Total Well Management-A Methodology For Minimizing Production Cost of Beam Pumped Wells
Authors: Podio A.L. , McCoy J.N. , Drake B. , Woods M.D. 
Published: March 2010

A procedure is described that allows an operator to identify those beam pumped wells which are operating at reduced efficiency. The logical sequence of steps to be followed in acquiringperformance data such as power, dynamometer, fluid level, etc. and the criteria to be used in determining the causes of inefficiency are presented with the objective of reducing the time and effort required to perform the analysis.

Introduction

The need to reduce operating costs, increase oil production and increase net income from beam pumped wells, requires an integrated analysis of the pumping system including the performance and interaction of all the elements: the reservoir, the wellbore, the downhole pump, the rod string, the beam pump and the prime mover. Such system analysis can now be undertaken efficiently using portable lap-top-based data acquisition systems in conjunction with appropriate transducers and a suite of analysis software(1). Field experience undertaking such analysis in numerous wells has resulted in the development of a procedure which insures that good results are obtained with the minimum of effort. It is the objective of this paper to outline this procedure or methodology with the hope that it will be of use to production personnel throughout the industry. The end result of such system analysis should be the complete visualization of the performance of a given pumping well at a given time and a set of recommendations to be followed if significant improvements can be achieved. In general the following steps should be undertaken:Determine the overall efficiency as a means to identify wells which are candidates for detailed analysis.Establish the wells inflow performance to determine if additional production is available.Analyse performance of downhole pump.Analyse mechanical loading of rods and beam pump.Analyse performance of prime mover.Design modifications to existing systemImplement changes and verify improvement.

Although such procedure is greatly facilitated through the use of the Well Analyser System(1) which includes all the necessary hardware and software components, it can be undertaken with a number of other devices and components currently commercially available from other manufacturers.

Methodology

The steps to be followed in defining the performance of the system should result in the maximum of information with a minimum of time and effort. This is facilitated by having access to accurate and timely information about the well's characteristics, completion, well tests, etc. Although this may be initially time consuming it is generally a task that has to be completed only once. Some sort of data base management system is helpful in maintaining this information current. The information should be organized by well into a summary Well Data File which can be accessed by most of the application programs that are likely to be used. This eliminates having to re-enter the data. Figure I shows an example of such Well Data File.

Screening Survey

In a field with a large number of wells it becomes necessary to screen the wells to identify those that are most likely candidates for improvement.