Decline Curve Analysis and Diagnostic Methods for Performance Forecasting - DCA - In House Training

Decline Curve Analysis and Diagnostic Methods for Performance Forecasting - In-house training by PetroSkillsThis course can be conducted on site at your location exclusively for your staff. Decline curve analysis has been called the most commonly used and misused technique for forecasting future production and remaining reserves. This course will give the learner a better understanding of how fundamental reservoir properties and drive mechanisms affect the shape of the production decline curve and how to avoid many of the mistakes commonly found in decline curve forecasts. The course also examines the use of modern production decline type-curves to evaluate reservoir properties and predict future performance. Students will make production forecasts and generate curve fit parameters for the common curve types. These exercises will be done using MS Excel spreadsheets. The course begins with an introduction and review of the classic exponential, hyperbolic, and harmonic decline curve equations using a variety of plotting techniques. Next, information is provided on how decline curve parameters relate to fundamental reservoir properties and drive mechanisms. Then, transient and pseudosteady-state (pss) flow regimes are identified along with how the classic decline equations apply only to pss conditions. The participants will be taught methods to constrain transient forecasts to a more realistic estimate of future production. Next, the class will review forecasting techniques for wells undergoing fluid displacement drives such as waterflooding. Popular techniques such as semi-log plots of water-oil ratio (WOR) versus cumulative oil production will be discussed. The effects of parameters such as mobility ratio on the shape of these trends will be reviewed. The effect of reservoir heterogeneities such as layering and compartmentalization on the shape of the decline trend will be reviewed. Methods to account for difficult situations such as downtime, well...