“At a depth of 2,300 meters in well number 4, the ESP has helped raise the field output by 1,000 barrels per day,” the Oil Ministry news agency Shana quoted Mohammad Ali Ajdari as saying.
Utilizing the new ESP system is aimed at maintaining and enhancing production, he added.
An ESP is an efficient and reliable artificial-lift method for lifting moderate to high volumes of fluids from wellbores, Financial Tribune reported.
It is a device that has a hermetically sealed motor close-coupled to the pump body. The whole assembly is submerged in the fluid to be pumped. The main advantage of this type of pump is that it prevents pump cavitation, a problem associated with high elevation difference between pump and the fluid surface.
Submersible pumps push fluid to the surface as opposed to jet pumps which create a vacuum and rely upon atmospheric pressure. Submersibles are more efficient than jet pumps.
As part of plans to take advantage of enhanced oil recovery techniques, an ESP was installed in one of North Yaran’s wells last year.
Large Fields
It was the first of its kind to be used in the West Karun region, an oil-rich area in Khuzestan that covers several large oilfields, including Azadegan, Yaran and Yadavaran.
However, the first ESP, installed in well 14, stopped operating after a while due to technical problems.
The oilfield is located in southwestern Khuzestan Province, 130 km west of Ahwaz, near the border with Iraq and adjacent to the Hawizeh (Hoor al-Azim) Marshes.
Yaran covers 65 kilometers of area and has 1.1 billion barrels of in place oil reserves.
Shared by Iran and Iraq, it has been divided into North Yaran and South Yaran for rapid development.
Production from North Yaran started in 2013, and the field's development plan, launched in 2016, has made 85% progress.
Output reached 30,000 bpd from North Yaran field last year, but plans are in place to triple the output.
Production from the field's southern flank began in 2017 at a rate of 10,000 bpd and will rise gradually to 25,000 bpd.
Raising production from joint oilfields is among the priorities of the Oil Ministry.