SPE 169644

Increasing the Profits and Production of Mature Fields through Opti-

mized Jet Pump Design & Operational Considerations A Case Study
Sheraz Ahmed, Khurram Farouque, Sheikh Yasir Saleem, Sharafat Ali, Manzoor Ahmad, Mehtab Ahmed
Weatherford Oil Tools Limited, Oil & Gas Development Company Limited

Copyright 2013, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE/PAPG Annual Technical Conference held in Islamabad, Pakistan, 26-27 November 2013.

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
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ABSTRACT

Economics changed dramatically in the last quarter of 2008 affecting investment decisions on major E&P activities. In this
challenging economic climate, operators realize the value of maximizing production and recovery by employing production
enhancement technologies developed and matured through the years. This paper signifies one of the most imperative and effi-
cient methods of achieving this goal with a nominal amount of Capital investment.

Jet pumping technologies have been applied at home for more than 20 years, and also possess a very distinctive advantage
comparing with other types of lift. It has no moveable parts and depends only upon the energy transformation between the
power fluid and the well fluid to lift it to the surface. Moreover, with the passage of time, many new methods and designs of
Jet Pumps have also been developed to enhance the production further from existing wells.

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the optimization of a variety of Operational considerations and surface parameters, for
maximizing the productivity of a field through Jet Pumping systems. These include vessel pressure, injection parameters &
effect of flow restrictions, Horse-Power requirement and the Nozzle-throat combination required for an efficient jet pump op-
eration based on the true potential of the reservoir.

This paper also includes several optimized Jet Pump designs & surface considerations that can further contribute to produc-
tion enhancement of a mature producing oil field. It involves the matching of jet pump performance curves with PI/IPR of the
well, evaluation of the pump design using JEMS and the Gains attained in different wells with the least amount of effort, along
with all the lessons learnt for further improvements in detail.

INTRODUCTION

The first user of a water jet pump is said to have been James Thompson [1] in England circa 1852. The man who is said to have
first worked on developing the theory of jet pump operation is J. M. Rankin [2] circa 1870. Subsequently, work was done by a
number of men including Lorenz [3] in 1910. His modelling of the Pressure (and Velocity) losses during the fluid mixing has
been used by many authors afterwards. While the work of Gosline and OBrien [4] in 1933 is also considered to be the stand-
2 SPE 169644

ard reference work as it included both a theoretical work and extensive laboratory testing results. Since then, a number of de-
velopments and up-gradation in the technology has taken place, which has been the main cause of the considerable versatility,
the Jet Pump possesses.

The key components of a jet pump are the nozzle and throat. The ratio of the areas of these two parts is referred to as the area
ratio of the pump and it determines the performance characteristics of the pump. Power fluid is pumped at a given rate to the
down-hole jet pump where it arrives at a nozzle. This high-pressure fluid is then converted from a low velocity, high static
pressure flow to a high velocity, low static pressure flow directed through the nozzle. The low static pressure allows well fluids
to flow into the Well bore and pump.

Power fluid is pumped at a given rate (QS) to the down-hole jet pump where it reaches a nozzle with a total pressure PN as
shown in Fig. (1). This high-pressure liquid is then directed through the nozzle, which converts the fluid from a low velocity,
high static pressure flow to a high velocity, low static pressure flow (PS). The low static pressure (PS) allows well fluids to
flow from the reservoir at the desired production rate (QS) into the well bore and pump. The volume of power fluid used will
be primarily proportional to the size of the nozzle.

Fig.1: Pressure / Velocity conversion of fluid during the flow through Jet Pump

The jet pump holds a number of advantages such as no moving parts, so no such mechanical wears are applicable to the sys-
tem and also have the capacity of High volume, free style retrieval, Multi-well production from a single package and Low
pump maintenance.

The field chosen for the optimization is a mature field, discovered in the Early 1980s. Since its exploration, total 97 numbers
of wells has been drilled with Currently 35 wells on production, producing 9200 Barrels of Oil per day and 1 MMScf/Day of
gas. However, most of the Wells in this field have already been producing through artificial lift methods, mainly Hydraulic Jet
Pump for more than 20 years.

OPTIMIZATION METHODOLOGY

The Injection Pressure and Injection Rates set during a Jet Pump operation are generally utilized to sort out the Horse Power
requirement, which is considered to be the main factor to size a Jet Pump system. But, increasing the Horse Power will cost
money. Thus a bigger Horse power might give greater productivity but does not mandate increased future profits from the well
SPE 169644 3

due to the higher associated cost of execution. Thus maximizing the productivity is not the goal; maximizing the return on in-
vestment or profitability of the well is desired. This lends paramount importance to achieving economic optimization. In this
work, certain surface parameters along with the Reservoir Limitations have been used to find out the HP as a measure of the
profitability against a particular production that could be obtained from the well.

