SPE-185376-MS Integrating Pressure Transient and Rate Transient Analysis For EUR Estimation in Tight Gas Volcanic Reservoirs
SPE-185376-MS Integrating Pressure Transient and Rate Transient Analysis For EUR Estimation in Tight Gas Volcanic Reservoirs
SPE-185376-MS Integrating Pressure Transient and Rate Transient Analysis For EUR Estimation in Tight Gas Volcanic Reservoirs
A. Beohar, S. K. Verma, V. Sabharwal, R. Kumar, P. Shankar, and A. K. Gupta, Cairn India Ltd.
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Oil and Gas India Conference and Exhibition held in Mumbai, India, 4–6 April 2017.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
of the paper have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect
any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written
consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may
not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.
Abstract
Raageshwari Deep Gas (RDG) is a clastic-volcanic reservoir located in the southern Barmer basin, India.
RDG is a tight retrograde gas-condensate reservoir of permeability in the range of 0.01-1 md with a
condensate gas ratio (CGR) of ~65 stb/mmscf. RDG is composed of a poorly sorted sandstone interval
(Fatehgarh formation) overlying low net-to-gross (NTG) stacked succession of thick cycles of volcanic
units (Basalt and Felsic) of ~700m gross thickness at a depth of 2800 m. RDG field is being developed
using pad-drilled deviated wells, with multi-stage hydraulic fractures.
In tight gas fields, one of the major challenges is obtaining the right set of parameters to accurately
forecast the estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) per well. EUR per well depends on fracture parameters such
as fracture half-length (Xf), fracture height (Hf), fracture conductivity (Fc) and reservoir characteristics
like matrix porosity (Φ), matrix permeability (k), net pay thickness (h), drainage area, reservoir pressure,
reservoir fluid and operating conditions.
EUR may be estimated using decline curve analysis (DCA), rate transient analysis (RTA), and reservoir
simulation. DCA is the simplest method but has high uncertainty early in a well’s production history,
reservoir simulation is complex and requires detailed reservoir characterisation. RTA is easier compared to
reservoir simulation and gives reasonable estimations of fracture and reservoir parameters. Since RTA is
performance based it provides continuous evolution of high confidence EUR, even with limited production
history.
To characterize tight fields, estimating kh of various layers through pressure transient analysis (PTA)
requires long shut-in data. Thus PTA is generally only available for analysing early time effects (like fracture
parameters). Thus, in low permeability reservoirs, RTA becomes preferred tool since it does not require shut-
in data. RTA models and type curves generate non-unique solutions. Hence, integrating the petrophysical
database with production logs, PTA results and RTA results is utilized to reduce uncertainty in k, h, Fc, and
Xf. By utilizing all these data, the uncertainty in EUR estimation per well is reduced. These parameters are
used as input for history matching to validate the interpretation and to optimize the RTA solutions. It was
observed that history matches in RTA were improved when Fc and Xf from PTA were available. Flowing
material balance (FMB) was then used to estimate drainage area, GIIP and EUR per well.
This paper demonstrates the workflow to use PTA, RTA, production logs, and petrophysical data to obtain
the right set of parameters to get high confidence in EUR per well.
2 SPE-185376-MS
The finalized EUR per well for different well types can then be used for field development and deciding
well spacing. Full field production forecasting based on RTA provides additional validation or an alternative
to the estimates done through reservoir simulation.
Section – 1: Introduction
RDG field was discovered in the year 2003 with the drilling of Raageshwari – 1. It is situated at the northern
end of the central basin high (CBH). CBH is a 40km long composite structural high feature of elevated north-
south-oriented fault terraces, arranged en-echelon with the southern part of Barmer basin. CBH structure
is divided into several major horst blocks, RDG is contained within a horst block bounded by major N-
S and NW-SE trending faults (refer to Figure 1, 2a, and 2b). The targeted reservoir section is composed
of poorly sorted clastics of the Fatehgarh formation overlying a volcanic complex comprised of basic lava
flows (Basalts) atop stacked pyroclastic flows (Felsics) interbedded with Basalts. The average thickness of
the reservoir is ~700m with ~200m of clastic and ~500m of volcanic units. The depth of the reservoir is
2500 m TVDSS to below 3500 m TVDSS. Volcanic reservoirs of the RDG field contain approximately 70%
of the total gas initially in place (GIIP). A typical log showing the formations encountered in a Raageshwari
Deep Gas well is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 2—a) Schematic cross-section of the Central Basin High containing the Raageshwari Horst block; b) Depth
structure map at the top volcanic reservoir indicated with a blue arrow in the cross section at left and in the type log below
RDG is a tight retrograde gas-condensate reservoir with a saturation pressure close to initial reservoir
pressure. Permeability varies from 0.01mD in volcanics to 1mD in clastic reservoirs. The average porosity
of the formation is ~10% with a relatively high connate water saturation of ~50%. There is low CO2 content
and no H2S present in gas with a net calorific value of about ~1070 BTU/SCF. The condensate gravity is
~56° API.
