The Effect of Hydraulic Fracturing on the Performance of Gas Condensate Systems

Gas condensate reservoirs usually exhibit complex flow behaviors due to the buildup of condensate bank around the wellbore when the bottom-hole pressure falls below the dew point. Hydraulic fracturing improves well productivity by delaying the onset of dew point pressure and also reducing the condensate saturation near the wellbore area. The authors present the results of a study that compared the near wellbore behaviors and productivities of a vertical nonfractured well and a vertical hydraulically fractured well in a low permeability lean gas condensate reservoir. Results show that there is no indication of capillary number effects in this low permeability reservoir because of low production rates.     

The Effect of Water Vaporization on the Well Productivity of Gas Condensate Reservoirs

Well productivity is a crucial concern in predicting the performance of many gas condensate reservoirs. Accurate forecasting of gas-condensate well productivity usually requires fine-grid simulation to model the formation of the liquid bank and to account for high-velocity phenomena and changes in relative permeability at high capillary numbers. At early stages of production, the pressure drop in the near-wellbore region builds up the molar content of water in gas. This, in turn, results in water vaporization, and hence a drop in the connate water saturation. When water vaporization occurs, pores that were formerly filled by connate water now becomes occupied by gas and condensate only. This causes a change in gas and condensate saturations near the wellbore that can affect the well productivity. No lucid numerical simulation approach considering this effect is suggested in the literature. The authors investigated the effects of water vaporization on the near-wellbore region by compositional simulator of GEM. Enhancement of gas well productivity is observed.     

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通过对凝析气井产能分析方法以及流体相态、组分变化、渗流特征的研究，结合状态方程理论及相平衡闪蒸计算方法，引入反映地层中凝析油气体系变化的两相拟压力函数，提出了考虑近井带反凝析液饱和度分布以及动态污染影响的凝析气井产能分析新方法。通过实例计算认为该产能计算方法能较好地反映近井带地层凝析油析出时造成的动态表皮伤害对产能的影响；当地层压力高于露点压力时，预测方法所得的流入动态曲线在井底压力为露点压力处有一拐点，这与实际情况符合，反映了凝析液析出对气井产能的影响。     

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由于缺乏精确测量临界凝析油饱和度测试技术，我国凝析气藏油气相对渗透率均使用常规油气进行测试,采用真实平衡凝析油气体系对凝析气藏相对渗透率曲线进行岩心驱替测试还无先例。文章选用牙哈凝析气藏真实岩样进行了两组驱替实验,第一组是向岩样注入煤油-氮气采用非稳态法，第二组是注入平衡凝析油气采用稳态法。此外，研究了两种测试系统下油气相对渗透率对凝析气藏开发动态的影响,得出以下结论：①凝析油气系统的相对渗透率曲线整体向右移动，气相对渗透率下降非常快，油气相对渗透率高于煤油-氮气系统的油气相对渗透率；②凝析油气系统的临界凝析油饱和度比煤油—氮气系统的凝析油临界饱和度约低20%；③煤油-氮气系统预测的气体产能、气油比、凝析油气采收率比凝析油气系统预测的结果低得多，但气藏压力下降较慢；④凝析油气系统与煤油-氮气系统近井地带析出凝析油饱和度分布存在显著差别。     

凝析气藏近井地层油气产状及渗流特征

提出了孔隙介质条件下凝析油气相态特征预测的相平衡模拟方法。将该方法应用于牙哈等凝析气藏的露点、反凝析油饱和度等相态特征研究,取得了令人满意的结果。将孔隙介质条件下凝析油气体系相平衡计算方法引入凝析油气渗流理论,得到了考虑吸附和毛管凝聚作用影响的凝析油气体系物化渗流模型,给出了考虑界面现象影响的凝析气井产能方程及描述凝析气藏近井地层反凝析油饱和度分布规律、气相相对渗透率分布规律、压降漏斗分布规律的数学模型。通过牙哈凝析气藏气井产能、反凝析油饱和度分布规律以及气相相对渗透率分布规律的预测计算,表明多孔介质界面现象的作用会加剧地层反凝析现象,产生附加的反凝析动态地层伤害,引起凝析气井气相相对渗透率和产能降低。     

