Operational Excellence Initiative Contributes Towards Enhanced ESP System Reliability, Longer Run Life, and Sustained Oil Production
Authors: Jassem Hasan , Mehmood Sajid , Al-Mutairi Khaled , Al-Shawly Alaa 
Published: March 2019

Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESPs) are widely deployed means of artificial lift methods as they are versatile and adaptable to various well conditions. However, ESP completions have significant installation and operational costs. This paper will address an in-house developed ESP Operational Excellence (OE) initiative that translated into longer run life, increased reliability, and sustained oil production. The objective of this initiative is to unleash the ESPs’ full potentials, and provide structured approach to measure its performance and sustain improvements.

The Operational Excellence model is based on asset management cycle of Plan, Do, Check, and Adjust. Production Engineering Team with the support of Artificial Lift Specialty identified two major focus areas; ESP turnaround, and premature failure, as OE candidates. Each focus area was examined in two parts: 1) review of current performance, and 2) review of processes implementation. The current performance was thoroughly reviewed and immediate actions were incorporated and tracked by Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and driven by results and improvements. In parallel, review of processes implementation was conducted to fine tune current procedure and enforce Best Practices (BPs).

ESP turnaround time was significantly reduced through planning ahead required activities, desings, and equipement. This was achieved by setting agenda and streamlined communication with all concerned orginizations. ESP turnaround was done in 20% less days before OE. With the implementation of OE model, oil production was ensured in timely efficient manner without comprising quality as well HSE.

The other focus area is premature failure. Once an ESP is properly designed, installed, and operated, the ESP performance is continuously monitored and maintained. The check part of the OE cycle comes into place when the ESP is confirmed failure. Then, the equipment is thoroughly checked using data collected from Dismantle & Inspection Failure Analysis (DIFA) process, with the aim of enhancing performance and deliverability. Based on the detailed investigation, the factors that affected the pump health are integrated and adjusted for the next ESP application.

Through DIFA process management, quality assurance activities were conducted to ensure that lessons learned during operation and maintenance, as well as improvements to existing ESP designs are incorporated in new designs; to continuously improve ESP asset integrity and reliability. Therefore, corrective and preventive actions were implemented to resolve common factors that affect ESP performance, such as downhole electrical components including motors and pumps, seals, well conditions and human error during pump installations. By refining these factors, the ESP performance curve was improved and operational excellence was achieved.

The implemented Operational Excellence model has shown its significance in optimizing process details from ESP design until operation, which consequently improved ESP run life, increased reliability and sustained oil production.