Gaussian Decline Curve Analysis of Hydraulically Fractured Wells in Shale Plays: Examples from HFTS-1 (Hydraulic Fracture Test Site-1, Midland Basin, West Texas)

Ruud Weijermars ()
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Ruud Weijermars: Department of Petroleum Engineering, College of Petroleum Engineering and Geosciences (CPG), King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-23

Abstract: The present study shows how new Gaussian solutions of the pressure diffusion equation can be applied to model the pressure depletion of reservoirs produced with hydraulically multi-fractured well systems. Three practical application modes are discussed: (1) Gaussian decline curve analysis (DCA), (2) Gaussian pressure-transient analysis (PTA) and (3) Gaussian reservoir models (GRMs). The Gaussian DCA is a new history matching tool for production forecasting, which uses only one matching parameter and therefore is more practical than hyperbolic DCA methods. The Gaussian DCA was compared with the traditional Arps DCA through production analysis of 11 wells in the Wolfcamp Formation at Hydraulic Fracture Test Site-1 (HFTS-1). The hydraulic diffusivity of the reservoir region drained by the well system can be accurately estimated based on Gaussian DCA matches. Next, Gaussian PTA was used to infer the variation in effective fracture half-length of the hydraulic fractures in the HFTS-1 wells. Also included in this study is a brief example of how the full GRM solution can accurately track the fluid flow-paths in a reservoir and predict the consequent production rates of hydraulically fractured well systems. The GRM can model reservoir depletion and the associated well rates for single parent wells as well as for arrays of multiple parent–parent and parent–child wells.

Keywords: Gaussian method; Gaussian decline curves; hydraulic diffusivity; pressure-transient solutions; HFTS-1; parent wells; child wells; pressure interference (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: 2022
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