Artificial lift challenges are as varied as the wells and reservoirs they support. Offshore, the focus may be on maximizing production from aging deepwater completions, while in shale plays the obstacles often involve high water cut and scale.
True to form, the industry is developing novel ways to answer these problems. From adaptive gas lift systems, deep-set intelligent gas lift straddles, and nanoparticle-based fluids to surfactant-assisted gas lift, operators are deploying new artificial lift technologies in offshore and onshore settings to drive up production rates, as detailed during SPE’s Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in October.
Conventional gas lift has long been an industry go-to solution for increasing oil production, but some shortcomings associated with the approach prompted a North Sea operator to seek out a variation on the theme.
Eivind Samuelsen, a senior petroleum engineer at Aker BP, said that after pilot testing by the operator on an adaptive gas lift system (AGLS) at a field offshore Norway, the technology had reached Technology Readiness Level 7 (TRL7), which is the highest readiness level. Speaking during an ATCE technical session, he said Aker BP plans to install AGLS in 11 wells in that same field to demonstrate the tech’s value.
He told JPT the wells will have one-fits-all adaptive gas lift scenarios from day 1.
Development of the AGLS started in 2019 as Aker BP strove to overcome limitations of conventional gas lift systems.
