Technical Agenda
Tuesday 13 October
Session 1: Advanced Lifting System – Lesson Learned and the Way ForwardSpeakers: Manickavasakan Nader, Sameer Joshie, Angus Simpson, Chuck Tarr, and Mohamed Sadek
Tools, people, and processes are paramount in achieving integrated artificial lift optimisation that delivers better lift system and reservoir performance for artificially lifted wells. It combines the latest technology in downhole monitoring systems and artificial lift technology with reservoir expertise. Downhole multisensors are used to capture relevant lift systems and reservoir parameters, and the data is transmitted in real-time to provide 24/7 surveillance and the opportunity to identify candidate wells for artificial lift optimisation. Remote communication and control at the well site in real time provides the ability to access and set operational alarms on the downhole and surface system. Hence, it enables a single surveillance engineer to proactively monitor several hundred wells. With additional support of an artificial lift surveillance center and collaborative knowledge hub, monitoring, and analysis of the data from connected wells can be used to ensure their continued production. Recommendations based on this performance analysis can be implemented remotely, often resulting in immediate production increases.
Session 2: Benchmarking and Determining Standard Performance Metrics
Speakers: Wassim Kassab, Mark Mahoney, Essam M. Abdoella, Ahmed Shoukry, and Muhammad Mirza
As we all know, the pumps are a small component of the overall equation. It is about decreasing total cost of ownership. One element is the pump, but electricity or power consumption costs are important to look at and control. Workover cost can run high. Imagine the impact of having a “hit list” of wells to work on, the impact on production for each of them, or which pumps will fail early. Is there any way you can pro-actively schedule the workover rig rotation and, of course, defer oil? This is an important component to consider whether you would like to either produce more today or better manage the reservoir depletion over the long term. Benchmarking performance, such as run life of artificial-lift systems has become more commonplace in the E&P companies' base management plan. Key Performance Indicators have quickly found their way into the artificial-lift arena. The use of root-cause analysis and mean-time-before-failure analysis have become more popular and more enhanced by operating companies in an attempt to increase the run life, lower operating cost, and minimize deferred oil. However, regional operating practices, cost structures, infrastructures, and economic drivers come into play when analyzing an artificial lift system performance. The actual overall cost of a system failure can vary substantially in different locations across regions.
Wednesday 14 October
Session 3: Integrated Artificial Lift Production Optimisation
Speakers: Bhuvnesh Dadoo, Fathi Snaib, Cedric Bouleou, Olmeido Jaimes Gomez, and Amrin Harun
More than 80% of the world’s oil wells are placed on some kind of artificial lift. The most significant of which are ESP, gas lift, and sucker-rod pump. To reach maximum profit from such installations, production engineers are required to design and operate the application at their peak efficiencies. To achieve this goal, thorough understandings of the basic design of the different lifting methods, as well as proper skills to improve field production to reach optimum conditions, are required. Flow assurance in real-time is one of the successful system optimize the production and improve performance of the well. It is the science field dealing with prevention of scales, gas lock, and other problems in the lifting system that could stop flow of fluid from the subsurface. Integrated artificial lift optimisations with real-time monitoring and control or periodic engineering interventions identify problems in the reservoir or wellbore construction and help improve production with targeted remedial actions. On average, the optimisation process improves oil production by 20% and more than half of all artificially lifted wells have potential for significantly improved operation and increased production. Gains of more than tenfold have been verified by production measurements.
Session 4: Artificial Lift Selection Criteria for Optimum Efficiency
Speakers: Omar Mohammed, Magdy Kirolos, Wael Salah, Ahmed Sabaa, and Ernesto Cuadros
Artificial-lift selection requires a very careful consideration of current and future wellbore and reservoir conditions. There are many rules of thumb and many grey areas. There can be no technique that will give a quick and easy answer. Due to the many possible combinations of well parameters, countless factors will affect the artificial-lift selection and performance. Some samplings of these well parameters are reservoir characteristics, fluid properties, bottomhole pressures and temperatures, well productivity index, completion depth, completion type, deviation, location, intervention requirements, solids production, gas production, production chemistry, power availability, and market conditions. If a proper design is to be made, all of these parameters and system components must be understood. If one component is changed, it will affect the performance of all the associated components. In many field developments, different lift methods may be optimal at different times in the life of the field. Therefore, well thought out contingency plans are vital to cater changing well conditions over time.
