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FetkovichTypecurveAnalysisTheory

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FetkovichTypecurveAnalysisTheory
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Fetkovichrecognizedthatdeclinecurveanalysiswasonlyapplicableduringthedepletionperiod(ie.whenproduction
isinboundarydominatedflow),andthustheearlyproductionlifeofawell(ie.whenproductionisintransientflow)
wasnotanalyzablebytheconventionaldeclinecurvemethods.Fetkovichusedanalyticalflowequationstogenerate
typecurvesfortransientflow,whichhecombinedwiththeempiricaldeclinecurveequationsoriginallydocumentedby
J.J.Arps.(Formoreinformation,seeTraditionalDeclineAnalysisTheory.)Indoingso,Fetkovichpresentedanewset
oftypecurvesthatextendedtheArpstypecurvesintothetransientflowregion.

TypecurveDerivation
TheFetkovichtypecurvegraphconsistsofthefollowingtwosectionswhichhavebeenblendedtobecontinuousand
therebyencompasstheentireproductionlife,fromtransienttoboundarydominatedflow:
Earlytimecurves(lefthandside)
Latetimecurves(righthandside)
Theearlytimeportionisderivedfromtransientflowequationswhichcomefromthefieldofwelltestanalysis,
whereasthelatetimeportionconsistssimplyoftheArpstypecurve.Thecommonlinkbetweenthetwosectionsis
theexponentialdeclinecurve.Itisthelimitingbehaviourofallthetransientcurveswhentheyreachboundary
dominatedflow.ItisalsothefirstcurveintheArpsfamilyofhyperbolicdeclinecurves(b=0).

EarlyTimeCurves
ThereservoirthatFetkovichconsideredindevelopingthetransientflowequationswasthatofaclosedcircular
reservoirwithawellatthecenter,producingataconstantsandfaceflowingpressure.Themathematicalmodelhas
thesamestandardassumptionsasthoseusedwhendescribingreservoirsinthefieldofwelltesting:
Homogeneousreservoir
Constantthickness
Singlephasefluidofconstantandsmallcompressibility
Noflowouterboundary
Constantflowingpressureatthewellbore
TheproblemwasoriginallysolvedbyVanEverdingenandHurst(1949).
Thetransientportionoftheflowrateequationscanberepresentedbynumericalcurvefitequations(Edwardsonetal.,
1961).Thesearegivenby:

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Note:Thesedefinitionsofdimensionlesstime(tD)anddimensionlessrate(qD)arebasedonwelltest
applications.Forthedefinitionsofthesevariablesastheyapplytodeclinecurveanalysis,seeLate
TimeCurves.
Fetkovichmodifiedthedefinitionsofdimensionlessrateandtimeasfollows:

Theearlytimebehaviourofthesolutiontothereservoirproblem(transientflow)isthebasisoftransientwelltest
analysis,andrepresentstheconditionwhenthereservoirisinfiniteactingwhentheboundaryhasnotbeenfelt.
Obviouslytransientflowis,bydefinition,independentofreservoirsizeandthiswouldbeclearlyevidentiftheflow
ratewereplottedasdimensionlessratevs.dimensionlesstime.Asseenbelow,allreservoirswouldfollowthesame
curveatearlytimeandwouldonlydeviateatlatertimes,whenthereservoirboundaryisfelt.Asthereservoirsize
increases,transientflowlastslonger,andthedeviationtoboundarydominatedflowoccurslater.

