The First Slickline Rigless Deployed High Rate Slim Design ESP in the Middle East.

Abstract

The oil industry has been for many years, growing and innovating technology over time. Economic cost is the main driver for changes that occur in our industry and the need to overcome a variety of challenges from reservoir to production to have a profitable well. Saudi Aramco as one of the largest operators worldwide have several fields that run completely on artificial lift, mainly ESPs, to produce. These ESPs are known to be prone to wear and tear, requiring replacement every few years. Conventionally through the use of a workover rig, these ESP and upper completion are replaced every so often. In recent years, the decline of the oil prices worldwide has cited the need to reduce capital & operational expenses to maximize the profitability in our economic analysis. Saudi Aramco, as a lead oil & gas operator is paving the way in alternative deployments method of ESP completion. This paper details Saudi Aramco’s successful deployment and qualification of a high rate, slim design alternative deployed ESP system. As part of the qualification criteria the system was successfully installed, removed and reinstalled three times over a six month period on slick-line.