Matt Young and Robert Strong
Flowco Production Solutions
Production engineers struggle every day with decisions on tubing size and flow path selection for their wells. This could be regarding what applications will be most appropriate over the life of the well, what timing would be appropriate for tubing install and/or flow path transition (annular to tubing flow), or what size would be appropriate for the remainder of the well’s life after a workover. Selecting the wrong tubing in naturally flowing or gas lift wells can result in heading, loading up, or unstable flow (if the tubing/flow area is too large), or excessive friction and loss of production (if the flow area is too small). Many papers have covered the task of artificial lift selection, however most provide a very large envelope for Gas Lift and few provide insight into tubing size and flow path selection. This paper aims to provide guidelines for tubing size and flow path selection based on nodal models matched to production data from a variety of operators in unconventional plays across the United States (Eagle Ford, Oklahoma Granite Wash, Permian/Delaware, and Dj Niobrara). We will compare sensitivities in SNAP nodal analysis software for a variety of liquid rates and gas to liquid ratios (GLRs), and briefly touch on hydraulic model selection for obtaining an appropriate production match when using nodal analysis.