Indirect estimation of the production rate of wells with low flow rate

The problem of measuring the flow rate of wells with low production rates is relevant for many oil fields. Conventional flow meters are not suitable for such cases, and installing an additional flow meter for each well is impractical. At the same time, wells with sucker-rod pumping units (the majority of wells) are outfitted with dynamographs for continuous diagnostics of the pumping equipment state. Dynamograms allow determining the theoretical flow rate of the well easily, however, a mathematical model is required to estimate the actual flow rate. For the correction of flow rate obtained from dynamograms, the authors of this study propose using models based on regression equations that link the calculated valueswith the measurements made by a reference instrument. The results of the experiments have confirmed the eligibility of this approach.