Benny Williams, Consultant Q2 ALS Jerson Paez, Q2 ALS
Traditional metal-to-metal seal rings have long struggled with down hole sealing issues due to a functional lack of interchangeability among manufacturers, particulate contamination on the seal face, and a possible designed-in lack of precise control of the sealing angle on mating parts. These issues drive costly interventions and decrease pump performance. The hybrid seal introduces a solution by...
Riyadh Salloom, SLB
Mechanical components used in artificial lift face significant environmental and functional challenges, primarily caused by factors such as corrosion, abrasion, erosion, and stress corrosion cracking in downhole conditions. To ensure a component remains operational, the material not only needs to meet mechanical requirements but also needs surface properties capable of withstanding the corrosive...
Jeff Knight and Thomas Vest, Diamondback Energy Jeff Saponja, Oilfy
Sucker rod pumping for horizontal wells has advanced considerably over the past few years. Advancements in sucker rod pump technologies and bottomhole assembly (BHA) components/configurations have allowed for more efficient downhole gas separation and greater production drawdowns. The unintended consequence has been an escalation of solids in the produced fluids with increased failure frequencies...
Walter Phillips, WANSCO O. Lynn Rowlan, Echometer
The Polished Rod Transducer (PRT) is a practical and effective tool for well analysis, offering the ability to acquire dynamometer data quickly with minimal disruption to pumping operations. This paper provides guidance on best practices for obtaining reliable PRT readings and improving diagnostic accuracy. The paper begins with a brief overview of how the PRT measures load through polished rod...
Alex Perri and Angela Sultanian, SLB Justin Conyers, California Resources Corp.
Building upon the successes of cathodically protected rod strings in rotary applications, this study extends the evaluation to reciprocating sucker rod pump operations using anode-coated coiled rod strings. The paper presents results from a pilot project involving four wells for a major California oil and gas producer, achieving a remarkable 11-fold improvement in Mean Time to Failure (MTF)...
Edgar Castellon, Eduardo Pereyra, and Cem Sarica, The University of Tulsa, Horizontal Wells Artificial Lift Project Furqan Chaundhry, Ovintiv Stuart Scott, Bob L. Herd Department of Petroleum Engineering, TTU
Downhole separation is a critical process for proper sucker rod pump operation. This technology has been successfully applied in vertical wells, providing a solution for gas interference. New horizontal wells present a new challenge to this technology, since slug flow is a predominant flow pattern when sucker rod pumps are implemented. Many experimental studies have been conducted in the past that...
Francisco More, Jordan Anderson, Ricardo Pulido, and Esteban Oliva, TENARIS
As rod lift systems are extended to greater depths and tasked with higher production rates, operators face increasing complexity in maintaining reliability and cost-effectiveness. Elevated loads, deeper pump landings, and aggressive environments introduce compounded risks, including rod and tubing wear, bending fatigue failures, corrosion fatigue, and connection reliability issues, among others...
(2026037) Extending Run Life in Sand-Producing Wells: The Benefits of Rod Pump Sand Management Tools
Wade Erwin, Petroquip Blake Bredemeyer, Oxy
Sand production has been recognized by the oil and gas industry as one of the most significant challenges affecting the operation, efficiency, and longevity of unconventional rod-pumped wells. As sand and other solid particles migrate into the pump assembly, they create abrasive conditions that accelerate wear on critical components. This abrasion not only reduces pump efficiency but also...
Don Crane, Endurance Lift Bryan Weaver, ConocoPhillips
A major Bakken operator repeatedly experienced insufficient pump fillage and lower-than-anticipated production volumes in rod-pumped horizontal wells due to poor gas and sand separation. Unable to achieve the desired results after deploying a variety of different gas- and sand-mitigation techniques, the operator partnered with Endurance Lift Solutions to deploy the patented ELS Guardian™ separator...
Maya Yermekova, Zeshan Hyder, Agustin Gambaretto, Akshay Dhavale SLB
Sucker rod pumps (SRPs) remain the leading artificial lift (AL) method worldwide, with technological advancements tracing back to the wave equation development in the 1960s. Leveraging edge-based technologies, a new workflow has been developed to enhance existing Pump-Off Controller (POC) capabilities. This workflow integrates machine learning (ML)-driven dynamometer card classification for real...