Establishment and Application of Fluid Production Model of Low Output Wells in Low Permeability Reservoirs

Low output wells were located in reservoirs with poor physical properties and generally had a low production capacity for a single well. Insufficient fluid supply to the formation during continuous pumping by the pumping unit results in the well being in an ineffective suction condition, further leading to lower pump efficiency, causing increased downhole pump failure rates and ultimately increasing well recovery costs. In this paper, a production model for low ouput wells in low permeability reservoirs was developed. By analysing the inflow and outflow performance of the wellbore, a reasonable intermittent production system was established and the intermittent production working time and well downtime for low ouput wells was calculated using the developed “Intermittent Production Optimisation Simulation System for Low Output Wells”. The intermittent production of low output wells has been verified in production operation site and the wells produced at more than 95% of the original continuous production rate according to the intermittent production time determined by the system, resulting in significant economic benefits in terms of energy savings.