SPE-170940-MS

Production Performance Evaluation of Wells Completed in Unconventional

Reservoirs Using Capillary Pressure Data and Relative Permeability Effects
B.D. Poe Jr., Schlumberger

Copyright 2014, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2729 October 2014.
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
Techniques that have been developed and used for evaluation of the production performance of horizontal
wells completed in low-permeability reservoirs that are intersected by multiple transverse fractures are
presented in this paper. Specifically, the effects of capillary pressure and relative permeabilities are
included in the production analyses in a practical way using appropriately defined multiphase pseudopressure and pseudotime integral transformations and laboratory-determined capillary pressure measurements of low-permeability formation cores. The principal type of low-permeability, unconventional
resources that have been of greatest interest for exploration and development in North America recently
are liquids-rich unconventional resources, due primarily to economic considerations. The principal focus
of the analysis techniques reported in this paper therefore pertain primarily to liquids-rich unconventional
resources, but the same general multiphase analysis approach may also be utilized in unconventional gas
reservoir analyses as well.
Multiphase expressions have been developed and used in this study for the pseudopressure and
pseudotime integral transformations in order to effectively linearize the multiphase diffusivity equations
governing the flow of multiple fluids in the reservoir. The multiphase analysis examples reported in this
paper utilize Mercury Injection Capillary Pressure (MICP) data for computation of multiphase flow
relative permeability relationships. This type of capillary pressure measurement is likely only directly
applicable for low (microDarcy) or higher permeability formations, as MICP measurements may tend to
destroy the pore structure of extremely low-permeability (nanoDarcy) cores due to very high injection
pressures. In extremely low-permeability formations, other capillary pressure measurement methods may
be employed with the multiphase reservoir analysis techniques reported in this paper, without any loss of
overall generality.
Capillary pressure measurements can be used to evaluate relative permeabilities for multiphase flow
analyses. The Burdine relative permeability relationships have been used in this study. However, the
multiphase analyses developed in this work are readily amenable for the use of other relative permeability
correlations as well. The production analyses and examples presented in this paper demonstrate that
capillary pressure and relative permeability effects may not be assumed as negligible in low-permeability,
unconventional reservoir analyses in general. Omission of these important effects in unconventional

SPE-170940-MS

reservoir analyses may lead to significant errors in the estimates of the reservoir intrinsic properties and
well completion effectiveness.
The multiphase production performance analysis techniques introduced in this study are demonstrated
with an application to a representative example of the production performance of a liquids-rich unconventional resource. The example demonstrates the importance that capillary pressure and relative permeability effects can have on the production performance of unconventional reservoirs.

