SPE 138464

ESP Runtime Optimization - Low Volume High GOR Producers

Raed Al-Aslawi, Mohammad Salem Al-Haimer, Alireza Zahedi, Talal A. Al-Khonaini, Abdulaziz Al-Najim

Copyright 2010, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference held in Abu Dhabi, UAE, 14 November 2010.
This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been reviewed
by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or
members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is
restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of SPE copyright.

Abstract
A limitation of Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESPs) is the inability to handle significant volumes of gas. The implications
of this limitation become even more critical if the fluid production rate is at or below the minimum rate required for cooling
of downhole equipment. The oldest and most widely practiced method for forced convection cooling of the motor of an
ESP system is to use a motor shroud. However, numerous field case studies have shown that even with the motor shroud in
place, motor failure has been the primary cause of ESP failure in low-volume high-GOR wells.
The optimal mitigation solution for low-volume high GOR cased-hole producers is to lower the ESP string below the
perforations, with a shroud installed for cooling of the motor. For low-volume high-GOR ESP-equipped producers that are
producing from an open-hole interval installation of the same conventional shrouding system would take care of the
cooling of the motor but it will not function as a free gas eliminating or reducing device. The production strings of the ESPs
producing from an open-hole interval usually include an inverted shroud intended to reduce the amount of free gas entering
the pump. Such installations would not function as a motor cooling device.
The large degree of production loss and the increased operating cost incurred by unplanned ESP shut-down and failure
have been two of the major challenges faced by the asset teams of South Fuwaris (SF) and Humma (HUM) Fields in PNZKuwait, in their efforts to maximize the uptime of low-volume high-GOR ESP-equipped open-hole producers. A
customized shrouding system was needed to simultaneously resolve the issues of motor cooling and the reduction of the
amount of free gas entering the pump. The dual functioning nature of a shrouding system composed of a conventional
shroud combined with an inverted shroud was the main feature that had to be incorporated in the design of such system.
Through the continuous efforts of the South Fuwaris and Humma asset teams, a novel dual-shrouding system has recently
been developed to fulfill the requirements of cooling of the motor and reduction of free gas entering the pump
simultaneously. Multiple customized versions of this system have been installed in critical low-volume high-GOR openhole producers since the 4th quarter of 2009.
Examination of historical operating conditions of ESP strings equipped with the new shrouding system showed a
significant reduction in the number of ESP shut-downs due to underload, overload or high motor temperature trips, and a
dramatic drop in the number of ESP failures caused by overheating of the motor.
This paper discusses the benefits of the newly-designed shrouding system and its built-in perforated tail pipe, specifically
designed for low-volume high-GOR producers in South Fuwaris and Humma Fields, and actual results achieved from field
implementation of this system.

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Introduction
The South Fuwaris and Humma fields are located in the Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ) of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia
(Figure 1).
The South Fuwaris field was discovered in 1957 and put on production in the 1960s. In South Fuwaris field the Ratawi
reservoirs are at depths of 6120 ft ( Ratawi Limestone), and 6360 ( Ratawi Oolite). The total Ratawi interval is about 880 ft
thick with an average porosity of 6.5% in the Limestone and 14% in the Oolite. Productive intervals have porosity values
typically above 15 to 20%. Permeability is low in both intervals and averages 20 to 80 md in the Limestone and 0.1 to 5 md
in the Oolite. Limestone production is likely fracture enhanced. The reservoir drive mechanism is solution gas with weak
aquifer support. The majority (~96%) of the oil production is lighter grade crude (~24 API gravity) from the Ratawi
Limestone and Ratawi Oolite and most of the remaining production is the heavier grade crude (13-22 API gravity) from the
Maastrichtian.
The Humma Marrat reservoir was discovered in 1998 and put on production in 1999. The Humma Marrat Field is the only
production from the Early Jurassic Marrat Formation (vertical depth of ~ 9500 ft) in the PNZ. Depletion mechanism is fluid
expansion drive with very weak to no aquifer support. Reservoir pressure is at or slightly below the bubble point pressure.
Humma Marrat reservoir has 3 main pay sections referred to as Marrat A, C, and E zones. Humma wells are currently
producing 36 degree API oil.
Both South Fuwaris and Humma fields are producing from tight carbonate reservoirs with 95% of the wells operated on
electrical submersible pumps (ESP).
Background
ESP run-life, in general, is a function of both pumping rate and reservoir temperature. ESPs pumping at high rate from
shallow reservoirs generally have a longer run-life when compared to ESPs pumping at low rate from deep reservoirs. In
order to handle the unique challenges of Electrical Submersible Pumps installed in low volume high GOR producers in
South Fuwaris and Humma fields, a system was needed to accomplish the following:

