Production Technology

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Series 6 Petroleum Technology for the Non-Engineer
B. Production Technology
B.1. Well Completions
Completion Components
The basis for any completion is the heavy steel pipe lining the wellbore- the casing. Together with the cement
sheath holding it in place, the casing performs several important functions:
· supporting the sides of the hole;
· preventing communication of fluids and pressures between shallow and deep formations;
· allowing for control of pressures; and
· providing a base for surface and subsurface equipment.
A cross section of a typical casing

installation is shown in Figure 1 . The
number of concentric "strings," their
relative sizes and strengths, the setting
depths, and cementing techniques will
vary according to the depth and drilling
program for the well. The conductor
prevents the surface hole from caving and
it also prevents lost circulation. In
offshore situations, the drive pipe is
hammered into the mud to provide a
conduit from below the seafloor to the
production deck, and the conductor casing
is set inside the drive pipe. Surface casing
provides protection for shallow fresh
water formations, and the producing string
of casing is set to or through the
productive zones to isolate them and allow
for selective completions. There may be
intermediate casing strings between
surface and production casing if the depth
of the well requires it. Each casing string
is cemented in place and the production
string is perforated across the productive zone.
Donny’s Library: Production Technology

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The central down hole component of a completed well is the production tubing (Figure 2 , tubing hanger, and
Figure 3 , packer). There are five primary reasons for utilizing production tubing as a conduit for producing
fluids:
· It is relatively easy to remove if problems develop.
· It isolates producing fluids from the casing and makes control of the fluids easier.
· It facilitates circulation of heavy fluids into the wellbore to control the well.
· Its smaller diameter allows for safety devices and artificial lift equipment to be included in
the completion design.
· It allows for more efficient producing rates from lower productivity wells.
Tubing is suspended from a tubing hanger within the wellhead at the surface, and the producing zone(s) may
be isolated by production packers in the tubing string. A well may be completed with several strings of tubing
(dual completion, triple completion, etc.), each carrying production from a different zone. Some extremely
productive wells produce through casing without tubing, or through both tubing and the casing-tubing
annulus.
Downhole Configurations
The design of a particular completion depends on:
 the number and type of productive zones
 the expected pressures and flow rates
 the need to control sand production
 the need for artificial lift or stimulation the regulations governing operations in the area

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 the need for artificial lift or stimulation the regulations governing operations in the area
Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 6 , Figure 7 , Figure 8 , Figure 9, Figure 10 , Figure
11 and Figure 12 show schematic examples of a number of typical completions.

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Subsurface Completion Equipment
The following definitions and associated figures describe the most common components of a typical well
completion.
PACKER: The packer seals the casing-tubing

annulus with a rubber packing element, thus
preventing flow and pressure communication
between tubing and annulus. Packers are
designed either to remain in the well
permanently ( Figure 1 ) or to be retrieved if
future downhole work is required ( Figure 2 ).
Mechanically set packers rely on tubing or
drillpipe movement to force grooved "slips" to
grip the casing and to expand the sealing element
during the setting procedure. Hydraulically set
packers are engaged by fluid pressure. Some
packers can also be set with an explosive charge
triggered from the surface by an electrical cable
(electric line), or wireline. There are a wide
variety of packers available to meet the
requirements of specific completion designs.
MULTISTRING PACKER ( Figure 3 , (a)

running (b) set): This type of packer seals the
casing-tubing annulus where more than one tubing string is involved. Up to five-string packers are available,
but more than a triple completion is rare because of the difficulty of retrieval if problems develop.

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SLIDING SLEEVE ( Figure 4 , (a) open

(b) closed): This component is a
wireline-operated sleeve, which will
open or close ports in the tubing to
allow fluid in or out. This feature is
useful for circulating annular fluid out
of the hole after a packer is set, or for
opening a selective completion at a
future date. This type of component is
also called a circulating sleeve.

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TUBING ANCHOR ( Figure 5 ): This component is essentially a packer without the sealing element and is
designed to prevent tubing but not fluid movement. It also all lows partial removal of the tubing string.
BLAST JOINT: A blast joint is a section of heavy-duty tubing located opposite production perforations in a
multistring completion. It prevents erosion of the tubing by high velocity flow (especially with sand
production).
SAFETY JOINT: This component allows for the parting of an auxiliary tubing string beneath a multiple string
packer when the packer is being retrieved. Usually it consists of a sleeve-type arrangement with shear pins
that part after a certain tension is reached.
LANDING NIPPLE ( Figure 6 ): Landing

nipples are a variety of short tubing
components with interior profiles that
allow for the wireline setting of plugs,
safety valves, chokes, pressure gauges,
etc., within the tubing by using the
appropriate locking device. Using a wire-
line to set and retrieve production tubing
equipment is common practice in areas
where pulling the entire tubing string is
difficult or expensive, for example,
offshore. A flow coupling is a short,
heavy-duty tubing joint run above and
bellow tubing restrictions (safety valves,
chokes, etc.) that minimizes abrasive
effects of turbulent flow caused by the
restrictions.
GAS-LIFT MANDRELS ( Figure 9 , (a) side pocket-type (b) standard-type): A gas-lift mandrel is a tubing
component that holds a gas-lift valve which, in turn, allows the passage of gas-lift gas between annulus and

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tubing. Side-pocket mandrels allow for wireline placement
and retrieval of gas-lift valves within the tubing string.
SUBSURFACE SAFETY VALVE ( Figure 8 , (a) closed (b)

equalizing, and Figure 9 , (a) open (b) locked open): This
component is a valve assembly within the tubing string,
which is designed to close in case of emergency. The valve
can be an integral part of the tubing string (tubing
retrievable) or set inside the tubing with wireline (wireline
retrievable). These valves can be surface controlled by means
of hydraulic pressure or designed to close at a certain
predetermined flow rate.
Tubing string components are expensive, and so is the cost of

pulling the string out of the hole should future problems
arise. A good completion design anticipates future
performance problems and provides the flexibility to handle
them, while balancing completion costs against the risk of future remedial work.
Wellhead and Surface Flow Control Equipment
The valves and connections at the top of the well are often referred to collectively as the "wellhead" or
"Christmas tree." Actually these terms refer to separate sections of the entire arrangement of surface flow
control equipment. The primary purpose of this equipment is to safely control the flow of fluids under
pressure. Other functions are sealing the annular openings between concentric casing and tubing strings, and
providing a base for blowout control equipment during drilling operations.
The design of the entire arrangement depends on several factors:
 the expected maximum and operating pressures;
 the number and sizes of casing strings;
 the number and sizes of tubing strings;
 the need for auxiliary equipment, such as subsurface safety valves, electrical conduits for
submersible pumps, and chemical injection equipment;
 the outside environment - onshore, offshore, or subsea;
 the inside environment - CO2 and H2S content of produced fluids or corrosive formation
water;
 the operator's safety policy and the prevailing safety regulations; and
 the operator's equipment inventory and preference for a given manufacturer.

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Figure 1 shows a typical surface flow control installation for a multiple casing string, single tubing string,
flowing well.
The casinghead ( Figure 2 ) is screwed or

welded to the outermost casing stub. The
inside of the casinghead provides a
shouldered sealing surface for the casing
hanger, which grips the hanging casing
and usually all lows the weight of the
casing string to provide the force
necessary to seal off the annulus between
the outer and inner casing strings. A
casing packoff, or similar sealing element,
is sometimes used to provide additional
pressure sealing for the annulus. Casing
spools allow for additional casing strings
to be hung and sealed off above the
casinghead. During the drilling operation,
the inside of the casinghead or spool is
protected with a temporary bushing to
prevent damage from drillpipe rotation.
Normally the casinghead and casing
spools have at least one additional
connection designed to allow fluid access
and pressure monitoring of the concentric
annular spaces during production.
The tubing head performs a function

similar to the casinghead, in that it
accommodates a tubing hanger ( Figure 3 ),

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which usually screws onto the top of the tubing string(s) and seals off the casing-tubing annulus with metal-
to-metal and/or rubber sealing elements. Often the tubing hanger is further secured by a series of set screws.
An adapter (also called a tubing "bonnet") provides a transition from the tubing head to the arrangement of
valves and fittings above the casing and tubing head, used to control flow (the "Christmas tree").
In the Christmas tree, the bottom valve,

often called the master valve, is the primary
means for completely shutting in the well.
This and other valves used in the tree are
normally gate valves that operate by moving
a metal barrier to block the flow stream
(Figure 4 and Figure 5 ). Often, safety
regulations require that one valve be
pressure-actuated to automatically shut off
flow in case of operating problems or
natural disasters. Offshore wells usually
require a downhole safety valve in addition
to this surface safety system. The tree allows
for vertical entry into the tubing by removal
of the top adapter. A "tee"-type fitting
allows for redirection of the vertical flow
stream to a horizontal flow line.
In the flowing well, the produced fluids, before entering the surface flow line, must pass through the smallest
restriction in the surface flow equipment Ñ the choke. Chokes, located in the Christmas tree, provide a means
for controlling production rate by restricting the area available for flow. This restriction is normally a bean or
orifice of a specified diameter, and must be inserted into the choke body. We may wish to maintain a certain
flow rate for many reasons:

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 to prevent sand production;
 to control water or gas production;
 to maintain the most efficient production rate for a particular reservoir producing
mechanism; or
 to produce the well at a fixed allowable... a production rate designated by a governmental

regulatory agency.
In the case of a positive choke ( Figure 6 and Figure 7 ), the flow is controlled by alternately inserting various
beans with appropriately sized orifices. With an adjustable choke we may vary the flow restriction
mechanically without changing the bean. Tubing pressure is measured upstream from the choke (toward the
well I).
Figure 8 (subsea wellhead and

Christmas tree designed for location on
sea floor), Figure 9 (wellhead and
Christmas tree for a dual tubing
completion utilizing clamp-type
connections) and
Figure 10 (surface flow control

equipment for low-pressure pumping
well installation) show several
examples of surface flow control
equipment for a variety of completions.
While most manufacturers make
components with bolted flange
connections, some companies also
manufacture wellhead and Christmas
tree equipment with clamp connections
to allow speedy assembly. Wellhead
and Christmas tree components are

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available for all types of specific design situations. Most equipment can be adapted to allow that different
manufacturers' components be combined in a single installation.
The downhole and wellhead components

of a completed well can vary, depending
on the complexity of the completion
design. Generally, the most important
completion components are the tubing
string and the surface choke. This is
because these components usually have
the greatest effect on the flowing
performance of a well. In some cases, we
should design the original completion in
anticipation of future or immediate
artificial lift needs.
Exercise 1.
Assume that you must complete a well

with only two productive zones, both of
which are capable of flowing without
artificial lift or sand control. Based on a
review of the schematics shown in Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 6 , Figure 7 ,
Figure 8 , Figure 9 , Figure 10 , and Figure 11 , and your own imagination, what are the basic alternatives for
completing this well with casing and tubing? Sketch your completion possibilities.

