Gas Well Testing in a Fractured Carbonate Reservoir
Authors: Adams A.R. , Ramey H.J. , Burgess R.J. 
Published: December 2007

During interpretation of pressure buildup tests on gas wells in a tight dolomite gas reservoir, peculiar behavior was noticed. Two straight lines were apparent.

Effective permeability to gas taken from either straight line was about the same, and the Miller-Dyes-Hutchinson dimensionless time check for the straight line was proper for both straight lines. Geological data indicated the likelihood of scattered trending fractures in the reservoirs. Since the first straight line yielded permeability values close to the geometric mean permeability from core analyses, it was postulated that the reservoir model was that of an acidized well completed in the tight dolomite, but that widely scattered hairline fractures caused the mean permeability of the reservoir distant from the well to be higher than the matrix permeability. Because all other studies of fractured reservoirs to the authors' knowledge assumed that the fracture matrix was dense enough to communicate directly with the well, no interpretative methods were available. The Hurst line-source solution for a radial change in permeability for interference between oil reservoirs was adapted to pressure buildup testing. The result indicated that the first straight line should yield the proper matrix permeability and wellbore skin effect. The second straight line may be extrapolated to obtain static pressure.

The time of bend between the straight lines was used to estimate distance to a fracture. Application to field test data is shown. It is believed that the methods developed and the case history presented will add to present tools available for pressure buildup interpretation.

Introduction

Since the pioneer studies by Miller, Dyes, and Hutchinson and Horner in 1950 and 1951, well test analysis has become recognized as one of the most powerful tools available to both production and reservoir engineers. Well test analysis serves as a logical basis for well stimulation and completion analysis, and for long-term reservoir engineering. Since the early 1950's, much effort has been placed on the development of well-test analytical methods. Reservoir and well conditions of increasing complexity have been considered systematically to provide the analyst with a catalog of causes and effects. Matthews and Russell state that some 200 papers dealing with this subject have been published in the last 35 years.

Developments in well test analysis appear to have originated in one of two ways. Either a physically realistic field condition was anticipated and analytical solutions for the condition achieved, or anomalous field test behavior was recognized and interpretative methods sought for the anomaly. In recent years, it has appeared that the latter has inspired an increasing number of studies.

The analyst today finds an increasing number of known cause and effect studies available for well test analysis, the classic of which is that of finding the specific flow problem that generated the answer the well behavior. Although it may be impossible to achieve this goal uniquely, the analyst often is able to select a useful interpretation that combines all known performance and geologic dataor to show that various logical alternatives would not significantly affect the interpretation.

During a recent reservoir study, we observed gas well test behavior that did not appear to fit behavior described previously. Although it cannot be said that we have found a unique interpretation, we shall present in this paper the peculiar behavior observed, and describe the reservoir and interpretative methods developed.

Reservoir Description

The subject gas reservoir is a 9-mile-long, narrow dolomite reservoir lying within a limestone of Ordovician age. (See Fig. 1.) The dolomitized rock in the field consists of dark brown to buff, dense to coarsely crystalline, vugular dolomite containing numerous hairline fractures, many of which may have been closed in the reservoir and parted when cores were brought to the surface. Larger fractures are also apparent in core, but usually are filled and sealed with euhedral dolomite crystals.

Portions of the north flank of the reservoir are known to be cut by a sealing fault downthrown to the north. Gas wells located near the fault have higher open flow potentials than those more distant from the fault. This is believed to be a result of higher permeability near the fault due to more extensive and open fractures.

Detailed coring and core analysis have been performed on several of the wells in this reservoir.