TY - THES

T1 - Amal field artificial lift optimization

AU - Elwefati, Ahmed Ali

N1 - embargoed until null

PY - 2012

Y1 - 2012

N2 - The Amal field Concession 12 is one of the oldest fields Libya was relying on in the past 50 years, The production of the field has been fallen dramatically in the past 20 years to be less than 30,000 bbl/days instead of nearly 100,000 bbl/day in the late 80's. This reduction is not only because of the exploitation of the reservoir, where some of the wells has been re-designed in the last decade, most of the wells however are still operated with artificial lift designs made in the early 90’s. Less than the half of the operated wells in the field have been re-designed in the last decade, the rest however are still operated with an artificial lift designs doesn't match with the current conditions of the wells , thus 10 wells (8 gas lift wells and 2 ESP wells) has been chosen to be re-modeled in this study considering the current production conditions ie. water cut, gas liquid ratio, productivity index, reservoir pressure etc. PROSPER (the well modeling, design and optimization software) is used for this purpose which provided by Montanuniversitat computer labs. The gas lifting method is the most preferable artificial lift method in the field since the gas needed for the operation and the necessary surface facility (compressors and gas loops) are already available, however some wells specially with the higher water cut percentage need a tremendous amount of injected gas to produce a small amount of oil. This brings the electrical submersible pumps to the competition, as it has the capability to work more efficiently than the gas lift method in the presence of high water cut percentage, however the cost of purchasing, installing and the production interruption due to ESP’s maintenance is a good reason to think twice before deciding which artificial lift method should be used. Therefore, economic study is conducted for these wells in order to figure out which artificial method is more likely to be chosen. The gas lifting method is the most preferable method in the field since the necessary surface facility are already available, however some wells specially with the higher water cut percentage need a tremendous amount of injected gas to produce a small amount of oil. on the other hand the electrical submersible pumps can provide higher production rate, however the cost of purchasing, installing and the production interruption due to ESP’s maintenance is a good reason to think twice before deciding which artificial lift method should be used. Therefore, economic study is conducted for these wells in order to figure out which artificial method is more likely to be chosen.

AB - The Amal field Concession 12 is one of the oldest fields Libya was relying on in the past 50 years, The production of the field has been fallen dramatically in the past 20 years to be less than 30,000 bbl/days instead of nearly 100,000 bbl/day in the late 80's. This reduction is not only because of the exploitation of the reservoir, where some of the wells has been re-designed in the last decade, most of the wells however are still operated with artificial lift designs made in the early 90’s. Less than the half of the operated wells in the field have been re-designed in the last decade, the rest however are still operated with an artificial lift designs doesn't match with the current conditions of the wells , thus 10 wells (8 gas lift wells and 2 ESP wells) has been chosen to be re-modeled in this study considering the current production conditions ie. water cut, gas liquid ratio, productivity index, reservoir pressure etc. PROSPER (the well modeling, design and optimization software) is used for this purpose which provided by Montanuniversitat computer labs. The gas lifting method is the most preferable artificial lift method in the field since the gas needed for the operation and the necessary surface facility (compressors and gas loops) are already available, however some wells specially with the higher water cut percentage need a tremendous amount of injected gas to produce a small amount of oil. This brings the electrical submersible pumps to the competition, as it has the capability to work more efficiently than the gas lift method in the presence of high water cut percentage, however the cost of purchasing, installing and the production interruption due to ESP’s maintenance is a good reason to think twice before deciding which artificial lift method should be used. Therefore, economic study is conducted for these wells in order to figure out which artificial method is more likely to be chosen. The gas lifting method is the most preferable method in the field since the necessary surface facility are already available, however some wells specially with the higher water cut percentage need a tremendous amount of injected gas to produce a small amount of oil. on the other hand the electrical submersible pumps can provide higher production rate, however the cost of purchasing, installing and the production interruption due to ESP’s maintenance is a good reason to think twice before deciding which artificial lift method should be used. Therefore, economic study is conducted for these wells in order to figure out which artificial method is more likely to be chosen.

KW - artificial lift

KW - gas lift

KW - production

KW - Gas lifting Methode

KW - Bohrlöcher

KW - Optimierungssoftware

M3 - Master's Thesis

ER -