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The figures depict the following alternatives:
(a) commingled zones ( Figure 1 )
(b) single with selective ( Figure 2 )
(c) dual completion with two tubing strings ( Figure 3 )
(d) dual completion with flow through annulus ( Figure 4 )
(e) dual completion with flow through crossover choke ( Figure 5 )
(f) dual completion with flow through dual flow choke ( Figure 6 )
(g) single completion with future recompletion (thru-tubing or pulled tubing) ( Figure 7 )
All of these alternatives have advantages and disadvantages that must be considered in the selection of a
completion design. For example, commingling of producing zones ( Figure 1 ) is prohibited by some
regulatory bodies, and results in problems if one zone should begin to produce water. The multiple
completions ( Figure 5 and Figure 6 ) allow a higher total rate and a faster payout, but are generally more
difficult and expensive to install. Flow through the casing-tubing annulus exposes the casing to well pressure
and corrosive fluids. A single completion with future recompletion ( Figure 7 ) to the alternate zone is costly,
but techniques have been developed to allow the setting of a plug in the casing without the need to pull the
tubing, which makes this option more attractive.
B.2. Surface Production Facilities
Separation
Produced fluids from a well leave the Christmas tree via a flow line Ñ usually a 2-inch or 3-inch (5 to 8 cm)
pipe, which may be bellow or above ground at onshore installations, or perhaps on the seafloor for a subsea
completion. The flow line (gathering line) generally travels by the shortest route to the surface production
facilities. If the production facilities are shared by a group of wells, as is often the case, the flow line will
probably connect to a header or production manifold. This is an assembly of valves that allows each well's
flow stream to be shut in or diverted to a particular portion of the production facilities. For example, during a
production test on an individual well, the header valves will be adjusted to allow that well's production to be
diverted to the test facilities, while all other wells' production streams are unaffected. From the header, the
commingled stream of production from several wells moves on through the system, usually in a larger
diameter pipe to handle the increase in volume.
Normally a separator is the first piece of

production processing equipment that a produced
fluid stream encounters. Separators are usually
classified by physical shape, and Figure 1 shows the
basic vertical, horizontal, and spherical separator
configurations. A conventional separator divides the
produced fluid stream into oil and gas, or liquid and
gas, and is known as a gas-oil separator or gas-liquid
separator. Sometimes separators are also called
"traps." Conventional separators can be two-phase
or three-phase depending on whether they separate
oil and gas, or oil, gas, and water.

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Metering separators accumulate the separated oil, or oil and water, isolate the liquid phases in calibrated
chambers, and periodically discharge the measured volumes into separate outlets. Such separators can be
designed to meter only the oil, or both oil and water. Special designs are also available for very viscous oil, or
oil that tends to "foam."
Let us discuss the operation of a typical vertical two-phase, gas-liquid separator, shown schematically in
Figure 2 . The oil-gas-water mixture enters through an inlet on the side of the tank-shaped vessel. The fluid
stream immediately strikes a metal plate, which
diverts the flow around the inner surface of the
cylindrical separator, imparting a centrifugal
motion. This motion throws the liquid to the outer
edge of the cylinder and allows the gas to remain
near its center. The lighter gas portion of the fluid
stream, now separated, rises through the center of
the vessel while the liquid falls. Some separators
have an arrangement of metal fins at the inlet,
which abruptly changes the fluid's flow direction
and velocity. In this case, the liquid's higher inertia
carries it away from the gas and downward, while
the gas rises to the top of the separator. Still
another feature of some separators is the presence
of a system of baffles, which spread the liquid out
as it drops to the bottom of the vessel. This allows
any gas bubbles, carried in the liquid, to easily
escape. The amount of time the oil is allowed to
settle in the separator prior to being dumped at the
outlet is termed retention time. Normal retention
time is usually 30 to 90 seconds. For a given liquid
flow rate through the separator, an increase in retention time will require an increase in vessel size or liquid
depth. The added cost of a larger separator may not be justified by the additional separation of gas that a
longer retention time allows. Our surface design, then, must be based on economical considerations as well as
system performance.
The gas phase, which is directed to the

upper portion of the vessel, is usually
passed through a mist extractor ( Figure
3 ) to remove minute liquid droplets
entrained in the gas. Here, three processes
act to separate liquid from the gas: flow
velocity changes; direction changes; and
impingement, or the adherence and
coalescence of liquid mist on a surface. A
combination of these three processes is
incorporated into a coalescing pack-type
mist extractor ( Figure 4 ) made of knitted
wire mesh or layers of inert particles with
shapes designed for maximum surface
area. Centrifugal-type mist extractors (
Figure 5 ) used in vertical separators have
a set of vanes that cause the circular
motion of gas, throwing the heavier liquid
droplets to the wall of the vessel to drain
to the bottom. Its efficiency increases as
the velocity of the gas stream increases.

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The gas flow rate through the separator is controlled by a backpressure valve, which maintains the desired
pressure in the vessel. A liquid level controller causes oil to be discharged from the separator when the
appropriate level is reached, and prevents gas from escaping through the liquid outlet. The control is usually
pneumatic (gas pressure-operated), but in low-pressure applications, an internal, float-operated lever valve is
employed.
Vertical separators are often used on low to intermediate gas-liquid ratio well streams. They are more readily
cleaned if sand or paraffin are produced, and occupy less floor space on offshore platforms. However, a
vertical separator can be more expensive than a horizontal separator with the same separation capacity.
Horizontal separators, therefore, are usually more cost-efficient, especially for high to medium gas-liquid
ratio streams, for liquid-liquid separation, and in applications where foaming oil is a problem.
Horizontal separators ( Figure 6 ) often

have closely spaced horizontal baffle plates
that extract liquids. A double barrel
horizontal separator ( Figure 7 ) has a
higher liquid capacity because incoming
free liquid is immediately drained away
from the upper section into the lower. This
allows a higher velocity gas flow through
the upper baffled section. Spherical
separators ( Figure 8 ) are much less
common than vertical or horizontal types.
They tend to have lower installation and
maintenance costs. They are more compact,
but lack the capacity for high gas rates or
liquid surges.

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Separators are sized according to the
expected oil and gas production rates, the
necessary operating pressure and
temperature, and the oil and gas proper-
ties. For example, a vertical separator
about 2 ft (0.61 m) in diameter and 10 ft
(3.05 m) high, with a retention time of one
minute, will handle about 1300 bbl/D (207
m3/d) of typical crude oil. A single barrel
horizontal separator 2 ft (0.61 m) in
diameter and 10 ft (3.05 m) long will
handle about 2000 bbl/D (318 m3/d) and a
3 ft (0.91 m) diameter spherical separator
about 1100 bbl/D (175 m3/d). For
comparison, 100 to 200 bbl/D (16 to 32
m3/d) is about the output of a normal
garden hose.
It is important to remember that the

physical and chemical characteristics of
the crude oil and gas entering the
separator help determine the degree of
separation possible at a given operating
temperature and pressure. Separating the gas held as bubbles in the oil, or oil entrained as droplets in the gas,
can be accomplished by manipulating the fluid stream. However, the operating temperature and pressure of
the separators will dictate the degree to which solution gas and condensate are separated. In general, a greater
degree of a separation occurs as the pressure is lowered and the temperature is increased for a given
hydrocarbon mixture.
When gas is removed from contact with

the liquid as it is separated, the process is
called differential separation. This
process results in the highest volume of oil being recovered from a produced stream of hydrocarbon fluids.
Because most operators are concerned with maximizing the oil volume, this approach is preferred. A long
series of separators, each operating at a slightly lower pressure and allowing for the removal of the liberated
gas from each stage, would provide the highest oil yield in the final storage tank. Although this type of

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progression is not economically feasible, multistage separation with three or four separators can approach the
yield of complete differential recovery. Figure 9 , Figure 10 , and Figure 11 show three different examples of
multistage separation involving separators and a storage tank. The gas that is removed at each stage is referred
to as high-pressure, medium-pressure, or gas, depending on the stage at which it is removed. Field production
facilities will often have a high-pressure gas system and a low-pressure gas system. The low-pressure system
is often used for fuel to operate the treating facilities.
Oil Treatment
In many oilfields, following the initial gas-oil separation process, the oil must be treated to remove water, salt,
or H2S. Let us spend some time exploring the means by which water and salt are removed from oil, assuming
our oil well has a high water cut, an emulsion or a high salt content, or perhaps hydrogen sulfide
contamination.
Most pipeline quality oil must have its water content reduced to the 0.2% to 2% by volume range. Because
salt water is generally associated with oil in the reservoir, its production along with the oil is not unusual.
Almost all well streams contain water droplets of various sizes. If, because of their higher density, they collect
together and settle out within a reasonably short time they are called free water. The water cut measured on
one or several samples of the well stream normally refers to free water, and is expressed as the volume of
water relative to the total volume of liquid.
(1)

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The sample is assumed to be representative. A free-water knockout ( Figure 1 ) is a simple separation vessel
located along the flow stream at a point of minimum turbulence, where the oil and water mixture is allowed
sufficient time for its density differences to act to separate the phases.
A more difficult separation problem arises when the oil and water are produced as an emulsion. Most oilfield
emulsions are the water-in-oil type, where individual water particles are dispersed in a continuous body of oil
( Figure 2 , magnified (x70), (a) a loose
emulsion of water in oil (b) a tight
emulsion of water in oil (c) an oil in water
emulsion). An inverted, or oil-in-water,
emulsion can also occur, especially when
the ratio of water to oil is very high. Two
things are necessary to produce an
emulsion of water and oil: agitation and
an emulsifying agent. As well fluids move
through the formation, through the
perforations and completion equipment,
up the tubing and through a choke,
turbulence and mechanical mixing provide
the agitation necessary to disperse the
droplets of water throughout the oil phase,
or droplets of oil throughout the water
phase. Many crude oils also contain
carbonates, sulfates, and finely divided
solids, which may act as emulsifying
agents. These agents increase the stability
of the interfacial films separating the
dispersed and continuous phases.
In order to "break" the emulsion and separate the oil from the water, a variety of processes have been
developed. Treating vessels, which utilize more than one treating process to attack particularly stable or
"tight" emulsions, are common. Chemical treatment uses chemical action to rupture the tough film
surrounding the dispersed droplets. The selection of the most effective chemical demulsifier for a given crude
oil-water emulsion is usually a trial and error process. Chemicals are normally added continuously to the
produced fluids, as far upstream from the treating or separation facilities as possible. Heat treatment to reduce

