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SPE 25344 Gas-Lift Optimisation On Barrow Island, Western Australia J.E
SPE 25344 Gas-Lift Optimisation On Barrow Island, Western Australia J.E
SPE 25344 Gas-Lift Optimisation On Barrow Island, Western Australia J.E
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference & Exhibition held in Singapore, 8-10 February 1993.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper,
as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are sUbject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect
any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society
of Petroleum Engineers. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledg-
ment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A. Telex, 163245 SPEUT.
237
2 GAS LIFf OPTIM:ISATION ON BARROW ISLAND, WESTERN AUSTRALIA SPE 25344
The first well on BWI, drilled in 1964, The gas lift optimisation program was initiated by
discovered a small oil accumulation in the Upper collecting, collating and reviewing basic well data
Jurassic sandstone at .±2,050 m. The fourth well including well schematics, gas lift designs, well
was completed as a shallower (.±650 m) oil tests and pressure surveys (when available), as
discovery in the Lower Cretaceous Windalia well as system data including both gas lift system
Sandstone, which is the major hydrocarbon and flowline distribution drawings.
accumulation discovered on BWI.
All current GL wells were initially screened by
The Windalia reservoir is a silty, very fine comparing individual well test data. Data used
grained sandstone with high porosity (.±25 %), that reflects the efficiency of a GL well includes:
low permeability (.±2.5 md) and high water
saturation (.±55%). Development of the Gas injection rate
Windalia reservoir began in 1966. Development Formation GLR
wells were drilled on an 80 acre spacing. Total production GLR
Waterflooding was initiated during 1968 with a Water cut
40 acre five spot pattern at the field's Tubing pressure
southwestern end. The flood was expanded Casing pressure
throughout the field by 1970, essentially to 40
acre inverted nine spot patterns. As a result of Any abnormal value of the above is an indication
the preferential injection water movement in an of producing problems that need attention.
east-west direction, a conversion of high water
cut wells to injectors was carried out in 1972. A cost effective Gas Lift System is obtained
The resulting pattern is basically line drive. In through the following range of activities:
1978, 20 acre (diagonally oriented inverted nine
spot pattern) infill drilling commenced. Develop a plan of action.
Currently there are 422 producers and 194 Collect and analyse relevant information.
injectors. Producing wells are hydraulically Identify obvious misuses of lift gas.
fracture stimulated. The measured depth ranges Improve current GL design technique
from 600 to 735 m and normally requires (optimise gas injection rate and depth).
artificial lifting equipment. Select optimum GL system (CGL, IGL
or PL).
Compressors for gas lift were installed in 1970. Select wells and prioritise on profit
Currently, low pressure gas from the field potential.
separator stations is gathered (.±12.5 MMscfpd) Modify surface piping system to reduce
and compressed at a central point to .±600 psig. excessive pressure drops.
From the compressor station, gas passes through Develop guidelines for operation,
a low temperature separation (LTS) unit where maintenance and troubleshooting of GL
heavy fractions are removed. The remaining installations.
lighter fractions are then distributed through the Train field personnel in gas lift
field for gas lift operations. Average distance optimisation.
from LTS unit to well is 2 km and line sizes are Monitor effectiveness of the system.
6"(trunk line), 3" and 2". Evaluate lift system later in the well life
and switch to a more effective system as
Production peaked at over 50,000 bopd early in well behaviour and conditions change
the field life and has since declined to .±14,100 (lower reservoir pressure, increasing
bopd. The artificial lift optimisation program water cut, etc.).
began in October 1990. Currently, 91 (21.6%)
of the 422 producing oil wells are on gas lift Figure 2 shows the analysis path required to
producing 4,700 bopd (33 % of total daily oil optimise the field.
production). Three wells are on IGL, 2 on PL
and 86 on CGL (including 6 dual completions). Individual Well/Gas Lift Design Optimisation
238
SPE 25344 JUAN C. MANTECON 3
injection pressure operated valves for unloading installations simpler. Possible causes of
and a 1/4" holed tubing collar as the operating malfunctions can be detected quicker so
injection point. General guidelines for setting gas wells are returned to production faster.
lift valves (GLV's) were being used.
Continuous gas lift is designed so only the lower
Improvements introduced to optimise the CGL valve will inject gas into the tubing, and will be
design are: as deep as the available gas pressure will permit.
