Daniel Hall - Weatherford
The newly re-engineered 1” conventional Injection-Pressure-Operated (IPO) gas lift valve delivers a major advancement in gas lift technology for five-and-a-half-inch casing applications running 2 7/8” production tubing. By doubling the nitrogen dome volume, this upgraded long-dome design significantly decreases the valve's load rate and expands its gas passage capacity, ultimately driving higher production efficiency.
In-house laboratory testing conducted to API Spec. 19G2 validation demonstrates that doubling the dome volume reduces the load rate by approximately 38 percent and increases the gas-lift injection rate by up to 32 percent. These design advancements optimize downhole pressure management, stabilize gas injection rates, and reduce sensitivity to thermal and pressure fluctuations. Consequently, the long-dome configuration minimizes the risk of multi-pointing and allows operators to achieve lower injection-pressure differentials deeper in the wellbore without sacrificing tubing size.
While standard 1” conventional IPO valves typically exhibit a higher load rate than 1.5” valves—which accelerates multi-pointing and restricts full valve travel—this innovative long-dome design bridges the performance gap. It successfully reduces the load rate to mimic larger valve performance while maintaining the slim mechanical profile required for constrained casing architectures.
Minimizing multi-pointing tendencies and extending true single-point injection mitigates downhole fluid slugging while simultaneously optimizing surface compressor efficiency—thereby reducing both operating expenses (OPEX) and greenhouse gas emissions (CO2). This expanded-dome technology provides operators with a highly cost-effective methodology for maximizing flow performance and total well productivity without requiring capital-intensive retrofits.
Empirical field performance strongly validates the initial laboratory findings. Since its inception in early 2025, over 1,600 long-dome valves have been successfully deployed in more than 200 wells across five major operators, with zero interventions or workovers attributed to valve mechanical failure. Notably, a multi-well pad trial conducted by ConocoPhillips compared three wells utilizing the long-dome configuration against four baseline wells equipped with standard 1” IPO valves. The results confirmed that the long-dome technology sustained the enhanced single-point injection stability and performance optimization observed during API testing. Consequently, the technology has achieved rapid commercial acceptance, with several Permian Basin operators standardizing on the 1” long-dome IPO valve for their conventional gas-lift programs.