SPE-201168-MS

Evaluation of an Innovative Hybrid Gas Lift Technique

Sikandar Khan and Hamidreza Karami, The University of Oklahoma; Chengbao Wang, Mahendra Joshi, Brian

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Reeves, Jeremy Van Dam, and Curtis Johnson, Baker Hughes

Copyright 2020, Society of Petroleum Engineers

This paper was prepared for presentation at the SPE Artificial Lift Conference and Exhibition - Americas originally scheduled to be held in The Woodlands, Texas, USA,
25 - 27 August 2020. Due to COVID-19 the physical event was postponed until 10 - 12 November 2020 and was changed to a virtual event. The official proceedings
were published online on 5 November 2020.

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 reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect
any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper 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 SPE copyright.

Abstract
Improvements on existing wells' potential are crucial towards ensuring an economically viable project.
Among various artificial lift techniques, gas lift is considered as one of the most efficient when associated
gas capacity is available, and well production parameters are favorable. Also, jet pumps are specifically
favorable for horizontal wells due to the relative ease in downhole installation. This paper combines these
two techniques to introduce and evaluate an innovative hybrid method. It provides optimum operating
windows for its design and application.
This study aims to introduce and benchmark a newly proposed hybrid lift techniques for horizontal wells.
Some features of this method are: 1) The operating Gas Lift Valve (GLV) is installed at the bottom of
vertical. 2) The jet pump is installed below the GLV. 3) The power fluid and gas are injected through the
casing-tubing annulus. 4) The pressure of gas, provided by the compressor, is used to push the power fluid
through the jet pump nozzle and into the tubing. An analytical model is applied to simulate this hybrid lift
technique through nodal analysis, combining models for reservoir inflow, flow through jet pump, and two-
phase flow in wellbore.
A sensitivity study is conducted to understand the effects of depth, API gravity, water cut, reservoir
pressure, gas-liquid ratio (or gas injection rate), nozzle pressure, and nozzle and throat area ratio (R ratio)
on the proposed hybrid lift's performance. A hybrid lift operating window is defined as the conditions that
result in higher production rates than gas lift alone. The largest operating window is present for shallower
wells with larger tubing diameters. The R ratio effects are variable throughout the cases and an optimal R
ratio design is needed for each specific case. The required optimal GLR is observed to be always lower for
the hybrid lift system compared to gas lift, making it relatively easier and cheaper to achieve. Overall, the
operating window for application of hybrid lift is: 1) larger tubing size, 2) higher water cuts, 3) shallower
wells, 4) lower required GLR's, 5) heavier oils, 6) higher nozzle pressures, 7) depleted reservoir pressures,
8) higher R ratios (if the well can handle the friction). Additional economic considerations are necessary to
better evaluate this technique and determine its optimum operating window.
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This innovative hybrid gas lift technique can be widely applied towards increasing well's performance,
life, and economic viability. It shows its true merit in seemingly less promising and difficult cases with
higher water cuts and lower reservoir pressures by increasing benefit throughout the life of the well.

Introduction
Major discoveries contributing towards the world's reserves have dwindled and the likelihood of finding
new reserves with today's technology is slim. Artificial lift has opened the door to many prospects that
would initially be deemed unrealistic in terms of achieving the economical rates, mitigating flow assurance

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issues, or ensuring consistent recovery throughout the life of a well. Artificial lift mechanisms such as gas
lift, ESP, rod pumps, etc. are well established and are being used by about 2 million wells worldwide. The
necessity of artificial lift is evident to continue to broaden recoverable reserves, which may otherwise be
deemed uneconomic or unrealistic. In addition, current wells' performances are limited to the established
tools and methods applied.
The answer is improvements on current technology and new innovative methods. Techniques such as
plunger-assisted gas lift or ESP-gas lift hybrid system, combining well established methods to develop
a hybrid technique has expanded the potential of artificial lift. Rather than limiting the applicability and
benefit to a singular artificial lift technique, the working principles can be designed to further improve
performance. In this paper a new innovated hybrid gas lift technique is proposed by combining two well-
established artificial lift techniques: gas lift and jet pump.

