SPE 52211
Advances in Heavy Oil Lifting in the Morichal Area of Venezuela
Jack R. Blann, SPE, Jack R. Blann & Assoc.; Roberto Garcia, PDVSA; Francisco Guaramata, PDVSA; Pilar Lozano,
PDVSA
Copyright 1999, Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc.
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 1999 SPE Mid-Continent Operations Symposium
held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 2831 March 1999.
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Abstract
Although heavy oil has been produced in the Morichal area of
Venezuela for over twenty-five years, significant advances have
recently been made to improve performance of the heavy oil
wells. These advances include new techniques for injecting a
diesel diluent at the bottom of the well and further optimization
of artificial lift systems. These new techniques have resulted in
a significant increase in production over a short period of time
with minimal outlay of resources.
Introduction
The Morichal Area of Eastern Venezuela, as well as much of
Eastern Venezuela itself, is known for its heavy oil production.
In fact, the names of some of the oil fields in the area such as
Jobo and Pilon have become synonymous with heavy oil. Crude
oils with gravity as low as 8.5oAPI are common and gravities
above 13oAPI are rare. In recent years, many foreign oil
companies have bid and purchased concessions in the region and
are now concerned with developing techniques to economically
produce the heavy oil
Lagoven, which is now part of PDVSA Produccon, has had
over 45 years of experience with managing heavy oil production
and during this time novel ways of both producing and
artificially lifting the oil have been developed. These techniques
have allowed the heavy oil wells to be produced economically,
without heat, and at higher rates than wells of this type are
produced in many other parts of the world.
The Morichal Area is situated in the State of Monagas,
approximately 100 miles southeast of the State Capital of
Maturin. (See map in Figure 1). Most of the heavy oil
production comes from the fields that lie between and adjoining
Rio Largo Morichal and Rio Yabo. The oil fields in this area
were first developed about 45 years ago and at that time most of
the heavy crude was produced by either natural flow or beam
pumping. In the intervening years, methods of producing the
heavy oil have been continuously improved and today several
types of lift systems are used along with a diluent to insure the
most efficient production technique.
Characteristics of Morichal Crude
The characteristics of the crude oil in the various fields of the
Morichal area are shown in Table 1. The heaviest crude oils
come from the Jobo and Pilon Fields where crude gravities of
8.5-12.5 oAPI are found at Jobo and crude gravities of 10-
13oAPI are found at Pilon. Viscosity ranges from 60-1850cp in
the Jobo field and averages 766cp in the Pilon field. Reservoir
temperatures average from 117-148 oF at reservoir depths of
3260-3685 Ft. in Jobo and 138 oF at reservoir depths of 3250-
3350 Ft. in Pilon.
Production System
Most of the wells in the Morichal area were originally completed
with 9 5/8 inch or 7 inch casing; but in recent years many wells
have had liners added in the lower sections to provide horizontal
deviation. Eight-inch surface flowlines connect most of the
wells to the production stations that may be as far as 2.5 to 3
miles from the wells. One of the production manifolds is shown
in Figure 2. Two large gas compressors are located in the field
and these compressors compress gas from 35 psig to 1300 psig.
Where gas lift is used, the injection gas is distributed and
metered to wells through injection gas manifolds and 2 inch
injection lines similar to those shown in Figure 3.
Viscosity Reduction through Diluent Injection
Diesel fuel has been used as a diluent to decrease the viscosity
and improve flow from the Morichal wells for many years. The
diesel is shipped from the refinery by barge and is distributed
throughout the area in a pipeline system shown in Figure 4. Cost
of diesel fuel diluent is $3.8 per barrel. Until recently, diesel was
injected into the gas lift wells with the injection gas at rates
equivalent to about 0.19 barrels of diluent to one barrel of total
fluid. At the PCP and beam pumping wells, the diluent was
injected into the flowline at the wellhead. Recently PDVSA has
performed extensive tests that indicates that the diluent is much
more effective in reducing viscosity and increasing production if
2 J. R. BLANN, R. GARCIA, F. GUARAMATA, AND P. LOZANO
it is injected at the bottom of the well. The results of some of
these tests will be discussed later in this paper.
A considerable reduction in flowline back pressure has been
noted in the daylight hours indicating that heat also has a
decided effect upon viscosity reduction and improved flow
characteristics of the produced fluid.
Lift Systems
The lift systems used in the Morichal area include natural flow,
beam pumping, gas lift, progressing cavity pumps, and electric
submersible pumps. Table 2 gives a breakdown of the various
lift systems that are employed at the current time along with the
average daily well production from each type of lift system. In
1998 there were a total of 365 wells in the area producing a total
of 113868 bopd. The breakdown of wells was as follows: 192
wells on beam pump, 70 wells on progressing cavity pump
