Tulsa University Horizontal Well Artificial Lift Projects

3rd Annual Appalachian Basin

Gas Well Deliquification

Seminar Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio

June 4 - 6, 2012

Tulsa University Horizontal Well Artificial Lift Projects (TUHWALP)

Cleon Dunham, ALRDC

Bill Lane, Weatherford

Omar Soto, BP

James Martin, Consultant

Cem Sarica, Univ. of Tulsa

Rob Sutton, Marathon Oil

June 5 - 6, 2012 2


• Introduction

– Vast majority of new wells for both oil and gas are horizontals.

– Most require artificial lift to produce liquids and/or dewater gas

wells.

– Artificial lift of horizontal wells is challenging.

– It is particularly challenging

in shale assets where wells

are often deep with long

horizontal sections.

Note: This material was first

Presented at the 2012 South-

Western Petroleum Short

Course.

Complex Horizontal Well Profiles

10,100

10,150

10,200

10,250

10,300

10,350

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000

Departure, ft

Tru

e V

ert

ica

l D

ep

th, ft

Well 1

Well 2

Well 3

Well 4

Well 5

Well 6

Well 7

Well 8

Well 9

Well 10

2012 Appalachian Basin Gas Well

Deliquification Seminar, Marietta, Ohio

June 5 - 6, 2012 2012 Appalachian Basin Gas Well


3


• Introduction (continued)

– To address these challenges, the ALRDC invited many companies

to form a Consortium.

– The purpose is to develop new methods and understanding for

advancing artificial lift.

– Several organizations were evaluated to lead the Consortium.

– The University of Tulsa was chosen.

• Track record with leading consortia.

• Extensive R&D facilities.

Horizontal Well Scope in the World

• Scope

– Face of industry has changed dramatically in last few years.

– Largest change is associated with the producing natural gas,

condensates, and oil from shale formations.



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Horizontal Well Scope in the US and the Eagle Ford in Texas



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• Scope in the US

Rate of Development in Recent Years

• Rate of Adding New Wells and Production

– Drilling rate in Marcellus Shale in Appalachian Basin

– Drilling rate in Barnett Shale in Texas

– Gas production increase in Barnett Shale



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Why Horizontal Wells

• Reason for Horizontal Wells

– Producing gas and oil from shale formations requires drilling,

completing, and operating horizontal wells.

– Horizontal wells are needed to contact large portions of

reservoirs and natural “micro” fractures they contain.

– Wells must be treated with multi-stage hydraulic fractures to

permit oil and gas to flow from reservoirs to wellbores.



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Horizontal Well Challenges



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• Challenges in producing horizontal wells

– Much of water used to fracture wells must be produced back to

reduce back-pressure and clear flow paths for gas and oil

production.

– Often some fracture sand will be produced back with the

water; both water and sand must be artificially lifted from the

wells.

– Most artificial lift systems are designed to work in vertical

sections of wells.

– Methods must be developed to help sweep and lift fluids from

the deviated and/or horizontal portions of the wellbores.

– Most “horizontal” wells are not actually horizontal.

Typical Horizontal Well Profiles

• Typical “Horizontal Wells” Aren’t Really Horizontal

– Here are some typical profiles.



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Complex Horizontal Well Profiles

10,100

10,150

10,200

10,250

10,300

10,350

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000

Departure, ft

Tru

e V

ert

ica

l D

ep

th, ft

Well 1

Well 2

Well 3

Well 4

Well 5

Well 6

Well 7

Well 8

Well 9

Well 10

Typical Horizontal Well Profiles

• And the Story Becomes More Complicated

– Often “horizontal” portions of the wells have up and down

undulations.

– Water can accumulate in low spots and be produced to

“vertical” part of the well in slugs.

– This can make artificial lift challenging, especially with

pumping systems.



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Understanding Critical Flow

• Basis for a Horizontal Well Artificial Lift Consortium

– Reasonable methods exist to determine “critical” gas flow

velocities needed to lift liquid from vertical gas wells.

– We need improved understanding and models to determine

“critical” gas flow velocities in horizontal wells.

– And we need to know more about how to artificially lift these

wells.

– For these and other reasons, the Petroleum Industry is

forming a Horizontal Well Artificial Lift Consortium.