Gas Lift
Gas lift is one of the most widely used artificial lift techniques to date. This is due to its low economic burden
when associated gas capacity is available and highly effective lifting performance under favorable well
production parameters. The well is initially filled with a kill fluid that needs to be unloaded to initiate the
technique. High-pressure gas is injected from the surface down the annulus coming in contact with multiple
unloading Gas Lift Valve's (GLV). These GLV's allow the low-density gas to enter the tubing and aerate
and reduce the effective hydrostatic gradient imposed by the fluid column at the point of injection. By using
multiple unloading GLV's, the injection pressure requirement is reduced to unload the well and establish
connectivity with the operating GLV at the desired depth for operation. Ultimately, the bottomhole pressure
is reduced facilitating inflow from the reservoir and lifting the fluid to surface. It works on the principle of
targeting and reducing the gravitational pressure gradient. However, there is a point where too much gas
is introduced resulting in increased frictional effects. This necessitates an optimal GLR to be found before
the GLR begins to have a negative effect on the overall pressure drop. With adjustable surface parameters
like injection pressure and gas composition, it is an extremely versatile tool that can be tailored to optimize
performance for a large range of wells or when flow conditions change over time (Glass 1975.)

Jet Pump
Jet pumps work by utilizing the Venturi effect, creating a suction pressure attributed to an increase in fluid
velocity that draws formation fluid towards the pump. High-pressure high-velocity power fluid is injected
down the annulus and into the nozzle, where it is pushed through a constricted area increasing its velocity.
As stated by Bernoulli's energy balance, the velocity increase in venturi generates this low-pressure region
to suck the fluid in. Formation fluid is then drawn to this low-pressure region where it comes in contact and
mixes with the power fluid. A jet pump's nozzle consists of two main portions: throat and diffuser. Power
fluid and formation fluid are mixed through an inlet in the throat, some momentum is transferred resulting in
a single-mixed fluid with high kinetic energy. The mixed fluid then moves into the larger diameter diffuser
where the kinetic energy is converted to static pressure allowing it to be lifted to the surface. The parameters
that primarily dictate a jet pump's performance consist of the power fluid properties, the pressure used to
inject power fluid and the nozzle and throat sizing.
SPE-201168-MS 3

Jet pump application has increased significantly in the last two decades, attributed to its simple design,
no moving parts, and relatively rare workover or maintenance requirements. Aside from jet pumps' easy
implementation and versatility, they have proven to be advantageous in many scenarios where other artificial
lift methods fail. This is true particularly for wells with challenging geometries and fluid composition. Tool
resizing can be done on-site with little downtime to ensure optimal performance as reservoir properties
change over time. The pump has a large range of applicability with well depth range of 1,000–18,000 ft and
volumes of 50–20,000 bbl/day. Jet pumps are more tolerant and less influenced by corrosive and abrasive
fluids, as chemical inhibitors can be mixed into the power fluid and mitigate issues relating corrosion,

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emulsions, and paraffins. They are capable of producing viscous heavy oils as low as 6 °API gravity, can help
dewater gas, coalbed methane, and shale wells, can initiate frac fluid recovery, and they do not experience
gas lock (Hatzlavramidis 1991.)
Despite all the benefits, jet pumps are very inefficient due to greater internal turbulence and frictional
losses from mixing high-velocity fluids. This results in decreased horsepower efficiency and limits the
operational efficiency to about 35%, making jet pumps less efficient than most other techniques.

