U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE R, P. LAMONT, Secretary BUREAU OF MINES SCOTT TURNER, Director Bulletin 323 GAS-LIFT METHOD OF FLOWING OIL WELLS (CALIFORNIA PRACTICE) BY H.C. MILLER UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 1930 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D, C. - - - Price 30 contsCONTENTS Introduetion .. Acknowledgments. Historieal referonces. Definitions... Principles of gas lift. Mechanics of gas tift ‘Types of expansion. Energy liberated by € gas-lift installations.. pment on derrick floor. ellhead connections. Casing head. Equipment below derrie! floor. ‘Tubing catchers: Foot pices. Production of oil by gas lift Tnerease in production due to gas lift. Gas lift as a means of it inereasing ultimate recovery from reser voir sands... Gas lift increases production of natural gasoline. Shutdown time of g ‘Adverse factors. Gas lift as emulsifier of oi} ‘Treating emulsions... Dehydration by heat Chemical dehydration. Electrical dehydration Deposition of paraffin in gas- wells... Methods of preventing paraffin deposition __ Corrosive effeot of gas lift Equipment used to compress natural gas. - Portable installations. Permanent installetions- Unit installations_ Multiple-unit, compressor plants, . Design and operation of plant Collecting wet gas from fiel Primary or low-pressure com- pressor plant. Absorption plan Gas-lift or high-pi pressor plant.— Description of a gas-engine-driv- en compressor plant. Electrie-motor-driven pressor plant. Steam-driven Cost of Cost oi gas Cost of eg Pressures required Tift. wells. High-pressure meth ing gas-lift wells. _. Starting gas-lift wells by rock ing. - Starting gas-lift by swabbing. Relation between gas circulated and oil produced. - Controlling volume of gas deliv ered to wells_ Methods of varying input gas-oil Tatio-_ Effect of changing volume of input gas on input gosoil ratios ___ Effect of changing length of eduetor tubing on volume of input gas. Effect of changing diameter of eduetor pipe on volume of input gas__ Varying volume of input gas by changing size of flow beans ._- Operating pressures in gas-lift wells_ Relation between pressure and volume of input gas__— Loss of pressure eaused by flow lines and fittings... Back-pressure contr sas-comipressor compressing natural wells as-lift wells tubed above p of producing forma- tion. Back-pressure app gaclift, wells tubed below fop of produeing forma tion. Page 46 47 48 49 BL 52 53 54 55 58 59 59 60 66 66 67 67 70 72 4 7 79 82WV Methods of altering back pres- CONTENTS Pare Heating input gas to gas-lift sure in gas-lift wells. 87 Changing ‘diameter of pr tubing’ to alter back pressure operates gas lift economically. in well. 88 | Intermittent gas-lift methods. - Applying back pressure in gas- Impulse system with surface lift wells by increasing oper- control of input, Fs - ating gas pressure _-.. 89 | Intermittent gas-lift pump. -- Varying volume of input gas to Fluid-displacement, pump_—-~ alter back pressures in gas-lift Flow of compressed gas in pipe wells 92 lines ~ Velocities 93 | Effect of bends and fittings in Use of graduated tubing 96 pipe lines carrying com- Estimating size of comprossor re- ressed gas - quired for gas-lift well...-... 98 | Conelusiuns. ri ILLUSTRATIONS is. 1. Three stages in the operation of a gas-lift well. - 2. Gosift installation in well and fittings on derrick 2 3. Casing-head counections on gas-lift well from whieh flow is s y swabbing... 2 4, Three types of casing heads used on gas-lift wells. . Production graph of well in Santa Fe Springs field, California, which shows increase in production due to gas lift_. 6. Production graph of well in Richfield district, California, which shows that production on gas lift was several times that by pumping —_ 7. Distillation curves of samples of crude oil taken from well pumped and later produced by gas lift. - 8. Relation between output gas-oil ratio and gallons of gas per 1,000 cubie feet of gas from four gas-lft wells iu J Sante Fe Springs eld, Californi: 9. Sketeh of gas-lift installation designed to operate without placing back pressure on producing formation. 10. Sketch of multiple-stage gas-lift installation. 11. Portable gas-compressor unit consisting of a 12 by 6 by 12 inch com- pressor, belt-connected to a 100-horsepower electrie motor. 12. Portable compressor installation mounted on a steel frame resting on wooden timbers . 18. Single-unit electrie-driv pressor inst in Santa Fe Springs fetd, California. 14. Taterior of gas-engine-driven compressor plant, Brea field, California. — 15. Flow sheet of typical gas-lift system _ - 16. Drip for removing condensate from gas-gathering lines. 7 17. Outline drawing of a 5-unit gas compressor plant_ . 18. Gas-control room in modern gas-lift compressor plant. : 19. Electric-motor-driven gas compressor plant _ - 20. Gas-distributing header for gas-lift installations. 21. Manifold or header from which compressed gi manual control to 10 wells. 