Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 65 (2009) 5161

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Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / p e t r o l

Simplied approach for predicting gas well performance

Hazim Al-Attar, Sulaiman Al-Zuhair
Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, United Arab Emirates University, 17555 Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 11 May 2007
Accepted 26 December 2008
Keywords:
Average reservoir pressure
Well performance prediction
Dry-gas wells
Wet-gas wells
real-gas pseudopressure

a b s t r a c t
This paper presents the development and application of a simple, yet reasonably accurate, method for
predicting gas well performance. The proposed approach is based on predicting average reservoir pressure at
different time intervals from stabilized surface production-history data using an iterative mode of

calculations. The calculated ( Pr/z) values are then plotted versus cumulative gas production (Gp) and the
straight line which best ts the data points can then be reasonably projected into any future stage of
depletion to predict the remaining reserves. The present technique is suitable whenever the loss of cash ow
due to shut-in production and/or the use of special sensing down-hole equipment become prohibitive,
particularly when H2S and CO2 are present in the produced gas mixture. Dry gas wells, wet gas wells, and
condensate gas wells can be treated with the proposed technique. All calculations are performed with Excel
spread sheet solver and ow diagrams of these calculations are included in this paper.
2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
It is often necessary to use conventional backpressure test data when
other data is not available to determine reservoir characteristics and
predict future well/reservoir performance. The application of material
balance methods and/or numerical simulation to history match and to
forecast gas eld performance requires accurate measurements of
cumulative uid production and average reservoir pressure. To the best
of the knowledge of the authors, up to date, a reliable technique able to
accurately predict the average reservoir pressure is lacking. Usually
these data are determined from pressure build-up tests which may
require, depending on the reservoir permeability, long shut-in periods
and consequently the loss of important cash ows. In addition, in deephigh temperature gas wells containing H2S and CO2, the hightemperature-pressure sensing equipment required is expensive and
the risk of losing it is not uncommon resulting in costly shing jobs. In
this work, a rather simple but reasonably accurate approach has been
developed that can predict the average reservoir pressure and reservoir
performance. The conventional deliverability test analysis using the
pressure-squared difference and the real gas pseudo-pressure analysis
are both implemented in this work for comparison purposes.
2. Development of present method
2.1. Theoretical background
Rawlins and Schellhardt (1935) presented an empirical relationship
that is frequently used in deliverability test analysis. The original form of
their relation is given by Eq. (1) in terms of pressure-squared is applicable
Corresponding author. Tel.: +971 37133636; fax: +971 37624262.
E-mail address: s.alzuhair@uaeu.ac.ae (S. Al-Zuhair).
0920-4105/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2008.12.016

only at low pressures. In general, the product z is constant with respect to

pressure when the latter is less than or equal to 2000 psia.


n
2
q = C Pr P2wf :
1
Corbett and Wattenbarger (1985) showed that changing gas
properties can cause the conventional deliverability plot to bend
downward and that non-Darcy ow causes it to bend upward. They
concluded that the real gas pseudo-pressure approach should be used
to analyze backpressure tests and forecast gas well performance. In
terms of pseudo-pressure, Eq. (1) is represented as shown in Eq. (2),
which is applicable over all pressure ranges
h  
in
q = C Pp P r Pp Pwf :
2
In Eqs. (1) and (2), C is the stabilized performance coefcient (MMScf/
D.psia2n, and MMScf/D. (psia2/cp)n, respectively) and n is the inverse slope
of the line on a log-log plot of the change in pressure-squared or pseudopressure vs. gas ow rate (dimensionless). Pp is the real-gas pseudopressure function dened by Al-Hussainy et al. (1966) in Eq. (3)
PP = 20P P=zdP:

Depending on the ow conditions, the theoretical value of n ranges

from 0.5, indicating turbulent or non-Darcy ow, to 1.0, indicating
ow behavior described by Darcy's equation. A valid approach must
assume pseudo-steady state conditions of ow in the reservoir, which
is given in Eqs. (4) and (5) in terms of pressure-squared and pseudopressure function, respectively:
!


