A Semi-Analytical Method for Simulating Two-Phase Flow Performance of Horizontal Volatile Oil Wells in Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs

Suran Wang, Linsong Cheng, Yongchao Xue, Shijun Huang, Yonghui Wu, Pin Jia and Zheng Sun
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Suran Wang: State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Linsong Cheng: State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Yongchao Xue: State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Shijun Huang: State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Yonghui Wu: State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Pin Jia: State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
Zheng Sun: State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 10, 1-21

Abstract: Two-phase flow behavior in fractured carbonate reservoirs was investigated due to the importance for geothermal and petroleum resource recovery, such as in this study the phase change of volatile oil. This paper presents a semi-analytical method for accurately modeling two-phase flow behavior and quickly predicting the production performance. The fractured carbonate reservoir was modeled with a dual-porosity model, and the phase change and two-phase flow were modeled using the black oil model. The production of the oil phase was obtained through linearizing and solving the mathematical model. The gas phase production was forecast using the producing gas-oil ratio (GOR), calculated using flowing material balance equations. By comparing the semi-analytical solution to the solution of the commercial numerical simulator and applying it to a field case, the accuracy and practicability of the proposed semi-analytical method could be validated. Based on the semi-analytical model, the influences of several critical parameters on production performance were also analyzed. The proposed model was shown to be efficient in evaluating two-phase production performance of horizontal volatile oil wells. Furthermore, the new technique is able to serve as a useful tool for analyzing two-phase production data and making forecasts for volatile oil wells in fractured carbonate reservoirs.

Keywords: fractured carbonate reservoir; two-phase flow; horizontal well; production performance; semi-analytical method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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