In early 2010, RDG field, during the appraisal phase, was put on production for extended well testing with
multiple wells. Until 2013, produced gas was used to meet the power and internal heating requirements for
processing of waxy crude from northern oil fields of Barmer basin in Rajasthan. The average field production
during this period was 2-4 mmscfd. In Q2 2013, gas sales were started due to increased confidence in well
deliverability following a successful hydraulic fracturing campaign. Since then average field production has
been 25-35 mmscfd1. Development wells are 3.5" mono-bore wells with 5-7 hydraulic fracture stages. High
frequency surface pressure, rate, and temperature data is acquired from all wells in a real time basis, thus
4 SPE-185376-MS
providing us access to production rates and wellhead parameters. Production logging is done in wells on a
recurrent basis which provides us time-lapse performance of individual fracs and bottom-hole pressures.
Section – 3: Workflow
The production from the well results from a combination of reservoir, fluid, fracture parameters and drainage
area. In order to generate a high confidence EUR in tight systems, detailed understanding and integration
of the following parameters are required
1. Reservoir parameters – k, h
2. Fracture parameters – xf, hf, Fc
3. Drainage - Re, GIIP
4. Gas Condensate PVT
A novel workflow is adopted for combining the above 4 sets of parameters which is shown below in
Figure 4. The continuous evolving model takes into account production and pressure data, wherein iteration
between the above parameters is carried out in a systematic manner.
SPE-185376-MS 5
Input data for transient analysis is typically obtained from two sources. First, from post fracture pressure
match, this gives initial estimates for xf, hf and Fc. If temperature logs post-fracturing are available,
confidence over these parameters will be increased. Second, log derived reservoir properties like k, phi and
net pay.
Together the transient data analysis comprising of PBU, FMB, and RTA is utilised to identify reservoir
and fracture properties like – xf, Fc, kh. If BDF is achieved then Re, Pi, and GIIP can be estimated.
Reservoir and fracture parameters are used to identify the presence of natural fractures, recalibration of
rock mechanics properties for frac design of future wells, and to update the reservoir properties in a static
model. These properties are used in a dynamic model for full field EUR prediction under future operating
constraints.
The reservoir data preparation and step wise procedure on transient analysis is described in the Figure 5.
Procedure
For application of the above procedure, it is assumed that the commingled reservoirs do not exhibit crossflow
within the reservoir owing to no vertical connectivity. Crossflow if any will occur through the wellbore.
Other assumptions and observations for use of the technique are summarized in the following sentences:
Each layer has its individual GIIP and is connected to wellbore through hydraulic fracs. We ignore the
impact of retrograde condensation on relative permeability and hence, productivity.
Analysing an individual layer will be impractical, thus analysis is performed on well basis. On well basis,
time required to reach the BDF will be extended due to presence of layers with lower permeability but
6 SPE-185376-MS
still will be considerably lower than individual analysis of layers. Once boundary dominated flow (BDF) is
reached, single layer analytical technique is valid for multilayer analytical analysis. Early time production
is mostly representative of contribution from the higher permeability layers while the later period will
be representative of contribution from all layers. In transient flow, effective drainage area will keep on
increasing, but once pressure transient has reached the boundaries and BDF is achieved, drainage area
estimation can be done reasonably. Drainage area, as determined through this technique, however, may not
be the optimal economic spacing for wells (downspacing might be preferred).
Data Preparation
Net Pay. To identify net pay available in well, a petrophysical database built with basic wireline logs,
processed NMR logs, dipole sonics, image logs, and gas shows were used. The porosity-permeability
transform has been updated through limited permeability estimates from diagnostic fracture injection tests
(DFIT).
To identify the connected net pay by the hydraulic fracturing of zones, the thickness between fracture top
and bottom were taken from post hydraulic fracture pressure-match data and non-pay sections identified
from log were subtracted. If temperature logs post-fracturing are available, confidence over these parameters
will be increased. The sum of the net pay within all fracs is calculated to identify total connected net pay
in the well.
