Petroleum Production Systems

A. Daniel Hill is professor in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University, holds the R.L. Whiting endowed chair, and is a Distinguished Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

Christine Ehlig-Economides is professor in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University and holds the A.B. Stevens endowed chair. She is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

Ding Zhu, is associate professor in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University, holds the W.D. Von Gonten Faculty Fellowship, and is a Distinguished Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

Preface         xvii

About the Authors         xix

Chapter 1: The Role of Petroleum Production Engineering         1

1.1 Introduction   1

1.2 Components of the Petroleum Production System   2

1.3 Well Productivity and Production Engineering   11

1.4 Units and Conversions   15

References   18

Chapter 2: Production from Undersaturated Oil Reservoirs         19

2.1 Introduction   19

2.2 Steady-State Well Performance   19

2.3 Transient Flow of Undersaturated Oil   24

2.4 Pseudosteady-State Flow   26

2.5 Wells Draining Irregular Patterns   30

2.6 Inflow Performance Relationship   34

2.7 Effects of Water Production, Relative Permeability   37

2.8 Summary of Single-Phase Oil Inflow Performance Relationships   39

References   39

Problems   39

Chapter 3: Production from Two-Phase Reservoirs         41

3.1 Introduction   41

3.2 Properties of Saturated Oil   42

3.3 Two-Phase Flow in a Reservoir   53

3.4 Oil Inflow Performance for a Two-Phase Reservoir   55

3.5 Generalized Vogel Inflow Performance   56

3.6 Fetkovich’s Approximation   57

References   58

Problems   58

Chapter 4: Production from Natural Gas Reservoirs         61

4.1 Introduction   61

4.2 Correlations and Useful Calculations for Natural Gases   66

4.3 Approximation of Gas Well Deliverability   76

4.4 Gas Well Deliverability for Non-Darcy Flow   79

4.5 Transient Flow of a Gas Well   84

References   91

Problems   93

Chapter 5: Production from Horizontal Wells         95

5.1 Introduction   95

5.2 Steady-State Well Performance   97

5.3 Pseudosteady-State Flow   103

5.4 Inflow Performance Relationship for Horizontal Gas Wells   114

5.5 Two-Phase Correlations for Horizontal Well Inflow   115

5.6 Multilateral Well Technology   116

References   117

Problems   119

Chapter 6: The Near-Wellbore Condition and Damage Characterization; Skin Effects         121

6.1 Introduction   121

6.2 Hawkins’ Formula   122

6.3 Skin Components for Vertical and Inclined Wells   126

6.4 Skin from Partial Completion and Well Deviation   128

6.5 Horizontal Well Damage Skin Effect   134

6.6 Well Completion Skin Factors   138

6.7 Formation Damage Mechanisms   151

6.8 Sources of Formation Damage During Well Operations   157

References   163

Problems   165

Chapter 7: Wellbore Flow Performance         167

7.1 Introduction   167

7.2 Single-Phase Flow of an Incompressible, Newtonian Fluid   168

7.3 Single-Phase Flow of a Compressible, Newtonian Fluid   179

7.4 Multiphase Flow in Wells   184

References   214

Problems   215

Chapter 8: Flow in Horizontal Wellbores, Wellheads, and Gathering Systems         217

8.1 Introduction   217

8.2 Flow in Horizontal Pipes   217

8.3 Flow through Chokes   236

8.4 Surface Gathering Systems   247

8.5 Flow in Horizontal Wellbores   250

References   256

Problems   258

Chapter 9: Well Deliverability         261

9.1 Introduction 261

9.2 Combination of Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR) and Vertical Flow Performance (VFP)   262

9.3 IPR and VFP of Two-Phase Reservoirs   268

9.4 IPR and VFP in Gas Reservoirs   270

Problems   274

Chapter 10: Forecast of Well Production          275

10.1 Introduction   275

10.2 Transient Production Rate Forecast   275

10.3 Material Balance for an Undersaturated Reservoir and Production Forecast Under Pseudosteady-State Conditions   277

10.4 The General Material Balance for Oil Reservoirs   281

10.5 Production Forecast from a Two-Phase Reservoir: Solution Gas Drive   286

10.6 Gas Material Balance and Forecast of Gas Well Performance   294

References   296

Problems   297

Chapter 11: Gas Lift          299

11.1 Introduction   299

11.2 Well Construction for Gas Lift   299

11.3 Continuous Gas-Lift Design   303

11.4 Unloading Wells with Multiple Gas-Lift Valves   310

11.5 Optimization of Gas-Lift Design   312

11.6 Gas-Lift Performance Curve   316

11.7 Gas-Lift Requirements versus Time   328

References   332

Problems   333

Chapter 12: Pump-Assisted Lift         335

12.1 Introduction   335

12.2 Positive-Displacement Pumps   338

12.3 Dynamic Displacement Pumps   354

12.4 Lifting Liquids in Gas Wells; Plunger Lift   359

References   362

Problems   362

Chapter 13: Well Performance Evaluation         365

13.1 Introduction   365

13.2 Open-Hole Formation Evaluation   366

13.3 Cased Hole Logs   368

13.4 Transient Well Analysis   387

References   438

Problems   439

Chapter 14: Matrix Acidizing: Acid/Rock Interactions         443

14.1 Introduction   443

14.2 Acid—Mineral Reaction Stoichiometry   446

14.3 Acid—Mineral Reaction Kinetics   453

14.4 Acid Transport to the Mineral Surface   460

14.5 Precipitation of Acid Reaction Products   461

References   464

Problems   466

Chapter 15: Sandstone Acidizing Design         469

15.1 Introduction   469

15.2 Acid Selection   470

15.3 Acid Volume and Injection Rate   472

15.4 Fluid Placement and Diversion   496

15.5 Preflush and Postflush Design   509

15.6 Acid Additives   512

15.7 Acidizing Treatment Operations   512

References   513

Problems   516

Chapter 16: Carbonate Acidizing Design          519

16.1 Introduction   519

16.2 Wormhole Formation and Growth   522

16.3 Wormhole Propagation Models   525

16.4 Matrix Acidizing Design for Carbonates   535

16.5 Acid Fracturing   541

16.6 Acidizing of Horizontal Wells   554

References   555

Problems   558

Chapter 17: Hydraulic Fracturing for Well Stimulation         559

17.1 Introduction   559

17.2 Length, Conductivity, and Equivalent Skin Effect   562

17.3 Optimal Fracture Geometry for Maximizing the Fractured Well Productivity   566

17.4 Fractured Well Behavior in Conventional Low-Permeability Reservoirs   574

17.5 The Effect of Non-Darcy Flow on Fractured Well Performance   579

17.6 Fractured Well Performance for Unconventional Tight Sand or Shale Reservoirs   585

17.7 Choke Effect for Transverse Hydraulic Fractures   592

References   594

Problems   597

Chapter 18: The Design and Execution of Hydraulic Fracturing Treatments         601

18.1 Introduction   601

18.2 The Fracturing of Reservoir Rock   602

18.3 Fracture Geometry   609

18.4 The Created Fracture Geometry and Net Pressure   616

18.5 Fracturing Fluids   635

18.6 Proppants and Fracture Conductivity   642

18.7 Fracture Diagnostics   646

18.8 Fracturing Horizontal Wells   651

References   655

Problems   657

Chapter 19: Sand Management         661

19.1 Introduction   661

19.2 Sand Flow Modeling   662

19.3 Sand Management   676

19.4 Sand Exclusion   677

19.5 Completion Failure Avoidance   698

References   699

Problems   702

Appendix A:              703

Appendix B:              705

Appendix C:              709

Index                 711

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