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文章在对气液两相渗流理论调研的基础上，考虑了凝析气藏反凝析和产水的三相流特点，从达西渗流定律入手，根据物质守恒原理，引入气、油、水多相流拟压力，建立了三相流产能方程，给出了无阻流量计算公式，详细描述了根据产能试井数据建立产能方程的步骤。文章提出的方法既适用于地层压力低于露点压力的反凝析气井两相流，也适用于产水凝析气井的三相流，目前气水或油气两相流产能方程只是新方程的特例。对某凝析气藏实际产能试井数据进行了分析计算，表明由于出水凝析气井不仅要克服凝析油的渗流阻力，还要克服水相渗流阻力，多相流产能远远低于单相流，对产水量较大的凝析气井而言，在流动压力大大低于露点压力时，不能采用单相流产能方程配产。实例中的多相流产能曲线表明：在同一井底流压下，随气水比的增加，气体产量将减少；在相同气产量下，随着水气比的增加，生产压差将增大。     

不同压力下确定凝析气井二项式产能方程的一种新方法

凝析气藏在低于露点压力的情况下，地层中的流体将由单一的气相变成气液两相。这种相态变化对凝析气井产能存在两方面的影响：一是气相流体相对密度降低，其粘度、偏差因子等也随之发生变化；二是重烃液化后吸附于岩石表面并在近井地层中富集，降低了含气饱和度及气相相对渗透率，严重影响了气井产能。从气井二项式产能方程的主要影响因素出发，利用初期凝析气井测试资料获得的二项式产能方程，依据凝析气藏气相流体组成、相对密度、粘度及偏差因子随压力的变化情况，结合凝析气藏油、气相渗实验结果，提出了对初期二项式产能方程系数的修正，便可获得在不同压力下符合凝析气井实际的二项式产能方程，实例验证该方法具有良好的预测效果。     

考虑反凝析影响的凝析气井产能试井问题

大量的理论分析和现场应用表明,反凝析液析出会急剧降低近井区气相相对渗透率,从而使凝析气井流入动态发生较大改变。而在产能试井中很容易出现井底流压低于露点压力的情况,因此反凝析现象不可避免。目前的产能试井工艺很少关注反凝析现象对气井流入动态的影响,结果常造成二项式指示曲线斜率为负,所建立的产能方程也不能有效地用于生产动态分析。在充分考虑反凝析影响的基础上,详细分析了工作制度变化对渗透率的影响,论证了工作制度的合理选择对于产能分析的重要性。首次提出利用拟稳态形式产能方程系数与井底流压的关系曲线可以便捷和正确分析凝析气井流入动态。实例分析证明,利用提出的方法,能正确建立流入动态方程。     

Mechanisms of Liquid Buildup in Gas Condensate Reservoirs

Abstract

Gas condensate reservoirs are different from dry and wet gas reservoirs in many cases, and these differences lead to weird and wonderful properties. When reservoir pressure falls below dew point, liquid dropout and its saturation may increase to a point that could flow. Therefore, in a reservoir three different regions are developed with different effects on well productivity. The authors studied three regions and introduce mechanisms of liquid buildup. Then, by utilizing material balance equations and other formulas, they studied the dependency of the rate of fill up (liquid buildup). After that, the proposed method of Robert Mott, verified by a compositional simulator (ECLIPSE 300), was used to evaluate growth of region 1 for 2 different gas condensates. The results obtained from that method verify the conclusion taken from equation describing dependency of rate of liquid buildup on two parameters in region 1.     

Long-Term Performance of Hydraulically Fractured Layered Rich Gas Condensate Reservoir

Compositional simulator has been used to investigate the effect of hydraulic fracture on the performance of a layered rich gas condensate reservoir in Saudi Arabia. The reservoir consists of five layers having permeabilities ranging from 0.08 to 115 md with about 68% of the gas reserve located in the lowest permeability layer. The fracture is assumed to penetrate all layers. The results of this investigation showed that hydraulic fracturing of such a reservoir is effective in improving the productivity of the gas condensate wells. The productivity index (PI) of the cases investigated was found to increase by as much as 3.6 folds. Hydraulic fractures were also found to delay the onset of the dew point pressure and consequently extend the production plateau above the dew point pressure. The production plateau above the dew point pressure was found to increase with increasing the dimensionless fracture conductivity. The results of this study also showed that once the dew point pressure is reached, the flowing bottom hole pressure was found to drop sharply to the specified minimum flowing bottom hole pressure in the fractured and nonfractured cases. However, the drop is less severe in the fractured case. This sharp drop in the flowing bottom hole pressure results in dropping the productivity of the gas condensate wells. Condensate build up along the fracture faces was found to be more significant in the high permeability layers. At early times after reaching the dew point pressure, the highest condensate saturation was found to be in the highest permeability layer. However, at late times (after reaching pseudo steady state) it decreased to a certain level above the critical condensate saturation. Finally, formation cross-flow is found to improve the productivity of the fractured and the nonfractured gas condensate wells. However, the improvement is more pronounced in the fractured cases.     

