Patent ID: 7953584

Claim:
A method for optimal lift gas allocation, comprising: optimally allocating lift gas under a total lift gas constraint or a total produced gas constraint, wherein allocating comprises distributing lift gas among all gas lifted wells in a network so as to maximize a liquid or oil rate at a sink, wherein allocating further comprises: obtaining lift curve data comprising an operating curve for each of the gas lifted wells, taking a derivative of the operating curve to obtain a derivative curve for each of the gas lifted wells, forming an inverse of the derivative curve to obtain an inverse derivative curve for each of the gas lifted wells, summing the inverse derivative curve of all the gas lifted wells to convert a multiple variable problem with a linear inequality constraint into a single variable problem with a linear equality constraint, solving the single variable problem using the lift curve data to obtain a solution, and running a network simulator to generate a real network model for determining new wellhead pressures, wherein the new wellhead pressures are compared to previous wellhead pressures used in the solution to the single variable problem.