Abstract In the ever-evolving landscape of Oil and Gas (O&G) industry, gas lift has emerged as a pivotal yet often underappreciated since its development in 1860s. As mature fields experience declining reservoir pressure and increased water cut, artificial lift methods become essential for sustaining production rates (Ismail et al., 2014). Among countless innovations, gas lift proves beneficial in mature fields especially for aging remote or unmanned facilities that face challenges in handling increasing water, gas and solids production. Despite the widespread use of gas lift in Malaysian oil fields, majority of gas lifted wells are currently idle where the implications are serious to the fields’ productivity and economics, as idle wells represent untapped reserves in mature assets. This also means a lot of potential production is deferred or lost because the gas lift systems are not working as well as they could, which presents both unique challenges and opportunities for optimization. Gas lift optimization in mature fields requires prudent technical analysis and effective execution due to old surface equipment and subsurface completion conditions (e.g. worsening well integrity with leaks or holes, inaccurate production metering and instability of gas compressors), while upholding high safety standards (Ismail et al., 2014). The success of gas lift operations depends on multiple factors, ranging from well selection and gas injection rate optimization to real-time monitoring and proactive intervention. Therefore, effective strategies that address fields’ complexities are needed to maximize recovery, production and efficiency. This paper discusses the basic practices, challenges encountered, data hygiene approach and technical analysis performed that have reignited interest in gas lift optimization for Sabah’s matured fields. A total of 217 strings were analysed in the case study, covering 3 major fields in Offshore Sabah, aiming to unlock the significant deferred production potential (i.e. achieving 25% increase in production), ensuring sustained production rates and mitigating operational inefficiencies. The lessons learned are highlighted to showcase the importance of comprehensive, cost-effective approach in optimizing gas lift systems, thus providing a pragmatic blueprint for other Operators in similar environments.
Sidek et al. (Mon,) studied this question.