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Abstract
Almost 67% of worlds oil and gas is produced from mature fields, Which are facing a significant drop
in the reservoir pressure. There are also other challenges such as production from satellites, increase in
water-cut, fragmentation of reservoir and deterioration of the inflow characteristics of wells which restrict
production and total recovery from these fields. A boosting system is therefore required to maintain
production and to ensure that maximum total recovery from the field is achieved.
Surface jet pumps are amongst the most cost effective ways to revive liquid loaded wells and boost
production from low pressure oil and gas wells. This paper describes the principle of their operation and
refers to a number of field examples worldwide. The paper focuses particularly on revival of oil and gas
wells which have unstable production or have seized production.
Economics play an important role in selection of the production boosting techniques. For this reason,
the oil and gas operators wish to minimize their risks and the capital and operation costs of the boosting
systems when the production has declined. This paper also covers the effect of multiphase flow and how
to cope with this aspect of the production from LP oil and gas wells, and the use of solutions which
involve surface jet pumps.
Introduction
Recent reports reveal that almost 67% of world oil and gas is produced from mature fields. There is no
formal definition of what is defined as a mature field. Some sources define field maturity when production
has reached 50% of the plateau rate. Some consider a field reaching maturity after 10 years of production.
There are of course other criteria which affect the field maturity and selection of the solutions to maintain
production. These include water-cut, status of the field infrastructure, and whether the field is onshore,
offshore or whether it has major subsea completed systems.
In the UK, all production came from only seven fields in 1977. Today, 1.4 MMboe/d comes from 346
fields.
In many fields, if nothing is done in response to the drop in reservoir pressure and other changes to the
productivity of wells, total recovery of oil or gas from the field may be limited to around 35%.
With advances in production boosting techniques, up to 60% to 75% of reserves should ideally be
recoverable before the field is abandoned.
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The industry also faces other challenges such as the drop in the price of oil and gas, related tax regimes,
inflation, and increase in the cost of equipment, personnel, drilling and maintenance operations.
In many fields, long term, life of the field, consideration has been limited and short term solutions have
been adopted. In this case, near the end of the field life, major investments to extend the life of the fields
are avoided. In some fields major operators pass the field to small operators who may be able to take
further risks and extend the life of the field more economically.
The subject of this paper is on the use of a low cost, low risk system which is ideal for marginal or
mature fields. The system or solution involves the use of surface jet pumps (SJPs) to revive LP wells,
which applies to both oil and gas fields.
Figure 1Profile of the velocity and pressure of HP and LP gas passing through the SJP
In principle, HP fluid passes through the nozzle of the SJP where part of potential energy (pressure)
is converted to kinetic energy (velocity). As a result, the HP pressure drops significantly in front of the
nozzle. It is at this point that the LP fluids are introduced and are carried through the mixing tube with
the HP fluid. It is within the mixing tube where transfer of energy and momentum between HP and LP
fluids takes place. The mixture then passes through the diffuser section, where the velocity of fluids is
reduced gradually and further recovery of pressure is achieved. The outlet pressure of the SJP will be an
intermediate pressure between the HP and LP pressure. The amount by which the LP pressure is increased
depends on major factors such as HP/LP pressure ratio and mass flow ratio.
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Figure 2 shows typical graphs for gas production applications where both HP and LP fluids are pure
gas. There are also other factors such as molecular weight of HP and LP gas, the operating temperature,
properties of gas such as Z factor and Cp/Cv value, and presence of liquids in the HP or LP gas which
affect the performance of the SJP.
In some applications, particularly for prevention of flaring very low pressure gas, if no HP gas source
is available, a high pressure liquid phase such as HP oil or water may be used as the motive flow.
Figure 3 shows the performance of the SJP handling LP gas and using HP water as the motive flow.
It is worth noting that using a HP liquid phase can achieve a much higher level of boost for the LP gas,
but a relatively high flow rate of HP liquid is needed for each MMscfd of LP gas.
Figure 3Performance of the SJP, using HP water to boost the pressure of LP gas
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There has been numerous successful applications of each case, most of which have been covered in
previous technical papers. See reference 1.
This paper focuses on boosting production from oil and gas wells, and the revival of liquid loaded oil
and gas wells.
