Publications

X field was preliminary developed as gas field and the early wells were designed without artificial lift and expected to flow naturally. In addition to gas, this field is also producing condensate and oil. As the well continuously produced and reservoir pressure depleted, oil/condensate accumulation in the well causes greater hydrostatic pressure which gradually reduced the ability of the well to flow until some point it loaded up and died. Well re-activation then became a major challenge since these load-up wells still have significant hydrocarbon potential. At this condition, artificial lift is required to help lifting the fluid to the surface. Considering the type of existing well completion, gas availability in X field for gas injection, and cost of new completion compared to other artificial lifts, Retrofit Gas Lift (RGL) system is considered as the best option for the wells. RGL is a type of gas lift system that can be installed in the existing production tubing. This eliminates high cost operation to retrieve existing completion and install the new one with rig. Furthermore, with RGL gas injection point can be put as deep as possible by utilizing coiled tubing or macaroni string in order to deliver gas injection close to perforation intervals, which is the answer for load-up wells in X field. RGL project has completed in five wells. Two shut-in wells are now back online and other three wells are delivering higher production. The result proves that RGL is not only capable to re-activate load-up wells but also to extend well's life time to recover more hydrocarbon reserves and generate more revenues with relatively low cost. In this paper, authors will share the design and installation of RGL system which has been successfully installed to maximize hydrocarbon recovery in X-field.