(2023053) Inflow Performance Estimation - Critical for Artificial Lift Design

Being able to calculate and predict the inflow performance from a well is critical in designing any form of artificial lift. The production/lift capability of whatever form of artificial lift chosen should closely match the current and future inflow performance of the well for the economics of the investment to be the highest.

Inflow performance estimation is also required to ensure that production is being optimized. When used with the outflow performance of the lift method, NODAL analysis can be performed to evaluate the entire production system for production enhancements.

This paper discusses the various methods available to determine the inflow performance of a well from the reservoir to the wellbore. The methods include the Productivity Index, Vogel Inflow Performance Relationship and Fetkovich method. In addition, methods to determine the inflow performance when the reservoir pressure is not known and predicting inflow performance over time are discussed.