SPE 69515

Optimizing Swabbing of Marginal Wells Through Simulation Studies

Anthony Alfaro Prez / Pecom Energy SA
Copyright 2001, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.
This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Latin American and Caribbean Petroleum
Engineering Conference held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2528 March 2001.
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, as
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at
SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of
Petroleum Engineers. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper
for commercial purposes without the written consent of the Society of Petroleum Engineers is
prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300
words; illustrations may not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous
acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O.
Box 833836, Richardson, TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435.

Abstract:
The production with swabbing is an alternative production
method that becomes possible when the volume taken from by
a well is below the economic limit of any conventional system
of extraction.
This operation consists on lowering a plunger with rubber
cups inside the well, submerge it inside the existing liquid and
extract it; repeated until leaving the well dry or until it is
economically profitable for the company that conducts the
work. After some days of rest to restore the levels of fluids the
process is again repeated.
The main objective is to determine the optimun frequency of
intervention with the purpose of obtaining the optimun volume
of production accumulated (it is different to the maximum
volume) in such a way of generating maximum results.
The study allows to obtain analysis of sensibility of important
parameters as:

Optimun extraction of annual Volume

Optimun frequency of intervention
Minimum levels of fluid that should be found in the wells
Cost of each swabbing race"
Optimun annual expense
Maximum annual income

Conclusions:
Studies from the initial test have shown an increase in the
production volumes increasing the revenues in the order of

15% and we propose to apply this technique to the entire

production wells.
Introduction:
In the Peruvian Northwest there are approximately1500 wells
that produce with this system about 1500 bpd, where, the
frequency of intervention is determined by statistical
information of production or from the personnel's experiences
at worksites, without including information of costs and
revenues that are obtained by each minimum unit of this
system that is the swabbing race"(operation that consists on
lowering the plunger, submerging it and collecting liquid of
production).
There are 2 types of Swabbing; The Tubing Swabbing, refers
to the well that has production pipe (Tubing), where the
operation is achieved with plunger of 2 3/8" or 2 7/8" or as it
is the diameter of the tubing and the Casing Swabbing,
referred to the well that doesn't have production pipe, where
the operation is achieved directly in the casing with a plungers
of 4 " or 5 ", or as is the diameter of the casing.
With the statistical information of costs and production,
empirical equations of the cost structure for a certain company
was created, and with the theoretical equations related with the
contribution of fluid, both are interelated to prepare the
programming. In this way to be able to determine the
economic limit and the optimun frequency of intervention,
important parameters to determine the maximum net revenues
of the company that conduct the service and for the owner of
the wells.
Development:
Fig. 4, summarizes the development of the work, which
means, to find the Revenue Curve, the Cost Curve and by
difference the Net Revenue Curve in respect to Frequency of
Intervention and by finding the value of maximum value of
Net Revenues, the optimun is determined.

ANTHONY ALFARO PREZ

(1.25He + H 2 )

(
)

He
H
A.He
2 (1.8)
T=
Ln

1.8Qmax (1.25He + H1 )

((He H1 )

The Revenue Curve, is directly related with th|e contribution

of fluids and the submergence values of the plunger in the
well; while the Cost Curve, is related with the structure of
fixed costs and variables that the company has to achieve in
this work.
1. Fluid Contribution:
This is related with the revenues that the company will
have.
From fig. 2, the volume of the differential element (dH)
is:

If we consider the tops superior values (TopeS) and

inferior values (TopeI) of the perforated intervals, the
initial level (NI) and final (NF) of the liquid in the well
during the swabbing operations, the values of H1 and H2
is a follows:
TopeS + TopeI
H1 =
NF
2
...(1.9)
TopeS + TopeI
NI
H2 =
2

Vol = Q.dT = A.dH ........(1.1)

Where:
Q: is the instantaneous flow for a height H
dT: Differential of time
The area of the traverse section (A) is:

2
2
2
A=
DCi DTe + DTi ....(1.2)
4
That is used for both cases : Tubing Swabbing and
Casing Swabbing (tubing doesn't exist), only the value of
the internal diameter of casing (DCi) is used, the values
of the external diameters (DTe) and intern (DTi) in the
equation 2, take the value of zero.
The equation of Vogel for the relationship of inflow
performance of a wells is:

This way the equation 1.8 relates the restoration levels

with time and with only 2 data inputs (of NF and NI)
from the swabbing operation in the field and an iteration
program or the solution of a quadratic equation, the
values of Qmax and He are calculated.