0:703109 kh
P 2 P2
q=
4
r
wf
z T
ln0:472r =r + S + Dq
e W

52

q=

H. Al-Attar, S. Al-Zuhair / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 65 (2009) 5161

0:703109 kh

ln0:472r =r + S + Dq
z T
e W

h  
i
P P :
PP P
r
P wf

Therefore, only ow rates that are stable for a few days with
corresponding stabilized tubing-head owing pressure should be
used in the analysis.

2.2. Proposed methodology

To simplify the calculations, the value of n in Eqs. (1) and (2) was
assumed to be equal to one, which corresponds to laminar ow, where
D = 0. This assumption was found valid in very low permeability gas
reservoirs (k b 0.1 md) (Lee and Wattenbarger, 2004). By comparing

Fig. 1. Flow-sheet of the dry gas calculations.

H. Al-Attar, S. Al-Zuhair / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 65 (2009) 5161

53

Fig. 1 (continued).

Eq. (1) to Eq. (4) and Eq. (2) to Eq. (5), the parameter C may be dened
as follows:
C = a=
z or C = a

where a =

0:703109 kh
:
Tln0:472re =rW + S

6
7

The parameter (a) can be assumed constant over the life of the
reservoir. Certain criteria must be considered to justify this assumption, and in practice the following conditions are usually satised
(Beggs, 1984).

a. Constant permeability to gas, k: the only factor that has an appreciable effect on k is liquid saturation. As pressure declines from
depletion, the remaining gas expands to keep the gas saturation
constant, unless retrograde condensation occurs or water inux is
present. For dry and wet gas reservoirs, the change in k with time
can be considered negligible.
b. Constant formation thickness, h; in most cases this can be considered
constant. A possible exception is if the completion interval is changed
by perforating a longer section. It is likely that the well would be retested at this time.
c. Constant reservoir temperature, T: This will remain constant,
except for possible small changes around the well-bore.

54

H. Al-Attar, S. Al-Zuhair / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 65 (2009) 5161

d. Constant gas viscosity and deviation factor,

and
z : these para
meters are subject to the greatest change as P changes. An approximation of this effect can be made as stated earlier.
e. Constant drainage radius, re: it depends on well spacing and can be
considered constant once stabilized ow is reached.
f. The well-bore radius, rw: it is possible that this parameter changes
by stimulation, but this can be accounted for in the skin factor.
g. The skin factor, S: this can change by fracturing or acidizing a well.
If this occurs, the well should be retested at this time to re-evaluate
both C and n.

In the absence of well and reservoir parameters presented in Eq. (7),

the deliverability coefcient C can be determined from a deliverability
test on initial completion of the well to nd Ci in MMscf/D.psia2, and
may then be substituted into Eq. (6) to give,
Ci = a= i zi or Ci = a

where i and zi are gas viscosity and gas deviation factor, respectively,
determined at initial reservoir pressure. The deliverability coefcient

Fig. 2. Flow-sheet of the wet gas calculations.

H. Al-Attar, S. Al-Zuhair / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 65 (2009) 5161

55

Fig. 2 (continued).
2

at any future stage Cn in MMscf/D.psia , is then determined using

Eq. (9)
Cn = Ci i zi = n zn :

Eq. (9) implies that the value of C at any stage of depletion can be
determined in terms of Ci and the ratio between the product (z) at
initial and any future conditions. This adjustment is only necessary
when the pressure-squared method is applied.
2.3. Proposed procedure for gas well performance history-matching and
future forecasting
The proposed procedure was applied to single-phase ow (dry
gas) and multiple-phases ow (wet gas) in the production tubing. In

dry gas calculations, the average temperature and average gas

deviation factor method (Energy Resources and Conservation Board,
1978) were proposed to predict the bottom-hole owing pressure,
Pwf, from the given values of tubing-head owing pressure, Ptf and
gas ow rate at each specic date. On the other hand, Poettman and
Carpenter method was used in the wet gas calculations (Brown,
1977). The equations of Lee (1965) and Smith et al. (2001) (Eq. (10))
were used to determine the gas viscosity and deviation factor,
respectively.
!
!
z = 1 + 0:083 0:422 PR + 0:012 0:139 0:172 PR :
TR
T1:6
TR4:2 TR
R

