Petroleum Production Engineering I

Year 3 – Department of Petroleum Engineering

University of Baghdad
Well performance analysis and production system:
Production system

The production system is a composite term describing the entire production as illustrated in
the following Figure:

Figure1- Simplified hydrocarbon production system

A simple production system includes the following principal components:

1- The reservoir - it productive capacity and dynamic production characteristics

over the envisaged life of the development.
2- The wellbore - the production interval, the sump, and the fluids in the wellbore
3- Production Conduit - comprising the tubing and the tubing components
4- Wellhead, Xmas Tree and Flow Lines
5- Treatment Facilities

Dr. Dhifaf Jaafar Sadeq 1

Petroleum Production Engineering I
Year 3 – Department of Petroleum Engineering
University of Baghdad
The hydrocarbon fluid flows from the reservoir into the well, up the tubing, along the
horizontal flow line and into the oil storage tank. During this process the fluid’s pressure is
reduced from the reservoir pressure to atmosphere pressure in a series of pressure loss
processes (Figure 2):
2- Across the reservoir
3- Across the completion (perforation/gravel pack etc.)
4- Across the tubing and any restrictions
5- Across the sub surface safety valve
6- Across the surface choke
7- Across flowline

Figure 2- Pressure Losses during Production

Dr. Dhifaf Jaafar Sadeq 2

Petroleum Production Engineering I
Year 3 – Department of Petroleum Engineering
University of Baghdad
Where:
PR: Reservoir Pressure
Pwfs: Flowing sand face Pressure
Pwf: Flowing Bottom Hole Pressure
PUR: Upstream Restriction Pressure
PDR: Downstream Restriction Pressure
PUSV: Upstream Safety Valve Pressure
PDSV: Downstream Safety Valve Pressure
PWH: Well Head Pressure
PDSC: Downstream surface Choke Pressure
Psep: Separator Pressure
These pressure losses can be grouped into three main components:
1- Summarizes the total pressure losses in the reservoir and completion.
2- Summarizes the total pressure losses in the tubing.
3- Summarizes the total pressure losses at the surface.
A pump or compressor is often used to aid evacuation of fluids (gas/water/oil) from the
separator. The separator is operated under gas pressure control and liquid (oil and water) level
control. Hence it normally acts as the end point of the flowing system since a pump is necessary
to aid evacuation of the liquids from the separator.

The productivity of the system is dependent on the pressure loss which occurs in several
areas of the flow system ( as we mentioned above), these areas are:-
• The reservoir
• The wellbore.
• The tubing string.
• The choke.
• The flow line.
• The separator.
Under natural flowing conditions the reservoir pressure must provide all the energy to
operate the system i.e. all the pressure drop in the system.

Dr. Dhifaf Jaafar Sadeq 3

Petroleum Production Engineering I
Year 3 – Department of Petroleum Engineering
University of Baghdad
PR = ΔPSYSTEM + PSEP
where;
PR = reservoir pressure
ΔPSYSTEM = total system pressure drop
PSEP = separator pressure
The pressure drop which occurs across the reservoir, ΔPRES and is defined as the inflow
performance relationship or IPR. The pressure drop and causes floe is in the tubing and
wellbore ΔPTBG is that which occurs in lifting the fluids from the reservoir to the surface and it
is known as the vertical lift performance or VLP, or the tubing performance relationship or
TPR,
i.e. for natural flow R = ΔPRES + ΔPTBG + PTH
Where;
PTH = Tubing head pressure

The magnitude of these individual pressure losses (drops) depend on the reservoir properties
and pressures; fluid being produced and the well design. Production Technologists/ Engineers
need to understand the interplay of these various factors so as to design completions which
maximize profitability from the oil or gas production. There are no standard “rules of thumb”
which can be used. Figure (3) schematically represents the pressure distribution across the
production system shown in Figure (2). It identifies the most significant components, flowline,
tubing and the reservoir and completion where pressure losses occur.