Further, production logs were used to identify non-contributing zones. In the following example for Raag
X, all zones were producing and there was no significant change in relative contribution from zones.
In those cases where a zone was not producing gas, even if identified as "net", the net pay associated with
that frac height was removed from the total connected net pay estimate. Integration of petrophysics data,
production log data, post-fracture temperature log (if available) is important to eliminate the over prediction
of net producing interval.
BHP. Wellhead data like THP is generally available to engineers, but for performing RTA we need
bottomhole pressures, thus THP is converted to flowing BHP using appropriate correlations, in our case
"Cullender and Smith (modified gas gravity)" was used; This correlation is applicable for water and
condensate associated with gas. It also takes into account the friction factor and appropriate pressure gradient
accounting for liquid presence. The calculated BHP was calibrated with available historical flowing BHP
data points which were measured while doing production logging.
Surface Rates. High frequency surface data is acquired from all wells in real time basis, thus providing
us access to production rates and wellhead parameters. For transient data analysis, daily rates were used.
The monthly rate would mask the effects of transient flow and estimating values of k, xf and Fc would
be difficult.
Reservoir Fluid. RDG is a gas condensate reservoir. The bottomhole samples have been acquired and
analysed in lab for the PVT properties. Condensate yield with pressures has been validated through surface
well tests. The gas condensate PVT properties have been incorported in the model.
Boundary dominated flow is a late time flow behaviour and is typically dominated by long term
production data. This occurs after pressure transient has reached all of the boundaries. The uniformity of
pressure decline will be governed by the flow rate. If the flow rate is constant then pressure will decline
uniformly throughout the reservoir in Pseudo Steady State (PSS) (this has slope of unity as shown in
Figure-6). If flow rate is not constant then pressure decline will be non-uniform throughout the reservoir.
This provides information about drainage area and connected pore volume i.e. GIIP.
RTA has been carried out using Blasingame5 and Log-log rate-normalised analysis which is described
in detail below.
Blasingame Type curve. Traditional decline curves like Arps6 and Fetkovich7,8,9 do not take into account
variations in flowing bottomhole pressure (FBHP) during transient flow regime. In addition, these methods
do not account for changing PVT properties with reservoir pressure which change for gas condensate
reservoirs.
Blasingame analysis is used to analyse transient data when both rate and flowing bottomhole pressure
are changing. These type curves are available for different number of well models: - In our case "vertical
well with finite conductivity hydraulic fracture" model was used- this assumes a circular outer boundary.
Normalized rate, rate integral, and rate integral-derivative are plotted vs. material balance pseudo-time using
daily production data. This is plotted on a log-log scale as shown in Figure 7. The data plot is then moved
8 SPE-185376-MS
over the type curve plot to achieve a best fit. If the data plot falls over the hyperbolic stem of the type curve
(which has slope -1) it indicates, well is flowing in BDF.
In Blasingame type curves when rate and pressure decline monotonically, BDF with declining rates and
pressures appears like PSS depletion at constant rate. Here, pressure-drop normalized flow rate is plotted
versus material balance pseudo-time. Material balance pseudo-time is used instead of actual producing time,
as this causes exponential declines in boundary-dominated data to follow harmonic decline trend. Also,
with the use of material balance pseudo-time, data can be analyzed even when rates and FBHP both are
changing. These account for varying bottomhole pressures by using superposition-time function.
In Blasingame type curves, in addition to pressure-drop normalized flow rate function, normalized rate
integral, and normalized rate integral-derivative can also be plotted against material balance pseudo-time.
These additional curves help to either reduce noise in the data or to amplify the reservoir signal embedded
in the production data.
Input data required is production data, BHP, net pay, compressibility and following parameters like k,
xf, Fc, Re, GIIP can be estimated.
Log-log rate-normalised pressures plot. Rate-normalised pressures and rate-normalised pressures
derivative are potted vs. material balance pseudo-time using daily production data. Early time region will
give information about xf, Fc and k. If the late time region data has reached slope of +1 (as shown in Figure
8), it indicates well is flowing in BDF.
Fundamentally, Blasingame and log-log plot are based on the same equations, difference is that log-log
plot uses rate-normalised pressures rather than pressure-normalised rates. On log-log scale the BDF will
exhibit a unit slope line. To minimise noise in data while preserving the signature of flow regime, normalised
pressure integral and derivative of the integral of normalized pressure is used.
SPE-185376-MS 9
History Matching. History matching is done using xf, Fc and k as input parameters identified from
Blasingame, log-log and PBU match. Matching is performed on surface rates, flowing bottomhole pressures
and cumulative recovered.