Introduction
A number of investigations have been reported in the literature concerning the evaluation of the
production performance of low-permeability unconventional gas reservoirs using numerical reservoir
simulation. Among the more directly applicable of these have been the investigations reported by Cipolla
et al. [2009], Freeman et al. [2009], Moridis et al. [2010], Miller et al. [2010], Freeman et al. [2010], and
Jayakumar et al. [2011]. These studies were conducted mainly for the identification of the dominant
reservoir properties and production mechanisms affecting the production performance of unconventional
gas reservoirs.
Investigations using an analytic or semi-analytic reservoir-well model approach rather than a numerical
simulation approach for evaluating the production performance of unconventional gas reservoirs have
included contributions by Bello and Wattenbarger [2008], Mattar et al. [2008], and Anderson et al. [2010].
The transient behavior of horizontal wells intersected by multiple transverse vertical fractures were also
earlier extensively characterized in investigations reported by van Kruijsdijk and Dullaert [1989], Roberts
et al. [1991], Raghavan et al. [1994], Larsen and Hegre [1994], Chen and Raghavan [1996], Wan and Aziz
[1999], and Brown et al. [2009].
In the investigations previously cited, the effects of capillary pressure and relative permeability on the
production performance of unconventional gas reservoirs have only been considered in the studies using
numerical simulation. For the investigations conducted with analytic or semi-analytic production performance models or analyses, the traditional use of pseudopressure and pseudotime integral transformations
to account for the pressure-dependent reservoir and fluid properties generally do not include the practical
multiphase flow effects of capillary pressure and relative permeability. In more moderate to high
permeability formations, the assumption of negligible capillary pressure effects may not present a
significant problem. Additionally, in reservoirs that have limited changes in reservoir fluid saturations
with production, small changes in reservoir relative permeability in moderate to high permeability
formations may have only a small effect on the production performance of the well. However, these
assumptions cannot in general be considered to be applicable in very low-permeability unconventional
reservoirs.
In low-permeability formations, capillary pressures are often obtained with Mercury Injection Capillary
Pressure (MICP) measurements (Purcell [1949]). Recent examples of the use of MICP measurements for
determining capillary pressures in low-permeability formations are readily available in the literature. A
couple of these examples are the investigations reported by Jensenius [2003] and Chu et al. [2012].
Mercury Injection Capillary Pressure measurements are commonly used in low-permeability formations
because (1) the measurements are relatively inexpensive to obtain, (2) are well suited to low-permeability
cores due to high injection pressures, (3) the method provides numerous measurement values, (4)
technique is relatively unaffected by formation layering, and (5) the technique requires relatively limited
core handling. The negative aspects of using MICP measurements are (1) the fact that mercury is not an
environmentally friendly substance to work with (toxic), (2) air is the wetting phase in MICP measurements and is more highly compressible that other fluids (liquids), and (3) damage and destruction of the
pore structures in the core and potential clay particle transport due to very high mercury injection
pressures in low-permeability cores.

SPE-170940-MS

Capillary pressures for a mercury-air system can be obtained in low-permeability formations using
MICP measurements, and then those results can be readily converted to other two-phase systems (such as
oil-water, gas-oil, or gas-water) using the industry standard Leveritt and Lewis [1941] J function
relationship.
(1)
The contact angle () of a mercury-air system is generally considered to have a value of about 130 and
the interfacial tension () of a mercury-air system is about 487 dyne/cm. The contact angles for gas-water
and gas-oil systems are typically assumed to be equal to about 0 (due mainly to a lack of accurate
experimental measurements), while an oil-water system tends to have a contact angle value of about 30.
Therefore, with the appropriate values of interfacial tension for gas-water and gas-oil systems, the
capillary pressures for gas-water, gas-oil, and oil-water systems can be readily obtained from the MICP
measurements. For extremely low-permeability formations where MICP measurements are not well
suited, other techniques may be used to derive values for two-phase system capillary pressures to be used
in the multiphase analysis techniques reported in this paper.
In multiphase systems, the fundamental relationship between the pressures of each of the fluid phases,
expressed in terms of the two-phase capillary pressures, is given by Eq. 2. In practice, we may find that
an exact balance (as defined in Eq. 2) does not result from the two-phase system capillary pressure
measurements and system conversions. In such cases, a corrected balance for the multiphase system is
evaluated using the residual (R) of the two-phase capillary pressure balance (defined in Eq. 3) with the
system definitions given in Eqs. 4-7.
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
With the appropriate sets of two-phase capillary pressure values available, the corresponding sets of
two-phase relative permeability relationships can be constructed directly from the capillary pressure data.
The Burdine [1953] relationships have been used to compute the wetting and non-wetting phase relative
permeability values using the corresponding two-phase capillary pressure data (Honarpour, Koederitz, and
Harvey [1986]). It is possible to derive the relative permeability relationships from capillary pressure
measurements because the capillary pressures and relative permeabilities are fundamentally related (Li
and Horne [2003]). Many other capillary pressure-relative permeability relationships are also available in
the literature to perform this conversion, such as Purcell [1949], Corey [1954], and Land [1968]. However,
the Burdine [1953] relationships were found to be fully adequate for the multiphase analyses conducted
in this reservoir study and are given in Eqs. 8 and 9.
(8)