低渗应力敏感地层凝析气井试井分析

低渗透和特低渗透凝析气藏生产过程中，井底储层的伤害及其对气井动态的影响一直是石油工作者关心和研究的课题，它关系到如何高效合理地开发这类气藏资源。实验已经证实一些低渗深层凝析气藏存在应力敏感性，共生水含量越高，对压力的敏感性越强。用常规的试井模型难以分析这种凝析气藏的试井测试资料。当气井共生水含量较大时，应对原来的试井解释模型与方法进行修正。为了给应力敏感凝析气藏试井测试资料分析提供理论基础,为此，根据低渗应力敏感凝析气藏当井底压力低于露点压力时的渗流特点，对原有凝析油气渗流微分方程进行修正，引入视渗透率模量的概念，建立了考虑共生水影响的应力敏感复合凝析气藏试井分析新模型。同时还考虑了井筒存储效应和表皮效应。利用拉普拉氏变换和摄动分析技术得出了模型的解，绘制了试井分析理论曲线并对曲线特征进行了分析，以及进行了实例分析验证。结果表明：较大量共生水的存在，将对试井解释结果产生较大影响，引起渗透率的较大降低和加深对气井储层的伤害。共生水的存在以及应力敏感性对低渗气田开发的影响应引起足够的重视。     

Long-Term Performance of Hydraulically Fractured Layered Rich Gas Condensate Reservoir

Abstract

Compositional simulator has been used to investigate the effect of hydraulic fracture on the performance of a layered rich gas condensate reservoir in Saudi Arabia. The reservoir consists of five layers having permeabilities ranging from 0.08 to 115 md with about 68% of the gas reserve located in the lowest permeability layer. The fracture is assumed to penetrate all layers. The results of this investigation showed that hydraulic fracturing of such a reservoir is effective in improving the productivity of the gas condensate wells. The productivity index (PI) of the cases investigated was found to increase by as much as 3.6 folds. Hydraulic fractures were also found to delay the onset of the dew point pressure and consequently extend the production plateau above the dew point pressure. The production plateau above the dew point pressure was found to increase with increasing the dimensionless fracture conductivity. The results of this study also showed that once the dew point pressure is reached, the flowing bottom hole pressure was found to drop sharply to the specified minimum flowing bottom hole pressure in the fractured and nonfractured cases. However, the drop is less severe in the fractured case. This sharp drop in the flowing bottom hole pressure results in dropping the productivity of the gas condensate wells. Condensate build up along the fracture faces was found to be more significant in the high permeability layers. At early times after reaching the dew point pressure, the highest condensate saturation was found to be in the highest permeability layer. However, at late times (after reaching pseudo steady state) it decreased to a certain level above the critical condensate saturation. Finally, formation cross-flow is found to improve the productivity of the fractured and the nonfractured gas condensate wells. However, the improvement is more pronounced in the fractured cases.     

凝析气藏试井分析研究现状及展望

从渗流机理和试井理论模型两个方面对凝析气藏试井分析现状进行了回顾和评述，指出以三区流动模型为基础，采用两相拟压力的方法是目前的主要研究方向。提出了凝析气藏试井研究存在的问题，并对以后的研究方向进行了展望。     

考虑气液两相流的凝析气井生产动态研究

凝析气藏开发中,反凝析液析出常 常不可避免,由此造成储集层渗流表现出与干气或常规溶解气驱流动不同的特性。目前大多采用单相气或折算方法来进行凝析气井的流入动态预测,理论和现场应用表明,这类方法会带来较大的误差,因其忽略了凝析液析出对气相相对渗透率的影响。尽管众多学者对此进行了大量的理论研究,但由于模型过于复杂或是缺乏严格、全面的理论描述,均限制了其应用。以油气两相渗流的基本理论为基础,可以给出拟稳态形式的流入动态方程,同时还可以对储集层参数分布计算进行严格理论证明。实例应用表明,采用提出的油气两相流入动态方程有助于正确评估凝析气井产能,准确把握储集层动态。     

塔北凝析气藏水平井合理产能分析

塔河油田的凝析气藏主要有雅克拉、塔河9区和阿克亚苏等,主要采用水平井开发技术。但是由于实际试井中产能方程中异常的系数A、系数B以及负的斜率使得产能方程存在较大的误差。分析了凝析气藏产能方程出现异常的原因,并基于两相拟压力提出了新的产能方程。     

