Multi-parameter modeling for prediction of gas–water production in tight sandstone reservoirs

Abstract

Abstract Tight sandstone reservoirs are significant sources of natural gas reserves. As traditional reserves become increasingly scarce and costly, optimizing the development of these reservoirs becomes crucial. This study introduces a novel two-phase gas–water flow model for single wells, incorporating both Darcy and non-Darcy flow equations. These equations are derived from mass conservation and momentum principles for both gas and water phases. Using data from a real tight gas well, our model, which includes stress-sensitive phases for gas and water, outperforms traditional Darcy flow models. Specifically, the average relative deviations in daily production rates were 0.1815% for gas and − 0.2677% for water, which are significantly smaller compared to traditional Darcy flow models. Further application of the non-Darcy flow model reveals strategies to enhance well performance. For example, mitigating liquid lock damage within a 2 m radius near the well could restore the permeability from 0.045 to 0.143 mD, thereby tripling the daily gas production. This non-Darcy flow model is easy to implement and shows significant potential in forecasting production yields in tight sandstone reservoirs, highlighting its importance in the petroleum and natural gas industry.

Keywords

• Tight gas reservoirs
• Gas–water two-phase flow
• Production prediction
• Multi-parameter modeling
• Permeability restoration