10

56

H. Al-Attar, S. Al-Zuhair / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 65 (2009) 5161

Table 1
Well and reservoir data-dry gas wells

Table 5
Results of calculations of average reservoir pressure in Dako 4-history matching

Well
name

Reservoir Productionhistory Span

Total
depth (ft)

Tbf
(F)

h
(ft)

k (md) Area
(acres)

Given data

Dako 1
Dako 2
Dako 3
Dako 4
Dako 5

B
B
B
C
C

7480
6404
6858
4350
6200

175
175
168
135
161

7.1
7.0
6.2
6.5
6.3

181
188
186
186
64

0.0227 117
0.0052 33
0.0453 50
0.0408 38
0.0136 70

Date

05/0407/05
01/0402/06
04/0212/04
01/0209/03
09/0206/04

Calculated data
Pwf

Pp method

Pr
P r/z

P2-method

Pr
P r/z

Gp

qsc

Ptf

(MMscf)

(Mscf /D)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

48
81
103
118
133

317.6
220.5
147.6
103.6
100.0

270.4
211.2
194.0
188.2
192.8

304.3
241.5
220.9
213.7
218.9

666.8
493.2
389.3
332.0
333.0

707.7
514.7
403.0
342.3
343.4

600.5
496.0
417.5
365.7
364.5

634.1
517.6
432.9
377.9
376.6

All wells have the following common properties (Tubing O.D. = 2 3/8; = 0.00076 in;
Ttf = 74 F; rw = 0.26 ft; = 0.70).

Jan-02
Jun-02
Nov-02
Apr-03
Sep-03

Table 2
Results of calculations of average reservoir pressure in Dako 1 history matching

Table 6
Results of calculations of average reservoir pressure in Dako 5-history matching

Given data

Given data

Date
May-04
July-04
Sep-04
Nov-04
Jan-05
Mar-05
May-05
July-05

Calculated data
P2-method

Pr
P r/z

Gp

qsc

Ptf

Pwf

Pp method

Pr
P r/z

(MMscf)

(Mscf /D)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

133.4
263.5
390.3
513.0
629.7
737.3
833.2
923.0

2223.5
2168.8
2112.9
2050.9
1939.9
1792.5
1599.0
1497.3

1003.6
619.1
427.3
280.5
180.5
208.3
211.4
149.2

1297.3
871.6
671.0
536.0
450.1
442.4
413.2
354.0

2312.2
2178.9
2102.4
2039.9
1967.7
1898.9
1803.8
1742.6

2759.0
2533.1
2420.6
2333.1
2236.7
2148.5
2027.2
1949.1

2474.1
2224.7
2115.5
2040.1
1960.0
1881.5
1769.7
1698.2

2983.1
2593.9
2437.9
2333.3
2226.8
2126.4
1984.5
1894.0

Date
Jan-04
Apr-04
Aug-04
Nov-04
Feb-05
May-05
Aug-05
Nov-05
Feb-06

Sep-02
Jan-03
May-03
Sep-03
Jan-04
Jun-04

Gp

qsc

Ptf

Pwf

(MMscf)

(Mscf /D)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

76
149
195
232
262
288

634.61
605.02
384.63
307.59
250.69
214.98

711.1
610.8
478.0
352.8
242.0
161.4

839.6
734.6
571.0
420.7
288.9
193.9

1162.5
1042.4
766.7
577.2
416.5
303.3

1285.5
1136.3
817.3
605.2
430.6
310.5

977.9
883.0
690.9
545.3
425.8
348.4

1069.9
954.0
733.5
570.7
440.5
357.6

Calculated data
P2-method

Pr
P r/z

Gp

qsc

Ptf

Pwf

Pp method

Pr
P r/z

(MMscf)