Figure-3 Pressure across production system.

Dr. Dhifaf Jaafar Sadeq 4

Petroleum Production Engineering I
Year 3 – Department of Petroleum Engineering
University of Baghdad

Inflow Well Performance

The flow of oil, water and gas from the formation into the bottom of the well (Well bore), is
typified, as far as gross liquid production is concerned, by PI (Productivity Index) of the well or,
more generally, by the IPR (Inflow Performance Relationship). The analysis of the production
performance is essentially based on the following fluid and well characteristic;
• Fluid PVT Properties.
• Relative permeability data.
• Inflow performance relationship (IPR) & productivity index (PI).
Productivity Index (PI) & Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR)
A commonly used to measure of the ability of the well to produce (give fluids) is the
Productivity Index (PI), denoted by J. Productivity Index is the ratio of the total liquid flow rate
to the pressure drawdown and could present as a plot of Pwf versus q. as shown in Figure (4).

Figure (4)- Pwf vs Q.

Dr. Dhifaf Jaafar Sadeq 5

Petroleum Production Engineering I
Year 3 – Department of Petroleum Engineering
University of Baghdad
The producing pressure Pwf at the bottom of the well is known as the flowing BHP, and the
difference between this and the well's static pressure Ps is the drawdown;
Drawdown = Ps - Pwf
The productivity index is given by;
𝑄 𝑄
𝑃𝐼 = 𝐽 = 𝑃 −𝑃𝑜 = 𝛥𝑃𝑜 …………………. 1
𝑠 𝑤𝑓

Where:
q = Oil flow rate, STB/day.
J = Productivity index, STB/day/psi.
Ps = Static pressure (volumetric average drainage area pressure, pr), psi.
Pwf = Bottom-hole flowing pressure, psi.

The productivity index is generally measured during a production test on the well. The well is
shut-in until the static reservoir pressure is reached. The well is then allowed to produce at a
constant flow rate and a stabilized bottom-hole flow pressure.
It is important to note that the productivity index is a valid measure of the well productivity
potential only if the well is flowing at pseudosteady state conditions. Therefore, in order to
accurately measure the productivity index to a well, it is essential that the well is allowed to
flow at a constant flow rate for a sufficient amount of time to reach the pseudostead state as
illustrated in Figure (5). The Figure indicates that during the transient flow period, the
calculated values of the productivity index will vary depending upon the time at which the
measurements of Pwf are made.

Dr. Dhifaf Jaafar Sadeq 6

Petroleum Production Engineering I
Year 3 – Department of Petroleum Engineering
University of Baghdad

Figure-5 Productivity Index during Flow Regimes

The productivity index can be numerically calculated by recognizing that J must be defined in
terms of semisteady-state flow conditions;
0.000708 𝑘𝑜 ℎ(𝑃𝑟 −𝑃𝑤𝑓 )
𝑞𝑜 = 𝑟 …………..2
µ𝑜 𝐵𝑜 [𝑙𝑛( 𝑒 −0.75+𝑠)]
𝑟𝑤

Combined eq.1 and eq.2 :

0.000708 𝑘𝑜 ℎ
𝐽= 𝑟 ………….3
µ𝑜 𝐵𝑜 [𝑙𝑛( 𝑒 −0.75+𝑠)]
𝑟𝑤

Since most of the well life is spent at a flow regime that is approximating the pseudosteady-
state, the productivity index is a valuable methodology for predicting the future performance
of wells. Further, by monitoring the productivity index during the life of the well, it is possible
to determine if the well has become damage due to completion, workover, production,
injection operations, or mechanical problems. If a measured J has unexpected decline, one of
the indicated problems should be investigated.
The productivity index may vary from well to well because of the variation in thickness of the
reservoir; it is helpful to normalize the indices by dividing each by the thickness of the well. This
is defined as the specific productivity index (Js).
𝐽 𝑜 𝑄
𝐽𝑠 = ℎ = ℎ(𝑃 −𝑃 ………….4
𝑠 𝑤𝑓 )

