Hydrocarbons will be pumped out of the Tempa Rossa Reservoir using a dual Electrical Submersible Pump system (ESP) installed in each well, with both pumps operating simultaneously. This is the first time such a system has been considered as a production strategy for field development.
The Tempa Rossa dual pumps will be activated in 2018, in wells reaching record depths - the Gorgoglione 2 well that Total drilled in 2010 is 7,148 m deep. The column of oil discovered at Tempa Rossa is particularly high: more than 3,000 mTVD, but is viscous and heavy (60 to 240 API) and permeability is very low, with production through a network of natural fractures. To produce this oil requires submersible pumps with high power motors. In fact, as reservoir pressure depletes, combining the power from two pumps, one above the other, will be required to recover the oil.
There are many wells throughout the world that have two pumps - one serving as a back-up pump in the event of the first one failing. But what is different about Tempa Rossa is that the specific nature of the oil requires the combined power of two pumps simultaneously so as to obtain the target production rates of 10,000 barrels/day/well. A full-scale test was successfully carried out in 2014 to confirm the technical feasibility of such a system.
Two completion designs, (Type A and Type B) were created to deploy the dual boost system in different casing sizes, with components selected to deal with the high stresses and corrosive fluids expected in these wells.
