Pressure Drop in a Composite Reservoir
Authors: Loucks T.L. , Guerrero E.T. 
Published: December 2007

Pressure drop characteristics in a system composed of two adjacent concentric regions of different permeability were studied. The differential equations for continuity of mass flow in the two regions were solved using the Laplace transformation and the necessary boundary conditions to give the pressure distribution in the composite reservoir. The resulting equation for pressure drop at the inner boundary was evaluated for a variety of composite reservoirs and compared with the results for a uniform reservoir. From this study it was found that under certain conditions the permeability in both zones, as well as the size of the inner zone, can be determined from the pressure drop curve.

Introduction

The theory for the pressure distribution and pressure build-up behavior of a well producing a single, slightly compressible fluid from infinite and finite homogeneous reservoirs was presented by Horner and Miller, Dyes and Hutchinson. Extensions on this original work to provide improved and extended interpretations and better agreement between theory and observed results have been made by Matthews, et al, van Everdingen, Gladfelter, et al, Stegemeier and Matthews, Hurst and Guerrero, and Perrine. More recently Lefkovits, et al, studied pressure build-up behavior in bounded reservoirs composed of stratified layers. Houpeurt has suggested various approaches to the general problem of variable permeability and porosity but presented no analytic solutions for particular permeability variations. Albert, Jaisson and Marion studied the finite composite reservoir and presented numerical solutions to the unsteady-state case and an analytical solution valid only for large times. They also studied the so-called pseudosteady state for several examples of radial permeability variations. Very similar examples have been treated in the unsteady state with application to pressure build-up by Loucks in an unpublished manuscript. More recently Hurst has presented the complete point-sink solution (valid for all times) for the infinite composite reservoir. He applied these solutions to interference between oil fields along with an even more elegant application of his explicit solution to the material-balance equation including water influx. Mortada approaches the same application by avoiding the point-source limitation but gives the solution for the aquifer region which is valid only for large times. Hopkinson, Natanson and Temple have treated both the finite and infinite composite reservoir obtaining the pressure distribution for the inner zone valid for large times. This paper presents a theoretical study of the pressure distribution in an infinite composite reservoir composed of two adjacent concentric regions of different permeability. The object was to determine the manner in which pressure drop at the inner boundary of a composite reservoir depends upon time, the permeability of each zone and the size of the inner zone. Expressions for the pressure distribution in both zones are developed which take into account the radius of the sink and are valid for small times as well as large times. It was felt that an understanding of the pressure drop behavior in various composite reservoirs would be of assistance in the interpretation of some pressure build-up curves which do not behave according to the theory derived for uniform systems. Often the region surrounding the wellbore is either more permeable or less permeable than the reservoir because of the various drilling and completion practices. The effects of reduced permeability due to drilling- fluid invasion and of increased permeability due to fracturing or acidizing need to be more carefully defined. Therefore, an equation for the pressure drop in a composite reservoir was developed, and the effects of both the permeability in each zone and the size of the inner zone were studied.