Analytical Method for Production Forecasting During Boundary-Dominated Flow in Unconventional Volatile Oil Reservoirs Using Single-Phase Analogy

Abstract

This paper presents an analytical methodology for production forecasting of wells exhibiting boundary-dominated flow in unconventional volatile oil reservoirs. An analytical model using single-phase analogy is established to predict the production rate of a multi-fractured horizontal well under multiphase flow. Pseudo-variables are employed to linearize governing differential flow equations. Therefore, the analytical model for efficiently handling multiphase flow is essentially an advanced adaptation of existing single-phase models, in which we derive new multiphase fluid properties. To calculate the pseudo-variables accurately, we summarize accessible methods for the determination of saturation–pressure (S–P) relation and further provide an appropriate way to calculate multiphase pseudo-variables in unconventional volatile oil reservoirs based on simulation results. The simulation study indicates that the S–P relation given by constant volume depletion data for near-critical volatile oils leads to satisfactory results, and the S–P relation derived from the tank-type model is appropriate for ordinary volatile oils. The analytical solution and associated methods were validated through comparison with results from a compositional simulator; the excellent agreement during boundary-dominated flow demonstrated the accuracy of the analytical methodology. The analytical methodology can greatly reduce computation and is justified to make production forecasting in unconventional volatile oil reservoirs, this tractable methodology should be attractive to the industry.