22. Gas-volume-control installation for wells at whic! take-gas line fluctuates... 23. Automatic gas-volume and pressure-control hook up for three gas] lift wells. 24, Gas-volume and pressure-control and gas-meter installation for gas- lift wells... 25. Close-up of volume-conirol element, adjustable-orifice valve, and pressure-control element. noe 26. Data on well in Santa Fe , Cali g elect of increasing volume of gas ‘pumped indo well on amount of oil pro duced and input gas-oil ratio 27. Production data showing effect of clanging size of flow bean on gas ift well. 28. Relation between drop in pressure per 100 feet of 84 and B inch eductor tubing and output gas-oil ratio. Page 98 100 101 102 106 109 qt Ha 115 Pogo 12 13 14 18 19 27 28 31 al 37 37 39 41 42 44 46 46 47 50 BL 62 63 64 65 nm 74Fig. 29, 30. 31. 32, 33, 34, 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41, 42, 43, 44. 45. CONTENTS Pressure in pounds per square ineh due to a column of compressed gas of 06 (air=1) gravity... Elevated vil and gas separator at gas field, California. Production graphs of two gaslift wells, showing oi! production, pres- sure, and formation gas-vil ratios before and after elevating oil and gas separators and “goosenecking” flow line Average relation between percentage of total oil and total gas recov- ered ultimately from five California wells. Sketch illustrating drainage cone existing theoretically in oil sand about gas-lift_ well when tubed below top. of sand. Sketch illustrating drainage conditions in produeit F ale posed of three oil zones separated by impervious shale when gas- well is tubed into middle zone.. Adjustable flow bean for use at bottom of tubing in flowing and gas- ft wells... Production graphs of two California gaslift Wells, showing results obtained when back pressure in wells was altered by means of Sow ans. Gas heater installec California. ‘Three types of heaters for heating input gas to gas-l Electrically-operated timer controlling opening and closing of valves in gas lines to gas-lift wells. _. Instrument board with tell-taie electric lamps mounted above pressure meters and gauges___ Gas-volume control valves on gas lines to gasift wells: Gas-volume contro! valve, magnetically controlled auxiliary valve, and gas line to wells. - Sketch of the gas-op mittently from small or low-l head wells, Surface equipment of an intermittent gos-iift pamp. Sketeh of subsurface equipment, intermittent gas-lift pump. Section through pump chamber of fluid-displacement pump_ Page 75 78 79 84 88 a1 91 99 100 103 103 104 105 107 108 110GAS-LIFT METHOD OF FLOWING OIL WELLS (CALIFORNIA . PRACTICE) * By H. C. Miter * INTRODUCTION The gas-lift method of flowing oil from wells is a development of the air lift, which was first used for ejecting oil from wells drilled for oil in Pennsylvania in 1864, five years after: the discovery of oil in Drake’s well. The use of compressed natural gas for lifting oil from wells, however, is recent, This method is not perfected. Many fundamental data regarding its operation are unknown, its practice is not formulated, and its possibilities are not entirely recognized. Not- withstanding the short time the gas lift has been used and the lack of thorough understanding of some of the fundamental principles under- lying its operation the gas lift unquestionably has become and will continue to be a recognized method of lifting oil from wells, In connection with studies to increase the recovery of oil from reservoir sands Bureau of Mines engineers are investigating the gas-lift method of flowing cil wells in various parts of the country. The bureau feels that to assist in the development of a method by which the ultimate recovery of oil from reservoir sands is increased. or the cost of recovering oil is decreased is worth any effort that may be made. Accordingly, the collection, analysis, and publication of the resulis of practical investigations made by production engineers and operators in the field should aid further development of the gas-lift method. In this report the author has presented data of actual gas-lift operations in the oil fields of Californie. Wherever theoretical hypotheses and conclusions are given an attempt has been made to support them by field data gathered during consultation with engineers and operators. The impossibility of drawing conclusions that will apply to all wells or even to one well throughout its life is appreciated by everyone who has studied the subject, and the reader is cautioned not to accept all the data presented as being applicable to every well. The gas lift will not operate successfully in all wells, Even in wells where the gas lift apparently should function satisfactorily it will not produce the desired results if improperly installed and operated. Successful operation of the gas lift in any well depends mainly upon study of the conditions in the individual well and proper application of the basic principles that underlie its operation. 