Course Overview

The course gives an understanding of the performance determination and evaluation of subsurface systems and leads to the determination of well conditions necessary in the application of human-made or artificial lift systems; their operations, and simulation. It will also give the participants the skills for determining the formation of damages and the effective correction methods and techniques that will cover all the common causes of the formation and development of damages. Some of these causes may result from activities during cementing, drilling, and production.

What are artificial lift systems?

Various types of artificial lifts, their development, and selection criteria shall be evaluated in this Zoe course. At the end of this course, participants should understand and have great in-depth knowledge of the theory underlying every method that can be utilised to develop artificial lift systems. Delegates will also pick up the various techniques that can be used.

How do you choose an artificial lift?

The advantages, disadvantages, applications, and limitations of various artificial lifts are discussed in this course.

Some of the features of this course are:

• Designing of artificial lift systems
• Overview of the technologies used in artificial lift implementation
• Limitation and importance of artificial lift systems
• Reservoir properties review: the properties that most influence the effect of formation damage
• Inflow and outflow reservoir performance relationship
• Damage mechanisms: the effects of mineralogy and clay chemistry on damage, effects of scale, paraffin, etc Sandstones and carbonates effects
• Equipment accessories of the artificial lift systems
• Evaluation of damage: pressure analysis review, production performance, etc
• Artificial lift screening: the criteria for screening and selection of the artificial lift system
• Damage prevention: production methods, drilling completion fluid, production methods, and completion additive selection

Course Objectives

The main objectives of this course are to help participants to:

• Design system features that will allow for gassy production, viscous production, production associated with solids, and for other harsher scenarios and environments
• Compare and determine the type of systems that will have more economic sense to implement and which are more economically feasible
• Improve their technical background on formation damager, cause, prevention, finding remedies, and the most appropriate solutions
• Understand and gain great knowledge of subsurface production systems and operations
• Understand inflow and outflow performances
• Classify the acceptable standards that are already available to improve the life of the equipment for every system
• Describe as a professional matrix acidizing, formation damage, hydraulic fracturing, and perforation methods
• Evaluate and analyse formation damage and the effect it has on production performance
• Be able to discuss jet pumps, ESP systems, gas lift systems, progressive cavity pumps, and sucker rod pumping
• Select with ease the most appropriate artificial lift system
• Give equipment specifications for auxiliary and components that will be needed for each system

Training Methodology

The delivery of this course shall use different tested and proven methods to enable the participants to obtain maximum gains. It will be facilitated by industry-trusted and experienced professionals. The course is designed to use a blended model of delivery that shall entail practicals and theoretical methods. All the methods and models used to deliver this course have been fully researched and shown to improve learning capabilities.

Lectures, pdf notes, and PowerPoint presentations shall be utilised in addition to case studies and other relevant means. This specialised course will observe the ‘Learn-Review-Apply’ Model that Zoe follows in all courses.

Organisational Benefits

• Improved organisational performance
• Better application of techniques for the fields’ development of projects
• Better integration of management and the technical team inside the organisation

Personal Benefits

• Better understanding of perforation methods
• Understanding of matrix acidizing
• Use of improved and professional ways to operate oil wells efficiently
• A better understanding of hydraulic fracturing techniques
• Familiarisation with the artificial lift systems
• Evaluate and identify the main reason for the decline in the well’s production
• Selection of the most suitable and efficient methods in artificial lift systems

Who Should Attend?

• New petroleum engineers who want to learn
• Other organisation staff that is involved in subsurface production operations
• All the petroleum and production managers
• Technical and operations professionals from different disciplines who will need cross-training or who yearn to learn and understand subsurface production operations
• Supervisors
• Technicians in the field operations
• Petroleum engineers
• Production engineers
• Reservoir engineers
• Drilling engineers
• Completion engineers who are concerned with well production and performance to enhance facilities

Course Outline

Module 1: Reservoir performance

• Inflow and outflow analysis
• Pressure loss in wells and wellbore
• Concepts of productivity index
• Reservoir performance
• Wellbore and reservoir overview of performance and other criteria

Module 2: Formation damage

• Drilling induced formation damage
• Formation damage
• Damage mechanism
• Sandstones influence formation damage
• Carbonates’ role in formation damage
• Well production issues
• Waxes
• Hydrates
• Inorganic
• Scales formation
• Corrosion and related issues
• Asphaltenes effects
• Paraffin effects on formation damage
• Clay chemistry
• Mineralogy

Module 3: Causes of formation damage

• Completion causes of formation damages
• Workover fluids
• Fines mitigation as a cause of formation damages
• Perforation influence towards formation damages
• Effects of cementing towards formation damages
• Formation damages brought about as a result of paraffin
• Formation damages from an emulsion
• Formation damages brought as a result of asphaltenes effects
• Formation damages from sludge formation
• Condensate banking as causes of formation damages
• Injection wells as a cause of formation damages
• Gas breakout as a cause of formation damages
• Wettability alteration as the cause of formation damage
• Influence of bacterial plugging towards formation damages

Module 4: Artificial lifts

• Screening methods used in artificial lifts
• Acid type and different concentrations
• Evaluation of various acid treatments
• Chemical solvent damage removal
• Damage removal by the use of acids
• Acidizing materials and methods
• Damage prevention

Module 5: Stimulation operations

• Overview of artificial technology use
• Hydraulic pump design
• Electric submersible pump (ESP)
• Jet pump
• Sucker road pump design
• Gas lift

Module 6: Gas lifting system

• Gas lifting concepts and main system
• Effects of temperature and chokes
• Valve spacing
• Injection gas requirements
• Equilibrium curve
• Continuous flow design
• Continuous gas lift system
• Gas lifting
• Limitation of the gas lifting
• The advantages of the gas lifting system
• Mandrels as a gas lifting component
• Valves used in gas lifting

Module 7: Sucker rod pumping

• Sucker rod pump concept
• Limitation of the sucker rod pumping system
• Design of rod sucker pump
• Troubleshooting of the rod pump systems
• Main issues associated with the rod pump system

Module 8: Hydraulic, PCP, and ESP system

• Jet pumping concepts and their explanations
• Concepts of the hydraulic pump
• Use of data to analyse, diagnose and maintain equipment or solve problems
• ESP system design: best practices for installation, pump performance curve discussions, typical problems associated with the pump and how to troubleshoot them, pump intake curve discussion, and maintenance issues when it comes to ESP systems
• Concepts of ESP (electric submersible pump) systems
• Matching well productivity to pump performance and its advantages
• Concept of the progressive cavity pump system (PCP)
• Criteria for artificial lifts selections and all the techniques involved in screening methods
• Limitations of the PCP pumps system
• Limitations of the jet pumping system
• Steps to correctly sizing and ESP system All about the basics of sizing, principles, and applications to ESP pumps, cables, and motors
• Advantages of the PCP pumping system
• Best globally recognised practices when it comes to pumping system installation, maintenance, and repairs
• Well productivity matching
• Maintenance issues in pumping systems