Pwf
= 1 0.2
0.8
.(1.3)
Qmax
Pr
Pr
Q

Pwf

Where the dynamic bottom pressure (Pwf) can be

approximated from the gradient of fluid (f) and the
height of liquid (H) in the following way:
Pwf = f.H .(1.4)

In the same way the reservoir pressure (Pr) is related

with the height static(He):
Pr = f.He .(1.5)

Relating the equations 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5, we have:
A.dH
...(1.6)
dT =
2

H
H
Qmax. 1 0.2
0.8

He
He

Applying integral between two limits H1 and H2, we

have:
A H2
dH
.....(1.7)
T=

2
Qmax H1
H
H
0.8
1 0.2

He
He
and that being solved is:

SPE 69515

2.

Calculation of Maximum Plunger Submergence (S)

and Consumption of Energy
In the movement of the plunger towards the surface, the
total weight that the cable supports varies, the energy
consumption, the effect of pressure exerted by the fluid
in the annulus, the weight of fluid when it arrives to the
surface, etc. this is the reasons that the analyses are made
for every defined interval.
Maximun Submergence (S)
From fig. 3 we have that for a displacement (L) of
the plunger:
L = N + S L .(2.1)

The displacement of the level of fluid in the annulus

(N) is:
N =

AT
AA

. L (2.2)

Case 1: N > S , It happens in wells of low

sumergencia.
For the interval from L = N + S (L1) and until
S
L + N = S or L = N + S
A
1+ T
AA
(L2) that is to say until the location of the
plunger coincides with the level of fluid in the

SPE 69515

OPTIMIZING SWABBING OF MARGINAL WELLS THROUGH SIMULATION STUDIES

annulus and where there is effect of the

pressure of liquid in the annulus over the
plunger, the weight of fluid (WF) is:
WF = F .(A T A C )(
. L + N )

If the WC <= F .(A T A C ). 1 +

maximum

W = F .(A T A C ). 1 + T .( N + S L )
F
A A

.(2.3)

L = N+S

WT1 = WC F .(A T A C ). 1 +

A C .S. F + F .(A T A C ). 1 +

1+

AT

AA

(L2) until when L = S (L3) that is to say until

the mattress of liquid arrives to the surface and
where there is not effect of pressure of the
liquid in the annulus, we have :
WF = F .(A T A C ).S .....(2.5)
WT2 = WC .L + S. F .(A T 2.A C ) ....(2.6)

For the interval from L = S (L3) until L = 0

(L4), the weight of fluid is variable because
there is production of fluids, we have :
WT3 = [WC + F .(A T 2.A C )].L (2.7)

If the WC > F .(A T A C ). 1 +

, the
A A
AT

maximum weight is given when L = N + S ,

then from the equation 2.4 or 2.6, we have :
Pot
WMAX = WC .( N + S) F .A C .S =
V
Pot
WC .N
V
.(2.8)
S=
WC F .A C

and

S
= WC .( N + S)
A

1+ T

AA

WMAX =

S=

For the interval from L = N + S

WMAX

AT
.(N + S)
AA

AT

is

AT

, the
A A

given
then

when

from

the

AA
equation 2.4 or 2.6 we have:

A T

.L
A A

weight
S
1+

and the total weight (WT1) is:

WT1 = WC .L A C .S. F + WF ......(2.4)

Pot
V
Pot
V

WC
1+

+ S. F .(A T 2.A C )

AT

WC .N

+ F .(A T 2.A C )

..(2.9)

AA

Case 2: N <= S , It happens in wells with high

submergence
For the interval from L = N + S (L1) until
L = S (L2), the mattress of liquid arrives to
surface, but the location of the plunger is
below the level of fluid in the annulus and
where there is effect of pressure of the liquid
in the annulus over the plunger, we have :

WF = F .(A T A C ). 1 +

AT
.(N + S L )
A A

(2.10)

