Reservoir Reserve Tests

l. G. JONES SOCONY MOBIL OIL CO., INC.

JUNIOR MEMBER AIME DALLAS, TEX.

ABSTRACT
The objective of this paper is to present a better method
tor determining reservoir reserves of gas from extended
drawdown test data. Means are proposed for conducting
the test with or without the requirement of prior build-up
to a static reservoir pressure.
The test is based upon solutions to unsteady-state gas
flow developed in an earlier paper and is believed to be
superior to previous methods for determining reserves
from flow-test data. The limitations of such tests are dis-
cussed, with emphasis on the subject of test duration.
The test can supply useful information if the mechanics
and limitations of it are understood. This type of infor-
mation can be particularly valuable in deciding whether or
not to drill offsets to producing wells.
affect the test results in any way. No attempt has been
made to estimate the effects of water drive, faults, or
other departures from an idealized and isolated reservoir.
For a qualitative discussion of some of these effects, the
reader is referred to a paper by Jones.'
THEORY
POST EARLY TRANSIENT PERIOD
An equation relating well pressure and cumulative pro-
duction for stabilized gas wells flowing at a constant rate
was developed in Ref. 4, This equation is
In C = _1_ [(Pw - G D)' - PWD'] - In r,D' (1)
WDz aVg
where W D = dimensionless flow rate,
Zavg = average compressibility factor,

G D = dimensionless cumulative production,

INTRODUCTION
Pw = dimensionless initial pressure = p,jp, = 1,
In the life of any gas or oil field, the engineer in charge PwD = dimensionless well pressure = Pw/p"
must decide if certain wells need stimulation and whether r ,D = dimensionless outer drainage radius = r ,/r w,
or not to drill more wells in the field. Well production
C = correlation constant,
tests can aid in making these decisions. For instance, the
value of stimulation can be estimated by determining for- p, = initial reservoir pressure,
mation permeability and the amount of well damage from Pw = well pressure,
drawdown or build-up tests. These tests are freely used r. = outer drainage radius of a well, and
in the oil industry. A less well-known type of analysis uses r w = well radius.
data from extended drawdown tests for determining re-
servoir reserves. Into this category fits the "reservoir limit Solving for 1- PWD' gives
test" of Jones,'" and the "reservoir reserve test" presented 1- PWD' = 2G n - G D' + W DZavg In( Cr eD ) (2)
in this paper. The chief value of these tests is their ability Differentiation with respect to G D yields
to "see" reservoir boundaries and thus prevent costly dry
holes. d(l- PWD') = 2 - 2G D= 2 (1- G D) (3)
dG D
Methods for determining reserves of both gas and oil
reservoirs were proposed in the work of Jones. His pro- By definition,
posals appear sound for single-phase liquid flow. The gen- G D = Gm/G .. , and dG D = dGm/G m"
erality of his work on gas flow is open to question, how- where G m = cumulative production in moles, and
ever, since the analysis is based upon solutions to liquid- G"" = total number of moles in the reservoir.
flow equations.
Thus,
The test for gas reserves presented here is derived from
unsteady-state gas-flow solutions presented in a previous d(l- Pwn') - dPwn' 2 2G m - !::;'Pwn'
paper.' In deriving this reservoir reserve test, it has been dG .. dG", = G,n' - (Gmt)' ~ !::;.G ..
assumed that all of the reservoir energy is provided by (4)
expansion of the reservoir fluid and that the reservoir is Normal field procedure is to measure and report gas
radially symmetrical. No mention has been made of the production in standard cubic feet measured at I-atm pres-
effects of deviations from Darcy's law such as quadratic sure and 60 F. Therefore, in using Eq. 4, it is convenient
(turbulent) flow and well damage. Since the terms rep- to convert G m in moles to G p in standard cubic feet.
resenting these effects are function of rate only, since the From the gas law,
rate is constant and since the data are plotted in a differ-
ential form, it seems reasonable that these terms will not P,V, = z,nRT, (5)
where p., = pressure of the gas, standard conditions,
Original manuscript received in Society of Petroleum Engineers office V, = volume of the gas, standard conditions,
July 9, 1962. Revi"ed manuscript received Dec. 21, 1962. Paper pre-
sented at 37th Annual Fall Meeting of SPE, Oct. 7-10, 1962, in Los z, = compressibility, standard conditions,
Angeles, Calif.
'References given at end of paper. SPE 402 n = moles of gas,

