Oil giant Saudi Aramco announced the successful installation and functional test of the collaboratively developed Baker Hughes TransCoil rigless deployed electrical submersible pumping system (ESP).
It has been designed to bring wells on production faster with lower installation and replacement costs for ESPs.
By eliminating the need for an expensive rig to replace the ESP, it is particularly advantageous in offshore wells where not only rig intervention costs are expensive, but also where limited rig availability can delay ESP replacement.
Nasir K Al Naimi, vice president of Petroleum Engineering and Development, said: With our large ESP installation base, including many ESPs installed in our offshore fields, the ability to rapidly deploy ESPs riglessly provides tremendous cost reduction to our overall operations.
The TransCoil system is particularly beneficial in our challenging high H2S fields as the premium metallurgy TransCoil can significantly extend the ESP operational life in harsh environment wells.
Collaboratively working with Baker Hughes, we have developed a solution that meets our immediate challenges and enables our long-term vision of one day ESP change-out.
The technology also features an inverted ESP system with the motor connected directly to the powered CT. By eliminating the traditional ESP power cable-to-motor connection, the technology further improves overall system reliability.
The combination of the power cable and the CT into a cohesive deployment string extends the operating range of the TransCoil system to 12,000 feet and enhances reliability, compared to existing CT deployed ESPs that simply pull the power cable through the CT.
The TransCoil nickel alloy outer jacket also provides corrosion protection in harsh environments.
The Khurais field was chosen to be the initial field trial location for the TransCoil system, with months of pre-job planning ensuring the trials success.