Development of The Aleoc Beam Pump Failure Database

Sucker-rod pumping system is the most numerous among all artificial lift methods used in the Permian Basin. Therefore. continued efforts to improve and optimize sucker-rod performance are imperative for successful operation in this area. The Artificial Lift Energy Optimization Consortium (ALEOC) was formed by eleven oil companies operating in the Permian Basin with the primary goal of improving oil field operations through sharing experiences. The consortium members provided beam pump related data from about 25.000 wells, which is about a quarter of sucker-rod pumped wells in the entire Permian Basin. A database has been developed to combine these data into a single, uniform and consistent format. The database can be queried and analyzed either via the Internet or in the desktop environment. From the query results, one can calculate failure frequencies of pump, rod, and tubing, and summarize the results in various ways. Such analysis will suggest answers to questions like what component is the most/least likely to fail. which operating areas have typically high/low failures, and what is the performance of a company relative to the other companies. Knowing these facts should greatly benefit each company in making engineering and business decisions.