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Maintaining maximum efficiencies in the pumping of gaseous wells continues to be a major operating problem. Because of wide range of downhole environmental conditions, it is difficult to prescribe a general solution for all wells. More often, a thorough study of downhole conditions must be made. With this information, and through proper application of rod pumps, subsurface gas anchors, and gas separators, a substantial improvement can be made in many wells.

Sucker-rod pumping system is the most numerous among all artificial lift methods used in the Permian Basin. Therefore. continued efforts to improve and optimize sucker-rod performance are imperative for successful operation in this area. The Artificial Lift Energy Optimization Consortium (ALEOC) was formed by eleven oil companies operating in the Permian Basin with the primary goal of improving oil field operations through sharing experiences.

Marked advancements have been made during the past four decades since the first commercial hydraulic fracturing treatment was performed in 1948. The high sand concentration fracturing process is one of the most dramatic of the advancements that have been realized. The central thesis of this paper is the evolution of the high sand concentration fracturing process, and the paper is composed of the following three categories. 1. Development.

There are a variety of sucker rod grades available today for different pumping environments. In order to optimize the run time of an oil well, it is very critical to choose the correct sucker rod grade for a particular application. There are a lot of physical attributes (engineering attributes) which need to be considered for design aspects of a rod string. Some of the engineering concepts are yield, tensile, load carrying capability, stress-strain curves, elongation, reduction of area and toughness.

In a potential gas-bearing Woodford shale reservoir (Ro% = 2.62 and MI = 11.3 DRY GAS) with a standard logging suite [Array Induction

The removal of accumulated liquids from the wellbores of gas wells is a problem which has faced operators for as long as natural gas has been produced. The reduction of deliverability resulting from these liquid accumulations and the expenditure of cash and energy to remove the liquids are at best expensive nuisances, and at worst, economic catastrophes. Many approaches have been taken toward the solution of this liquid removal problem with varying degrees of success.

In the effort to raise more hydrocarbons to the surface, production practices have evolved which aggravate certain corrosion related problems. One of these problems, corrosion fatigue, is usually associated with rod pumped wells because it has a stress component plus a corrosion component; as wells are pumped harder, stresses are higher and corrosion fatigue becomes more prevalent.

The proper and economical operation of pumping wells may be simulated to a good safety program. The problem is always changing, inasmuch as reservoir conditions immediately around the well bore change from month to month.

Diagnostic methods and programs for rod pumping commonly assume that the wellbore is vertical. Applying these methods to deviated wells will result in distortions and inaccuracies when calculating the down-hole pump card. This paper describes a new method for analyzing pumping efficiencies in deviated wells. The method requires a deviation survey for the 3-D borehole trajectory that incorporates the dogleg effect (rod/tubing drag forces) into the solution of wave equation.

The petroleum industry's need to reduce cost challenges users to select the most effective tubular goods inspection for each individual job to minimize the large expense normally incurred with replacement or repair of defective tubular goods. Several diagnostic tools are necessary to meet the many variable inspection requirements for the different grades of new and used tubing, casing, drill pipe, line pipe, and sucker rods. Inspection methods are available which, if properly employed, should detect defects currently considered hazardous.

Diamond Enhanced Hammer Bits in conjunction with Down-the-Hole Air Hammers have been utilized throughout the 1990's to improve penetration rates in hard formations as well as to reduce deviation and improve overall drilling costs. Significant improvements in bit life have been made by utilizing the 3rd Generation Impax Hammer Bits along with the current Best Drilling Practices that have been developed in the Val Verde Basin. This paper will review these Best Drilling Practices as well as discuss the new technology that was developed for these Percussion Drilling applications.

This paper compares the costs of diatomaceous earth filtration and sand filtration.

