Prediction of Oil Recovery by Waterflood - A Simplified Graphical Treatment of the Dykstra-Parsons Method

Abstract

A method for predicting waterflood oil recovery was reported by H. Dykstra and R. L. Parsons in 1950. It is now generally known as the Dykstra-Parsons method and is widely used by petroleum engineers.The method is semiempirical and consists of a correlation of four fundamental variables. These are: V, vertical permeability variation; a, mobility ratio; Sw, initial water saturation; and R, fractional recovery of oil in place at a given producing water-oil ratio. The correlation extends over a wide range in each of these variables, and may be applied to all formations with initial oil saturations of 45 per cent or greater.The method of calculation originally outlined by Dykstra and Parsons closely follows their derivation. And this is a convenient way of illustrating the development of some rather complicated ideas. However, in actual use it is more cumbersome than necessary. The purpose of this note, therefore, is to provide a simplified method for making Dykstra-Parsons predictions.