By using a packer the injection gas pressure was
Packer installation increased, allowing both deeper GLV setting
Reduce GLV port size (1/4" to 3/16") (optimum GLR) and a fewer number of GLV's.
Deepen gas injection point (±50 m) The number of GLV's and mandrels per well was
Optimise tubing size (2-3/8" for rates reduced by 2 to 3 (> 50% in most cases), which
< 200 bfpd) saves ±$A 2,400 to ,±$A 3,6oo/well and is
Reduce number of GLV's another step toward increasing profits by
Replace holed tubing collar with GLV improving system design. Deeper injection
Remove flowline chokes point/optimum GLR increases the reservoir
Utilise gas lift design software drawdown, thereby maximising the well's
producing rate.
Some problems associated with open installations
(Figure 3A) are: In summary, a semi-closed installation results in
an increase of production and more efficient gas
Gas may be blown around the bottom of lift usage.
the tubing, and the injection / casing
pressure may place additional back A closed installation (Figure 3C) is used in PL
pressure on the sand face. and being tested in IGL wells.
239
4 GAS LIFT OPTIMISATION ON BARROW ISLAND, WESTERN AUSTRALIA SPE 25344
The new stabilising methods introduced include F16M (Muderong Carbonate - low rate well, 10
deepening the gas injection point, increasing the bfpd). Results in L25 have been promising, with
surface orifice (injection choke), reducing the . a ±19% increase in oil rate (±15 bopd) and
bottomhole orifice (port size) and/or reducing 21 % increase in total fluid rate. Gas injection
tubing size. Production can be increased by was reduced 20 Mcfpd by decreasing injection
eliminating surface back pressure and surface time from 65 min/day (1 min-65 cycles) to 47
restrictions. min/day (30 sec-93 cycles). No increase in oil
rate was obtained in FI6M, but gas injection was
No increase in compression capacity and/or reduced 80 Mcfpd by decreasing injection ,time
available injection gas was considered at the early from 206 min/day (2 min-l03 cycles) to 20
stages of this project. The compressors were min/day (15 seconds-78 cycles). The forward
overhauled in July-Sept. 1992 to regain maximum plan is to enlarge the pilot test from 2 to 8 wells
capacity of, ±12.5 MMscfpd and reduce in late 1992.
downtime.
IGL wells usually require more attention than
CGL wells to maintain the maximum efficient
IGL and PL Pilot Tests production rate. Also, it is more difficult and
time consuming to run a flowing pressure survey
The primary test objective of the IGL and PL on IGL wells as compared to CGL wells.
pilots was to evaluate the potential for
improvement in both lift efficiency and gas Production Engineers are currently looking at the
usage. The performance of wells with a low impact that individual wells have on the total gas
productivity index (PI) (+0.15 bpd/psi) is distribution system. IGL has periods of high
characteristically less predictable than that of a instantaneous gas injection rates followed by
well with a high PI (> 1.5 bpd/psi). periods of no gas injection. When a well uses
gas, the pressure in the injection system is pulled
CGL becomes less attractive as the produced down and creates problems at the compression
volumes decrease. CGL will usually be more station since compressors are not suited to
efficient and less expensive for wells where operate under fluctuating conditions. As a result,
continuous flow can be maintained without the volumetric capacity of the total injection
excessive use of injection gas. Because of the system should ideally be large enough to act as
cyclic nature, IGL is suited to wells that produce an accumulator to help smooth out the flow
at relatively low rates « 100 bfpd). surges.
Gas lift assisted plunger lift is basically a major Improve System Diagnostics and Personnel
enhancement of IGL, in that it uses a plunger to Training
separate the injection gas from the liquid slugs
being lifted. The function of plunger lift The economic impact in this area is very difficult
equipment is to provide a more efficient to quantify. Intangible benefits have come from
utilisation of lift gas energy, in wells that can be much closer surveillance, faster detection and
produced in a cyclic manner like IGL. The use diagnosis of problems and quicker response to
of plunger equipment provides the most efficient failures. Production Engineering worked with all
form of IGL, by minimising liquid fallback and personnel concerned to plan and develop a
eliminating possible gas penetration through the training program and establish
liquid slug centre. The plunger will surface with guidelines/procedures to optimise oil rate and
approximately 100% of the load, eliminating the reduce operating costs.