It is also necessary to place the Jet pump at the optimum point possible inside the wellbore, for a given Horse power of the
surface unit. For a particular Horse Power of a Jet Pump Surface system, different Production can be attained by adjusting the
surface parameters such as Injection pressure, Injection Rate, Nozzle/Throat Size, Vessel Pressure etcetera.

The methodology illustrated in this paper to optimize the Jet Pump operation, includes the attainment of Real Time downhole
well parameters, such as Bottom-hole Pressures and Production rates. A well Model was then developed and matched at the
current conditions with the help of these parameters. Afterwards, current conditions and current surface units (Horse Power)
were optimized for the maximum production with a minimum possible Upgradation in the Systems, causing an efficient and
economical operation. The whole Well model and Analysis was made using JEMS and an optimized jet pump design (N/T
combination) was recommended to achieve the goal for these current conditions and surface units.

BOTTOM HOLE DATA ACQUISITION

Since the candidate well selected was already installed with a Jet Pump and was on Production for a very long time, the down-
hole pressure got depleted to a considerable extent. Thus, the well was not able to produce at all, on natural flow.

However, with the Jet Pump present downhole, a conventional flowing pressure measurement with a gauge was not possible.
Therefore, the Standing valve which is installed below the Jet Pump was modified and the gauge was hanged below the valve.
With this procedure, the stabilized values of the bottom-hole flowing pressure along with the production rates were obtained,
for particular surface parameters and N/T combinations. However, the depth of the pressure gauge was not against the Perfora-
tions, thus the pressure values were datum-corrected first and then used in the Jet Pump Evaluation Software JEMS. This step
(involving extra effort and cost related to the gauge hanging) could be skipped, if the Jet lifted wells are configured with per-
manent Bottom-hole gauges, giving a Real-time data of the well bore dynamics occurring downhole.

WELL ANALYSIS

Table (1) shows the data which was used for the construction of Well Model. The downhole data acquired as illustrated above
was then used to match this model with the current configuration and dynamics of the well, producing with Jet Pump. Fig (2)
shows the IPR/OPR curve generated after the match of the well model using JEMS.

Table.1: data used for the construction and production match of the candidate well model

S. No. Parameter Values S. No. Parameter Values

1 Perforation Vertical Depth 7109.6 ft 8 Gas Specific Gravity (Air =1.00) 0.72

2 Pump Vertical Depth 6850 ft 9 Separator Pressure 35 psi

3 Oil Gravity 38.5 API 10 Well Static BHP @ perforations 1096.6 psi

4 Water Cut 57.5 11 Flowing BHP @ perforations 714.6 psi

4 SPE 169644

5 Water Specific Gravity 1.05 12 Well Test Flow Rate (approx.) 200 BPD

6 Producing GOR 538 Scf/Stb 13 Bottom Hole Temperature 244 Deg F

7 Wellhead Pressure 80.00 psi 14 Power Fluid (1) Oil (2) Water water

The oil masters 12-X Jet Pump model was used (12-X being the size and ratio of the nozzle throat combination) to analyze
the current condition of the well. Table (2) summarize the Performance of the Jet Pump at the current production of 200 STB/d.
The parameters simulated through JEMS, were almost the same as the practical parameters that were being used at the field,
thus a very good match of the well was generated, with the help of the Real-Time data acquired through the Pressure Survey.

Table.2: Jet Pump Performance Parameters simulated with the matched well model

S. No. Parameter Value

1 Production Rate 200. STB/d

2 Injection Pressure 2605 psig
3 Injection Rate 2407. bpd
4 Injection Horsepower 123 hp
5 Pump Intake Pressure 615 Psig
6 Discharge Pressure 2976 psig
7 Cavitation Rate 844 STB/d
SPE 169644 5

Fig.2: IPR / OPR Match of the candidate well model, with the Jet Pump in operation

JET PUMP OPTIMIZATION

After the development of Well Model and a match on the current production, the second stage was to optimize the Jet Pump
parameters, so that a maximum production with minimum cost input could be attained from the candidate well. This includes
the following two steps:

1. Firstly, the well model was simulated through JEMS with increased Target Production but within the current limits of
the surface parameters like the Injection parameters and Horse power usage. This step also includes the optimization
of other surface parameters like lowering the vessel pressures, which in turn reduces the back pressure on the well,
causing an increase in production with the same injection parameters.
2. The second step includes the Increase in Productivity of the well through the enlargement of surface equipment, i.e.
the performance of the Jet Pump and the well was simulated against a bigger HP surface unit and the best possible
Nozzle-Throat Combination was simulated for the maximum gains with such upgrade.

