Date of Award
2000
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Petroleum Engineering
First Advisor
Zaki Bassiouni
Abstract
In water drive gas reservoirs, wells can be completed with a long perforated interval and produced at high rates to minimize abandonment pressure and maximize recovery. Alternatively, the perforations can be limited to the top of the productive interval and the well produced at a low rate in an effort to prevent coning which results in high abandonment pressures if the strength of the aquifer is adequate to support reservoir pressure. This study uses a reservoir simulation coning model to evaluate these two conflicting completion and production practices. The impact of completion interval, gas production rate, and reservoir permeability were evaluated. Ultimate gas recovery was found to be largely insensitive to variations in perforated interval and production rate in high permeability systems. Ultimate water production, however, was found to increase at high gas rates and lengthened perforated intervals. In lower permeability systems, ultimate gas recovery was found to increase significantly as production rates were increased, while ultimate water production was actually observed to fall. Sensitivity analysis of vertical to horizontal permeability ratio, fluid density contrast, relative permeability, and formation dip did not alter these conclusions. The conclusion that elevated production rates can be expected to have no detrimental impact on ultimate gas recovery suggests that gas rates should be maximized in low water disposal cost situations. This finding favors the completion of an interval sufficiently long to maximize production rate and thereby insure that gas recovery and present value of gas reserves are maximized. In high water disposal cost situations, however, it should be recognized that this strategy might result in elevated water production in high permeability systems.
Recommended Citation
Mcmullan, John H., "Optimization of Gas Well Completion and Production Practices." (2000). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 7159.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/7159
ISBN
9780599682092
Pages
102
DOI
10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.7159