7% fluid loss per 1,000 feet of lift which is
characteristic of IGL wells. The following field procedures were established
and implemented during 1991:
The five wells selected for IGL and PL were
initially fine-tuned on CGL. After two months Running flowing pressure/temperature
on CGL, the 5 test wells were switched to IGL, (P/T) surveys in CGL wells
and after another 2 months the 2 PL pilot wells Unloading CGL and IGL wells
were switched from IGL to PL. The PL units Fine tuning CGL and IGL wells
were installed in BWI wells L25 (Windalia Modified scheduling and testing of GL
Sandstone - medium rate well, 60 bfpd) and wells
240
SPE 25344 JUAN C. MANTECON 5
241
6 GAS LIFT OPTIMISATION ON BARROW ISLAND, WESTERN AUSTRALIA SPE 25344
entirely accurate. The injected gas per well is applying sound engineering and operating
calculated using the flow through a choke practices. An effective communication and
equation, assuming a constant 570 psig (for all training program are also of great importance for
wells) upstream pressure and actually measuring program success. Investment was minimal <±$A
downstream pressure. Formation gas is 16,OOO/well) and payout time short « 8 months)
calculated by subtracting injection gas from the so this type of optimisation program can be
measured total gas. readily adapted to other producing areas, even
those with limited remaining field life. It is very
An accurate measurement of total gas injected important to recognise that artificial lift
and produced in each well is important for both optimisation is a continuous effort that must be
reservoir management (allocation of formation maintained through the field life.
gas) and to optimise gas lift production/design.
242
SPE 25344 JUAN C. MANTECON 7
243
8 GAS LIFf OPTIMISATION ON BARROW ISLAND, WESTERN AUSTRALIA SPE 25344
~
N
BARROW ISLAND
LOCALITY MAP
DRAWINONo.
*A63511A
FIGURE 1
244
SPE 25344 JUAN C. MANTECON 9
ANALYSIS PATH
GAS LIFT SYSTEMS
NO
FIGURE~
Production Out
A B c
JIIGURU
245
10 GAS LIFT OPrIMISATION ON BARROW ISLAND, WESTERN AUSTRALIA SPE 25344
MONTH NO. OF WEllS OIL GAIN (BPDI MONTHLY GAIN (BPMI AV I WEll (BPDI CUM
OCT 90 1 1 1 ·18
NOV 2 12 237 6 219
DEC 2 11 327 6 646
JAN 91 2 11 326 6 872
FEB 4 42 ·382 10 480
MAR 7 113 2.476 16 2.966
APR 8 114 2,955 14 6,920
MAY 10 132 1,777 13 7.697
JUN 14 116 3.319 8 11.016
JUL 14 139 4.232 10 16.247
AUG 14 123 2.812 9 18.060
SEP 15 199 5.663 13 23,723
OCT 15 233 7.030 16 30.763
NOV 20 281 6.944 14 37.697
DEC 20 210 6,389 10 ~.086
JAN 92 23 210 6.119 9 60.206
FEB 28 190 3,995 7 64.201
MAR 28 192 3.746 7 67.946
APR 38 207 3.588 6 61.636
MAY 44 309 8,983 7 70.618
JUN 44 254 5,555 6 76.073
JUl 50 361 6,331 7 82.403
AUG 61 428 10,942 8 93.346
SEP 63 574 16.681 11 108.927
600 ··..····f·········l·..·..·..·r········· · · . ··· ·······[ "[" '!" . ···T······· .: r·········:··· 1' , r········I··········!·········,·········!"········,········1'·····..·,..······1
1 r
500
--lH ----:-
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ll•GOAFINW(EBlplOS) ++++-I+-H,········,·········j··
- , ; ; ; ; 'i ; , ····1
400
--I-+t-i-++-+++!-t-+-I--i--H--I-~-+~--I-i-~
300
i I Ii! i ! . ! . i : : ! i ! iii i . I j
200
~;-::::~~f~t;~!:::::;:~:[-l:::::r-l-r"TrtlP
100 i i ! j
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······r······r···..r·····r..· ··r.. .··r······T·······r········!"" ······r..······j..···· ···r··..···!··..····r··..T······r····T··..··j""··..··T·····r·"T"'l
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FIGURE 4
246