SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering
Volume 13, Number 2, April 2010, pp. 341-358

Summary

Pressure-transient responses of wells in heterogeneous reservoir are usually computed with numerical models by using fine gridding and very short time steps. Exceptions to this practice have been the use of analytical, semi-analytical, and boundary-element methods for relatively simpler forms of heterogeneity, such as layering or the existence of natural fractures.

This paper presents a semi-analytical approach to compute pressure transients for more complex forms of heterogeneity including composite, layered, and compartmentalized reservoirs. In this approach, reservoir is divided into blocks corresponding to locally homogeneous substructures and analytical pressure-transient solutions for adjacent blocks are coupled at the boundaries. This approach is consistent with the averaging effect of pressure transients and provides an alternative to full numerical modeling of pressure-transient responses in heterogeneous formations. The validation of the approach is demonstrated by comparison to the analytical solution for horizontal wells in homogeneous reservoir. Application examples highlight the physical consistency of the approach and demonstrate its capability to model different types of reservoir heterogeneity.

© 2010. Society of Petroleum Engineers

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History

• Original manuscript received: 12 July 2006
• Meeting paper published: 25 September 2006
• Revised manuscript received: 8 September 2009
• Manuscript approved: 23 September 2009
• Published online: 19 April 2010
• Version of record: 20 April 2010