Define the objective of a well test and translate it into a rate and duration design.
Oil, Gas & Energy
Well Test Design and Pressure Transient Analysis
Covers well test design, data acquisition and pressure transient analysis, enabling reservoir and production engineers to estimate permeability, skin, boundaries and reserves from real test data.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
A well test that runs for the wrong duration, or at a rate that never stabilises, can produce a pressure record that no interpretation method can rescue. This course teaches well test design and pressure transient analysis as one connected discipline, starting with why a test is run: to estimate permeability and skin, locate reservoir boundaries, confirm connectivity between wells, or support a reserves estimate. Participants design drawdown, buildup, injection falloff and interference tests, sizing flow rate and duration against the radius of investigation the test objective requires, and specify downhole gauge and surface readout requirements. The core of the course is diagnostic interpretation: reading log-log pressure and derivative plots to identify wellbore storage, radial, linear and boundary-dominated flow regimes, applying Horner and superposition methods to buildup data, and matching type curves to a reservoir model. Exercises use real field pressure records with the noise, gauge drift and rate history gaps that textbooks usually remove, so participants finish able to defend a permeability, skin or boundary estimate against a sceptical asset team.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Size a well test using radius of investigation calculations appropriate to the reservoir.
Specify downhole gauge and surface readout requirements for a planned well test.
Diagnose flow regimes from a log-log pressure and derivative plot.
Apply Horner and superposition methods to interpret pressure buildup data.
Match a type curve to a reservoir model that explains the observed pressure response.
Estimate permeability, skin and reservoir boundaries from a completed well test.
Who Should Attend
Reservoir engineers who design, supervise or interpret well tests.
Production engineers evaluating well performance and completion effectiveness.
Petroleum engineering graduates moving into a reservoir or production engineering role.
Well test supervisors and surveillance engineers working with downhole gauge data.
Asset team members who review well test reports and rely on their conclusions.
Geoscientists who use well test results to support static and dynamic reservoir models.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Well Test Planning and Design
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Setting Test Objectives and Type
- Translate an asset question, such as connectivity or boundary distance, into a well test objective.
- Select between drawdown, buildup, injection falloff and interference test types.
- Decide whether a single-rate or multi-rate test sequence best meets the test objective.
- Identify the reservoir and completion data needed before a well test can be designed.
Session 2Sizing Rate, Duration and Radius of Investigation
- Calculate radius of investigation for a candidate flow rate and duration combination.
- Size test duration so the expected flow regime of interest is actually reached.
- Estimate the flow rate needed for a measurable pressure response without formation damage.
- Plan contingency duration for wellbore storage or supercharging effects that delay diagnosis.
02Data Acquisition and Quality Control
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Gauges, Surface Readout and Data Capture
- Specify downhole gauge accuracy, resolution and sampling rate for a planned test.
- Decide when surface readout is needed in addition to memory gauge recording.
- Plan rate measurement and allocation so the flow history matches the pressure record.
- Identify common causes of gauge failure or data gaps during a well test.
Session 2Despiking and Preparing Data for Analysis
- Despike and filter raw pressure data without removing genuine reservoir signal.
- Reconcile gauge depth and datum so pressure data refers to a consistent reference point.
- Merge rate history and pressure data into a single dataset ready for superposition.
- Flag data quality issues that should be reported alongside the interpretation results.
03Pressure Transient Diagnostic Analysis
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Log-Log Derivative Diagnostics
- Plot pressure change and its logarithmic derivative against elapsed time on a log-log scale.
- Identify wellbore storage and the transition to radial flow on a derivative plot.
- Recognise linear, bilinear and spherical flow signatures on a derivative plot.
- Detect boundary effects, including faults and no-flow limits, from late-time derivative behaviour.
Session 2Horner and Superposition Analysis
- Apply the Horner method to estimate permeability and skin from a pressure buildup test.
- Apply superposition in time to interpret a buildup that follows a variable rate history.
- Extrapolate a Horner plot to estimate average reservoir pressure.
- Recognise when Horner analysis is unreliable and a full model match is required instead.
04Model Identification and Reservoir Characterisation
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Type-Curve Matching and Model Selection
- Match a measured derivative response to a library of standard reservoir and well models.
- Distinguish a homogeneous reservoir model from a dual-porosity or layered model response.
- Select the simplest model consistent with the diagnostic plot rather than the most complex one.
- Cross-check a type-curve match against independent geological and geophysical evidence.
Session 2Estimating Skin, Permeability and Reserves
- Calculate skin factor and relate a positive value to likely formation damage mechanisms.
- Estimate reservoir permeability-thickness from the radial flow line on a derivative plot.
- Use late-time boundary response to estimate drainage area and support a reserves estimate.
- Present well test conclusions and their uncertainty range in a report an asset team can act on.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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