API 11V5 : 2008

RECOMMENDED PRACTICES FOR OPERATION, MAINTENANCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND TROUBLESHOOTING OF GAS-LIFT INSTALLATIONS

American Petroleum Institute

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1 Gas-lift Operating System Components and Potential
   Problems
   1.0 Purpose
   1.1 Gas-lift System Components
   1.2 Gas-lift System Operating Problems
   1.3 Surface Facility Problems
   1.4 Metering and Control Problems
   1.5 Gas-lift Valve Problems
   1.6 Well Equipment Problems
   1.7 Gathering System Problems
   1.8 Well Testing Problems
   1.9 Production Handling Problems
   1.10 Information Handling Problems
   1.11 Surveillance and Control Problems
2 Gas-lift Operating Problems
   2.0 Purpose
   2.1 Under-lifted and Over-lifted Wells
   2.2 Ineffective Gas Distribution
   2.3 Unstable Gas-lift Operation
   2.4 Types and Causes of Unstable Operation
   2.5 Other Problems
3 Surface Gas-lift Compression, Dehydration, and
   Distribution
   3.0 Purpose
   3.1 Compression Facility
   3.2 Gas Dehydration Facility
   3.3 Gas-lift Distribution System
4 Gas Injection Metering and Control
   4.0 Purpose
   4.1 Gas Metering
   4.2 Injection Control
5 Gas-lift Valves
   5.0 Purpose
   5.1 Unloading Valves
   5.2 Operating Valve(s)
6 Well Equipment - Tubulars, Completion, and Wellhead
   6.0 Purpose
   6.1 Casing Annulus
   6.2 Tubing
   6.3 Completion
   6.4 Wellhead
   6.5 Wellhead Monitoring and Control
7 Gathering System - Flowline and Manifold
   7.0 Purpose
   7.1 Flowline
   7.2 Manifold
8 Well Production Rate Testing
   8.0 Purpose
   8.1 Well Test Scheduling
   8.2 Well Test Equipment
   8.3 Well Test Measurements
9 Production Handling System
   9.0 Purpose
   9.1 Oil Handling System
   9.2 Water Handling System
   9.3 Gas Handling System
10 Guidelines for Collecting and Using Operating
   Information
   10.0 Purpose
   10.1 Well Test Information
   10.2 Downtime Information
   10.3 Pressure and Temperature Surveys
   10.4 Injection Pressure and Rate Measurements
   10.5 Wellhead Production Pressure, Temperature, and Rate
11 Manual and Automated Well Operation and Control
   11.0 Purpose
   11.1 Manual Operations
   11.2 Automated Operations
12 Procedures for Initial Unloading and Kick Off
   12.0 Purpose
   12.1 General Unloading Recommendations
   12.2 Unloading Continuous Gas-lift Wells
   12.3 Restarting (Kick Off) Continuous Gas-lift Wells
   12.4 Unloading Intermittent Gas-lift Wells
   12.5 Restarting (Kick Off) Intermittent Gas-lift Wells
13 Procedures for Adjusting (Fine Tuning) Gas-lift Injection
   Rates
   13.0 Purpose
   13.1 Continuous Gas-lift Wells with Steady Pressure
   13.2 Continuous Gas-lift Wells with Variable Injection
        Pressures
   13.3 Intermittent Wells with Time Cycle Control
   13.4 Intermittent Wells with Choke Control
   13.5 Do Not Use Flowline Chokes
14 Gas-lift Troubleshooting Tools
   14.0 Purpose
   14.1 Two-pen Pressure Charts, or Equivalent
   14.2 Acoustical Surveys
   14.3 Tagging Fluid Level
   14.4 Flowing Pressure Surveys
15 Recommended Practices for Dealing with Wells That Produce
   Sand
   15.0 Purpose
   15.1 Recommended Practices
16 Typical Locations of Gas-lift Problems
   16.0 Purpose
   16.1 Gas-lift Injection or Inlet Problems
   16.2 Gas-lift Production or Outlet Problems
   16.3 Downhole Problems
17 Possible Causes and Cures of Common Malfunctions of
   Gas-lift Systems
18 Gas-lift Troubleshooting Checklist
Bibliography

Abstract

Describes the system components and presents a summary of recommended practices for recognizing and dealing with many of the problems that may cause upsets and/or inefficient operations in continuous gas-lift.