Artificial lift – electrical submerged pump, best practice and future demands within subsea applications

Abstract

One form for artificial lift that has been used for decades is Electric Submersible Pumps (ESP). Since the birth of ESP in 1926 has the technology evolved slowly and ESP used today has a lot of similarities with the original system. Operators are utilizing ESP in more and more challenging reservoirs with respect to temperature, viscosity, GOR, etc. This is a major challenge for ESP run life, so it is necessary to improve the existing technology to gain profit from producing oil with ESP. This report includes recommendations for ESP design and surveillance for the Peregrino field. These proposals are based on a survey of ESP failures conducted in the database ESP-RIFTS. The proposed ESP design includes; use of compression pumps with tandem seals, upgraded technical specifications with concern to materials, and utilization of proximity probes for vibration measurement. In addition is a LCC analysis performed, that identified work-over costs as the most critical cost drivers for Peregrino.