Artificial Lift Performance Blog

A few weeks ago, we wrote a blog on reducing CO2 emissions in oil and gas operations. Based on the initial commitments coming out of the COP-26 conference in Scotland (Glasgow), it appears reducing methane emissions, is even more important than reducing CO2, so we thought we should revisit our blog theme and expand the topic.

“A few weeks ago we reposted an article by Scott Wilson on “Why We Matter”, continuing the theme I’d like to repost another excellent SPE article on “The Future Need for Petroleum Engineering”. This article presents an optimistic future, that can help us continue to hire great talent into our industry.

One of the questions we frequently get from graduates during hiring is “Isn’t your industry dead”, or worse the death blow statement “I thought you made software, I didn’t realise you’re oil and gas, I’m not interested!”.

You know the scene, an ESP failed overnight, the production dance is going on. You need to get the well back online asap…..

What information should you give your vendor(s) to perform the design and what information has the most impact on design? This article will show why it is important to use a high reservoir pressure if you want to guarantee your desired production….

Do you want your ESPs to be the Tom Brady of quarterbacks? Whether you’re a fan or not, Tom’s track record is impressive, especially his most recent Superbowl win. To be so successful has required intelligence, hours of (proper)practice, the right mindset, change and dedication to being a superstar. He has done things differently from other quarterbacks. Success with ESPs is the same and requires things to be done differently.

Getting ESPs (or any artificial lift method) to produce at lower cost/bbl requires trained staff, appropriate systems, good processes and attention to detail.

In a previous blog we identified some best practices related to gaslift, we thought we’d do the same for ESPs. Our best practices are based on our “True Production Optimization” process. If you’d like to know our top twenty best practices to solve your ESP problems….read on …..

For decades we’ve had the boom and bust in our industry, that goes with the ebb and flow of the price of oil. Yikes, we’re in another crisis!

The drilling and production of unconventional wells, the availability of funding, longer laterals and bigger frac jobs has resulted in North American operators chasing production with the drill bit, at $10 million dollars per well. That’s great in a greater than $45/barrel cost environment.

As Warren Buffet says ‘It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who has been swimming naked’.

We are currently in such a moment in our industry. How can we learn from this?

Over the last few blogs we’ve talked a lot about the value of automated processing of realtime data in the oilfield. Today I’d like to ‘land the plane’ a little and make that more tangible for wells produced using gaslift…as well as make this a quick read.

Are meetings and emails taking up so much of your time that it’s hard to get down to the basics of production optimization - modeling your wells? In a recent mentoring session with an operator’s engineers, I had the engineers write down what they do on a daily basis. The answer shocked me:

When oil prices are low it’s more important than ever that we optimize the way our wells are produced. How can we “double down” to ensure that our wells are produced efficiently at the lowest cost of operation? This article summarizes how you can do that now and for the long term.

If you have a well designed to produce 1000 barrels per day and it only produces 800 barrels, how do you determine why? More importantly, can you understand how to remedy the issue and gain the additional 200 barrels? And then, can further production gains be achieved?

This blog will discuss the questions that every unconventional operator wants to have answered, “which artificial lift method should I use?” and “when should I change lift method?”