Oil well test analysis is a branch of reservoir engineering. Information obtained from flow and pressure transient tests about in situ reservoir conditions are important to determining the productive capacity of a reservoir. Pressure transient analysis also yields estimates of the average reservoir pressure. The reservoir engineer must have sufficient information about the condition and characteristics of reservoir/well to adequately analyze reservoir performance and to forecast future production under various modes of operation.

The production engineer must know the condition of production and injection wells to persuade the best possible performance from the reservoir. Pressures are the most valuable and useful data in reservoir engineering. Directly or indirectly, they enter into all phases of reservoir engineering calculations. Therefore accurate determination of reservoir parameters is very important.