Summit ESP® recommends lowering ESP into tangent for revenue increase

Overview

Operators often place ESPs in the vertical section of highly deviated wellbores to avoid running through the curve. However, this approach may not optimize production initially, and downsizing equipment becomes necessary as production declines.

Challenge

Recently, a West Texas operator set a Summit ESP 30 ft. above the kickoff point (KOP) at approximately 4,200 ft. true vertical depth (TVD) but was concerned about potential pump off as production declined and pump intake pressure (PIP) dropped to 300 psi.

Solution

The collaborative efforts of Intelevate™ software platform and application engineering teams led to significant improvements in well production. By analyzing operational data and key performance indicators (KPIs), they recommended adjusting the system to the tangent at approximately 60° inclination. Remarkably, this adjustment allowed for reusing the existing ESP without the need for well pulling or equipment replacement. The ESP was successfully lowered to a depth of 5200 ft. measured depth (MD) within the well, optimizing production efficiency.

Result

The lower set point increased PIP from 390 to 550 psi. Oil production increased by 330 BOPD, and gas increased by 475 MCFPD; the water-cut and gas-oil ratio (GOR) remained the same. By placing trust in Halliburton, the customer's bottom line improved by roughly $26,000 per day in production revenue (at $77/BO and $2/MSCF). Over the subsequent 20 days, this translated to a total gain of just over $520,000, all achieved with minimal additional costs.