Reasonable estimations of Pi would result in a declining pavg plot which would come closer to the shut in
bottomhole pressures. If wells are left shut in for a long time, these pavg will match bottomhole pressure. Once
matching is done parameters like – xf, Fc, k, Re, Pi and GIIP can be ascertained within reasonable ranges.
In p/z vs Gp method, straight line is extrapolated on pavg/z trend to predict GIIP as shown in Figure
9 (b), for retrograde condensate reservoirs z factor must be two phase z factor. z factor can be predicted
from composition with EOS or be measured in lab. This is particularly important for retrograde condensate
reservoirs because the yield of condensate declines with declining reservoir pressures.
Once PSS flow is confirmed from Blasingame or log-log rate-normalised pressures plot, GIIP and Pi can
be ascertained and validated. This will allow to further reduce the ranges of GIIP prediction.
Forecast
Prediction is done using fracture and reservoir parameters found by above discussed analysis an anticipated
future operating constraints. This gives us production profiles for the remaining life of the well and EUR.
Surface Rates and BHP. Daily surface rates and THP was taken for past 3 years post QA/QC as shown in
Figure 10. THP was converted to BHP using "Cullender and Smith (modified gas gravity)" calibrated with
available historical BHP data points which were measured while doing production logging.
Net Pay. It was identified that all zones are contributing through time lapse production logs as shown in
Figure 11 a) and b), thus frac top and frac bottom were taken from post-fracture pressure-match data and
non-pay sections identified from petrophysics logs were subtracted. The sum of identified net pay within the
frac is the total connected net pay in the well. No post fracture temperature logs were available to validate
the fracture height.
SPE-185376-MS 11
Pressure Transient Analysis. Matches from log-log plot of gas potential vs time, superposition time plot
and history plot (as shown in Figure 12) provided information regarding fracture parameters like xf and Fc
(as shown in Table 1). No IARF was seen thus k estimations are not reliable in this PBU.
Figure 12—(a) log-log plot; (b) - superposition time plot; (c) - history plot
Fc
Method Half length (ft) Connected gas kh (mD.ft) Re (ft) Connected GIIP (bscf)
(md-ft)
FMB Plot - - - - 15
Blasingame Type curve. Using "vertical well with finite conductivity hydraulic fracture" model,
normalized rate, rate integral, and rate integral-derivative are plotted vs. material balance pseudo-time using
daily production data (Figure 13). It was seen that well was flowing in BDF since data falls on hyperbolic
stem of Blasingame type curve. The results are shown below in (Table 1)
12 SPE-185376-MS
Log-log rate-normalised pressures plot. Using "vertical well with finite conductivity hydraulic fracture"
model. Rate-normalised pressures and rate-normalised pressures derivative are potted vs. material balance
pseudo-time using daily production data (Figure 14). Consistent with interpretation from the Blasingame
curve, this plot also indicated that well was flowing in BDF (late time data falling on slope +1). The results
are shown below in (Table 1)
History Matching
Using PTA results, log-log rate-normalized pressures plot and Blasingame plot. History match was
performed for matching pwf, gas rates and cumulative production (as shown in Figure 15). It was observed
that the Fc and Xf estimates were generally lower than estimations from the vendor provided post frac
pressure match data. It was seen that in long term shut-in durations the values of pavg are very close to
bottomhole pressures, these provide increased confidence on Pi estimations. Output – high confidence Fc,
kh, xf, Pi, Re, STGIIP. The results are shown below
SPE-185376-MS 13
FMB. Since BDF flow was already confirmed from Blasingame and log-log rate-normalised pressures
plot, Pi and GIIP estimations were made and found to be within reasonable ranges as estimated by above
analysis (Figure 16). The results are shown below in Table 1.
Forecast
Based on future constraints, reservoir parameters and frac parameters obtained from the above analysis,
forward rate prediction was performed to estimate EUR (as shown in Figure 17).
Development planning and field production forecasting. RDG has 30 wells drilled in development area as
shown in Figure 18 and suitably lengthy production data is available on 10 wells. The workflow described
in Section - 3 has been applied on historical performance of appraisal wells and allowed us to categorize
wells in 3 categories – "Good", "medium "and "poor".
The categorization was done based on statistical distribution of fracture parameters, reservoir parameters
and drainage area. The statistically derived average properties of type wells are shown in Table 2:
Drainage Percentage
TYPE WELL kh (md-ft) Xf (ft) Fc (md-ft) GIIP (BSCF)
Area (Acre) of wells
Assuming well performance is not affected by neighboring wells (a common assumption for tight
reservoirs), the effects of interference were neglected.
