Paper: A System Of Automatic Lease Operation

An 87-well lease in a major West Texas oil field has been converted to automatic operations except for custody transfer. The system automatically controls the production from the wells and the periodic well testing scheduled for the lease. All wells on the lease are pumped with standard, electrically powered, beam units. Periodic well testing, formerly done manually, is now performed automatically by means of electrically operated time controllers which divert on a pre-determined schedule production from the well to be tested through well test units. Lease production is gathered at a central storage battery equipped with automatic tank switching and safety controls. The pumper's work on the lease includes daily visits to the battery with the pipeline gauge to test manually the oil and to make the pipeline runs and checks of wells and equipment for routine maintenance.