DOE extends stripper well group support to 2015

The US Department of Energy extended to 2015 the Stripper Well Consortium, which has provided and transferred technological advances to small independent oil and gas producers for the past 9 years, DOE’s Fossil Energy Office announced on June 23.

June 25, 2010

2 min read

Nick Snow
OGJ Washington Editor

WASHINGTON, DC, June 25 -- The US Department of Energy extended to 2015 the Stripper Well Consortium, which has provided and transferred technological advances to small independent oil and gas producers for the past 9 years, DOE’s Fossil Energy Office announced on June 23.

FEO said the industry-driven consortium, which was initiated in 2000, aims to keep wells that produce fewer than 10 b/d of oil or 60,000 cfd of natural gas operating in an environmentally safe manner. In addition to small upstream independents, it said that the group includes service and supply companies, trade associations, universities’ petroleum engineering departments, industry consultants, and entrepreneurs.

The more than 396,000 US marginal, or “stripper”, oil wells account for nearly 800,000 b/d, or about 10% of production in the Lower 48 states, FEO indicated. More than 392,000 stripper gas wells produce more than 1.7 tcfd, or 9% of the gas recovered in the Lower 48, it added.

Nearly 100 projects have been funded since the consortium’s initiation, according to FEO. It said that successes include the Gas Operated Automatic Lift PetroPump developed by Brandywine Energy Co., which removes fluid from the well bore more consistently than traditional plunger lift systems; Vortex Flow Tools LLC’s vortex flow unit, which operates in a manner similar to a tornado and uses produced gas to accelerate water velocity, reduce water friction, and assist in lifting and removing fluids; and Pumping Solutions Inc.’s new hydraulic diaphragm submersible pump to continuously clean stripper wells.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].