SPE-170940-MS

(9)
For low-permeability unconventional reservoir analyses, the use of empirical relative permeability
relationships that are decoupled from the observed (measured) capillary pressures is not recommended.
With the large capillary pressures and high residual wetting phase saturations often encountered in
low-permeability unconventional reservoirs, it may be quite difficult to properly calibrate the empirical
relative permeability relationships that are independent of capillary pressures to match the observations.
An investigation of capillary pressure and relative permeability effects on the analysis of multiphase
production performance of wells completed in low-permeability unconventional reservoirs has been
conducted in this research effort. Low-permeability unconventional reservoirs are currently commonly
completed with horizontal wellbores intersected by multiple transverse fractures. This study was undertaken in order to attempt to quantify the magnitude of the capillary pressure and relative permeability
effects on well performance analyses, as well as to determine the significance of neglecting those effects
in the production performance analyses of unconventional reservoirs have on the parameter estimates of
the reservoir intrinsic properties and well completion effectiveness determined with these analyses. These
findings can then be used to improve the production performance analyses of wells completed in
unconventional reservoirs.

Mathematical Model
The flow of multiple fluids in a uniform height, homogeneous reservoir in which gravitational effects are
considered negligible is classically described by the diffusivity relationships given in Eqs. 10, 11, and 12
for the oil, water, and gas phases, respectively. The system saturation balance is given in Eq. 13.
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
The spatial and temporal gradients of the pressure-dependent reservoir and fluid properties (, Bo, Bw,
Bg, Rso, Rsw, o, w and g) can be evaluated for a specified spatial coordinate system. An evaluation
technique that may also be used to evaluate the diffusivity relationships governing multiphase flow in the
reservoir is the introduction of an integral transformation to account for the non-linear reservoir and fluid
properties with respect to the dependent variable (pressure). The spatial and temporal gradients of the
saturation-dependent reservoir properties that appear in these relationships [capillary pressure and relative
permeabilities: Pcgo, Pcgw, Pcow, kro, kw, and krg)] may also be recast as functions of the dependent variable
(pressure). The reservoir fluid saturations needed for the capillary pressure and relative permeability
evaluations in that approach are explicitly determined from the changes in the pore pressure level.
It is beyond the scope of this study to attempt to address or evaluate the numerous possible combination
rules that have been developed and reported in the literature for estimating three-phase flow oil relative
permeabilities. In three-phase flow, it has been found that the oil relative permeability is strongly
influenced by the wettability of the formation and that a single combination rule for three-phase flow oil
relative permeabilities has not been identified to provide satisfactory results in all cases (Pejic and Maini
[2003]). Other reasonably recent references that are related to three-phase flow oil relative permeability
estimation may be found in Honarpour, Koederitz, and Harvey [1986], Baker [1988], and Blunt [1999].

SPE-170940-MS

The multiphase analysis techniques developed in this study are entirely general in form and readily
permit the use of any relative permeability relationships that are preferred, if tabular experimental data are
available, or if the results of two-phase measurements and multiphase combination rule models are used.
The multiphase relative permeability relationships that have been used in this study are quite simple and
straight-forward, and are summarized in Eqs. 14-16. While Pejic and Maini [2003] reported that none of
the three-phase oil relative permeability relationships tested provided satisfactory results for all three of
the data sets that were used in the tests, the Aziz and Settari [1979] model I tended to have the lowest
overall residual for the cases tested. Therefore, this relationship was used in this study and is presented
in Eq. 14.
(14)

