SPE-173972-MS

Well Performance and Production Optimization Through the Use of ESPs

as Artificial Lift Method
Guilherme Hartenbach, Statoil; João Magalhães, Baker Hughes; Yngve Belsvik, Statoil; Rui Pessoa,
and Daniel Lemos, Baker Hughes

Copyright 2015, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Artificial Lift Conference — Latin America and Caribbean held in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, 27–28 May 2015.

This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents
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Abstract
Peregrino field, a Statoil asset in Campos Basin approximately 85 km (53 miles) offshore from Cabo
Frio/Rio de Janeiro state in Brazil, completes 4 years of production in April 2015 with the use of electrical
submersible pumps as the primary artificial lift method. The oil in Peregrino is highly viscous, reaching
up to 365 cP at reservoir conditions (234 bars and 82 °C), and API gravity varies between 13° and 15°
API. The field development is accomplished by two drilling- capable wellhead platforms where produced
fluids are transferred to a central moored floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) through
booster pumps. There are 27 producer wells and 6 injector wells in operation. The field is producing close
to 100,000 BPD of oil. In nearly 4 years of operation water cut has reached up to 95% in some of the wells
and, within specific water cut range, emulsion has become a reality and a challenging factor for ESP
operation.
Despite the shear effect that liquid undergoes in centrifugal pumps and sand control screens, during the
field basis of design phase emulsions were not expected to be a big concern. However, some actions like
downhole chemical injection were taken in case emulsions developed. Maximum viscosity considered was
up to 2 times the oil viscosity at reservoir conditions and simulations showed acceptable pump behavior
and production. On the other hand field experience has required simulator adjustments up to 11 times the
PVT oil viscosity for water cut in the range of 30% and 60%. Empirical modifiers were obtained from
controlled in-house loop tests to contemplate viscosity effects on pump head, flow and break horsepower
simulations.
Due to the high emulsion viscosity, which generally leads to production loss and flow instability, the
ESP performance has been severely affected. This has been observed as high differential pressure and
motor electrical current fluctuations leading to possible fatigue of ESP internal components and produc-
tion deferment. This paper describes the emulsion issues faced in Peregrino and the challenges to
minimize their effects.
The objective of this paper is to describe the performance of the field, status and experience gained with
Peregrino production regarding optimization and ESP performance.
2 SPE-173972-MS

Introduction
Peregrino is the first oil field operated by Statoil in Brazil, in partnership with Sinochem. Because of the
heavy and viscous nature of the produced oil and the low pressure support from the reservoir, the use of
electrical submersible pump (ESP) was chosen as the artificial lift method. After water breakthrough
occurs in some of the wells, emulsion becomes a reality for ESP operation, leading to production loss and
flow instability and possibly reducing ESP run life. The presence of water in the liquid stream is necessary
for downhole emulsion formation. This can occur because of natural surfactant agents in the oil, of which
composition knowledge is limited. Elements like porous media, gravel packed screens and centrifugal
pumps are important shear sources that can trigger stable emulsion formation.
The negative effect of emulsion for ESPs includes fluid viscosity increase, leading to the decrease of
pump performance, reduction of the lifting capacity per stage, reduction of the flow rate delivery and an
increase in power consumption. Furthermore, at determined values of water cut, which may vary
according to well fluid properties, emulsion formation seems to follow an unstable pattern, generating
extreme oscillation on pump performance. Pumping oscillations affect not only production and the FPSO
process, but may also mechanically stress the ESP components.
The formation of emulsion plays an important role on well performance. Therefore, production
optimization in the presence of emulsions is very important to minimize such high viscosity negative
effects and improve ESP run life.
Fig. 1 illustrates a completion sketch of a Peregrino well, showing the ESP placed above the downhole
chemical injection sub.

Figure 1—Basic completion sketch of a Peregrino well

Production Challenges
Most of the wells in Peregrino operate within a water cut range in which emulsions are more stable. The
high shear stresses experienced by the fluid along the way from the reservoir up to the wellhead (reservoir,
SPE-173972-MS 3

screens, ESP, valves, etc.) together with natural surfactant agents present in the oil, as asphaltenes, which
can act as the emulsifying agent, forms stable water in oil type of emulsion. The most challenging effect
of water production is increasing fluid viscosity as water cut increases. Production loss, flow instability
and possible early failure of ESP mechanical components are among the consequences of the presence of
emulsion faced in Peregrino.