(PCP), 83 wells on gas lift, 17 wells on natural flow, and 3 wells
on electric submersible pumping (ESP). Distribution of area
production by lift system is shown in Figure 5. A comparison
of average daily well production by lift system is shown in
Figure 6. A discussion of each lift system is given below.
Natural Flow. The strong reservoir pressure averaging about
1500 psig at a depth of 3250-3700 feet along with a high
solution gas/oil ratio found in some parts of the fields has
allowed some wells to flow naturally for extended periods of
time. At the present time 17 wells produce 6160 bopd by natural
flow up 3-inch OD tubing. This represents 5 % of the total
production.
Beam Pumping. Beam or sucker rod pumping was the first
artificial lift system used in the Morichal area and it has
performed very well since its first inception. As indicated in
Table 2, there are 192 wells at Morichal producing by beam
pump at this time and these wells produce 40,000 bopd. This
represents an average of 206 bopd/well. Typical installations
employ 2-inch plungers in 3-inch barrels and many of the
installations now employ Corod strings for sucker rods.
Until 1997, diluent was injected into the beam pumping
wells at the wellhead and was only effective in lowering
viscosity in the flowlines. In 1998, tests were performed using a
0.5-inch diameter tube strapped to the production tubing so that
diluent could be injected at the bottom near the pump set at a
depth of 3200 feet. This allowed the viscosity to be reduced in
the tubing as well as the flowline and proved a much more
efficient system. High gas/oil ratios at many wells has caused
gas pound and gas lock and reduced the efficiency of the beam
pumping installations. A typical beam pumping surface
installation is shown in Figure 7.
Progressing Cavity Pumps. In recent years, many beam-
pumping units have been replaced with progressing cavity
pumps (PCP) and at the present time, 70 such installations are
installed in the Morichal Area. The PCP wells currently produce
25824 bopd, which represents an average of 369 bopd/well. As
with beam pumping, diluent injection downhole in PCP wells
SPE 52211
did not begin until late 1997. Figure 8 shows a mechanical
diagram of one of the wells used to test the effect of downhole
injection of diluent on PCP wells. Figure 9 gives the results of
various tests performed both with and without the downhole
injection of diluent. Use of the diluent and the resulting
decrease in viscosity allowed the use of a higher pump RPM on
tests 5-7, which resulted in a much higher pumping rate (2300
blpd versus 1100 blpd) than in the earlier tests without diluent.
A photograph of a PCP surface installation is shown in Figure
10.
Progressing cavity pumps have also suffered from the high
gas oil ratios found at some of the Morichal wells. Table 3
shows data taken from 12 PCP wells in June of 1997. The
production from all of these wells was being seriously reduced
by the high volume of gas handled by the pumps and the
increased back pressure created on the casing-tubing annulus.
Gas Lift. The use of gas lift as a lift system is unusual in
reservoirs with crude viscosity as high those found in the
Morichal area. However, the use of diluent along with relatively
high static reservoir pressures, gas/oil ratios, and well
productivity, have made gas lift an attractive alternative in
certain parts of the Morichal area. Currently, 83 wells are on gas
lift and these wells produce a total of 39136 bopd. This
represents an average of 472 bopd/day produced from each gas
lift well. Until 1997, all of the diluent was injected into the well
along with the gas lift gas. This decreased the viscosity of the
crude somewhat, but was not always effective in increasing
production.
In 1997, a special downhole design to carry diluent to the
bottom of gas lift wells was installed in Well PM-52 in the Pilon
field. A drawing of this installation is shown in Figure 11. This
design employs a novel crossover connection developed by
PDVSA that takes the diluent from the 0.5 inch stainless steal
tube extending from the surface into a tailpipe of 1.9-inch CS
Hydril tubing. The tailpipe extends down into the slotted liner to
the bottom of the vertical portion of the horizontal well.
Results of the five different production tests performed on
Well PM-52 are shown in Figure 12. During each of the tests,
the well was produced first without diluent, then with diluent
injected into the lift gas, and finally with diluent injected at
bottom using the design shown in Figure 11. Average
production without diluent was 113 blpd. With diluent injected
with the gas, the average producing rate was 189 blpd. When
diluent was injected at the bottom, the average producing rate
was 576 blpd, representing a three-fold production increase over
injection with the lift gas. The higher production rate was
achieved with a diluent to well fluid ratio of 0.09. With diluent
injection on bottom, a reduction in wellhead back pressure of
46% was noted along with an increase in API gravity from 10.8
to 13.5 oAPI.
The information gained from the tests on Well PM-52 is now
being applied to improve performance at both pumping and gas
lift wells. Tests have also been performed that indicate that 4-
inch diameter tubing is more efficient on the higher rate wells
and that injection of gas at total vertical depth will significantly
improve gas lift wells.
SPE 52211 ADVANCES IN HEAVY OIL LIFTING IN THE MORICHAL AREA OF VENEZUELA 3