(Mscf /D)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

943
2147
2952
3594
4122
4530
4934
5229
5486

1048.2
1337.6
894.5
713.3
586.7
452.8
448.9
327.9
285.6

1638
1311
1201.3
409.9
226.5
174.9
94.05
95.15
99.1

2038.3
1657.7
1504.6
517.6
298.1
230.1
145.5
132.6
132.7

2363.8
2073.1
1782.4
1320.2
958.3
739.5
650.6
501.6
454.0

2903.5
2451.7
2062.2
1438.9
1017.7
774.4
676.9
517.2
466.9

2450.0
2239.5
1932.3
1164.1
987.3
856.4
833.7
713.0
666.8

3024.0
2672.8
2253.4
1257.3
1050.3
903.0
876.9
744.4
694.3

Professional Programs, or Commercial software, are available in the

market and can be used for predicting vertical-lift performance and
reservoir performance. However, these sophisticated programs can
provide several options in terms of the calculation techniques, which
would, in most cases, improve the accuracy of the results. The objective
of the present work, however, is to develop a new method for predicting
the average reservoir pressure from eld production data, in a cost-

Fig. 3. Predicted P r Performance; Dako 1.

Table 4
Results of calculations of average reservoir pressure in Dako 3 history matching
Given data
Date
Apr-02
Aug-02
Dec-02
Apr-03
Aug-03
Dec-03
Apr-04
Aug-04
Dec-04

Calculated data
P2-method

Pr
P r/z

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

676.7
786.9
730.3
626.7
539.3
643.5
547.3
485.9

812.9
614.2
659.4
630.9
574.3
525.9
575.2
517.4
487.4

865.7
640.3
690.8
659.5
597.9
545.4
599.9
537.2
504.4

Gp

qsc

Ptf

Pwf

Pp method

Pr
P r/z

(MMscf)

(Mscf /D)

(psi)

(psi)

(psi)

34
61
88
114
136
154
172
188
203

282.6
224.5
230.3
213.8
177.9
153.7
154.2
126.9
126.7

423.5
189.4
264.0
247.1
224.3
194.7
273.8
242.5
195.3

502.4
230.2
318.8
298.2
270.1
234.3
328.8
290.8
234.4

1028.0
647.8
747.1
695.9
601.0
520.2
615.6
526.9
470.0

P2-method

Pr
P r/z

Pp method

Pr
P r/z

effective manner. That is why we developed our own program, which

provides one option for the vertical-lift performance, two options for the
reservoir inow performance and one option for each gas property,
which we found satisfactory for the purpose of this work.

Table 3
Results of calculations of average reservoir pressure in Dako 2 history matching
Given data

Date

Calculated data

Fig. 4. Predicted (P r/z) Performance; Dako 1.

H. Al-Attar, S. Al-Zuhair / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 65 (2009) 5161

57

Fig. 8. Predicted (P r/z) Performance; Dako 3.

Fig. 5. Predicted P r Performance; Dako 2.

The pressure-squared difference and the real gas pseudo-pressure

analyses were both considered in this work. At each given condition,
the specic gravity, , is used to calculate the pseudo-critical pressure,
Ppch, and temperature, Tpch, which are corrected to account for the
contaminations present in the gas. And linear temperature prole is
assumed throughout the length of the tubing, which is divided into
twenty sections. Although the average temperature method adopted in
this study is not as precise as other more rigorous methods available in
the literature such as that of Cullender and Smith (1956), which makes
no simplifying assumptions of either temperature or z-factor in the
wellbore, and thus allowing it to be applicable over a wider range of gas

Fig. 9. Predicted P r Performance; Dako 4.

Fig. 6. Predicted (P r/z) Performance; Dako 2.

Fig. 7. Predicted P r Performance; Dako 3.

well pressures and temperatures. Nevertheless, it was found that the

average temperature method is satisfactory for the well examples
considered in this work for two reasons: (a) the maximum difference
between the observed wellhead and bottom-hole temperatures was
only 100 F (small temperature gradient), and (b) the required accuracy
was achieved by dividing the well-bore into a nite number of
increments (twenty) and successively applying the calculation
procedure to each increment. A value of the pressure at the bottom
of the rst section is rst assumed and the gas deviation factor, z,
viscosity and Reynolds number, NRe, are determined at the average
pressure and temperature of the tube section. Based on Reynolds
number, the friction factor, f, is determined, which is then used to
recalculate the pressure at the bottom of the section and compared to

Fig. 10. Predicted (P r/z) Performance; Dako 4.

