Oil and natural gas companies are interested in increasing efficiency and optimizing well production to secure profits, meet emission regulations, and protect the environment. Constantly evolving technology assists these endeavours. The casing gas compressor is an example of this technology, allowing increased production/efficiency, minimizing problems, and assisting in emission reduction. In this article, you will learn what casing gas compressors are and how they are used in the oil and gas industry.
What is Oil Well Casing?
Sometimes called setting pipe, to case a well involves running steel pipe down the inside of a well that was recently drilled. The space between the sides of the well and the casing is filled with cement, permanently setting the casing in place.
What is Casing Gas?
The oil found in formations often includes gases in solution. These gases come out of the solution as the oil flows and collect in the casing. This is called casing gas and traditionally was handled through venting or flaring. Venting is the controlled release of gases (natural gas, hydrocarbon vapours, carbon dioxide, water vapour, etc.) into the air and occurs during production. This results in greenhouse gas emissions. Flaring is the controlled burning of fuel or waste gas during the production and/or processing of oil. The waste gas/fuel is ignited at the end of a long metal tube called a flare stack. This also results in greenhouse gas emissions. New technology (including casing gas compressors) allows for a better solution.
What is a Casing Gas Compressor?
Casing gas compressors are designed for low-volume applications, are ideal for single wells, and are good for sour and sweet service. They:
Have a minimum of moving parts.
Require no operator setup and/or adjustment.
Have no process coolers or valves to become contaminated.
Have no inlet valve, recycle valve, or intercooler.
Can pump liquid and/or gas.
Have no level shutoff or level switch.
Have no separator and no liquid pump.
Have no external leak points for seals.
Have very reliable gear pumps/electric motor power supply.
Can be remotely monitored via a satellite call-out system.
Have automatic restart capabilities.
Have capacity control.
Can adjust the cycle rate to match the flow rate.
How Does a Casing Gas Compressor Work?
Sometimes, the pressure inside a wellhead builds so high that it can stop the flow from the bottom to the top. The casing gas compressor consists of two major components: the scrubber tank and the compressor cylinder. This dual-action compressor moves casing gas from the wellhead, compresses it, and then puts it back into the high-pressure line. This allows unrestricted inflow, bringing more oil to the surface while releasing the built-up pressure. This process conserves the gas efficiently therefore reducing the emissions.
Why Compress Casing Gas?
There are many valid reasons for taking the time and investing the resources in compression of casing gas.
To reduce casing pressure, lowering the backpressure on the formation.
To increase the rate of oil production.
To Increase total oil recovery.
To eliminate the need for venting and/or flaring, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
To create a new revenue stream (sell the fuel).
To reduce waste of a valuable/finite resource.
To meet emission regulations/requirements.
How do you Determine if a Well is Suitable for a Casing Gas Compression Package?
A trailer-mounted, gas-driven, compressor is moved to the well site and used to determine how the well responds to casing gas compression. This helps determine the economic feasibility and the size of the compressor required.
What Gaspro Provides
Gaspro’s casing gas compressor packages mitigate back pressure, enhance hydrocarbon flow, and conserve valuable energy resources, promoting both economic and environmental benefits. We provide low-maintenance, low-cost, hydraulic-driven compressor units for high differential pressure and low-volume applications. These packages are used for single oil well optimization. We take pride in our products and our services. We continually innovate to meet changing industry needs and requirements. Gaspro Compression Corp is one of Canada’s leading providers of compression packages. Do you still have questions about casing gas compressors? Then contact us at 403-443-8886.