(15)
(16)
The effective porosity at a prevailing pressure level in a reservoir with stress-dependent porosity may
be estimated from the definition of isothermal pore compressibility using the relationship reported by
McKee et al. [1988].
(17)
In a similar manner, the pressure-dependence of the absolute permeability in a low-permeability
unconventional reservoir can be considered using the approach used by Freeman et al [2010]. This result
is given in Eq. 18.
(18)
A multiphase pseudopressure integral transformation may be constructed to correlate a multiphase flow
reservoir response with the classical analytic or semi-analytic reservoir-well models and production
performance analyses. Multiphase flow issues must be considered in low-permeability, unconventional
reservoir analyses that utilize capillary pressure and relative permeability data. The introduction of the
correlation function (integral transformation) in the analyses provides a means of quantifying the reservoir
properties and well completion effectiveness with multiphase fluid flow in the reservoir. This multiphase
correlation function is given in Eq. 19. Note that the multiphase pseudopressure integral transformation
is integrated with respect to the local pressure level (in a like manner as the traditional pseudopressure
integral transformation commonly used in gas reservoir analyses), and the local pressure-dependent fluid
saturations are computed explicitly and used for evaluation of the saturation-dependent reservoir properties (Pc and kr) in the integration procedure.
(19)
In terms of a dimensionless pressure that can be correlated with the results of the analytic solutions for
a slightly-compressible liquid, the definition given in Eq. 20 may be used.
(20)
If only the very early (infinite-acting reservoir) transient production performance is considered, the
average reservoir fluid saturations can be assumed to be approximately equal to the initial values. In that

SPE-170940-MS

Figure 1Example MICP mercury-air system capillary pressures.

case, a multiphase correlation function to account for the variation of the reservoir and fluid properties
variation with respect to time may be evaluated using Eq. 21. If sufficient production from the reservoir
has occurred such that the average reservoir pressure and fluid saturations and spatial distributions have
changed measurably (i.e. finite systems or significant saturation changes at wellbore), a more rigorous
multiphase pseudotime correlation function must be utilized. One method for effectively evaluating finite
reservoir average saturation changes is to compute the average reservoir fluid saturations using the
Schilthuis [1936] material balance, similar to the technique reported in Dake [1978].
(21)
where:
(22)
(23)
The multiphase pseudotime correlation function can also be expressed in a dimensionless form that is
applicable for use in analyses using classical slightly-compressible liquid flow solutions in dimensionless
form.
(24)
A total reservoir flow rate for use in correlating the multiphase flow solutions can be evaluated as given
by Eq. 25.
(25)
A total reservoir cumulative production may also be defined for use in correlating the multiphase
reservoir response as shown in Eq. 26.
(26)

Application
An example application of the multiphase analysis approach developed in this study to a liquids-rich,
low-permeability, unconventional reservoir can be used to demonstrate the importance of including
capillary pressure and relative permeability effects in a production performance analysis. In addition, the
significance of neglecting these effects in the production performance analyses of unconventional