58

H. Al-Attar, S. Al-Zuhair / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 65 (2009) 5161

Table 7
Comparison between observed and predicted values of average reservoir pressurehistory matching
Well

Dako 1
Dako 2
Dako 3
Dako 4
Dako 5

Observed

P r (psia)

Date
Recorded

2213.0
2507.6
746.3
665.0
1165.7

16.06.2004
27.01.2004
15.04.2002
03.01.2002
26.09.2002

Predicted P r
(Pp-Method),
(psia)
2202.5
2502.7
745.9
666.8
1162.5

%
Error
0.5
0.2
0.05
+0.3
0.3

Predicted P r
(P2-Method),
(psia)
2310.8
2602.6
732.3
660.5
1187.2

%
Error
+4.4
+3.8
1.9
0.7
+1.86

importantly, the line can be reasonably extended into any future

stage of depletion and the remaining reserves may thus be estimated.

Fig. 11. Predicted P r Performance; Dako 5.

3. Results and discussions

the assumed value. The calculation is repeated using the new
calculated pressure if the difference between the assumed and the
calculated values is larger than 0.01. However, if the two values are
within that tolerance margin, the program proceeds to the second
section assuming the top pressure to be the bottom pressure of the
previous section and the same procedure is repeated. The program
proceeds from one section to the next, until the nal section is reached,
and the bottom-hole owing pressure, Pwf, is determined. A reservoir
pressure, Pr is then assumed and the average pressure between Pr and
Pwf is determined using pressure-squared and the real gas pseudopressure methods. A correlation to describe the relationship between a
given pressure and its corresponding pseudo value was determined
earlier and the equations found are used in this program. The gas
properties (dry or wet) at the average pressures found by both
methods are used to predict new reservoir pressures, Pr, using Eqs. (4)
and (5) respectively. The calculation is repeated using the new calculated
Pr if the difference between the assumed and the calculated
values is larger than 0.01. The details of the proposed procedures for
dry gas and wet gas calculations are presented in the ow sheets
shown in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively. The procedures were repeated at
successive time intervals (e.g., every four months) within the production
history of the well.

At each specic date, the corresponding value of (P r/z) was plotted

against the corresponding value of the cumulative gas production Gp,
determined by Eq. (11):
GP = 0t qdt:

11

A straight line which best ts the plotted data was drawn. This line
would approximate the production history of the well. More

3.1. Dry-gas wells

Five wells from the USA were selected to test the proposed method.
Pertinent data to these wells and their corresponding gas-bearing

formations are listed in Table 1. The results of the predicted P r by the

proposed procedure using the real-gas pseudopressure and the pressuresquared techniques are listed in Tables 26 and shown in Figs. 312.
In all wells, the predicted average reservoir pressures followed a
clear declining trend which is characteristic of volumetric gas reservoirs. Point scatter of Dako 3 results shown in Figs. 7 and 8 may be
attributed to error in historic pressure and ow rate measurements, as
their available data were unreasonably scattered.

On the other hand, the eld measured values of P r were only

available at some indicated dates of production. Therefore, in order to

verify the methods, the predicted values of P r were tted to a curve,

and the value at the indicated date was then determined for each well
and compared to real values available. The results shown in Table 7 for
the ve dry-gas wells, illustrate that both methods, namely the realgas pseudopressure (Pp) and the pressure-square (P2), have accurately
predicted eld measured values of average reservoir pressure, with
maximum per cent error of +4.4%. For the higher-pressure wells,

Dako 1 and Dako 2, and as expected, the predictions of P r using the Ppmethod were more accurate that those predicted by the P2-method.
3.2. Wet-gas wells
Two wells from the Arabian Gulf area with relatively long
production histories were chosen for the purpose of this study. Listed
in Table 8 are the pertinent data to each well and its corresponding gas
reservoir. The average reservoir pressures calculated by the proposed
procedure using the pseudopressure function and the pressuresquared methods are listed in Tables 9 and 10 and plotted in Figs.1316.

The values of the production rates and P r at dates prior to the year
2000 were available for wells, Gulf 1 and 2. However, the
corresponding values of Ptf were only available after the year 2000,
and hence, it was not possible to predict the values of Pr in the missing

Table 8
Well and reservoir data-wet gas wells

Fig. 12. Predicted (P r/z) Performance; Dako 5.