.L
A

A
A C .S. F + F .(A T A C ). 1 + T .( N + S)
AA

WT1 = WC F .(A T A C ). 1 +

AT

For the interval from the arrival of the

mattress of liquid to the surface until the point
where the level of fluid coincides in the
annulus with the plunger and where there is
effect of the pressure of the liquid in the
annulus over the plunger, that is to say of

ANTHONY ALFARO PREZ

N + S.
L = S (L2), until L =

1+

SPE 69515

AT
AA

AT

WMAX = (WC F .A C ).S + F (A T A C ) (1 +

(L3), we

AA

have:

A
A
WF = F .(A T A C ). N. 1 + T + (S L ). T
AA
AA

Pot
V

Pot

S=

F (A T A C ) 1 +

AT

For the calculation of the Maximum Submergence,

intervals (L1, L2, L3 and L4) were defined and
equations that model the values of weight that cable
supports in each interval, as in the presented case;
then the Consumption of Energy for each race of
Swabbing, we have :

A
A
+ F (A T A C ) N 1 + T + S T
AA
AA

WF = F .(A T A C ).L

WT3 = [WC + F .(A T 2A C )].L ..(2.12)

If

the

WC > F .(A T A C ). 1 +

AT

,
A A

the

Pot
V

Pot

WC .N
V
S=
(2.13)
WC F .A C

If the

WC <= F .(A T A C ). 1 +

L2

L3

L4

L1

L2

L3

Energia = WT1 .dL + WT2 .dL + WT3 .dL ..(2.15)

3.

Cost Structure
The analysis is made for a certain company, reason for
which they will appear ahead, relating quantities to
prices, salaries, statistical data, etc., with the only
purpose to show how the calculations were made to
determine the Cost Curve.
Amortizacin:

maximum weight is given when L = N + S , then

from the equation 2.10 we have:
WMAX = WC .( N + S) F .A C .S =

..(2.14)

Consumption of Energy:

.L +
AA

For the interval where there is no effect of the

pressure of the annulus over the plunger, that
A
N + S. T
AA
(L3), until
is to say from L =
AT
1+
AA
L = 0 (L4), we have:

AT
.N
A A

WC F .A C

(2.11)
WT2 = WC F .A C F .(A T A C ).

.N =
A A
AT

AT

, the
A A

maximum weight is given when L = S and then

from the equation 2.10 or 2.11 we have:

It is a fixed cost and it will be assumed constant

during a"(20) years of useful life, considering an
interest rate i"(15%), the cost in us$/hrs is :
n
CostoMquina.(1 + i )
Amortizacin =
0
a
365x24 (1 + i )
a =n 1

Personal :
It is a fixed cost by steps, where each step determines
the quantity of swabbing equipment of the company.
The tables 1, 2 and 3 show the personnel's monthly
salaries and a distribution of personnel of the
company according to the number of equipments for
Tubing and Casing Swabbing.
Additional to this, 60% should be considered for the
payment of social laws (Bonuses, vacations,
insurance, etc), us$100/year for personal clothes

SPE 69515

OPTIMIZING SWABBING OF MARGINAL WELLS THROUGH SIMULATION STUDIES

allowance, us$3650/year food allowance for each

supervisor. The costs in us$/hora is:
Personal =

Costo + 0.6Costo + Ropa + Alimentacion

Cups = 18 0.25

Fixed cost that is considered in us$22500 each 5

years for purchase of a van for each 2 supervisors
with 20 gal/day of consumption of gas. Rent of van
for transport of personal at us$60/da with 20 gal/day
of consumption of gas. The cost in us$/hora would
be:
Vehiculo =

and a weight of 0.75 for the variable of traveled

distance. The equation that relates the consumption of
rubber cups with the production (Q) and the
swabbing depth (Prof) for each swabbing race is:

30x24

Vehicles :

N Superv
2

40 60
22500
+ 2.5x +
24 24
5 * 365 * 24

Fixed cost is considered for each radio equipment for

each swabbing machine and one for each supervisor
at us $500/radio for every 10 years. The cost in
us$/hora would be:
500

Radio = N Superv.