Previous Hybrid Systems

A hybrid ESP-gas lift system was tested on a heavy oil discovery in Cuu Long Basin, Vietnam. A number
of technical and modelling studies were conducted along with facility design to account for the viscous
fluid over the life of the well. Aside from thermal methods, it was found that pumping technology was
extremely effective in increasing the drawdown from the gas-lifted wells. This birthed the ESP-gas lift
hybrid system or the electro-gas system. From the pilot test, it was found that the dual system helps reduce
downtime in case of pump failure. The gas lift helped lighten the fluid column and reduce the required
discharge pressure of the pump, expanding its life. Results showed a 30% increase in liquid flow rate and
a 2% decrease in power required compared to ESP alone. The electro-gas system also allowed the pump to
exceed its designed frequency/flow rates, reduce replacement costs, and increase recovery factor. Overall,
the test was successful in bringing substantial value to the company (Tran et al. 2016.)
A hybrid gas lift- jet pump completion was previously applied on five wells by an operator in Logan
County, Oklahoma. It was observed that when water cut becomes large enough it results in a tubing flow
gradient exceeding the gas lift capabilities. The use of jet pump is a viable solution to unload the well and
allow gas lift operations to commence. This gave birth to a hybrid gas lift-jet pump design, incorporating
a sliding sleeve door (SSD) between the operating GLV and the packer for jet pump deployment and
installation when necessary. This design was not meant for the dual operation of both methods at the same
time. Instead, it served for the purpose of reducing downtime on primarily gas lift driven wells by utilizing a
jet pump to overcome certain hurdles. Three scenarios were found for this application: unloading fracturing
fluids post completion and pre-gas lift production, initiating production after a gas lift compression system
shutdown, and for large water cuts. Results showed fracturing fluid to unload 66% quicker than swabbing
and rod pumping, and even 33% quicker than nitrogen lift. In addition, jet pumps exhibited much greater
tolerance to frac sand compared to ESP systems. By utilizing the hybrid gas lift-jet pump completion, the
operator minimized the flowback period, observed an earlier onset of gas lift applicability and minimized
downtime related to gas lift issues (Pino et al. 2016.)

Proposed Hybrid System

The proposed hybrid gas lift system intends to utilize and operate gas lift and jet pump simultaneously.
Application is considered for a horizontal well with the operating GLV in the vertical section and jet pump
portion in the horizontal section. Injected gas and power fluid are supplied down the casing-tubing annulus.
A power fluid column resides below the operating GLV. A single compressor is used as the pressure source
to power and operate both mechanisms. For this study, it is assumed that gas will not enter the jet pump
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nor power fluid into the GLV, and the power fluid column will stay constant. This will require a proper
mechanical design utilizing gravitational separation to allow gas injection at the operating GLV while power
fluid falls to the jet pump. The injected gas will go down the annulus and enter the production tubing through
the operating GLV, while pushing the underlying power fluid down into the jet pump nozzle. A diagram can
be seen in Figure 1. It should be noted that the system has not been tested yet and is still in development.

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Figure 1—Diagram of the proposed hybrid system design

When in operation, the suction pressure created by the jet pump draws the reservoir fluid and mixes it
with the power fluid. This results in a change in fluid properties, including water cut (WC), specific gravity
and viscosity, prior to reaching the operating GLV and being introduced to the injected gas. From there,
gas lift reduces the hydrostatic head and the fluid is lifted to surface. With the relative ease of downhole
installation and the single pressure source, this design is both innovative and easy to apply on the current
and future gas lifted wells.

Methodology
The proposed hybrid system seems viable in theory. However, this study aims to model its performance and
understand its applicability, benefits, and pitfalls. Nodal analysis is conducted to get a measure of the hybrid
system's performance. Since the hybrid system is aimed to enhance conventional gas lift performance, the
performance is compared to the results for a standalone gas lift for reference.
Considering the multitude of parameters affecting a well's performance, several fixed well and reservoir
fluid parameters are assumed as a benchmark for a comparative analysis. Although unrealistic, for the
purpose of this study the well is assumed to have a 0° deviation vertical section, then a true horizontal
section at the true vertical depth (TVD). This is done to fix nodal analysis for both cases of hybrid and
standalone gas lift systems with the node at TVD. This means the jet pump is upstream of the node and part
of the inflow of the well. Table 1 summarizes the fixed parameters assumed.
SPE-201168-MS 5

Table 1—Fixed reservoir and well parameters

Oil Viscosity (cP) 5

Water Viscosity (cP) 1

Gas Specific Gravity (γg): 0.70

Flowing Tubing Head Pressure (phf): 100

Interfacial Tension (σ, dynes/cm): 30

Specific Gravity of water (γw): 1.05

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Geothermal Gradient (°F/100ft) 1.43