Electric Submersible Pumps. Pilot installations of Very heavy and viscous oil can be lifted at relatively high
electric submersible pumps (ESP) were begun in early 1997 and rates if the proper techniques are applied
at the present time three pumps are running. These three pumps Diesel diluent can be used to reduce viscosity and increase
produce a total of 2744 bopd, which represents an average of production. All lift systems appear to benefit equally well.
915 bopd/well. A typical ESP installation with diluent injection Injecting diluent at the bottom of the well is most
below the pump is shown in Figure 13. This installation is beneficial and gives the greatest reduction in viscosity and
similar to the gas lift installation at Well PM-52 except that two increase in production.
0.5-inch diluent tubes are run from the surface and connect The proper selection of an artificial lift system is very
through the crossover to the CS Hydril tail pipe below the pump. important in the overall optimization of production.
As of mid 1998, pump life up to 1 year, with an average life of Size and spacing of surface production facilities are even
1 year, had been experienced with the electric submergible more critical with heavy oil than with lighter crude.
pumps. No significant problems have been experienced with the
ESPs at the time of this report. A photograph of an ESP surface Acknowledgements
installation showing the two diluent lines entering the wellhead The authors wish to acknowledge the strong support and
is shown in Figure 14. cooperation of Hildemaro Torres, Manager of Heavy Oil
Kenneth Saveth, Angel Vivas, and Miguel Marcano plan to Operations, PDVSA, in the preparation of this paper.
give a complete report on the ESP tests in the Morichal Area at
the ESP workshop in Houston in April of 1999. Sl Metric Conversion Factors
Cp x 1.0* E 03 = Pa. s
Optimization of Lift Systems ft x 3.048* E - 01 =m
Because of the wide variation in reservoir producing conditions ft2 x.290304* E - 02 = m2
at Morichal, a complete optimization of production requires the ft3 x 2.831 685 E - 02 = m3
judicious use of several types of artificial lift systems. Rapid in. x 2.54* E + 00 = cm
lbf x 4.448 222 E + 00 =N
conversion of pumping wells to gas lift when high gas oil ratios
md x 9.869 233 E - 04 = m2
cause gas pound and reduced pumping efficiencies has proved
psi x 6.894 757 E + 00 = kPa
very beneficial. Use of electric submersible pumps on high bbl x 1.589 873 E - 01 = m3
productivity, low gas/oil ratio wells, has allowed significant lb x 4.535 924 E - 01 = kg
improvement in pumping rates over progressing cavity and beam *Conversion factor is exact.
pump installations. The use of downhole injection of diluent has
reduced wellhead backpressure and been very beneficial to all
types of wells. Heat also appears to reduce wellhead back
pressure and flowline heaters have been used on some lines.
However, no large-scale use of surface heaters has been
employed because of the high cost of installation and operation.
The large size (8-inch diameter) flowlines were originally
installed to decrease back pressure at the wellheads and they
have served that purpose to some extent. However, the long
length of some of the lines has served to counteract the benefit
of the large size. The injection of diluent at the bottom of the
well has relieved some of this problem by reducing viscosity and
surface friction throughout the producing system.