SPE-170940-MS

reservoirs are illustrated by the deviations in reservoir property and well completion effectiveness
parameter estimates obtained. This data available for this example analysis includes the MICP data,
petrophysical properties, PVT, and production performance data.
Mercury Injection Capillary Pressure (MICP) data were obtained for several cores from this well. The
MICP measurements were reasonably similar for all of the samples tested, likely because the formation
was relatively uniform and low-permeability. A representative sample of the MICP data was chosen for
use in the multiphase analysis (illustrated in Fig. 1), of which an abbreviated listing of the corresponding
computed two-phase equivalent capillary pressures for gas-water, gas-oil, and oil-water systems are given
in Table 1. Note that the two-phase system equivalent capillary pressures are referenced to the MICP
measurement mercury saturations and J function values in this table.
The normalized relative permeabilities computed using the Burdine [1953] correlations that are derived
from the MICP data are presented in Fig. 2. Note the high residual wetting phase saturation that is
associated with this example relative permeability data. This characteristic is quite common for the
relative permeability response of low-permeability unconventional reservoirs.
The pertinent petrophysical, reservoir and fluid properties reservoir necessary for the evaluation of the
production performance analysis are given in Table 2. Note that the well is a horizontal well with a 4,000
ft lateral, perforated and fractured with 58 perforation clusters geometrically-spaced at about 68 ft apart.
The production rates for the well are shown in Fig. 3 and the corresponding cumulative production
values are presented in Fig. 4. The recorded wellhead and computed bottomhole flowing pressures of the
production history are given in Fig. 5.
A non-linear regression production history match of the well performance using the fractured horizontal well transient model of Brown et al. [2009] and the multiphase flow analysis correlations of this
study are illustrated in Fig. 6. The match was obtained in 10 iterations with a Chi-squared residual of
0.727. Comparable agreement was also observed for the match of the total reservoir flow rate correlation
function (qrt).
The production history match in which the capillary pressures and associated relative permeability
effects are included in the analysis results in estimates for the formation total mobility (t) of 9.35103
mD/cp, an average fracture half-length (Xf) of 81 ft, an average fracture conductivity (kfw) of 1.4 mD-ft,
and an estimated Stimulated Reservoir Volume (SRV) of about 15 acres. The equivalent average effective
permeability to oil (ko) from the analysis is 1.1x103 md and the average effective permeability to water
(kw) that corresponds to the match is 1.68104 mD. The corresponding computed average reservoir
evaluated with the production performance match is illustrated in Fig. 7, along with the computed
producing gas-oil ratio (solution gas) and water cut.
A similar match of the production data assuming negligible capillary pressure effects results in
parameters estimates for the effective permeability to oil of 3104 mD, an average effective fracture
half-length of 126 ft and an effective area of the Stimulated Reservoir Volume of 23 acres. A look at the
capillary pressure table (Table 1) for an oil-water system indicates that the capillary pressure is initially
a little over 600 psia and the relative permeability to the non-wetting (oil) phase (from Fig. 2) is indicated
to initially be about 0.45. The relative permeability to the wetting phase (water in this case) is essentially
zero up to approximately 90 % wetting phase saturation. The high residual wetting phase saturation results
in retention of large amounts of the fracture fluid (water) remaining in the formation, reducing the
effective permeability to the non-wetting phase as well, which can exist even after a long production time.

SPE-170940-MS

Table 1Two-Phase System Capillary Pressures from MICP Data

SPE-170940-MS

Figure 2Computed relative permeabilities from MICP data.

Table 2Example petrophysical, reservoir and fluid properties.

h 200 ft
Pi 6000 psia
0 55API
Bo 2.1 rb/STB
Bw 1.054 rb/STB
Bg 0.66 rb/Mscf

rw 0.33 ft
7%
T 255F
nf 58
g 0.6
cf 3106 1/psia
Rso 2168 scf/STB
0 0.13 cp
Rsw 28.2 scf/STB
0.25 cp
g 0.025 cp

So 70 %
Sw 30 %
df 68 ft
ct 1.32105 1/psia
co 1.32105 1/psia
cw 3.13106 1/psia
cg 1.1104 1/psia

Figure 3Production rates of example well.

10

SPE-170940-MS

Figure 4 Cumulative production values for example well.

Figure 5Wellhead and computed bottomhole flowing pressure history.

Figure 6 Multiphase correlation function match of production performance.

SPE-170940-MS

11

Figure 7Computed average reservoir pressure, producing gas-oil ratio, and water cut.

Conclusions
This study has investigated the influence of capillary pressure and relative permeability effects on the
multiphase production performance of a low-permeability unconventional reservoir. The results of this
investigation suggest a few significant observations and conclusions.
1. Capillary pressure and relative permeability effects can be quite significant in low-permeability
unconventional reservoir analyses. These effects are not negligible in general.
2. Low-permeability formations commonly encountered in unconventional reservoirs can have very
high residual wetting phase saturations, leading to the retention of large amounts of stimulation
fluids in the formation.
3. Neglecting capillary pressure (and associated relative permeability) effects in low-permeability
unconventional reservoir production performance analyses can result in significant errors in
estimating values of the reservoir intrinsic properties and well completion effectiveness.

