US Patent 9399901 Characterizing flow production

A method for characterizing flow production of a well. The method includes generating a plurality of dimensionless decline curves from a mathematical model that characterizes an expected flow production of the well and generating an overlay curve based on production data pertaining to the well. After generating the mathematical model and the overlay curve, the method compares the overlay curve to the plurality of dimensionless decline curves. The method then calculates a reservoir effective drainage area for the well based on the comparison.