ARTIFICIAL LIFT

Adco ESP Pilot

Adcos experience with electrical submersible pumps (ESPs) in deep, hightemperature, and high-gas/oil-ratio
(GOR) wells has been discouraging.
To ensure that future ESP applications in Adcos mature fields are successful, a comprehensive review was
conducted to determine the causes of
the previous failures and recommend
methods to improve current practices.
A multidisciplinary team was created
to plan and execute an ESP pilot project. The result of this effort was the
successful installation and operation
of ESPs in two of the fields oil wells.

Introduction
The field is in southeast Abu Dhabi
and was discovered by a seismic survey conducted in 1959. Crude oil
from the reservoir is 42API with an
850-scf/STB GOR. The reservoir temperature is 250F. The field has been
waterflooded for more than 25 years,
resulting in a long history of producing wells ceasing to flow when the
water cut reaches 40 to 60%. The
long-term solution is to put these
wells on artificial lift (AL) such as gas
lift (GL) or ESPs.
The slow increase in water cuts will
change to a much more rapid increase
upon fieldwide implementation of the
first phase of AL scheduled in 2009.
Although GL is seen as the preferred
AL method for the field, ESPs could
be used as a secondary method.
An initial step to the fieldwide AL
implementation was to plan an ESP
This article, written by Assistant
Technology Editor Karen Bybee, contains highlights of paper SPE 101492,
Adco ESP Pilot, by H.A. Hashim,
Adco, prepared for the 2006 Abu Dhabi
International Petroleum Exhibition and
Conference, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 58
November.

trial with the objectives of restoring production and accelerating data

acquisition on well and reservoir performance at higher water cuts to
refine field-development plans.
The wells selected for the ESP project were three oil producers that had
ceased to flow because of a high water
cut. Because of mechanical-integrity
problems with one of the wells, only
two ESPs were installed.
Adco ESP Review
Although ESP performance in waterproduction wells and shallow oil
wells is impressive, performance in
deep and high-temperature oil wells
has been beleaguered by a number
of premature failures. To ensure
that future ESP applications in these
fields are successful, a comprehensive
review was conducted to determine
the causes of the previous failures
and incorporate the findings into
new designs and procedures for the
pilot tests.
After analysis of the past ESP experiences, the review team agreed that
all past failures could have been prevented if attention had been paid to
detail. The failures in the past were
primarily the result of wellbore pollutants and debris; poor manufacturing, quality assurance, and quality
control; and installation practices.
On the basis of the review findings,
the review team made several recommendations including the following.
A project-management team
should be formalized for each ESP
project, with staff from different disciplines covering all surface and subsurface project aspects. The team was
to meet on a regular basis to monitor
progress and document action items
and priorities.
The ESP project-management
team should ensure that the reservoir

data, and in particular well productivity index (PI), are accurate.

Compression pumps should be
used in the pilot test to increase operating envelopes to cope better with
changes in reservoir conditions and
to eliminate the need for variablespeed drives.
Preventative measures, rather
than remedial measures, should be
addressed with regard to scaling and
corrosion.
Particular attention should be
paid to the details of critical operations during workovers to secure a
complete understanding of safety
issues and critical success factors.
Comprehensive programs for
wellbore cleanup, running and installation procedures, and commissioning should be prepared carefully and
discussed with the relevant parties.
Tendering Process
In line with the review findings, an ESP
project-management team was created.
To maximize the probability of project
success, the team conducted a thorough tender exercise to select the ESP
provider. The technical competence of
the supplier was of paramount importance; therefore, the tender evaluation
focused on technical, rather than commercial, evaluation. The decision was
made to split the evaluation into two
stages: first the technical evaluation,
followed by the commercial evaluation. A 75% weight was attributed to
the technical bid, and a 25% weight
was given the commercial bid. The
strategy was spelled out in the tender
document so the bidders would be
aware of the strategy.
The technical evaluation of the bidders was made from a comprehensive technical questionnaire that was
included in the tender document.
The commercial bid was opened only

For a limited time, the full-length paper is available free to SPE members at www.spe.org/jpt. The paper has not been peer reviewed.
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JPT MAY 2007

