Stripper Wells

SAVE THE STRIPPERS!

A stripper well or marginal well is an oil or gas well that is nearing the end of its economically useful life. In the United States of America a "stripper" gas well is defined by the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission as one that produces 60,000 cubic feet (1,700 m3) or less of gas per day at its maximum flow rate; the Internal Revenue Service, for tax purposes, uses a threshold of 75,000 cubic feet (2,100 m3) per day. Oil wells are generally classified as stripper wells when they produce ten barrels per day or less for any twelve month period.

Marginal and Stripper Well Revitalization

One out of every six barrels of crude oil produced in the United States comes from a marginal well - a well whose production has slowed to 10 barrels a day or less. Over 85 percent of the total number of U.S. oil wells are now classified as marginal wells. There are over 420,000 of these wells in the United States, and together they produce more than 915,000 barrels of oil per day, or 18 percent of U.S. production. Stripper wells are more common in older oil and gas producing regions, most notably in Appalachia, Texas and Oklahoma.

Many of these wells are marginally economic and at risk of being prematurely abandoned, leaving significant quantities of oil remaining behind. A common misperception is that oil left behind remains readily available for production when oil prices rise again. In most instances, this is not the case, leaving our nation more dependent on foreign oil imports.

Although the situation is less severe for natural gas, there is nonetheless a growing concern about the premature abandonment of gas stripper wells. Currently, there are more than 296,000 natural gas stripper wells in the lower 48 states. Together they account for over 1.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas production annually, or over 9 percent of the natural gas produced in the lower 48 states.

DOE strategies to curtail premature abandonment have focused on supporting an industry-driven Stripper Well Consortium (SWC). Products that are produced and manufactured by Global Oil Flow USA, LLC. help develop strong economic value to the Stripper Well owners. The Oil Flow Compressor (OFC®) and Pump Off Controller enable maximization of oil and gas production. With SmartJack™ Telemetry products utlizing optimization software efficiency creates managed solutions and increases well life, cost savings and many benefits to the well owners.

The ultimate payoff for such an approach could be the recovery of millions of barrels of oil otherwise permanently lost while the United States watches its oil production continue to slide. Expectations are for a jump in oil output, a drop in electricity costs, a gain in pump system life, and a decline in well-servicing costs.