Pressure loss
Water in oil emulsion, commonly observed in Peregrino, indicates that the droplet size of the dispersed
phase may influence the emulsion rheology. At high stresses, the viscosity of the emulsion increases. For
water in oil emulsion, the smaller the water droplet size in the oil phase, the higher the apparent viscosity
of the fluid, resulting in higher flow pressure drop.
Pump discharge pressure is the ideal nodal point to monitor pressure loss along the tubing for ESP
systems. Flow pressure loss is monitored (over time) by trending the difference between wellhead and
downhole pressures. The higher the pressure drop between the ESP discharge and the wellhead, the more
head is required from the pump to lift the fluid column. For centrifugal pumps, while the head required
to lift the fluid column increases the flow rate delivered by the pump decreases.
Emulsion phase inversion for Peregrino was observed at water cuts between 35% and 65%, after which
the rheological characteristics of the emulsion change drastically, significantly reducing the associated
pressure drop. The higher the oil viscosity, the lower the inversion point observed.
Fig. 2 to 4 show the pressure drop across the tubing for three wells, where oil viscosity ranges from
140 cP (well A) to 365 cP (well C) at reservoir conditions (same for all three wells).

Figure 2—Pressure drop across tubing for well A (viscosity 140 cP)
4 SPE-173972-MS

Figure 3—Pressure drop across tubing for well B (viscosity 240 cP)
SPE-173972-MS 5

Figure 4 —Pressure drop across tubing for well C (viscosity 365 cP)

Well A, with the lowest oil viscosity among the abovementioned wells (140 cP at reservoir conditions)
presents a pressure drop behavior associated with an inversion of emulsion type at a relatively high water
cut (60%). Well B, with an oil viscosity of 240 cP at reservoir conditions, presents a pressure drop
behavior associated with an inversion of emulsion type at 45% water cut. Well C, with the highest oil
viscosity among the abovementioned wells (365 cP at reservoir conditions) presents a pressure drop
behavior associated with an inversion of emulsion type at a very low water cut (34%).
For all three cases, the pressure drop reduces significantly at the determined water cut, indicating a
sharp reduction in fluid viscosity caused by the change in emulsion type from oil continuous to water
continuous.
Before emulsion type inversion occurs, the flow rate reduction trend, caused by the increasing viscosity
of the mixture, can be compensated by increasing the ESP operating frequency or reducing the wellhead
pressure. ESP and well limitations, either downhole or at topside, must be taken into account when
accelerating the ESP. Factors such as topside power, ESP, differential pressure and intake pressure may
limit frequency increase and compromise well performance.

Unstable Production
The viscosity of an emulsion can change because of varying factors including but not limited to
temperature, water cut and stability of the emulsion. Well pressure instability is observed during operation
affecting flow rate. The instability is characterized by oscillations on ESP parameters, such as downhole
pressure and electrical current. Frequency and amplitude of oscillations may vary according to fluid
properties. Fig. 5 shows a period of unstable production.
6 SPE-173972-MS

Figure 5—Well parameters instability

Temperature alone can have a significant effect on the viscosity and stability of an emulsion. When a
high viscous emulsion enters the pump, its efficiency is significantly reduced. Most of the pump brake
horsepower (BHP) is converted into heat which is transferred to the fluid. Production fluid temperature
is increased to a point where emulsions are broken, leading to a reduction in viscosity and higher flow rate.
As flow rate increases, the temperature of the produced fluid decreases over time to a certain point where
emulsions form again. A cyclic process is initiated, resulting in high oscillation on ESP parameters and
flow rate. Such an effect can be more accentuated when operating close to the phase inversion point where
higher viscosities are observed.
Downhole emulsion breaker injection is performed upstream from the ESP intake and may be directly
affected by pressure fluctuations. Injection lines are connected to downhole valves which require
differential pressure to inject. Topside pumps are used to pressurize chemical injection lines and valves
against ESP intake pressure and control injection rate. Optimum downhole chemical injection can be
jeopardized whenever pressure oscillation is verified across the ESP. Intake pressure fluctuations can then
be transferred to the valve, causing the injection rate to oscillate, which makes it even harder to stabilize
flow.
An alternative theory to explain the flow oscillations verified with emulsion formation relates to an
intermittent chemical injection system. Whenever the pressure upstream from the chemical injection line
is high enough to provide the needed differential pressure to open the downhole valve, a determined
volume of emulsion breaker is injected at the intake of the ESP, lowering the viscosity of the produced
fluid and increasing flow rate. What follows is the lowering of the hydrostatic column in the chemical
injection line (although the downhole valve must be designed to avoid that from happening), reducing the
pressure upstream the downhole valve up to a value in which differential pressure across it is negative and
the injection is shut. The topside pump keeps the injection in the chemical line, increasing the hydrostatic
column until it is high enough to resume chemical injection into the tubing, lowering the viscosity of the
produced fluid. A cyclic operation is initiated where the downhole chemical injection valve opens and
closes for injection, creating the flow oscillations verified at the ESP.
Pressure chart recorders are installed topside to capture the downhole chemical valve behavior every
time flow oscillations at ESP are observed. Fig. 6 shows a pressure chart corresponding to one day
injection period. The valleys are the period after which valve opens, corresponding to absence of fluid at
surface pump.
SPE-173972-MS 7

