Optimizing ESP Power Consumption: A Case Study for Cost Reduction and Extended Runlife in Egypt

Abstract During times of volatile oil prices, optimization of production costs per barrel is a critical component for international upstream companies to ensure competitiveness and profitability. Therefore, the issue of maintaining oil production energy efficiency becomes more important nowadays. While Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESPs) are a reliable solution for lifting moderate to high fluid volumes from wells, a crucial challenge lies in maximizing system performance and minimizing daily energy consumption for each unit. Agiba Petroleum Company relies on Electric Submersible Pumps (ESPs) for artificial lift in its onshore field (SWM-4) in Western Desert of Egypt. However, ESPs were operated by standalone generators and suffered from high diesel consumption. Additionally, several electrical failures encountered due to unstable input voltage and high motor temperature for low-rate wells. Those failures impacted both ESP run life and overall oil production efficiency. To address these limitations, this paper presents a case study exploring how replacing conventional ESPs with permanent magnet motors (PMMs) coupled with innovative power-saving pumps can significantly reduce power consumption and eliminate electrical failures. A novel ESP system utilizing a Power Save high-efficiency ESP driven by a permanent magnet motor, has demonstrably improved run life in the SWM-4 fields. This configuration boasts a substantial increase in meantime between failures compared to traditional ESP systems. Additionally, a study revealed a substantial 30% reduction in total diesel consumption when compared to diesel consumption before the implementation. Additional benefits of PMMs include higher power factor, increased efficiency, synchronous operation, and higher power density. These advantages make it easier to address challenges like low productivity wells, unstable inflow, viscous fluids, and solids content. This case study outlines the artificial lift system selection process and the implementation of new PMM technology in ESP systems, covering conceptual aspects (design, specifications, and manufacturing), installation, and operational considerations (reliability and optimization). In response to growing concerns about climate change, National Oil Companies (NOCs) are actively seeking ways to minimize greenhouse gas emissions from their operations. New advancements in ESP technology offer a promising solution: Power Save ESP systems driven by PMM. These systems not only improve profitability by lowering operating costs and reducing electricity requirements, but more importantly, they contribute significantly to environmental sustainability by decreasing overall power consumption throughout the ESP's lifespan.