Update on ESP Operation at BP Wytch Farm Oilfield

By Erwin Wahidiyat Presented at the European Artificial Lift Forum 17-18 February 2010

Presentation Agenda

Introduction to Wytch Farm Oilfield: Location Sherwood Reservoir Summary Role of ESP in Sherwood Reservoir Development ESP Run-Life Progression: 1985 2009 Summary of Run-Life Measurements Failures by Components High HP ESP System MTTF Shift in Depletion Plan & Impact on ESP Strategy Summary of Current ESP Systems Past-Present Comparisons M11 & M15 Examples Application of Dual ESP to Extend Life Cycle Application of Dual ESP to Manage Productivity Uncertainties Closing Remarks
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Wytch Farm Oilfield - Location

Located in a sensitive environmental area on the southern coast of England, about 120 miles from London Oil export via 90km 16 Purbeck-Southampton pipeline, LPG via road tanker, gas by Purbeck-Sopley pipeline 11 wellsites, total active wells (producers & injectors): 65. Active ESP wells: 31 Reservoirs: Sherwood, Bridport, Frome, Kimmeridge, Wareham, Arne, & Stoborough. Current field production: 20+ MBDO at 93% water cut.
Sherwood reservoir
Well sites Bottom hole locations

Poole

Bournemouth

Poole Harbour

Purbeck

miles

Sherwood Reservoir: Summary & PVT Properties

D is ta l ( f u r t h e r a w a y ) fr o m s e d im e n t s o u r c e
D e n s e fa u lt s a n d fr a c tu r e s D e n s e fa u lts a n d fra c tu re s

P r o x im a l ( c lo s e r t o ) s e d im e n t s o u r c e
> P e r m e a b ility d is t r ib u tio n d r iv e n b y fa c ie s t y p e > B e s t q u a lity s a n d s a n d a v e r a g e s a n d s a r e i n d is t i n g u i s h a b l e o n p o r o s i t y l o g s > 6 -8 % p o ro s ity s a n d c a n h a v e g o o d p e r m e a b i l it y ( c u r r e n t p o r o s i t y c u t - o f f fo r n e t s a n d is 1 2 % )

A l l z o n e s in w e s t e r n a r e a s h a v e L o w e r N e t t o G r o s s t h is l i m i t s V e r t ic a l c o n n e c t iv i t y t o u p p e r r e s e r v o ir B a s e o f Z 1 0 : is o la t e d f lu v ia l c h a n n e ls o b s e r v e d in c o r e

B a s e Z 1 0 a p p e a rs s a n d ie r f ie ld w id e

M id Z o n e 3 0 s i lt s t o n e / s a b k h a A p p e a r s f ie l d w id e in c o r e

B a s e o f Z 1 0 in b o t h w e s t A n d e a s t a p p e a r s s a n d ie r F r o m c o r e o b s e r v a tio n s

Z 4 0 / Z 6 0 ( a n d lo c a l l y Z 2 0 ) a r e d is c o n t i n u o u s in t h e o f f s h o r e a r e a s o a r e b a f f le s r a t h e r t h a n b a r r i e r s t o f lu id f lo w R h i z o c r e t io n s a n d s p r e s e n t m o s t l y I n Z 5 0 ( l o c a ll y in Z 3 0 i n o f f s h o r e a r e a ) - C o u ld b e m o r e p o o r ly c o n n e c t e d th a n - F l u v ia l s a n d s d u e t o m u d d ie r o v e r b a n k - d e p o s its

I n j e c t i v i t y o f u p p e r r e s e r v o ir In o n s h o re a re a h a s n o t y e t b e e n te s te d

Z 5 0 / Z 7 0 s tr a n d e d A t tic T a r g e t s p o s s ib l e

B a s e Z 1 0 : l o c a li s e d i s o l a t e d F l u v ia l c h a n n e ls i n e a s t e r n a r e a s ( a n d o c c a s i o n a l l y in w e s t ) .