Acknowledgements
The author wishes to acknowledge Schlumberger for providing the resources and opportunity to conduct
this investigation, and for the permission to present the results of the research effort.
Nomenclature

Bg

Bo

Bw

cf

cg

co

cw

ct

df

GP
h

ko

Gas formation volume factor, rcf/scf

Oil formation volume factor, rb/STB
Water formation volume factor, rb/STB
Formation pore compressibility, 1/psia
Gas compressibility, 1/psia
Oil compressibility, 1/psia
Water compressibility, 1/psia
System total compressibility, 1/psia
Average distance between adjacent fractures, ft
Cumulative gas production, MMscf
Reservoir net pay thickness, ft
Leveritt capillary pressure correlation function
Formation absolute permeability, mD
Original formation absolute permeability, mD

12

k
krgo
krgw
kro
krog
krow
krowmax.
krw
krwg
krwo
Lc
nf
Np
P
Pc
Pcgo
Pcgw
Pcow
Pg
Pi
Po
Pw
Pwf
Pp
qg
qo
qw
Qprt
qrt
R
Rso
Rsw
rw
S
Se
Sg
SHg
Sm
So
Som
Sw
Sw
Swc

SPE-170940-MS

Relative permeability to gas

Relative permeability to gas in a oil-gas two-phase system
Relative permeability to gas in a water-gas two-phase system
Relative permeability to non-wetting phase
Relative permeability to oil
Relative permeability to oil in an oil-gas two-phase system
Relative permeability to oil in an water-oil two-phase system
Maximum relative permeability to oil in an water-oil two-phase system
Relative permeability to water
Relative permeability to wetting phase
Relative permeability to water in a water-gas two-phase system
Relative permeability to water in a water-oil two-phase system
System characteristic length, ft
Number of fractures (perf clusters)
Oil cumulative production, STB
Pressure, psia
Capillary pressure, psia
Capillary pressure between gas and oil, psia
Lab measured capillary pressure between gas and oil, psia
Capillary pressure between gas and water, psia
Lab measured capillary pressure between gas and water, psia
Capillary pressure between oil and water, psia
Lab measured capillary pressure between oil and water, psia
Pressure in gas phase, psia
Initial reservoir pore pressure, psia
Pressure in oil phase, psia
Pressure in water phase, psia
Terminal flowing pressure at wellbore, psia
Multiphase pseudopressure integral transformation, mD-psia-STB/rb-cp
Gas flow rate, Mscf/D
Oil flow rate, STB/D
Water flow rate, STB/D
Total reservoir cumulative production, rb
Total reservoir flow rate, rb/D
Residual sum of lab measured capillary pressures, psia
Solution gas-oil ratio, scf/STB
Solution gas-water ratio, scf/STB
Wellbore radius, ft
Saturation, parameter of integration
Entry wetting phase saturation, frac PV
Gas saturation, frac PV
Mercury saturation, frac PV
Minimum wetting phase saturation on capillary pressure curve, frac PV
Oil saturation, frac PV
Three-phase system residual oil saturation, frac PV
Water saturation, frac PV
Wetting phase saturation, frac PV
Critical water saturation, frac PV

SPE-170940-MS

t
T
ta
tD
Wp
t
g
o
g
o
w
w
o

13

Time, hrs
Average reservoir temperature, deg F
Multiphase pseudotime correlation function, md-psia-hrs/cp
Dimensionless time
Cumulative water production, STB
System total mobility, mD/cp
Gas specific gravity (air1)
Stock tank liquid gravity, deg API
Gas viscosity, cp
Oil viscosity, cp
Water viscosity, cp
Formation effective porosity, frac BV
Original formation effective porosity, frac BV
Interfacial tension, dyne/cm
Contact angle, deg

