SPE-190936-MS

Solving Gas Interference Issues with Sucker Rod Pumps in the Permian
Basin

A. P. Allison, C. F. Leal, and M. R. Boland, Occidental Petroleum

Copyright 2018, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Artificial Lift Conference and Exhibition - Americas held in The Woodlands, TX, USA, 28-30 August 2018.

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
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Abstract
Gas/liquid ratios (GLRs) typically increase later in the life of a sucker rod-pumped well, and unconventional
reservoirs may have high GLRs from the beginning of production. How to handle that gas production is
important for sucker rod pumps, as the efficiency is reduced when gas enters the pump. A project was
undertaken to quantify several methods used to handle gas production with sucker rod pumps and the
effectiveness of each.
This project focused on three areas of design or operation intended to improve gas handling:

• Gas separator design: The sizing of downhole gas separators was reviewed, and steps were taken to
match the pumping system with the proper separator. In cases where the separator was not pulled,
the pump displacement was adjusted to ensure it was within the capacity of the existing separator.
Where there was an opportunity to replace the separator, the design was modified to ensure the
separator capacity matched the expected well production.
• Variable speed drives: Horizontal wells do not provide consistent inflow, but rather exhibit slugging
behavior as portions of the lateral load up with liquid or gas. This makes pump-off control difficult
with conventional rod pump controllers, which stop the pump completely when there is a lack of
fluid at the pump. The performance of variable speed drives was studied to determine if continuous
operation while adjusting the speed to accommodate slugging would improve production.
• Backpressure valves: Backpressure has been used as a method to improve the performance of wells
with gas interference, but the benefits have been questionable compared to the negative impacts
on equipment loading. Wells with elevated tubing backpressure were identified, the backpressure
was reduced to line pressure, and the impact on performance was monitored.

Introduction
Sucker rod pumping is the most commonly used form of artificial lift within Occidental Petroleum
(Oxy), accounting for approximately 10,000 installations worldwide. These installations encompass a
variety of field types, including conventional production, enhanced oil recovery (EOR) via water, CO2,
and steam flooding, and more recently unconventional shale production. A significant issue in operating
2 SPE-190936-MS

unconventional wells with sucker rod pumps (SRPs) is the significant amount of gas that is produced and
how that gas is handled by the pump.
Unlike other forms of artificial lift, SRPs can tolerate gas being produced through the pump without
damaging the pump itself. However, that free gas at the pump reduces the pump's volumetric efficiency. The
typical pump efficiency range for SRPs is between 70 and 80%, but wells operating with gas interference
may see their efficiency drop below 40%. Operating an SRP with low pump efficiency requires more
pump strokes each day to move the desired volume of liquid, increasing power consumption and reducing
equipment life. Additionally, many wells experiencing significant gas interference carry high fluid levels
that result in high bottomhole pressures and lower well productivity.

Theory
Gas Separation with Sucker Rod Pumps
The most effective way to handle gas with sucker rod pumps is to place the pump intake below the producing
zone in the well. This allows the tubing-casing annulus to act as a gravity driven separator, with gas rising
up the annulus and liquids falling down the pump intake. An example of this configuration is shown in
Figure 1. However, this configuration is not feasible for all wells. Some wells produce significant amounts
of sand which may be carried with the fluid through the pump, causing it to prematurely wear out. The sand
may also accumulate around the tubing, increasing the risk of the tubing becoming stuck in the well.

Figure 1—Natural gas separator (McCoy et al. 2015)

Some well configurations do not allow the pump to be placed below the producing zone. This would
include horizontal wells and wells that were drilled with insufficient rathole to land the pump below the
producing zone. For these cases, a downhole gas separator is installed as part of the tubing completion. A
typical gas separator configuration is shown in Figure 2. As the produced fluid reaches the entry ports of the
separator, it must travel down the annulus created between the dip tube and mud anchor body. Separation
occurs in this space, with the liquid continuing to move down to the dip tube inlet, and the gas bubbles
rising back out of the separator.
SPE-190936-MS 3

Figure 2—Typical downhole gas separator (Bohorquez et al. 2009)