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the viscosity of the emulsion and promote gravity segregation is also used in treating emulsions. In direct
heaters, the crude oil emulsion is passed through a coil of pipe that is exposed to a direct flame. In indirect
heaters the pipe carrying the emulsion passes through a water bath, which obtains its heat from a fire-tube.
Sometimes an internal heater is used in a "gunbarrel" treater - an older but still useful treating method shown
in Figure 3 . Here the emulsion flows into the central flume and enters the tank at the bottom, rising through a
water layer heated by internal coils. Heater-treaters ( Figure 4 ) heat the emulsion and separate the oil and
water in the same processing vessel. The raw emulsion is preheated by the warm, clean oil leaving the vessel,
and the water level is controlled by a siphon.
Collision and coalescence of dispersed water droplets in an emulsion can be accomplished by inducing
electrical charges in the particles through the application of an electric field. Electrostatic treaters are
normally horizontal vessels, such as that shown in Figure 5 . The emulsion enters this form of treater and
passes through an initial separating section where it is heated and must pass upward through a water layer.
Any emulsion not yet broken then rises through an electrically-charged grid. The salt water droplets then
become dipoles with oppositely charged ends. The droplets are attracted to one another. They collide,
coalesce, and form larger drops until they are heavy enough to settle to the water section of the vessel and be
drained. Electrostatic forces can be hundreds of times greater than the gravitational forces acting to separate
oil and water in a conventional treater.
A tough crude dehydration problem was

solved with electrical dehydration in
offshore Indonesia's Udang field. Here a
system was designed to handle 27,000
bbl/D (4293 m3/d) at 50% water cut.
The production is processed in a three-
phase separator/free-water knockout
unit, after which a fairly tight emulsion
remains. This emulsion is then
processed through electrostatic treaters
and the effluent water contains only 300
ppm oil, while the oil has only a trace of
water (Aulenbacher 1982).
The simplest and least expensive

method for breaking an emulsion is
generally the most practical. Chemical
treatment is usually the preferred
method if it will suffice. The addition of
heat and/or electrostatic coalescence is
necessary and economically attractive
when emulsions are particularly
stubborn. As older fields begin to
produce increasingly higher water cuts,
and when water injection projects are begun in depleting fields, the need for emulsion treating processes can
increase.
Most produced oil still contains small amounts of emulsified water with solids dispersed within it even after
separation and treatment. Contract specifications require that this BS&W (Basic Sediment and Water) be
reduced to a small percentage before sale. Even such small amounts of water can still cause problems,
particularly if the salinity is high. Salty crude will cause severe problems during the refining process by
producing corrosive compounds under high temperatures and depositing mineral residues within the refining
equipment. Desalting of the crude is necessary if the salt content is greater than 15 to 25 lb (6.8 to 11.3 kg) of
salt per 1000 bbl (159 m3) of crude. The procedure is relatively simple: the crude oil is first separated and
treated, and free water is removed; the remaining oil and oil-water with small amounts of emulsified water-
solids is mixed through a nozzle with fresh water; the intimate mixing of fresh water and salty water in the

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emulsion forms a new emulsion with a lower salt concentration. This new stable emulsion is broken, usually
using electrical dehydrators, and the processed crude oil has a salt content bellow the required limit. The
crude oil in the Indonesian field mentioned above has a salt content of 48 lb (2.18 kg) per 1000 bbl (159 m3)
before treating. A combination of electrical dehydration and chemical additives reduced the salt and water
content of the crude to trace amounts, without the need for fresh water desalination (Aulenbacher 1982).
However, many Middle Eastern fields employ the fresh wafer mixing technique.
In areas such as the Middle East, where

enormous volumes of oil must be
handled and prepared for transport on a
daily basis, a crude stabilizer may be
part of the oil treatment process. Crude
stabilizers separate the most volatile
fluids remaining in the oil after normal
separation. They insure that the oil is
suitable for storage and transport, that
vapors from the storage tanks are not
lost, and that the hydrogen sulfide
content of the crude is reduced to within
acceptable limits. The lighter
hydrocarbons recovered from this
fractionation process are usually sold as
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Hydrogen sulfide is usually removed

from the oil by means of cold or hot
stripping. In cold stripping a stream of
low hydrogen sulfide content gas is
mixed with the oil in a stripping tower.
This results in the separation of
"sweetened" oil and hydrogen sulfide
laden gas. Hot stripping uses a reboiler to remove the hydrogen sulfide laden gas from the oil.
Oil Metering
Crude oil metering can be classified as either the automatic or manual measurement of the produced oil
volume. The types of automatic measurement devices can be subdivided into four classes: positive volume,
positive displacement, turbine, and mass flow meters. Manual "gauging" of oil production involves a hand
measurement of oil level in a storage tank before and after oil is removed to the sales line. Appropriate
samples are taken from the tanks to insure the oil is of pipeline quality. This approach is still used in some
areas but most measurement techniques utilized in large fields, offshore, or in recently developed areas,
involve automatic measurement.

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Positive volume metering involves the filling of a predetermined volume, the automatic discharge of that
volume by liquid level-actuated valves, and the recording of the discharge by some type of counter. Positive
volume meters may be found in metering separators and heater-treaters, dump tank meters, and weir tanks.
Some separators and treaters are equipped with liquid level controlled valves, which periodically release
volumes of oil or liquid and record the action. When several wells produce to a central tank battery, this type
of vessel may be used for individual well tests, but the final metering of commingled oil is often
accomplished by using a series of tanks as shown in Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4 and Figure 5 . At
least two tanks are required - one to collect the surge of production, and one to act as a measuring volume to
be filled and emptied into the pipeline. If continuous rather than intermittent flow to the sales pipeline is
required, additional tanks may be needed to allow for alternate filling and discharge, and to provide a full
sump tank from which oil can be pumped to the sales line. Sometimes these functions can be combined in a
single vessel where an enclosed weir ( Figure 6 and Figure 7 ) is filled and emptied to another portion of the
vessel for transfer. There are several versions of this system available.

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Positive displacement meters are highly efficient fluid motors used for measuring oil volumes. They consist
of a measuring chamber and a sealing section between the inlet and outlet connections ( Figure 8 ). These
meters are operated by fluid pressure. The fluid stream is divided into segments within the meter and the
movement of these segments through the meter is registered on a counter. For electric metering, the
movement of the counter transmits an electrical pulse or signal. Because each pulse represents a discrete
volume, the total number of pulses, integrated over time, represents the volume metered. The signals are
amplified, then converted and displayed as totalized flow via electronic instrumentation.
When oil or gas is delivered into a sales line at a

metering point, a legal custody transfer takes
place. In many cases this is accomplished before
the oil or gas leaves the lease on which it is
produced. In offshore situations, the produced
fluids may travel quite some distance to shore
before being separated, metered, and transferred
to the sales line.
Lease Automatic Custody Transfer (LACT)

refers to a system designed to provide continuous
unattended transfer of crude oil from the
producer to the pipeline. This approach is
particularly useful where large numbers of wells
are located in a remote area. In addition to
accurately metering the liquid, the unit must also
monitor the quality (BS&W) of the production,
or obtain a representative sample at line
conditions. LACT units utilize turbine or positive
displacement-type oil meters, and some
incorporate a capacitance probe, which

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
determines the BS&W content of the oil by measuring the dielectric constant of the passing fluid. If the crude
is not of pipeline quality, it is automatically diverted for reprocessing.
Oil collected in stock tanks still has varying amounts of gas in it. The separation of this gas and evaporation of
light hydrocarbons from the settled oil may be lost due to the normal "breathing" of the tank or when filling
and discharge takes place. Vapor recovery systems are designed to draw off the vapor from the tank, recover
the condensate, and return it to the tank while sending the gas to the gas sales system. This prevents a
reduction in oil volume and gravity, both of which reduce the sales income. An efficient crude stabilization
system may help eliminate the need for a vapor recovery system at the tank battery.
Gas Treatment
Gas can be separated from the production stream in several stages at several pressures. The low-pressure gas
is often used for lease fuel requirements. It may also be compressed to a higher pressure and mixed with the
high-pressure separator gas, or perhaps with high-pressure gas from producing gas wells nearby. Before gas
may be sold it must be brought to pipeline quality and be delivered to the pipeline at an appropriate pressure.
The major quality control requirements are met by the removal of liquid condensate, water vapor, and any
hydrogen sulfide. The appropriate pressure is realized by reducing pressure (if too high) or installing a
compressor (if too low).
Contracts for the sale of gas to transmission companies always contain provisions regarding the quality of gas
that is delivered to the pipeline. Water vapor must be removed to prevent the formation of hydrates when the
gas is compressed or cooled. Acid gases, usually hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide, are particularly
corrosive in the presence of water and must be removed also. High sulfur content fuels are environmentally
unsatisfactory, and hydrogen sulfide is extremely toxic. Additionally, these impurities reduce the heating
value of the gas in which they are found. For these reasons, operators process gas to meet certain quality
standards, e.g.,
 It cannot be in excess of 20 grains (a grain is 0.0648 gram) of total sulfur per 100 cu ft (0.46 g/m3).
 It cannot be in excess of 0.25 grains of hydrogen sulfide per 100 cu ft (0.0057 g/m3).
 The heating value must be at least 1000 to 1150 British Thermal Units (BTU) per cu ft at standard
surface conditions (37.3 to 42.9 106 J/m3).
 It cannot be in excess of 0.2% by volume of oxygen.
 It cannot be in excess of 2% by volume of CO2.
These are typical, but by no means universal standards.
There are several types of gas treating vessels that remove condensate from the gas stream. A scrubber is a
separator designed to handle streams with high gas-to-liquid ratios. Often a scrubber is used in gas gathering
systems to handle a rather homogeneous production stream, as opposed to conventional oil and gas separators,
which might have to handle slugs of liquids. Dry-type gas scrubbers use internal vanes or woven wire mesh
mist extractors to coalesce the small droplets of liquid from the gas stream. Wet-type gas scrubbers allow the
gas stream to pass through an oil (or similar liquid) bath that removes dust, scale, rust, etc. before it passes
through the mist extractor. Extremely small (<5) contaminant particles may be removed by passing the gas
stream through a fine high-quality filtering medium such as fiberglass in a filter-separator. If the gas stream
contains substantial liquids, a combination of filtering and mist extraction may take place within the filter

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
separator vessel. Passage through filter elements causes a pressure drop in the flow stream, which must be
monitored to determine when the elements need changing.
Another method of separating liquids from a gas stream is by low-temperature extraction. This process is an
efficient method for separating high-pressure gas and condensate well streams.
Essentially, the process causes the pressure on the gas stream to be reduced by having it flow through a
restriction (choke). Throttling the gas in this manner leads to a sharp reduction in temperature and the
condensation of water and liquid hydrocarbons. Hydrates (water-hydrocarbon compounds that resemble ice)
would normally form in a conventional separator under these conditions and prevent its operation. The low
temperature separator, however, is designed to use heat from the warm fluid upstream of the choke to melt
any hydrates that form. This type of separation simultaneously removes both condensate and water from the
gas.
Removing water vapor or dehydrating natural gas can also be accomplished by two other practical methods:
 Absorption with liquid desiccants, such as glycol or methanol; and
 Adsorption with solid desiccants, such as alumina, silica gel, or calcium chloride.
The difference in these two methods is that liquid desiccants, such as glycol, react chemically with water
molecules and hold them (absorb them) until heated. Dry desiccants, on the other hand, such as activated
alumina or silica gel, adsorb the water molecules on their surface rather than absorb.
In the absorption process, a lean glycol-

water solution (95% to 99% glycol)
enters at the top of the absorber column
( Figure 1 and Figure 2 ) and is first
cooled by the previously dehydrated gas
leaving the unit. Wet gas enters the
column from the bottom. The glycol
falls through a series of bubble-cap
trays where the "dry" glycol and
ascending wet gas are intimately mixed
and the water vapor is absorbed. As the
glycol descends, it becomes more
water-rich. To remove the water vapor,
the water-rich glycol solution is
delivered to a reboiler, where it is
heated and the water is separated from

