ESP Design Changes
for High GLR and
High Sand Production
Initial electrical submersible pump
(ESP) designs for the Stag oil field on
the Australian Northwest Shelf were
based on a low gas/oil ratio (GOR)
and a high-viscosity 19°API crude
oil. Higher-than-forecasted gas rates
and gas/oil separation in the 3,300-
ft-long horizontal production section
resulted in slugs of gas and oil. With
the onset of water production, high
volumes of produced sand com-
pounded the problems. The full-
length paper reviews in detail the
evolution of the ESP design, which
initially ran for only 191 days, but
now averages 511 days.
Introduction
The Stag production platform is in
164 ft of water on Australia’s
Northwest Shelf. The reservoir is a
poorly consolidated Lower Cretaceous
Artificial Lift
glauconitic sandstone that is 23 to 49
ft thick. Reservoir temperature is
125°F, and oil viscosity at reservoir
conditions is 9 cp. Field development
was initially based on five production
and three water injection wells, all
extended reach horizontal wells with
production/injection sections as long
as 3,300 ft. Reservoir sections were
completed with 7-in. predrilled liners
inside 81/2-in. open hole. Production
wells were designed with ESP-based
completions sized to produce 5,000 to
6,000 STB/D at a maximum
400-scf/STB GOR.
Design 1
Completion. The initial completion
design positioned the ESP at the
beginning of the horizontal section
of the well. A production packer
with a mechanically actuated fluid
loss device was installed below the
ESP to provide reservoir isolation
during workover. The fluid loss
device was opened and closed by a
seal stinger carried on tail pipe below
the ESP. The completion string also
included a tubing retrievable surface-
controlled subsurface safety valve
(SCSSSV) approximately 90 ft below
the mudline. Chemical injection
60
points were installed within the ESP
assembly for injection of demulsifier
and scale inhibitor.
ESP design included a pressure con-
taining shroud that completely
enclosed the ESP. This design eliminat-
ed the need for a packer that would
normally have been included above
the ESP to provide isolation of the
reservoir from the production tub-
ing/casing and provided a support for
the fluid loss device seal stinger.
The ESP contained a 28-stage pump
and a gas/fluid handling conditioning
system designed to handle GORs as
large as 400 scf/STB. The wet ends
were fitted with abrasion-resistant
ceramic bearings (zirconia/silicon car-
bide pairs) on every fifth stage. The
ESP included tandem labyrinth/per-
manent barrier protectors, a 288-hp
motor, a four-channel sensor that
monitored intake and discharge pres-
sures and wellbore and motor winding
temperatures, and an insulated cable.
Performance. After production com-
menced in May 1998, it became appar-
ent that the field had a larger-than-
expected gas cap. Producing GORs
were significantly higher than had
been expected. In addition, poorer-
than-expected aquifer support result-
ed in a rapid decline in reservoir pres-
sure, which led to the release of
solution gas, which increased the free
gas downhole. Free-gas fractions
greater than 80% were common at
pump suction conditions. The high
gas fraction was further complicated
by the very long undulating horizontal
sections that caused terrain slugging.
Large, high-frequency gas slugs
occurred that continually locked the
pumps, resulting in numerous shut-
downs. To ensure continuous pro-
duction, underload protection was re-
moved from the control systems, and
the pumps were run at approximately
80 Hz. Even at these conditions, in
many cases the pumps acted as a
choke, and instead of boosting the
natural flow, the pumps actually
restricted natural flow, causing pres-
This article, written by Assistant
Technology Editor Karen Bybee, con-
tains highlights of paper SPE 77801,
“ESP Design Changes for High GLR
and High Sand Production: Apache
Stag Project,” by N.B. Muecke, SPE,
Apache Energy Ltd., and G.H.
Kappelhoff, SPE, and A. Watson,
Schlumberger, originally presented at
the 2002 SPE Asia Pacific Oil and
Gas Conference and Exhibition,
Melbourne, Australia, 6–10 October.
For a limited time, the full-length
paper is available free to SPE mem-
bers at www.spe.org/jpt. The paper
has not been peer reviewed.
sure drops through the pump of as
much as 500 psi.
Failure Analysis. Average run life of
the completions where ESP compo-
nents failed was 191 days. Failures of
the ESP components were caused by
high gas slugging through the pump.
The cyclic upward thrust on the
impellers was equivalent to a jackham-
mering force of more than 6,000 lbf.
Design 2
Completion. The completion was
redesigned to reduce the free-gas vol-
ume passing through the ESP by
channeling the gas up the annulus.
The fluid was vented into the annulus
by perforated tubing joints installed
just above the packer to take advan-
tage of natural gas separation in the
annulus before the fluids entered the
ESP. To increase gas separation, an
ESP vortex gas separator was intro-
duced into the assembly. Shallow-set
packers, including gas vent bores with
subsurface safety valves, were
installed in the wells to provide isola-
tion in the annular flow path. A slid-
ing sleeve was included below the
vent packer to facilitate natural flow
while bypassing the pump, and the
tubing retrievable SCSSSV was
retained at approximately 90 ft below
seabed. Because a maximum angle of
MAY 2003
 50° was recommended for a vortex
gas separator, the ESP was moved into
the build section of the well. Moving
the ESP uphole increased free-gas vol-
ume because of the reduction in
intake pressure, but it was thought
that this design would increase pro-
duction rates by approximately 100%.