Ifthesamecurveswerereplottedondifferentaxes,theshapeswouldvarysignificantly.Aparticularlyusefulformat
istoplotdimensionlessdeclinetime(tDd)onthexaxis,anddimensionlessdeclinerate(qDd)ontheyaxis(seethe
subsectionLateTimeCurvesfordefinitionsofdimensionlessdeclinerateandtime).Thismergesallofthelatetime
branchesintoasinglecurve,becausethevariabledimensionlessreservoirsize(re/rw)isnowincorporatedintothe
axes.Asaresulthowever,thetransientdata,insteadofformingasingleline,nowbecomesafamilyoflines,with
dimensionlessreservoirsizeasavariableasseenbelow:(Notethatthisfigurerepresentstheearlytimeportionofthe
collectiveFetkovichtypecurves.)
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Theabovefigureshowsthatforallsizesofreservoirs,whentransientflowends,theboundarydominatedflowcanbe
representedbyanexponentialdecline.Awellproducingatconstantpressurewillfollowoneofthesecurves.One
reasonforthesuccessofFetkovichtypecurvesisthatmostoilwellsareproducedatwideopenconditions(ie.atthe
lowestpossibleconstantpressure).Inaddition,theaboveearlytimeplotgivestheimpressionthatbymatchingthe
earlytimedataononeofthesecurves,itispossibletoidentifythedimensionlessreservoirsize.Henceby
implication,ifthewellboreradiuswereknown,thereservoirsizecouldbedetermined.Howeverthisisafalse
impressionwhichoccursbecauseoftheaxesusedforplotting.Keepinmindatalltimes,thattheearlytimecurves
representtransientflow,andbydefinition,thereservoirsizecannotbedeterminedfromthisdataalone.Iftheonly
dataavailablewereintheearlytimeregime,auniquematchcouldnotbeobtained.Whatappearsasapossiblematch
ononedimensionlessreservoirsizecurvewillalsomatchanotherdimensionlessreservoirsizecurveatadifferent
location(notethatthecurvesextendtoearliertimes).Anexampleofanonuniquematchoftransientdataisshown
below.

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Itisonlywhentheproductiondataextendsintotheboundarydominatedflowregionthatthedifferentdimensionless
reservoirsizebranchescanbeusedtodeterminetheactualreservoirsize.Matchingofthedatatothetypecurves
becomesmuchmoreunique.Matchingofthelatetimedatagivesanindicationofthereserves,whichinturnisa
directfunctionofthereservoirsize.Withtheknowledgeofreservoirsizeandthematchofthetransientdata,the
dimensionlessreservoirsizeparametercanthenbeusedtocalculatetheeffectivewellboreradius(rwe),fromwhich
theskinfactor(s)canbeobtainedusingthefollowingequation:

LateTimeCurves
Theboundarydominatedequations,whichareusedwhendimensionlessdeclinetimeexceeds0.3,areobtainedfrom
theArpsdeclineequations.ThedimensionlessquantitiesusedintheArpsdimensionlessdeclinecurvearedefined
differentlyfromthoseusedinthewelltestliterature.Thissectionwillrelatethetwosetsofdimensionlessdefinitions.
Inthewelltestingdomain,dimensionlessrateanddimensionlesstimearedefinedasfollows:

and:

FetkovichusedvanEverdingenandHurstssolution(1949)toshowthatduringboundarydominatedflow(i.e.when
thereservoirboundaryhasbeenfeltandthereservoirisindepletion),thedimensionlessflowratecanbeexpressed
asanexponentialfunctionofdimensionlesstimeanddimensionlessreservoirsize.Thisequationcanbewrittenin
termsoftheArpsdimensionlessexponentialdeclineequation,whichisdefinedasfollows:

where:

and:

Usingthedefinitionsofdimensionlessdeclinerateanddimensionlessdeclinetimeincombinationwiththeexponential
declineequation,itcanbeshownthattheexponentialdeclinerate(a)isgivenby:
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Thus,FetkovichhasdemonstratedthatArpsempiricalexponentialdeclinecurvehasasolidtheoreticalbasis,asthe
latetimesolutiontothe"constantwellboreflowingpressure"case.Fromtheaboveequations,thedeclinecoefficient
(a)isseentobeafunctionofrockandfluidpropertiesaswellasdrainagesize,andisindependentofthewellbore
flowingpressure(forslightlycompressiblefluids).
Theconstantqiforuseintheexponentialdeclineequationatt=0,(qDd=1)canbecalculatedfrom:

Ifthehyperbolicdeclineequation:

ispresentedingraphicalformitcanbeseentoencompassthewholerangeofconditionsfromexponentialdecline(b
=0)toharmonicdecline(b=1),whereeachvalueofinitialrate(qi),initialnominaldeclinerate(ai),anddecline
exponent(b)willproduceitsownuniquecurve.Fetkovichgeneralizedthesecurvesbymakingtheequation
dimensionless.
Hedefinedadimensionlessdeclinerateas:

andadimensionlessdeclinetimeas:

Theresultingdimensionlessequationis:

Ifthisequationisplottedusingdimensionlessdeclinetimeandrateastheaxes,auniquesetofcurvesisobtained
thatrepresentsalldeclineconditionsforallwells.Noticethattheobtainedcurvesareindependentofinitialnominal
declinerateandinitialflowratewhenplottedonthesedimensionlesscoordinates.