Surface Temperature (°F) 60

Power Fluid Specific Gravity 1.05

Maximum Inflow Rate (bbl/day) 1,500

The remaining parameters of interest consist of both reservoir and well parameters, including oil API
gravity, WC, depth, GLR, tubing diameter (dtubing), nozzle pressure (Pnozzle), nozzle and throat area, and R-
ratio. Table 2 summarizes the range of parameters for lower Pres and Pnozzle cases. Table 3 is an extension of the
cases considering larger Pres, Pnozzle and deeper reservoirs cases. Every combination of these parameters was
simulated by coding an analytical model utilizing VBA and R, resulting in 38,400 total cases considered.
Numerous cases from the analytical model were tested using PIPESIM justifying the results. The cases are
aimed to cover a wide range of reservoir and wellbore conditions encountered in real world applications.

Table 2—Summary of initial cases ran

Oil API GLR Nozzle Throat

Water Cut Depth (ft) dtubing (in) Pnozzle (psi) Pres (psi) R Ratio
Gravity (scf/stb) Area (in2) Area (in2)

500
0% 1 0.15
15 750 1,500

5,000 1,000 1,000 0.03 0.1

0.2
25% 1,250 1.5

1,500
40 2,000
2,000

50% 2,500 2 0.3

10,000 3,000 2,000 0.015 0.075

60 5,000 2,500
75% 2.5 0.4
7,500
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Table 3—Summary of expanded depth and pressure cases ran

Oil API GLR Nozzle Throat

Water Cut Depth (ft) dtubing (in) Pnozzle (psi) Pres (psi) R Ratio
Gravity (scf/stb) Area (in2) Area (in2)

500
0% 3,000 0.15
15 750

10,000 1,000 2 2,000 0.03 0.1

25% 1,250 3,250 0.2

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1,500
40
2,000

50% 2,500 3,500 0.3

12,000 3,000 2.5 3,000 0.015 0.075

60 5,000
75% 3,750 0.4
7,500

To simplify the model, the reservoir is assumed to be under steady state flow with inflow of a single-
phase incompressible liquid. The formation fluid is assumed to have no gas, with GLR only attributed to
the gas injected at the GLV. A fixed Productivity Index (PI) is assumed for this analysis, Vogel's equation
is used to assess the Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR) (Vogel 1968.) Although not entirely correct,
the difference between a single PI and Vogel are negligible in this case. Hagedorn and Brown is used to
calculate the Vertical Lift Performance (VLP) (Hagedorn and Brown 1965.) The hybrid system requires
an additional set of calculations to incorporate the jet pump influence on nodal analysis. Equations from
thermopedia are used to model the jet pump and obtain the discharge pressure (Green 2011.) This pressure
replaces the bottomhole pressure as the pressure supplied by IPR curve for the case of hybrid lift, as the
node is placed after the jet pump. In addition, VLP calculations incorporate this larger discharge pressure,
fluid properties changes related to mixing the power fluid and reservoir fluid resulting in a new equivalent
API gravity and WC, and the total power fluid/reservoir fluid flow rate. However, it should be noted that the
power fluid flowrate is only considered for the pressure drop calculations where solely the formation fluid
flow rate is considered when assessing the results. This results in two pairs of IPR and VLP curves for the
standalone gas lift and the hybrid system. An example of this for a representative case can be observed in
Figure 2. The yellow dots from the figure are the intersection point representing the expected nodal pressure
and liquid flowrate for each technique. In this particular case, it is observed that the hybrid technique yields
about 150 bbl/day increase compared to the standalone gas lift.
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Figure 2—Example of Nodal Analysis results for the hybrid system and gas lift
for an arbitrary case where the liquid flow rate represents solely formation fluid.