References
Anderson, D.M., Nobakht, M., Moghadam, S. et alet al. 2010. Analysis of Production Data from
Fractured Shale Gas Wells. Paper SPE 131787 presented at the SPE Unconventional Gas Conference,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. doi: 10.2118/131787-MS.
Aziz, K. and Settari, A. 1979. Petroleum Reservoir Simulation. Applied Science Publishers, London,
England.
Bello, R.O. and Wattenbarger, R.A. 2008. Rate Transient Analysis in Naturally Fractured Shale Gas
Reservoirs. Paper SPE 114591 presented at the CIPC/SPE Gas Technology Symposium 2008 Joint
Conference, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. doi: 10.2118/114591-MS.
Brown, M., Ozkan, E., Raghavan, R., and Kazemi, H. 2009. Practical Solutions for Pressure Transient
Responses of Fractured Horizontal Wells in Unconventional Reservoirs. Paper SPE 125043 presented at
the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, Oct. 4-7.
Burdine, N.T. 1953. Relative Permeability Calculations from Pore Size Distribution Data. Trans.,
AIME, 198, 7178.
Chen, C.C. and Raghavan, R. 1996. A Multiply-Fractured Horizontal Well in a Rectangular Drainage
Region. Paper SPE 37072 presented at the SPE International Conference on Horizontal Well Technology,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Nov. 18-20.
Chu, L., Ye, P., Harmawan, I., Di, L., and Shepherd, L. 2012. Characterizing and Simulating the
Non-Stationariness and Non-Linearity in Unconventional Oil Reservoirs : Bakken Application. Paper SPE
161137 presented at the SPE Canadian Unconventional Resources Conference, Calgary, Alberta, Canada,
Oct. 30-Nov. 1.
Cipolla, C.L., Lolon, E., Erdle, J. et alet al. 2009. Modeling Well Performance in Shale-Gas
Reservoirs, Paper SPE 125532 presented at the SPE/EAGE Reservoir Characterization and Simulation
Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE. doi: 10.2118/125532-MS.
Corey, A.T. 1954. The Interrelation Between Gas and Oil Relative Permeabilities. Prod. Mon., 19, 38.
Dake, L.P. 1978. Fundamentals of Reservoir Engineering. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., New
York City, New York, USA. 8586.
Freeman, C.M., Ilk, D., Moridis, G.J., and Blasingame, T.A. 2009. A Numerical Study of Performance
for Tight Gas and Shale Gas Reservoir Systems. Paper SPE 124961 presented at the SPE Annual
Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. doi: 10.2118/124961-MS.

