SPE-198424-MS

Artificial Lift Method Selection for Mature Oil Fields: A Case Study

Arman Darvish Sarvestani and Ali Hadipour, Tarh-o-Palayesh Engineering Company

Copyright 2019, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Caspian Technical Conference held in Baku, Azerbaijan, 16 – 18 October 2019.

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
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consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may
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Abstract
As oil production continues, reservoir pressure decreases and oil production rate may not be as high as the
plateau production rate. Once any sign of reduction in oil production rate has been observed, improved
oil recovery (IOR) techniques are considered to aid the production. However, IOR methods could be
accomplished from the beginning of oil production. Among different IOR methods, implementing artificial
lift systems is one of the main options especially in brown fields. Artificial lift methods are categorized into
pump-lift methods and gas-lift methods. In this study, screening process has been performed to find feasible
artificial lift methods. During the screening process, different aspects of reservoir, well and fluid behavior
have been studied to find the feasible options and it has been concluded that only ESP and gas lift could be
implemented in this particular field. Both of these methods have been studied by simulating an integrated
model including the reservoir and all of the candidate wells. So, impact of any variation in reservoir or well
properties has been captured during the next 10 years. Three scenarios have been defined to predict the field
performance by natural depletion, installing electrical submersible pumps and implementing gas lift system.
Although an option might be selected as the best method for the present time, a long term evaluation is
able to change the selected method. Integrated modeling the whole system of reservoir and wells provides
a better understanding of the impact of different factors on performance of each scenario in long time. By
performing a number of sensitivity analysis tests, it has been observed that increasing the water-cut may
affect noticeably the performance of lifting systems. So, the pressure and water-cut of the reservoir and wells
have been predicted during the next decade. It has been shown that using gas-lift method in the mentioned
field has the highest oil recovery factor and the cumulative oil production during the next 10 years is more
than 134 MMSTB. The ESP pumping system could lift almost 112 MMSTB oil during 10 years, while the
natural depletion system has the lowest recovery and only 13 MMSTB oil could be produced during the
same period.

Introduction
Oil production rate of the wells may decrease by time. However, using improved oil recovery (IOR)
methods could aid the oil production of the well or even the reservoir (Economides et al. 2012; Golan &
Whitson 1991; Guo 2011). One of the well-known IOR methods is the pressure maintenance technique (e.g.
secondary gas injection) which helps the oil production rate by improving the field pressure. But, relatively
2 SPE-198424-MS

high amount of investment is required to initiate this operation. Huge amount of gas (or water) resources
are also needed to be injected to the field. Moreover, some new wells should be drilled (or be engineered) to
be used for injection purpose throughout the whole reservoir. On the other hand, oil production rate could
be maintained (or even improved) by using cheaper methods, such as artificial lift, in which the main focus
has been put on the wells, instead of the whole field.
Artificial methods are known to improve the well efficiency by decreasing the pressure gradient or
increasing the bottom-hole pressure (BHP) of the well (Brown 1982; Clegg et al. 1993; Goswami &
Chouhan 2015). The performance of a well could be predicted once the inflow performance relationship
(IPR) and tubing performance relationship (TPR) of the well is available (Golan & Whitson 1991). IPR
represents the performance of the fluid to be transported from the reservoir to the well and TPR shows
the well performance. By continuing the production, the pressure of the reservoir decreases and IPR curve
moves down. Also, the water-cut of the reservoir increases. As a result, pressure gradient of the tubing fluid
increases. So, the liquid production rate of the well will be reduced by time (Neely et al. 1981).
Although middle-east reservoirs are mainly known to be high pressure, use of artificial lift system for
them is found to be beneficial. Therefore, lots of wells are already using artificial lift methods in these fields.
A well would be a potential candidate for artificial lift once it can produce more economically with artificial
lift in present time or sometime in the future (Golan & Whitson 1991). Among these methods, ESP and
gas lift systems are found to be the most common one for deep wells. Lots of studies have been performed
on the feasibility of different artificial lift methods in middle-east reservoirs (Fatahi et al. 2012; Naderi et
al. 2014; Taheri & Hooshmandkoochi 2006; Worth et al. 2019). These results indicate that these methods
could enhance the oil production rate of the wells for a long time. For heavy oil reservoirs, ESPs are the
least likely method among artificial lift methods (Worth et al. 2019).
For the cases where no artificial lift method is implemented, in a specific time, if the IPR and TPR curves
are intersected, the well can flow naturally. Otherwise, IPR or TPR should be improved for oil production
from the well. IPR improvement could be done by reservoir or near well operations such as matrix acidizing
or hydraulic fracturing (Economides et al. 2013). But, artificial lift methods should be implemented for
TPR improvement (Economides et al. 2013; Golan & Whitson 1991). Once a field (or a group of wells) is
proposed for artificial lift study, different options are on the table (Brown 1977; Brown 1982; Clegg et al.
1993; Guo 2011; Neely et al. 1981). Available methods could be categorized in two groups: gas-lift (GL)
and pump-lift methods. The mechanisms of different artificial lift methods are shown in Fig. 1. Gas-lift
enhances the oil production rate by decreasing the pressure gradient while the pump-lift methods increase
the production rate by increasing the BHP.
SPE-198424-MS 3