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
the glycol by fractional distillation in a stripper column. The glycol is then ready to be reused and the water
can be disposed.
Solid desiccant dehydrators are not as common as liquid dessicant dehydrators. In such dehydration, the wet
gas passes through a separator, which removes as much free liquid as possible. The gas is then passed
downward through the contactor column that is packed with adsorbing desiccant. After a period of usage, the
desiccant becomes saturated with water, and a portion of the main gas stream is heated and used to drive the
adsorbed water from the desiccant so that it may be reused. A solid desiccant may be used in this way for one
to four years before it loses effective surface area through plugging.
Removal of acid gases, also called gas sweetening, is achieved primarily through one of two processes:
 the amine process, which removes both CO2 and H2S; or
 the iron oxide process, which removes H2S selectively.
The amine process is based on the chemical reaction of weak organic bases with weak acids (H 2S or CO2) to
produce a water-soluble salt. The natural gas is contacted with the amine solution in a series of bubble-cap
trays in a contactor tower (similar to a liquid dehydrator).
In the iron oxide process (also called iron sponge) a chemical reaction between iron oxide and hydrogen
sulfide produces iron sulfide and water. As the sour gas flows through a bed of iron oxide-impregnated wood
chips, the iron sulfide remains in the bed. When the ability of the bed to remove H 2S is exhausted, the wood
chips are replaced or regenerated. A similar process uses zinc oxide powder in a slurry solution.
After being sweetened and before being dehydrated, the gas stream may need to be compressed to enable it to
enter the sales pipeline. The size capacities, and inlet and outlet pressures for compressors vary over a wide
range. As a rule of thumb, the compression ratio for a single stage of compression should not exceed 4:1.
Thus, it is possible to raise the pressure from 100 psi to 400 psi in a single stage, but two stages would be
needed to go from 50 psi to 400 psi. Compressors may be found at other points in the field, whenever it is
necessary to increase the pressure of a gas stream. When gas has been separated, sweetened, compressed, and
if necessary, dehydrated, it is then metered and sold.
Gas Metering
An important concept in natural gas metering is the definition of a basis for measurement. The unit of
measurement must be defined, and the conditions on which the unit is based must be specified. Most of the
natural gas industry measures gas in units of volume- cubic feet or cubic meters. However, the volume a
quantity of an ideal gas occupies varies directly with absolute temperature and inversely with absolute
pressure. Therefore, the standard, or base temperature and pressure, which defines the unit of volume, must be
specified. Unfortunately, there is no currently accepted universal set of standard conditions. A standard
pressure of 14.73 psi (101.6 kPa) and a standard temperature of 60 F (288.7 K) are the most common
examples normally found in gas purchase contracts. A standard cubic foot (SCF) or standard cubic meter
then, is a unit of volume at the specified standard conditions. Gas may also be measured in other units such as
BTUs, therms, pounds, etc. , but these units must be defined as well.
Gas metering, or any fluid metering for that matter, is accomplished by measuring quantity (positive
displacement meters), or rate of flow (inferential meters). Both types of meters employ a primary element,
which interacts with the fluid, and a secondary element, which translates the interaction into volumes,
weights, or flow rates, and compiles or records the results. A wide variety of metering devices have been
developed for application in different industries.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
A particular type of inferential meter relies upon the measurement of differential pressure across a restriction
in the flow stream to estimate flow rates. Pressure differential meters operate on the fact that a change in
pressure accompanies a controlled change in a fluid's velocity. By introducing a restriction in the pipeline to
change the velocity of flow, and by measuring the pressure differential across the restriction, the flow rate can
be determined under certain conditions. Several types of pressure differential meters are shown in Figure 1
and Figure 2 . The orifice meter ( Figure 1 (a)) is the most widely used method for metering natural gas
production. It has as its primary elements, the orifice plate, orifice fittings, and adjacent meter tubes. The
entire assembly is manufactured according to standards determined by extensive research and testing. In the
United States, these standards are published by the American Gas Association. Devices for measuring the
differential pressure across the orifice plate, and for measuring the flow pressure downstream of the orifice
plate, make up the secondary element.
Other measuring instruments exist. For example, the Venturi tube ( Figure 1 (b)) consists of a narrow
cylindrical restriction (throat) between converging and diverging tubing sections. As with the orifice plate, the
throat of a Venturi tube causes a pressure drop, which can be measured and related to volume. Another option
is the flow nozzle ( Figure 2 (c)), a polished curved restriction that is placed into the flow stream much like the
orifice plate. Both flow nozzles and Venturi tubes can handle about 60% more flow than an orifice plate under
the same conditions, and therefore are often used to handle higher velocity flows. However, both are usually
more expensive and more difficult to change and maintain than an orifice plate. A pitot tube ( Figure 2 (d)), or
impact tube, measures the difference between the static pressure and the dynamic pressure at the same point.
The apparatus consists of small bent tubes inserted into the flow stream with openings parallel to and
perpendicular to the direction of flow. The pitot tube is used principally in the open-flow testing of gas wells.
A critical flow prover is a short pipe section (12 inches or 0.305 m) with an orifice plate on one end. Critical
flow occurs when velocity through the orifice reaches a maximum (sonic velocity) and remains constant. At
this point, the rate of flow is directly proportional to upstream pressure and is independent of downstream
pressure. This technique requires venting the gas into the atmosphere.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
The differential pressure-type meters
rely on a relationship between the
square of the flow velocity and the
pressure drop across the restriction.
Figure 3 shows that as the fluid
approaches the orifice, the pressure
increases slightly and then drops as it
passes through the restriction. The gas
flow stream actually decreases in
diameter and pressure to a point some
distance past the orifice plate. The
decrease in pressure is a result of the
increased velocity of the gas. Velocity
then decreases and pressure increases as
the gas moves farther downstream.
However, some permanent pressure loss
is suffered due to turbulence and
friction. This pressure loss is relatively
greater in orifice meters than in most
other differential-type meters.
It is important to specify where the

pressure differential is taken ( Figure 3 ).
Pipe taps are common in the central and eastern United States. Flange taps are used primarily in Europe.
Figure 4 shows one type of orifice fitting designed to allow easy changing of orifice plates for better
accuracy; plates are changed as the flow rate changes. Orifice plates are made from precision-machined
stainless steel or special alloys. Usually the plates are 1/8-inch to 1/2-inch (0.318 to 1.27 cm) thick and have
orifices that vary in diameter according to size of the pipeline and the location of the pressure measuring
points, usually from 0.15 to 0.7 of the pipe diameter. The orifices have a sharp edge on the upstream side of
the plate. Sometimes bundles of tubes or straightening vanes are placed inside the meter tube upstream of the
orifice plate to help eliminate swirls and turbulence in the flow stream and to reduce the length of meter tube
required to achieve the same effect.
The secondary element of the orifice

meter is designed to measure and record
the pressure differential across the
orifice and the static line pressure. A U-
tube or manometer-type pressure
measuring device has been widely used
in the industry. A mercury level is used
to indicate the difference between
upstream and downstream pressure and
to actuate a pen arm across a clock-
driven chart ( Figure 5 , orifice meter
chart, and Figure 6 , pressure recording
assembly). The result is a record of the
variation in pressure drop over time.
The static line pressure is also recorded
with a second pen, usually using a
simple bourdon tube-type mechanism.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
The charts obtained from all such devices must be changed periodically. They are then integrated to give an
accurate record of cumulative production and average flow rate over the chart recording time.
More recently developed devices

employ pressure sensing transducers
that convert the pressure signals to
electrical signals at the meter and
transmit them to a flow computer
located either on-site or at a remote
location. With these and similarly
obtained temperature signals, the flow
computer uses a microprocessor to
determine automatically and display
both instantaneous flow rate and total
flow volumes. The calculation is both
instantaneous and continuous rather
than periodic as with manual chart
integration. A variety of pressure and
temperature transducers, as well as
various brands of flow computers, are
available.
Other types of gas measuring devices

are found less frequently in the field. The gas turbine meter ( Figure 7 ) relies on the flowing gas to impart a
force to rotor blades, and the rotor movement is converted to volume measurement. This type of meter is
more commonly used for liquid measurement. Positive displacement meters have many forms, but basically
they meter gas by using rotating, semisealed chambers to measure discrete volumes of gas moving through
the meter. For metering relatively small volumes of gas at low flow rates (such as residential sales in the U.S.)
a type of positive displacement meter, the bellows meter, is commonly used.
Water Treatment & Disposal

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
Produced water, after separation and
treatment, is normally disposed of by injection
into disposal wells, reinjection into the
reservoir as part of a waterflood project, or
pumping to open pits where it is allowed to
evaporate or drain. At some offshore locations
if the environmental regulations permit it, the
water may simply be pumped into the ocean.
Obviously, the removal of oil from produced
water must be extremely efficient and
complete to eliminate any environmental
hazards. This is just as true when the water is
being reinjected, because traces of oil in the
injected water can decrease the permeability
near the wellbore where it is injected.
In most cases, the primary oil-water separation

vessel is the free-water knockout. Water may
also be obtained from three-phase separators,
treaters, dehydrators, etc. The water leaving
this equipment usually contains a thin film or
tiny droplets of oil. If the equipment should
malfunction, the amount of oil in the water may increase. There are numerous oil field devices for removing
small amounts of oil from water. Nearly all rely on gravity differences of oil and water acting through a
loosely-packed chamber in a baffled vessel where solid surfaces, such as hay or charcoal, aid in collecting oil
droplets and in separating them from the water. Coalescing elements are often added to free-water knockouts
to improve their efficiency. Figure 1 and Figure 2 shows how the oil droplets coalesce and quickly separate
when they reach a certain size. Sometimes gas is dissolved in the water and then released, pulling along to the
surface the oil and solids that adhere to the bubbles. Sometimes chemical coagulants are used. There are a
variety of designs that employ combinations of the above methods to reduce the oil content of water to less
than 10 ppm. Some production systems employ skim tanks, where the produced water is allowed to settle and
the small amount of oil rising to the surface is mechanically skimmed off the surface. In all cases, the
recovered oil is returned to the oil flow streams, usually to the treater. When the water is of acceptable quality
it is usually disposed. In many cases, the water is metered because an accurate figure can help in reservoir and
production engineering calculations.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
Offshore Considerations
We should take a moment to consider the

special problems inherent in production
from wells located offshore. Early
offshore drilling in the 1940s was done
from steel and wooden platforms with
minimum equipment, supplied by "tender"
vessels. As the search extended into
deeper water, the technology for
constructing and installing more complex,
self-contained platforms was developed.
The ability to drill wells in deep water
currently exceeds industry's ability to
produce them. Wells have been drilled in
water depths over 6000 ft (1830 m), and
drillships have the ability to go even
deeper. Production has been achieved
from depths near 1000 ft (305 m).

