Collaboration increased production by a total of 155 barrels of oil per day (BOPD)
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Increase production on three wells by setting ESPs in the horizontal
Permian Basin
An operator in West Texas, USA wanted to increase production on three wells by setting ESPs in the horizontal, despite the challenges of running through severe doglegs
Collaborated to design a solution using Halliburton deviator flanges to protect the ESP from extreme bending stresses in severe doglegs
A customer operating in the Permian Basin predominantly employs ESPs set approximately 30 feet above the kick-off point (KOP) for horizontal wells. However, due to concerns about declining pump intake pressure (PIP) and a desire to increase production, they wanted to evaluate reinstalling the ESPs deeper within the horizontal section of the wellbore.
Running the ESPs in the hole without compromising equipment integrity would be challenging due to extreme dogleg severity (DLS) in all three wells and landing zones, with a DLS greater than 3° per 100 feet. There were also concerns about gas handling capabilities while operating in the horizontal.
A team of five, including Intelevate team members, engineers, and Summit ESP® R&D, designed a solution to preserve the integrity of the ESP while running in the hole using Halliburton deviator flanges to limit the extreme bending stresses typically associated with severe doglegs. The issues surrounding gas interference were addressed by installing a combination of tandem Hydro-Helical® and Liberator® Vortex gas separators, complemented by a rotating intake.
The team performed bending stress computational analysis before installation, and the customer implemented their recommendation. The deviator flanges successfully protected the integrity of each ESP, reducing bending stresses to as little as half of the theoretical stress without them.
All three ESPs were run in the hole without issue and comfortably set within the recommended landing zones, increasing the pump intake pressure (PIP) for all three wells by 115, 300, and 250 psi. Production increased by 52, 12, and 91 BOPD, respectively, for a total of 155 BOPD, earning the operator approximately $12,000 in increased revenue per day (@ $78/BO.).