The simulation in the second step was done for an HP of 200 only, as the well was giving a very diminutive increment in the
production with the increase in power usage, as compared to the optimized production result in first step, thus making the up-
gradation very uneconomical. However, in cases where the reservoir possesses a considerable potential, a 300 HP system could
6 SPE 169644

also be simulated and used to maximize the production economics from the well. Table (3) demonstrates the comparison of the
production gains that could be obtained from the candidate well, as per the steps illustrated above.

It is important here to realize that there are certain other factors as well, which can cause a limited production despite of an
optimized Jet Pump operation or a higher HP. These include the type of Fluid End of the Surface Unit, Plunger Sizes, vessel
pressure etcetera, which can affect the lift generated by Jet Pump, which in turn limits the production. Fig. (3) Shows the re-
sults of the production performances plotted versus the Horse Power Requirement for the candidate well selected for optimiza-
tion.

Table.3: Optimization of Jet Pump Performance and well Parameters with and without the upgradation of
Surface unit

Optimization of Jet Pump and the Well Performance parameters,

with the existing Equipment

S. No. Parameters Values

1 Nozzle Throat Combination 11X

2 Production Rate 300. STB/d

3 Injection Pressure 2707 psig

4 Injection Rate 2483. bpd

5 Injection Horsepower 131 hp

6 Pump Intake Pressure 394 Psig

7 Discharge Pressure 2934 psig

8 Cavitation Rate 398 STB/d

Optimization of the Jet Pump and the Well Performance with the
Increased HP of the Surface Unit

S. No. Parameters Values

1 Nozzle Throat Combination 11X

2 Production Rate 330. STB/d
3 Injection Pressure 2999 psig
4 Injection Rate 2566. bpd
5 Injection Horsepower 160 hp
6 Pump Intake Pressure 323 Psig
7 Discharge Pressure 29323 psig
8 Cavitation Rate 342 STB/d
SPE 169644 7

Fig.3: Production performances of the well versus the Horse Power Requirement

CONCLUSIONS

Jet pumping driven by oil or water (as power fluid), is one of the preferred lift methods for producing reservoirs with depleted
energy or heavy fluids. Few of other advantages includes high tolerance to deviated wells, no moving parts so no mechanical
wear, high volume capability, on site repair and resizing, longer life, multi well production from single surface package & low
pump maintenance.

However, the mature fields producing with Hydraulic Jet pumping as an artificial lift require timely monitoring and analysis.
This can easily enhance and optimize their production up to the desired potential by considering all the parameters which are
related to this lift system. Reservoir Engineers also have an important role as they have to illustrate what their reservoir is say-
ing and how much it is capable of. After that, a continuous and timely evaluation of the current parameters should be made to
make full use of the Reservoirs capability to get maximum recovery keeping the economics as a priority.

Moreover, with the reservoir pressure depletion, the Jet Pump parameters (which were set initially) can also go into the cavi-
tation region, if not monitored and optimized with time. This can also result in the regular failures downhole causing an incre-
ment in the OPEX on the daily well operations. Thus, a timely analysis can not only enhance the well performance but will also
help in saving the Operational costs which may arise due to unoptimized operation.

As here, a complete Field Analysis was performed, including a number of different wells to achieve different target values of
enhanced production, with the steps illustrated above. This lead to setting up the surface parameters that were required down-
hole, for an economically optimized production through Jet Pumps, according to the subsurface conditions.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to appreciate Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) for providing the data to carry out
8 SPE 169644

this study. The authors also wish to recognize Mr. Eric B. Schmidt for his valuable contributions towards the project.

REFERENCES

[1] Vogel, J. V., Inflow Performance Relationship for Solution Gas Drive Wells, Journal of Petroleum Technology, January, 1968,
pp. 83-93.

[2] Brown, K. E., The Technology of Artificial Lift Methods, Volume 1, Petroleum Publishing Company, 1977.

[3] Evinger, H. H. and Muskat, M., Calculation of Theoretical Productivity Factor, Transactions AIME (1942) 146, 126.

[4] Standing, M. B., A Pressure-Volume-Temperature Correlation for Mixtures of California Oils and Gases, Drilling and Produc-
tion Practices, API, 1947, p. 275.

