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This paper is to be presented at the Petroleum Societys Canadian International Petroleum Conference 2002, Calgary, Alberta,
Canada, June 11 13, 2002. Discussion of this paper is invited and may be presented at the meeting if filed in writing with the
technical program chairman prior to the conclusion of the meeting. This paper and any discussion filed will be considered for
publication in Petroleum Society journals. Publication rights are reserved. This is a pre-print and subject to correction.
This paper investigates the behaviour of gas The presence of a liquid phase during gas production
condensate wells in a deep basin fractured sandstone has long been recognized as detrimental to well flow. In
reservoir in Alberta. Regardless of the initial well gas condensate reservoirs, as the gas in the reservoir
productivity, sooner or later, declining reservoir travels towards the wellbore, it encounters decreasing
pressures and/or poor productivity cause wells to liquid pressures and as a result a liquid hydrocarbon phase
load. The first and the cheapest solution is to produce (condensate) is formed below the dew point pressure1.
these wells intermittently. Although such wells continue Furthermore, as the gas travels to the surface, the
1
pressure and temperature decreases causing more liquid by installing a controller and an intermitter at the well
to drop out of the gas phase. head. No downhole modifications are needed. The well is
shut in for specific periods of time so that enough energy
As long as the gas flow rate is sufficiently high to
can be built up to lift the liquids out of the wellbore.
maintain annular mist flow, these liquids are lifted out of
Accumulated gas in the casing tubing annulus essentially
the well. However, when the tubing velocity becomes too
blows the liquid to the surface. However, intermittent
small to maintain steady flow conditions, loading up of
well production is only a temporary solution as there are
the well by liquid accumulation becomes a problem. The
several problems which cause the daily production time,
problem can be attributed to a low gas production rate
hence the gas rate, to gradually decrease.
due to low bottom hole pressure in a mature reservoir
and/or low gas relative permeability for given The condensate is lifted from the well in the form of a
conditions1. The flow regime in the wellbore switches slug. Among other factors, the size and length of the
from annular mist flow to churning or slug flow and the tubing also influences the slug recovery efficiency. As
liquid lifting capacity of the gas decreases dramatically. the slug moves towards the surface, the tubing walls exert
The flow rate for this switch is called the critical flow a certain amount of friction. Thus, a drag on the outer
rate2,3. perimeter of the slug is created while the central core
moves with a higher velocity. At the same time, the gas
Below the critical flow rate, liquids tend to migrate
underneath attempts to breakthrough. In addition, each
down the tubing and start to collect at the bottom. For a
produced slug wets the tubing walls as it is being
while the well will be able to unload small slugs on its
produced. This wetting film, together with the portion of
own. The well will eventually stop flowing continuously
the slug that is bypassed due to the friction, cause what is
and the fluid is produced in small heads with spikes of
known as fallback.
gas. If no remedial measures are taken the problem will
worsen as the liquids continue to accumulate in the The severity of the fallback is a function of the slug
tubing and the production rate continually decreases4,5. velocity, which in turn, is a function of the pressure
Finally, at a certain fluid level the liquid accumulation difference between the bottom hole and the wellhead.
can load up and kill the well due to the backpressure Depending on this pressure difference, the lifting
exerted on the formation and the reduced gas relative efficiency can range from 60% to as low as 30%. This
permeability in the vicinity of the perforations1,6. inefficiency also creates an unnecessarily heavy flowing
gradient in the tubing causing higher flowing bottom hole
Various technologies are available to deal with liquid
pressures and reduced drawdown. The reduced
loading in gas wells7 . They include sucker rod pump,
drawdown results in less inflow from the formation.
additional compression, plunger lift, siphon string, gas
lift, intermittent production and velocity strings. Correct In an intermittent producing well, there is a minimum
selection of the artificial lift method is important to the liquid column height (submergence) necessary for a
long term profitability of a given well. A poor choice can beginning slug to achieve an acceptable recovery at the
reduce production and increase operating costs. For low surface. The portion of the slug lost as fallback increases
rate gas reservoirs, the capital investment and operating with depth, thus, the deeper the well, the higher the
cost associated with the solution must be small. For submergence necessary for acceptable recovery.
instance, sucker rod pumps are too costly to install in Intermittent well production cannot be used once the
these reservoirs unless they are very shallow. bottom hole pressure decreases below that necessary to
support the required liquid column height.