Dealing With the Challenges of the Rate-Dependent Skin Phenomenon in a Gas Condensate Reservoir: A Simulation Approach

Abstract

Skin is one of the most challenging problems in oil and gas production, resulting in a reduction in reservoir deliverability. Mechanical skin is introduced to the pay zone during the drilling and completion phase, while rate-dependent skin comes into play as production starts, and is caused by infracting basic Darcy assumptions in a gas reservoir. Dissimilar to conventional gas reservoirs, the formation of condensate jots in a gas condensate reservoir when the bottomhole pressure drops below the dew point causes higher skin, which imposes a greater pressure drop. The authors investigated dependency of skin to flow rate in gas condensate reservoirs through a simulation approach. A radial synthetic reservoir compositional model was developed by using rock and fluid properties and well data based on information from a real gas condensate field in south Iran. A well test analysis was utilized to verify the validity and accuracy of the model. Due to heterogeneity existence in particular field, the authors tried to consider different reservoir and wellbore characteristics in reservoir simulation models. A wide range of rock permeabilities and mechanical skins were examined in different irreducible water saturations. Moreover, all the scenarios were run in two different initial reservoir pressures individually. The result of numerous simulations showed a similarity between the trends of rate-dependent skin versus flow rate for the entire tested model. It was also illustrated that in low-permeable gas condensate reservoirs, the existence of mechanical skin leads to inefficient production. Because mitigation of some kind of mechanical skin types are not efficient, the same simulation study should be performed before starting the drilling operation in a gas condensate reservoir to assess the effect of mechanical skin.     

考虑相变的凝析气井产能方程

凝析气井生产过程中,出现反凝析后储层表现为油气多相渗流特征,单相气井的产能方程已不适应凝析气井。在凝析气藏稳态理论基础上,建立了考虑相态变化的凝析气井多相流产能方程,在产能方程中引入油气两相拟压力函数,并可以计算凝析气藏中压力剖面,从而计算随压力分布的合理储层参数。结果表明,随地层压力的不断降低,由于凝析油的析出,降低了气相渗透率。考虑相变的凝析气井产能方程的计算结果小于单相气井的产能方程,并且差值不断增大。     

凝析气藏产能评价方法研究

该文从凝析气藏渗流与油气分布“三区”特征出发,建立了更符合实际渗流特征的凝析气藏产能预测方程。首先将凝析油气分布分为单相气无凝析油区、单相气凝析油不流动区及凝析油气两相渗流区,并建立了相对应的渗透率模型。在此基础上考虑了自由凝析气、自由凝析油、溶解凝析气、溶解凝析油的影响,建立了不同区域凝析气藏产能预测方程。最后,结合等组分膨胀试验以及渗流特征,求解两相拟压力,两相高速非达西系数以及平均自由油气比,得到两相产能方程系数,实现对产能方程求解。研究不同凝析油含量下的产能特征发现,与低凝析油含量相比,高凝析油含量下的拟压力小、高速非达西系数大、IPR曲线有明显的拐点,气井无阻流量显著减少。实例证实近井地层凝析油析出对气井产能有巨大影响,即使少量的凝析油析出,也会造成产能方程系数增大,并大幅度减少产能。该文的研究对凝析气藏的产能评价有指导意义。     

生产水气比对气井产能影响规律研究

气藏开采过程中,地层水的侵入以及凝析水在井底的聚集,会导致近井地带含水饱和度的增加,降低气相渗透率,严重影响气井产量和产能。从气井生产水气比的变化角度出发,将气井拟稳定流动状态产能方程与气水相渗曲线结合,利用等效表皮系数对不同生产水气比时的产能方程进行修正,得出了生产水气比对气井产能的影响规律,并通过实例计算验证其准确性与可靠性。     

The Effects of Richness,Relative Permeability Curves,and Skin in Well Test Analysis of Gas Condensate Reservoirs

Abstract

Gas condensate reservoirs have more complicated performance than other categories because possessing intermediate compositions leads to more complex thermodynamic and phase behavior. When the well bottom hole flowing pressure falls below the dew point, condensate liquid builds up around the wellbore, causing a reduction in gas permeability and well productivity. Well test analysis is now commonly used to identify and quantify near-wellbore effects, reservoir behavior quantifying the skin and reservoir boundaries. Finding all this information from well tests in gas condensate reservoirs, however, is challenging. The present article demonstrates the effect of the richness, relative permeability curves, and skin in well test analysis of gas condensate reservoirs.