Figure 1—Positive impact of artificial lift system on oil production. Regenerated from (Golan & Whitson 1991)

The pressure loss in a well consist of the pressure loss due to elevation, the friction and the kinetic loss
which is usually negligible. If the pressure drop through the well be greater than the BHP, the well could
not have a natural flow. In this situation, artificial lift could be a simple and effective remediation to bring
back the flow of the well. Also, in wells which have not economical flow rate, artificial lift is a proposed
method to increase the rate of production (Economides et al. 2013; Guo 2011).
Different approaches could be followed for accurate artificial lift selection (Alemi et al. 2011; de Sousa
Santos et al. 2018; Fatahi et al. 2012; Miresmaeili et al. 2019; Rasouli et al. 2015). Generally, list of
advantages/disadvantages of different methods are studied and after a straightforward screening process,
possible options are compared and finally the selected method will be introduced. However, by recent
improvements in technology, these lists and tables should be updated. Other methods have also followed
for selecting the best artificial lift method for oil fields. Recently, multi criteria decision making methods
are also used for artificial lift selection (Alemi et al. 2011; Fatahi et al. 2012). However, the procedure of
listing the importance of different parameters and assigning the appropriate value to each parameter may
affect the final results.
Generally, Gas lift operations are divided into two categories: 1) continuous gas lift, and 2) intermittent
gas lift. Continuous gas lift is much easier in design stage and operation, but greater amount of gas is
required. If the required amount of gas (for continuous gas lift) is not available, intermittent gas lift could be
used in the field. However, the required amount of gas and injection periods should be accurately calculated.
Different parameters including injection gas temperature and bottom-hole temperature must be considered
for proper design of intermittent gas lift operation (Ayatollahi et al. 2004; Santos et al. 2001).
Three steps were defined and followed to select the best artificial lift method for the reservoir (Kefford
& Gaurav 2016). First, different AL techniques are studied and evaluated to screen the possible options
of AL selection. By comparing the field parameters and the applicable range of each method, primary
results of the screening process will be obtained. Afterward, other tools will be implemented to increase
our understandings about the application and performance of different methods in the given field. In the
second step, an integrated reservoir and wells model is designed to study the recovery and performance
4 SPE-198424-MS

of each method in 10 years (Gutierrez et al. 2007; Han et al. 2016). Integrated asset management is one
of the effective methods of reducing the operational risk in oil and gas industry. This technique leads to
higher overall efficiency of the system and increases its performance by overcoming the possible challenges
of conventional approaches (Darvish Sarvestani et al. 2019). by comprehensive study of all of production
components. The designated model was first verified to ensure about the consistency and accuracy of the
model. Different sensitivity analysis simulations are performed to predict the performance of each method
in different conditions and impact of different parameters on the performance of the model is investigated.
Moreover, possible development of the AL system in the future was also considered. Economic estimation
is also performed and cash flows were analyzed. Capital and operating costs (including workover operation)
were considered in the economic study. In this step, all of the options could be compared by considering
technical and economic aspects and final decision could be made. Selection of the best-suited artificial lift
method is the third step of the screening process.

Field Description
The studied field was located in the south-west of Iran near Persian-Gulf. Oil production from this field
has been started more than 40 years ago. Original oil in place of this field was estimated to be more than
3 billion barrel and the field was already producing about 100,000 barrel of oil per day. The crude oil
gravity of this reservoir was approximately 33 °API and the reservoir pressure was reported to be about
2580 psig. The design of surface facilities requires a minimum tubing head-head pressure (THP) of 350
psig. Otherwise, the produced crude goes to the second stage separator. The produced gases from different
stages are gathered and re-injected to the reservoir after being pressurized. By reducing the field pressure,
22 wells were introduced to be studied for installing artificial lift equipment. Oil production from 14 wells
were completely ceased (or producing lower than economic rate), while the other 8 wells were believed to
need artificial lift in near future.