MARCH, 1963 Reprinted from the March, 1963, Issue of JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY 333
 R = gas constant, Taking natural logarithms and solving for 1- PWD' gives
T, = absolute temperature, standard conditions, and "WiJZaY'(1 nGDrev-+ln(1y'I+zavgWDlnC)
' ) .
1 -PWD-=~
Gp = cumulative production in standard cubic feet.
In our case n = G m , V, = G p and (18)
p,G. = z,GmRT, (6) If we differentiate this with respect to In G D , and substi-
tute dlnG D= dGD/G j"

Solving for G m gives

dPmv' j{l"z" , " t.P"'D' (19)
p,G p - dG D = --w;: t.Gf) r-.J -

G'n=~. (7)
z, , Upon substitution of G D = G",/G mt into Eq. 19,
It follows that 6..PlOf)2 Wnz.,y!.:
- t.G", =~ (20)
t::..G m = p"t::..G p
(8)
z,RT, Substitution of Eqs. 7 and 8 into Eq. 20 yields
and
t.pw' WDzaVgP,'
G = p,G p , - t.G p = 2G p (21)
(9)
mt z,RT,
as the equation relating pressure drop to production dur-
where G p , = total standard cubic feet of gas initially in the ing the early transient period. Taking natural logarithms
reservoir. of Eq. 21 gives

~~:) =
Substitution of Eqs. 7, 8 and 9 into Eq. 4 and simplifica-
tion give In ( - In ( WVZ;Vgp,') - In G.. (22)

(10) A plot of - t.p",' vs G p on log-log paper therefore has a

t.G p
as the equation relating pressure drop to production in slope of -1 during the early transient period. The effect
standard cubic feet. If G p is small in relation to G." of rate is upon the magnitude of t. P ' , not upon the slope
w

t. G p
- dp,/ r-.J 2p,' r-.J - t.Pw' of the curve.
(11)
dG p = G., =-w;-' In this section it has been assumed that C is constant.
Pw
If - t::.. ' is plotted vs G. on co-ordinate paper, a straight Actually, the flow begins to stabilize when the outer bound-
t. G ary first affects the pressure data taken at the well. During
line occurs during the "post early transient" or stabilized this transition from infinite reservoir behavior to stabilized
portion of reservoir life which has a slope of -2p,'/(G p , ) ' flow, C varies in value from 0.410 to 0.472. The transition
and an intercept of 2p,'/G pt at G p = O. Since the slope period appears on the log-log plot as a curved portion
is small in most cases, stabilized values of -t.pw'/t.G p connecting the 45 line and the stabilized values.
0

remain nearly constant over the testing period and an

TIME REQUIREMENTS
average value can be used with little error.
From Sections A and B it can be seen that the reser-
EARLY TRANSIENT PERIOD voir must be in the stabilized part of its life before total
From Ref. 4, well pressure and cumulative production reserves can be determined. This means that the drainage
for gas wells during the early transient period are related radius as defined by the steady-state equation must be
by the equation equal to or greater than the outer drainage radius.

In C = - W
Zayg D
I [1-
G eD
Dr -"
2(1-PWD-) -1 .
( exp --'---="..,-
(12) ')2] From Ref. 4,

In C = ~W (P",gD' -I), (23)

ZaVgWD Zavg D

When rearranged and expanded this becomes

(24)
WDZ
ayg
In C = 1exp ~;~~WD') ]2- exp ~~t~D;"'D')
TV
Wt
G"'=-M' (25)
Zavg YY D ZavgW D
(13) and
- W D7T hkMp,'
which is of the form W ------co:-=-- (26)
f-tRT
Ax'+Bx+E=O, (14)
where M = molecular weight of the gas,
where A = 1
Pav.D = dimensionless average pressure,
B = -2,
t.P,,gD = dimensionless average pressure drop in the
E = - W DZavg In C, reservoir,
and cp = formation porosity,
GDr eD'
x = --~~~--~ (15) f-t = viscosity,
2(1- PWD')'
exp h = formation thickness,
ZaygW D k = permeability,
By the quadratic formula,
'a = drainage radius as defined by steady-state
x = I y'l + WDzaVg In C. (16) equations,
From Eqs. 15 and 16, W = mass flow rate, and
, 2(1-P"'D') t = time.
GDreD-=(Iy'l+zavgWDlnC) exp----- (17)
WDz: n ' g From Eqs. 24, 25 and 26,

