Paper: Preventative Maintenance For Beam Pumping Equipment

A Preventive Maintenance (PM) Program has been established in the southeastern New Mexico portion of Continental Oil Company's production department operation. The PM system has been in operation for 12 months and covers over 2000 separate pieces of major surface equipment. The concept of preventive maintenance is not new in production operations; however, most operating organizations incorporate PM and operations in one organization. The primary disadvantage of this type of setup is the secondary priority PM receives. Day-to-day operating problems normally receive first priority and PM work is done after the "emergencies" are handled. For that reason, Conoco's "PM" organization has been separated from the "operations" organization. Preventive maintenance is the systematic inspection, cleaning, lubrication, and servicing of equipment. The objective of PM is to prevent malfunctions and breakdowns, with the result that all mechanical equipment will work as well and as long as it should with minimum repairs. Operations include those tasks that have to be done to efficiently produce oil and gas wells, to monitor and control oilfield facilities, to answer alarms, and to assure that environmental and safety standards are maintained. An efficient production operation must give equal priority to operational tasks and PM. This paper deals only with the PM for beam pumping equipment. However, the procedures followed in establishing the PM for the beam pumping equipment are essentially the same for all pieces of equipment included in this project.