Figure 6 —Pressure chart recorded during flow oscillation

The downhole chemical injection valves were redesigned in an attempt to reduce such oscillations with
good success.
Wide Operating Window
The electrical submersible pumping systems deliver an effective and economical way of lifting large
volumes of fluids from great depths under a variety of well conditions. ESP is a very versatile artificial
lift method and can be found in operating environments all over the world. Well characteristics play a
critical role in the proper design and deployment of an electrical submersible pump (ESP) system. It
directly affects the performance, efficiency and run life of the ESP system.
The Peregrino ESP basis of design initially selected three systems to cover Peregrino production with
a wide operating range to care for reservoir uncertainties. Production wells can be classified into three
categories: high, medium and low flow rate wells. Although ESP can cover a very wide range of flow
rates, each well must be treated according to its particularities and one system is normally selected for
each application.
Topside Power Limitation
The main power generation for the project is on the FPSO and is distributed to wellhead platforms WHP-A
and WHP-B via turret slip-rings and subsea power cables. Each of the platforms is supplied with 30 MVA
divided into two main 13.8 kVA busbars. Power is converted from 13.8 kV to 480 V at the platforms by
four step-down transformers, which supply ESP’s variable speed drives, VSDs, with 12 MVA of total
power in each platform.
ESPs are fed by two different power capacity VSDs, of 1,000 kVA and 520 kVA, connected to
respective step-up transformers. Depending on the amount of flow and how much lift is required from the
pump, topside power limitation may be reached and well production limited. Generally, the most affected
wells are the ones with higher production which demand higher electrical current from the downhole
motor.
8 SPE-173972-MS

The step up transformers primary is rated to 480V and 1,200A / 625A for 1,000 kVA / 520 kVA,
respectively. The highest TAP position gives a secondary transformer a ratio of 10 and, depending on well
ESP measured depth, motor load and power frequency, it might not be able to feed the downhole motor
with enough voltage to operate on the most efficient volts and Amps point.
Power limitation in Peregrino can be reached either on a well-by-well basis, reaching the transformer
and/or VSD power limitation, or in terms of platform capacity, reaching electrical bus bar limitation.

Production Optimization
Pressure Loss and Unstable Production
Downhole emulsion breaker injection, when performed in an optimum way, shows very effective results
in flow rate increase and production stability by reducing the produced fluid viscosity. Fig. 7 shows how
production can be optimized through an efficient downhole emulsion breaker injection practice. Before
injection was started, ESP parameters as discharge and intake pressures showed very unstable behavior,
a clear indication of emulsion formation, which acts to reduce production rate and possibly ESP run life.

Figure 7—Production optimization through efficient emulsion breaker injection

When the downhole emulsion breaker injection was initiated, flow stability was achieved. Differential
pressure across the ESP was reduced considerably and the production rate increased by approximately
45%. Emulsion breaker concentration can vary between 60 and 350 ppm, depending on fluid properties
and oil cut.
There are cases of flow oscillation because of the presence of emulsion where stable downhole
chemical injection is not possible as a result of intermittent injection behaviour or plugging of the
chemical injection lines. For such cases a fluid packing procedure is applied with great success. The
procedure comprises increasing wellhead pressure by adjusting the choke opening and at the same time
increasing the ESP frequency, packing the produced fluid between the ESP discharge and the wellhead.
Flow instabilities are controlled at the cost of reducing production and/or increasing ESP power
consumption. It is a simple ESP run life by production trade off.
The ideal practice comprises increasing the frequency as quickly and as high as possible to increase
the downhole temperature and help break/weaken the emulsion. By experience, the temperature effect is
stronger than the mixing effect (fluid shear) of the pump. Higher wellhead pressure aids in keeping gas
SPE-173972-MS 9

in solution throughout the tubing for improved system stability. Fig. 8 shows a successful real case of fluid
packing in the absence of downhole emulsion breaker injection.

Figure 8 —Fluid packing in the absence of downhole chemical injection

Wide Operating Window

Three systems were initially selected to cover a range from 1,500 to 20,000 barrels of liquid production
a day based on low, medium and high flow rate production profiles. Although production requires the ESP
to operate at rates as high as possible, process complexity commonly requires wells to produce at
minimum production rates and even a high flow rate system is required to operate at low flow rates such
as 3,200 barrels per day. It is very important to understand how the well is going to behave so an ESP
system can be selected to guarantee maximum production efficiency and extend equipment run life.
ESP selection is made for each new well that is about to be drilled or before a workover. ESP system
recommendation is an effort that requires various inputs as well as cooperation from various departments.
Statoil Peregrino has a multidisciplinary group dedicated to ESP, called ESP Focus Group, which is
responsible for, but not limited to, ESP system recommendation.
The process starts with the reservoir engineering group simulating a three-year production profile
containing well liquid rate, water cut, flowing bottomhole pressure and reservoir pressure. A three-year
period is reasonable to select the ESP system considering a new run and targeted mean time to failure
(MTTF). Iterations between the ESP applications engineer and the reservoir engineer are required to
properly establish oil and liquid constraints for the profiles.
Production profile is gathered with well fluid properties, well trajectory and tubular information by the
production department and all the information is provided to the ESP applications engineer. Simulations
are run, systems performances are compared and a recommendation, based on production efficiency, is
made for each well.
Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 show the reservoir input and the simulation output used for the ESP system selection.
When the applications engineer delivers the recommendation, a meeting, involving all ESP Focus
10 SPE-173972-MS