Well
name

Reservoir Production-history
span

Total Depth
(ft)

Tbf
(F)

h
(ft)

k
(md)

Gulf 1
Gulf 2

A
A

8767
8673

250
248

3.2 64
1.1 67

34.5
59.8

2000-2006
2000-2006

All wells have the following common properties:

(Tubing O.D. = 4; = 0.0006; Ttf = 162 F; rw = 0.3 ft; = 0.72; Condensate API
Gravity = 50).

H. Al-Attar, S. Al-Zuhair / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 65 (2009) 5161

59

Table 9

Results of calculations of P r in Gulf 1 including Ptf values (which were missing for the period 19891999), estimated from back extrapolation of observed Ptf values for the period
extending from 2000 to 2006
Given data
Date
1983
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006

qw (Bbls/D)

qg (Mscf/D)

qo (Mscf/D)

P r (observed) (psi)

Pt (psi)

Calculated data

Pwf (psi)
P r (Pp) (psi)

2
P r (P ) (psi)

4160.0
3899.0
3652.3
3399.4
3151.7
2906.5
2714.7
2769.1
2593.6
2412.3
2225.5
2100.9
2171.2

4343.1
4179.8
3914.3
4030.1
3893.6
3470.1
3299.7
3242.9
3381.7
3208.3
3033.9
2947.4
2821.5

4272
4091
17.6
13.4
46.6
86.0
92.8
53.1
50.5
38.5
56.5
48.9
21.8
29.1
31.1

18,416.7
25,945.1
22,055.6
48,148.2
50,775.0
33,731.9
31,358.3
26,033.3
39,786.1
35,692.6
31,722.2
30,257.1
24,021.2

2.34
3.52
5.32
8.65
5.26
5.68
6.66
5.61
8.45
6.16
5.60
4.32
3.55

3227.4
3044.9
2862.5
2680.0
2497.6
2315.1
2170.2
2211.8
2078.7
1940.0
1797.3
1699.8
1753.8

Back extrapolated

3706

3350
3263
2887
2875

4351.8
4193.5
3925.3
4052.7
3909.5
3462.9
3276.7
3224.6
3346.9
3148.8
2944.8
2834.6
2732.0

Table 10

Results of calculations of P r in Gulf 2 including Ptf values (which were missing for the period 19841998), estimated from back extrapolation of observed Ptf values for the period
extending from 2000 to 2006
Given data
Date
1984
1987
1988
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006

qw (Bbls/D)

qg (Mscf/D)

qo (Mscf/D)

Pt (psi)

1.62

18,858.3

4.99

3409.9

13.87
12.34
29.18
59.89
31.94

24,967.9
29,417.1
22,865.2
46,756.4
67,341.7

4.76
5.57
6.09
9.14
6.59

3227.4
3044.9
2862.5
2680.0
2497.6

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
16.64

34,116.7
45,323.3
53,590.0
53,000.0
48,073.3
37,233.3
46,070.0
10,576.7

4.35
7.74
7.92
7.43
5.57
4.15
4.73
1.72

2315.1
2170.21
2211.76
2078.67
1939.97
1797.26
1699.83
1753.84

Back extrapolated

P r (observed) (psi)

Calculated data

Pwf (psi)
P r (Pp) (psi)

2
P r (P ) (psi)

4313
4152
4098

4405.8

4544.7

4506.2

4146.0
3887.7
3638.4
3388.2
3138.1

4345.9
4144.3
3856.0
3875.8
3911.1

4294.5
4084.5
3811.7
3790.2
3798.2

2893.3
2702.4
2756.9
2582.6
2402.3
2218.3
2093.5
2166.8

3326.1
3327.18
3478.01
3354.11
3165.00
2866.93
2951.88
2356.38

3287.5
3289.55
3422.32
3320.68
3165.08
2907.54
3016.77
2384.93

4043

3755
3654
3258
3189

portion of the production history. Figs. 13 and 15 clearly show that the
predicted values of Pr were very close to the real values at the dates
where Pt values were available, which was reected on the low
percentage errors shown in Table 11, with Pp-method showing
superiority to the P2-method. However, the straight lines that pass

by the calculated values of Pr shown in Figs. 13 and 15, deviated

signicantly from the real values at the dates prior to the year 2000. To
overcome this drawback, an attempt was made to back extrapolate the
Ptf values into the missing potion of the production histories of Gulf 1
and Gulf 2, and the values of the Pr were then calculated, in this range,
using the PP and the P2 methods. The results of these attempts are

Fig. 13. Predicted P r Performance; Gulf1.

