Achieving Low Producing Bottom Hole Pressures in Deep Wells Using Hydraulic Reciprocating Pumps

The Citronelle oil field, underlying the town of Citronelle, Alabama, is located on a topographic high approximately 350 feet above sea level (Figure 1). The existence of this surface anomaly encouraged oil and gas exploration in the Citronelle area. Oil was discovered in 1955 with the drilling of the Donovan Well #l on a vacant car lot. The discovery well flowed about 500 barrels of oil per day with an initial bottom hole pressure of 5000 psi. As discovery of the field continued, over 450 wells were drilled on 40-acre tracts covering about 17,600 acres. Cumulative production through 1997 was approximately 161 MMBO and 125 MMBW from the Citronelle field which is about half of the total oil produced in the State of Alabama. Oil production is currently averaging about 3300 barrels of oil per day with 10,000 barrels of associated saltwater production. Figure 2 reflects the historical oil production and water injection in the Citronelle oil field.