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
Most of the production platforms in the
world's oceans are steel platforms with
driven pile anchors ( Figure 1 ). These
structures have become increasingly large
and more structurally complex to enable
them to withstand waves and currents.
Concrete or steel gravity structures (
Figure 2 , a conventional piled platform,
Figure 3 , concrete gravity structure, and
Figure 4 ) have been developed for use in
the North Sea, where sea conditions
require an extremely stable structure.
These platforms may weigh more than ten
times that of a steel structure, and the
concrete base contains compartments for
oil storage. In both types of platforms, the
production is initially processed on the
structure before being sent to shore. The
wells are drilled through conductors
located between or inside the structure
supports.
An alternative is to use subsurface completions in which the wellhead and tree are located on the sea floor and
the well is produced through underwater flow lines to a central production facility ( Figure 5 ). This approach
can allow acceleration of production to a floating production facility while the more permanent facility is
installed. These completions also permit widely spaced wells to develop shallow accumulations. Both wet
trees and dry trees (with production compartments at surface conditions) have been developed ( Figure 6 ,
wet, and Figure 7 , dry). The development of diving capsules and remote controlled vehicles for underwater
work will extend the capabilities of subsea completions.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
The tension leg platform ( Figure 8 (a)) is a floating platform that drills wells through a sub-sea system,
produces and processes them, and then pipes the oil and gas to shore. Tensioned cables hold the platform in
place. The guyed tower is a bottom founded structure, which is given additional support by guy wires, much
as a radio antenna tower is supported on land ( Figure 8 (b)). In the Arctic, special artificial "islands" have
been created to protect the drilling and producing equipment from sea ice. In Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, monopod
platforms, with a single central support, have been designed to withstand ice packs.
All of these production systems are designed to allow the oil and gas to be processed, to some extent, before
being moved to shore.
Field Examples of Production Systems Worldwide

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
Several examples of production systems have been collected here to illustrate the variety of producing
conditions.
The Middle East
Figure 1 is a flow diagram of a typical GOSP (Gas Oil Separation Plant) found in Saudi Arabia. The prolific
wells in the Saudi fields, such as Ghawar and Abqaiq, flow from zones from 5000-9000 ft (1524-2743 m).
The flow streams come first to one of about 60 GOSPs strategically located throughout the Saudi oil fields.
Here the oil and water are separated from the gas in a large three-phase separator. The oil is sent to a
desalination treater before being metered and pumped to the pipeline. Water is pumped to nearby injection
wells. The gas recovered from the separator and treater is sent through a scrubber for further cleaning. Then it
is compressed, dehydrated via refrigeration, and sent through one final condensate separator, or "trap," before
entering the pipeline to one of several gas plants. These plants are each served by several GOSPs. The gas
plants remove hydrogen sulfide and additional water and solids from the gas, and then recover essentially all
the hydrocarbon components except methane as natural gas liquids ("NGL"). The NGL is sent to fractionation
plants where the butane and propane are separated into streams. The remaining methane is used as fuel or
added to the gas distribution network where it is used for power generation.
Offshore Gulf Coast
This example is a simplified description of one of the largest fields in the Gulf Coast. It encompasses about
44,000 acres (178 106 m2) of offshore leases and has approximately 180 active oil wells and 90 active gas
wells located on 22 production platforms. Located about 19 miles (30.58 km) offshore in the Gulf of Mexico,
the field's production is routed from the individual producing platforms to a central collection complex. This
complex consists of several platforms where the oil, gas, and condensate are collected and separated. The gas
is cleaned, metered, and sold, and the liquids are sent to shore for further processing. The water is directed to
the shore base with the oil. Current production rates are over 20,000 bbl (3179.9 m 3) of crude and condensate
and 130 MMCF (3.723 106 m3) of gas per day. Total water production is about 70,000 bbl/D (11,129 m3/d),

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
not unexpected because water drive is the dominant recovery mechanism for most of the 118 separate
reservoirs in the field. About 240 million bbl (38.16 million m 3) have been produced along with almost one
trillion cu ft (28.32 billion m3) of gas.
Figure 2 shows a schematic of the

central production complex. Incoming
streams are routed to either intermediate
or high-pressure pipelines. The inter-
mediate-pressure oil-water-gas line goes
through a two-stage primary separation,
from which the oil-water is pumped to
shore and the gas is compressed and
added to the high-pressure system. The
high-pressure oil-water-gas line travels
to a high-pressure separator, from which
the oil-water is returned to the
intermediate-pressure oil system. The
gas is mixed with the high-pressure gas
well stream and compressed gas
streams, and sent through a scrubber
and dehydrator before being metered
and sold. The point of sale for the gas is
here, on the separator platform. For
safety reasons and space requirements,
the pumps, compressors, separators, and
the crew's quarters are located on
separate platforms connected by
walkways.
The oil and water leaving the platform complex travel through a 16-inch (40.6 cm) pipeline to the shore base (
Figure 3 ). Here the oil and water are mixed with incoming production from other areas and passed through
another series of separators. The gas from these separators is compressed and sold. The oil and water are then
sent through a heater-treater and electrostatic treater system.
From here the oil is sent to one of several storage tanks equipped with a vapor recovery system and then
pumped to a metering station and one of several oil pipelines. The produced water from the treaters goes to a
retention tank, from which any excess oil is recovered and the water is passed through further settling pits and
finally, it is either pumped into the
ocean or injected into a disposal well.
It will be noted that before the oil and

gas are received at the offshore complex
and routed to the shore base, they are
already a commingled mixture of many
well streams from various platforms. It
is on these producing platforms that the
individual well streams are passed
through test separator facilities to
measure individual well production
rates.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
Exercise 1.
Name and describe the principal vessels that may be used to process an oil-water mixture after it leaves the
gas-liquid separation portion of the production system.
The principal oil-water processing vessels are:

 Free-water knockout- a separation vessel where free water is allowed to separate from the
oil by gravity segregation.
 Heater-vessel where a crude oil- water emulsion is heated to help "break" the emulsion. In
a direct heater, the emulsion is passed through a coil of pipe exposed to a direct flame. In an
indirect heater, the piping carrying the emulsion passes through a water bath, which obtains
heat from a flame source.
 Gun barrel- a large tank with a central flume that directs the oil water mixture to the
bottom of the tank where the oil must rise through a water layer, sometimes heated by
internal coils.
 Heater treater- a combination of separator and heater.
 Electrostatic treater- a vessel that passes the oil-water emulsion through an electrically
charged grid, which charges the water droplets and causes them to coalesce and separate.
 Desalination system- a series of vessels where fresh water and a high salt content crude
oil-water emulsion are intimately mixed and then separated... ultimately lowering the
salinity of the crude to below allowable limits.
 Crude stabilizer- vessel that fractionates the crude oil to remove the most volatile
components, and possibly H2S. This insures a safe and easily transportable crude oil
Exercise 2.
Sketch a flow chart of the production system that might be designed to process a gas-condensate flow stream
(Without impurities).
Figure 1 (no figure exist) shows a flow chart for a condensate-rich gas stream without impurities. After
leaving the wellhead and passing through the surface flow line and header, the gas condensate mixture would
probably pass through a horizontal separator or scrubber. The gas leaving the separator would need to be
compressed if it was at low pressure. If not, it would pass directly to the necessary dehydration equipment.
This may be low temperature dehydration, glycol dehydration, or solid desiccant dehydration. The gas stream
would then be metered before entering the sales pipeline or being sent to a plant for further processing to
remove lighter hydrocarbons. The condensate would be collected, metered and pumped to a transport vehicle
or pipeline. A vapor recovery system might be required to recover light hydrocarbons.

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B.3. Production System Performance
Flowing Well Performance
We can describe our producing well as a system with the simplified schematic shown in Figure 1 . The major
elements are the producing formation, tubing, choke, surface flow line, and the separator. This degree of
complexity will be sufficient to illustrate the concepts involved in describing the pressure-flow rate
relationships of our production system. Each element of the system (i.e., reservoir, tubing, choke, flow line,
separator) responds to its own performance relationship and also depends upon and influences the other
elements. For example, a low-pressure gas well with a 150 psi (1034 kPa) flowing tubing pressure cannot
produce into a 200 psi (1379 kPa) separator. All the components must work together. Fluids cannot be
produced on the surface at a higher rate than they flow out of the formation or are lifted up the tubing. There
are mathematical and graphical relationships that describe our producing system in terms of pressure and rate
and it is these relationships we seek to understand. We can follow the flow path of our producing well "from
the bottom up" to show graphically how the flowing performance relationships of the individual system
components affect each other and are integrated to determine the overall system performance.
Inflow Performance
A producing well has a pressure difference within the formation between the wellbore and the reservoir,
which causes the reservoir fluids to flow into the wellbore. Equations have been developed that describe the
pressure distribution within a formation from a wellbore, out into a reservoir, as a function of time and flow
rate. These equations tell us that when a well is opened to production, disturbing the initial reservoir pressure,
a pressure wave moves outward into the reservoir and causes the pressure in the affected region to decrease
continuously with time ( Figure 1 ). The pressure in the formation at or near the wellbore (pwf). drops rapidly
at first and then tends to stabilize with time ( Figure 2 ). The value of the stabilized wellbore pressure depends
on the flow rate (q).