F a u lt s / f r a c t u r e s c a n b e C o n d u c tiv e a n d n o n - c o n d u c tiv e : * F a u l t o r ie n t a t i o n * N e t: G ro s s * P r o x im it y t o f lo o d f r o n t X 0 2 A r e a Z 7 0 is v . p o o r q u a l it y l im it s V e r tic a l c o n n e c tiv it y Z 7 0 : p e r m e a b il it y c a n b e U p t o 4 D a r c ie s A l l z o n e s s h o w i n c r e a s e in N e t t o G r o s s in o f f s h o r e a r e a , w h e r e channel sands becom e m o r e p r e v a le n t

PVT Properties Oil Gravity (API) at 60 deg. F Solution GOR, SCF/STB Bubble Point Pressure, psig Initial Reservoir Pressure at datum, psig Reservoir Temperature at datum, deg. F Current pressure, at datum, psig CO2 % mol H2S, % mol

Value 38.3 357 1070 2420

Sherwood Reservoir Summary:

Triassic sandstone reservoir, with top reservoir at ca. 1585 m-TVDSS with a maximum 110-m column of oil bearing sand above the oil/water contact Upper reservoir: Zones 10-40, Lower reservoir: Zones 50-100. Zones 20, 40, & 60 (muddier intervals) act as barriers Three main oil bearing zones: Zones 30, 50, & 70 (decreasing permeability and net-to-gross in the upper zones). PI ranges from 1 to 100+ BPD/psi The western part of the field lies onshore (below Poole harbour & surrounding area) & the eastern part of the reservoir lies offshore Over half of the Sherwood reserves lies in the offshore area, which necessitated the drilling of ERD wells beginning 1993 Production from Sherwood reservoir accounts for 85% of total WYF production Reservoir conditions relatively benign for operating ESPs (See tabulated PVT properties)
0.09 0

150 1600-2200

Normally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) is present with the produced fluids and causes complications when retrieving downhole completion and the handling of retrieved ESPs during teardown. 4

Role of ESP in The Development of Sherwood Reservoir

S h e r w o o d R e s e r v o ir O il P r o d u c tio n : 1 9 7 8 - 2 0 0 9
250 100% 90% 200 80% 70% Water Cut MBPD 150 60% 50% 100 40% 30% 50 20% 10% 0 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 0% 2015

Sherwood Development History & its relation to number of ESP installations:

1978 - Discovery of Sherwood Reservoir 1985 1st ESP installation (3 installations in 1985) 1990 - Start of multi-zone, vertical onshore development wells 16 ESP installations 1993 - Start of ERD wells (offshore Sherwood development) 9 ESP installations 1996 Field production peaked at 101+ MBOPD (average ESP installations during the field production peak, from 1995-1998: 13) 1997 - Start of infill drilling program 14 ESP installations 1998 Over 100 ESP installations to date. 1999 - Production came off plateau 2009 - Average Sherwood Oil Rate: 17.2 MBOPD, water cut: 93%. Average ESP Installations 1999 2009: 8. Cumulative ESP installation count to date: 193. 5

F ie ld O il P ro d uc tio n -S he rw o o d F ie ld W a te r C ut - S he rw o o d

F ie ld W a te r P ro d uc tio n - S he rw o o d

Sherwood Reservoir Development & ESP Installations 1978-2009

1974.5 18 16 ESP Installation Count 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1975 1978 1981 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1999 2002 2005 2008 1979.5 1984.5 1989.5 1994.5 1999.5 2004.5 100 Sherwood Oil Production, MBOPD 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

ESP Installation Count

Sherwood Field Oil Production

Wytch Farm ESP Run-life Progression

Wytch Farm ESP Run-Life Measurements: 1985-2009
1600 1400 1200 1000 Days 800 600 400 200 0 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 2010

1985 1st ESP installation: Three installations, with two premature failures** 1st ESP installed had a zero run life.
Cumulative ESP Installation Count

MTTF*: 68 days, Runtime to Failure*: 1 day

2009 As of 25th of November: Total ESPs installed to date: 193 Total premature failures** to date: 23 Total failed ESPs to date: 113 MTTF*: 1,415 days, Runtime to Failure*: 805 days

Installation Period Mean Time To Failure, Days Runtime to Failure, Days ESP Installation Count

Wytch Farm ESP Installation, Failure Counts & MTTF: 1985-2009

18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
19 97 19 87 19 85 19 89 19 91 19 93 19 95 19 99 20 01 20 07 20 03 20 09 20 05

1500 ESP MTTF, days 1250 1000 750 500 250 0

Notes: *Per day, runtime is calculated as follows: If runtime <12 hours = 0, If runtime>, or equal to 12 hours = 1 ** Premature failure: <, or equal to 3-month runtime

