Well Testing and the Economic Downturn

By Rod Kelly | Tue, 19 May 2009

The decrease in drilling activity has provided an opportunity for operator engineers to utilize their time by running reservoir simulations and optimizing processes that might not have been given full attention during the hectic times of chasing rigs.   And whether itís optimizing the completion processes or understanding the reservoir better, the key components of building understanding in those processes is the capture of pressure and rate data.

Understanding the relationship between pressure and flow rates is the fundamental building block of any reservoir or completion analysis to be performed.  There are many opportunities to capture important pressure data that will arise over the life of a well.  During the initial completions stage you may capture pre-frac injection fall-off pressure data in tight gas wells or pressure and flow rate during the flowback and subsequent early production period (first 90 days).  During production you may have field wide shut-ins or production curtailments due to low gas prices or pipeline and facility issues.  These are opportunities to capture of pressure data that can be used to:  

• Characterize the reservoir.
• Determine the best well candidates for remedial treatment.
• Obtain a better understanding of the size of the reservoir
• Gather updated reference pressures for p/z calculations.

DRC has been providing our SPIDR surface well testing system for almost 25 years as a NO RISK and LOW COST alternative to running wire and pressure gauges downhole.  In this low commodity environment the ability to stretch your budget and test more wells on the same budget or the same number of wells on a lower budget will be crucial.   This data that is needed for input into your simulations and to perform your analysis is more cost effective than ever.  If your production is going to be curtailed or shut-in anywayÖ..why not take the opportunity to capture valuable pressure information via a method that is both inexpensive and risk-free?  Much of this information can be learned without even shutting in your well by performing a simple two rate production test where production is lowered for a short duration.