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
Some distance out into the reservoir the pressure is still at its initial value ( Figure 1 ). With time, however,
most areas of the reservoir are affected by a pressure reduction and the movement of fluid toward the
wellbore. Production from the affected areas causes
the energy supply of the reservoir to be reduced, and
the average reservoir pressure (pR) to decrease.
If we open a well to production at a reasonably constant flow rate, the flowing bottomhole pressure will soon
stabilize ( Figure 3 ). We may estimate the well's performance by relating this stabilized pressure and the
average reservoir pressure to the flow rate. Note from Figure 2 , as we change the bottomhole flowing

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
pressure, the flow rate for any given average reservoir pressure will also change. It is possible to estimate and
plot the bottomhole flowing pressure versus production rate, as shown in Figure 4 . This is called the inflow
performance relationship (IPR) curve. A well has an IPR curve for each value of average reservoir pressure.
Because the reservoir pressure usually decreases with production, the IPR, over the life of a well, may be
shown by a family of curves shrinking toward the origin ( Figure 5 ). This family of curves, then, shows how
a well's potential to produce at any given bottomhole pressure decreases with declining reservoir pressure. If a
strong water drive exists, the reservoir pressure will not drop appreciably with production, and a reasonably
constant flow rate will be maintained for a given bottomhole pressure. A general curve has been developed
(Vogel 1968) that allows the engineer to approximate the IPR curve for a solution-gas drive reservoir below
the bubble point, from a single flowing pressure/rate measurement.
The inflow performance relationship is a concise

description of the performance potential of an oil
well at a given average reservoir pressure. As the
relationship between flowing bottom hole pressure
and flow rate, it is the basis for further analysis of a
well's behavior.
Let’s consider a hypothetical West Texas well, IHRDC #30-2, that has tested at a rate of 200 bbl/D (31.8
m3d/d) and a flowing bottomhole pressure of about 480 psia (3309 kPa). The measured reservoir pressure is
1610 psia (11,100 kPa). Using the Vogel technique, we can construct the IPR curve for our well ( Figure 6 ).
We also have used mathematical techniques to estimate the future IPR curves for the well as the reservoir
pressure declines. Note that if we wish to maintain a production rate of 200 bbl/D (32 m 3/d) over the life of
the well, the bottomhole pressure must be reduced as the average reservoir pressure drops.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
Alternately, if the bottomhole pressure cannot be reduced below 480 psia (3309 kPa), the well will produce at
lower and lower rates as the average reservoir pressure drops, until it stops flowing.
Vertical Lift Performance
Just as there is a drop in pressure within the formation during production, there is also a drop in pressure
within the tubing from the bottom of the well to the surface, during vertical flow. The pressure loss in the
tubing for any given set of flowing conditions is a difficult value to predict because it is dependent on many
factors, which are not always known or constant. A list of these factors appears in Table 1 (below).
Factors effecting vertical flow pressure drop:
Tubing size
Flow rate
Gas-liquid ratio
Water-oil ratio
Fluid densities
Fluid viscosities
Slippage
Temperature gradient
Table 1: (after Brown, 1977)
One of the reasons multiphase flow is so

complicated is that several different flow regimes
can exist vertically in a flowing well, as pressure
drops and as gas evolves from solution. The
possible various flow regimes are shown in Figure
1 . We can understand how each of these flow

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regimes develops if we assume that the oil produced into the wellbore is at a pressure high enough to keep all
the gas in solution (liquid flow). As the oil moves up the tubing and pressure decreases, gas bubbles begin to
form as a discontinuous phase dispersed within the oil (bubble flow). As the fluid moves up the tubing the
larger bubbles slip through the oil at a higher velocity, growing larger and expanding across the tubing
diameter (plug or slug flow). As pressure is decreased further, the gas expands to break through the oil slugs
and forms a continuous gas phase with the oil distributed as a film or annulus on the tubing wall and as
droplets in the gas (annular flow). As the pressure decreases and the velocity increases still further, the
annular oil becomes completely atomized as droplets within the gas phase (mist flow). Often two or three but
not all of these flow regimes may occur within a single flowing well.
Because of the complexity of the vertical flow

regimes, correlations have been developed to
predict pressure losses in the tubing for a wide
variety of vertical flow conditions. These
correlations have been published as sets of curves (
Figure 2 ) and incorporated into various software
packages. For any given flow rate, tubing
configuration, and production fluid characteristics,
the pressure drop in the tubing from the bottom of
the hole to the surface may be estimated using
these correlations.
It is convenient to use IPR curves as a basis for the description of pressure losses through a system. We can
incorporate the pressure loss in the tubing into our diagram by using the appropriate correlations to determine
the flowing tubing pressure at the surface for different rate and flowing bottomhole pressure points on the IPR
curve ( Figure 3 ). The vertical axis is now "pressure" rather than "pwf" For any given tubing head pressure,
we can use this curve to estimate the flow rate for our particular well.

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In the example for which the IPR curve is shown in Figure 4 , the well will be completed with 5050 ft (1539
m) of 2 3/8-inch tubing (6.03 cm). Our initial test data are as follows:
Test data:
Oil rate: 200 bbl/D (31.8 m3/d)
Water cut: 0%
0.2% BSW
Gas rate: 140 MCFD (4009 m3/d)
GOR: 700 SCF/bbl (126.1 m3/m3)
Oil gravity: 39 API
Gas gravity: 0.70
TR: 120 F (322 K)
Using the appropriate vertical multi-phase flow correlation for 2-inch (ID) tubing, we can determine the
flowing tubing pressures for a series of assumed rates, and plot our tubing pressure curve as shown in Figure
4 . The IPR is for an original reservoir pressure of 1610 psia. We see that the pressure drop in the tubing for
many flow rates is about 500-750 psi. A larger tubing size would very likely cause a smaller pressure drop;
but not much smaller because it is the well depth that has the greatest effect on pressure drop.

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Surface Flow Performance
As shown in Figure 1 , the well must flow through several surface components before reaching the point of
sale. The first and most important of these components is the wellhead choke. Chokes are normally used on
flowing wells with the choke size selected to maintain a critical flow velocity. A critical flow velocity through
the choke ensures that pressure fluctuations downstream from the choke will have no effect on the flowing
tubing pressure upstream from the choke. When critical flow occurs, the upstream pressure is about twice the
downstream pressure. The choke effect can be added to our "bottom-up" pressure production rate curves by
plotting a curve below the flowing tubing pressure curve, equal to one half the flowing tubing pressure at each
flow rate. This new curve is shown in Figure 2 . It represents the pressure downstream from the choke during
critical flow.

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The next surface component is the flow line that delivers production to the separator. There are additional
pressure losses in the flow line, and so we must add a fourth curve to Figure 2 to represent these losses. Their
magnitude can be determined using the appropriate horizontal flow correlations. The difference in pressure
between the downstream choke pressure and the new curve shown in Figure 3 is the pressure loss in the flow
line from the downstream side of the choke to the upstream side of the separator. For our specified flow
system, we now know the maximum pressure available at the separator for any given flow rate. We can take
our diagram one final step by adding a line that depicts the minimum pressure required to operate the
separator ( Figure 4 ). The flow rate where the downstream flow line pressure curve intersects the separator
pressure line is the maximum practical production rate for the well and for which the choke must be sized.

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Total System Pressure Loss
In Figure 1 and Figure 2 we summarize the system pressure losses that occur at this production rate.
Beginning with the average reservoir pressure, we observe the pressure losses in the formation, up the tubing,
across the choke, and through the surface lines and separator. In a sense, the reservoir pressure drives the
whole system and is used up along the way. If we wish to increase the flow rate, changes must be made to the
flow system that reduce some or all of these pressure losses.

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Keep in mind that the basis of this diagram is the

IPR curve, which changes with time. As the
reservoir pressure is depleted, the well may no
longer flow at the determined rate and eventually
may not flow at all. In this case, some sort of
pressure maintenance or artificial lift is needed.
Remember also that the flowing tubing pressure
curve is constructed for a certain set of flowing
conditions. If these should change (for example if
we were to have an increase in water cut or a
decrease in GOR), the need for artificial lift
becomes more immediate.
Gas Well Performance
Primarily because gas is much more

compressible than oil and water, and because the
viscosity of gas also varies with pressure, the
equations describing flow of gas through a
formation and into a wellbore are different from
those for liquids. For gas wells, it may be shown mathematically that the flow rate (at standard conditions)
should be equal to a constant, times the difference in the squares of the average reservoir pressure and the
bottomhole flowing pressure:
(1)
The constant (C) incorporates the permeability of the formation, the thickness, the temperature, gas viscosity,
compressibility, and the relative radii of the wellbore and reservoir drainage area.
Early researchers (Rawlins & Schellhardt 1935) determined from empirical data that the actual relationship
for natural gas wells was slightly different. The actual equation is:

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(2)
where n varies from 1.0 to 0.5 depending on how turbulent the flow conditions are. The nice thing about this
equation is that it can be written as the equation for a straight line:
(3)
If we test a gas well at several different flow rates ( Figure 1 ), and plot measured values of qsc
and in log-log coordinates, as shown in Figure 2 , we should get a straight line with slope 1/n and
intercept C. This plot is known as a backpressure curve, and is commonly used as the inflow performance
relationship for a gaswell. Historically, four pressure/rate measurements are required, and so we normally test
a gas well at four different producing rates. The testing procedure is known as a four-point backpressure test
or conventional gaswell test. The straight line plot through the points gives us values of n and C. We may use
these values in Equation 3 to calculate the deliverability (inflow rate) of our well, for any given set of flowing
bottomhole and average reservoir pressures.

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Obtaining a stabilized flow rate in a reasonable period of time may be difficult for some wells. Several
modifications of the conventional gaswell test have been developed, however, which require a shorter testing
time.
The absolute open flow (AOF) potential for a gas well is calculated by substituting atmospheric pressure for
pwf (assume zero if patm << pR) into Equation 2 to give:
(4)
Of course, atmospheric pressure at the bottom of the well is not possible, but this AOF potential is useful in
comparing the productivity of gas wells. Equation 2, with specific values of C and n can be used to relate pwf
and qsc for decreasing pR, as long as the permeability and other factors relating to flow do not change. If the
near-wellbore conditions change, the line will shift, right or left, with time.
When average reservoir pressure is in the low to medium range, the application of conventional well test
analysis to obtain inflow performance relationships is valid. At higher pressures, where gas viscosity and
density are significantly influenced by pressure drawdown, other techniques have been developed to describe
gas well performance.
We may illustrate the use of conventional backpressure testing with an example. The test data for the four
flow rates is shown in Table 1 (below).
Back pressure test data:
Well: IHRDC #2
County: Dewey

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State: Oklahoma
Formation: Cleveland
Pwf (psia) q (MSCFD) Pw2(thousands) P2 (thousands)

4965 833 24,651 2171
4755 1149 22,612 4210
4424 1502 19,572 7250
3694 1987 13,646 13,176
Table 1
The data points are plotted in Figure 3 . When a line is drawn through the points, values of n (n = 0.5) and C
(C = 0.556) are estimated. With the values of those constants known, production rate at any pressures may be
calculated. The gas well's pressure losses in the tubing, choke, flow line, and separator are calculated in a
manner similar to those in an oil well.
Production System Design Example
In this section we will outline the design considerations for a new well- our own recently drilled prospect.
The well is a west Texas oil well and its pertinent data are given below:
Well name: IHRDC #30-2