Fig. 14. Predicted (P r/z) Performance; Gulf2.

60

H. Al-Attar, S. Al-Zuhair / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 65 (2009) 5161

Fig. 15. Predicted Pr Performance; Gulf2.

Fig. 17. Predicted Pr Performance; Gulf 1 with back extrapolated data.

Table 8).On the contrary, these non-Darcy effects are negligible in the
dry-gas wells considered in this study, with gas rates being less than
2.250 MMscf/D and reservoir permeability less than 0.1 md.

The resulting (Pr/z) vs. Gp plots for all wells (Figs. 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14,
and 16) can be utilized in the normal predictive mode to estimate the
original gas in place and/or the remaining gas reserves at any stage of
depletion during the producing life of the well or the reservoir. The
forecasting can be done by simply extrapolating the best-t straight

line that passes through the calculated of (Pr/z) vs. Gp relationship, to

any future time.
4. Conclusions

Fig. 16. Predicted (Pr/z) Performance; Gulf2.

listed in Tables 9 and 10 and shown in Figs. 17 and 18. The best t

straight lines drawn through the predicted values of Pr in Figs. 17 and

18 followed better the given data than those presented in Figs. 13 and
15, for Gulf 1 and Gulf 2, respectively.
Considering the two wet-gas wells, the Pp-method has also shown
superiority to the P2-method, and that both methods have reasonably
matched the pressure history in both wells with maximum per cent
errors of +9.1 and +11.1 for the Pp and P2 methods, respectively (see
Table 11). Both methods, however, over predicted the average
reservoir pressures observed in these two wells, which is indicative
of non-Darcy ow effects. These effects have not been accounted for in
this study (n was assumed equal one). The non-Darcy ow (turbulent
ow) effects in these two wells seem to be signicant considering the
very high gas off take rates (up to 53 MMscf/D per well, see Tables 9
and 10) and the moderate reservoir permeability (around 70 md, see

The proposed approach provides reasonably accurate estimates of

average reservoir pressure using well production history data.
In history matching observed average reservoir pressures, the realgas pseudopressure function has been found superior to the
pressure-squared, specically in wells exhibiting pressures in excess
of 2000 psia.
In gas wells where signicant non-Darcy ow effects are encountered, the inverse slope (exponent) of the back-pressure test, n, must
be considered in all performance calculations. Assuming n equals
one would result in overestimated values of the predicted average
reservoir pressure. It is suggested that a good estimate of n may be
determined from deliverability test on initial completion of the well.
This value of n may be assumed constant throughout the producing
life of the well.

Table 11
Comparison between observed and predicted values of average reservoir pressurehistory matching
Well

Year

Observed

P r (psia)

Predicted P r (Ppmethod), (psia)

% Error

Predicted P r (P2method), (psia)

%
Error

Gulf 1

2001
2002
2003
2004
2000
2002

3350
3263
2887
2875
3258
3189

3407.2
3346.9
3148.8
2944.8
3327.2
3354.1

+ 1.7
+ 2.6
+ 9.1
+ 2.4
+ 2.2
+ 5.2

3456.7
3381.7
3208.3
3033.9
3289.6
3320.7

+3.2
+3.6
+11.1
+5.5
+1.0
+4.1

Gulf 2

Fig. 18. Predicted P r Performance; Gulf 2 with back extrapolated data.

