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Heavy Oil Production System Optimisation Using Electrical Submersible Progressive Cavity Pumps (ESPCP) in the Niger Delta

Received: 5 February 2020     Accepted: 19 February 2020     Published: 17 April 2020
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Abstract

There is a growing interest which has accelerated efforts towards heavy oil production in recent years. This interest was stimulated by the rapidly exhausting conventional oil reserves which promises to leave the world, unless something is done, in less supply and scarcity of the world’s most dominant energy source. Unlike conventional light oil, heavy oil possesses inherent challenges in its exploitation. Additionally, this challenge is more evident in crude oil flow either from the reservoir or from the well. Due to high viscosity, heavy oil production requires special non-conventional technologies designed for this purpose. Much efforts have been put by researchers and manufactures of oil technologies in the area of drilling, completion, production and enhanced oil recoveries. Artificial lift methods provide suitable means of lifting crudes from wellbore to the surface when primary reservoir energy is insufficient to do so. The Niger Delta field has been dominated by gas lift activities before now majorly because the oil is light with high GOR making gas available for injection which is a major factor favouring the choice of gas lift. But the recent shift to gas project development makes gas availability more competitive and this may threaten the predominance of gas lift. Furthermore, the new interest in heavy oil field development requires that new artificial lift system be designed for Niger Delta heavy oil application as gas lift is not applicable to heavy oil fluid characteristics. In this paper, a new artificial lift pump is proposed for use. The pump is a hybrid of Electric submersible and progressive cavity pump possessing the best capabilities of the two, it is called electric submersible progressive cavity pump and has been tested to possess potentials for lifting heavy crudes.

Published in International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering (Volume 8, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ogce.20200802.12
Page(s) 40-46
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

ESPCP, Heavy Oilfield, Production Enhancement, Artificial Lift

References
[1] Ossai, P. G. O, Ohia, P. N, Obah, B, Duru, U. I, Onaiwu, D. O (2017). Enhanced Recovery of Heavy Oil in the Niger Delta: Nelson and McNeil model a key option for in-situ combustion application. Advances in Petroleum Exploration and Development. (14) 2, 27-33.
[2] Pothapragada, V., Al Kooheji, H., Al Hajri, S., and Siyabi, I. (2012). “Integrated Production System Modeling of the Bahrain Field”, Society of Petroleum Engineers 155596, SPE International Production and Operations Conference & Exhibition, Doha, Qatar.
[3] Jorge Doval. (2017). "Implementation of ESPCP Technology to Decrease Well Intervention Index in Casabe Field," Paper: SPE 187215-MS, presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition, San Antonio, TX, USA.
[4] Wang, H., Wang, S., and Lv, X. (2016). “The effects of temperature on the mechanical and tribological properties of progressing cavity pump NBR stator rubber,” Mechanika, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 308– 312.
[5] Mehrdad Alemi, Hossen Jalalifar, Gholamreza Kamali and Mansour Kalbasi: (2010) “A prediction to the best artificial lift method selection on the basis of TOPSIS model”, Journal of Petroleum and Gas Engineering Vol. 1 (1), pp 009-015.
[6] Chikwere Ezekiel, Okotie Sylvester, Dulu Appah. (2015). "Economic Evaluation of Electrical Submersible Pump (ESP) and Gas Lift Well for Production Optimization in a Niger Delta Field," International Journal of Engineering and Technology, January series. Vol. 5 No. 1.
[7] Aliyev Elshan (2013). Development Of Expert System For Artificial Lift Selection, Master’s Thesis Submitted to the Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences of Middle East Technical University.
[8] Shirley Kathy. (2011). Electrical Submersible Progressing Cavity Pump Systems. Baker Hughes, Centrilift.
[9] Halliburton, (2008). “Basic Artificial Lift”, Canadian Oil Well Systems Company Ltd. pp. 2-8
[10] Osakwe, L. O. (2015). "Artificial lift systems - design and operations," Institute of Petroleum Studies, PPD 610-2 Lecture Note.
[11] Patron, K. E., Villarreal, P. M., Villalobos Leon, J. L., Schlumberger. (2017). "Case Studies of Optimizing the Artificial Lift Strategy for Reactivating Abandoned Wells in a Mature Field," Paper: SPE 187363-MS, presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition, San Antonio, TX.
[12] Kefford, P. A., Gaurav, M. (2016) "Well Performance Calculations for Artificial Lift Screening," Paper: SPE 181344-MS, presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition, Dubai, UAE. 26-28 September.
[13] Feng Bao, Weibin Meng, Anxia Li, Xiaocheng Zang, Liangchuan Li, Bingchnag Wu, Xin Li. (2010). "The Application of ESPCP in China Oilfield," Paper: SPE 136816, presented at the SPE Progressive Cavity Pumps Conference, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 12-14 September.
[14] Taufan, M., Adriansyah, R. and Satriana, D. (2005). “Electrical Submersible Progressive Cavity Pump (ESPCP) Application in Kulin Horizontal Wells,” Paper: SPE 93594-MS, presented at the Asia Pacific Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition, Jakarta, Indonesia. 5 – 7 April
[15] Cristhian C., Tello Bahamon, Carlos Reyes Hill, Carlos Sanita, Ricardo Artola, Femando Lapania, Jorge Doval. (2017). "Implementation of ESPCP Technology to Decrease Well Intervention Index in Casabe Field," Paper: SPE 187215-MS, presented at the SPE Annual Technical Conference & Exhibition, San Antonio, TX, USA. 9-11 October.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Remmy Chindu Eluagu, Stanley Toochukwu Ekwueme, Ubanozie Julian Obibuike. (2020). Heavy Oil Production System Optimisation Using Electrical Submersible Progressive Cavity Pumps (ESPCP) in the Niger Delta. International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering, 8(2), 40-46. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ogce.20200802.12