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Depth: 5050 ft (1539 m)
Initial test data: Oil rate: 200 bbl/D (31.8 m3/d)
Gas rate: 140 MCFD (4009 m3/d)
GOR: 700 SCF/bbl (126.1 m3/m3)
Water cut: 0% (0.2% BSW)
Oil gravity: 39 API
Gas gravity: 0.70 (small amt. H2S)
Average reservoir pressure: 1610 psia (11,100 kPa)
Reservoir temperature: 120 F (322 K)
Measured pwf at 200 bbl/D = 480 psia (3309 kPa)
We expect the water cut in this well to increase slightly overtime, and the reservoir pressure to decline. The
geological interpretation supports a limited water drive, solution-gas drive combination. The reservoir
pressure is below the bubble-point pressure.
Because of the expected water production and decreasing reservoir pressure, we can expect some need for
artificial lift to maintain a satisfactory production rate.
Figure 1 shows the expected pressure

losses for our well. The 2 3/8-inch (6.03
cm) tubing is chosen because a larger
tubing size would only have a minimal
effect in increasing flow rate. There is no
need to restrict our flow rate, so the choke
is fully opened. Without this restriction, the
flow-line pressure losses can be depicted.
The flow line is relatively large at 3 inches
(7.62 cm), and only about 100 ff (30.5 m)
long, so the pressure loss is very small.
With a minimum separator pressure of
about 50 psia (344.7 kPa) our maximum
flow rate is about 198 bbl/D (31.5 m3/d).
At this flow rate, there is a flowing
bottomhole pressure of about 525 psia
(3620 kPa), which means there is a
pressure loss of 1085 psia (7481 kPa) in
the formation. At this rate and with the
fluid conditions given, the tubing head
pressure is about 180 psia (1241 kPa), and
there is a 15 psia (103.4 kPa) pressure drop
through the surface flow line.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
As our IPR curve shrinks with decreasing reservoir pressures, the well's ability to flow will decline unless the
bottom-hole pressure can be lowered. For this well, several artificial lift methods would be capable of
maintaining the 198 bbl/D (31.5 mosp/d) rate, including beam pumping, hydraulic pumping, and electrical
submersible pumping. The beam pumping alternative will ultimately require that a pump be added to the
tubing string and a pumping unit be installed at the surface. It will be the logical choice for this well because
our oil field personnel are generally familiar with it.
Our production facility will require a separator capable of handling production from this well, and perhaps
several others. A horizontal three-phase separator with a 1500 B/D (238.5 m 3/d) capacity is chosen to handle
the expected production. Because of high H 2S content, an iron sponge unit is necessary to sweeten the
produced gas. Because the sales line pressure is 800 psia (5515.8 kPa), we will need a two-stage compressor
to compress the gas before metering and sale. A battery of six, 200 bbl (31.8 mosp) tanks with a vapor
recovery system will hold the oil production until it is routinely picked up via tank truck. If additional
development is successful, a pipeline may be needed.
Exercise 1.
In our discussion of the pressure losses in our production system (under the heading "Total System Pressure
Losses"), we followed the flow stream from the "bottom up," noting how the pressure loss in each portion of
the system could be graphically depicted for a range of flow rates ( Figure 1 and Figure 2 ). Another way of
depicting system performance is to work from the "top down"; that is, to assume a constant separator pressure
and calculate the pressure losses in the surface lines and tubing for a range of flow rates. This data is then
plotted as an "intake" curve on the IPR curve ( Figure 3 ). This curve depicts the flowing bottomhole pressure
necessary to flow any particular rate through the system from the bottom of the tubing to the separator. What
would you expect is the significance of the intersection of this curve and the IPR curve?

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
Solution:
The intersection is the predicted flow rate for the system under the conditions given. The IPR curve shows the
flowing bottomhole pressure expected for different flow rates from the reservoir. The intake curve shows the
flowing bottomhole pressure necessary for any particular flow rate through the given system to a given
separator pressure. The point where these curves intersect is the rate at which the flowing bottomhole pressure
resulting from the drawdown equals the pressure necessary to flow that rate through the system.
This method of depicting the system's performance is well suited to displaying the changes resulting from
decreasing reservoir pressure ( Figure 1 ) and alternative system designs ( Figure 2 )
Artificial Lift

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
If the producing bottomhole pressure becomes so low that it will not allow the well to produce at a desired
flow rate (or perhaps any flow rate!), some sort of artificial energy supply will be needed to lift or help lift the
fluid out of the well-bore. Energy can be supplied indirectly by injecting water or gas into the reservoir to
maintain reservoir pressure, or through a variety of artificial lift methods that are applied at the producing
well itself.
There are many artificial lift methods, however, all are variations or combinations of three basic processes:
1. lightening of the fluid column by gas injection (gas lift);
2. subsurface pumping (beam pumps, hydraulic pumps, electric submersible centrifugal

pumps); and
3. piston-like displacement of liquid slugs (plunger lift).
Gas Lift
Gas lift provides artificial lifting energy by the injection of gas into or beneath the fluid column. The gas
decreases the fluid density of the column and lowers the bottomhole pressure, allowing the formation pressure
to move more fluid into the wellbore. Injected gas bubbles also expand as they rise in the tubing above their
injection point, pushing oil ahead of them up the tubing. The degree to which each of these mechanisms
affects the well's production rate depends on the type of gas lift method applied: continuous flow or
intermittent flow.
Continuous flow gas lift relies on the

constant injection of gas-lift gas into the
production stream through a downhole
valve ( Figure 1 ). The installation can
be designed to allow for injection from
the casing/tubing annulus into the
tubing (most common), for injection
into a smaller concentric tubing string
within the production tubing
("macaroni" string), or for injection
from the tubing into the casing/tubing
annulus (annular flow installation). The
fluid column above the injection point is
lightened by the aeration caused by the
relatively low density gas. The resulting
drop in bottomhole pressure causes an
increase in production rate.
Continuous flow gas lift relies on the

constant injection of gas-lift gas into the
production stream through a downhole
valve ( Figure 1 ). The installation can
be designed to allow for injection from
the casing/tubing annulus into the
tubing (most common), for injection into a smaller concentric tubing string within the production tubing
("macaroni" string), or for injection from the tubing into the casing/tubing annulus (annular flow installation).

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
The fluid column above the injection point is lightened by the aeration caused by the relatively low density
gas. The resulting drop in bottomhole pressure causes an increase in production rate.
Intermittent gas lift ( Figure 2 ) allows

for the buildup of a liquid column of
produced fluids at the bottom of the
well-bore. At the appropriate time, a
finite volume of gas is injected below
the liquid and propels it as a slug to the
surface. The propelling gas may be
injected at a single point below the
liquid slug or may be supplemented by
multipoint injection as the slug moves
past successive valves. An intermitter at
the surface controls the timing of each
injection-production cycle. Intermittent
gas lift is used on wells with low fluid
volumes, a high productivity index and
low bottom-hole pressure, or a low
productivity index and high bottomhole
pressure. Gas lift is a very flexible
artificial lift method. A properly
designed installation can produce
efficiently at a rate as high as 1000
bbl/D (159 m3/d) or as low as 50 bbl/D
(7.9 m3/d).
There are a number of gas-lift valves that are used in gas-lift operations. They are distinguished by their
sensitivity to the casing and/or tubing pressures needed to open and close them ( Figure 3 , pressure
operated , Figure 4 , fluid-operated, and Figure 5 , throttling valve). The casing pressure-operated valve (also
called a pressure valve) requires a buildup in casing pressure to open and a reduction in casing pressure to
close. Fluid-operated valves require a buildup in tubing pressure to open and a reduction in tubing pressure to
close. A throttling pressure valve is sensitive to tubing pressure in the open position, and once opened by
casing pressure buildup, requires a reduction in tubing or casing pressure to close.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
For a specific gas-lift design, the valves will be located at appropriate intervals in the tubing string. The type
of valve and its location will depend on the expected flow characteristics of the well over its lifetime, whether
continuous or intermittent gas lift is to be used, and whether the upper valves are to be used for simply
unloading the fluid in the annulus or for multipoint injection.
Conventional gas-lift valves are attached to gas-lift mandrels and wireline retrievable gas-lift valves are set in
side-pocket mandrels ( Figure 6 , (a) conventional, (b) wireline retrievable ). For conventional valves to be
changed or serviced, the entire tubing string must be pulled, while retrievable valves can be latched and set
through tubing with a wireline unit.
Subsurface Pumping
Subsurface pumping can be achieved by various methods. The most common is sucker rod pumping, where
the pumping motion is transmitted from the surface to the pump by means of a string of narrow jointed rods
placed within the tubing. Rod pumping systems ( Figure 1 ) consist essentially of five components:
the subsurface pump, which displaces the fluid at the bottom of the well and thereby
reduces bottomhole pressure;
 the rod string, which transmits power to the pump from the surface;
 the surface unit, which transfers rotating motion to a linear oscillation of the rod string;
and,
 the gear reducer, which controls the speed of the motor or engine that is the prime mover.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
The subsurface pump ( Figure 2 ) is

essentially a plunger and valve
arrangement within a tube or barrel.
When the close-fitting plunger is lifted
within the barrel, it creates a low-
pressure region below the plunger,
which is filled by fluid from the
formation. Simultaneously, the plunger
and rods lift fluid up the tubing. The
valves are designed to open and close so
that they allow fluids to enter the pump
on the upstroke and be displaced above
the traveling valve on the downstroke.
The fluid above the traveling valve
moves one full stroke upward on the
upstroke.
There is a wide variety of pumps

designed for many different
applications. The API (American
Petroleum Institute) has designed a

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
classification system using the criteria listed in Table 1 (below) : The different types of API pump
designations are given in Figure 3 and Figure 4 .
Subsurface pump classification criteria:
Tubing size
Pump bore size
Rod or tubing pump
Barrel-type
Plunger-type
Pump seating assembly location
Traveling or stationary barrel
Type of seating assembly
Barrel length
Plunger length
Extensions
Table 1 (above)
The sucker rods are usually about 25 ft (7.62 m) long and are connected with threaded couplings. In deep
wells, a tapered string of rods, decreasing in diameter with depth, can be run to maximize strength at the point
of maximum load the top of the string ( Figure 5 , sucker rod, and Figure 6 , coupling).

