SPE 159219

Production Increase with Electric Heating Production Line Technology in

an Extra-Heavy Oil Field in Colombia: Successful Case of Flow Assurance
J.C.M Escobar-Remolina, SPE, W. Barrios, Ecopetrol S.A, B. Silva, Insurcol Ltd.

Copyright 2012, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition held in San Antonio, Texas, USA, 8-10 October 2012.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper have not been
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Abstract

In recent years the oil industry has focused primarily on the exploitation of heavy and extra-heavy oil reservoirs. On the
other hand these crudes represent current worldwide one of the greatest potential contributions to reserves to the energy
industry. The production, treatment and transportation of these crudes are a real challenge, because these crudes increase the
viscosity exponential from the reservoir to the gathering collection plant. This causes a dramatic increase in the well pump
pressure system, reducing the production capability of the lifting system and optimal management of fluids, resulting in lost
in the flow assurance system committing millions of dollars annually in non-effective remedial techniques. This article
describes a successful case of flow assurance technology application to an extra - heavy oil of 9.0 ºAPI, using electric heating
of the well production line along 900 meters in a Colombian oil field. The selected well to apply this technology increases its
daily oil production over 160%, well head pressure decreases 95%. Chemical dosification was optimized and BS&W values
required by the control system were reached by heating technology. Additionally, lighter crude of 25 ºAPI, used as a diluent,
to move this extra-heavy oil through the production line was avoided in 100%.

Introduction

Extra heavy crude oil transportation in the oil industry, presents operational problems in the well production system because
the dramatic increase of the viscosity due to the temperature decrease from the reservoir to the surface (Ehlig-Economides,
2000; Trebolle, 1993).

Flow Assurance specialty has matured and currently involves a definition of activities, which include planning,
development, implementation, maintenance and operation of technologies and strategies to ensure that the barrels of oil are
produced, transported and processed in a clean way (without loss of life) and friendly to the environment. In the extra heavy
oil production world different methods or technologies have been used to reduce the viscosity of these non conventional
crude oils to give them better mobility throughout the pipes from the reservoir to the delivery points. In this way the
drawbacks and associated financial losses has been reduced. The most applied technologies on viscosity reducers are:
dilution, water-oil emulsions, increase and / or maintenance of temperature (Barrufet, 2003; Kokal and Al-Juraid, 1999;
Abney, 2010).

This paper describes a successful application of Flow Assurance Concept (FAC) using an Electrical Heating System
(EHS) to increase and maintain the temperature of a 9 ºAPI crude oil on a well gathering production line at the surface over
900 meters in an oil field in Colombia, South America. The first part of the paper is a general description of the oil field, the
gathering system and fluid rheological properties. The second part of the paper an Electrical Heating System (EHS)
application is presented. Technical results are presented at the end of the paper.

Tisquirama Field (Well-T1)

Tisquirama field is located in the Middle Magdalena Valley, Department of Cesar in Colombia (Figure 1). The wells of this
field produce from Lisama Formation, located at 8800 feet approximately. The sands of this formation produce crude oils
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between 27 ºAPI and 9ºAPI. The oil produced by the well T1 has 9ºAPI, this crude oil is classified as extra-heavy crude, its
viscosity is around 47800 cp at temperatures of 104 ºF, this viscosity does not let this crude been pumped through the
gathering line of the well and the fluids alone never reached the treatment and collection station of the field. Since the
beginning of the production life of well T1 the produced fluids were pumped by using dilution fluids from the wells T2 and
T3 (16-27 ºAPI). Always the production of this well was a challenge for the State Oil Company Flow Assurance Group
(FAG), so this group analyzed the feasibility to install an EHS along the well gathering line. The line length of the line was
about 900 meters. Table 1 shows the characterization and properties of the fluids of the wells T1 and T3 (crude that serve as
diluent). Table 1 shows dramatic changes in the viscosity of the crude oil produced by well T1 as a function of temperature,
which greatly affects their rheological changes and high asphaltenes content by weight (9.5 Wt%), this value is not an
indication that the asphaltenes can precipitate, but can be destabilized using a diluent of lower density (de Boer, 1995).

Well Flow Line path

Tisquirama treatment station is 900 meters away from the well head T1. Well T1 delivers its production to the collection
station by a 4” diameter pipe as a flow line. Figure 2 shows the complete path of this pipe (thicker line). The arrows indicate
the points where temperature sensors were located. Additionally, Figure 2 shows four points that indicate the coordinates of
distance from the wellhead and the respective temperature. After installing the EHS technology, we observe the temperature
gets a maximum value of 198 ° F at a distance of 356 m and a minimum temperature of 137 ° F at a distance of 150 m (see
figure 6). Initially (without EHS), all temperature facilities ranged between 104ºF (at wellhead) and 94ºF (at treatment
station), according to Table 1 crude oil well T1 has a viscosity of 47800 cp, causing severe flow assurance problems (the
fluid did not flow through the well flow line even at pressures above 800 psi.).