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    ACS Style

    Remmy Chindu Eluagu; Stanley Toochukwu Ekwueme; Ubanozie Julian Obibuike. Heavy Oil Production System Optimisation Using Electrical Submersible Progressive Cavity Pumps (ESPCP) in the Niger Delta. Int. J. Oil Gas Coal Eng. 2020, 8(2), 40-46. doi: 10.11648/j.ogce.20200802.12

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    AMA Style

    Remmy Chindu Eluagu, Stanley Toochukwu Ekwueme, Ubanozie Julian Obibuike. Heavy Oil Production System Optimisation Using Electrical Submersible Progressive Cavity Pumps (ESPCP) in the Niger Delta. Int J Oil Gas Coal Eng. 2020;8(2):40-46. doi: 10.11648/j.ogce.20200802.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ogce.20200802.12,
      author = {Remmy Chindu Eluagu and Stanley Toochukwu Ekwueme and Ubanozie Julian Obibuike},
      title = {Heavy Oil Production System Optimisation Using Electrical Submersible Progressive Cavity Pumps (ESPCP) in the Niger Delta},
      journal = {International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering},
      volume = {8},
      number = {2},
      pages = {40-46},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ogce.20200802.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ogce.20200802.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ogce.20200802.12},
      abstract = {There is a growing interest which has accelerated efforts towards heavy oil production in recent years. This interest was stimulated by the rapidly exhausting conventional oil reserves which promises to leave the world, unless something is done, in less supply and scarcity of the world’s most dominant energy source. Unlike conventional light oil, heavy oil possesses inherent challenges in its exploitation. Additionally, this challenge is more evident in crude oil flow either from the reservoir or from the well. Due to high viscosity, heavy oil production requires special non-conventional technologies designed for this purpose. Much efforts have been put by researchers and manufactures of oil technologies in the area of drilling, completion, production and enhanced oil recoveries. Artificial lift methods provide suitable means of lifting crudes from wellbore to the surface when primary reservoir energy is insufficient to do so. The Niger Delta field has been dominated by gas lift activities before now majorly because the oil is light with high GOR making gas available for injection which is a major factor favouring the choice of gas lift. But the recent shift to gas project development makes gas availability more competitive and this may threaten the predominance of gas lift. Furthermore, the new interest in heavy oil field development requires that new artificial lift system be designed for Niger Delta heavy oil application as gas lift is not applicable to heavy oil fluid characteristics. In this paper, a new artificial lift pump is proposed for use. The pump is a hybrid of Electric submersible and progressive cavity pump possessing the best capabilities of the two, it is called electric submersible progressive cavity pump and has been tested to possess potentials for lifting heavy crudes.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Heavy Oil Production System Optimisation Using Electrical Submersible Progressive Cavity Pumps (ESPCP) in the Niger Delta
    AU  - Remmy Chindu Eluagu
    AU  - Stanley Toochukwu Ekwueme
    AU  - Ubanozie Julian Obibuike
    Y1  - 2020/04/17
    PY  - 2020
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ogce.20200802.12
    T2  - International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering
    JF  - International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering
    JO  - International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering
    SP  - 40
    EP  - 46
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2376-7677
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ogce.20200802.12
    AB  - There is a growing interest which has accelerated efforts towards heavy oil production in recent years. This interest was stimulated by the rapidly exhausting conventional oil reserves which promises to leave the world, unless something is done, in less supply and scarcity of the world’s most dominant energy source. Unlike conventional light oil, heavy oil possesses inherent challenges in its exploitation. Additionally, this challenge is more evident in crude oil flow either from the reservoir or from the well. Due to high viscosity, heavy oil production requires special non-conventional technologies designed for this purpose. Much efforts have been put by researchers and manufactures of oil technologies in the area of drilling, completion, production and enhanced oil recoveries. Artificial lift methods provide suitable means of lifting crudes from wellbore to the surface when primary reservoir energy is insufficient to do so. The Niger Delta field has been dominated by gas lift activities before now majorly because the oil is light with high GOR making gas available for injection which is a major factor favouring the choice of gas lift. But the recent shift to gas project development makes gas availability more competitive and this may threaten the predominance of gas lift. Furthermore, the new interest in heavy oil field development requires that new artificial lift system be designed for Niger Delta heavy oil application as gas lift is not applicable to heavy oil fluid characteristics. In this paper, a new artificial lift pump is proposed for use. The pump is a hybrid of Electric submersible and progressive cavity pump possessing the best capabilities of the two, it is called electric submersible progressive cavity pump and has been tested to possess potentials for lifting heavy crudes.
    VL  - 8
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Petroleum Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Owerri, Nigeria

  • Department of Petroleum Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Owerri, Nigeria

  • Department of Petroleum Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Owerri, Nigeria

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