URTeC: 2668625 Determining the Optimal Artificial Lift Implementation Strategy in the Midland Basin Y. Pradhan*, H. Xiong, J. Forrest, J. Zhu, A. Kianinejad, A. Cui, S. Gao - Texas Oil and Gas Institute Copyright 2017, Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC) DOI 10.15530/urtec-2017-2668625 This paper was prepared for presentation at the Unconventional Resources Technology Conference held in Austin, Texas, USA, 24-26 July 2017. The URTeC Technical Program Committee accepted this presentation on the basis of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). The contents of this paper have not been reviewed by URTeC and URTeC does not warrant the accuracy, reliability, or timeliness of any information herein. All information is the responsibility of, and, is subject to corrections by the author(s). Any person or entity that relies on any information obtained from this paper does so at their own risk. The information herein does not necessarily reflect any position of URTeC. Any reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written consent of URTeC is prohibited. Abstract Maximizing long-term well performance strongly depends on artificial lift installation (AL) and operational maintenance. Production wells in unconventional reservoirs require a flexible AL strategy because of a wide range of production rates. Initial flow rates are often greater than 5000 BFPD but decline rapidly to hundreds of BFPD within six to twelve months. Operators in the Permian Basin often follow neighboring operators’ AL methods without further optimization. When following others’ strategies, operators could fail to consider their respective wellbore constructions and reservoir variations. While implementing one form of artificial lift may maximize initial production and yield quicker payout, these installations could limit long-term hydrocarbon recovery and/or economics. Therefore, a holistic AL performance analysis is needed to optimize production and economics. This study aims to provide a systematic evaluation of various AL strategies based on production data analysis, cost and operation downtime, and reservoir modeling. The study first reviewed regional reservoir properties and general artificial lift practices in the Wolfcamp and Lower Spraberry formations, identified candidate wells, built numerical simulation models, and calibrated those models with production data. The study then integrated those numerical models with wellbore flow models to simulate various cases with different combination of AL throughout their production lives. Finally, the study performed economic analyses based on the input of forecasted production, estimated costs, and historical failure rates for each method. This paper illustrates the workflow to select an optimal AL strategy by using two example wells located in the Southern Midland Basin Wolfcamp and the Northern Midland Basin Lower Spraberry formations, and reviews opportunities on University Lands. The study suggests best practices that can be applied to production wells with similar reservoir properties in Permian Basin. The scale of development has a large influence on the AL strategy. Costs and reservoir properties for each formation are known of critical parameters, but this paper will discuss how run time and failure rates are important considerations as well. Introduction For a given well, an artificial lift method (AL) can be optimized provided that the production performance is known for the whole well life. Different AL methods may be better suited for different reservoir fluid properties such as gas- oil ratio and water-cut performance. Wellbore construction quality will impact the AL down time and maintenance. In addition, the operational scale including the number of producers will impact the cost and economics. Production wells in unconventional reservoirs require a flexible AL strategy because of a wide range of production rates and high decline rate of well productivities with depletion and time. Initial rates observed from those wells on University Lands in Permian Basin are often greater than 5000 BFPD but decline rapidly to hundreds of BFPD within six to twelve months. From general observations among the 270+ operators on University Land acreage in the Midland