A similar workflow was used to build an analytical study and simulate 38,400 cases with varying fluid and
well properties. The analytical model was built to accurately maneuver through and automate the workflow.
It applies numerical methods to ensure convergence and minimize the number of iterations necessary,
records a correlation coefficient as a measure of credibility and accuracy, and automatically extracts and
records the IPR and VLP intersection points.

Results and Discussion

Potential benefits of the proposed hybrid lift system were analyzed by comparing the production rates of
the hybrid lift and gas life alone. An initial cursory look at the results from the analytical model showed
the possibility of a positive or negative effect for hybrid system depending on the operating conditions.
Based on the nodal analysis, the negative effect is mainly due to an increase in pressure losses in tubing
and a less efficient VLP curve decreasing overall performance. Increased pressure losses are caused by the
VLP calculations considering the increased discharge pressure imposed by the jet pump, increase in flow
rate and changes in fluid properties with mixing of reservoir and power fluids. This reduces the efficiency
of gas lift portion for the same formation flow rate as the standalone gas lift. General cursory plots can
be observed in Figures 3–5 showing the results for all the simulated cases with varying wellbore or fluid
parameters, highlighting reservoir pressure (Pres), depth and dtubing, respectively. It should be noted that all
the plots shown in the study show flow rates considering formation fluid only for both standalone gas lift
and the hybrid system. Figures 3–5 show the liquid production with hybrid lift in the x-axis and with gas lift
alone in the y-axis. It should be noted that the unit slope is used as a guide to visually assess the cases and the
benefit of the hybrid system. Data points falling underneath this line show an improvement in production,
and hence benefit from a potential switch to the proposed hybrid lift system.
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Figure 3—Gas lift and hybrid system results for all cases, colored by reservoir pressure

Figure 4—Gas lift and hybrid system results for all cases, colored by wellbore depth
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Figure 5—Gas lift and hybrid system results for all cases, colored by dtubing

Some general trends can be seen from Figures 3–5. Based on these plots, the well with the largest dtubing
targeting the shallowest reservoir with the lowest pressure sees the greatest benefit from the hybrid system
application. However, a large amount of scatter remains and needs to be further assessed. The maximum
observed production increase with hybrid system is 682 bbl/day. With the ten parameters of interest
influencing the results for each case and additional layers of complexity, it was quickly and abundantly clear
that the results require a more intricate approach to visualize and uncover the latent trends imposed before
any major conclusive insights could be made. The following sections analyze the results from the analytical
model in more detail with regards to each of the main flow parameters to better understand the effects.

Reservoir Parameters Overview

The choice to apply and design hybrid systems is specific to the given wells with varying reservoir
characteristics. The variable reservoir parameters include Pres, WC, API gravity, and depth. Figure 6 attempts
to highlight how hybrid lift system performs with regards to these parameters. Again, for all the plots, liquid
formation fluid production with hybrid lift and gas lift are shown in the x-axis and y-axis, respectively.
Moving from the top to the bottom row plots, reservoir pressure changes from 1000 to 3000 psia. Also,
moving from left to right, water cut changes from 0 to 75%. Different marker colors and shapes show
changing oil API gravity and wellbore depth.
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Figure 6—Gas lift and hybrid system results for all cases separated by a Pres and
WC classification and colored and shaped by API gravity and depth respectively.

Some general trends show that increasing WC and decreasing Pres and depth positively affect the overall
profile of the plots, resulting in increased number of cases in the hybrid zone. This can be clearly seen by
square markers in the top right plot (Pres = 1000 psia, WC = 75%, TVD = 5000 ft). The benefits are minimal
for the cases with higher reservoir pressure. In addition, API gravity seems to have minimal affects, but
heavier oils seem to benefit more from the hybrid lift. This likely due to the assumption of a fixed viscosity
and the single PI scenario. Since heavier oil have larger viscosities and degrade the PI, the true affect of
API gravity cannot be drawn past its gravitational affects. The scatter still present due to the multitude of
varying design parameters for each case.