INTERMITTENT WELL PRODUCTION The inflow from the formation is reduced due to the
One of the lowest cost solutions is to sustain the backpressure exerted by an increasing hydrostatic
natural flow of the well by alternate flow and shut-in column. The higher columns require longer build up
periods. This can either be done manually or automated times. The gas inflow is higher at the beginning of the
2
cycle, therefore, there is a distinct advantage to working the tubing in addition to the flow of gas from the
with smaller liquid slugs. Consequently, increasing the formation creates a high instantaneous velocity that
cycle frequency may result in some additional production causes a pressure drop across the plunger and the liquid.
for a period of time. The plunger then moves upwards, pushing all of the
liquids in the tubing above it.
PRODUCTION WITH PLUNGER LIFT Upon arrival of the plunger at the surface, the tubing
This method is an artificial lift technique that uses a string is completely free of liquids. At this point, the
free piston or plunger to lift the fluids to the surface using formation encounters the least resistance to flow.
the reservoir energy stored in the gas. Installation of a Depending on the productivity of the well, high flow
plunger eliminates or drastically reduces all of the rates can be maintained for some incremental time by
problems associated with intermittent well production by leaving the flow line open. This period is called the
acting as a mechanical interface between the lift gas and afterflow. The well is shut in when loading is evidenced
the condensate4,5,8-10. The efficiency of the lift now again, allowing the plunger to fall and the cycle is
increases dramatically to almost 100%. repeated.
3
The average reservoir pressure is 21 MPa and the with daily production data. The current gas production
temperature is 82 0C. The reservoir has a gas condensate rate is determined using a fourteen day average.
fluid which yields 170 m3/E6m3 (30 bbl/mmscf) of free
Having obtained the above data, it is possible to
liquids at the well head and further processing yields
calculate the inflow performance of the well and overlay
another 280 m3/E6m3 (50 bbl/mmscf) liquids for a total
the tubing performance curve on it. The operating points
liquid content of 450 m3/E6m3 (80 bbl/mmscf). The
before and after the plunger lift installation yield the
initial reservoir pressure is very close to the dew point
expected gas flow rate increase upon the plunger lift
pressure.
installation. A comparison of predicted versus the actual
increase in gas flow rates in shown in Figure 4 for the
IDENTIFICATION OF PLUNGER LIFT wells where a plunger lift has been installed in 2001 and
CANDIDATE WELLS
2002. A perfect match would have been the 45-degree
The first step in identification of plunger lift line shown on this plot and the dashed lines indicate a
candidates is to inspect the difference between the tubing variation of 10% from it. It can be concluded that the
head pressure and the casing head pressure. Wells with increase in rate can be estimated using the above
large differential pressure between the casing and tubing, technique with reasonable confidence for the majority of
which indicates liquid loading, are considered prime the wells.
candidates for plunger lift installations.
The second step is to estimate the potential flow rate WELL PERFORMANCES
increase with the plunger lift. Naturally, wells with the When the wells are put on production, the initial
largest impact are given priority for plunger lift drawdown causes liquids to drop out in the reservoir and
installation. The estimation of a wells performance with the gas relative permeability decreases rapidly resulting
the plunger lift requires at least two important pieces of in steep production declines1,12. After a certain period of
information. These are the current reservoir pressure and time (3 to 12 months) a semi steady state is reached and
the producing liquid-to-gas ratio for the well under the rate of production decline is reduced. The decline
consideration. rates and time to reach semi steady state flow is
The current reservoir pressure is obtained using the gas controlled by the permeability of the drainage area as
material balance equation. The material balance requires well as the amount of the drawdown applied at the well.
