Training

Nodal Analysis in Self-flowing and Artificial Lift Wells

• 5 days in person
• 40 hours virtual
• Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Synopsis

Dynamics of oil and gas production wells require that decisions related to oil and gas producing installations be made after a thorough analysis of many inputs and many more production scenarios. NODAL™ analysis, also referred to as production system analysis, is an important technique that offers a toolset to determine the optimum combination of wellbore and surface system parameters under varying production conditions.

This five-day course aims to provide an essential discussion of NODAL analysis for naturally flowing oil and gas wells and artificially lifted wells. Using a combination of lectures and classroom exercises, we introduce participants to the theories underlying this vital technique. Once students understand the building blocks, combinatorial scenarios are introduced and solved to help students understand the interaction of various system parameters.

Learning outcomes

• Learn the fundamentals of oil and gas production, such as:
  • Black oil characteristics and the importance of PVT properties
  • Multi-phase fluid flow behavior and patterns, multi-phase fluid flow correlations and unified mechanistic models
  • Reservoir behavior, or the inflow performance relationship (IPR)
  • Vertical lift performance (VLP) and pressure-gradient curves
• Combine the above concepts, leading to NODAL analysis concepts such as:
  • Selection of optimum completion
  • When will a gas or oil well not flow naturally?
• Apply NODAL analysis for artificial lift scenarios

Who should attend

• Production, reservoir, completion, drilling, and facilities engineers, analysts, and operators
• Anyone interested in learning about the application of NODAL analysis to well design and operational decisions, and their effect on profitability

Prerequisites

• Understanding of petroleum production concepts.

Course outline

• Pre-test
• Production Basics
  • The objectives, and the main challenges to achieve these objectives
  • Why is designing in a piece-meal fashion not the most effective approach?
• NODAL Analysis or Systems Analysis
  • What is it?
  • What do we need to perform NODAL analysis?
• Single and Multi-Phase Flow Basics
  • Why multiphase flow?
  • Flow structures/patterns
  • Flow correlation categories
  • Mechanistic model
• PVT Basics
  • Black oil model or compositional?
  • Review of black oil models
  • Example calculations
• Inflow Performance Relationship
  • Basic concepts
  • The Productivity Index model
  • IPR relationships (class problems)
    • Vogel’s IPR correlation
    • Fetkovich’s method
• Flow through Restrictions
  • Critical flow correlations
  • General calculation models, well performance
• Well Performance
  • Inflow performance
  • Outflow performance
  • System equilibrium at mid-perf depth, wellhead
  • Parameters influencing inflow and outflow performance
  • Design examples considering multiple combinations of parameters
• NODAL Analysis of Continuous Flow Gas Lifted Wells
  • Basics of continuous flow gas lift design (class problems)
  • The effects of operational parameters
  • NODAL analysis of system performance

Formats and customization

• Duration: 5 days for in-person instruction, or 40 hours in virtual sessions.
• Software: PROSPER or SNAP and QROD software packages are used to demonstrate the effective use of NODAL analysis.
• Client option: the client may provide another software package and their datasets. A workshop is then conducted to provide hands-on exposure to how NODAL analysis is performed in that software package and what workflow engineers can use to get maximum benefit. This requires three days of consulting work and a license for the client’s software at least 4 weeks prior to the class.

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