Compact ESP system enables production where typical ESPs failed

After three different conventional ESP systems each failed in less than 100 days of operation in a well with a challenging trajectory, high gas content, and low reservoir pressure, a Reda™ Agile™ compact wide-range ESP system was installed as a last attempt. The significantly shorter Agile ESP system easily navigated casing splits and high dogleg severity (DLS) sections for optimum placement depth and readily accommodated the high gas content to run continuously for 300 days. Instead of having to abandon the well, Pertamina was able to deliver it to production.

After racking up workover costs and production deferments totaling close to USD 600,000, Pertamina was considering abandoning a 6,000-ft well offshore because of the unfavorable economics. Three different conventional ESP systems had been installed, and each had required significant maintenance before failing in less than 100 days.

The well posed several challenges for lifting:

• complex well trajectory multiple casing splits and intervals with high DLS
• low reservoir pressure
• high gas content.

Because the conventional ESP systems were about 160 ft in length, they could not navigate the high-DLS intervals without bending, which would have caused even more rapid failure. This meant that they could not access the targeted pump setting depth, which was close to the perforations to best handle the low pressure. And the high gas content caused unstable operation of the pumps, triggering multiple stops and starts that unduly increased system temperature and the likelihood of premature system failure. No wonder the conventional ESP systems experienced both mechanical and electrical failure early on.

SLB recommended installing a Reda Agile compact wide-range ESP system. This ESP system provides significant improvements over conventional ESP systems. It is about 75% shorter than conventional ESP systems to easily navigate any well for successful placement at the targeted pump setting depth in relation to the producing zones. The wide motor speed range enables matching the system’s operation to production changes, in turn significantly reducing the usual frequent ESP changeout. In gassy wells, such as Pertamina’s, gas locking is prevented by the customized MGH™ multiphase gas-handling system developed for the Agile ESP system.

The compact Agile ESP system smoothly passed through casing splits and intervals of high DLS, reaching optimum pump placement at the targeted setting depth. The enhanced MGH system flawlessly managed the high gas fraction as the Agile ESP system ran continuously for almost 300 days, exceeding three times the run life of each conventional ESP system. With this reliable performance, Pertamina avoided a costly workover and deferred production or potentially abandonment of the offshore well, instead successfully returning the well to production.