the original reservoir pressure and the original gas in A typical well is shown in Figure 5 where the initial
place (OGIP). These values are then plotted on a graph of rapid decline occurs over the first 9 months of
P/Z versus cumulative gas produced. The original production. This period is followed by relatively mild
reservoir pressure is usually constant throughout the area. decline when the semi steady state is reached. An
The OGIP is determined as the reserves available to the intermitter was installed at 23 months as flow rates
well within its drainage area by analyzing the gas rate declined to the point where liquids were not being lifted
versus time and extrapolation of the decline curve to the efficiently. The intermitter worked well for another year.
economic limit. Once the original reservoir pressure and However, when pressures declined further so that the
OGIP are known, the current reservoir pressure is liquid submergence could not be handled by the gas
determined from the material balance equation using the production, then the rate of production decline increased
cumulative gas produced to date. significantly. Longer and longer build up times were
The liquid-to-gas ratios are determined using current needed to lift the liquid column.
production data. Since the liquid is not removed from a The higher production declines started at 35 months in
well on a consistent basis, it is important to have a few this well and continued until a plunger lift was installed at
months of liquid-to-gas ratios so that a reliable estimate 47 months. Initial variation in the gas flow rate reflects
can be made. The information is obtained from a database the efforts to optimize the plunger operation while a new
4
semi steady state was being established. Based on the 11 Incremental reserves are 231.4 E6m3 (8.171 bcf) for
months of production after the plunger lift was installed, the wells shown in Table 1 and 176.4 E6m3 (6.229 bcf)
a clear production decline trend has not been established for the wells shown in Table 2. If one includes the
yet. A conservative estimate would be a decline similar to associated liquids with these incremental reserves then
the decline established during the initial semi steady state the cost of adding reserves were 0.126 $/m3 oil equivalent
flow between the months 9 to 34 which is shown on this (0.02 $/boe) and 0.315 $/m3 oil equivalent (0.05 $/boe),
plot. for the wells shown in Tables 1 and 2, respectively. The
wells paid out the investment in plunger lifts in 2 to 4
The reserves associated with this well can be
months. Therefore, the project is considered to be a
calculated based on the exponential production decline
technical and economic success. Currently, Husky Oil
before and after the installation of the plunger lift. This is
Operations Limited have an active work plan to extend
shown in Figure 6. The well would have produced 23.4
the plunger lifts installations to the rest of the field where
E6m3 (0.827 bcf) of gas without the plunger lift. The
it is warranted.
installation of the plunger lift increased the reserves by
50% to 35.0 E6m3 (1.237 bcf).
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Another example of the well behaviour in the Ansell
Regardless of initial well productivity, wells in the
field is shown in Figures 7 and 8. In this case an
Ansell gas condensate field eventually liquid load due to
intermitter was installed at 19 months and the plunger lift
declining reservoir pressure and/or low gas permeability.
was installed at 29 months. Based on the performance of
The problem can be temporarily remedied by producing
the well for 21 months after the plunger lift installation,
the wells intermittently. However, intermitting is
the reserves increased by 197% to 21.8 E6m3 (0.772 bcf).
inefficient and cannot be used once the bottomhole
Note that, the decline assumed by the well after the
pressure decreases below that necessary to support the
plunger lift installation was significantly less than that
required liquid column height. Installation of a plunger
established during the initial semi steady state that lasted
lift eliminates the liquid fallback problem associated with
between months 4 to 18 for this particular well.
intermittent well production. Consequently, the
It should be noted that, although most of the wells production can be restored with decline rates equal to or
follow a similar trend to the two discussed above, there below previous levels.
were some exceptions. In some wells, the increased rate
The application of the plunger lift technology in Ansell
of production decline prior to the plunger lift installation
resulted in total incremental gas reserves of 14.400 bcf.
was not very prominent. In other wells, the semi steady
These reserves were added at an average cost of 0.03
state was attained very quickly and there was only one
$/boe. The initial project is considered to be a technical
long production decline period prior to the accelerated
and economic success and is now being extended to the
decline that happens due to liquid loading.
rest of the field.
