The Effects of Corrosion Problems on the Performance of Oil Wells Operated with Electrical Submersible Pumps: Lessons Learned

• Published in: Journal of bio- and tribo-corrosion Vol. 9; no. 3
• Main Authors: Al-karawi, Mohammed A., Al-Azrgy, Muhaiman K., Aljarah, Ahmed M., Alfarge, Dheiaa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-09-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alloy steels; Biomaterials; Carbon dioxide; Chemistry and Materials Science; Chromium; Corrosion; Corrosion and Coatings; Corrosion effects; Corrosion rate; Corrosion tests; Failure; Inspection; Materials Science; Metallurgy; Oil; Oil fields; Oil wells; Pumps; Solid Mechanics; Statistical analysis; Steel tubes; Strings; Tribology; S corrosion issues; Well completion; Corrosion; Oil wells; Alloys; H; Oil and gas; CO; Corroding agents
• ISSN: 2198-4220; 2198-4239
• DOI: 10.1007/s40735-023-00777-2

To diagnose the corrosion reasons in the most suffered oil wells, this study gathered an integrated field database for the oil wells operated with electrical submersible pumps (ESP) and had significant corrosion problems. In this database, 255 workover operations with rig conducted in super giant oilfield, located southern of Iraq, were evaluated and detailed for the production status of the target wells prior to the workover process and after the workover operation during the period (2015–2017). The gathered database helped to address the main causes of the corrosion in the workover wells and clearly explained the effect of corrosion on the failure of ESP wells in the field. The statistical analysis for the gathered database showed there is a strong correlation between the corrosion rate and the increasing water cut from the Main Pay wells. In addition, high-rate oil wells are observed to have the quickest corrosion failures. However, the plots of the statistic corrosion map do not seem to indicate a specific area or reservoir section but rather a field wide challenge. Interestingly, the CO
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corrosion due to the turbulent flow regime right above the ESP was the main reason for the failure of ESP wells caused by the induced holes in the tubing string. This study found that such corrosion issues can be mitigated before they occur in more producing oil wells by installing 13% Chrome metallurgy (CR-L80) tubing string in all Main Pay wells instead of using L80 alloy steel tubing string. Thus, such practice will reduce the cost, time and number of workover operations. Based on the scale of this constructed field database, this investigation also showed that the extra cost due to purchasing the 13% CR-L80 tubing would be offset if the tubing failure is mitigated in only 2 ESP wells.
Graphical Abstract
ESP corrosion damage during (2015–2017) reported by the inspection process of pulled tubings