The Case for Liquid-Assisted Gas Lift Unloading

Summary The case for a unique form of gas lift unloading, termed liquid-assisted gas lift (LAGL), is presented. This work demonstrates that the injection of a gas/liquid mixture allows the transport of gas to a deep injection point with injection pressure considerably lower than single-phase gas injection. The LAGL is demonstrated in a 2,880-ft-deep test well, by use of natural gas and water. The test well is kicked off with an injection pressure that would normally be higher than the pressure for single-point single-phase gas injection at this depth. Experimental results indicate that the proposed technique can lower the surface injection-pressure requirements by up to 75% for the scenarios investigated in this study compared with single-point gas lift unloading.