RESULTS
REFERENCES
Plunger lifts were installed in one well in 1997, two
1 . Coskuner, G. Performance Prediction in Gas
wells in 1999, two wells in 2000 and fourteen wells in
Condensate Reservoirs, Distinguished Author
2001. There were three additional wells in 2002, but their
Series, J. Canadian Petroleum Technology, Vol. 38,
performance history with the plunger lift has been brief
No. 8, 32-36, August 1999
and, hence, are not included in the performance analysis
here. Reserves additions attributed to the plunger lift for 2 . Turner, R.G., Hubbard, M.G., Dukler, A.E.,
the pre-2001 wells are shown in Table 1, and for year- Analysis and Prediction of Minimum Flow Rate for
2001 wells in Table 2. the Continuous Removal of Liquids from Gas
Wells, J. Pet. Tech., 1475-1482, November 1969
5
3 . Coleman, S.B., Clay H.B., McCurdy, D.G., Lee 8 . Wiggins, M.L., Nguyen, S.H., Gasbarri, S.,
Norris, H., A New Look at Predicting Gas Well Optimising Plunger Lift Operations in Oil and Gas
Load Up, J. Pet. Tech., 329-333, March 1991 Wells, SPE 52119, Presented at the SPE Mid-
Continent Operations Symposium, Oklahoma City,
4 . Beauregard, E., Ferguson, P.L., Introduction to
Oklahoma, March 28-31, 1999
Plunger Lift: Applications, Advantages and
Limitations, Presented at the Southwestern 9 . Avery, D.J, Evans, R.D., Design Optimization of
Petroleum Short Course, Dept. of Petroleum Plunger Lift Systems, SPE 17585, presented at the
Engineering, Texas Tech. University, Lubbock, SPE International Meeting on Petroleum
Texas, April 23-24, 1981 Engineering, Tianjin, China, November 1-4, 1988
5 . Ferguson, P.L., Beuregard, E., Will Plunger Lift 10. Neves, T.R., Brimhall, R.M., Elimination of Liquid
Work in My Well, Presented at the Southwestern Loading in Low Productivity Gas Wells, SPE
Petroleum Short Course, Dept. of Petroleum 18833, presented at the SPE Production Operations
Engineering, Texas Tech. University, Lubbock, Symposium, , Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,March 13-
Texas, April 27-28, 1983 14, 1989
6 . Yamamoto, H., Christiansen, R.L., Enhancing 11. Ferguson, P.L., Beauregard, E., Extending
Liquid Lift from Low Pressure Gas Reservoirs, SPE Economic Limits and Reducing Lifting Costs:
55625, presented at the SPE Rocky Mountain Plungers Prove to be Long Term Solutions,
Regional Meeting, Gillette, Wyoming, May 15-18, Presented at the Southwestern Petroleum Short
1999 Course, Dept. of Petroleum Engineering, Texas
Tech. University, Lubbock, Texas, April 20-21, 1988
7 . Clegg, J.D., Bucaram, S.M., Hein, N.W.,
Recommendations and Comparisons for Selecting 12. Coskuner, G., Microvisual Study of Multiphase Gas
Artificial Lift Methods, J. Pet. Tech., 1128-1131, Condensate Flow in Porous Media, Transport in
1163-1167, December 1993 Porous Media, vol. 28, 1-18, 1997
6
Table 1. Plunger Lift Installations Before 2001
WELL Reserves Reserves Incremental Incremental
(bcf) (bcf) Reserves Reserves
Prior P/L Post P/L (bcf) (%)
7
Figure 1. Typical Gas Well Production Decline Curve
(Reference 5)
8
Figure 4. Incremental Gas Rate Prediction
100
60
40
20
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
10,000
1,000
100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Months
1,200
Plunger Lift Installed
1,000
Gas Rate (mcf/cd)
800
600
400
200
0
0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 1200000 1400000
Cumulative Gas Produced (mcf)
9
Figure 7. Well 2 Production Decline
1,000
Plunger Lift Installed
Gas Rate (mcf/cd)
100
10
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Months
500
400
350
Gas Rate (mcf/cd)
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
0 100000 200000 300000 400000 500000 600000 700000 800000 900000
Cumulative Gas Produced (mcf)
10