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Horizontal Well Consortium

Mission Statement

• Mission Statement

– Work cooperatively in the Petroleum Industry to:

• Develop recommended practices for artificially lifting

horizontal wells.

• Make recommendations for design and operability of

horizontal wells with regard to artificial lift.

• Improve selection, deployment, operation, maintenance,

monitoring, and control of production and artificial lift

solutions, equipment, and practices to optimize recovery

of natural gas and associated liquids from horizontal oil

and gas wells.

– Advance the knowledge and effectiveness of people who

design and operate horizontal wells.



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Primary Focus of Consortium

• Primary Focus of the Consortium

– Initially, the primary focus was on horizontal gas wells.

– However, with shifting economics of oil and gas production,

– And with increases in liquid production from horizontal shale

formations,

– The emphasis has expanded to focus on both liquid and gas

production.



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Survey of Operating and Service Companies

• Survey

– The next step was to survey interested companies to

discern their challenges and priorities for dealing with

horizontal wells.

– The primary results are shown below.

– The companies were asked to rank each potential

initiative.



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Survey of Operating and Service Companies



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• Survey Results − This table shows survey results and priorities.

No. Should the project? Priorities given by fourteen different companies Avg. Rank

Survey Results in Priority Order



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• Flow Pattern Behavior – Investigate flow pattern behavior.

– Develop new/improved models for understanding flow and

critical rate in horizontal wells.

– The Turner and Coleman methods for estimating critical gas

flow velocity in vertical gas wells, and a number of

calibrations or mechanistic models for estimating pressure

profiles, are not sufficient.

– Primary focus will be to develop new understanding and

models for horizontal wells.




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• Well Geometry and Trajectory – Make recommendations for well geometry and wellbore

trajectory.

– Many “horizontal” wells are not truly horizontal.

– There may be significant benefits from choosing the “best”

wellbore trajectory – toe up, horizontal, or toe down.

– There may be strong reasons to avoid undulations in

horizontal wells.

– Evaluate pros and cons of drilling sumps before the wellbore

heel to have a vertical or near vertical portion of the wellbore

for landing artificial lift equipment.




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• Well Design – Focus on well designs such as placement of end of tubing,

location for gas injection, size of casing.

– Evaluate trade-offs between cost of drilling and completing vs.

ease of producing wells over time.

– Provide strong evidence to support using casing sizes large

enough to accommodate optimal types of artificial lift.

– Guidelines are needed on where to inject gas for gas-lift:

• In the vertical part of the well

• In the deviated area

• At the heel

• Along the horizontal portion of the well

• At the toe.

– Guidelines are needed on where to place end of tubing.




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• Choice of Artificial Lift Method – Focus on choice of “optimum” method of artificial lift for

horizontal wells.

– There are many choices of artificial lift systems.

– ALRDC sponsors industry efforts to develop information and

methods to help select the “best” or “optimum” method of

artificial lift.

• www.alrdc.com, Recommended Practices, Gas Well

Deliquification, Artificial Lift Selection

– Here-to-fore much has focused on vertical gas wells.




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• Choice of Artificial Lift Method (continued) – Choices include:

• Chemical systems

• Plunger lift

• Various types of pumping systems

• Various configurations of gas-lift

• Other techniques including:

– Wellhead compression

– Velocity strings

– “Stop cocking”

– Downhole water separation and disposal

– Vortex creating devices

– Various other operating techniques.

– Recommendations and guidelines are needed on which

method(s) are most suitable for different horizontal well

operating conditions.




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• Literature Review – A comprehensive review will be conducted to determine current

“best” practices for artificial lift of horizontal gas and oil wells.

• Other Ideas

– This list is not exhaustive.

– New ideas will be generated as this project unfolds.

– The members of the Consortium will meet at least twice

annually to:

• Review progress

• Set and/or adjust priorities

• Establish new initiatives.

Consortium Membership

June 5 - 6, 2012 22

• Membership – Membership is open to any Operating, Service/Supply, or

Consulting Company, or University.

– Initial annual membership fee is $50,000.

– The Consortium Advisory Board may change this in the future

depending on number of members and amount of work to be

done.

– With approval of the University of Tulsa and the Consortium

Advisory Board, an equivalent amount of in-kind contributions

may be made in lieu of all or part of the membership fee.

– The membership terms are detailed in a letter of agreement

which has been supplied to interested organizations and can be

made available to anyone else who is interested.

