Download Papers

This paper discusses the principle of plunger lift and it's possible applications. Typical applications are: 1. Removal of Liquids from Gas Wells 2. Hi-Ratio Oil Well Production 3. Paraffin and Hydrate Control 4. Increased Efficiency of Intermittent Gas Lift Wells Some advantages of this system are low initial cost, very little maintenance and that there is no external source of energy required in most cases. Limitations such as mechanical conditions, gas and liquid volumes and depths are also discussed. There will be a brief section concerning the various types of equipment available.

Inverted emulsion (water in oil) muds have long been used for formation protection and improvement of hole stability, but slow penetration rates often offset advantages. Recently, relaxation of control of mud properties-notably fluid loss-has led to significant improvement in penetration rate. A comparison of weIls drilled in the Delaware Basin shows that significant savings in total well cost can be obtained through the use of new generation invert muds.

During the past two and a half years, a new fracturing technique has been developed to selectively place proppant across a well's producing interval. The new technique, termed "pipelining," has been employed in hundreds of wells in the Permian and Delaware basins. This technique utilizes high differential viscosity to selectively place high concentrations of proppant across the well's producing zone. This technique involves specialized design and iterative modeling procedures.

A magnetic bailer has been designed to capture and remove metallic compounds that gather in the wellbore and downhole operating equipment such as an ESP unit. The tool can be used as a standalone, as the part of the tubing, or can be set in the tubing as a joint that stands on Y-tool. The tool can be installed above or below the ESP unit. It can be wireline or coil tubing operated. It is, a cost effective and convenient physical way of cleaning the well. It can save significant well shut-in times that are otherwise unavoidable due to pump failure.

Iron control studies over the last 30 years have dealt primarily with iron control in acidizing operations. In fracturing operations, iron control has received much less consideration. Certain hydrocarbon producing zones contain iron compounds in both the rock composition and formation water. Fluids used in fracturing operations may be incompatible with the formation water or rock itself, if iron is present in them. Special consideration should be given to the design of fracturing fluids and fracturing techniques so that iron problems will be minimized.

Sludging is an ever present problem in the Permian Basin. Recent studies have shown the influence of iron by-products on the sludging process. Questions have emerged concerning effects of CO2 introduction into the overall reaction. An operator concerned with this over-all process began a study to determine the influence of CO2 on the over-all system. The results of this study involving a San Andres CO2 pilot program are evaluated. Included are compatibility testing of produced oil, produced water and acid systems. Testing was conducted with and without iron injected into the system.

The precipitation of iron compounds following well treatment is a common problem in most areas of Texas and New Mexico. This insoluble gelatinous precipitate is both an effective plugging agent and an emulsion stabilizing agent. Either condition damages permeability and greatly restricts production of oil and gas. In order to effectively deal with the problem, the chemistry and physical characteristics of iron as an ion and its subsequent reactions must be understood. Sources of iron, well conditions, types of iron control agents and their properties will be discussed and evaluated.

Given the dynamic nature of production for an oil well and the magnitude of the lifting cost, there are few opportunities with a better payoff than reviewing the total rod system designi-2. However, with the current trend of increased well count and responsibility for the engineer and field personnel, it is often one of the things for which there is never enough time.

LNS is simply natural gas condensed by refrigeration to a liquid -260 degrees F, a super cold or cryogenic liquid. As long as it is kept cold, it can be stored or transported like any other liquid. It is clear, colorless, odorless - in appearance not unlike club soda. Its density is about half that of gasoline and upon combustion it provides about half as much energy as gasoline. Godfrey L. Cabot, founder of the parent corporation of Distrigas, saw the advantages of liquefying natural gas for transportation as a liquid to areas not served by pipelines and he obtained a patent from the U.S.

Productivity, safety, and health are major concerns for companies attempting to maximize profit and provide safe, healthy work environments. Human performance declines when people receive less than optimal sleep. As performance declines, the risk for accidents and health problems increase. Long hours of work, especially for a week or longer generally lead to increased sleep debt, reduced performance and increased risk of accidents and health problems. Costs increase as performance declines and risks increase.

A dynamometer pump card is a plot of the calculated pump loads and pump plunger positions during one complete stroke of the pumping unit. The plot is used to analyze pump performance. The pump card is normally calculated from measured surface polished rod load and position data. Different methods are used to display and plot so-called "Pump Cards". Sometimes the so-called pump card is actually a plot of sucker rod load and position, or maybe a sinker bar located above the pump.

In response to customer needs, Smith Lift has developed a 1 3/4 in hydraulically driven diaphragm pump that allows the operator to insert and pull the pump without pulling the production tubing. The Hydraulic Diaphragm Insertable (HDI) pump is driven by a surface hydraulic power unit, which actuates a hydraulic cylinder down hole creating positive displacement pumping action, similar to a rod pump. The HDI pump can be installed with or without seating nipples in standard 2 3/8 in (or larger) production tubing.