The University of Texas (UT) has performed significant testing of the performance of these separators
(Bohorquez et al. 2009). Their results indicated that adequate gas separation should occur if the velocity of
the liquid produced through the separator body is less than 6 in./sec and gas bubbles are approximately 0.25
in. in diameter. Above this velocity, there is not enough slip between the gas and liquid phases to prevent
the gas bubbles from being pulled down to the dip tube inlet. This gas then reaches the pump, causing gas
interference.
Practical experience has shown that many wells begin to experience gas interference at velocities
significantly lower than the 6 in./sec found in laboratory testing. One possible explanation for this behavior
is that the pressure drop inside the separator and pump causes gas to come out of solution, increasing the free
gas inside the pump each stroke. This is more likely with the higher gravity, more volatile oils commonly
produced from unconventional reservoirs. Though the authors recognize this is a potential source of gas
interference in SRPs, study of this phenomenon is outside the scope of the current project.
Water cut and inlet pressure change significantly when gas separators are applied to field conditions. The
testing performed by UT was with water and air at pressures ranging from 5 to 15 psi. As oil is introduced
into the system, the velocity at which gas bubbles rise through the liquid decreases. Haberman and Morton
(1953) published results of bubble rise velocity through a variety of fluids which may be instructive for
such situations. Their results in tap water compare favorably with the testing performed at UT, with bubble
rise velocities ranging from 6.3 to 7.87 in./sec for 0.25-in. diameter bubbles, depending on temperature.
Haberman and Morton also looked at the rise of air bubbles in mineral oil. In mineral oil, bubble rise
velocity for 0.25-in. diameter bubbles decreased to 1.57 in./sec. The potential impact of this lower bubble
rise velocity is significant. A common separator size used by Oxy has a 3-in. diameter separator ID and
1.315-in. diameter dip tube OD. Assuming the 6-in./sec bubble rise from the UT testing, the capacity of this
separator would be 305 bbl/D. The capacity of the same separator using the bubble rise velocity of 1.57 in./
sec from the Haberman and Morton test would be only 80 bbl/D.
Haberman and Morton refer to Hadamard-Rybczynski's Law (Eq. 1) as a way to quantify the terminal
velocity of gas bubbles as a function of the fluid densities and bubble size. The key variables are the density
difference between the two fluids (Δρ) and the fluid viscosity (μ). As the density difference decreases and
viscosity increases, the resulting bubble rise velocity decreases. These changes would be consistent with
the transition from the flow of predominantly water to the flow of predominantly oil.
4 SPE-190936-MS

(1)

In field operations, the inlet pressure at the gas separator can reach as high as 1,000 psi under normal
conditions. As the pressure increases, density of the gas also increases, resulting in a lower value for Δρ
and thus a reduction in the bubble rise velocity. This may explain why gas interference is more common
and more severe in wells with high fluid levels.

Control of Horizontal Wells

Horizontal wells present the additional challenge of how to handle slugging behavior. It is common in these
wells to see alternating periods of liquid-dominant and gas-dominant flow. This complicates the control of
horizontal wells, as the standard practice has been to use a pump-off controller (POC) to temporarily idle the
pump when the POC detects incomplete pump fillage. This method of control works well in conventional
reservoirs, where the issue is simply the pump displacement exceeding the well's inflow. During the POC
idle time, the liquid level in the annulus rises, allowing the pump to run under completely full conditions
during the next run cycle.
With horizontal wells, incomplete pump fillage does not occur because the inflow rate has fallen below
the displacement of the SRP system. Gas builds up in the undulated portion of the lateral, which then moves
as a slug towards the pump once sufficient pressure builds to displace it. These slugs vary in frequency
and duration, making it difficult to control the pump with a simple POC. For this reason, variable speed
drives (VSDs) are used to allow the pump to adjust its speed continuously to match the rate of the fluid as
it reaches the pump. During a gas slug, the VSD will slow the pump to minimum speed and monitor for
increasing pump fillage. Slowing the well down during these periods reduces wear and stress on the rods
and downhole pump. Increasing pump fillage indicates the return of liquid flow and is a sign for the VSD
to speed up, maximizing production from the well.

