Gas Well Deliquification Workshop Adams Mark Hotel, February 23-26, 2009 Plunger Lift: SCSSSV Applications William Hearn, Weatherford Stathis Kitsios, Sachin Shinde, Dick Klompsma, Ewout Biezen, NAM
Plunger lifting: background Need for effective deliquification of mature wells with SCSSSV within NAM Current plunger technology is used worldwide to efficiently unload LL wells More gains than normal PressureBuildUp due to automatic cycle and efficient unloading Cheaper than other deliquification methods New plunger technology designed to mitigate for tubing ID restriction Safety valve (obstruction) Plunger cycle Lowest plunger running depth Significant liquid hold-up in tubing 2
Plunger lifting below subsurface safety valve: operating cycle 1. Liquid Loading Plunger hangs in open position under SSSV Liquid in liner+tubing builds up Flowrate declines 2. Shut-in Well automatically shuts in (ROV) Plunger falls 3. Shut-in build-up Plunger reaches bottom and closes Short build-up 4. Unloading (plunger travel) Well automatically opens (ROV) P lifts plunger+liquid in closed position 5. Flowing well Plunger hangs in open position under SSSV 1 2 3 4 5 3
Plunger lift design: SafetyLift System Components The SafetyLift System is comprised of four major components: Bottom Hole Assembly Plunger Upper Landing Assembly Remote operated valve with Controller Unit 4 4
Plunger lift design: SafetyLift System Components Bottom Hole Assembly Standard Double Bumper Spring G-PackOff-Optional Type A Tubing Stop MP-1 Standing Valve Optional Installed using standard wireline procedures Installed at a pre-determined depth in relation to the well perforations 5 5
HOW: SafetyLift System Components Final Upper Spring Design MP-1 Standing Valve threaded directly to tubing retrievable SSSV Inverted Bumper Spring designed for SafetyLift plunger. Installed directly attached to SSSV in one run. 6 6
HOW: SafetyLift System Components New design Upper Spring Assembly 7 7
Plunger lift controller: SafetyLift System Components Controller Control system to determine plunger arrival in upper assembly: Flowing THP, system pressure and flowrate measured Typical peaks in signals identified and arrival determined Pressure/Flow Rate 1200 1000 800 600 400 Cycles with Casing Sway Casing Tubing Differential Line Flow Rate 200 0 Time 2009 Point Gas where Well Casing Deliquification and Tubing are 30 PSI Workshop greater difference closest 105 psi Denver, diff. Colorado Time 8
Plunger lifting below subsurface safety valve: First Field Trials Plungers collapse to install below landing nipple safety valve (2.75 minimum ID, expand to 2.922 tubing ID) Two 3½ wells selected for first trials with tubing loading problems (diagnosed with FPGs & acoustic logging) WAL-4 Well paths WAL-5 9
Tubing Loading: WAL-5 Flowing pressure gradient (down) followed by SPG (up) shows clear signs of tubing loading Confirmation that a plunger can unload liquids from bottom up to SCSSSV Liquids drain very fast in the fractured carbonate reservoir: Need standing valve to catch liquids so plunger can be effective WAL-5 AH Depth [ft] 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 Pressure [psi] 0 200 400 600 Up run Down Run 8,000 Liquid buildup 10,000 Plunger cycle 12,000 10
WAL-4/5 plunger lift installation Patented Padded SafetyLift Bypass Plunger Body Components machined to drift through 2.750 diameter of the Safety Valve Landing Nipple T-Pad Elements specially designed for increased collapse Plunger designed with fewer connections than standard plunger for increased reliability 11 11
Results WAL-4, 1 st week 45 45000 40 40000 35 35000 Short cycles to unload near wellbore region Hourly 10/08/2008 20:24:45 Flow rate DAL2-FT-14-4 21766. NM3/D DAL2-PT-14-4 THP 10.077 barg 30 30000 25 25000 20 20000 15 15000 10 10000 5 5000 0 0 6/8/08 7/8/08 8/8/08 9/8/08 10/8/08 Wellhistory 12
Results WAL-4 Production from 12,000 to 20,000 Nm3/d [700 Mcf/d] after 1 st installation Trouble-free operation, 500+ cycles before first replacement Nov 08 Daily production [Nm3] 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 Increased operator interventions WAL-4 Auto IP Installation Plunger Installation Day total Controller settings... ROV stuck Plunger replaced Solenoid failed Feb. 23-26, Mar-07 2009 Jun-07 Sep-07 2009 Gas Dec-07 Well Deliquification Apr-08 Workshop Jul-08 Oct-08 Jan-09 May-09 13
WAL-4/5 plunger lift installation Improvements for New Design Increased Pin Diameter with calculated improvement to impact strength of 42% Increased width of protective sleeve for high speed impact protection. Tightened Tolerance in plunger body ID for pin for minimal movement during impact. 14 14
Production Cycles 15
Results WAL-5 (deviated well) Plunger did not travel down tubing after first installation in July (believed to be due to scale) Dry runs caused high impact on plunger which damaged it Acid job carried out to remove scale from tubing Changed out plunger in November 2008 Initially well unloaded large liquid slugs and wireline tests confirm plunger was reaching bottom No significant flow improvement over automatic intermittent production Pulled plunger and confirmed that it was damaged 16
Conclusions & Way Forward Field evidence that plunger design works. Re-designed plunger to improve impact resistance of internal flapper. To be installed in both wells (Q1 09) after confirming suitability based on recent experience Follow-up installations: 2 new wells in Q1 2009 & 1 in Q2 Offshore implementation once plunger reliability has been proven (due to higher cost of interventions) 17
SafetyLift System QUESTIONS? 18 18
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