MTTF

ESP Runtime ESP Failure Failed ESP Runtime ESP Failure

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Runtime To Failure

Failure Count

Premature Failure

Installation Count

ESP MTTF

Wytch Farm ESP Failures By Components*

Wytch Farm ESP Failure Modes

External - ESP Not at fault 4% Seal 2%

Unknown 8%

Penetrators (Wellhead & Packer): 6%

"Cable" including main cable, MLE, pigtail, splice, surface cable, etc. 22%

Motor 44%

Pump 14%

Penetrators (Wellhead & Packer): Pump Seal Unknown

"Cable" including main cable, MLE, pigtail, splice, surface cable, etc. Motor External - ESP Not at fault

* Estimated, component failure does not translate to it being the root cause of failure

Experiences with High HP Motor ESP Systems

The drilling of prolific Sherwood wells, particularly in the offshore area, necessitated the use of high flow rate ESP with high HP motor system (defined arbitrarily as greater than, or equal to 800 HP). The 1st high HP ESP motor system installed in October 1997 To date, a total of 47 high HP ESP systems have been installed (27 failures, of which 3 were premature failures). Nominal pump flow rates: 8,500 28,000 BFPD The largest HP ESP motor system: 1,400 HP (2 x 700 HP motors, installed in 2006), with 28 MBD nominal pump flow rate Large HP Motor ESP System MTTF Comparison:
Installation Period: 1997 - 2009 All ESPs Large HP Motor ESP Systems MTTF, days 1919 1634

Factors Contributing to Improvement in ESP Run-Life

Continuous learning from previous installations & operations (in total 25 years of ESP operation at WYF) Abundance of local knowledge & experience: Some field operators have been around since day 1. Onsite presence of ESP vendor support Continuous training of field operators on the day-to-day ESP operations. Relatively benign downhole (reservoir) conditions in the Sherwood reservoir (i.e., relatively low P, T, consolidated sandstone). High water cut means less tweaking of ESP frequency to optimise production. Upgrade of ESP equipment to suit operating conditions: Change in ESP housing metallurgy along with upgrade of tubing metallurgy. Upgrade & standardisation of ESP ancillary equipment (penetrator systems, cable, etc.) Upgrade of shaft material (higher shaft HP rating) for high HP motor ESP system Availability of downhole data for monitoring and troubleshooting purposes. Very stable power supply (very few unplanned shutdowns due power supply interruptions) Layers of automated protection system put in place: Drive underload and overload protection Surface (wellhead) pressure (high/low) protection system. This would, for example, protect ESP from deadheading situation which could arise as a result of blocked/closed surface valve. Automated trip on (high) motor temperature signal. This system protects ESP motors from being burnt (e.g., in no-flow conditions). It also provides additional protection for those lightly loaded motors that may not necessarily trip on current underload alone.

Maturing Wytch Farm Oilfield & Its Impact on ESP Completion Strategy
The drilling of barefoot multilateral wells as a way to maximise well production in Wytch Farm started at around 1998. As the field is maturing, the depletion strategy focus shifted to being able to achieve maximum drawdown (from all laterals) for maximum liquid (both oil & water) rate at surface. The increase in water cut over time, along with the desire to keep development cost down, also led to the phasing out of smart completions (use of down hole flow control, flow meter, etc.) The relatively short run-life of the downhole instrumentations coupled with increasing ESP run-life also contributed to the phasing out of these downhole instrumentations. Effect of corrosion seen as a result of increase in water cut led to the introduction of Chrome tubing and the use of corrosion resistant alloys for ESP housing (ca. 2000). The continued increase in water cut made it possible to move ESP setting depth up, particularly on the high PI wells without sacrificing production or without introducing excessive amount of free gas at pump intake, and generally reduce the power requirement (per bbl lifted) Larger capacity and more efficient medium voltage drives (MVD) up to 2050 KVA (200A) were introduced in 2001 to enable high rate production from the prolific Sherwood wells The installations of Dual-ESP completions, beginning in 2004, address two needs at Wytch Farm: Extending well life-cycle (i.e., minimising the number of ESP replacement workovers) Managing uncertainty in productivity in new wells

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Summary of Current Wytch Farm ESPs

Number of active (ESP) wells: 31 Number of Dual-ESP installations: 11 ESP Nominal Flow Rate Range: 1,000 28,000 BPD 4.00 to 6.75 nominal OD Average liquid production from ESP wells: 8,700 BLPD Oil production from ESPs represents over 85% of total field oil production at Wytch Farm Motor HP Range: 84 to 1,400 HP (average: 550 HP) 4.56 to 7.38 nominal OD Most ESPs set in 9-5/8 casing, though some in 7 liner, and some ESPs are shrouded. ESP Setting depths: 600 m-MD to 4,600 m-MD (average 2,300 m-MD) VSDs: 400 KVA to 2,050 KVA