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
The surface unit also varies in design and size. Typical designs are the conventional (Class I) and the Mark II
or air balanced units (Class III units) ( Figure 7 , Figure 8 , and Figure 9 ). Unit sizes are designated by torque
rating, peak load, and stroke length. They can range from a unit with a 16-inch (.406 m) stroke and a
maximum load of 3200 lb (1451 kg), to one with a 300-inch (7.62 m) stroke and a maximum load of 47,000
lb (21,319 kg). The torque rating for the gear reducer of these two units varies by a factor of 570. Prime
movers are either internal combustion engines or electric motors.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
For any given pumping unit, the

production rate may be changed within
a limited range by changing the pump
rate or stroke length. Rod pumping
meets a wide range of artificial lift
needs with typical producing rates from
5 to 600 bbl/D (0.795 to 95.4 m3/d).
Rodless Pumping
The majority of rodless subsurface

pumps fall into two categories:
hydraulic and electric submersible.
Hydraulic pumps rely on the use of a
high-pressure power fluid pumped from

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
the surface to operate a downhole fluid engine. The engine, in turn, drives a piston to pump formation fluid
and spent power fluid to the surface ( Figure 10 ). Most engine/pump units can be circulated in and out of the
well for maintenance. The power fluid system can be either open (OPF) or closed (CPF) depending on
whether or not the power fluid is commingled with the produced fluids or is returned to the surface in a closed
conduit. In addition to the downhole equipment, this type of pumping system requires a surface power fluid
pump and a power fluid reservoir. The power fluid is normally crude oil or water. Hydraulic pumps have a
fairly wide range of production rate applications, typically 135 to 15,000 bbl/D (21.5 to 2385 m3/d).
Electrical submersible centrifugal pumps

are a second type of rodless pumping
system. In Figure 11 , we see a typical
system layout. Electrical power is supplied
via a bank of transformers that convert
primary line voltage to system voltage. A
switchboard provides instrumentation for
control and overload protection. The
junction box acts as a vent to prevent gas,
which may have migrated up the power
cable, from reaching the electrical
switchboard. Power is transmitted through
the power cable to an electric motor at the
bottom of the tubing string. The motor is
isolated from well fluids by a protector.
Above that is a gas separator and the motor
driven pump, which normally is a multistage
centrifugal pump ( Figure 12 ). These pumps
can handle a wide range of rates Ñ from 200
to 60,000 bbl/D (31.8 to 9540 m3/d).
Rod and rodless pumping systems achieve a reduction in bottomhole pressure by mechanical displacement of
fluid up the tubing. A third artificial lift process involves the use of gas to power a plunger the length of the
tubing string- in effect, a gas-lift powered pump that utilizes the entire tubing string as the barrel.
Plunger lift is typically an intermediate artificial lift method for wells that ultimately must be pumped but
have a low productivity index (PI) and a high enough gas-oil ratio to operate the plunger.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
Several variations on the above mentioned methods include: jet pumping, a hydraulic pump, which uses a
nozzle to transfer power fluid momentum directly to the produced fluid; chamber lift, a gas-lift installation,
which allows for production from low PI wells without the backpressure from injected gas; and modified rod
pumping unit designs, such as the winch- or pneumatic-type pumping unit.
Examples of Artificial Lift Applications
The examples in Table 1 (below) show how applications of artificial lift will vary depending on conditions
(Brown 1982).
Sometimes the newly completed well requires artificial lift from its first day of production. Often the drilling
program and the completion must be designed to accommodate the artificial lift equipment that will become
necessary even when the well initially flows on its own. In the next section, we will analyze our own well and
determine the optimum completion design, anticipating the need for future artificial lift capability.
Applications of artificial lift:
Example 1
· Offshore well producing from depth of 8000 ft (2438.4 m), deviated hole
· High productivity, fairly high GOR, high bubble-point pressure, high PR
· Tendency towards sand production
· Part of a fairly large field with gas compression capabilities
· 2 7/8-inch (7.31 cm) tubing inside 7-inch (17.79 cm) casing
Best artificial lift application: continuous gas lift with wireline retrievable valves
Example 2
· Land well producing from 3000 ft (914.4 m), straight hole
· Desired rate 400 bbl/D (63.59 m3/d), medium GOR, PR = 1200 psia (8270 kPa)
· No sand or H2S problems, but oil is fairly viscous
· Infrequent field personnel supervision only
Best artificial lift application: beam pumping unit
Example 3
· Land well producing from 8000 ft (2438.4 m) PR = 1920 psia (13,240 kPa)
· Fairly high productivity, above bubble point, low GOR, 50% water cut
· Desired rate of 4500 bbl/D (715.44 m3/d)
· Deviated hole in an urban environment
· Economic electric power supply
Best artificial lift application: electrical submersible pump
Example 4

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· Deep land well producing from 11,000 ft (3353 m), deviated hole
· Some slight sand production
· Low productivity and fairly low bottomhole pressure since reservoir is partially depleted, medium
GOR
· Waxy, viscous crude: maximum rate of 200 bbl/D (31.8 m3/d) desired
· 7-inch (17.79 cm) production casing
Best artificial lift application: hydraulic pumping
Table 4 (above)
Exercise 1.
Name the four principal methods of artificial lift and give a brief explanation of how they work.
The four principal methods of artificial lift are and this is how they work:
 Sucker Rod Pumping
 Gas Lift
 Electrical Submersible Pumping
Hydraulic Pumping
Sucker rod pumping employs a subsurface valve and plunger (pump), which decreases the bottomhole
pressure by lifting fluid away from the formation and up the hole. The pump is operated by a string of jointed
rods that are reciprocated by a surface unit that transfers the rotating motion of an engine into the oscillating
motion of the rod string.
Gas lift lightens the fluid column by the injection of hydrocarbon gas into the tubing at one or several
locations. Continuous gas lift employs constant injection of gas-lift gas through a downhole valve.
Intermittent gas lift allows for a buildup of a liquid column of produced fluids before a volume of gas is
injected below the liquid, propelling it to the surface.
Electrical submersible pumps are centrifugal pumps operated by an electric motor supplied by a power cable
from the surface to the pumps location down hole. The pump operates much like a fluid pump might operate
on the surface, taking a volume of fluid and raising its pressure to push it up the tubing.
Hydraulic pumps rely on a high-pressure fluid pumped from the surface to operate a downhole pump, which
pushes both power fluid and formation fluid to the surface. The power fluid may be mixed with the produced
formation fluids (OPF system) or returned to the surface in a closed system (CPF system
References
Aulenbacker, M.W., 1982, Electrical Precipitation Southern Udang's Dehydration Problem, Petroleum
Engineer International, June, pp. 88-96.
Brown, K.E., 1982, Overview of Artificial Lift Systems, Journal of Petroleum Technology, Vol. 34, No. 10,
pp. 2384-2396

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
Brown, K.E., 1977, The Technology of Artificial Lift Methods, Vol. 1, 2a, 2b, PennWell Publishing Company,
Tulsa, 0K.
Buzarde, Jr., L.E., R.L. Kastor, W.T. Bell, and C.L. Depriester, Production Operations course I  Well
completions, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Richardson, TX, 407 p.
Campbell, John M., 1962, Gas Measurement and Regulation, in: Petroleum Production Handbook, Thomas
C. Frick and R. William Taylor, ed., the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Richardson, TX, pp. 12:1-12:64.
Craft, B.C., W.R. Holden, and E.D. Graves, Jr., 1962, Well Design: Drilling and Production, Prentice-Hall,
Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 571 p.
Donohue, David, A.T., 1983, Pumping Systems Rod Pumping, IHRDC, Boston, MA, 237p.
________,1983, Pumping Systems  Rodless Pumping, IHRDC, Boston, MA, 306p.
________,1983, Introduction and General Principles of Production Performance, IHRDC, Boston, MA, 84p.
Donohue, David, A.T., and Turgay Ertekin, 1982, Gaswell Testing: Theory, Practice and Regulation,
IHRDC, Boston, MA, 214p.
Kemp, L.J., 1969, Gas Measurements  Orifice Metering, in: Surface Operations and Petroleum
Production, G.V. Chilingar and C.M. Beeson, ed., American Elsevier Publishing Company, New York, NY,
pp. 112-144.
Mercier, J.A., R.G. Goldsmith, and L.B. Curtis, 1982, The Hutton TLP: A Preliminary Design, Journal of
Petroleum Technology, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 208-216.
Monson, Louis T., 1969, Chemical Resolution of Petroleum Emulsions, in: Surface Operations in Petroleum
Production, G.V. Chilingar and C.M. Beeson, ed., American Elsevier Publishing Company, New York, NY,
pp. 44-66.
Neeley, A.B., 1980, A.B. Neeley Discusses Artificial Lift Techniques, Uses, and Developments, Journal of
Petroleum Technology, Vol. 32, No. 9, p. 1548.
Petroleum Extension Service, 1972, Field Handling of Natural Gas, The University of Texas at Austin,
Austin, TX, 143p.
________,1976, A Primer of Offshore Operations, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 280p.
________, 1981, Fundamentals of Petroleum, 2nd edition, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX,
280p.
Rawlins, E.L., and M.A. Schellhardt, 1935, BackPressure Data on Natural-Gas Wells and Their Application
to Production Practices, U.S. Bureau of Mines, Monograph 7, p. 210.
Smith, H. Vernon, 1962, Oil and Gas Separators, in: Petroleum Production Handbook, Thomas C. Frick and
R. William Taylor, ed., the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Richardson, TX, pp. 11:1-
Recommended Reading

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
Chilingar, G.V., and C.M. Beeson, ed., 1969, Surface Operations in Petroleum Production, American Elsevir
Publishing Co., Inc., New York, NY.
Brown, K.E. et al., 1977, The Technology of Artificial Lift, Vol. 1, 2a, 2b, Pennwell Publishing Company,
Tulsa, OK.
Economides, M., Hill, A.D., and Ehlig-Economedes, 1994. Petroleum Production Systems, Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

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PETROLEUM GEOLOGY

Series 6 Petroleum Technology for the Non-Engineer

B.1. Well Completions

· supporting the sides of the hole;

· allowing for control of pressures; and

· providing a base for surface and subsurface equipment.

A cross section of a typical casing

Donny’s Library: Production Technology

· It is relatively easy to remove if problems develop.

The design of a particular completion depends on:

 the number and type of productive zones

 the expected pressures and flow rates

 the need to control sand production

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Donny’s Library: Production Technology

Donny’s Library: Production Technology

Subsurface Completion Equipment

PACKER: The packer seals the casing-tubing

MULTISTRING PACKER ( Figure 3 , (a)

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SLIDING SLEEVE ( Figure 4 , (a) open

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LANDING NIPPLE ( Figure 6 ): Landing

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SUBSURFACE SAFETY VALVE ( Figure 8 , (a) closed (b)

Tubing string components are expensive, and so is the cost of

Wellhead and Surface Flow Control Equipment

The design of the entire arrangement depends on several factors:

 the expected maximum and operating pressures;

 the number and sizes of casing strings;

 the number and sizes of tubing strings;

 the outside environment - onshore, offshore, or subsea;

 the operator's equipment inventory and preference for a given manufacturer.

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The casinghead ( Figure 2 ) is screwed or

The tubing head performs a function

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In the Christmas tree, the bottom valve,

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 to prevent sand production;

 to control water or gas production;

 to produce the well at a fixed allowable... a production rate designated by a governmental

Figure 8 (subsea wellhead and

Figure 10 (surface flow control

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The downhole and wellhead components

Assume that you must complete a well

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Donny’s Library: Production Technology

Donny’s Library: Production Technology

(a) commingled zones ( Figure 1 )

(b) single with selective ( Figure 2 )

(c) dual completion with two tubing strings ( Figure 3 )

(d) dual completion with flow through annulus ( Figure 4 )

(e) dual completion with flow through crossover choke ( Figure 5 )

B.2. Surface Production Facilities

Normally a separator is the first piece of

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The gas phase, which is directed to the

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Horizontal separators ( Figure 6 ) often

Donny’s Library: Production Technology

It is important to remember that the

When gas is removed from contact with