Backpressure
Backpressure valves are commonly used to increase the tubing pressure at the surface in an attempt to reduce
gas interference. An excessive amount of gas being produced up the tubing or breaking out of solution as
the fluid pressure drops near the surface can cause operational issues. If there is a high gas volume fraction
(GVF) at the surface, the polished rod may not be lubricated properly by the wellbore fluids. This leads
to excessive friction between the polished rod and stuffing box packing material, reducing the life of the
packing. Increasing the surface tubing pressure with a backpressure valve can reduce the surface GVF and
help eliminate this issue. However, the goal of ensuring good polished rod lubrication can also be achieved
easily with polished rod lubricators installed as part of the stuffing box.
Wells with extremely high fluid levels, or those with enough bottomhole pressure to occasionally flow,
may see inconsistent pump action due to the low differential pressure across the pump valves. Increasing the
tubing backpressure artificially increases this pressure differential, allowing for more consistent operation
of the pump.
A common misconception when employing backpressure valves is that they can reduce gas interference
at the pump. However, backpressure only influences the pressure in the tubing above the traveling valve,
after the fluid has been compressed and discharged out of the pump. Pressure inside the pump chamber is
only impacted by the weight of the fluid above the pump (FAP) in the annulus.
Increasing backpressure has many negative impacts on the SRP system. Increasing backpressure
increases the discharge pressure of the pump and increases the load on the sucker rods and surface pumping
unit. The increased pump discharge pressure raises the differential pressure across the pump, which increases
pump slippage (Patterson et al. 2000). Increased load on the rods causes them to stretch more, which
decreases downhole pump stroke and overall displacement. Pump horsepower increases, which increases
electricity consumption.
SPE-190936-MS 5

Data and Results

Separator Performance with Varying Water Cut
Wells Q and R illustrate the impact that water cut may have on the efficiency of downhole gas separators.
These wells have identical separators, with a 4-in. body ID and 1.315-in. dip tube OD. Assuming a bubble
rise of 6 in./sec, the maximum rate through this separator should be 600 bbl/D. The water cut is the significant
difference between these two wells: approximately 70% for Well Q, and 30% for Well R.
Well Q is able to pump at a much higher rate, 460 bbl/D, without showing signs of gas interference in
the dynamometer card (Figure 3). The average production for this well is 390 bbl/D. This represents a high
pump efficiency of 85% for such a rod pump system. Well R is pumping at a much lower rate, 220 bbl/D,
and consistently shows signs of gas interference. The dynamometer card for this well is shown in Figure 4.
Average production is 82 bbl/D, with a much lower pump efficiency of 37%.

Figure 3—Well Q dynamometer card

Figure 4—Well R dynamometer card

A comparison of the production from each well is shown in Figure 5. The production increase in April
2018 for Well Q is due to an increase in the downhole pump size. Using the standard sizing conventions
for gas separators, Well R should operate with much higher pump efficiency due to its lower pumping rate.
However, in light of Haberman and Morton's work mentioned above, it is not surprising to see wells with
lower water cuts be less effective at separating gas.
6 SPE-190936-MS

Figure 5—Total fluid production for Wells Q and R

Well E
Well E illustrates the challenge of controlling gassy horizontal wells with only a POC. Figure 6 shows the
daily runtime for Well E. Prior to December 2017, the well was controlled with a POC. The daily runtime
would vary by several hours each day due to gas interference causing the pump fillage to fall below the
POC control setpoint. As with many horizontal wells, these decreases in pump fillage do not indicate the
well has pumped off, as with a vertical well. Instead, they are a sign of a gas slug reaching the pump intake.

Figure 6—Well E daily runtime

Figure 7 shows the effects of one of these gas slugs. The well was configured to run for a period of time
with the pump-off setpoint disabled in order to observe the well's behavior. The dynamometer cards near
the red number 1 on that figure show several pump strokes with significant gas interference below the POC
SPE-190936-MS 7

setpoint. These strokes would normally cause the well to shut down due to the POC setpoint. However,
when allowed to continue running, the pump fillage begins to increase. This is shown by strokes 2 through 7.

Figure 7—Increasing pump fillage after gas slug

These slugging events and their varying length make it difficult to configure an ideal POC setpoint
and idle time to optimize the well's production. A setpoint that is too high shuts the well down too soon,
sacrificing production. A setpoint that is too low may increase production but will cause excessive wear on
the downhole equipment and increased failures.
The idle time is difficult to configure for horizonal wells because these slugging events vary in length
from one cycle to the next. An example of this variation in cycle runtimes is shown in Figure 8. If a POC is
used to control a horizontal well, it is recommended to set a shorter idle time to begin pumping again after
a short duration slug. In case of a long duration slug, the POC will immediately idle again due to low pump
fillage. This is evident in Figure 8, where there are consecutive cycles of 5-6 minutes. This configuration
will balance maximizing production and minimizing failures due to equipment wear.
8 SPE-190936-MS

Figure 8—Well E cycle runtimes

A VSD was installed on Well E in December 2017 to handle the observed variations in pump fillage and
cycle runtimes. Figure 9 shows the variation in pump fillage (red) and strokes per minute (SPM) (black)
for the period of 18–21 January 2018. The areas circled in green are extended periods of low pump fillage,
causing the VSD to slow to its minimum speed. These periods last from three to four hours, with shorter
periods of varying pump fillage and SPM in between. The advantage of using a VSD to operate horizontal
wells like this is its ability to adjust the pump's displacement to match the well's inflow by varying the SPM.