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Sustaining Production in High PI, High Water Cut Wells by Moving ESP Up M11 Example
1998:
SPE 50586 discussed ESP installation in M11, set at a depth of ca. 8420 m-MD. Well trajectory: 10,114 m-MD Longest well trajectory at the time Pump size: 20,000 BPD with 900HP tandem motor Production rate: 18,000 BPD at 30% water cut VSD: 1,050 KVA

2009:
M11 ESP setting depth at 3400 m-MD Pump size: 28,000 BPD with 1400 HP tandem motor Production rate: 26,500 BPD at 95% water cut. VSD: 2,050 KVA

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Sustaining Production in High PI, High Water Cut Wells by Simplifying Downhole Completion M15 Example
F lo w m e te r A t W o rk o v e r: a d d 4 th P re s s u re g a u g e ? (M u ltip le x e d ) S h ro ud D is c o n n e c t 4 th c o n tro l lin e - p re s s u re m o n ito r n o d is c h a rg e

F lo w c o n tro l v a lv e s

B lin d FSV

7 lin e r C a se d & p e rfe d

ESP

C o n tro l lin e f la t p a c k

P h o e n ix m u lti-s e n s o r

FS V packer

Sum p packer

B a re fo o t fo r th e 8 1 /2 h o le

1999: SPE 62951 discussed the use of Down Hole Flow Meter to measure production rate & DHFC to facilitate selective production from the two well laterals. ESP setting depth: 5,150 m-MD (1452 m-TVD) Pump size: 21,500 BPD with 1170HP (3x390HP) triple tandem motor Initial production rate: 15,000 BPD at 50% water cut VSD: 1,050 KVA

2009: Production opened to both laterals (simple packered ESP completion, with 5-1/2 tubing) M15 ESP setting depth: 3,800 m-MD (1323 mTVD) Pump size: 21,500 BPD with 1170 HP (3x390HP) triple tandem motor Production rate: 18,000 BPD at 95% water cut. VSD: 2,050 KVA

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Application of Dual-ESP Completion Extending Well Life Cycle

Retrievable Packer 9-5/8" casing

2-7/8" bypass tubing

Primary system: 15000BPD (89-stg) Nominal ESP with 900-HP motor

Secondary System: 15000BPD (92-stg) Nominal ESP with 900-HP motor

In this example, remaining oil reserves is sufficient to sustain economic production rate for at least 15 years. Liquid rate decline rate is very small (i.e., liquid rate expected to be more or less constant over time) Present Liquid rate: 17,600 BLPD at 95% water cut Pump setting depth: 1,900 m-MD (1295 m-TVD) Pump Intake Pressure: 460 psia (4.2% estimated free gas volume at intake conditions) Workover frequency to replace ESP is expected to reduce over the 15-year period
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Application of Dual-ESP Completion Managing Productivity Uncertainty in New Wells

Gross Liquids Over Time 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 2007 2008 2009

When drilled, there was a lot of subsurface uncertainties (PI, SBHP, etc).
Gross Liquid [bpd]

Initial rate estimates: 1,000-6,000 BPD the range.

Need 2 ESPs to cover

Primary ESP (3,500-7,800) ran for almost one year before switching to smaller ESP. Currently still running on the secondary ESP (1,600-3,200 BPD)

Retrievable Packer

9-5/8" casing

2-7/8" bypass tubing

Primary system: 6000-BPD Nominal ESP with 270-HP motor

7" liner hanger Secondary System: 2600BPD Nominal ESP with 150HP motor

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Closing Remarks

As Wytch Farm oilfield continues to mature (i.e., declining oil rate & increasing water cut) the need to operate ESP more efficiently becomes more important. This involves the use of efficient ESP system, coupled with extended well life cycle (i.e., extending the ESP run-life & the application of dual-ESP, where applicable). It is expected that the conventional, tubing-deployed ESP systems to continue to dominate the ESP population at Wytch Farm, especially for those wells producing from the prolific offshore Sherwood reservoir.

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Acknowledgments

The presenter would like to thank the following companies for making this presentation possible: BP Exploration & Operating Co Limited Premier Oil Exploration Limited Summit Petroleum Dorset Maersk Oil North Sea UK Limited Talisman North Sea Limited

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Questions?

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