Page 262 - Introduction to Petroleum Engineering

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PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE

Production can begin as soon as wells are completed and surface facilities are
installed. Production performance is evaluated using a variety of techniques. It is first
necessary to acquire field performance data. Data is used to estimate reserves and
forecast reservoir performance. Some production performance evaluation techniques
include bubble mapping, decline curve analysis, and material balance analysis. They
are discussed here.

13.1 FIELD PERFORMANCE DATA
A database should include as much data as possible about field performance. Sources
of field performance data include seismic surveys, core analysis (geological and
petrophysical), well logging, pressure transient analysis, production and injection
monitoring, and tracer surveys. Production and injection data include fluid rates and
volumes for all wells. Data can be collected in a room full of boxes on shelves or
digitized in a computer‐based system. The database needs to be accessible and can
exist in many forms.
Data are needed to describe and manage the reservoir. Seismic data is a source
of data about reservoir structure. It can be calibrated by well data, which includes
well logs and core data. The framework of the reservoir can be inferred from well
data that has been correlated between wells and takes into account the prevailing

Introduction to Petroleum Engineering, First Edition. John R. Fanchi and Richard L. Christiansen.
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2017 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Companion website: www.wiley.com/go/Fanchi/IntroPetroleumEngineering