334 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY

 z"v,WtRT Zav.Wnkp,t If the reservoir boundaries are not reached during the
(27) test period, the reservoir can be considered infinite in
p,Mhcfnr'd' <P /L'd'
extent. In calculating the time required to test to a given
From Eq. 23, distance in such a reservoir, we will use the terms "proved"
PaVgD' = I + zavgWD In C (28) reserves and "possibly explored" reserves.' "Proved" re-
and serves are defined as those lying within the steady-state
drainage radius. The time required to test a given steady-
1- PnvgD = tlpavgD = 1- (I + zavgWD In C)! . (29) state drainage radius is determined by the equation
If we combine Eqs. 27 and 29 and solve for 'd, rI.. /L'a'
t'"" 'I' . (35)
ZavgWDkP,t)! (30) - 2.25kp,
'd= ( <p,/L[l-(1+z"'gWDlnC)l]
Eq. 35 is obtained by substituting the value -0.8905 for
Eq. 30 relates drainage radius to the duration of the well InC in Eq. 32 and solving for t.
test. Its use requires more information than is usually On the plot of C vs 'dl', in Ref. 4, it is shown that
available to the field engineer. deviations from infinite reservoir behavior first occur when
However, the effect of rate on drainage radius can be ,.1,,'""0.5. This means that the "actual" drainage radius,
appraised by expanding Eq. 29 in a McLaurin series, at least insofar as it affects pressure data taken at a well,
zavgW[)lnC (z"vgWDlnC)' is about twice as large as the steady-state drainage radius.
tlpnvgD = - 2 + 8 "Possibly explored" reserves are those lying within the
"actual" drainage radius. The equation relating "actual"
(zavgWDlnC), drainage radius, 'da, to time is
---1-6-- +. (31)

If W D is small the higher-order terms can be neglected and 'da = 2( 2.2:;J) I (36)
- zav.WDlnC
,tlpavgD = 2 (32) So long as the plot of -l:;.p", 2/l:;.G p vs G p on log-log paper
has a slope of - 1, we know that the gas reserves extend
Since InC = -0.75 at stabilization, combination of Eqs. to a radius of 'da' However, it is difficult to say that a
32 and 27 gives given final point has not deviated from the 45 line be-
cause the transition from infinite reservoir behavior to
(2.67k P ,t)
!

'd -'""
- <PIt . (33) stabilized flow is gradual.

as an approximate equation relating drainage radius to TEST PROCEDURE

the duration of the test. Solving for t gives
t = <pWa'
2.67kp, '
which is the equation to be used for calculating the time
required to test a given distance 'a from the well when
the dimensionless rate is low. In this equation t is in sec-
onds, ,/L in centipoises, 'a in centimeters, k in darcies and
p, in atmospheres.
We wish to emphasize here that the time calculated
by Eq. 34 is the time required for stabilization within the
specified drainage radius. The pressure point taken at
this time will be the first point on the straight line pre-
dicted by Eq. 10.
10
The test procedure consists of: (1) letting the well
(34)
pressure build up to its maximum value, (2) producing
the well at a constant rate measured in standard cubic
feet per day, and (3) recording the bottom-hole well
pressure as a function of production. The data can be
plotted as -tlpw'/tlGp vs G p on log-log paper. During the
early transient period this plot will have a slope of - 1.
During the post early transient period the value of
-6.pw'ltlG p will be nearly constant in most cases and this
value can be used in Eq. 11 to determine reserves. In
the rare cases where -tlp",'ltlGp changes value appreci-
ably during the post early transient period a plot of
-tlpw'/6.G p vs G p on co-ordinate paper will give a straight
line with a slope of -2p:/(G p,)' and an intercept at
Gp=O of 2p;IG p, .

. 0198

.0194

.0190

.1
.0182

.0178

...... .0174
.01 4
10 o .8XIO?

Gp Gp
FIG. I-tlpw 2/6.G p VS Gp FOR GAS FLOW, COMPUTER RUN 129. FIG. 2-tlpw '/tlG p vs Gp FOR GAS FLOW, COMPUTER RUN 129.