1 Work on manuscript completed June 30, 1929 § Senior petroleum enginesr, U.S. Bureau of Mines,2 GAS-LIFT METHOD OF FLOWING OIL WELLS Future development, experimentation, and continued application of the gas lift will undoubtedly add considerable information to the little-known but essential fundamentals of the gas-lift methods of raising oil in wells, and probably some of the data elucidated in this report will in time need revision. However, if the information in this report aids engineers and operators to advance such a worthy development in petroleum technology as the gas lift, the object of this report will be fulfilled. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This investigation was started under the direction of H. H. Hill, former chief engineer, and completed under the guidance of H. C. Fowler, acting chief engineer of the petroleum and natural-gas division, Bureau of Mines. The author wishes to thank the officials of the following oil com- panies for supplying many of the data presented in this publication: Associated Oil Co., Barnsdall Oil Co., General Petroleum Corpora- tion of California, Continental Oil Co., Pan American Petroleum Co., R. & G. Oil Co., Shell Oil Co., Standard Oil Co. of California, Texas Co., and Union Oil Co. of California. . Special recognition for helpful information is due the following ersons: A. C. Rubel, F. W. Lake, and G. W. Black, of the Union il Co. of California; A. H. Bell, of the Continental Oil Co.; T. E. Swigart, E. W. Masters, and H. T. Wyatt, of the Shell Oil Co.; L, Thompson, of the R. & G. Oil Co.; C.N. Beyrle, of the Standard Oil Co. of California; H. L. Eggleston, formerly with the Pan American Petroleum Co.; H. F, Watkins, of the Watkins Intermitting Pump Co.; F. W. dorden, of Jordan & Taylor (Inc.); and W. Warner Thayer, of the National Automatic Pump Co. . Grateful acknowledgment is made to F. W. Lake, of the Union Oil Co. of California; H. T. Wyatt, of the Shell Oil Co.; and, to H. C. Fowler, K. B. Nowels, R. R. Brandenthaler, E. L. Rawlins, Ben E. Lindsly, C. P. Bowie, and G. B. Shea of the Bureau of Mines for reviewing and criticizing the manuscript. J, C. Shumate made the drawings. ‘The author is further indebted to H. C. Fowler for supplying the nogative for Figure 14 and to F. W. Jordan for supplying the print from which Figure 44 was made. HISTORICAL REFERENCES The air lift, of which the gas lift as used to-day is # modification, was one of the earliest methods used for lifting oil: As early as 1846, an American engineer named Cockford used the air lift to pump etroleum from some wells in Pennsylvania’ and as nearly as can Pe determined this pplication of the air lift was tho frst practical one either for lifting oil or water. All of the present methods of producing oil—pumping on the beam and the sir lift—were used duting the early days of the industry. Davis 0. J, and Weiduer, C. R., An Investigation of the Ai-Lift Pump: Unie. of Wisconsin, Bult 667, Madison, Wis., 1014, p. 15, eatHISTORICAL REFERENCES 3 Several unsuccessful attempts were even made in Pennsylvania between 1859 and 1865 to mine oil by means of shafts.* According to Whiteshot the first oil from a well drilled primarily for oil was bailed out of the Drake Well near Titusville, Pa.,on August 28, 1859, by “a bailer made out of a tin rain spout, plugged at one end and lowered with a string.” The following day a pump was installed and the well commenced producing 20 barrels a day. Itis interesting to note that the world’s first oil well did not flow naturally but to be pumped from the start. The first flowing well in America “came in” during May, 1861, on the McElhenny farm on Oil Creek. near Petroleum Center, Pa., flowing 300 barrels of oil a day. Other flowing wells were “brought in” in rapid succession, some producing as much as 3,000 barrels of oil a day. ‘The following historical references show that the first large flowing well was also one of the first wells in which the air lift (air pump or blower) was used to lift the oil to the surface. Bone! gives the early history of the Empire well as follows: ‘The Empire well, close to the Funk well which is on the McElhenny or Funk farm, came in shortly after June, 1861, producing 3,000 barrels daily. "It flowed nearly a year, then dropped to a pumping well yielding about 100 barrels day. Later it stopped, but on the application of an air pump it revived and is now steadily inereasing its product, producing about 126 barrels. In 1864, other wells that had ceased to produce by flowing and pumping were brought back on production by the use of air. Four airlift installations are reported by Wright. Empire well No. 1—Sunk in the summer of 1861; and for a time flowed over 2,000 barrels per day, the yield gradually declining, and then dying out. Last summer a blower was put in with moderate suecess; but with the pump has done better. On some days yields nearly 100 barrels; but the average is between 60 and 