Production Data Analysis — Future Practices for Analysis and Interpretation

The advent of continuous reservoir analysis is upon us — the data acquisition systems, the analysis/interpretation tools, and the modeling capability to address essentially any production scenario exist now! The analysis/interpretation of legacy data, which brought about new analysis and modeling tools, will be with us for a while (perhaps always), but now is the time to address the future of reservoir performance analysis — specifically: 1. The analysis of "continuously" measured rates and pressures (downhole/surface measurements taken on the basis of hours, minutes, or even seconds), which we have called "continuous analysis." Such data and analyses will provide an on-demand assessment of well productivity and capacity, as well as evaluate the influence of a single well in a multiwell reservoir system. 2. The analysis of "regularly" measured rates and pressures (measurements taken on the basis of days) where such measurements are most likely surface-derived. In this case, such data provide "diagnostic analysis" where we can assess aggregate changes in well performance. We can still utilize these data for high quality analysis/interpretation, but we will most likely not forgo well testing as a mechanism to assess specific well productivity issues. We also note that daily production data can be used to create reliable production forecasts. 3. The analysis of legacy data which consists of irregular measurements and may be of only fair (or even poor) quality. These data formed the motivation for the development of modern production data analysis methods, but we must again revisit our expectations for the analysis and interpretation of such data. This paper focuses on the analysis/interpretation of "continuously" and "regularly" measured rates and pressures using pressure transient and production data analysis solutions. The primary goal of this work is to provide demonstration examples and commentary as to best practices — present and future for production data analysis. The secondary goal of this work is to instill a sense of urgency in measurement practices — measurement of rate and pressure data on a continuous basis is essential for future efforts in reservoir engineering and reservoir characterization.