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Whenthesedimensionlesscurvesareplottedonloglogscalesasshownbelow,theyarecalledtypecurves,andcan
beusedforgraphicalanalysisofactualproductiondata.(Notethatthesetypecurvesrepresentthelatetimeportionof
thecollectiveFetkovichtypecurves.)

Typecurvescanbeusedforgraphicalinterpretationofawellsproductiondecline.Theproductionrateofthewellis
plottedontransparentgraphpaperofthesamescaleasthetypecurve,andoverlainonthetypecurve(keepingthe
axesparallel).Thedataplotismovedoverthetypecurvesuntilthebestfittingcurveisdetermined.Thisgivesthe
valueofthedeclineexponent.Thevaluesofinitialflowrateandinitialnominaldeclineratearedeterminedbyselecting
anypointonthedataplotandthecorrespondingpointonthetypecurve.Thevalueofinitialflowrateisobtainedby
dividingthe"matchpoint"valuesoffthedataplotandthetypecurve,qi=(qt/qDd)match.Thevalueofinitialnominal
declinerateisobtainedbydividingthe"matchpoint"valuesoffthetypecurveandthedataplot,ai=(tDd/t)match.
Theproductionforecastisobtainedbytracingthematchedcurveontothedataplotandextrapolating.
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FetkovichTypecurvesCombinedEarlyandLateTimePortions
CombiningtheFetkovichtransientcurves(earlytimeportion)withtheArpsdeclinecurves(latetimeportion),and
blendingthemwherethetwosetsofcurvesmeetresultsintheFetkovichdeclinetypecurves,shownbelow.

FromtheFetkovichtypecurveplotitisevidentthatthetransitionfromtransienttodepletionbehaviouroccursata
dimensionlesstimeof0.1.Untilthedimensionlesstimeexceeds0.1,itisimpossibletoknowthetypeofdeclinethat
ultimatelydevelops.
Fetkovichnotedthatsometimesthehyperbolicdeclinecoefficientb,asdeterminedusingtheArpsdeclinecurves,
waslargerthan1(itisnormallyexpectedtobebetween0and1).Theexplanationthathepostulatedforthiswasthat
thedatabeinganalyzedwasstillinthetransientregime,andhadnotreachedtheboundarydominatedregime.Ifdata
stillinthetransientflowregimeisforcedtomatchahyperbolicdecline,thenbvalueslargerthan1willresult.

TypecurveCalculations
Typecurvecalculationsaredescribedbelow.

RateTimeTypecurves
Theactualratetimedataareplottedonaloglogscaleofthesamesizeasthetypecurves.Thisplotiscalledthe
"dataplot".Anyconvenientunitscanbeusedforrateortimebecauseachangeinunitssimplycausesauniformshift
oftherawdataonalogarithmicscale.Itisrecommendedthatdailyoperatedratesbeplotted,andnotthemonthly
ratesespeciallywhentransientdataareanalyzed.However,forverynoisyandcyclicdata,Fetkovichsuggests6
monthaveragingofthedata.Inaddition,aloglogplotofthecumulativeproductiondatavs.time,ifmatched
simultaneouslywiththeratedata,shouldhelpinachievingamoreuniquematchofthedatawiththetypecurves.