70. Flow, steady. Sherman weil—One of the historica) landmarks of the oil regions. Was one of those which inaugurated the revolution of 1861, causing scores of wells to be abandoned, through reduetion in price. First yield, 1,500 barrels per day, by flowing; then fell off to 600; dropped down to 100; and finally stopped altogether last fall. Tried the purnp for a time; but again became unproductive. Next, the proprietor put in a blower, which brought up an average yield of 60 barrels per Gay, sometimes 60. An outsider, who pretends to know, reports the amount at arrels, Noble and Delamater well—Opened in 1862. Flowed from 1,800 to 2,000 barrels per day for about six months, when it began to fall off * * *, About the middle of last winter ceased to flow, when a blower was put in, The triat resulted in a total yield of about 25 barrels * * 4. Ginlet well—Was yielding from 10 to 12 barrels per day before stopping to Tetube. Tried the blower, but had to take it out. Now applying the pump to exhaust water. Bono and Wright do not agree on the success attained by the use of air in the Empire well; Wright reports that better production was obtained by the pump. It is also interesting to note that the use of air was not successful in all the wells in which it was tried. Wright’ gives the following description of the blower used by the early oil producers: _In the chapter on statistics will be found occasional references to the blower, a simple apparatus, first introduced in the Sherman well, and since then tried’in several others with various success. The Sherman well had flowed very largely for a time, but given out; resort was then had to the pump , which also at length { Whiteshot, C. A., ‘Phe Oil Well Driller: Mannington, W_Vo., 1905, p. 721. 4! Bone, JH. A, Potsoleum and Petroleum Wells: 24 ed. Philadelphia, 1965, p. 26, ¢ Wright, Witikim, ‘The Oil Regions of Pennsylvania Showing Where Petroletn 1s Found, How It Is Obtained, fad at What Cost, wita Hints ior Witom It May Concern: New York, 186.4 GAS-LIFT METHOD OF FLOWING OIL WELLS proved incufficient. Finally, the manager introduced the instrument mentioned with quite satisfactory results, the yield coming up to between 40 and 60 barrels a day. The blower consists sisaply of an iron tube, 1 inch in diameter, which is let down into the well outside of the fixed tube, the lower end of the blower bei bent round, so as to pass upward into the orifice of the other. A column of air is then foreed down the small pipe, from which it, passes into the larger, and assists the natural action of the gas in foreing up the petroleum. By virtue of the simple contrivance to cooperate with nature, that well has gone forward for some months without any material diminution that I could learn.” In other cases, however, the result was far from being equally satisfactory. The manager of the Noble’ and Delamater well tried the blower, under which the total yield amounted to 25 barrels, when the oil ceased to flow. In others again, after using the blower with- out suceess, it has been taken out and replaced by the pump, with a decided improvement in the yield. It deserves mention that these instruments are not all similar in design and that some are regarded worthless under all cireum- stances. Before purchasing, it would be well to obtain a guarantee of satis~ factory results, providing it can be proved that oil exists in the well to be sub- jected to the experiment. On this matter, as on every other, the experience of both practical and disinterested men is highly desirable. Bone * describes the air lift as follows: Another plan which is coming into use, and which has so far proved successf il, is to use an ejector or air pump, with two pipes inserted into the tube of the well. The air is forced down one pipe into the vein at the bottom, and the oil rushes up in a steady stream through the other. By the use of these ejectors a number of wells have been restored to a yield ranging from 30 to 140 barrels duily after they had been considered worthlesa by the owners. No record has been found by the author of the use of the air lift in an oil well after 1865 until it was applied successfully to pumping oil out of the wells in the Russian oil fields of the Baku region in 1899. Thompson ° states: Tn 1899, the first successful experiments in the Russian oil fields made with com- pressed air were obtained * * * which excited much local interest and started a new development on a large seale * * *. In the first trials the air was conveyed down the well in a central 1-ineh or 1}inch pipe to the estimated depth, and the liquid rose in the space between this tube and the outer one of Jarger diameter * * *. At the base ot the air tubes was attached a brass nozzle with an annular orifiee, so constructed that it diverted the passage of the air vertically ; but later experiments showed that the presence of this nozzle made little difference to the working, and it was found to be more advantageous to