GLR and dtubing

In comparison of hybrid lift and standalone gas lift, GLR and dtubing are two of the main parameters affecting
both systems tested. Figure 7 highlights the relationship of these parameters for all the cases with 1,000
psia reservoir pressure. Moving from top to bottom, tests with varying oil API gravities are shown, while
the wellbore depth changes from left to right plots. Different marker colors and shapes show the changes in
GLR and dtubing respectively. It is worth mentioning again that the GLR is assumed to be mainly attributed
to the injected gas from the GLV, and the formation fluid is assumed to have no gas.
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Figure 7—Gas lift and hybrid system results for all 1,000psi cases
highlighting GLR and dtubing separated by API and depth classification.

It is noticed that, for all cases, the larger 2.5 in. and 2 in. diameters show the most favorable results for
the hybrid system, with the 2.5 in. being the best. This is expected as larger tubing diameters help handle the
added power fluid easier and reduce the frictional losses. Within the smaller diameters, the 1 in. case seems
slightly better than the 1.5 in. case, which should not be mistaken as a good performance. This is likely
due to increased frictional forces experienced by the standalone gas lift. Overall, it can be clearly seen that
increasing the tubing size or GLR can help increase the production of both gas lift and hybrid lift systems.
Figure 8 shows the same trends for all the 2,000psia cases. Again, the cases with heavier oils and larger
diameters show the largest production and benefits. Here some of the 1.0in cases are observed to actually be
in the hybrid positive zone. This brings to light potential scenarios where conventional gas lift experience
excess frictional affects, the hybrid system can be implemented to help mitigate some of those effects.
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Figure 8—Gas lift and hybrid system results for all 2,000psi cases
highlighting GLR and dtubing separated by API and depth classification.

Considering the GLR from Figure 7–8, there seems to be a consistent trend as GLR increases relative to
performance of each mechanism. This can be better explained in Figure 9 summarizing the trend for each
reservoir and dtubing for all 2,000psia cases. The liquid flow rate for both systems is shown on the y-axis
over varying GLR in the x-axis. Moving from top to bottom, the water cut is increased, while increasing
depths are shown moving left to right. The colors of the curves are shown in pairs with the darker colors
representing the hybrid system and the lighter colors representing the gas lift for varying dtubing. For example,
the dark green and dark blue show the hybrid performance for 1.0in and 1.5in dtubing while the light green
and light blue are for the gas lift. It should be noted that the gas lift curves are the average full all API
gravity cases which showed no major impact against GLR. The hybrid system curve represents an average
of all API gravity and jet pump design variable parameters. It is noticed that each respective profile doesn't
change with varying WC but is rather shifted up or down. This is observed to be more prominent for the
hybrid system curves. In addition, the separation between the curves is observed to be greater for the larger
dtubing cases. The smaller diameter cases show a negative trend on the hybrid performance with increasing
WC. The orientation of the trends shows that in every case the hybrid system's optimal GLR is lower than
the standalone gas lift. The hybrid profile tends to have a steeper decline with increasing GLR once the
optimal GLR is reached. Overall, for the hybrid system to be deemed beneficial for a specific reservoir,
cases must exist where the hybrid flow rate exceeds the optimal standalone gas lift scenario. However, if
the optimal standalone gas lift flow rate is greater than the hybrid system's but requires a very large GLR
where the hybrid system does not, then the incremental flow rate must justify the additional power and
operational cost or hybrid implementation might be the more economically viable option despite potentially
lower flow rates.
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Figure 9—Gas lift and hybrid system flow rates for all 2,000psi cases
against GLR, separated by dtubing and an WC and depth classification.

Water Cut and API Gravity

WC and API gravity were briefly overviewed but require more in-depth analysis. First, Figure 10 highlights
API gravity trends for all 1,000psia cases. Moving from top to bottom, the water cut is increased, while
increasing depths are shown moving left to right. The colors represent varying dtubing representing in curves
and bars. API gravity is observed to have a minimal affect and was individually further investigated with all
the other variable parameters considered highlighting the same trend. Again, this is due to fixed viscosity
and PI assumption. The only conclusion that can be drawn is from its gravitational affect which is negligible.
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Figure 10—Average hybrid benefit for all 1,000psi cases classified
by WC and depth for all dtubing cases with respect to API gravity.

