<p>Investigating the principles of bottomwater movement in reservoirs is critically important for optimizing oilfield development and production efficiency. Current studies of bottomwater dynamics in bottomwater reservoirs focus on breakthrough time prediction, typically employing empirical formulas, block-wise approximate computation, or numerical simulation. However, existing methodologies fail to adequately characterise the dynamic coning behaviour of water encroachment profiles in bottomwater reservoirs. Based on the potential functions of the bottomwater reservoir, the vertical well in a bottomwater reservoir is regarded as line source composed of point sources, and the analytical solution of the potential distribution of the vertical well under the steady state conditions is obtained. A new method is derived to predict the rising height of the bottomwater, and the dynamic model of the water coning is established to calculate the water breakthrough time in bottomwater reservoirs. Furthermore, the rising behavior of bottomwater in the oil well is analyzed quantitatively. Moreover, by applying this principle to specific reservoirs, the dynamic water coning model based on potential functions not only accurately predicts the timing of bottomwater breakthrough but also enables the determination of optimal daily oil production rates, ideal water avoidance height, and favorable reservoir anisotropy characteristics. It is of guiding significance for the efficient development and production of vertical wells in bottomwater reservoirs.</p>