Fount E. McKee, Delta X Corp.
A well analysis program is an area where any oil company can make money immediately. It appears that most well analyses are performed by large oil companies that have large computer facilities. However, in order to use these facilities, a great deal of effort is required on the part of the engineer or technician. Quite often, the engineer could make a few calculations with a small calculator and have the answer to the problem. This requires that the engineer understand the basic principles of the pump, rod string, and pumping unit operation. Equipment to obtain the necessary data was hard to use and required considerable time. Usually, the pumping system had severe problems before the time and effort would be spent to analyze it. Now, equipment is available that will allow the engineer or technician to obtain the data easily and make an analysis in a few minutes. Of primary importance is a thorough understanding of the operation of a modern oil well pump. Figure 1 is a schematic drawing of such a pump