When heavy oil goes up from the reservoir to the gathering treatment station presents the following issues:

 Two higher quality (16 - 27 ºAPI) crude were used as diluents,

 The crude oil produced by well T1 never could reach the treatment station alone because it enormous viscosity
(47800 cp at 104 ºF),
 This crude compromises the normal operation of the treatment station, because of its high viscosity and its
asphaltenic characteristic different from the rest of the field wells.
 The asphaltenes precipitation problem of this crude when was diluted with lighter crude oils at low temperature.

Electric Heating Technology

Electrical Heating is a very useful technology used to handle high viscosity problems related with extra – heavy oils
production when it needs to be pumped through pipes, either down hole or at the surface. The Electrical Heating technology
takes advantage of the behavior of viscosity with temperature. When temperature increases, the viscosity decreases rapidly.
There are examples of heavy and extra heavy crude oil with viscosities of about 70,000 cp at a temperature of 100 °F and
when they are heated up to 160 °F their viscosities go down to 2,000 cp see Figure 3 (Braden, 1966). The behavior of
viscosity with temperature is different for every heavy/extra - heavy crude oil, therefore a rheological analysis for every
heavy/extra-heavy crude oil should be carried out because the viscosity depends largely on the components of the crude oil.
Gathering pipes with electric heaters should be insulated with appropriate materials to preserve heat and to maintain the
temperature all along the entire fluid path.

Theory and Definitions

If we place the crude oil produced by Well T1 in Figure 3 indicated by the red triangle on the line representing the ° API 9.9,
we note that changes in viscosity with temperature are two or more order of magnitude this represents an exponential
(drastic) change.
Assuming that viscosity of a extra heavy crude oil is an exponential function of the amount of asphaltenes, it can be
represented mathematically as:

 Asph% 
 
 
  e T  (1)
SPE 159219 3

Where:

µ = Viscosity
T = Temperature and,
Asph% = Asphaltenes content.

The asphaltenes content (9.5 Wt%) of the extra heavy crude oil produced by well T1 is high, but it is not an indication
that the asphaltenes can precipitate, but can be destabilized with a diluent of lower density as the crude oil produced by well
T3 (27 º API). According to Equation 1, to avoid operational problems of flow assurance in extra heavy crude oils the
asphaltenes amount should be kept constant, therefore dilution is not recommended. If dilution is used there is the possibility
to increase viscosity due to asphaltenes precipitation. In this case electrical heating is a good option to be applied as it
happened in this flow assurance case.

Description and Application of Equipment and Processes

Technical Support was given by a set of useful software tools in house (STH) that has been developed to design Electrical
Heating Systems. Computer programs as STH that calculates the power (kWh) of electric heaters that should be placed
within the wells (see Figure 4), the depth from which the fluid must be maintain hot, the temperature profiles that exist within
the production string, pressure profiles along the production string and the pressure over the pump. STH helps to optimize the
length of the heating wires. This software was used to define if the electric heating system should be installed inside of the
well or in the surface over the flow line. To determine the power (kWh) to be applied on the gathering lines STH software
was used to calculate the temperature and pressure drops along the line when the Electrical Heating System was designed.
Additionally, these software programs provide information of the costs of EHS. This information is very useful because
allow to make economical analysis and gives the opportunity to optimize the cost of production of heavy / extra-heavy crude
oils. The programs STH generate the mathematical correlation to calculate viscosity in a range of temperatures necessary to
estimate the temperature and pressure profiles of the fluid along the production string and the gathering line with an EHS.

Description of the Equipment

Basically the installed EHS over the Well-T1 gathering line is composed of the following elements: electrical heating
wires, insulation material, temperature sensors and controllers, electrical protections, communications line, SCADA software
(see figure 5).

Results Presentation

Temperature Profiles

STH software was used to design and optimize the electrical power that should be applied over the flow line to increase
temperature from 104 ºF (well head) to 160ºF (treatment station). Some part of the pipe (140 m aprox.) was buried and naked
(no insulation material) previous to reach this part the fluid should be heated up 198 ºF to compensate the additional heat
losses. Figure 6 show the comparison between the forecasted temperatures during the design of the EHS and the real
measured temperatures. The technical support using software was one of the keys to optimize the economy and reach the
success of this project in flow assurance.

Pressure Behavior

When the crude oil produced by well T1 was diluted the well head pressure was close to 210 psi after the produced crude
oil was heated using EHS, the pressure low to close 42 psi. Under a less pressure, the bottom well pump was pushed to a
more efficient performance. Figure 7 shows the pressure behavior before and after the installation of the EHS.

Production Increase

During the dilution step the production of the well was around 150 barrels of oil per day with a BS&W close to 5%. After
the installation of the EHS, the production of the well goes up to 350 barrels of oil per day. No modifications were made to
the pump parameters and lifting system, this additional production was due to pressure drop and the performance of the pump
was moved to a more efficient performance. Additionally an extra advantage was obtained during water separation in the
treatment station and it was the easy separation of water getting in just one step values of basic sediments and water (BS&W)
lower than 0.4%, this help to a rapid delivery to the oil pipeline.
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Economical Benefits

An economical analysis was performed considering rate of return of 11% the pay out time is less than 2 months. Real
internal rate of return is greater than 100% and Net Present Value (NPV) for the first 3 years of 1.5 million dollars. The
estimated oil price to do the economical analysis is $ 60 US/barrel.