14

SPE-170940-MS

Freeman, C.M., Moridis, G.J., Ilk, D. and Blasingame, T.A. 2010. A Numerical Study of Transport
and Storage Effects for Tight Gas and Shale Gas Reservoirs Systems. Paper SPE 131583 presented at the
SPE International Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition, Beijing, China, June 8-10.
Honarpour, M., Koederitz, L., and Harvey, A.H. 1986. Relative Permeability of Petroleum Reservoirs.
CRC Press, Inc. Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
Jayakumar, R., Sahai, V., and Boulis, A. 2011. A Better Understanding of Finite Element Simulation
for Shale Gas Reservoirs through a Series of Different Case Histories. Paper SPE 142464 presented at the
SPE Middle East Unconventional Gas Conference and Exhibition, Muscat, Oman. doi: 10.2118/142464MS.
Jensenius, J. 2003. A New Capillary Curve Modelling Method for North Sea Chalk and Other Low
Permeability Reservoirs. Paper presented at the SPWLA 44th Annual Logging Symposium, June 22-25.
Land, C.S. 1968. Calculation of Imbibition Relative Permeability for Two- and Three-Phase Flow
from Rock Properties. SPEJ, June, 149.
Larsen, L. and Hegre, T.M. 1991. Pressure-Transient Behavior of Horizontal Wells with FiniteConductivity vertical Fractures. Paper SPE 22076 presented at the SPE International Arctic Technology
Conference, Anchorage, Alaska, USA, May 29-31.
Leveritt, M.C. and Lewis, W.B. 1941. Steady Flow of Gas-Oil-Water Mixtures Through Unconsolidated Sands. Trans. AIME, 142, 107116.
Li, K. and Horne, R. 2003. Numerical Simulation with Input Consistency Between Capillary Pressure
and Relative Permeability. Paper 79716 presented at the SPE Reservoir Simulation Symposium, Houston,
Texas, USA, Feb. 3-5.
Mattar, L., Gault, B., Morad, K., Clarkson, C.R., Freeman, C.M., Ilk, D., and Blasingame, T.A. 2008.
Production Analysis and Forecasting of Shale Gas Reservoirs: Case History-Based Approach. Paper SPE
119897 presented at the SPE Shale Gas Production Conference, Fort Worth, Texas, USA. doi: 10.2118/
119897-MS.
McKee, C.R., Bumb, A.C., Koenig, R.A. 1988. Stress-Dependent Permeability and Porosity of Coal
and Other Geologic Formations. SPEFE, March 1988, 8191.
Medeiros, F., Ozkan, E., and Kazemi, H. 2006. A Semianalytical, Pressure-Transient Model for
Horizontal and Multilateral Wells in Composite, Layered, and Compartmentalized Reservoirs. Paper SPE
102834 presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
doi: 10.2118/102834-MS.
Miller, M.A., Jenkins, C.D., and Rai, R.R. 2010. Applying Innovative Production Modeling Techniques to Quantify Fracture Characteristics, Reservoir Properties, and Well Performance in Shale Gas
Reservoirs. Paper SPE 139097 presented at the SPE Eastern Regional Meeting, Morgantown, West
Virginia, USA. doi: 10.2118/139097-MS.
Moridis, G.J., Blasingame, T.A., and Freeman, C.M. 2010. Analysis of Mechanisms of Flow in
Fractured Tight-Gas and Shale-Gas Reservoirs. Paper SPE 139250 presented at the SPE Latin American
and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference, Lima, Peru. doi: 10.2118/139250-MS.
Pejic, D. and Maini, B.B. 2003. Three-Phase Relative Permeability of Petroleum Reservoirs. Paper
81021 presented at the SPE Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference, Port-ofSpain, Trinidad, West Indies, April 27-30.
Purcell, W.R. 1949. Capillary Pressures-Their Measurement Using Mercury and the Calculation of
Permeability. Trans., AIME, 186, 39.
Raghavan, R.S., Chen, C.C., and Agarwal, B. 1994. An Analysis of Horizontal Wells Intercepted by
Multiple Fractures. Paper SPE 27652 presented at SPE Permian Basin Oil and Gas Recovery Conference,
Midland, Texas, USA, Mar. 16-18; SPEJ, Vol. 2, Sep. 1997, 235245.

SPE-170940-MS

15

Roberts, B.E., van Engen, H., and van Kruijsdijk, C.P.J.W. 1991. Productivity of Multiply Fractured
Horizontal Wells in Tight Gas Reservoirs. Paper SPE 23113 presented at SPE Offshore Europe Conference, Aberdeen, UK, Sep. 3-6.
Schilthuis, R.J. 1936. Active Oil and Reservoir Energy. Trans., AIME. 118, 3352.
van Kruijsdijk, C.P.J.W. and Dullaert, G.M. 1989. A Boundary Element Solution of the Transient
Pressure Response of Multiply Fractured Horizontal Wells. 2nd European Conference on the Mathematics
of Oil Recovery, Cambridge, England.
Wan, J. and Aziz, K. 1999. Semi-Analytical Well Model of Horizontal Wells With Multiple Hydraulic
Fractures. Paper SPE 81190 presented at the SPE West Regional Meeting and Exhibition, Anchorage,
Alaska, USA. May 26-27; SPEJ, Dec. 2002, 437445.