To counteract pressure losses and optimize production, more than 90% of the world’s oil wells use some form of artificial lift such as electrical submersible pumps (ESPs). In many cases, artificial lift is installed when the well is placed on production. In others, pumps are deployed months or even years after initial production as well performance begins to decline.

Schlumberger has become one of the leaders in ESP products and services through continuous development of REDA pump technology since the 1998 acquisition of Camco International. Optimization of artificial lift systems requires continuously monitoring performance. With core skill in metrology, Schlumberger has integrated sensors into ESP systems to make not only the measurements needed to optimize pump performance but also measurements of well pressure and temperature.

These can indicate when pump performance is beginning to decline or when the completion or the reservoir is in need of a workover or stimulation. In some cases wellhead systems are connected to a regional monitoring center that can track the performance of many artificially lifted wells in real time, signaling when problems occur and even actuating controls to remedy issues.

The artificial lift business includes many different types of pumps suited to various flow rates and applications. Some are deployed in low-flow-rate wells; others are used in the hostile high-temperature environments of wells drilled to produce heavy oil that becomes easier to flow once steam is injected into the reservoir. In addition to leading the high-tier market in ESP systems, Schlumberger has focused on high-volume markets such as Russia land operations, where as many pumps are in operation as in the rest of the world combined.

To address this market, Schlumberger opened an ESP product center in Tyumen, West Siberia, in 2006. Russia poses specific market challenges including cost and compatibility with local systems. In 2010 Schlumberger introduced the TPS-Line mid-tier pump, designed, engineered, and manufactured in Russia for Russia. The goal of this technology is doing more with less by elevating pump performance, quality, and reliability while still meeting the cost and compatibility requirements of the market. By the end of 2012, Schlumberger had delivered more than 1,700 TPS-Line pumps to 14 different customers in Russia, comfortably exceeding the targets set when the technology was originally launched at the opening of the Tyumen facility.