Gas Well Deliquification with Artificial Lift and Production Optimization

Ever increasing demands related to cost savings and efficiency improvement require that the existing as well as planned gas production assets are fully and optimally utilized. Most all gas wells produce liquid in form of water or condensate. If this liquid is not removed from the wellbore in timely manner the gas production suffers dramatically and eventually ceases altogether. In case of coal-bed methane (CBM) wells, removal of water releases adsorbed methane from the coal seam. Thus, the liquid loading impacts productivity of most all gas assets. Deliquification, an effective way of removing liquid from the wellbore, requires deployment of artificial lift and production optimization techniques for most of gas well’s productive life. Careful selection, design and operation of artificial lift system is extremely important for profitability. Efficient and cost-effective production workflows involve field management using digital oilfield concepts. Understanding of these important production concepts are a must to profitably exploit the existing assets fully. The objective of this course is to:

Provide an awareness of the fundamentals of production from gas wells by introducing fluid flow, flow correlations, PVT/Black Oil, and discussing the inflow performance relationship (IPR), vertical lift performance (VLP), nodal analysis, and pressure gradient curves.
Introduce liquid loading in gas wells and need for deliquification
Introduce artificial lift types like plunger and capillary injection, gas-lift (GL), hydraulic jet and piston pump (HJP), progressing cavity systems (PCP), reciprocating rod lift (RRL), and electrical submersible pumping (ESP).
Introduce other means for deliquification like surface compression, velocity and dead strings.
Provide knowledge to the participants about the entire lift system - from downhole to the surface - and relevant components for plunger, capillary, PCP, GL, RRL, ESP, and HJP.
Discuss challenges facing lift applications.
Introduce digital oilfield and related aspects specific to artificial lift.
Explore the importance of downhole monitoring and surface measurements.

Learning Outcomes:

A thorough treatment of liquid loading and deliquification problem including artificial lift techniques for production optimization of gas and CBM wells.
The basics as well as advanced concepts of each form of artificial lift systems from downhole to the surface including real-time optimization equipment and software.
- Optionally using appropriate software tools, how lift components are designed and analyzed.
Challenges facing lift applications.
Gas well life cycle and Artificial lift selection for different stages.
Unconventional artificial lift applications
How digital oilfield tools help address these challenges. Recent advances in real-time approaches to the production monitoring and lift management from field case studies

Who should attend?

Well analysts, artificial-lift engineers, production engineers, and other technical personnel who are involved in the analysis and design of naturally flowing oil wells, gas wells, and high-rate artificial-lift systems, such as gas-lift and ESP systems.

Who will benefit:

Production engineers and field operators
Reservoir engineers
Completion Engineers
Drilling and facilities engineers working in integrated project teams
Anyone who is interested in learning about selection, design, analysis and optimum operation of artificial lift and related production systems.
Project and asset managers interested in expanding their understanding of the effects of deliquification and impact of artificial lift on the performance of their assets.

Course contents

Day 1: Introduction to Systems Analysis & Gas Well Loading Problem

Pre-test
Multiphase flow
PVT properties
Inflow / Outflow Performance and sensitivity analysis
Gas Well loading and deliquification problem
Completion selection for deliquification
- Dead String
- Velocity String
Surface Compression and multiphase pumping

Day 2: Introduction to Artificial Lift, Capillary Systems, Plunger Lift

Artificial Lift Systems: Basics, Why/What/How.
Capillary Injection Systems
- Applications, Pluses/minuses
- Chemical Delivery
- Selection considerations
- Special applications in Shale, long perforations
Plunger Lift
- Applications, pluses/minuses
- Bottom hole and Surface Setup: Plungers, BHA, Lubricator
- Selection and Special Applications
- Surveillance

Day 3: Gas-Lift, PCP, Hydraulic Lift

Continuous Gas-lift
- Overview, Applications, Pluses/Minuses
- Mandrels, Valves
- Well Performance Curve; Design example
- Surveillance & Optimization Approaches
Intermittent Gas-Lift
- Overview, Applications
- Gas-Assisted Plunger Lift
Progressing Cavity Pump (PCP)
- Overview, Applications, Pluses/minuses
- PCP Pump Fundamentals
- Surface Equipment
- Application in CSG/CBM wells
Hydraulic lift
- Basics; applications, Pluses/minuses
- Pumps, Surface Equipment
- Gas Well Applications

Day 4: ESP, Reciprocating Rod Lift

- Overview, Applications, Pluses/Minuses
- Pump, Intake, Gas Separator, Seal, Motor, Cable, Surface Equipment
- Basic ESP Design
- Well Performance Curve and Design considerations, Example
- Automation
Reciprocating Rod Lift
- RRL Chain, Pump Motion, Applications, Pluses/Minuses
- Pump and Dynamometer cards
- Surface Pumping Units, Rod Strings & Rod Life
- Optimization using RPC, VFD
- Design example

Day 5: Digital Oil Field

Artificial lift selection: lift life-cycle and lift changeovers
Artificial Lift in Shale
Digital oil field: What & Why
- Components
- Data Management
- Data Analytics Importance
- DOF Case study
Post-test

This course is customizable from two to five-days length for a variety of audiences at appropriate skill and knowledge levels.
Optionally a workshop component can be incorporated that utilizes client-supplied software and their well data for solving field problems. This requires three days of consulting work prior to the training.