Murphy is currently operating 500 beam pumped wells in the unconventional Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas. There are numerous challenges to beam pumping operations in the Eagle Ford, which included paraffin, corrosion, solids, deviated wellbores, slug flow, and foamy gassy fluid.
One of the challenges, deviated wellbores, led to an increased frequency of failures due to metal to metal contact between the rod coupling and the tubing. The development of a rod guide strategy has significantly reduced the failure frequency of tubing and parted rod couplings due to wear.
The development of the strategy includes data from the failure data base, the use of tubing scanning, the proper placement of the guides and the use of the proper guide material.