The good well drainage area has been used for development spacing and total number of wells were
identified. The type well production forecast has been applied to total number of wells based on project
schedules.
Based on future wells online schedule full field prediction were done and compared with reservoir
simulation model predictions as shown in Figure 20. The estimated field cumulative recovery was found
to be within 10% difference of the simulation results. Below is comparison of analytic model vs dynamic
model prediction.
16 SPE-185376-MS
Conclusions
1. The proposed integrated workflow clearly demonstrates the superiority of step wise data integration /
analysis procedure
2. Tight gas well reservoir and fracture characterization can be achieved using PTA
3. Petrophysics robustness is possible with integration of PLT, net reservoir, kh data
4. Performance-based high confidence GIIP and history matched model are possible using PTA, RTA
and petrophysical data integration
5. RTA history matched models are useful in production forecasting and predicting EUR
6. Field level production forecast through type well approach provides performance based high
confidence field EUR
7. Type well drainage area can be estimated
8. Reservoir, PTA, RTA and production performance data provide an understanding on drainage spacing
and unique combination for modelling and predicting high confidence EUR
Acknowledgement
We would like to acknowledge the management of Cairn India Limited and ONGC for their support in the
course of this work and allowing us to publish and present this paper. We would also like to acknowledge
the significant contributions from the entire team of geoscientists and petroleum engineers engaged with
the development of Raageshwari Gas Field Development.
SPE-185376-MS 17
Nomenclature
b = Arps decline curve constant
bpss = Arps decline curve constant at pseudo steady state
Fc = fracture conductivy (md-ft)
GIIP = gas initially in place (bscf)
Gp = gas produced (bscf)
h = reservoir pay thickness (ft)
hf = fracture height (ft)
k = effective permeability to gas (md)
pwf = bottomhole pressure (psia)
pavg = average reservoir pressure (psia)
Pi = initial reservoir pressure
qg = gas flow rate (mmscfd)
t = time (hrs)
xf = fracture half length
z = gas compressibility factor
Φ = porosity (fraction)
References
1. Saurav, S., Gupta, A. K., Shankar, P., and Verma, S. K. 2015. Volcanic Tight Gas Condensate
Reservoirs: An Integrated Approach to Performance Analysis in Raageshwari Deep Gas Field,
India. Society of Petroleum Engineers.Paper SPE 176254 presented at SPE/IATMI Asia Pacific
Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, Bali, Indonesia, 20-22 Oct
2. Stuart A. Cox, Ronal P. Stoltz, Allen S. Wilson, Robert P. Sutton, SPE.2003. Reserve Analysis
for Multilayer Tight Gas Reservoirs, presented at SPE Eastern Regional/AAPG Eastern Section
joint meeting, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
3. Agarwal, R. G., Gardner, D. C., Kleinsteiber, S. W., and Fussell, D. D.1991.Analyzing Well
Production Data Using Combined-Type-Curve and Decline-Curve Analysis Concepts". Society of
Petroleum Engineers, SPEREE Oct 1991
4. Gardner, D.C., Hager, C.J. and Agarwal, R.G. Incorporating Rate-Time Superposition Into
Decline Type Curve Analysis. SPE 6247 presented at the 2000 Rocky Mountain Regional
meeting/Low permeability Reservoirs Symposium and exhibition, Denver. 12-15 March.
5. Palacio, J. C., and Blasingame, T. A. Decline-Curve Analysis With Type Curves - Analysis of
Gas Well Production Data.Paper SPE 25909 presented at Rocky mountain regional meeting/Low
permeability Reservoirs Symposium and exhibition, Denver. 12-15 March
6. Arps, J.J Analysis of decline Curves. Trans., AIME (1945) 160, 228–47.
7. Fetkovich, M.J. Decline Curve Anaysis Using Type Curves. JPT (June 1980) 1065–77.
8. Fetkovich, Michael J., Bradley, Mark D., Works, Adonna M.; Thrasher, Thomas S.1988.
Depletion Performance of Layered Reservoirs Without Crossflow. SPE-18266 presented at SPE
Technical Conference and Exhibition Meeting, Houston, Texas.
9. Fetkovich, M.J., Fetkovich, E.J., and Fetkovich, M.D. 1996. "Useful Concepts for Decline
CurveForecasting, Reserve Estimation, and Analysis". SPERE 11 (1):13-22. SPE-28628-PA.