Jet Pumps Improve Bakken Shale Economics

Overreliance on electric submersible pumps (ESPs) in shale wells can be detrimental to the bottom line. Many operators use ESPs to clean the wellbore after drilling and completing an unconventional well and then again later to provide artificial lift after the well stops flowing under natural reservoir pressure. However, during wellbore cleanup and early production the fluid is laden with sand and other solids that quickly damage ESPs and frequently cause pump failure. ESPs are also vulnerable to failure in gassy, waxy or corrosive conditions, which makes them ill-suited as an initial form of lift in unconventional plays such as the Bakken Shale.