[5] Sacha Sarshar: The Recent Applications of Jet Pump Technology to Enhance Production from Tight Oil and Gas Fields, SPE
(Jan 2012), UAE.
SPE 169644 9

& Technology. He started his career with MOL Pakistan as

ABOUT THE AUTHORS Trainee Engineer in the Production department in 2005. He
has diversified experience of Production and Process tech-
Sheraz Ahmed is associated with nologies, with interest in Artificial Lifting Techniques
Weatherford as an Application Engi-
neer in Artificial Lift Systems and is Sharafat Ali graduated from Mehran
mainly responsible for Well Testing University of Engineering and Tech-
Interpretations, Nodal Analysis and nology, Sindh in Petroleum & Gas
Designs of several lifts including Ca- Engineering in the year 1989. He then
pillary Soap injection, Jet Pump, Gas joined Oil & Gas Development Cor-
Lift and Plunger Lift. He has received poration as Assistant Engineer (Pro-
several international trainings that include Gas Lift Evalua- duction) in 1989. Since then, he re-
tions, Hydraulic Jet Pump designs and Sucker Rod Lifts. main involved and supervised all
He has also worked on different National & International types of field operations such as DST and other well test,
Field Projects for Jet Pumps and Capillary Soap injections, well completions, work-over operations, well stimulation
and has remained associated with almost every E&P Com- by acidizing and sand fracturing, slick line, wire line and
pany in Pakistan for devising optimum Artificial Lift Solu- coil tubing operations, gas processing and marketing, oil
tions for the current clients & encouraging the future cli- processing and dispatches to refineries and mainly Jet
ents to enhance production via worlds proven ALS tech- Pump operations. Since the last 10 years, He has also been
niques. Sheraz holds a Bachelors Degree with Distinction the Field Manager responsible for over-all field manage-
in Petroleum Engineering, from N.E.D University of Engi- ment of OGDCL major Oil and Gas fields.
neering & Technology, Pakistan. He has also au-
thored/presented researches in several national & interna- Manzoor Ahmad holds a Bachelor
tional conferences as well, including his work in Optimiz- Degree in Petroleum Engineering
ing the Hydraulic fracturing Technology in Tight Sands from University of Engineering &
and also presented a Research paper on the same subject in Technology, Lahore, Pakistan. After
one of the biggest SPE conferences in Pakistan. . graduation he served Petroleum En-
gineering Department of UET Lahore
Khurram Farouque is currently as Lecturer. After that he served a
working as Production Optimization local services company as Field Ser-
Team Leader for Weatherford Inter- vice Engineer for more than 01 year. He joined OGDCL in
national and looking after Artificial 1994 as Petroleum Engineer and presently working as Dy.
Lift Systems, Flow Measurement & Chief Engineer in production Department of OGDCL
Assurance, Reservoir Monitoring and Head Office. He is an experienced Petroleum Engineer
Software. He earned his B.E in Me- with 19+ years diversified experience in Petroleum Up-
chanical from National University of stream Industry having extensive operational and supervi-
Sciences & Technology (NUST) and started his career sory level expertise in well construction / intervention,
with Baker Hughes Pakistan in 2001 and then transferred testing, planning / designing / implementing programs and
to BHI Qatar, where he worked in Mud Logging unit. He supervision of well completions, workover operations,
then joined Tullow Pakistan as Production Engineer in surface facility, artificial lift system, heavy crude handling,
2001 and served for approx. 2-1/2 years. Later on, after technical coordination, personnel supervision, project
serving MOL Pakistan for another 2-1/2 years, he did his management and technical report writing
MS in Oil & Gas from Seoul National University, South
Korea in 2007. After returning from Korea, Khurram .Mehtab Ahmed recently graduated
joined Weatherford Oil Tools Pakistan as Projects Coordi- with distinction from BUITEMS Quet-
nator and worked on installation and commissioning of ta in Petroleum & Gas Engineering.
Production Facility. Thereafter, he has been given various He has served SPE BUITEMS
tasks within the organization before he was appointed as CHAPTER on different positions as
Production Optimization Team Leader since Jan 2013. General Secretary and President. He
has attended 6th International Petrole-
Sheikh Yasir Saleem is currently um Technology Conference along with
working a Technical Sales Coordinator Education Week Beijing, China, where he presented his
for Weatherford International and group project on Macondo Well Oil Spill (Gulf of Mexi-
looking after Production Optimization co). He is a multitalented fresh graduate and a youth activ-
Services in Pakistan including ALS, ist. He has worked with OGDCL and Weatherford as an
Flow Measurement & Assurance and internee. He has been selected to represent Pakistan in 9th
Engineered Chemistry. He earned his ASEAN Youth Assembly Conference Jakarta, Indonesia.
bachelors degree in Mechanical Engi- He is also a member of AAPG. He has got merit scholar-
neering from Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering ship from the university