Minimize the effects of gas/liquid slugging (horizontal hole separator effect) on pump performance.
Provide a reliable means of separating gas and liquid before the fluid enters the pump.
Reduce the number of ESP failures and operationally-induced interventions (improve ESP runtime).
Eliminate cases of underload shutdown caused by gas locking of the ESP.
Maximize the amount of free gas flowing out of the casing.
Lower annular fluid velocity to improve the overall gas separation efficiency.
Achieve minimal mechanical risk during installation and retrieval.
Increase the velocity of fluid across the ESP motor to improve the efficiency of the heat transfer process

The failures of the ESP components in low volume High GOR producers are generally due to the high rate of gas passing
through the small impeller veins of the pump, which ultimately causes the pump to cavitate. With no fluid passing through a
cavitated pump, it will either trip on underload and/or the ESP motor would fail on overheat. In such cases, the normal
industry practice is to try to reduce the volume of the free gas passing through the pump, by installing gas separators, gas
handlers, impellers with balance holes, bottom feed intakes, and other similar systems. Such systems would not function
properly in high free gas rate cases. As such South Fuwaris and Humma asset management teams have had little or no
success with their attempts to improve ESPs runtime through the installation of such components in their low volume-high
GOR open-hole completed produces.
In late 2009, one producer in South Fuwaris (named in this paper as SF well) and one producer in Humma (named in this
paper as Humma well) were selected by the asset management teams of South Fuwaris and Humma fields as the candidate
wells for installation and testing of their new customized dual-shrouding system. Both of these open-hole completed wells
have historically been low volume - high GOR producers and were identified as the best candidates in which the

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functionality of the shrouding system in regard to the reduction of the volume of gas flowing through the ESP could be
tested. Current wellbore Diagrams of SF well and Humma well are shown in Figures 2 and 3 respectively.
To reduce the number of underload ESP trips and also to minimize the number of ESPs electromotor failures caused by its
no flow fluid due to gas locking of the pump, the following mitigation plans had been historically applied to the two
candidate wells prior to installation of the dual shrouding system with little or no success:

Implementation of bottom feed intake design

Installation of the gas handler as part of the production string to compress the gas back into solution and produce it
mixed with the liquid through the pump.
Inverted shroud: with the primary function of gas separation (no motor cooling effects).
Setting the Variable Speed Drive (VSD) to run in the I-Limit mode
Installation of regulator valve on the surface to control the rate of casing gas
Installation of the Back Pressure Valve ( BPV) on the surface for choking and maintaining the well

Representative values of free gas at the pump intake (calculated from simulation runs using the SubPump application) and
produced GOR (measured through in-field production tests) for the period prior to the installation of the new shrouding
system are summarized below:

SF well: GOR = 516 SCF/BBL, with 65.2% free gas at pump intake
Humma well: GOR = 2661 SCF/BBL, with 77.6% free gas at pump intake.

Ampere Charts, representing the ESPs performance prior to the installation of new shrouding system in the above two
mentioned producers are shown in Figures 4-7.
New shrouding system design and installation
The main components of the dual shrouding system (Figure 8), all assembled together in one piece, are:

Dual shroud assembly: Primary function of cooling the motor and the secondary function of separating the gas
before it enters the pump.
Perforated tubing (one joint): Serving as an intermediate fluid pathway and also as an additional element helping
further gas separation.

The first dual shrouding system was installed in the SF well followed by the second one in the Humma well, both in fourth
quarter 2009.
Post-Installation historical performance
To gain a better understanding of the performance the dual shrouding system and to rate its overall impact on well operating
conditions and associated production profiles, the South Fuwaris and Humma asset management teams have been closely
monitoring the operating conditions and production performance of SF and Humma wells. Figures 9 and 10 show preinstallation and post-installation (of the dual shrouding system) downtime in hours for SF well and Humma well
respectively.
Figures 11 and 12 show the pre-installation and post-installation (of the dual shrouding system) number of well failures for
SF well and Humma well respectively. Ampere Charts, representing the performance of ESPs of these two producers in the
period following the installation of the dual shrouding system are shown in Figures 13-16.
As seen in the above-mentioned figures, the noticeable reduction in the magnitude of downtime and the number of well
failures, and also the improved performance of the ESP systems clearly represent the benefits and advantages of the
installation of the dual shrouding system in low volume-high GOR producers in South Fuwaris and Humma Fields.