Conclusions

In this paper is presented a successful case of flow assurance in extra-heavy oil with special features, applying an Electrical
Heating System (EHS) technology and the main conclusions are:

 The fluid produced by the well T1 arrived to the Gathering and Treatment station by itself. It is transported by a
length of 900 meters through a 4” flow line pipe.

 The well T1 increase production (200 additional oil barrels/day), is 160% above original production with dilution.
The crude and water separation is easier in the treatment station, getting in one step values of BS&W lower than
0.4%, this help to a rapid delivery to the oil pipeline.

 The use of high quality crude oil as dilution was avoided at 100% to help the transportation the crude oil produced
by Well T1.

 The pressure drop lets the well T1 increase production. The subsurface pump goes to a greater efficiency percentage.

 The use of an Electrical Heating System (EHS) over a flow line to transport extra heavy crude oil is technically and
economically feasible.

 The economic parameters indicate a good feasibility of payment of a few months. Colombian state oil company
starts tests at oil fields to implement the Electrical Heating Systems at the wells bottom and surface flow lines to
assure the flow of heavy/extra heavy oils to the point of delivery.

Acknowledgments

Escobar, J.C. and Barrios, W. want to thank Ecopetrol S.A and Silva, B.A. wants to thank Insurcol Ltd company for their
support in publishing this paper and the authors want to thank to the group of engineers and technicians of Tisquirama field.

References

Abney. L. 2010. A New Approach to Flowline Active Heating. Paper SPE 133370-MS, presented at the SPE Asia Pacific Oil & Gas
Conference and Exhibition, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 18-20 October.

Barrufet M. 2003. Reliable heavy oil–solvent viscosity mixing rules for viscosities up to 450 K, oil–solvent viscosity ratios up to 4 × 105,
and any solvent proportion. Fluid Phase Equilibria 213 (1-2): 65-79.

Braden W.B. 1966. A Viscosity-Temperature Correlation at Atmospheric Pressure for Gas-Free Oils. Journal of Petroleum Technology 18
(11): 1487-1490.

de Boer, R.; Leerlooyer, K.; Eigner, M.; van Bergen, A. 1995. Screening of crude oils for asphalt precipitation: Theory, practice, and the
selection of inhibitors. SPE PF 10:55–61

Ehlig-Economides C. et al. 2000. Global Experiences and Practice for Cold Production of Moderate and Heavy Oil. Paper SPE 58773,
presented at the SPE International Symposium on Formation Damage Control, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA, 23–24 February.

Kokal, S.L. and Al-Juraid, J.I. 1999. Quantification of Various Factors Affecting Emulsion Stability: Water Cut, Temperature, Shear,
Asphaltene Content, Demulsifier Dosage and Mixing Different Crudes. Paper SPE 56641 presented at the SPE Annual Technical
Conference and Exhibition, Houston, 3–6 October.

Trebolle R. et al. 1993. The Orinoco Heavy-Oil Belt Pilot Projects and Development Strategy. Paper SPE 25798, presented at the SPE
International Thermal Operations Symposium, Bakersfield, California, USA, 8-10 February.
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SI Metric Conversion Factors

ft x 3.048 E-01 = m
cp x 1.0 E-03 = sPa
in x 2.54 E+00 = cm
psi x 6.894 757 E+00 = kPa
ºF (ºF – 32)/1.8 = ºC

Table 1- Fluid properties of the wells T1 and T3

Well T3 Well T1
Reservoir Conditions
Pressure, psia 1958 1605
Temperature, °F 158.7 163.0
Depth, ft 8180 8082
Reservoir Fluid Properties
GOR, scf/STB 263.7 76.86
Buble point pressure, psia 1386 631
C1, Mol% 27.0133 14.770
C30+, Mol% 16.1747 31.540
Density, g/cc 0.8276 0.9139
Properties at 60°F
ºAPI 26.14 9
Density, g/cc 0.8244 1.0024
Asphaltenes (C7) Wt% 9.5
Rheological Properties
Viscosity @ 104 ºF, cp 47800
Viscosity @ 122 ºF, cp 15000
Pour point, ºF 80 ºF

Figure 1- Tisquirama Oil fiel location.

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Figure 2- TIS-9 Well Flow Line Path

Figure 3- Heavy/Extra-heavy crude oils Viscosity behavior vs Temperature.

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Figure 4- Tubing temperature and pressure profiles of the fluids within the production tubing.

Figure 5- Typical EHS components for heavy/extra-heavy crude oil gathering line
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Figure 6- Well T1 Flow line Temperature profile simulation calculated using FlowTrace software compared with real measured
temperatures.

Figure 7- Well head pressure before (diluted crude) 210 psi and well head after (heated crude oil) 42 psi