WC is further investigated in Figure 11 highlighting dtubing, depth and Pres. The y-axis refers to the
difference between the hybrid flow rate and gas lift flow rate as the "Hybrid Benefit" and the x-axis shows
varying WC. Moving from top to bottom, the dtubing is increased, while increasing depths are shown moving
left to right. Hybrid benefits for larger WC are observed for larger tubing diameters and shallower reservoirs
at lower Pres. In smaller tubing diameter and deeper reservoir, a larger Pres exhibits more positive results with
a negative effect on performance as WC increases. This is likely due to the standalone gas lift being more
susceptible to frictional affects in smaller dtubing, deeper reservoirs and higher Pres along with gravitational
affects in shallow reservoirs, larger dtubing, higher WC's and low Pres. Understanding this makes it important
to understand and oversee the reservoir properties overtime. Implementation of the hybrid design for certain
reservoirs might not initially be beneficial, however changes such as Pres decreasing and/or WC increasing
could push the conditions into the hybrid operating window. In addition, the hybrid technique can be
implemented on reservoirs where frictional affects experienced by gas lift are initially too high until Pres
drops.
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Figure 11—Average hybrid benefit against WC classified by dtubing and depth with curves separated by Pres.

Nozzle Pressure
The remaining parameters of interest consist of jet pump design factors reserved strictly for the hybrid
system. Figure 12 shows a more general overview of the influence of nozzle pressure for all 15 API gravity.
Moving from top to bottom, the water cut is increased, while increasing depths are shown moving left to
right. The colors and shapes distinguish Pnozzle and dtubing respectively. Since API gravity was found to have
minimal effect, the data is filtered to reduce noise and for visualization purposes. It is noticed that dtubing
has the greatest impact on the hybrid performance with greater influence for larger dtubing cases. A negative
effect is observed with increasing nozzle pressure for the smaller dtubing cases which can be attributed to
the increased frictional effects. This trend is crucial to understand where for smaller dtubing cases one of
the hybrid systems main design parameters is limited to the frictional burden imposed. Figure 13 further
summarizes this trend with the same plot layout from Figure 12. The y-axis represents the hybrid benefit
and the x-axis represents varying dtubing. The colors represent the varying Pnozzle. It is observed that all 1.0in
and 1.5in cases a negative trend between nozzle pressure and hybrid performance is observed while all 2.0in
and 2.5in cases show a positive trend. It should also be noted that the degree of influence increases moving
from the 2.0in to the 2.5in case and from low to high WC. The degree of influence is observed to diminish
as the reservoir gets deeper.
16 SPE-201168-MS

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Figure 12—Gas lift and hybrid system results highlighting Pnozzle and
dtubing separated by API and depth classification for all 15 API gravity cases

Figure 13—Gas lift and hybrid system results highlighting Pnozzle and
dtubing separated by API and depth classification for all 15 API gravity cases.
SPE-201168-MS 17

Nozzle Size, Throat Size and R-ratio

Nozzle and throat area are the biggest parameters towards designing the jet pump portion of the hybrid
method. These parameters determine the efficiency of the jet pump design and are expressed by the R-ratio
which is just the ratio of nozzle to throat area. The hybrid technique incurs some additional complexities
compared to a standalone jet pump from an optimization standpoint. The highest jet pump efficiency doesn't
guarantee the optimal hybrid design where the change to fluid properties could result in a greater negative
effect on the gas lift portion of the hybrid system. Figure 14-15 show the results for 0%–50% WC and 15
API gravity cases. Moving from top to bottom, the water cut is increased, while increasing depths are shown

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moving left to right. The shapes represent varying dtubing while the colors represent nozzle and throat areas
for Figure 14 and Figure 15 respectively. From these plots it is difficult to deduce any apparent trends like
the other parameters. It is evident that these sizing parameters are much more complex in their relationship
towards the hybrid performance. Figure 16 is shown in an attempt to aggregate these parameters through the
R-ratio with the same plot layout as the previous figures to deduce any potential trends or insights, however
none can be observed. The y-axis is showing the hybrid benefit while the x-axis shows the varying dtubing.
The colors represent the varying R-ratios. The two nozzle areas and two throat areas used in this study are
likely not sufficient to come to any apparent trends. However, this suggests that the optimal R-ratio for
the hybrid technique was likely not used for all the cases where an additional increase towards the hybrid
performance can be further designed downplaying the degree of benefit.