replace it by # plain bell-mouthed ring * * Later experiments were con- ducted by passing the wir down betwoon the two tubes and allowing the liquid to rise in the center one, a suitable gland and stuffing box with side fitting for the admission of air being provided. This latter method is the one generally adopted for the raising of oll, but there are several modifications in the manner of admitting theair * * * When the Texas and Louisiana coast fields were developed in 1901 the air lift was reintroduced into the United States and soon was used widely in the production of oil. _Air-compressor plants were installed in the Gulf coast fields at Sour Lake, Evangeline, Humble, and else- where to furnish air to pump oil wells. At Spindle Top the Spindle Top Power Co. built a large steam-driven air-compressor plant and sold compressed air to individual operators who did not erect plants of their own at so much per well per day or for a percentage of the oil produced,” The air lift has been used continuously along the Gulf coast since 1901, and by its aid many millions of barrels of oil have been raised to the surface. 8 Work ited. + Thompson, A. Becby, The Oil Fields of Russia: London, 1908, p, 247. 19 beonagton, Harry, Litt Efficiency Depends upon Skill in Design and Operation: Oil Weekly, Aug. 1 18H, p.DEFINITIONS 5 ._ The success attained by the air lift along the Gulf coast, especially in those wells that produced large quantities of water, led to the introduction of the air-lift method in the Kern River and Midway- Sunset fields in California. For several years the air lift was used successfully in these fields in wells that produced large amounts of water with the oil, and it was abandoned only after remedial methods excluded most of the water from the wells so that they could be pro- duced more economically by plunger pumps. For several years prior to 1911, the air lift was also used success- fully in the Cat Canyon field, Santa Barbara County, Calif. During 1911 pumping tests were made that involved the use of high-pressure natural gas instead of air to stimulate the flow of oil from wells, and the author believes that these tests were the first in which natural gas was used to lift oil from wells. In 1924 it became necessary to produce certain deep wells in southern California by mechanical means, and operators found that the air-lift method not only helped to increase the production over that obtainable by ‘beam pumping” but also made possible the production, of oil from wells that were too deep or too crooked to pumped by rods. Natural gas was substituted for air in the California installations, thus making it possible to recover gasoline from the gas that accompanied the oil to the surface. If compressed air is used as the lifting medium the gasoline in the gas can not usually be recovered because the air-gas mixture from the wells is too lean to be treated profitably and too explosive to be handled safely in gasoline recovery plants. ‘The gasoline vapors and the natural gas that is produced with the oil when compressed air is used as the lift- ing ‘medium are therefore wasted. Hence the use of natural gas in- stead of air is a more profitable means of lifting oil from wells and is a decided step toward conservation of one of the country’s natural resources. DEFINITIONS The practice of lifting oil by gas has brought certain terms into com- mon usage. Three terms especially are likely to be confused, and the following definitions are given to prevent possible misunderstanding in the text that follows, 1. Formation gas-oil_ratio—The number of cubic fect of gas produced per barrel of oil by a well. 2, Input gas-oil ratio—The number of cubic feet of gas introduced into the well (for gas-lift operations) per barrel of oil lifted. 3. Output gas-oil ratio—The total number of cubic feet of gas formation gas plus input gas) from a gas-ift well per barvel of ol ifted. PRINCIPLES OF GAS LIFT The action of the gas lift may best be studied by reference to sketches illustrating the various stages in the operation of a gas-lift well. Figure 1, A, illustrates a well in which C represents the casing, and T the tubing or eductor pipe. When no oil is being removed from the well and the tubing outlet and the casing are open at the surface the oil level within the tubing and in the annular space out- side the tubing rises to an equilibrium position, the surfaces standing at the same elevation both inside and outside the tubing. The level6 GAS-LIFT METHOD OF FLOWING OIL WELLS to which the column of oil rises above the top of the oil sand depends upon the pressure within the oil sand and the weight of the fluid in the well. The fluid level in a well during equilibrium conditions is therefore an index of the formation (rock or reservoir) pressure within the producing sand. In other words, the maximum expulsive force in the oil sand manifests itself in the height to which the column of fluid rises above the top of the producing sand. In gas-lift practice, the height ab (fig. 1, A) to which the fluid rises above the lower end of the tubing when no oil is being removed from the well is termed the “static submergence” of the eduction tube. Static submergence exists only when a well is standing idle and pressure conditions within the well have reached equilibrium. Figune 1.