Oil Production
Oil Production
POPULAIRE
RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE
Présentée par
Boufes ahmed yassine
Aliouet Tayeb
Sahraoui Nada
Filière : Hydrocarbures
Option : Economie Pétrolière
Année Universitaire : 2024/2025
I. Introduction:
Petroleum production engineering covers the widest scope of engineering/ operations in the
petroleum industry. It starts with the selection, design, and installation of well completion and ends
with the delivery of useful fluids (i.e., oil and natural gas) to the customer. Between the two ends
lie many engineering activities and operations. For example, the design and installation of the well
tubing and surface flowline, the workover operations that keep the well at its best producing
conditions, the selection and design of the oil/gas production method, and the design, installation,
and operation of the surface separation and treatment facilities are all the responsibility of the
petroleum production engineer.
The economics of most of the above-mentioned operations have to be evaluated before they are
executed. In some cases, several technically viable alternatives exist for executing a particular
operation. In such cases, the decision to select one alternative over the others would be based
entirely on economic evaluation of the various alternatives.
In the following sections, brief descriptions of the various major production operations are
presented along with examples of the economic evaluation of some operations.
II. Production Operations:
A. Well completions:
After a well has been drilled, it must be completed before oil and gas production can begin. The
first step in this process is installing a casing pipe in the well. Oil and gas wells usually require four
concentric strings of pipe: conductor pipe, surface casing, intermediate casing, and production
casing. The production casing or oil string is the final casing for most wells. The production casing
completely seals off the producing formation from water aquifers. The production casing runs to
the bottom of the hole or stops just above the production zone. Usually, the casing runs to the
bottom of the hole. In this situation the casing and cement seal off the reservoir and prevent fluids
from leaving. In this case the casing must be perforated to allow liquids to flow into the well. This
is a perforated completion. Most wells are completed by using a perforated completion. Perforating
is the process of piercing the casing wall and the cement behind it to provide openings through
which formation fluids may enter the wellbore1.
Hussein, K.-A., & Mohammed, A. (2014). Petroleum Economics and engineering. Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.
B. Tubing:
After cementing the production casing, the completion crew runs a final string of pipe called the
tubing. The well fluids flow from the reservoir to the surface through the tubing. Tubing is smaller
in diameter than casing—the outside diameter ranges from about 1 to 4-1/2 inches.
The configuration of the tubing mainly depends on the number of production levels and the
production selectivity sought.
In conventional completion, we generally use a tubing which is totally contained in the casing
string. Completion may be single or multiple. In the latter case production can take place at several
levels selectively, allowing the field to be developed with fewer wells and therefore more rapidly,
but maintenance costs are higher.
It should be noted that there is a type of completion where tubing is not used. This involves
cementing and perforating a small length of casing in place at the level of the production zone. This
is appropriate for small gas fields poor in associated liquids and at low pressure2.
Nadine, B.-R., & Jean-Pierre, F. (2011). Oil and Gas exploration and production Reserves, costs,
contracts. PARIS.
Figure 3-well completion
Once the well has been completed, the wellhead is attached to the top to control the flow of fluids
(Fig.4). The wellhead is made of: – The casinghead to which the casing is attached; – The tubing
head which supports the tubing; – The Christmas tree which comprises various valves and
gauges.
Figure 4-wellhead
C. Well Productivity:
Well tests are done to check how much oil or gas the well can produce or inject, and to find out if
there is any damage. These tests, along with lab results, help decide if the well needs any treatment.
The well is then put into service and evaluated. It will subsequently undergo measurements,
maintenance, workover or abandonment.
D. Production methods:
Production method refers to the way in which the well fluids are delivered to the surface. Ideally,
wells should be produced to deliver fluids to the surface with a wellhead pressure sufficient to
force the fluid flow through all surface facilities. There are two ways a well may be produced;
these are described below.
1. Natural Flow:
A well is said to be produced naturally if it only utilizes the naturally stored energy (i.e., reservoir
pressure) to lift the fluids to the surface. Most wells start their lives with natural flow. With time,
the reservoir energy (pressure) is depleted, resulting in reduced production rates or reduced
wellhead pressure, or both. When this occurs, artificial lift may be implemented.
2. Artificial Lift:
Artificial lift refers to the use of external means to help lift the well fluids from the bottom of the
well to the surface. Essentially, artificial lifting enables well production at lower bottom-hole
pressures. It may be applied on a flowing well to increase its production in order either to meet
market demands or to make the project economics more attractive. Artificial lifting is mostly
applied, however, to wells that otherwise would not produce at all or would produce below the
economic limit of operation.
There are four types of major artificial lifting systems in commercial use. These are sucker rod
pumping (SRP), gas lift (GL), electric submersible pumping (ESP), and subsurface hydraulic
pumping (SHP). Normally, each method will be more suitable for a specific set of well and
reservoir conditions. In some cases, however, we may find that more than one method of artificial
lift can be used on a specific well, considering all the technical conditions. In such cases, the
selection should be based on economic evaluations of the applicable methods.
In addition to the capital cost (initial investment) consideration, operating cost of the various
methods should be of prime importance, particularly for long-life projects. For example, the highest
capital cost system (gas lift using integral compressors) has the lowest operating cost, which would
probably make that system more attractive than the others.
E. Well intervention:
There are two categories of interventions practiced on a well in the production phase: well servicing
and workover. These are both intended to maintain or enhance output from production wells.
Well servicing involves the partial replacement of equipment such as downhole pumps, gas lift
valves, production tubing and the sealing systems which may fail because of corrosion, waxy
hydrocarbons, etc. Well servicing also includes simple operations such as cleaning and sand
control.3
Nadine, B.-R., & Jean-Pierre, F. (2011). Oil and Gas exploration and production Reserves, costs,
contracts. PARIS.
Figure 5-snubbing operation
Workover includes more major repairs such as removal of sand which has intruded into the
wellbore and recompleting the well for production from a different zone.
Figure 7-workover rig
1. Extraction at the
Wellhead:
At the wellhead, crude oil, natural gas,
water, and impurities are extracted from the
ground as a mixture called "produced
fluids." This unprocessed mixture is then
transported through pipelines or trucks to
the processing facilities, where separation
Figure 6- production facility
begins.
2. First Stage: Two-Phase Separation:
The produced fluids are directed into a separator, which can be either horizontal or vertical. In this
stage, the gas rises to the top of the separator, while the liquid components (oil and water) settle at
the bottom. This separation ensures that the gas is removed and sent for further processing while
the oil and water move to the next stage.
CAPEX (Capital Expenditures): Investments such as drilling wells, building facilities, and
infrastructure setup.
OPEX (Operational Expenditures): Ongoing costs like production, maintenance, and workforce
expenses.
Interpretation of Results:
If NPV > 0: The investment is considered profitable as it generates added value.
If NPV = 0: The investment breaks even, covering its costs without generating additional profit.
If NPV < 0: The investment is deemed unprofitable as it results in a loss.
PIR in Formula:
PIR =
Where:
Net cash flow: Net cash flow is the difference between the cash inflows and outflows during a
specific period.
Total Invested: The total amount invested at the beginning of the project.
Interpretation of Results:
PIR > 1: The investment is profitable, as the profit exceeds the initial investment.
PIR = 1: The investment breaks even, generating a profit equal to the initial investment.
PIR < 1: The investment is not profitable, as the profit is less than the initial investment.
net profit = Revenue - OPEX - Taxes
Pay back time the number of years needed for cumulative cash-flows to cover the initial
investment costs.