Figure 9—Well E pump fillage and SPM

SPE-190936-MS 9

Figure 10 shows the total fluid production (green), gas production (red), and the fluid above the
pump (FAP) (blue) for Well E. After installation of the VSD, the FAP begins to decrease, and there is a
corresponding increase in gas production. After the FAP decreased below ~2,000 ft, total fluid production
shows a significant increase from 100-120 bbl/D to more than 160 bbl/D in May 2018.

Figure 10—Well E production and fluid level

Well P
Well P is another horizontal well that had a VSD installed in July 2017. The total fluid production peaked
at ~150 bbl/D in March 2018 before a downhole failure occurred. After repairing the well, the pump
fillage setpoint was lowered to force the average speed to reach 7 SPM in an effort to regain the previous
production rate. This resulted in poor pump efficiency and significant gas interference, which is evident in
the dynamometer cards in Figure 11.

Figure 11—Well P gas interference at 7 SPM

10 SPE-190936-MS

The maximum SPM of the VSD was reduced from 7 to 5.6 after observing that the pumping rate was
three times the well's peak production. The value of 5.6 was determined by reducing the maximum SPM
until gas interference was no longer observed in the cards. With the new maximum SPM setting and a higher
pump fillage setpoint of 90%, the VSD was more consistently able to keep the pump fillage much closer
to the setpoint, as shown in Figure 12. Interestingly, if the maximum speed this well can operate without
seeing gas interference at the pump is 5.6 SPM, this would equate to a bubble rise velocity of only 3.1 in./
sec, compared with the 6 in./sec that is commonly used for gas separator design. This can be explained by
the lower average water cut of 26% for this well and the lower bubble rise velocity in oil.

Figure 12—Well P after reducing maximum speed to 5.6 SPM

After decreasing the maximum SPM on 10 May 2018, the average SPM dropped from seven to four
(Figure 13). There was a corresponding increase in the average pump fillage, as shown in Figure 14.
Unfortunately, the increased pump fillage has not resulted in an increase in production. Production varied
between 70 to 100 bbl/D both before and after the SPM decrease (Figure 15). While it is not yet clear
why the production has not returned to the levels seen in March 2018, this exercise has at least shown that
pumping slower with higher pump fillage and less gas interference can produce as much fluid as pumping
at a high rate of speed with significant levels of gas interference.

Figure 13—Well P average SPM

SPE-190936-MS 11

Figure 14—Well P average pump fillage

Figure 15—Well P production

Well O
Well O illustrates how decreasing SPM to match separator capacity can be beneficial in cases where a well
is not operated with a VSD. In early 2017, Well O was running at 5.2 SPM with a pump displacement of
140 bbl/D. The separator configuration for this well is a ¾-in. dip tube inside 2⅜-in. tubing, which has
a separation capacity of 112 bbl/D. For the five tests prior to decreasing the SPM, the average total fluid
production was 10.6 bbl/D.
12 SPE-190936-MS

In July 2017, the speed was reduced to 4.2 SPM. This lowered the pump displacement to 113 bbl/D.
Excluding some of the outliers in the production trend in Figure 16, the total fluid production after the SPM
decrease ranged from 13 to 20 bbl/D.

Figure 16—Well O production

Reduced Backpressure
Thirteen wells were selected to study the impact of pumping with reduced backpressure. In this field, the
standard practice is to hold 200 to 300 psi of backpressure on all wells. The test wells were allowed to pump
against line pressure only (without extra backpressure) to observe what impact this would have on system
loading and production.
Table 1 shows the change in system loading after removing backpressure from the test wells. In every
case, rod stress and polished rod horsepower (PRHP) decreased as expected. Downhole stroke length
increased due to less stretch of the rods under a lower load. This resulted in an equivalent increase in the
displacement of the pumping system.
SPE-190936-MS 13