• 2012 Appalachian Basin Gas Well

• Deliquification Seminar, Marietta, Ohio

Consortium Membership



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• Limitations – No member company may sell, give, or otherwise make results

available to any non-member of the Consortium without the

expressed permission of the Consortium Advisory Board.

– Results of the consortium will not be published or released

publically until they have passed the University review process.

– This usually requires two years after the information is first

provided to the members.

Consortium R&D Plan



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• R&D Plan – The priorities listed above will be addressed with four projects.

– Other projects will likely follow as this process unfolds.

– Details of each project are included in the paper.

– Project 1: Understand flow regimes and critical flow rates and

investigate multiphase flow behavior in horizontal gas wells.

– Project 2: Investigate artificial lift techniques in horizontal gas

wells to assist with:

• Selecting optimum artificial lift method(s).

• Placing end of tubing, locating artificial lift equipment (pump,

gas lift), and choosing casing size.

• Designing well construction and applicability for various

artificial lift techniques.

Consortium R&D Plan



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• R&D Plan (continued)

– Project 3: Develop guidelines and recommended practices for

horizontal gas wells.

• Summarize industry learnings and literature information.

• Develop guidelines for when to start artificial lift operations.

– Project 4: Investigate multiphase flow behavior in horizontal

oil wells.

Consortium R&D Plan



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• Project-1 Deliverables – Understand liquid loading for horizontal wells.

– New liquid loading criteria.

– Experimental data.

– Efficiency of self-unloading.

– Guidance to determine optimum well geometry from unloading

perspective.

Consortium R&D Plan



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• Project-2 Deliverables – Unloading performance of various artificial lift methods and

their comparative analysis.

• Tubing inserts.

• Surfactants.

• Plungers.

• Gas-lift.

• Pumping systems.

– Impact of slugging.


– Analysis of setting location of artificial lift equipment.

Consortium R&D Plan



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• Project-3 Deliverables – Database consisting of both field and experimental data.

– Analysis of data.

– Guidelines and recommended practices based on field and

experimental data.

• Project-4 Deliverables

– Understand oil dominant flow behavior of horizontal wells.


– Model describing flow behavior.

Consortium R&D Plan



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• Proposed Project Timetable

Consortium Status



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• Current Status – First official meeting held at British Petroleum in Houston,

Texas on Jan. 12, 2012.

– Thirty one people representing twenty one companies attended.

– As of now, ten companies have joined.

Consortium Status



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• Current Status – Efforts will continue over next few months to line up more

members.

– A presentation was made at 2012 Gas Well Deliquification

Workshop.

– A presentation was made at 2012 Southwestern Petroleum

Short Course.

– This presentation is made at the 2012 Appalachian Basin Gas

Well Deliquification Seminar.

– The Consortium will officially begin its work on July 1, 2012.

– The next meeting of the Consortium members will be Summer,

2012, at the University of Tulsa.



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Copyright

Rights to this presentation are owned by the company(ies) and/or author(s) listed on the title page. By submitting this presentation to the Appalachian Basin Gas Well Deliquification Seminar they grant to the Seminar rights to:

– Display the presentation at the Seminar.

– Place it on the Seminar Web Site and the ALRDC Web Site, as directed by the Short Course Committee.

– Place it on a CD for distribution and/or sale as directed by the Seminar Committee.

Other use of this presentation is prohibited without the expressed written permission of the author(s). The owner company(ies) and/or author(s) may publish this material in other journals or magazines if they refer to the Appalachian Basin Gas Well Deliquification Seminar where it was first presented.



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Disclaimer

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The Artificial Lift Research and Development Council and its officers and trustees, and the Appalachian Basin Gas Well Deliquification Seminar Steering Committee members, and their supporting organizations and companies (here-in-after referred to as the Sponsoring Organizations), and the author(s) of this Technical Presentation or Continuing Education Training Course and their company(ies), provide this presentation and/or training material at the Appalachian Basin Gas Well Deliquification Seminar "as is" without any warranty of any kind, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information or the products or services referred to by any presenter (in so far as such warranties may be excluded under any relevant law) and these members and their companies will not be liable for unlawful actions and any losses or damage that may result from use of any presentation as a consequence of any inaccuracies in, or any omission from, the information which therein may be contained.

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Tulsa University Horizontal Well Artificial Lift Projects