Development of an Approach for the Numerical Analysis of Well Interference

Information about the interwell space allows one to solve a number of key production problems such as planning of geological and technical measures and enhancement of operating efficiency of wells. Due to the fact that this information is most often recovered from the interpretation models, one of the ways to obtain correct information is the analysis of well interference. It helps to obtain knowledge about the state of the reservoir, the degree of its heterogeneity and the presence of cracks and fractures. The aim of the study is development of a comprehensive approach for the analysis of reservoir connectivity by identifying well interference based on the mutual accounting of pressure and flow-rate data of well field. In order to solve this problem, we developed programing modules based on the methods of Multivariate Linear Regression (MLR) and Capacity-Resistance Model Injector-Producer (CRMIP). The main advantages of these algorithms are their low cost, high speed of operation, and the absence of the need for knowledge about the location of wells in the field and the physical properties of the formation. The MLR method is based on the pressure analysis with the use of the multivariate linear regression equation. The outputs are the weighting coefficients of well interference. To solve the problem using the CRMIP method we require a history of injection and production, bottomhole pressure of the production wells. The CRMIP takes into account the equation of material balance. On the basis of these data and the solution of the optimization problem we determine the coefficients of well interference, time delay in system response, and productivity coefficients. The programing modules were tested on various synthetic data in order to quantify the coefficients of well interference and to verify the predictive ability of the models. Good agreement of numerical results with baseline data is obtained. The analysis of the results of numerical simulation indicated that all the interference coefficients are defined correctly.