Artificial Lift Optimization with Foamer Technology in the Alliance Shale Gas Field

Abstract

In the last years, the shale gas business has gained increasing emphasis within the major oil & gas companies. In particular, Quicksilver Resources and eni e&p, through its subsidiary eni US Operating Co., and are jointly involved in the development of the Alliance shale gas field in the prolific Barnett shale play located in Texas. Recently, both companies started a common effort to optimize production and lift costs. Such efforts included a deeper analysis of the artificial lift performance and exploitation of additional deliquification technologies. In fact, typical shale gas wells are adversely affected by the continuous flow-back of the huge volumes of water used for the frac jobs. In the Alliance field, the most common way to support deliquification was by injecting lift-gas through the casing. Foaming agents were only occasionally deployed and a comprehensive activity to assess their technical and economic performance has been conducted. In the last six months, extensive foamer injection tests have been performed on several wells, considering the effect of a factors such as production/injection mode (tubing or casing), foamer type and rate, lift-gas rate, gas and water rates and wellhead pressures. The uncommon synergy of continuous foamer and lift-gas injection has also been extensively exploited in horizontal wells. At the end of the test phase, more than one third of the producing wells had been treated with a foamer and relevant technoeconomic improvements had been achieved. The paper describes in detail the methodology, the field experience and the results obtained.