MARCH 196'1 33;;

 10

.0198

.0194

.0190

.1

.0182

. .. . .0178

Gp .0 1740L--...J..--.4-X-'-IO.".7-........-.8-X.....I~07;-----''---1.-2.1..X-IO~7;---'-
FIG. 3-tJ.Pw"/tJ.G p VS G p FOR GAS FLOW, COMPUTER RUN 103.
Gp
DISCUSSION FIG. 4-tJ.pw"/ tJ.G p vs Gp FOR GAS FLOW" COMPUTER RUN 103.

The type of data dealt with here can be thought of as
a flowing pressure-decline curve. This means of taking
pressure-decline data has the advantage of maintaining
production while determining the reserves. The necessity
of observing pressure decline limits the chances for deter-
mining reserves to fairly small reservoirs.
Before making a test, it is important to consider the
probable amount of time required to test a useful distance
into the reservoir. Time requirements can be estimated by
using the appropriate equations with values of porosity
estimated from logs and permeability determined from
drawdown or build-up data. It is improbable that most
tight reservoirs can be tested in a reasonable amount of
time.
In general the test is best suited for small, permeable
reservoirs and poorly suited for large, tight ones. However,
it is not always necessary that the reservoir boundaries be
found. It may be enough to know only that the reservoir
extends at least as far as the next well location.
Although we have dealt here only with reservoirs which
have been built up to a static pressure, this condition does
not appear to be necessary in conducting a successful test.
It seems reasonable that any test conducted at a rate
higher than the production rate prior to testing can be
successful. By the time the pressure disturbance due to
the higher rate has reached the outer boundary and the
reservoir is stabilized, the pressure disturbance due to the
lower production rate will have disappeared. The reason
for requiring the rate to be higher is that a test rate lower
than the production rate will allow some pressure build-up
at the well, and this in turn may indicate a false stabiliza-
tion point. In practice it would probably be necessary to
conduct the test at a rate considerably above the prior
production rate so that the pressure disturbance due to
increasing the rate will be measurable. If a test is run
without prior build-up to a static pressure, the data col-
lected before stabilization will be adversely affected. This
should not change the results after stabilization, however.
The same sort of argument should apply to stratified
reservoirs. If the permeability, porosity, etc., are different
in each layer, the pressure wave will not advance uni-
formly. In this case the data collected before stabilization
of all of the layers will be adversely affected. Again, this
should not affect the results after stabilization of all of the
layers.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author wishes to express his appreciation to Socony
Mobil Oil Co., Inc., for permission to publish this paper.
Thanks are also due to G. C. Wallick who provided the
digital computer results. '
REFERENCES
1. Jones, Park: "Reservoir Limit Test", Oil and Gas Jour. (1956)
54, No. 59, 184.
2. Jones, Park: "Drawdown Exploration, Reservoir Limit, Well
and Formaticn Evallmtion", Paper 824-G presented at SPE
Permian Basin Oil Recovery Conference, Midland, Tex. (April,
1957) .
3. Jones, Park: "Reservoir Limit Test on Gas Wells", Jour. Pet.
Tech. (June, 1962) 613.
4. Jones, L. G.: "An Approximate Method for Computing Non-
Steady State Flow of Gases in Porous Media", Soc. Pet. Eng.
Jour. (Dec., 1961) 264.

TABLE I-RESERVOIR RESERVE CALCULATIONS FOR COMPUTER RUN 129

Gp pw
(sci) (psio) pw 2 t>Gp Llpw 2 -t>pw 2 /t>G p
.4175 X 10' 741.6 .5500 X 10'
.1257 X 10 5 703.4 .4948 X 106 .000839 X 10 7 -.0552 X 10' 6.58
.2934 X 105 672.5 .4523 X 10' .001677 X 10' -.0425 X 10' 2.53
.9645 x 10' 626.7 .3928 X 10' .006711 X 10 7 -.0595 X 10" .887
.3350 X 106 574.9 .3305 X 10' .02385 X 10 7 -.0623 X 10" .261
.6916 X 10 542.3 .2941 X 10' .03566 X 10 7 - .0364 X 10' .102
.1284 X 10' 512.9 .2631 X 10' .05921 X 10' - .0310 X 10' .0524
.2466 X 10' 478.5 .2290 X 10' .1182 X 10' -.0341 X 10' .0288
.3534 X 10' ~54.4 .2065 x 10' .1068 X 10' -.0235 X 10' .0220
.4482 X 10' 433.4 .1878 x 10 .0948 X 10' -.0187 X 106 .0197
.5551 X lO' 409.3 .1675 x 10' .1069 X 107 -.0203 X 10' .0190
.6501 X 10' 386.9 .1497 X 10' .0950 X 10' -.0178 X 10' .0187
.8639 X 10' 332.0 .1102 X 10 .2138 X 10' -.0395 X 10' .0185
.10896 X 10' 263.7 .06954 X 10 .2257 X 10 7 -.0407 X 10' .0180
.14871 X 10' 21.53 .00046 X 10' .3975 X 107 -.0691 X 10' .0174