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Conclusions
1.

The newly-designed shrouding system, with its built-in perforated tail pipe, successfully reduced the number of ESP
failures and operationally-induced interventions, resulting in improved ESP runtime.

2.

With increased ESP run life, the newly-designed shrouding system completely eliminated cases of underload
shutdown caused by gas locking of the ESP.

3.

With the shrouded perforated tail pipe in place, minimal free gas enters the perforated tail pipe, but instead flows out
of the casing, resulting in shielding of the pump from the adverse effects of the annular slug flow.

4.

The provision of a large flow area between the perforated tail pipe and its enclosing shroud results in a low annular
fluid velocity which consequently improves the overall gas separation efficiency.

References
1.
Tran T. et al.: Horizontal Drilling Application to Recover Incremental Oil in Low-Permeability Carbonate
Reservoir, Partitioned Neutral Zone,paper SPE 103865 presented at the 2006 SPE International Oil and Gas Conference
and Exhibition, Beijing, China, 5-7 December.
2.
Freet T. G. and McCaslin K.P. Successful Submersible Lift Operations in Gassy Horizontal Wells, Pearsall Field,
Texas, paper SPE 24763 presented at the 1992 SPE 67th Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Washington, DC,
4-7 October.
3.
Mubarak H.A. et al.: ESP Failures/Analysis/Solutions in Divided Zone Case Study, paper SPE 81488 presented at
the 2003 SPE 13th Middle East Oil Show and Conference, Bahrain, 5-8 April.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Petroleum, Saudi Arabian Chevron, and Kuwait Gulf Oil Company for
their permission to publish and present this paper.
We would like to further recognize our colleagues and partners who have made many direct and indirect contributions to
this work.

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Figure 1 Location of South Fuwaris and Humma Field in PNZ

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Figure 2 Current Wellbore Diagram of the SF Well

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HUMMA-12
Current Completion
Coordinates:
N: 3,132,062 M
E: 783,021 M
KB: 603
GL: 571
Well Type: Horizontal
Spud Date: 04/22/2006

24 Csg
@327
174# K-55

18-5/8
Csg @771
87.5# K55 BTC

DV@4824

13-3/8"
Csg@ 4965'
68# L-80
BT&C (131
Jts)
Top of 7 liner
Hanger @ 7975
9-5/8 Csg@
8264
47# L-80 BTC
(65 Jts on
Bottom)
43.5#L-80 LTC
(144 Jts on
Top)

6 open hole(10130-14030)

TD@14,030 MD

7 Liner@ 10130 MD
32#, L-80 BT&C

Figure 3 Current Wellbore Diagram of Humma well

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Figure 4 SF well ampere chart prior to the installation of the dual shrouding system (chart-1of 3)

Figure 5 SF well ampere chart prior to the installation of the dual shrouding system (chart-2 of 3)

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Figure 6 SF well ampere chart prior to the installation of the dual shrouding system (chart-3 of 3)

Figure 7 Humma well ampere chart prior to the installation of the dual shrouding system

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Figure 8 Main Components of a dual shrouding System

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Figure 9 SF well downtime (pre-installation and post-installation of the dual shrouding system)

Figure 10 Humma well downtime (pre-installation and post-installation of the dual shrouding system)

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Figure 11 SF well number of well failures (pre-installation and post-installation of the dual shrouding system)

Figure 12 Humma well nmber of well failures (pre-installation and post-installation of the dual shrouding system)

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Figure 13 SF well ampere chart post-installation of the dual shrouding system (chart-1 of 2)

Figure 14 SF well ampere chart post-installation of the dual shrouding system (chart-2 of 2)

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Figure 15 Humma well ampere chart post-installation of the dual shrouding system (chart-1of 2)

Figure 16 Humma well ampere chart post-installation of the dual shrouding system (chart-2of 2)