Beirut Arab University Fall 2018

Faculty of Engineering
Chemical and Petroleum
Eng. Dpt.

Ch. 4
Pressure Build-Up Analysis
Techniques for Oil Wells

Dr. Rami HARKOUSS

Chairman
 Drawdown test

Advantages Suitable in new wells. With No

need to lose production, reservoir size can
be determined.

Disadvantages Difficult to maintain constant

production rate.
 Build-Up Test
This is the most preferred well testing technique.
The well is first produced at a constant rate till
pressure is stabilized and then the well is shut in
(usually on the surface). Pressure of the bottom
hole is then recorded as a function of time.

• Advantages Precise control of rate and P can be

determined.

• Disadvantages Loss of production due to shut in.

it is possible to estimate:
• The formation permeability
• The current drainage area pressure
• To characterize damage or stimulation
• Reservoir heterogeneity
• Boundaries
 Ideal Pressure Buildup Test
In an ideal situation, we assume that the test
is conducted in an infinite acting reservoir
in which no boundary effects are felt during
the entire flow and later shut-in period.
The reservoir is homogeneous and containing
in a slightly compressible, single-phase fluid
with uniform properties so that the Ei
function and its logarithmic approximation
apply. Flow into the wellbore ceases
immediately at shut-in.
If a well is shut-in after it has produced at rate q
for time tp and the bottom-hole pressure Pws
is recorded at time ∆t, then a plot of Pws
versus log ((tp + ∆t )/ ∆t) will give a straight
line:

Slope m
 Example
A new oil well produced 400 stb/day for 2± days; then
it was shut-in for a pressure buildup test, during
which the data in the Table below were recorded.
The other data are: ẞ0 = 1.25 rb/stb, h = 20 ft,
ᵩ= 0.2, rw = 0.29 ft,
From these data, estimate the formation permeability,
k, pi, and skin factor s.
Solution
Actual Buildup Tests - Infinite Reservoir
5.3 and 5.4
Graded Assessment
Individual Assignment + Example 5.2

Excel sheet + PPT

2 students will present the theory

2 students will present the Example 5.2

 Estimation of Reservoir Size from Two
Pressure Buildup Tests
By comparing the average static reservoir
pressure before and after production of a
known quantity of fluid from a closed and
volumetric reservoir, with compressibility ct :

∆Np is the stock - tank barrels of oil produced between times 1 & 2
Example:

The following data were recorded from two

pressure buildup tests:
pAvl = 3900 psi, PAV2 = 3000 psi
oil produced between two tests in 6 months
qAv = 250 stb/day
average formation volume factor = 1.292
total compressibility = 9.52 x 10-6PSi-1
ᵩ = 21.5%, h = 12.5 ft
Estimate the reservoir size in acres
Typical Shapes of Buildup Curves
Down trending Horner plots

Reservoirs bounded Well interference is present

Fluid mobility increases

Typical Shapes of Buildup Curves
Uptrending Horner plots

partial boundaries

irregular well locations

Testing Methods for Finite (Bounded) Reservoir
Pressure buildup testing of a single well in an
finite (bounded) and of a well in a developed
(old) reservoir using special methods commonly
(Horner, MDH, Muskat and Slider)

Horner and MBH (Matthews-Brons-Hazebroek) Methods

They are used to analyze the buildup data for infinite-acting reservoirs.

Horner's method can be used to estimate the reservoir parameters

in finite reservoirs too. The difference occurs only in late-time data
when boundary effects influence the data.
For an infinite-acting reservoir, an estimate of pi is
obtained by extrapolating the straight-line section of the
Horner plot to infinite shut-in time.
For finite and developed reservoirs, the extrapolated
pressure is not a good estimate of pi and generally has
been called the false pressure, p*.
Using the concept of the false pressure:

Ramey and Cobb show that p* is related to pi by:

It is commonly believed that the Horner plot should be used only for
new wells or when tp is relatively small, but Ramey, Cobb and Smith
indicate that Horner plot may always be used for pressure buildup
analysis. There are special criteria for tp, tpss and tDA to be used and
to improve the results (refer to textbook section 5.5)
 Miller-Dyes-Hutchinson (MDH) Method
It is the best for older wells in bounded depleting
reservoirs, when the producing time is not known,
or can be estimated only roughly.
It is applicable for the initial transient period of
buildup
It is a plot of buildup pressures versus the logarithm
of buildup time
Horner plot may be simplified if , so:
and
This indicates that a plot of pws versus log ∆t should be a
straight line with slope m

The pws versus log ∆t plot is commonly called the MDH plot.

The false pressure:

 Example Analyze pressure buildup using the MDH method
A new oil well produced 350 stb/day ; then it was shut-in for a pressure
buildup test, during which the data in the Table below were recorded.
The other data were: ẞ0 = 1.136 rb/stb, h = 49 ft, ᵩ= 0.23,
rw = 0.29 ft, viscosity= 0.8, p1h=4235, ct=17*10-6 , tp=4380, A=7.7 acres
From these data: estimate k, s and analyze the well
Horner plot
 MDH plot

Assignment for the next session:

To compare the same characteristics with Horner plot