Production Diagnostic Type Curves for Performance Evaluation: An Extension of the Universal Type Curve Approach

摘要

Analyzing well performance and making decisions based on it is a core part of a reservoir and production engineer’s role. This paper, an extension of the universal type curve approach, will assist technical professionals in understanding the performance of their wells and help them make quick and reliable decisions by employing a novel set of type curves for evaluating well performance. The new set of diagnostic type curves is an amalgamation of multiple techniques, but mainly employs the modified Power-Law-Exponential (PLE) equation and the modified Arps equation. The two sets of diagnostic type curves presented in this paper were shown to be useful in evaluating and predicting performance for unconventional horizontal wells, especially those with frac hits, excessive interference, and downhole issues. The results also provide guidance for decline parameters to use in performance predictions.