Cleon Dunham, Oilfield Automation Consulting (OAC)
Virtually every oil production company and many gas producers, both major and independent, must use one or more forms of artificial lift to assist in producing their wells. Yet, most companies do not have artificial lift experts. In fact, many companies don"t even have engineers trained in artificial lift. And almost no companies have artificial lift research and development programs. In fact, most companies must depend solely on the service companies to provide the artificial lift technology, products, and services they require. But, all production companies face many challenges in the artificial lift arena to optimize the economic recovery of their hydrocarbon (both oil and gas) reserves. This is certainly true in the "green" field areas of horizontal, multi-lateral, deepwater, and sub-sea wells, and wells in challenging locations such as deserts, arctic environments, etc. It is also true in "brown" fields where even small percentage improvements in artificial lift effectiveness and efficiency can make the difference between a profitable and an unprofitable operation. If artificial lift is so important, and if "getting it right" is worth so much, why is there so little engineering focus on it? The answer seems to be that many companies consider artificial lift to be "old, existing, proven" technology, with little or no room for improvement. Many people feel that pumping or gas-lift is relatively simple. If the pump is going up and down, the well must be producing oil. If gas is being injected into the well, it must be producing by gas-lift. While these "feelings" may be true to some extent, it is often (perhaps normally) the case that the artificially lifted wells that do not receive much attention are operating very ineffectively and inefficiently. They are producing much less than they could; they are costing much more to operate than they should; and often both capital and repair and maintenance costs are much higher than necessary. This is not an idle claim. It has been proven, time and again, that an effective artificial lift surveillance program and application of appropriate artificial lift equipment and practices, can significantly increase production, reduce operating costs, reduce repair and maintenance costs, and often reduce capital expenditures. It has been proven that use of effective artificial lift processes, equipment, and practices can result in: Beam pumping wells - 5 - 10% more oil - 15 - 20% less energy consumption - 25 - 35% reduction in repair and maintenance costs Gas-lift wells - 5 - 10% more oil - 5 - 10% less gas-lift gas - Lower investments in compression equipment Electrical submersible pumping wells - 3 - 5% more oil - 6 - 12 months longer run times Being realistic, this is not a "pitch" to have every oil and gas production company hire an artificial lift engineering staff or start an artificial lift R&D department. Realizing that this is not going to happen, there is currently an effort underway to form an industry-wide organization to focus specifically on advancing the technology and "business" benefits of artificial lift by enhancing artificial lift technology, understanding, training, processes, equipment, practices, and applications. This industry initiative is called the Artificial Lift Research and Development Council (ALRDC).