10 * 365 * 24
Swabbing Rubber Cups Consumption:
From the statistical data it is shown that:
Prof avg / well:
N of swab races avg/well:
Production avg/well:
Avg of wells with swab/day:
Avg Cons. of swab cups/day:
Cost of each swab rubber cups:

4500 feet
6
30 bfpd
10
6
us $18

From where you can calculate the consumption of

swabbing rubber cups for distance traveled or for
barrels produced of fluid:
CupsCons. =
CupsCons. =

cups

ft Travel

45000

1 cups

bfpd
Produced

50

The wear out of rubber cups happens from the

friction with the wall of the tubing or casing and it
becomes more important when significant volumes of
production are extracted, reason for which we assume
a weight of 0.25 for the variable of the production

Q
50

+ 0.75

Prof

us$/run

45000

Wireline wear:
The wireline wear happens for the same reasons
explained in the consumption of rubber cups, with the
additional fact that the consumption average is of 1
roll of 10000 feet every 4 months whose cost is of
us$4000. Therefore the consumption for traveled feet
or produced barrels is as follows :
CableCons. =

Communications Equipment:

CacleCons. =

1
324x10
1

(Roll feet traveled)

Rollos

bfpd Produced

36000

Therefore the equation that relates the wireline

consumption for each swabbing race is:

Cable = 4000 0.25

36000
.(14)

+ 0.75

324x10
Prof

us$/run
5

Lubricator Packers
They use one packing per day for swabbing
equipment, at an average, at a cost of us$ 8 and the
consumption depends on the same conditions and
variables as the consumption of rubber cups.
Therefore the packers consumption for traveled
distance or produced barrels is:
1
Pkrs
PackerCons. =
ft traveled
270000

PackerCons. =

1 Pkrs

bfpd Produced
300

Therefore the equation that relates the consumption

of packings for each suab race is:

Packers = 8 0.25

Q
300

+ 0.75

Prof

us$/run

270000

ANTHONY ALFARO PREZ

speeds to travel to the bottom is about 600 ft/min,

transportation time, assembly and unassembly of the
swabbing equipment of 1.5 hrs. From the preceding
information the expenses for race or intervention are
calculated.

Maintenance:
It is a fixed cost where we consider the Preventive
and Corrective Maintenance, change of tires and
change of batteries for the Vans, Cisterns and
Swabbing Equipment. The charts 4, 5 and 6 show
details of costs, for what we have the costs in
us$/hora:
2745
MtoSwab =
= 3.81
30x24
1374
MtoCisterna =
= 1.90
30x24
636
MtoVan =
= 0.88
30x24
General Expenses:
Fixed expenses cost to include location rent, water
consumption, electric power, telephone, office
materials, estimated in us$3000/mes for 10 swabbing
equipment. The cost in us$/hrs for equipment would
be:
GtosGral =

3000
24 * 30 * 10

Net Revenues:
The Net Revenues is obtained by difference between the
revenues and expenses.
5.

Programming
It is prepared in Visual Basic language and it executes all
that described in the item 4 (Calculations), the interfaces
with the user (forms) they are shown in the fig. 5 and 6,
the logic was prepared in the following way:
1.
2.
3.

= 0.42

Fuel Consumption :

Calculations
Revenues:
It is related with the contribution of fluids and the
frequency of intervention, the submergence of the
plunger, the number of swabbing races and the sale price
of the extracted petroleum, with this information, the
revenues of the race or of the intervention, are calculated
Expenses
The equations that model the structure of costs are given
in us$/hra or us$/run. For the determination of time that
it takes a race or an intervention of a well, the speed of
the plunger to reach the top is about 800 ft/min and

Assign for the well an intervention frequency (i),

which initially takes the value of 1.
the program calculates the revenues, expenses and
Net revenues, for race and for intervention, for the
current value of i.
if the value of " i " is 1, it returns to the point 1 and it
fixes a new value of i = i + 1 , that is to say 2. If the
value of "i" is geater than 1, then the following
question is asked:
If the Net Revenues (U) it is greater than zero:
- If U i +1 < U i , the value of " i " is the optimun
frequency.
- If U i +1 > U i , maximum Net Revenues not
reached, it returns to point 1 and it fixes a new
value of " i ".
If the Net Revenues is equal to zero, then with the
value of " i " the economic limit of intervention is
reached for a well.
If the Net Revenues is less than zero:
- If i < 365 , it returns to the point 1 and it fixes
a new value of " i "
- If i >= 365 , the program stops and it sends
the message of non-economic

Is related with the energy consumption(before this

equation already was calculated) in the operation of
Swabbing which is a variable cost and the transport
of the swabbing equipment to the wells would
represent a fixed cost. To determine the volumes,
wich calorie mesure are used as follows (20750 btu/lb
with 60API) and for diesel or gasoil (19200 btu/lb
with 32.5API), as the case may be.
4.