336 JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECH;\,OLOGY

 TABLE 2-RESERVOIR RESERVE CALCULATIONS FOR COMPUTER RUN 103
Gp pw2. .'l.Gp ~p1.f):.! -.'l.pw"/.'l.G p
~
.8666 X 10" 933.2 .87086 X 10'
.1854 X lOG 928.5 .86211 X 10' .987 X 10' - .00875 X 10' .8865
.3391 X 10' 924.7 .85507 X 10" .1537 X 10' - .00704 X 10' .4580
.8659 X 10' 918.9 .84438 X 10' .5268 X 10' - .01069 X 10' .2029
.1919 X 10' 913.9 .83521 X 10' .1053 X 10' - .00917 X 10' .08709
.4700 X 10' 1)08.1 .82'65 X 10' .2781 X 10' -.01056 X 10' .03797
.8289 X 10" 903.8 .81683 X 10" .3589 X 10' - .00780 X 10" .02173
.1939 X 10' 891.8 .79531 X 10" .11101 X 10' - .02154 X 10' .01940
.3792 X 107 871.5 .75951 X 10' .1853 X 10' - .03580 X 10' .01932
.6050 X 107 846.3 .71622 X 10" .2258 X 10
'
- .04329 X 10" .01917
.8884 X 10' 814.7 .66374 X 10" .2834 X 10 1 - .05248 X 10' .01852
.1466 X 10' 749.4 .56160 X 10" .5780 X 10 -.10214 X 10' .01767
'

APPENDIX An average of the apparently stabilized values of

Since there are no data, of the type required, available
in the literature, the method of analysis will be illustrated
by using computer representations of finite reservoirs. In
this discussion the gas reservoir is considered as a disk-
shaped porous body of uniform properties and thickness
with a well passing through its center. All boundaries are
sealed except the inner radial boundary or wellbore where
the mass flow rate is held constant. The computer program
used is the one described in Ref. 4.
The first example is gas flowing at a dimensionless rate
of O. I 0 from a reservoir at an initial pressure of 1,000 psia
and containing 10' scf of gas. Theoretically, the actual rate
of flow is unimportant except that, as indicated by Eq. 26,
it must be a constant rate measured in standard cubic feet
pe;' day or other standard units. In practice, it is necessary
that the rate be high enough to produce accurately meas-
urable pressure drops. Table 1 shows data and calculations
for this example. The data from Table 1 are plotted in
Fig. I on a log-log scale. There is a definite break in the
curve when the post early transient period is reached. Part
of the data, including all of that pertaining to the post
carly transient or stabilized period, is plotted in Fig. 11
on co-ordinate paper.
-6Pm"/6G p =0.01832. An extrapolation of the straight-
line portion of the curve on co-ordinate paper gives a
value of -6pw'/6G p =0.01986. Eq. 12 can be rewritten as
G p , =2p,'/-.6pw'/ 6G p
In this case
Gp , = 2X 106 /-6p,,,'/6G p
= 2X 10'/0.01832= 1.092 X 10'
for the average value, and
G pl =2X 10'/0.01986= 1.007 X 108
for the extrapolated value.
The next example is gas flowing at a dimensionless rate
of 0.023 from the same reservoir as before. Table 2 shows
data and calculations for this case. The data from Table 2
are plotted in Fig. 3 on a log-log scale. Part of the data,
again including all of that pertaining to the stabilized
period, is plotted in Fig. 4 on co-ordinate paper. The
average of the stabilized values is 0.01882, and the extra-
polation of the straight line on co-ordinate paper gives a
value of 0.01988. These give values for G pI of 1.063 X 10'
and 1.006 X 10', respectively. ***

MARCH, 1963 337