Reservoir Pressure Decline Analysis & Performance Prediction
Analyze pressure decline curves and predict reservoir performance with type curve matching
What You Can Do
You can analyze pressure buildup and drawdown test data to identify flow regimes, apply type curve matching techniques to estimate reservoir properties, and conduct material balance studies to quantify original oil/gas in place (OOIP/OGIP). Claude helps you evaluate pressure support mechanisms, generate production forecasts under different depletion scenarios, and assess reserve uncertainty from pressure interpretation data.
Features
Match production decline data to Arps, logistic growth, or analytical models to extract permeability, skin factor, and storativity
Estimate OOIP/OGIP and quantify aquifer influx, gas cap expansion, or water injection drive strength
Distinguish early transient, boundary-dominated, and late-time flow periods to optimize analysis approach
Generate production forecasts and estimate ultimate recovery under primary depletion and secondary recovery scenarios
Assess aquifer support, pressure maintenance, and compartmentalization effects from pressure and production trends
Apply hyperbolic, exponential, and harmonic decline models with confidence intervals for long-term projections
Tie pressure interpretation assumptions to reserve ranges and sensitivity analysis
Identify pressure transient anomalies, artifacts, and compartmentalization that affect interpretation validity
Example Output
Example 1: Type Curve Match Report
- Flow regime: Early transient (0–10 hours) → Late transient (10–100 hours) → Boundary-dominated (>100 hours)
- Permeability estimate: 45 mD (range: 38–52 mD, 90% CI)
- Skin factor: +2.1 (partial penetration and formation damage)
- Storativity ratio: 2.2 × 10⁻⁵ (typical for sandstone)
- Recommended next step: Monitor late-time buildup data to confirm boundary effect
Example 2: Material Balance Summary
- Original oil in place (OOIP): 18.5 MMbbl (range: 16.2–21.0 MMbbl)
- Cumulative production to date: 4.2 MMbbl (22.7% of OOIP)
- Aquifer influx contribution: 31% of pressure support (strong active aquifer)
- Forecast EUR (primary): 12.8 MMbbl at 15 bar abandonment pressure
- Forecast EUR (secondary): 16.5 MMbbl with 5 MMbbl water injection
Example 3: Pressure Decline Forecast
- 10-year production forecast: 3.2 MMbbl/yr → 0.8 MMbbl/yr (hyperbolic decline, b=0.65)
- Pressure trajectory: 280 bar → 95 bar (primary depletion)
- Gas cap expansion contribution: ~8% of cumulative production by year 5
- Sensitivity: ±15% EUR variance tied to aquifer model uncertainty
What's Included
- SKILL.md: Core instruction file with pressure decline analysis workflows and best practices
- Pressure Decline Analysis Template: Structured worksheet for collecting well test data, identifying flow regimes, and documenting type curve matches
- Material Balance Calculation Framework: Step-by-step guidance for OOIP/OGIP estimation with example spreadsheet logic
- Type Curve Reference Library: Quick-reference charts for Arps, logistic growth, and analytical model selection
- Production Forecast Checklist: Validation steps for decline curve quality, boundary effect confirmation, and scenario comparison
Who It's For
- Reservoir engineers — Conduct well test analysis, material balance studies, and production forecasting for reserve estimation
- Petroleum engineers — Evaluate pressure support mechanisms and quantify drive strength in field development planning
- Production engineers — Forecast EUR and optimize depletion strategies under different recovery scenarios
- Technical asset managers — Assess reserve uncertainty and pressure-driven performance trends for portfolio decisions
- Petrophysicists — Integrate pressure analysis with core data and formation property interpretation
Best For
- Interpreting buildup and drawdown well test data to estimate reservoir properties
- Matching production decline curves to analytical models for EUR forecasting
- Estimating original oil/gas in place (OOIP/OGIP) using material balance equations
- Evaluating aquifer influx, gas cap expansion, and pressure maintenance mechanisms
- Quantifying reserve uncertainty and sensitivity to pressure regime assumptions
- Troubleshooting anomalous pressure behavior indicative of faults or compartmentalization
You might also like
You can use this skill to systematize seismic interpretation workflows without replacing specialized software like Kingdom or Petrel. It helps you organize fault geometry analysis, establish chronostratigraphic frameworks, identify seismic facies patterns, define trap configuration and spill geometry, and assess seal integrity. The skill transforms scattered observations into documented, reproducible interpretive products that support volumetric assessment and drilling decisions.
by delphine-l
You can systematically analyze formation pressure measurements, buildup/drawdown test data, and long-term monitoring records to diagnose underlying reservoir behavior. This skill helps you identify depletion trends, detect faulting or sealing boundaries, quantify aquifer support, track fluid contact movement, and reveal wellbore communication patterns—transforming raw pressure data into strategic guidance for drilling locations, completion design, and production operations.
by delphine-l
You can analyze geochemical analytical data to characterize petroleum source rocks and quantify their hydrocarbon generation potential. This skill guides you through interpreting Rock-Eval pyrolysis parameters (S1, S2, S3, Tmax), assessing thermal maturity using vitrinite reflectance and Tmax correlations, classifying kerogen types (I-IV), calculating transformation ratios, and evaluating depositional environments to construct petroleum systems models and manage exploration risk.
by delphine-l
You can process cuttings samples, core descriptions, wireline logs, and offset well data simultaneously to identify formation boundaries, detect unexpected lithology, and generate actionable drilling recommendations within 15–30 minutes. The skill cross-validates disparate data sources to confirm formation picks, mitigates drilling delays that cost $1M+/day on deepwater rigs, and produces audit-compliant documentation of stratigraphic decisions made in real time.
by delphine-l
You can conduct systematic hazard identification across operational zones, quantify exposure severity using evidence-based risk matrices, and develop hierarchical control strategies with realistic implementation timelines. This skill helps you document defensible assessments that satisfy regulatory requirements (OSHA, API, IMCA) and support informed decision-making for health protection measures.
by delphine-l
You can systematically interpret sedimentary facies from core descriptions, wireline logs, and outcrop data to build coherent paleoenvironmental models. This skill helps you classify lithofacies and ichnofacies, recognize recurring depositional patterns, correlate stratigraphic intervals across multiple wells, and predict reservoir quality and geometry based on depositional systems. You'll move beyond simple lithologic logging to derive interpretations that directly support exploration risking, play fairway mapping, and field development planning.
by delphine-l
You can decompose seismic interpretation into discrete analysis phases—structural identification, stratigraphic correlation, fault characterization, seal integrity evaluation, and source-to-trap geometry validation. Claude generates ranked prospect summaries with explicit confidence levels tied to seismic data quality, regional analogs, and pressure regime consistency, giving you documented rationale for go/no-go decisions and resource allocation across exploration blocks.
by delphine-l
You can perform comprehensive wellbore hydraulics analysis by inputting well geometry, fluid properties, and operational parameters. Claude calculates pressure drops across open hole and cased hole sections, determines equivalent circulating density (ECD) for narrow margin windows, identifies flow regime transitions, and provides optimization recommendations that balance ROP, hole cleaning, and well control margins. This enables you to validate designs, troubleshoot pressure anomalies, and make data-driven adjustments to flow rates and drilling fluid specifications before issues impact operations.
by delphine-l