Methodology
Preliminary Screening
Generally, different parameters may affect the procedure of selecting the best method (Shedid & Yakoot
2016). The variety of these parameters makes the procedure of artificial lift selection more difficult. So,
these parameters were categorized in the first step. Fig. 2 illustrates the major and minor influencing factors
in a process of artificial lift method selection. To start the process of artificial lift method selection for a
field, different types of parameters must be considered. First of all, the location of the field and related
production facilities should be known. As an example, if the field is located in urban area, use of some
types of AL system might be restricted because of its noise or its obtrusiveness in the landscape of the
area. Consider an area in which good resources of high pressure gas is present, using gas-lift method in
this area is encouraged and its operational costs will be reduced. Presence of power sources increases the
chance of implementing electrical pumps. Production characteristics of the field may affect the artificial
lift study, very much. Presence of free-gas in the well or high value of water-cut may limit the application
of some methods. Also, the expected production rate can change the available options for a well (or group
of wells). Fluid, well and reservoir characteristics are also very important. Especially when pump-methods
are preferred to be used, casing size and well deviation might have a significant impact on the process of
method selection. Parameters related to the production stage of the field is the other group of factors which
should be considered. Also, different operating problems and considerations are also mentioned in Fig. 2.
Capital and operating costs of different methods may vary significantly. So, economic parameters of feasible
options should be also compared.
SPE-198424-MS 5

Figure 2—Influencing factors for proper selection of artificial lift method.

In order to investigate the feasible options accurately and choose the best-suited one, the following
items should be addressed. First of all, the feasible artificial lift options in this area should be listed. For
instance, some technologies may not be available in some area. In some cases, although a system might
be the best option for a specific field (or area), lack of aftersales services may put that method off the list.
Afterward, the adjacent and similar fields should be studied and their implemented AL system(s) should
be evaluated for possible application in the field. The main parameters which may limit the application
of one artificial lift method in field, are well depth and expected flow rate. So, these parameters are the
first technical factors which should be taken into the consideration. Finally, advantage/disadvantage lists
should be used for accurate comparison of different methods. There are different advantage/disadvantage
lists in the literature which could be used in this manner. However, some of them might be out of date and
application range of AL methods might be extended thanks to the recent improvements in technologies.
To conclude, for accurate evaluation of feasible options, the following items should be addressed before
technical and economic investigations:

• What are the feasible options in this area?

• What kind of AL systems have been implemented in similar (or adjacent) fields?

• Considering depth and expected flow rates, which methods could be followed?

• Preparing a primary advantage/disadvantage list based on the available information.

In the preliminary screening stage, the required information was gathered. As it was mentioned before, the
depth and expected production rate of the wells are the first items which must be taken into the consideration
for proper screening. Table 1 discusses the applicable range of each artificial lift method. A number of
conclusions could be drawn by the provided information in this table. Firstly, if high production rate (more
than 20,000 bbl/day) is expected to be produced from a well, GL and electrical submersible pump (ESP) are
the only feasible options. But, ESPs are not the best options for the wells with very low production rate. If
the well depth would be less than 6,000 ft, any AL method could be considered. However, if the well depth
would be greater than 15,000 ft, only hydraulic pumps could be used. In this study, the expected production
6 SPE-198424-MS

rates of the wells were lower than 4000 bbl/day and the wells were not deeper than 10,500 feet. Therefore,
progressive cavity pumps (PCP) are not considered among the possible options here.

Table 1—Applicable range of depth and production rate for different artificial lift methods

After this stage, other factors should be taken into the consideration in screening process. Table 2 shows
the important factors very well. Although PCPs are not among the options, its evaluation has been printed
in this table for further discussion. Different aspects of implementing gas lift system, positive cavity pumps,
electrical submersible pumps and sucker-rod pumps are compared and a summary of relative advantage/
disadvantage these methods are presented in this table.
SPE-198424-MS 7

Table 2—Comprehensive evaluation of different artificial lift methods

8 SPE-198424-MS

Well Performance
Both inflow and outflow performance of the wells were studied to predict the future production of the
field for a certain period of time. 22 wells (including a couple of deviated wells) were considered for
artificial lift operation. Inflow performance relationship and vertical-lift performance curves are generated
and imported to the integrated model for each scenario (natural depletion, gas-lift and ESP). In order to
obtain the corresponding VLPs in different scenarios, the tubing head pressure was set to 350 psig. A typical
IPR and VLP curves from one of the studied wells are presented in Fig. 3. Impact of implementing gas lift
on the VLP curve shows the significant increase of oil production by using GL system. Once artificial lift
methods are not implemented, due to the lack of sufficient bottom-hole pressure and high pressure gradient
of produced fluid in the well, the produced fluid is not delivered to the surface. For ESP design, different
frequencies were simulated to find the optimum pump. The operating condition was almost matched with
the best efficiency curve. Fig. 4 shows ESP performance in a typical well.
SPE-198424-MS 9

Figure 3—Typical IPR and VLP curves for natural flow and gas lift. VLP improvement due to implementing
GL system and decreasing the pressure gradient leads to higher production rate compared to natural flow.

