An improved rate-transient analysis model of multi-fractured horizontal wells with non-uniform hydraulic fracture properties

Although technical advances in hydraulically fracturing and drilling enable commercial production from tight reservoirs, oil/gas recovery remains at a low level. Due to the technical and economic limitations of well-testing operations in tight reservoirs, rate-transient analysis (RTA) has become a more attractive option. However, current RTA models hardly consider the effect of the non-uniform production on rate decline behaviors. In fact, PLT results demonstrate that production profile is non-uniform. To fill this gap, this paper presents an improved RTA model of multi-fractured horizontal wells (MFHWs) to investigate the effects of non-uniform properties of hydraulic fractures (production of fractures, fracture half-length, number of fractures, fracture conductivity, and vertical permeability) on rate transient behaviors through the diagnostic type curves. Results indicate obvious differences on the rate decline curves among the type curves of uniform properties of fractures (UPF) and non-uniform properties of fractures (NPF). The use of dimensionless production integral derivative curve magnifies the differences so that we can diagnose the phenomenon of non-uniform production. Therefore, it's significant to incorporate the effects of NPF into the RDA models of MFHWs, and the model proposed in this paper enables us to better evaluate well performance based on long-term production data.