after the technical evaluation had

been completed and approved by
the relevant authority. The successful
bidder had to be a service provider,
not only a pumpprovider.
Design Parameters
Reservoir and well data were carefully gathered and checked before
being used for pump sizing. All the
data were captured in a document
called ESP System Statement of
Requirements, which was vital for
the success of the project.
Several considerations constrained
the design of the ESP completions
including the following.
Bottomhole flowing pressure had
to remain above the bubblepoint.
Production was to be limited to
3,000 B/D.
Free-gas volume fraction at pump
intake was to be less than 10%.
The pump would need to operate under a large range of operating
conditions.
A design exercise using ESP-simulation software was used to develop
designs and explore sensitivities. A
summary of the numerous software
runs was analyzed to determine the
best system. On the basis of the
design exercise, a system configuration was selected that can achieve
production rates between 2,600 and
4,000 B/D with water cuts ranging
from 60 to 95% and PIs ranging from
10 to 26 bbl/(psi-D).
Most importantly, the rating of the
motor windings in this ESP-system
design is 300F. On the basis of the
design summary, the maximum motorwinding temperature would be 275F,
providing a marginal safety factor. In
addition, the presence of the bypass tubing reduces the flow area and increases
the fluid velocity, thus increasing the
cooling efficiency. The motor-winding
temperature and the factors that affect
it were analyzed carefully through various sensitivities during the design phase
to avoid premature failure caused by
temperature increases.
The use of the compression design
extends the pump operating envelope, while the motors selected for
the pilot wells have better efficiency
and run cooler than the previous
motor series used. Also, the use of
variable rated motors extends the
operating range.
JPT MAY 2007

Because one of the main causes

of previous failures was corrosion,
special attention was focused on the
selection of ESP-equipment material.
Corrosive fluids often can be managed
by the appropriate selection of metallurgy, coatings, and elastomers in the
ESP-system components. Particular
attention was paid to areas where
fluid flow is expected to be turbulent
(e.g., pump intake). In addition, the
independent analysis and advice of
a corrosion-engineering expert were
sought before the material selection
for the design was finalized.
Completion Philosophy
The completion design for the pilot
wells included
Y-tool and bypass tubing for reservoir accessibility by coiled tubing
(CT) for logging.
Stinger into 7-in. liner to facilitate
CT entry and prevent buckling.
Packerless completion with annulus gas vented into flowline downstream of choke.
Data transmission of the pump
parameters.
A downhole sensor was installed
to monitor the ESP performance by
measuring the following parameters.
Intake temperature.
Intake pressure.
Discharge pressure.
Current leakage.
Motor-winding temperature.
Pump Installation
Because several ESP failures were
caused by solids contamination
from scale and corrosion, before
ESP deployment a thorough wellbore-cleanup program was performed
as follows:
The well was circulated with filtered brine until the returns were
clean of any debris.
CT with a jet blaster was run to
total depth.
The ESPs then were installed.
The well was kicked off with
nitrogen until reservoir fluids were
produced at the surface.
In addition, a functional test of
each ESP was performed, consisting of a first startup for a period of
time ranging from 15 to 19 hours to
confirm that the reservoir and pump
parameters were within the design
parameters. This first startup was

65

performed with the assistance of a

wellsite generator.
Before running the ESP, a comprehensive document containing the
completion drawings, risk assessment of the operation, running and
installation procedures, and startup
and commissioning procedures was
issued to and discussed with the
relevant staff. The document incorporated the results of a completing the well on paper exercise performed with all parties involved in rig
operations. Operational procedures
for starting, stopping, and normal
operations including decompression
sequences when starting an ESP were
established and distributed to the relevant operations staff.

In addition, two ESP strings were

installed during the first half of 2006 in
a different field with similar conditions
using the same integrated approach,
while another two for a third field are
currently in the planning stages.
Conclusions
The period that the pumps have been
running smoothly confirms the success

of the integrated project-management

approach and indicates that a satisfactory ESP run life can be achieved under
the current field conditions provided
that special attention to and understanding of the requirements of the
ESP system are taken in consideration.
ESPs can be considered a feasible AL
method for future development of resJPT
ervoirs in Adco fields.

Results
The ESP equipment was installed in
two wells in September 2004, and
once the surface infrastructure was
completed, the pumps were started
for the second time in February 2005,
after which both ran successfully for
more than 1 year, producing from
2,500 to 3,200 B/D with water cuts
varying from 15 to 40%.
In February 2006, the first ESP
failed. The suspected reason for the
failure was an electrical fault on the
cable. During initial commissioning
tests, a ground fault was detected in
the downhole equipment. Because
the ESP would be able to run despite
the ground fault, the decision was
made to start the equipment because
it would have been impossible to
repair the problem unless the string
was pulled and the entire length of
cable inspected.
The second ESP string was removed
from the well, and a standard completion was put in its place in March
2006 after production logging showed
the well capable of sustaining natural
flow because of an increase in the
reservoir pressure as a result of continuous water injection in the surrounding area.
During May 2005, an interdisciplinary workshop was held to further
review the approach taken and determine the effective mechanisms that
aided the success of the pilot project
so they can be implemented in all
future ESP projects, while taking care
to avoid any shortfalls that occurred
in the pilots.

JPT MAY 2007

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