Results of Field Wide Optimization

The field wide optimization program carried out at Morichal on
the heavy oil wells during 1997 and early 1998 resulted in a
production increase for the area of over 40%. This significant
increase in production was accomplished with minimal
expenditures and with little disruption of operations.

Conclusions
The following conclusions can be developed from the
optimization work done at Morichal.
4 J. R. BLANN, R. GARCIA, F. GUARAMATA, AND P. LOZANO SPE 52211

TABLE 1 - RESERVOIR AND FLUID CHARACTERISTICS

Field Temblador Jobo Pilon Morichal

Permeability
(Darcys) 2.5 2.5 / 5.0 5.0 2.5 / 4.0

Porosity (%) 25 31.7 / 30.8 20.1 35 / 35.3

So(%) 82.0 80 / 85 82.2 69.0 / 82.7

Gravity
(oAPI) 21.5 12.5 / 8.5 10 / 13 12.0 / 8.7
Viscosity
(CP) 60 60 / 1850 766 90 / 1000
Temp. Figure 1- Map of Morichal Area
(o F) 147.0 117 / 148 138 132 / 140
Datum
(LPPC, Ft.) 1700 1400 / 1500 1470 / 1510 1362 / 1585
Datum
(TVSS, Ft.) 3600 3260 / 3685 3350 / 3250 3200 / 3600
Reserves
(MBLS) 797327 14202064 2356483 9944940

TABLE 2 - DISTRIBUTION OF PRODUCTION BY LIFT SYSTEM

Beam PCP GAS Lift Natural ESP All

Pump Flow Types
Total 40004 25824 39136 6160 2744 113868
Wells 192 70 83 17 3 365
Average 208 369 472 362. 915 312

TABLE 3 - CONDITIONS AT SELECTED PCP WELLS Figure 2 Production Header at Morichal

No Well WHP Prod Rate Gas\Oil Fluid

Level
Ratio Annulus
Psig bopd scf/bopd
1 JN37 50 230 565 Surface
2 JOC81 50 230 7500 Surface
3 MPG127 50 250 1200 Surface
4 JN411 50 170 940 Surface
5 MPG118 50 150 1000 Surface
6 MPG151 50 270 800 Surface
7 JN7 50 500 720 Surface
8 MPG2 50 523 95 Surface
9 JN414 50 390 1000 Surface
10 MPG109 50 220 820 Surface
11 MPG17 50 500 200 Surface
Figure 3 Injection Gas Manifold
12 MPG117 50 600 230 Surface
SPE 52211 ADVANCES IN HEAVY OIL LIFTING IN THE MORICHAL AREA OF VENEZUELA 5

Figure 4 Diluent Distribution System

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Figure 5- Distribution of Production by Lift System

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Figure 8 Diagram of Downhole PCP Installation
6 J. R. BLANN, R. GARCIA, F. GUARAMATA, AND P. LOZANO SPE 52211

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Figure 9 PCP Tests Using Diluent Injection

Figure 10 Surface Installation of PCP

Figure 13 ESP Installation for Diluent Injection

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Figure 11 Subsurface Diagram of Gas Lift Installation

Figure 14 ESP Surface Installation