Gas Lift

Intermittent gas lift (IGL) is emerging as a key late-life artificial lift method for the growing number of aging horizontal wells in the Permian Basin. With more than 20,000 wells on continuous gas lift, operators face challenges in converting to IGL and operating it effectively. This study synthesizes lessons gathered from controlled IGL experiments at the Texas Tech Oilfield Technology Center...

This paper explores the High Pressure Gas Lift Upper Completion Design Strategy in the Delaware Basin, focusing on optimizing gas lift design for a life-of-well approach that ensures optimal economics. Various design options are assessed to balance cost savings, reliability, and operational efficiency. A comparative analysis of different gas lift designs, including Single Point (no GLV), Side...

OBJECTIVES/SCOPE: The presentation will review a new modeling workflow utilizing dynamic, iterative nodal analysis  with cumulative-based IPR indexing to generate production profiles for different operating scenarios for a given base-case production forecast. Output profiles can be tested for value in an economic model. This workflow has been used to rebase the high-pressure gas lift strategy in...

Objective/Scope: Presentation will review design, installation, and results of recent novel artificial lift pilot in the DJ Basin. GALLOP (Gas Assisted Liquid Lift Oscillating Pressure) is a new variant of gas-lift, designed to unload horizontal wells from the lateral. Unloading from the lateral can add years to a well’s life by preventing heel loading when reservoir pressure drops too low to keep...

In the Delaware Basin, traditional well control during high-pressure annular gas lift installations often introduced risks of formation damage, restricted wellbore access, costly interventions, and extended non-productive time. A dissolvable packer eliminated these drawbacks by delivering reliable pressure isolation without kill fluids, snubbing, or retrieval operations, enabling day-one gas lift...

Effective back-check performance is critical in gas-lift systems to prevent reverse flow during injection shut-in. As well-integrity requirements strengthen, operators require barrier solutions that do not impede unloading efficiency or gas-lift performance.

This paper presents a Patented, barrier-qualified 1-inch back-check system engineered to maximize flow capacity while delivering reliable...

Compressor downtime remains one of the primary causes of lost production, unstable injection performance, and fugitive methane emissions in gas lift operations. This paper reviews a zero-methane emission compression optimization system designed to stabilize gas lift performance by mitigating gas lift compressor issues, reducing shutdown frequency, and capturing methane emissions. The closed-loop...

Gas Lift (GL) has emerged as a preferred Artificial Lift (AL) technology in the Permian Basin. As GL wells age, operators are looking at late-life AL alternatives, such as Plunger Assisted Gas Lift (PAGL) and Gas Assisted Plunger Lift (GAPL) to reduce gas injection and improve overall lift efficiency. However, conversion to these plunger-based late-life AL systems has been slow and somewhat costly...

Gas lift is the primary artificial lift system utilized across approximately 2,000 wells in Oxy’s Delaware Basin assets. As the number of wells increase and personnel resources remain constrained, production engineers frequently focus on resolving urgent operational issues, such as well or equipment failures. This situation results in limited time for consistent and proactive surveillance and...

Using gas to displace fluid and reduce hydrostatic pressure has been a producing practice since the late 19th century. As time has passed and technology has accelerated, we now are able to build a communication stream between gas lift optimization and the data acquired during production operations. 

In our fast-paced industry, data is often looked upon to help us make decisions and solve...