Characteristics of Dimensionless Pressures and Derivatives of a Horizontal Well Completed Within Oil Reservoir Sealing Boundaries Inclined at 45 Degrees

This paper investigates dimensionless pressure and derivative distributions of a horizontal well completed within an oil reservoir with sealing external boundaries inclined at 45°. The total dimensionless pressure of an object horizontal well, based on its distance from 
the boundaries, well design, wellbore storage and skin, was derived by superposition principle accounting for all image wells generated due to inclination of the boundaries of the reservoir. Infinite-acting flow period was assumed to prevail throughout flow. The results indicate that there are seven (7) image wells generated due to the inclination. Dimensionless pressure gradients and derivatives of 9.2104/LD and 4/LD, respectively, characterized flow at large dimensionless flow times. Higher dimensionless well length prolonged the pseudo-linear flow regime, delaying boundary-dominated flow. Larger dimensionless well radii increased early-time pressure gradients. High skin factors and wellbore storage caused increased pressure drop and delayed response of transients by the inclined reservoir external boundaries. The farther the horizontal well from the external boundaries, the longer the well experienced infinite-acting flow, and therefore, delayed pseudosteady state flow. The study can provide a guide on horizontal well location and completion that can assist in optimizing oil recovery in reservoirs with sealing boundaries inclined at 45 degrees.