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Figure 6 Revival of 16 gas wells which could not produce directly against the manifold pressure
The effectiveness of the use of the SJP system is based on three main factors;
The HP source and to what extent it can reduce the FWHP of the well
The inflow characteristics of the well and the severity of the liquid loading
Architecture and depth of the well
The up-to-date inflow characteristics of the well can be established reliably by allowing the well to flow
at a lower FWHP, which is normally dictated by the production manifold or pipeline pressure. In some
onshore fields the operator may open the well to a burning pit temporarily to establish the inflow behavior
of the well. In some offshore fields, the test separator may be used to operate at a low operating pressure
by temporarily flaring the gas and sending the liquids to the closed drain system (if allowed).
Figure 7 shows an alternative solution for using the test separator. This system which uses SJPs or a
booster pump for the liquid phase, prevents flaring the separated gas or sending the liquids to the closed
drain. The viability of this system depends on the availability of the HP source to handle the separated LP
gas, and by what extent it can reduce the operating pressure of the test separator.
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Figure 7Use of the test separator, combined with SJP and a booster pump to revive LP wells
Experience has shown that in some sever cases, the combination of the total depth of the well, the
extent of the liquid loading and the inflow characteristics of the well, demand the use of downhole AL
systems or flowing the well at near atmospheric pressure for the initial revival of the well, before the
simpler solution, using SJPs can become effective on its own to maintain stable production. It is for this
reason that initial testing of the wells at pressures below the manifold or pipeline pressure helps to
establish the severity of the liquid loading and the solution which is the most cost effective way to revive
the well.
Figure 8AFlow diagram of the Wellcom system using SJP to boost the pressure of LP gas and a booster pump to boost the pressure
of LP liquids
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Figure 8BPhotograph of the Wellcom system using compact separator I-SEP/HI-SEP and the liquid booster pump
The separator needed for separation of gas and liquids in such applications should ideally be compact
and simple to operate, as in many cases the system operates in remote onshore fields or on unmanned
offshore platforms where space is also a premium. The patented Caltec system uses the cyclonic patented
I-SEP separator to separate LP gas and liquid phases. For further information on I-SEP and its range of
applications refer to reference 2
Figure 9 shows the photograph of the boosting system with I-SEP mounted on the same skid which
carries the SJP.
Figure 9 Use of the HP oil well to revive and boost production from a LP oil well
Figure 10 shows an alternative patented solution, known by the trade name of the Wellcom Boost
system. This solution is suitable for cases where no HP source, gas or liquid phase, is available. In this
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case a single phase liquid booster pump is used to generate the motive flow and the SJP handles the total
multiphase flow from the selected LP wells. One of the benefits of this system is that it allows the
selection of the booster pump and the delivery pressure of the pump to allow the SJP to generate the
desired reduction in the FWHP of the LP wells.
Figure 10 Use of a booster pump and SJP to revive LP oil well (Wellcom Boost system)
The selection of each system depends therefore on the conditions of the LP wells, and the availability
of the HP motive gas or liquids.
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The operation of the system is simple and does not require active control or operator
Maintenance requirements are next to none
The system can be easily modified if the operating conditions change
Alternative solutions are costlier and more complex
The system is highly reliable and does not suffer from limited or short mean time before failure
Naturally, all SJP applications require a high pressure source to power the SJP. Lack of the existing HP
source may lead to adopting the solutions which involve the use of a booster pump. The use of the booster
pump adds to the complexity and cost of the system. However, compared to alternative solutions such as
the use of multiphase pumps, or downhole ESPs, the booster pump handling the liquid phase is still a
simpler system with good track records, and its power consumption is much less than the power needed
by multiphase pumps.
Concluding remarks
The need for a production boosting system is inevitable to maintain production, and to maximize recovery
from mature oil and gas fields. The use of the SJP solutions compliments other major EOR (enhanced oil
recovery) or IOR (Improved oil recovery) systems which are essential to ensure that total recovery from
the fields reaches values in excess of 35% of the reserves.
The SJP solutions have an excellent track record and are amongst the lowest risk solutions to maximize
production and recovery from mature fields. For oil and gas producing companies which have not used
the SJP systems, initial field trials can provide them with the confidence which they need to adopt the
system.
References
1. Some novel examples of the use of surface jet pumps (SJPs) to enhance production and
processing. Case histories and lessons learned. By; Sacha Sarshar & N. Beg. Caltec Ltd, U.K.
GPA annual conference, May 23-25, 2012, Berlin.
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2. The applications and performance of a novel compact separator in the oil and gas industry. By;
MM (Sacha) Sarshar, Technical Director, Caltec. 2nd GCC-EU Advanced oil and gas Technology
Conference. Abu Dhabi, UAE, May 21-22, 2001