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

摘要

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 constrains that operation & 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 represents a challenge itself 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 ESPs deployment systems were designed and are currently in use around the globe (e.g.: standard tubing deployed, thru tubing conveyed, CTU deployed), but each one of them has its own limitations. In order to enhance ESPs installation conditions, capabilities and run life management, a new approach resulted on 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 WL, sucker rods or CTU 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 the oil recovery, minimizes environmental impact and increases the field safety management while reducing the overall well cost. This paper will explore the technology design, capability and constrain, cost analysis and will conclude with installation experiences and results.