R.L. Nickell, El Paso Natural Gas Company
The removal of accumulated liquids from the wellbores of gas wells is a problem which has faced operators for as long as natural gas has been produced. The reduction of deliverability resulting from these liquid accumulations and the expenditure of cash and energy to remove the liquids are at best expensive nuisances, and at worst, economic catastrophes. Many approaches have been taken toward the solution of this liquid removal problem with varying degrees of success. The type of approach taken depends upon a number of factors including the type of liquid to be removed, available reservoir energy, and economic considerations. With adequate available reservoir energy and optimized production practices, expenditures for artificial lift aids may be minimized or eliminated; With slightly less energy to draw upon, these aids may take the form of gas lift or cycled pulsing or purging of the wellbore liquids. The worst conditions, from an economic standpoint, involve those wells which due to pressure decline, excessive liquid influx, or low permeability, require mechanically lifting an unsalable product. This is recognizable as pumping water from gas wells, and is not a new idea to many operators including El Paso Natural Gas Co. which has been operating pumping units on gas wells since 1964. One of the most recent entries in the field of pumping equipment is the pneumatic pumping unit. The units which El Paso now has in operation are proving to be a valuable addition in dewatering low-pressure gas wells. At present El Paso operates some 69 pumping units in the East Panhandle Field in Texas and the South Erick Field in Oklahoma. Of these, six are pneumatic units and the remainder are conventional beam-type units powered by gas-fueled engines or electric motors