Many of us, at one time or another in our careers, have encountered industry colleagues or team members convinced of the need to gather information, sometimes at any cost. In contrast, just as many struggle with advocating even the most rudimentary data gathering to decision makers within their company. A common problem, particularly in small companies, can be a tendency to make quick decisions without considering possible effects by relying on past experience and judgment to expedite decision making for new problems. Planning can seem bureaucratic and unnecessary, particularly to less-experienced or nontechnical professionals. However, when objectives are not established and deliverables are not determined before making the final decision, the result can be a large invoice and information or service that is essentially useless.
Modern software, sometimes with less effort than my children put into mastering the latest "Xbox 360" release, will transform any kind of input data into an impressive array of results that can provide compelling justification for a completely wrong conclusion. I am picturing trainloads of investors passing through early oil fields where a strong pump and full tank battery could provide an impressive "gusher" timed by the promoter for just the right moment! And even a cursory look at input and assumptions going into some of our modern analysis can keep us from drawing wrong conclusions. Along with colorful or animated results, the most useful and relevant analysis in our industry will always invest the necessary time to confirm quality of the input data and verify the purpose or application of the results.
The papers highlighted on the following pages provide good examples of how unmet needs can provide insight into better analysis methods. New tools result from the need to acquire important information that would otherwise be uneconomic. Thorough engineers and technicians will be interested in the accuracy of their analysis as it relates to the quality of the input data. Solid analysis over time can uncover further insight into the performance of a hydrocarbon asset. I hope that you will find the selected papers of interest and that they will provide stimulation for new approaches in your well-testing and surveillance activities.
Well Testing additional reading available at the SPE eLibrary: www.spe.org
SPE 116744 • "Equivalent Skin Factors for Nonuniformly Damaged Horizontal and Multilateral Wells" by Turhan Yildiz, SPE, Colorado School of Mines
SPE 118940 • "Evaluation of Skin Factor From Single-Rate Gas-Well Test" by K. Aminian, West Virginia University, et al.
Additional reading available at OnePetro: www.onepetro.org
OTC 19140 • "Oilwell Transient Testing by Injection of Miscible Liquid" by J.J. Voelker, SPE, Chevron
