Oil Production
KEY INSIGHT
Reacting to unplanned maintenance issues prevents teams from being able to focus on important tasks and projects. Not only is this frustrating, but it’s also very costly. The impacts snowball when projects get pushed back, budgets get strained, and wells fail to meet their production goals. Implementing a Maxivolt engineered solution reduces unplanned maintenance by up to 80% and allows teams to shift from reactive mode to proactive mode. This results in fewer headaches, lower maintenance costs, more production, and more time spent on important tasks and projects.
THE CHALLENGE
A major North American oil producer conducted a study to quantify the impacts of transient voltage on various types of critical installations (compressor stations, CTB, SWD, ESP wells, and rod pump wells). The study concluded transient voltage was responsible for equipment and electronic component failure at compressors station, CTB, and SWD sites an average of two times per year and production well sites once every two years. On average, these failures resulted in total annual lost production opportunities of 70,450 barrels and repair costs of $145,500 (for 3 CS, 9 CTB, 2 SWD, 2 ESP wells, and 2-rod pump wells combined).
THE SOLUTION
A group of engineers from the producer and Maxivolt partnered to develop a detailed Transient Voltage Surge Suppression Design Philosophy for each site type. The process included reviewing each site type’s electrical design as well as on-site visits to address any discrepancies between sites as they were designed and as they were built. After the philosophy was developed, the producer created parameters for which a test would be conducted to quantify the impact of installing Maxivolt devices. The devices were then installed at a cost of $121,329 and the sites are being monitored.
THE IMPACT
Over three years after the Maxivolt installation, the producer reported zero equipment and component failure due to transient voltage. This reduced their overall lost production opportunities by over 400%, saved them an estimated $436,500 in repair costs, and avoided 211,350 barrels of lost production. Calculated at an average price of $57 per barrel, the producer realized a $12,046,950 increase in production value.