Figure 9 —Well Production Profile

Figure 10 —ESP Simulation Results

Group participants, is scheduled and the group agrees on the system. The process makes sure all different
areas that may affect ESP operation (e.g. cementing depth, minimum pump intake pressure, topside
power, etc.) are considered so the best system can be applied, production optimized and equipment run
life extended.
Topside Power Limitation
Peregrino electrical submersible pumps are designed to be fed by low-voltage variable speed drives of
1,000 kVA and 520 kVA capacities. High liquid production wells in Peregrino are commonly operated at
full VSD power capacity. Under such conditions, power efficiency improvement is directly reflected into
production gain.
ESP motor efficiency is dependent on the voltage applied to its terminals. Optimum voltage depends
on load and frequency of operation. The motor nameplate is the optimum voltage when working fully
loaded, thus reducing voltage values provide the best efficiency point for lower load conditions. In
practice, there are a lot of uncertainties when estimating how much voltage must be applied at the surface
to reach motor terminals at optimum efficiency. The process implemented performs manual voltage
optimization by varying VSD output volts per hertz ratio until the minimum current is achieved. Fig. 11
SPE-173972-MS 11

Error! Reference source not found. shows typical ESP motor behavior as function of terminal voltage
variation and illustrates that higher currents are the result if the voltage applied on its terminals is higher
or lower than optimum.

Figure 11—Typical Motor Curve

Fig. 12 shows a successful case where voltage optimization was performed on a well with production
limited on the topside electrical current. VSD output voltage increase resulted in electrical current
reduction, which afterwards enabled ESP frequency increases of approximately 1.6 Hz. Well production
increased approximately 5% after voltage is optimized and frequency is increased.

Figure 12—Voltage optimization during operation

Fig. 13 shows a case where voltage optimization was performed by decreasing VSD output voltage.
Power consumption drops following VSD output voltage reduction while the electrical current is almost
flat. The process reduced well power consumption, optimizing barrels of oil produced per kVA consumed.
12 SPE-173972-MS

This optimization is especially important for the field because it makes use of diesel as the primary
combustible for turbine power generation.

Figure 13—Voltage optimization during operation

Conclusions
Production optimization targets the highest flow rate possible to be achieved with ESP operating within
its safety boundaries, regardless the type of fluid being produced. However, once water breaks through,
water in oil emulsion starts to be formed. As consequence, fluid viscosity tends to increase as water cut
increases, leading to a continuous reduction in pump efficiency until the emulsion inversion point is
reached.
Depending on the viscosity of the oil (dispersed phase), the emulsion inversion point can be verified
at water cuts between 35% and 60%, the latest corresponding to lower oil viscosity wells.
It is extremely important to have an efficient downhole chemical injection system to treat emulsions
formed downhole, improve ESP efficiency and increase production flow rate with lower power consump-
tion.
Flow oscillations may stress ESP equipment electrically and mechanically, compromising its run life.
Steady and continuous downhole injection of an emulsion breaker combined with the appropriate dosage
helps to stabilize parameters and increase well production. Whenever chemical injection is not available
in Peregrino, fluid packing is effective for controlling emulsion instability and can prevent oscillations
from happening (although production flow rate may be reduced and/or power consumption substantially
increased). Production deferment from fluid packing is still valuable because, in an overall analysis,
extended equipment run life compensates the decrease on production attributed to this process.
ESP system selection is crucial for production optimization involving not only production maximiza-
tion but power consumption reduction and extended ESP run life. Therefore the multidisciplinary ESP
Focus Group was created and is dedicated to ESP application in Peregrino.
Downhole electrical motor efficiency is dependent on the voltage applied to its terminals. Higher power
consumption may result if the voltage applied on the motor terminal is higher or lower than optimum.
There are a lot of uncertainties for estimating how much voltage must be applied at the surface to reach
motor terminals at optimum efficiency and manual voltage optimization is an effective way of optimizing
production for the Peregrino field. The process helps platforms optimize power consumption that can be
converted into production or operational cost reduction.
SPE-173972-MS 13

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Statoil ASA, Sinochem and Baker Hughes for permission to publish this work.

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