Table 1—Loading changes after removing backpressure

Well Name Rod Stress PRHP Downhole Stroke Length Pump Displacement

A -1.4% -2.2% 5.5% 5.5%

B -2.5% -2.1% 2.7% 2.9%

C -6.9% -18.8% 13.8% 13.7%

D -7.7% -6.1% 2.7% 2.8%

E -6.0% -3.9% 3.0% 3.1%

F 0.0% -2.1% 1.5% 1.4%

G -1.3% -3.7% 2.6% 2.6%

H 0.0% -0.9% 1.2% 1.1%

I 0.0% -0.1% 8.2% 8.2%

J 0.0% 0.6% 2.7% 2.6%

K -1.6% -2.3% 1.7% 1.5%

L -2.3% -0.3% 0.4% 0.3%

M -1.4% -0.3% 0.2% 0.2%

Table 2 shows the production impact after removing the backpressure from each well. Most wells had
minimal, if any, change in production. This was to be expected, as changing the tubing pressure for an SRP
well does not affect the bottomhole pressure of the well.

Table 2—Production changes after removing backpressure

Water
Well Name Oil (bbl/D) Gas (Mscf/D)
(bbl/D)

A 4 4 44

B 0 -1 16

C -2 0 4

D 2 14 46

E -5 -7 -5

F 0 -1 -15

G 4 -7 -6

H 0 -3 4

I 2 3 -17

J 1 4 -1

K 1 2 0

L -1 0 0

M -1 0 -14

The dynamometer cards below are from Well B with 300 psi of backpressure (Figure 17) and after the
backpressure was removed (Figure 18). This well is a good example of a potential issue with very tight POC
setpoints on the surface dynamometer (solid circle) and changes in backpressure. After the backpressure was
removed, there was a small shift of the surface dynamometer closer to the POC setpoint. When backpressure
is removed from the system, peak polished rod load decreases and minimum polished rod load increases.
14 SPE-190936-MS

If the setpoint is set very close to the normal operating card, this change in backpressure could prematurely
stop the well.

Figure 17—Well B with 300 psi backpressure

Figure 18—Well B after removing backpressure

It is the authors’ belief that this explains an issue that was raised by operations personnel that a well
may "stop pumping" if backpressure valves get stuck open. The well has likely not lost pumping action,
but instead the surface card loads have changed just enough to violate the POC setpoint. To eliminate this
potential issue, we recommend controlling the well from downhole pump fillage if the controller is capable
of doing so.

Conclusions
Handling associated gas produced in unconventional oil wells presents a significant challenge in the design
and operation of sucker rod pumping systems. If allowed to reach the pump, this gas reduces pump efficiency
and makes it difficult to control using a pump-off controller. This results in lower production and greater
time required to monitor and optimize the well.
The conventional approach of assuming 6-in./sec bubble rise velocity when sizing gas separators appears
to be only partially effective. Based on field observations, wells with lower water cuts experience gas
interference at liquid rates far below 6 in./sec. More work is needed in this area to quantify the proper bubble
rise velocity for a given well based on water cut and bottomhole pressure.
Increasing backpressure at the surface has some tangible benefits to sucker rod pump operation but has
no impact on reducing gas interference in the pump. The increased tubing pressure only affects the fluid that
has been discharged above the pump. Increasing backpressure has many more negative effects, including
increased rod stress, higher horsepower requirements, and decreased pump displacement. It is the authors’
SPE-190936-MS 15

recommendation that backpressure be eliminated or reduced as much as possible on sucker rod-pumped

wells to eliminate these negative effects.

Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Occidental Petroleum for supporting this project and permitting us to publish the
results. We would also like to thank the engineering and operations teams for their assistance throughout
this project. These efforts would not be possible without their ongoing support.

References
Bohorquez, R.R., Ananaba, O.V., Alabi, O.A., Podio, A.L., Lisigurski, O., and Guzman, M. (2009, November 1).
Laboratory Testing of Downhole Gas Separators. Society of Petroleum Engineers. doi:10.2118/109532-PA.
Haberman, W.L. and Morton R.K. (1953, September). An Experimental Investigation of the Drag and Shape of Air Bubbles
Rising in Various Liquids. Armed Services Technical Information Agency.
McCoy, J.N., Podio, A.L., Rowlan, O.L., and Becker, D. (2015, August 1). Evaluation and Performance of Packer-Type
Downhole Gas Separators. Society of Petroleum Engineers. doi:10.2118/164510-PA.
Patterson, J., Curfew, J., Brock, M., Braaten, D., Dittman, J., and Williams, B. (2000, April). Progress Report #3 on Fluid
Slippage in Down-Hole Rod-Drawn Oil Well Pumps. Southwest Petroleum Short Course, Lubbock, April 2000.