Fig 4—ESP design based on operating frequency and efficiency

One of the most important parts of any artificial lift study is the accurate prediction of well pressure drop.
In this manner, an in-house code was developed to investigate the well pressure drop for different wells and
scenarios based on modified Hagedron-Brown method. Additionally, the impact of gas injection on the well
pressure drop was evaluated using this code. Fig. 5 shows a typical graph used for allocation of required
amount of gas for each well. Gas injection rate for this well was determined to be about 1.4 MMSCF per
day. Safety factor, technical and operational considerations for proper operation of gas lifting valves were
also considered. The depth of gas lifting valves were determined using this code for successful unloading
and optimized production from the candidate wells. Fig. 6 demonstrates the output result of this code for
proper design of gas lift valves. Next, results werecompared with commercial software and the accurate
design of the wells were verified.
10 SPE-198424-MS

Figure 5—Gas lift system performance curve for a typical well of studied field

Figure 6—Design of gas lift system and valves for proper operation

Integrated Reservoir and Well Model

To study the long-term efficiency of available options (GL and ESP), as it is presented in Fig. 7, an integrated
well and reservoir model was built and results were compared. In this manner, all of the operational factors
(including THP, Water-cut, GOR, well radius, etc.) were considered in the model to have a fair comparison.
The required gas for gas-lift purpose could be easily supplied from the produced gas or other available
sourced in the vicinity of this field.
SPE-198424-MS 11

Figure 7—Schematic of integrated reservoir and well model

In this study, 22 wells were selected for artificial lift study. As it was discussed before, production from 14
wells were completely stopped. The other 8 wells were predicted to face lifting problem in near future. So,
all of the 22 wells were included in this study. From the previous results, implementing gas lift system and
installing electrical submersible pumps were concluded to be the only two feasible option for this field. So,
simulation of this two options were done using an integrated model and results were compared to the base
case in which natural depletion scenario (without implementing any artificial lift method) was performed.
Our simulations showed that if no artificial lift method is executed, most of the wells will face serious
production and only 13 MMSTB oil will be produced during the next 10 years. Although the reservoir is
capable of producing with higher rates and more oil could be delivered to the well, current well condition
and lack of sufficient bottom-hole pressure results in a huge reduction in oil production rate of these wells.
Future performance of the reservoir and wells were predicted using material balance equations and available
methods. So, by importing the VLP of all the 22 wells, impact of installing ESPs or implementing gas lift
system was evaluated. Results showed that gas lift leads to greater oil production compared to ESP. In the
case where ESPs were used, 112 MMSTB oil was produced and cumulative oil production from these wells
was noticeably increased compared to the case where no artificial lift method is used. However, the highest
cumulative oil production was for the case in which gas lift system is implemented and almost 134 MMSTB
oil was predicted to be produced during the next 10 years by injecting reasonable amount of gas to the well.
Average gas injection rate for each well was approximately 1.5 MMscf/day. Fig. 8 shows the cumulative
oil production for all the three scenarios.
12 SPE-198424-MS

Figure 8—Comparison of cumulative oil production for three scenarios of field development in 10 years.

Conclusion
In this study, one of the Iranian brown fields were studied for artificial lift selection. First of all, a
preliminary screening process was performed to evaluate the application of different artificial lift methods
for this particular field. Different aspects of field properties (including location, production characterization,
recovery plan and etc.) were considered in this stage. Some of the studied wells were in urban areas and
the rest of them were not. Therefore, it was concluded that SRP and PCP cannot be considered among the
possible options for this field due to the well depth, expected flow rate or other considerations. In order to
compare different aspects of feasible options, a more detailed study was accomplished. A comprehensive
and detailed list for different aspects of each artificial lift method was prepared which could be also used
for other studies or projects. Next, IPR and VLP of the wells for different cases (natural depletion, ESPS,
GL) were generated and imported to the integrated reservoir and wells model. Our simulations showed
that if artificial lift methods are not executed, only 13 MMSTB oil will be produced in the next 10 years.
Additionally, it was concluded that GL may yield the highest cumulative oil production. More than 134
MMSTB oil will be produced during the next 10 years if GL system is installed in these 22 wells. In the
other scenario, almost 112 MMSTB oil was produced if electrical submersible pumps are installed. Proper
design of gas lift valves is essential for a successful gas lift implementation. In this manner, an in-house
code was developed to determine the spacing of GL valves in each well and ensure about the successful
unloading and operation of the wells. Moreover, by considering changes in IPR and VLP of each well in
the studied period, appropriate performance of GL system inthe studied wells was verified.

Acknowledgment
The authors thank Mr. A. Moazami for his kind collaboration in this study.

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