Downhole Permanent Monitoring Tackles ESP Problematic Wells Available to Purchase

No doubt that all artificial lift wells have some problems somewhere and sometimes. However, permanent monitoring of the downhole status of equipment and production is superior to periodic monitoring in diagnosing the current conditions and thus finding appropriate approach to avoid production loss and even the well itself. Belayim Petroleum Company in Egypt (Petrobel) has much experience in running downhole multisensors that provide well and system data to both the reservoir and production engineering staff to tackle problems that they are facing in their jobs: high failure rate, sand fill up, scale formations, ESP wear, electric failures,.. etc. This experience started with Petrobel in 1994. Currently, Petrobel has installed twenty downhole gauges, while eight other systems are waiting associated accessories before installation. The permanent gauges supply nine measurements per minute yielding an incredible volume of information in real time to the surface. Downhole gauges supply accurate knowledge about the reservoir, downhole jewelry and the ESP. This in turn increases the run lifetime of the artificial lift system by monitoring the reservoir pressure and artificial lift system performance. This paper illustrates the long term benefits in using subsurface permanent gauges to complement artificial lift equipment and help provide real time data to optimize well and/or field production. Real examples from both offshore and onshore problems are outlined. The article also highlights un optimized wells that have been converted into successful artificial lift completions by properly interpreting the gauge measurements and using this data to optimize production. This paper brings data interpretation to new level of prediction, which in turn enhances the economics of well or fields and minimizes risk in production operations, especially offshore.