Figure 14—Shows the gas lift and hybrid system results highlighting nozzle area and dtubing and grouped by WC and depth.
18 SPE-201168-MS

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Figure 15—Shows the gas lift and hybrid system results highlighting throat area and dtubing and grouped by WC and depth.

Figure 16—Shows the hybrid benefit highlighting nozzle area and dtubing and grouped by WC and depth.

Operating Windows
By understanding the trends highlighted, the hybrid design can be tweaked for optimal performance under
favorable reservoir and wellbore conditions. The goal of this study was to develop an operating window,
SPE-201168-MS 19

but given the scale of cases considered, it is impossible to develop a singular plot that can cover all potential
cases encountered. However, given a specific reservoir of interest, considered for artificial lift, operating
windows can be developed accounting for changes throughout the life of the well. From the understanding of
the design parameters, occasional tweaks to sizing, GLR and injection pressure need to be made accordingly.
Figure 17 gives an example operating window for a 15 °API gravity oil, at a depth of 5,000 ft, nozzle
pressure of 1,500 psia and tubing diameter of 2.5 in for various R-ratios. The y-axis represents differing
reservoir characteristics and the x-axis shows the varying GLR. Once the reservoir and fluid parameters
are known, operating windows can be developed and account for changes in WC and reservoir pressure

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throughout the life of the well. The plot is highlighting where the hybrid application is greater than the
optimal gas lift (green) along with conditions where the hybrid system would underperform (red.)

Figure 17—Operating window highlighting cases where the hybrid design exceeds the optimal
standalone gas lift (green) for varying reservoir parameters, GLR and R-ratio with a fixed API
gravity of 15, reservoir depth at 5,000ft, nozzle pressure of 1,500psi and dtubing of 2.5 in.

Considering all the cases ran, about 39% of the 2.5in dtubing cases exceeded the optimal standalone gas
lift for each reservoir considered, 3% of the 2.0in cases, 0% of the 1.5in cases and 3% of the 1.0in cases.
When considering each specific reservoir modelled in this study, there was at least one case in all reservoirs
considered where the hybrid system outperformed the standalone gas lift. These were consistent with the
larger tubing diameter, larger nozzle pressures and the optimal R-ratio.

Conclusions
• The change in fluid properties in the hybrid system before reaching the gas lift portion and the
larger discharge pressure can increase pressure drop and have a negative effect on performance
compared standalone gas lift.
• The hybrid system shows the greatest benefit in larger dtubing showing additional benefits with larger
Pnozzle, larger WC, shallower reservoir and lower Pres.
20 SPE-201168-MS

• The degree of influence of increasing WC and Pnozzle increases with dtubing and begins to diminish
with increasing depth.
• The hybrid system can be applied in smaller dtubing wells to help mitigate frictional effects where
they have become too large for gas lift to handle alone. Increasing WC and Pnozzle have a negative
impact in this case.
• As reservoir conditions change overtime the hybrid system can be more applicable. Decreasing
reservoir pressure and/or increasing WC makes it a more viable option in larger dtubing wells.
• Optimal GLR is lower for the hybrid system compared to a standalone gas lift. A hybrid design that

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does not outperform the optimal standalone gas lift for a specific reservoir can still be considered
to reduce the GLR requirement as long the power and operational cost savings outweigh the
incremental flow rates.
• Nozzle size, throat size and R-ratio are more complicated in the hybrid system where optimal jet
pump R-ratio does not coincide with optimal hybrid system efficiency. Optimal R-ratio for all cases
was likely not used discounting the results and showing more upside potential.
• All reservoirs considered showed at least one case where the hybrid system outperformed the
standalone gas lift.

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