H. Al-Attar, S. Al-Zuhair / Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 65 (2009) 5161

Assuming volumetric gas reservoir, the predicted values of average

reservoir pressure by the present method can be utilized in the

conventional (P r/z) vs. Gp plot and/or the Havlena and Odeh

interpretation technique, to forecast the future performance of the
reservoir.
It is recommended that the present method should be further
investigated using more eld data in order to verify its accuracy and
limitations.
Nomenclature
a
constant dened in Eq. (7) MMscf/D/psia2
A
sum of mole fractions of H2S and CO2 dimensionless
B
mole fraction of H2S dimensionless
Bo
oil formation volume factor Res.Bbl/STB
Bw
water formation volume factor Res.Bbl/STB
C
stabilized performance coefcient MMscf/D/psia2n or
MMscf/D/(psia2/cp)n
d
tubing diameter in
D
non-Darcy ow coefcient
D/MMscf
F
parameter used in Bo calculations dimensionless
f
friction factor dimensionless
Gp
cumulative gas production MMscf
h
formation thickness ft
k
formation permeability md
L
tubing length ft
Ls
tubing section length ft
M
molecular weight of the gas Dalton
Mair
molecular weight of air Dalton
n
inverse slope of deliverability curve dimensionless
NRe
Reynolds number dimensionless
Pwf
bottom-hole owing pressure
psia
Pp
real-gas pseudo pressure dened in Eq.
(3) psia2/cp
Ppch
pseudo-critical pressure of hydrocarbons
psia
Ppch

corrected pseudo-critical pressure of hydrocarbons

psia

Pr
average reservoir pressure psia
PR
reduced pressure dimensionless
Ptf
tubing-head owing pressure
psia
qg
gas ow rate MMscf/D
qo
oil ow rate STB/D
qw
water ow rate Bbls/D
rw
wellbore radius ft
re
well drainage area radius ft
Rs
Solution gas-oil ratio
Scf/STB
S
true skin factor dimensionless
Tbf
bottom-hole owing temperature F
Tpch
pseudo-critical temperature of hydrocarbons F
Tpch

pseudo-critical temperature of hydrocarbons F

TR
reduced temperature dimensionless
Ttf
tubing-head owing temperature F

T
wg
wL
wt

Greek

61

average temperature F
weight of gas lbm
weight of liquid lbm
total weight lbm
average gas deviation factor dimensionless

letter
tubing roughness in
gas specic gravity (air = 1.0) dimensionless
oil specic gravity (water = 1.0) dimensionless
average gas viscosity cp
density lbm/ft3
total density lbm/ft3
contamination correction factor F

Subscripts
i
initial conditions
n
any stage of depletion during the producing life of a reservoir
or a well (time step)
References
Al-Hussainy, R., Ramey Jr., H.J., Crawford, P.B., 1966. The ow of real gases through
porous media. JPT Trans. AIME 237, 624636.
Beggs, H.D., 1984. Gas Production Operations. OGCI Publications, Tulsa, OK.
Brown, K.E., 1977. The Technology of Articial Lift Methods, vol. 1. Penn-Well Publishing
Co., Tulsa, OK.
Corbett, T.G., Wattenbarger, M.A., 1985. An analysis of and correction method for gas
deliverability curves. Paper SPE 14208, presented at the 60th Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition of the SPE held in Las Vegas, NV.
Cullender, M.H., Smith, R.V., 1956. Practical solution of gas-ow equation or wells and
pipelines with large temperature gradients. Trans. AIME 207.
Energy Resourses and Conservation Board-Calgary, 1978. Theory and Practice of the
Testing of Gas Wells, 3rd edition.
Lee, A.L., 1965. Viscosity of light hydrocarbons. American Petroleum Institute
Monograph on API Research Project, p. 65.
Lee, J., Wattenbarger, R.A., 2004. Gas Reservoir Engineering. SPE Textbook Series, vol. 5.
3rd Printing.
Rawlins, E.L., Schellhardt, M.A., 1935. Back Pressure Data on Natural Gas Wells and Their
Applications to Production Practices. Monograph, vol. 7. USBM: 1-25.
Smith, J.M., Van Ness, H.C., Abbott, M.M., 2001. Introduction to Chemical Engineering
Thermodynamics, 6th edition. McGraw Hill.

SI metric conversion factors

ft

x 0.3048 = m

ft3

x 0.02831685 = m3

psi

x 6.894757 = kPa

psi2

x 47538 = kPa2

(F-32)/1.8 = C

bbl

x 0.1589873 = m3

cp

x 10 3 = Pa s

acres

x 4047 = m2

md

x 9.869 10 16 = m2