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Thedataplotismovedoverthetypecurveplot,whiletheaxesofthetwoplotsarekeptparallel,untilagoodmatchis
obtained.Therateandthecumulativedatashouldbothfitthesamecorrespondingtypecurve.Severaldifferent
typecurvesshouldbetriedtoobtainthebestfitofallthedata.Thetypecurvethatbestfitsthedataisselectedandits
"re/rwa"and"b"valesarenoted.
Tomakeaforecast,theselectedtypecurveistracedontothedataplot,andextrapolatedbeyondthelastdatapoints.
Thefuturerateisthenreadfromthedataplotoffthetracedtypecurve.
Typecurveanalysisisdonebyselectingamatchpointandreadingitscoordinatesoffthedataplot(qandt)match,and
offthetypecurveplot(qDdandtDd)match.Atthesametimethestemvalues("re/rwa"and"b")ofthematchingcurve
arenoted.
Fromtherighthandsetoftypecurves,thefollowingdeclinecurveparameterscanbeobtained:

Thesubscript'fdenotesconditionsatthebeginningoftheforecastperiod.
Withthese,wecannowcalculatetheexpectedultimaterecovery.

Exponential

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Hyperbolic

Harmonic

Now,wecanestimatefluidinplaceanddrainagearea.

Oil

Gas

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Fromthelefthandsetoftypecurves,thereservoirparameterscanbeobtainedifinitialreservoirpressure,wellbore
flowingpressure,netpay,totalcompressibility,andwellboreradiusareknown.

Permeabilityisobtainedbyrearrangingthedefinitionofdimensionlessdeclinerate:

Permeabilitycanbealsoobtainedbyrearrangingthedefinitionofdimensionlessdeclinerateasfollows:

Solveforapparentwellboreradiusfromthedefinitionofdimensionlessdeclinetime:

Skinfactoriscalculatedasfollows:

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CumulativeTimeTypecurves
Productiondataisoftenquitenoisy,andthusdifficulttoanalyze.Toreducetheeffectofthisnoise,thecumulative
productioncanbeused.Itisasmoothercurvethanproductiondataandcanmaketheanalysismorereliable.Fraim
andLeedevelopedcumulativetypecurvesofdimensionlesscumulativedeclineproduction(QDd)vs.dimensionless
declinetime(tDd)wherethedimensionlesscumulativedeclineproductionisdefinedastheratioofcumulative
productiontotheultimatemovablefluid.

Oil

Gas

where(oilandgas):

FromtheFetkovichtypecurves,theratecanbeintegratedtodeterminethecumulativeproduction,andplottedin
typecurveformat.

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Cumulativegraphsshowthat,atdimensionlessdeclinetime(tDd)=100,harmonicdeclineleadstofivetimesmore
cumulativeproductionascomparedtoexponentialdecline.
Theauthorsindicatedthatthedimensionlessdeclinetimefunctionusedforthecumulativeplotsabovehas3/4inthe
denominator,whereasintheFetkovichtypecurves,thedimensionlessdeclinetimefunctionhas1/2inthe
denominator.Thefactor3/4appearsintheinflowequationwhenthedrawdownisreferencedtotheaveragereservoir
pressure,andthefactor1/2appearswhenthereferenceistheinitialpressureatreservoirradius(re).Fetkovichtried
using1/2,5/8,and3/4andfoundthatusing1/2reducedthediscontinuitybetweenthetransientstemsandthe
hyperbolicstems.

TypecurveEquations
Typecurveequationsaredescribedbelow.

CumulativeTypecurves
FraimandLee(1987),andSpiveyetal.(1992)providedetailedequationsforgeneratingthetransientandthe
boundarydominatedstemsofthecumulativeproductiontypecurves.Transientflowrateandcumulativeproductionare
reportedasfunctionsoftimebyEdwardsonetal.(1961).Thecumulativevaluesaregivenby:

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Thewelltestbaseddimensionlesscumulativeproduction(QD)anddimensionlesstime(tD)areconvertedtodecline
baseddimensionlesscumulativeproduction(QDd)anddeclinebaseddimensionlesstime(tDd)by:

ThetransitionfromtransientequationstoboundarydominatedflowequationsforcumulativeproductionoccursattDd
=0.6.
Boundarydominatedflowisobtainedfromthefollowingequations:

Exponential

Hyperbolic

Harmonic

Cumulative/DerivativeTypecurves
Spiveyetal.showedthattypecurvesofcumulativeproductioncanbecombinedwiththeir(semilog)derivativetogive
asetoftypecurvesthatusesonlycumulativeproductiondataandnotrate.Becausecumulativeproductiontendsto
bemuchsmootherthantheoriginalratedata,theseplotstendtohavelessscatterthanthetraditionalFetkovich
typecurves.Thederivativetypecurvesareobtainedfrom:

Thiscanbeshowntobemathematicallyequivalentto:

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and,indimensionlessform:

Simplymultiplyingtheratebytimegivesthesemilogderivativeofcumulativeproduction.Thetypecurveplotof
cumulativeproductionanditsderivativeareshowninthefollowingplot.

RateIntegralTypecurves
Blasingameetal.(1989)introducedtheconceptofintegraltypecurvesinthefieldofwelltesting.Spiveyetal.(1992)
extendedtheconcepttodeclinecurveanalysis,andtheystatethatasproductiondataisusuallyverynoisy,plottinga
rateintegralorcumulativeproductionshouldreducethenoiseandmakethedatamuchmoreanalyzable.Therate
integralisrelatedtothecumulativeproduction,andisdefinedas:

and,indimensionlessform:

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Therateintegralisobtainedbydividingthecumulativeproductionbythetimeofflow,asseenintheequationsabove.
Thedirectphysicalinterpretationoftherateintegralistheaverageproductionrate,fromthebeginningofproductionto
thecurrenttime.Therelationshipbetweenrateandrateintegralisshowninthefollowingdiagram:

Itisseenabovethattherateandtherateintegralhaveverysimilarcharacteristics.Theadvantageoftherateintegral
isthatittendstobesmootherandlessnoisythantheratedata.Thisisconsistentwiththefactthattherateintegral
isessentiallyatimedependentaveragerate,andlikeallaveraging,islessnoisythantheoriginaldata.

MatchingEquations(VariableFlowingPressure)
Matchingequationsaredescribedbelow.

Oil
TheFetkovichtypecurvematchingequationscanbeextendedforusewithproductionatvariableflowingpressure.
Insteadofsimplyplottingproductionrate,normalizedrate(q/p)isplotted.
Permeabilityisobtainedbyrearrangingthedefinitionofdimensionlessdeclinerate:

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whereq/pandqDdarereadofftherawdataandtypecurvegraphsataselectedmatchpoint.
Solveforapparentwellboreradiusfromthedefinitionofdimensionlessdeclinetime:

Finally,skinfactorcanbecalculatedasfollows:

Forexponential,hyperbolicandharmonic,expectedultimaterecoveryiscalculatedasfollows:

Exponential

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Itisassumedthattheflowingpressureisconstantduringtheforecastperiod,andthisconstantflowingpressure
(pwf)forecastshouldbeenteredforanalysis.

Hyperbolic

Harmonic

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Gas
Permeabilityisobtainedbyrearrangingthedefinitionofdimensionlessdeclinerate:

Whereq/ppandqDdarereadofftherawdataandtypecurvegraphsataselectedmatchpoint.
Solveforapparentwellboreradiusfromthedefinitionofdimensionlessdeclinetime:

Finally,skinfactorcanbecalculatedasfollows:

Forexponential,hyperbolicandharmonic,expectedultimaterecoveryiscalculatedasfollows:

Exponential

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Itisassumedthattheflowingpressureisconstantduringtheforecastperiod,andthisconstantflowingpressure
(pwf)forecastshouldbeenteredforanalysis.

Hyperbolic

Harmonic

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MatchingEquations(NormalizedData)
Inthisanalysis,normalizedrateandnormalizedcumulativeproductionareusedforanalysisinsteadofrateand
cumulativeproduction.ThesametypecurvesareusedforanalysisasforFetkovichanalysisbuttheequationsto
calculatereservoirparametersandreservesareslightlydifferent.
Normalizedrateandnormalizedcumulativeproductionaredefinedasfollows:

NormalizedRate:Oil

NormalizedRate:Gas

NormalizedCumulativeProduction:Oil
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NormalizedCumulativeProduction:Gas

Copyright2014IHSInc.

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