Performance. Production increased
by only 15 to 20%, and the pumps
continued to experience gas locking.
The liquid was choking flow across the
vent packer safety valves and in the
2-in. annulus flowline at the surface.
Consequently, gas slugs were not
being vented efficiently. Run life of
Design 2 was an improvement over
Design 1. Average run life of the com-
pletions pulled because of failure of
ESP components was 385 days.
Failure Analysis. Much of the gas
was being vented up the annulus, and
the gas drive was diminishing. Design
2 pumps did not experience the
upthrust wear seen in Design 1
pumps. However, Design 2 pumps
were eroded by low levels of sand pro-
duction. In addition to impeller wear,
the zirconia bearings were usually
severely worn. Although the silicon
carbide shaft sleeves were never sig-
nificantly worn, almost all were
cracked along the keyway, and many
also were broken.
The opportunities for run life
improvement lay primarily with aug-
menting the bearing system in the
pump to withstand the combined
effects of gas and sand.
Design 3
Completion. The primary objective
of the new completion design was to
enhance the ability of the comple-
tions to vent large gas slugs, while
allowing natural flow oil production
up the annulus while reservoir condi-
tions supported it. Design 3 eliminat-
ed the vent packer and moved the
tubing retrievable SCSSSV down to
the packer/fluid loss device assembly,
incorporated an auto flow subassem-
bly above the pump, and increased
the distance between the perforated
tubing and pump intake. The 2×2-in.
annulus outlet wellhead spools were
replaced with single 4-in. outlet
spools to minimize choking drop and
reduce erosion.
The new design enhanced the nat-
ural gas separation that takes place in
62
the annulus, provided auto gas lift
annular production, and enabled
wellbore isolation in the event of
problems. The auto flow subassembly
was included to provide the ability for
natural flow of the well by the tubing
while bypassing the ESP. The auto
flow subassembly is a device that
allows tubing/annular communica-
tion when the pump is stopped. A
spring-loaded flapper automatically
moves from sealing the tubing/annu-
lus port to sealing the tubing string
above the ESP discharge head. Besides
enabling natural well flow, it also clos-
es above the ESP and provides protec-
tion from falling sand for the ESP dur-
ing shutdowns.
Remedial downhole sand control
was considered to manage the massive
volumes of sand being produced.
Because of the significant reduction in
productivity that probably would
have occurred had screens been
installed inside the preperforated lin-
ers, sand production was managed at
the surface by use of separator flush-
ing systems and a centrifuge-based
sand cleaning and drying system. The
decision was made to use silicon car-
bide for the bearing and sleeve.
Bearing spacing was changed from
every fifth stage to every stage. To
reduce the overall speed while main-
taining production levels, the number
of stages was doubled.
Performance. Production increased
by 40 to 80%. Because production was
acceptable, completion design was
stabilized, and improvement efforts
focused on increasing the run life of
the ESP components. Average run life
for Design 3 was 392 days.
Failure Analysis. In the first installa-
tion, ESP failure was caused by wear
and breakup of the pump bearings,
sleeves, and stages. The second instal-
lation was pulled after 310 days
because of a cable short. While the
reduced wear experienced following
the change to full silicon carbide bear-
ings in each stage was encouraging,
bearing failure caused by impact
remained a problem.
Design 4
Completion. Stage material was
changed to a proprietary wear- and
(To Page 80)
MAY 2003
 ESP Design Changes . . .
(From Page 62)
corrosion-resistant alloy. Investigation
began into the wear and impact prop-
erties of tungsten carbide bearings, but
these were not available for use in
Design 4. A change to a lead-sheathed
cable was made to ensure that it did
not become the next failure mode.
Performance. Design 4 achieved
longer run lives than previous designs.
From late 1999 to the present, 14
Design 4 installations have been made,
four have been pulled, and a fifth
awaits workover. Three of the five
workovers were for operational or
field-development reasons, not for
ESP component failure.
Design 5
Completion. Experience gained as
the ESP installation designs changed
80
highlighted opportunities to improve
ESP run life. Design 5 eliminated the
keyway where the sleeve is keyed to
the shaft because of cracking along
the keyway in previous designs. Bear-
ings in Design 5 were made with an
optimized grade of tungsten carbide
that is slightly less hard than silicon
carbide but much more impact resis-
tant. Design 5 incorporates a combi-
nation lock and upthrust ring to pre-
vent the bearing from spinning in its
housing because of heat and upthrust
caused by gas slugging. A new gas-
handling device was developed that is
expected to be capable of handling 10
to 15% more free gas. A new motor
was developed with ceramic bearings
in the base to reduce rotor/stator con-
tact when the ESP is run in deviated
well sections.
Performance. After being success-
fully tested by the supplier, the first
three field trial units of Design 5
have been delivered, and installation
is pending.
Conclusions
1. Because reservoir models for
new field developments frequently do
not match reality, developments
should be designed so they can be eas-
ily modified.
2. Any completion design should
allow for a reasonable error band in
productivity and reservoir property
assumptions.
3. Off-the-shelf ESP applications did
not stand up to the combination of
high sand production and gas slugging
conditions in the Stag field.
4. The unique design improvements
made to the Stag field ESPs produced
a step change in reliability with run
lives increased four-fold.
5. The ESP design changes to Stag
ESPs reduced operating costs, extend-
ed field life, and increased ultimate
recovery. JPT
MAY 2003