Guidelines & Recommended Practices

Selection of Artificial Lift Systems

for Deliquifying Gas Wells
Prepared by Artificial Lift R&D Council
Status
Document written and edited
Chair: Cleon Dunham, cleon@oilfieldautomation.com

Introduction
The Artificial Lift Research and Development Council (ALRDC) was formed in
2000 for the purpose of helping the Oil and Gas industry better understand and
apply appropriate artificial lift methods to oil and gas wells. ALRDC holds con-
ferences and workshops around the world, provides funding for projects of bene-
fit to the industry, and provides many other services that can be seen on our web
site, www.ALRDC.com.

In 2006, attendees at ALRDC’s Gas Well Deliquification Workshop responded to

a questionnaire concerning the selection of artificial lift systems. Seventy seven
of eighty nine respondents from operating companies, eighty seven (87) percent,
said they would benefit from a set of “best practices” for artificial lift selection. As
a result, ALRDC started a process to create a set of “best practices” for a number
of artificial lift means used within the industry.

The term “best practices” raises a “red flag” for some; as they were concerned
that “best practices” might be interpreted as favoring one particular form of artifi-
cial lift over others, or one particular supplier over others. To alleviate this con-
cern, the term “best practices” was replaced with, “Guidelines and Recommend-
ed Practices.” The purpose of this document is to provide information to guide
people in the selection and application of artificial lift systems. Its purpose is not
to recommend any particular form of artificial lift, and certainly not to favor any
particular supplier.
This document is prepared on a volunteer basis by various personnel from the oil
and gas industry who are associated with ALRDC. The document is available
free of charge to all people in the Industry via the ALRDC web site,
www.alrdc.com. Once the document is fully complete, reviewed and approved;
ALRDC may choose to offer bound hard copies for a reasonable fee if so desired
by those in the industry. Currently, the expected prices will be:
Number copies Cost per copy
1 $250.00
2-9 $200.00
10 - 99 $150.00
100 or more $100.00
Selection of Artificial Lift Systems for Deliquifying Gas Wells Page 2

Sections of this document are in various stages of completion. The completion

process requires that a knowledgeable individual or team write the document, the
same or a different individual or team review the document, and finally the docu-
ment is approval by a University professor familiar with the various artificial lift
methods. The Table of Contents below not only indicates the contents of this
document, but also identifies the document completion level, as described below.
At the beginning of each individual section, the reader will note a “Status” head-
ing, indicating the completion level of the document and those responsible for
creating the document.

Copyright
Rights to this information are owned by the Artificial Lift Research and Develop-
ment Council (ALRDC). This material may be used by any member of ALRDC in
any way they see fit as long as they refer to the ALRDC Artificial Lift Selection
document where it is presented.

Disclaimer

The Artificial Lift Research and Development Council (ALRDC) and its officers
and trustees, (here in after referred to as the Sponsoring Organization), and
the author(s) of this Information and their company(ies), provide this infor-
mation "as is" without any warranty of any kind, express or implied, as to the
accuracy of the information or the products or services referred to in the in-
formation (in so far as such warranties may be excluded under any relevant
law) and these members and their companies will not be liable for unlawful
actions and any losses or damage that may result from use of any information
as a consequence of any inaccuracies in, or any omission from, the infor-
mation which therein may be contained.

The views, opinions, and conclusions expressed in this information are those
of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Sponsoring Organization.
The author(s) are solely responsible for the content of the materials.
The Sponsoring Organization cannot and does not warrant the accuracy of
these documents beyond the source documents, although we do make every
attempt to work from authoritative sources. The Sponsoring Organization pro-
vides this information as a service. The Sponsoring Organization make no
representations or warranties, express or implied, with respect to the infor-
mation, or any part thereof, including any warrantees of title, non infringement
of copyright or patent rights of others, merchantability, or fitness or suitability
for any purpose.