Analytical Rate-Transient Analysis and Production Performance of Waterflooded Fields with Delayed Injection Support

Abstract

Summary An approach to the analysis of production data from waterflooded oil fields is proposed in this paper. The method builds on the established techniques of rate-transient analysis (RTA) and extends the analysis period to include the transient- and steady-state effects caused by a water-injection well. This includes the initial rate transient during primary production, the depletion period of boundary-dominated flow (BDF), a transient period after injection starts and diffuses across the reservoir, and the steady-state production that follows. RTA will be applied to immiscible displacement using a graph that can be used to ascertain reservoir properties and evaluate performance aspects of the waterflood. The developed solutions can also be used for accurate and rapid forecasting of all production transience and boundary-dominated behavior at all stages of field life. Rigorous solutions are derived for the transient unit mobility displacement of a reservoir fluid, and for both constant-rate-injection and constant-pressure-injection after a period of reservoir depletion. A simple treatment of two-phase flow is given to extend this to the water/oil-displacement problem. The solutions are analytical and are validated using reservoir simulation and applied to field cases. Individual wells or total fields can be studied with this technique; several examples of both will be given. Practical cases are given for use of the new theory. The equations can be applied to production-data interpretation, production forecasting, injection-water allocation, and for the diagnosis of waterflood-performanceproblems.