skin factor?
of IPR:
Above bubble point (1 phase exist): ?
Below bubble point (2 phase exist):?
Revie
w of
IPR
Wellbore Performance
Outflow Performance Relationship
Or commonly known as
Vertical Lift Performance (VLP)
Vertical Lift Performance
The
ability of produced fluids to flow from the bottom of well
through tubing to separator.
If
the IPR is simply linking flow-rate and pressure drop, the
flow in the tubing is more complicated.
The
relation between oil volumetric flow-rate at standard
conditions, qs, and the overall pressure difference for vertical
lift , Pwf - Pseparator, is non-linear.
Pwf - Pseparator = fVLP(qs)
Why flow in tubing
is more complicated?
There
is a phase changes to
the hydrocarbon fluids as it
travels up the tubing.
Hydrostatic
Column between
wellbore and wellhead: change
in elevation, average density of
fluid in tubing.
Friction:
Diameter & roughness
of tubing; fluids flow rate; fluids
viscous properties; length of well
Flow Correlation to define VLP
Many
flow correlations
that were developed
(field and laboratory
generated) to model
multiphase flow in the
tubing. Hence, it will
correlates the pressure
drop
through
the
tubing.
Plot of the pressure losses vs
production rate in the system
X-axis : oil flow rate (q)
Y-axis: tubing intake pressure (Pwf)
What
Why
is VLP?
the flow in the tubing is more complicated?
Phase changes
Hydrostatic column loss
Friction loss
What
is flow correlation? What is on X-axis and
Y-axis?
Nodal Analysis/ Well
Deliverability
Petro
leum
Prod
uctio
n
Syste
m
Well Deliverability
Well
deliverability is the stable rate a well can produce at
determined from the combined plot of the wells inflow
performance (IPR) and the vertical lift performance (VLP).
(1)Flow into node = Flow out of
(2) node
Only 1 pressure can exist at the
node
Pnode
P separator
P reservoir
P reservoir - pressure loss upstream = P separator + pressure
loss downstream
Comparison of Stable Flow and
Dead Well
Stable Flow
Dead Well
Comparison of Stable Flow and
Dead Well
Flowing at 2 (critical lifting
rate)
Unstable rate
Dead Well
VLP
Curv
es
for
Artifi
cial
Lift
Syste
m
Reco
very
Meth
ods