SPE 69515

4.

Determined the optimun frequency, the value of

revenues, expenses and utilities, for " race " and for
intervention are shown.

The following is the flow diagram :

SPE 69515

OPTIMIZING SWABBING OF MARGINAL WELLS THROUGH SIMULATION STUDIES

Initial(i=0)
i =i+1

Cost
Income
Utilities (U)

i=1

NO

yes

yes
U>0

NO

i < 365

NO

yes
NO

Ui+1 < Ui
yes

Optimun
Frecuency

End

Nomenclature:
Wc
F
N
S
Pot
V
AA
AT
AC

: Linear weight of the wireline of Swabbing

: Specific weight of the fluid
: Level of the fluid in the Casing
: Submergence of the Plunger
: Power of the swabbing machine
: Speed of the Plunger
: Area of the annul space between the Casing and the Tubing
: Interior area of the Tubing
: Cable traverse section

Non-Economic

ANTHONY ALFARO PREZ

SPE 69515

Fig. 1-Types of Swabbing

Tubing
Casing
Cable
Cable

Plunger with
cups

Plunger
with cups

Tubing Suab

Casing Suab

Fig. 2 Build up of fluids level

NI

dH
H2
H
NF
TopeS
TopeI

H1

SPE 69515

OPTIMIZING SWABBING OF MARGINAL WELLS THROUGH SIMULATION STUDIES

Fig. 3 - Maximun Submergence in Tubing Swabbing

L
S
NF
S
L

Figure N 4
Optimizing of swabbing wells
30000

Optimun

20000

Net Revenues

us$/year

10000

Revenues

0
1

10

11

12

-10000
-20000

Expenses

-30000
-40000
Frecuency(days)

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

10

ANTHONY ALFARO PREZ

SPE 69515

Figure N 5 - Main Menu Input

Figure N 6 - Main Menu Results

Table 1 - Monthly Salary of the workers

Salary

Manag.

$/mes

Superv.

Mecan

2000 1000 500

Weld.

Empl.

Secreta.

Winche. Cistern.

Pocero

Relevo

500

300

300

500

500

500

500

Table 2 - Tubing Swabbing workers

Equip.

Manag.

Superv.

Mecan

Weld.d

Empl.

Secreta.

Winche. Cistern.

Pocero

Relevo

Cost

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
3
4

1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2

1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2

0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20

2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
7
8
9

5800
11300
14800
19300
22800
27600
32100
35100
38600
43100

2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20

SPE 69515

OPTIMIZING SWABBING OF MARGINAL WELLS THROUGH SIMULATION STUDIES

Table 3 - Casing Swabbing workers

Equip.

Manag.

Superv.

Mecan

Wel.

Empl.

Secreta.

Winche. Pocero

Relevo

Cost

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
3
4

1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2

1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2

0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20

1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
5

4800
9300
11300
14800
16800
20600
23600
26100
28100
31100

2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20

Table 4 - Maintenance Cost of swabbing equipment

Maintenance
Tires
Baterys
Total

Annual
expenses
12
11
2

Unit Cost

us$/year

us$/month

2265
500
130

27180
5500
260
32940

2265
458
22
2745

Table 5 - Maintenance Cost of Cistern Truck

Maintenance
Tires
Baterys
Total

Annual
Expenses
12
7
2

Unit Cost

us$/year

us$/month

1060
500
130

12720
3500
260
16480

1060
458
22
1374

Table 6 - Maintenance Cost of trucks

Maintenance
Tires
Baterys
Total

Annual
Expenses
12
10
2

Unit Cost

us$/year

us$/month

532
115
50

6384
1150
100
7634

532
96
8
636

11