An intriguing sentence from the announcement in my opinion is: "Like the oil from Unit 1A, this interval could be produced in the future with the utilisation of artificial lift mechanisms." -source: 15/08/2023 8:56 am Block 9 Alameda 2 Appraisal Update
I would be interested to know if Sherritt has had experience with this already, is that why they knew about it/mentioned it? As I mentioned previously, I'm fairly sceptical about whether or not this is possible, but.. if Sherritt has been doing this the whole time, I am all ears and I am willing to be open minded.
source: Fakher, Sherif, Abdelaziz Khlaifat, M. Enamul Hossain, and Hashim Nameer. "Rigorous review of electrical submersible pump failure mechanisms and their mitigation measures." Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology 11.10 (2021): 3799-3814.
Figure 1 adapted from Zhu and Zhang (2018) A review of experiments and modeling of gas-liquid flow in electrical submersible pumps. Energies. https://doi.org/10.3390/en11010180
"The pump itself is composed of three main compenents, namely: impeller, diffuser, and housing, or casing (different from the wellbore casing). The ESP components are presented in Figure 1. The impeller rotates at high speeds to provide a pressure head for the wellbore fluids in order to lift the fluid upwards to the surface. Once the fluid moves through the impeller it passes through the diffuser. The diffuser converts the kinetic energy from the impeller into pressure head. Several stages are usually present in the ESP string based on the depth of the wellbore and the required lift." source: Fakher, Sherif, Abdelaziz Khlaifat, M. Enamul Hossain, and Hashim Nameer. "Rigorous review of electrical submersible pump failure mechanisms and their mitigation measures." Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology 11.10 (2021): 3799-3814.
Figure 2, Normal and Inverted ESP Assemblies, adapted from: Fakher, Sherif, Abdelaziz Khlaifat, M. Enamul Hossain, and Hashim Nameer. "Rigorous review of electrical submersible pump failure mechanisms and their mitigation measures." Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology 11.10 (2021): 3799-3814.
Figure 3. ESP Application in Deviated Wells, adapted from Kolawole O, Gamadi TD, Bullard D (2020) Artificial lift system applications in tight formations: the state of knowledge. SPE Prod Oper 35:422-434 https://doi.org/10.2118/196592-PA.
The main directions to increase energy efficiency of the operation of the artificial lift well stock are:
Technical measures:
- implementation of energy-saving design of electric submersible pump units (ESPU);
- using the pumps and submersible motors with better technical characteristics, than standard ones;
- replacement of the ESPU model range and the creation of a high depression due to high heads and great depths;
- comparison of ECE of ESP of different standard sizes, produced by different manufacturers;
- replacement of ESPU by sucker-rod pumping units (SRPU);implementation of dual action sucker-rod pumps;
- implementation of intelligent control stations for SRPU;shifting low flow rate wells to screw pump operation;
- implementation of plastic rods or light metal rods;
- use of submersible cables of bigger diameter;
- cable heating;
- decreasing the load on;
- transition from using asynchronous submersible electric motors to submersible AC electric motors impeller trimming;
- cascade regulation in case of parallel installation of pumps;
- decreasing rotation rate of pump under constant parameters of electric power network;
- using nano-coatings for impellers of ESP;
- creation of installations for simultaneously-separate exploitation;
- use of chain drive;
- replacement of power stations with diesel motors by the more energy efficient ones— gas turbine motors;
- operation of submersible equipment in periodic modes;
- decrease in produced water and its injection in strata (shutdown of low-profit well stock and conducting geotechnical works);
- selection of optimal standard size and replacement of pump aggregates on cluster pump stations,
- booster pump stations and preliminary water separation units; installation of variable speed drives on pumping equipment;
- reducing losses in electric power grids.
Technological measures:- controlling the operation parameters of each well in real time mode with an access to the upper level of automatic control systems of technological parameters (ACS TP);
- completing control stations with individual certified electric power meters, one for each working well or newly introduced one;
- possibility to monitor technological parameters behavior in time, including work current, voltage, inlet pressure, temperature of submersible electric drive, dynamic fluid level, energy consumption and etc. on each well.
