BEAM PUMPING TO DEWATER HORIZONTAL GAS WELLS

With the advent of Shale gas, fractured horizontal gas wells are the preferred method of well construction. Figure 1 illustrates production from Shale Gas. The well construction of horizontal wells can take on many forms. Figure 2 shows that horizontal wells can be drilled up from the kick off point, approximately horizontally from the kick off point and downward from the kick off point. The wells can be more complex than shown in Figure 2 and of different depths than illustrated. However for horizontal wells, when using pumps, the pumps cannot be set below the perforations as they sometimes can be for gas separation in near vertical wells, so this advantage is lost. This is one reason that many horizontal gas wells are dewatering using gas lift. However there are advantages to using beam pumps that still can be considered.