Loving County, Texas has seen increased activity with current gas prices. Wells are drilled to depths of more than 18,000 feet. Reservoir pressures are as high as 16,000 psi with bottomhole temperatures up to 260_ F. Production has ranged 250 MCFD to 30 MMCFD. Multiple stage Frac jobs, usually 4 or 5 stages, is typically utilized. Each zone is perforated and stimulated using composite bridge plugs (CBP) to isolate each zone. After the all the zones of interest are fractured, high pressure coiled tubing is used to clean out bauxite and mill up the CBPs.

This paper will address how coiled tubing, combined with advanced acidizing technologies, can improve the ability to optimize treatment coverage in openhole completions. Two methods that have been very successful in the Permian and Anadarko Basins are foam and self-diverting acid systems. When acid is pumped into an openhole completion, it is difficult to determine precisely where the acid is going. It is vitally important to ensure that the entire interval is being treated adequately to optimize production.

From September 1970 to May 1971, prototype jet pumps were installed in five wells in California, West Texas and New Mexico. These five wells were selected to give a wide variation in operating conditions and were used primarily for correlating actual field data with laboratory data and with computer calculated operating charts. During this nine-month period, the cavitation zone of the operating charts was defined and various materials were tested for the nozzle and for the throat of the pump. Three of the test wells used water and two used oil for the power fluid.

This paper presents a method of directly calculating an optimum jet pump geometry for a set of specified conditions. It reviews jet pump theory to the extent necessary for explaining the sizing technique. The method uses a design performance curve which is a composite of the family of performance curves for the pump. An exact nozzle area is calculated and an area ratio selected, based on the design curve. This data is then used to select an off the shelf geometry from a manufacturer. The calculation sequence is presented along with an example set of calculations which follow that sequence.

Roller cone bits have long dominated the drilling in the Spraberry field of West Texas. Experience and/or drilling log information have indicated that the formation is typically drilled with an insert type roller cone bit. Conical type insert bits are usually chosen because of the durability of their cutting structure. Typical intervals are from the surface casing to 9000 ft. The formations are usually drilled with two to three insert bits.

This paper will discuss how to choose a communications system for your Scada system, in depth discussion of different technologies and how to combine technologies myths and legends that surround communications systems, and how to tell the truth from the myth. What are the key critical success factors to installing a reliable Scada communication system?

Downhole gas separators are often the most inefficient part of a sucker rod pump system. This paper presents laboratory data on the performance of 5 different gas separator designs. Continuous flow and intermittent flow were studied. Field data is presented on one of the designs. The field data indicates that success or failure of the gas separator is dependent upon the fluids and wellbore pressures as well as the mechanical design of the gas separator. Successful and unsuccessful examples of gas separator performance in the field are shown along with field fluid data properties.

Many oil and gas producing reservoirs produce brine water, which is near or at saturation with respect to sodium chloride salt. During the process of producing these fluids, salt crystals form and grow to the point that a "salt block" is formed in the well and/or flowline. The mechanisms of this salt block formation vary, but most often it is due to one of two scenarios. (1) Temperature reduction of the fluids as they are transported from the reservoir to the surface.

It has been reported in the literature that the presence of soluble iron significantly increases the minimum inhibitor level for effective control of calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate scales. When confronted with developing a scale inhibitor for application in water containing 500 milligrams per liter soluble iron, the prospects of finding a scale inhibitor were daunting. Because the produced water was near saturation, compatibility of the scale inhibitor was of concern.

The cementing design process has been improved by utilizing up-to-date technology to predict actual down-hole conditions, allowing both the service company and the operator to manage fluid positions, critical circulating pressures and surface parameters while cementing under stringent conditions. This paper will explain how design data and Real Time Simulation can be utilized in making detailed predictions of many well parameters and make real-time adjustments during the operation to alter the outcome of the job.

The Geared Centrifugal Pump (GCP) is a high volume artificial lift system consisting of a progressive cavity pump style rotating rod string driving a bottom intake ESP style multi-stage centrifugal pump via a downhole speed increasing transmission.

An operator was experiencing a fast decline in hydrocarbon production in one of their Clearfork Formation CO2 WAG flood patterns due to fracture communications between injectors and offset producers near Littlefield, Texas. In identified wells giving very poor sweep performance, injected Carbon Dioxide (CO2) freely communicated and broke through into offset producers. Following performing diagnostics to determine the extent and magnitude of the existing problem, designs and simulation analysis were developed on an identified well displaying a dominant fracture communication.

More and more directional wells are being drilled to maximize hydrocarbon recovery and overcome environmental restriction. Today's state of art predictive software for rod pumping can be used to design and optimize rod pumping in deviated wells as well as vertical wells. Previously, traditional methods including wave equation techniques assume that the wellbore is vertical. Applying these methods to rod pumping in deviated wells will result in substantial errors and cause inappropriate design.