ESP Retrievable Technology: A Solution to Enhance ESP Production While Minimizing Costs | SLB

ESP Retrievable Technology: A Solution to Enhance ESP Production While Minimizing Costs

Published: 05/14/2012

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Schlumberger Oilfield Services

The easy oil production is gone and current field developments require new approaches to produce oil and gas reserves in the most effective, economic, and safe ways. Around the world, more than half of the wells are assisted by an Artificial Lift (AL) system. The use of these AL methods opens a range of opportunities to produce from low-pressure reservoirs, low GOR, high water cuts, and many others constraints that operation and production engineers are facing nowadays. Electro Submersible Pumps (ESPs) are widely used around the world as one of the most common solution for the current field development conditions.

However, ESPs represent a challenge themselves in terms of production management, intervention cost, and run life cycle. Eventually, all ESPs will fail and the need of a workover will be present repeated times during the well life; and many causes of failure are beyond the control of either manufacturer or operator.

To solve this issue, several types of ESP deployment systems were designed and are currently in use around the globe (e.g., standard tubing deployed, thru tubing conveyed, coiled tubing deployed), but each one of them has its own limitations.

In order to enhance ESP installation conditions, capabilities, and run life management, a new approach resulted in the design of an ESP retrievable system that will complement current major ESP providers' equipment portfolio. This technology gives the operator the opportunity to retrieve and rerun the ESP without a rig intervention by only using wireline, sucker rods, or CT equipment.

The technology can be used either onshore or offshore to manage and optimize oil production by taking aside the rig need to change the ESP. This improves oil recovery, minimizes environmental impact, and increases field safety management while reducing the overall well cost.

This paper will explore the technology design, capability and constraints, and cost analysis and will conclude with installation experiences and results.

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