—Tree stage i the operation of agate well, (After LC. Uren, Nat, Pet, News, March 26,2827, p. 66) In a producing well, whether the fluid is being removed by @ plunger pump, by the gas lift, or by natural flow, the level of the fluid around the tubing and inside the casing will stand at some point below the level of static submergence; the pressure back of the oil in the casing can no longer raise the oil to its former static level. Dynamic conditions prevail in a producing well, and pressure head is lost in the well due to the friction or resistance offered to the travel of the oil through the oil sands by the sand grains that make up the porous-producing formation. Submergence of the tubing or flow line during production is termed ‘‘working submergence.” In a gas-lift well actual fluid submergence does not exist when fluid is Being produced through the tubing because the fluid is withdrawn as fast as it enters the well. The fluid level in an operating gas-lift well remains practically stationary at the bottom of the tubing.PRINCIPLES OF GAS LIFT 7 Submergence, however, exists in every gas-lift well because the reservoir pressure forces the fluid into the well and tends to raise it above the bottom of the tubing. Submergence or its effect may be expressed in feet of fluid (oil, water, oil and gas, or oil, water, and gas) or in pressure in pounds per square inch. ‘The latter nomenclature is preferable, because oils vary in specific gravity, and fluid columns are not of uniform density. Entrained gas and gas pockets in the column of oil in a well aifect the density of the fluid column and render unreliable any calculations based on feet of fluid. When compressed gas is forced into the well through the annuler space between the casing and the tubing the oil level around the tubing is depressed. Simultaneously, the fluid level in the tubing rises. The rate at which the fluid level in the tubing rises with re- spect to the rate of depression in the casing depends upon the ratio of the respective areas of the flow spaces within the tubing and within the annular space between the tubing and the casing. When the gas pressure has depressed the fluid level to the bottom of the tubing the relative positions of the oil surfaces within and outside the tubing are as shown in Figure 1, B. The back pressure against the o: sand, which in Figure 1, A, was equal to the static head of oil above the top of the sand, has now increased and is equal to the head of oil represented by the column of oil above the oil sand to the level within the tubing. If no additional gas is admitted to the casing, the reservoir pressure, gas pressure, and pressure due to the column of oil in the tubing are equal and equilibrium conditions again prevail in the well at the bottom of the tubing. A slight additional gas pressure causes gas to flow into the lower end of the tubing; as the oil becomes aerated the density of the fluid column is decreased, and the oil level is raised. The oil becomes aerated further as more gas is admitted into the tubing, and the oil column expands and lengthens until it finally overflows at the surface. (See fig. 1, C.) The maximum gas pressure is required just before the oil overflows. The amount, of this pressure depends upon the height and density of the column of mixed oil and gas above the lower end of the tubing. Until the gas pressure is maximum the pressure on the oil-producing stratum increases gradually, and at the moment the oil overflows at the surface this pressure is equal to that exerted by the column of oil and entrained gas in the tubing and the column of fluid below the tubing to the top of the producing sand. Additional gas displaces other oil in the tubing, further decreasing the density of the fluid column. Finally, the back pressure on the oil formation due to the aerated column of oil and gas in the tubi and the gas pressure outside the tubing becomes less than the ori static pressure as represented in Figure 1, A; the pressure in the oil formation overbalances the internal resistance within the casing at the lower end of the tubing, and oil flows from the reservoir sands into the well. The gas pressure necessary to maintain a flow of oil from a well is somewhat lower than that necessary to start the flow, Less energy or pressure is needed to keep a column of oil, or oil and gas, moving than is required to start the same column when at rest. Under dynamic conditions of flow the formation pressure in the well also drops and friction losses brought about by the resistance offered to the flow of oil through the porous oil sand and the perforations in