Artificial Lift

In less than 9 years, High Pressure/Single Point Gas Lift has grown from 0 to about 3000 applications in unconventional wells and its use continues to expand with trailer mounted units to unload frac hits and applications later in the well life.

This paper presents examples of these expanding applications including case histories on unloading frac hits and shows how/why this very simple "new" technology grew from one person's idea to wide spread/ expanding adoption in a relatively short time.

This paper introduces a technology for handling solids above the discharge of the ESP pump that increases the run time of the well and prevents premature failure due to plugging or damage to the pump parts thus contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions and environmental impact. Additionally, the new technology was engineered to allow fluid injection through the tubing and its components can be dissembled after pulling it, providing the production engineers with valuable information about the downhole conditions.

A discussion of Rod Lift VSD control parameters, setup, and configuration for optimal operation under varying operating conditions
History shows that many operators utilize only the most basic control parameters when setting up VSDs for rod lift applications. This paper will discuss the VSD and Rod Pump Control parameters necessary for safe, reliable, and efficient rod lift control.    

The most common form of artificial lift is sucker-rod pumping. One of the main elements of rod lift system design is the selection of a downhole pump. This study examines the various factors that affect the selection and design of downhole rod pumps. This paper will examine the following five downhole pump components: barrel, plunger, cages, balls and seats, and seating assembly. Understanding the various well and system design factors that are examined when selecting each of these components is a crucial part in the design of the downhole pump.

The Greater Elk Hills Area boasts a substantial continuous rod population, introduced to the field due to loading requirements and casing restrictions. However, the existing continuous rod population is now comprised of older worn rod strings, with many of these strings exceeding ten years of service. These rod strings commonly require sections of rod replaced when they are pulled during service operations, highlighting the need for a precise and reliable inspection method.  

With the use of mechanical long stroke units having stroke lengths of 291–416 inches, converting to rod lift is being done sooner. Rates of 400-900 bfpd are being achieved in wells as deep as 10000 feet TVD. This helps to eliminate running multiple ESPs to draw down a well into the 400-500 bfpd range. This presentation will discuss the history and demand of long stroke pumping units in the market today, challenges operators are facing using other forms of artificial lift in this specific volume range, as well as discuss case studies and real results about the mentioned wells.

Standing and Traveling valves can be considered as the heart of a rod pump. An unrestricted fluid flow through the standing and traveling valves improve the pump efficiency and pump life. An unrestrained fluid flow through the traveling valve helps the sucker rod string to fall freely, which reduces rod buckling and eliminates unnecessary load on the surface unit. And in the case of the standing valve, it reduces the velocity and pressure drop across the cage, which lessens the gas lock in a pump.

At the well or through the cloud from any location in the world an operator can troubleshoot and analyze the performance of any well. Fluid level and dynamometer test can be acquired and used to analyze challenging sucker rod lifted wells without requiring the operator to be present at the wellsite. The operator can automatically acquire precisely time stamped high frequency data using an acquisition schedule created/modified remotely to acquire data for an extended time period and/or acquire individual test on demand.

Incomplete fillage conditions where the downhole pump does not completely fill up with incompressible liquid has been widely accepted to have detrimental effects on pumping efficiency and moreover the equipment longevity in sucker rod pumping applications.
Methods of synchronizing the pump displacement to the wells inflow and thus reducing incomplete fillage has been of keen interest to the industry. 

The percentage of oil wells using 3-Phase Electric motors controlled by Variable Frequency Drives is continuing to grow.  As new wells come online they are also added to existing Utility feeder lines.     As a result of increasing non-linear load density, utilities are gradually turning to stricter enforcement protocols.  New utility interconnect permits may be withheld until the utility is satisfied that a new pad will comply with IEEE519-2022.