Organizational measures:- creation of an organizational structure at the enterprise that has the authority to effectively solve problems in the field of reducing energy consumption. Its functioning is based on the involvement of the maximum number of specialists in the process of saving energy, starting with the shop personnel and ending with the top managers of the enterprise, with an incentive to achieve the final result, a clear delineation of areas of responsibility;
- training of corporate specialists with receiving a certificate for carrying out internal audits of energy management system in accordance with the requirements of international standard ISOet
source: Midor, Katarzyna, Tatyana N. Ivanova, Michał Molenda, Witold Biały, and Oleg V. Zakharov. "Aspects of Energy Saving of Oil-Producing Enterprises." Energies 15.1 (2021).
Traditional thermally enhanced oil recovery (EOR), which includes steam injection, in situ oil combustion, and mining, are widely used for heavy crudes, supplying 3% of the world’s oil demand. When thermally stimulated, hydrocarbon properties such as density and viscosity change significantly, facilitating reservoir flow and increasing oil recovery. Increasing the temperature of heavy crudes from the typical reservoir temperature to 200—300 °F can reduce the oil’s viscosity by a few orders of magnitude, significantly enhancing inflow performance. Thermal EOR is an active area of research and development. Thermal methods currently in use and proven successful for the past few decades include hot water flooding, steam and immiscible C02 injection, and in situ combustion. High porosity sand formations containing heavy and extra heavy crudes of API values less than 20 are the most suitable candidates for thermal EOR processes. The aforementioned techniques rely on heat transfer by injected or in situ partial burning of hydrocarbons. They require large capital investments, and applications are restricted by factors such as the target formation’s depth and thickness and other logistics. source: Aljawad, Murtada Saleh, Saad Alafnan, and Sidqi Abu-Khamsin. "Artificial Lift and Mobility Enhancement of Heavy Oil Reservoirs Utilizing a Renewable Energy-Powered Heating Element." ACS Omega 4.22 (2019): 20048-20058.
"Assessment and ranking:
The AL assessment started with a high level screening, which identified the following AL systems as being “potentially suitable” for KOC's scenarios: sucker rod pumps, electrical submersible pumps (ESPs), progressing cavity pumps (PCPs) and variants of these three lift systems, such as metallic stator PCPs (M-PCPs) and electrical submersible PCPs (ES-PCPs). The other AL systems identified in the high level screening (such as jet pumps, gas lift, hydraulic submersible pumps, twin screw pumps, etc.) were considered likely unsuitable for KOC's scenarios due to various reasons, such as being rarely used in heavy oil, being unproven in heavy oil, or having significant weaknesses related to heavy oil."
source: Darren Worth, Eissa Al-Safran, Amit Choudhuri, Ahmad Al-Jasmi,Assessment of artificial lift methods for a heavy oil field in Kuwait,Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering,Volume 180,2019,Pages 835-843, ISSN 0920-4105, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2019.06.012.
Ranking summary tablet for Vertical- high viscosity well -source: adapted from Darren Worth, Eissa Al-Safran, Amit Choudhuri, Ahmad Al-Jasmi,Assessment of artificial lift methods for a heavy oil field in Kuwait,Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering,Volume 180,2019,Pages 835-843, ISSN 0920-4105, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2019.06.012.
"Rod pumps are likely suitable for this scenario. Selecting one pump to meet the flow rate requirements may be difficult. With high viscosity fluids, two main potential issues for rod pumps include “incomplete pump fill” and “rod hang-up”. Incomplete pump fill occurs because high fluid viscosity leads to high frictional flow losses through the pump intake and standing valve. These high flow losses reduce the fluid pressure, which leads to gas breakout and thus to a barrel that is not completely filled with fluid. Rod hang-up occurs because high fluid viscosity increases the fluid drag on the rods and on the plunger, which reduces the speed at which the rods can fall. source: Darren Worth, Eissa Al-Safran, Amit Choudhuri, Ahmad Al-Jasmi,Assessment of artificial lift methods for a heavy oil field in Kuwait,Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering,Volume 180,2019,Pages 835-843, ISSN 0920-4105, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2019.06.012.
If it was true that an artificial lift mechanism could be employed for the heavy oil, then the questions I would ask in the next webinar would be:
1) Has this been done anywhere else in Cuba?
2) Have you ordered the artificial lift mechanisms?
3) Have you considered the addition of thermally enhanced oil recovery together with the artificial lift mechanism?
4) How can you be so sure there is enough oil to flow if the flow tests did not verify this? Do the logs provide enough certainty to build a full field development plan? 
(20min delay)