Dr. Dhifaf Jaafar Sadeq 7

 Petroleum Production Engineering I
Year 3 – Department of Petroleum Engineering
University of Baghdad

Assuming that the well's productivity index is constant, Eq. (1) can be rewritten as:

𝑄𝑜 = 𝐽(𝑃𝑠 − 𝑃𝑤𝑓 ) = 𝐽Δ𝑃 ………5

Eq. (5) indicates that the relationship between q and Δp is a straight line passing through the
origin with a slope of J as shown in figure (6).

Figure-6 q vs. Δp relationship.

Alternatively, Eq. (1) can be written as:

𝑞
𝑃𝑤𝑠 = 𝑃𝑠 − 𝐽 ……………6

The above expression shows that the plot Pwf against q is a straight line with a slope of (- 1/J) as
shown schematically in Figure (7). This graphical representation of the relationship that exists
between the oil flow rate and bottom-hole flowing pressure is called the Inflow Performance
Relationship and referred to as IPR.

Dr. Dhifaf Jaafar Sadeq 8

Petroleum Production Engineering I
Year 3 – Department of Petroleum Engineering
University of Baghdad

Figure (7): IPR

Several important features of the straight-line IPR can be seen in Figure 7

• When Pwf equals average reservoir pressure, the flow rate is zero due to the absence of
any pressure drawdown.
• Maximum rate of flow occurs when Pwf is zero. This maximum rate is called Absolute
Open Flow and referred to as AOF. Although in practice this may not be a condition at
which the well can produce, it is a useful definition that has widespread applications in
the petroleum industry, (comparing flow potential of different wells in the field). The
AOF is then calculated by;

AOF = J PS ………7

• The slope of the straight line equals the reciprocal of the productivity index.

Dr. Dhifaf Jaafar Sadeq 9

Petroleum Production Engineering I
Year 3 – Department of Petroleum Engineering
University of Baghdad
Inflow Performance Test
The following stepwise procedure is offered for obtaining data in an inflow performance test:
1. Closed the well (shut in) for (24-72 hrs) to obtained pressure build up test.
2. With the recording pressure gauge on bottom, place the well on its lowest production
rate and obtain a flowing pressure recording. Sufficient time must be allowed for the
production rate and flowing BHP to stabilized. If possible, at least 48 hours should be
allowed for each rate. (The well open to flow for 48 hrs in order to reach the stabilized
condition, pseudo steady state regime).
3. After that change, the well production rate for different values of rates and recorded
the BHP for each rate, allowing approximately 48 hrs to production (at least three
values).
4. Plot IPR curve (q vs. pwf) on Cartesian paper.
5. Again shut the well in and obtain a BHP buildup survey.

Problem (1): A productivity test was conducted on a well. The test results indicate that the well
is capable of producing at a stabilized flow rate of 110 STB/day and a bottom-hole flowing
pressure of 900 psi. After shutting the well for 24 hours, the bottom-hole pressure reached a
static value of 1300 psi.
Calculate:
• Productivity index
• AOF
• Oil flow rate at a bottom-hole flowing pressure of 600 psi
• Wellbore flowing pressure required to produce 250 STB/day

Solution:

𝑞
1- 𝐽 = 𝑃 −𝑃
𝑟 𝑤𝑓

110
𝐽 = 1300−900= 0.275 STB/psi

2- AOF = J (Pr − 0)
AOF= 0.275(1300-0)= 375.5STB/day
3- Qo=J(Pr − Pwf)
Qo= 0.257(1300−600)=192.5 STB / day
4- Pwf = Pr −(1/J)Qo
Pwf=1300−(1/0.275)250=390.9 psi

Dr. Dhifaf Jaafar Sadeq 10