CRITICAL RATE DEFINITION

Since the early days, several experiments and mathematical analyses were conducted to solve coning problems. One of the basic conclusions of many analyses was if oil is produced at a sufficiently low rate (or if pressure drawdown in a vertical well is reduced), coning of water and gas can be avoided, and only oil is produced. This low rate is called the critical rate. Thus, the critical rate is defined as the maximum rate at which oil is produced without production of gas or water.

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