The following discussion will be mainly concerned with diatomite filtration of salt water and industrial waste streams and subsequent subsurface injection. Filtration usually follows other treatment methods that may be used. Diatomite filtration is one of the most versatile, reliable and economical methods available to remove undissolved solids from liquids. Expenditures of several million dollars have gone into the careful design of filtration equipment and proper selection of filter aids.

Directional Drilling is a service that assists Exploration and Production companies reach their intended geological target by drilling and deviated wellbore. Slanted, directional and horizontal wells are types of deviated wellbores. The rationale to directionally drill a wellbore are economics or environmental.

The use of hot oil as a paraffin removal technique has existed almost as long as the production of crude oil. It is still one of the most commonly used methods for the removal of paraffin deposits from the wellbore, tubing, flowline and tankage in the oilfield today. The relative simplicity of application, immediate results and low cost per application have made hot oiling an accepted, if not traditional form of paraffin removal.

The use of hot oil as a paraffin removal technique is still used today in spite of its ineffectiveness in most wells. In 1982, the original paper on hot oiling recommended hot watering with chemical, which did not turn out to be the best alternative. In the past 30 years, we have learned much more about the paraffin problems we are trying to treat. A computer program from a Sandia National Laboratory Study, which was written in the 1990s, shows that you cannot melt most paraffin out of the tubing of wells.

The use of automatic custody transfer equipment is growing rapidly after several years of intensive trial and development. The purpose of this panel discussion today is to explore these many questions that face our industry on ACT. Two members of our panel represent pipeline companies and two members represent producing companies.

We will start on the subject of Sucker Rod Pumping, since it is the oldest, about 3500 years old. Then we will go to Hydraulic Pumping, which is not so old, the go to Gas Lift, then to Reda pumps.

It is the purpose of this paper to summarize various displacement procedures which are currently in use and to discuss briefly the advantages and disadvantages of each. It is further intended to discuss certain trends in multi-string operations which tend to offset the economic advantage to this type of completion.

This paper discusses electric power systems and equipment for utilizing electric power. Included is a comparison of 12.5 KV and 22 KV primary systems, 480-Volt and 762-Volt secondary systems, and various types of motor protective devices. The application of the National Electrical Safety Code to oil field electric systems is also discussed.

In 1992 and 1993, Huber began working with problem-solving teams of production supervisors, well attendants, engineers and buyers from major and independent oil companies to find ways to reduce operating costs by improving the performance of stuffing boxes. Huber, which has since become Flow Control Equipment, Inc. (FCE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huber, began research in 1993 to support this project. Most of the stuffing box improvements identified by the focus groups fell into one of six categories shown below: 1. Longer-lasting packing 2. Less demand on the well attendant's time 3.

Tank Batteries can emit VOC's (volatile organic compounds) or gas vapors. Quantities of gas are directly proportional to the volume of crude oil present at the Tank battery sight. Other factors effecting gas vapor volumes include line pressures, separation equipment pressures, and ambient temperatures. These vapors can be recovered and sold if sufficient volumes are present.

There has long been felt the need for a rod insert pump which would fit in the interim from the point in the life of a well where conventional insert type pumps become incapable of handling increasing fluid in the well bore beyond the anticipated requirements of the original equipment. In numerous instances, either for economy or from miscalculation, equipment too small for final depletion of the reservoir is installed. This could be either in the well bore, surface equipment or both.

Flowing/pumping transient analysis was performed on a group of wells scattered across the Permian basin that had been re-stimulated with relatively large volumes of brine and an ultra-lightweight proppant with substantially the same specific gravity as the brine.

The oil occurring in oil reservoirs is associated with varying quantities of water and gas. Both the water and the gas entering the well bore must be produced in order to produce the oil. In the early life of a field, when the reservoir pressure is high, the gas is used as a means of lifting the fluid. This is generally accomplished by shutting in the casing and permitting sufficient pressure to build up in the annulus between the casing and the tubing. When this occurs, oil, gas and water rise up the tubing in a frothy mixture and pass through the flow bean into the lead line.