Publications

Handil is a mature oil field in Mahakam Block which has been producing since 1975. With its depletion challenge, > 90% of Handil oil production depends mainly on gas lift, which is circulated from Handil Gas Lift (HGL) compressor to oil wells through a complex network. Currently, there are >100 well strings put in production with production around 16,000 bopd. Handil gas lift supply is constrained by maximum capacity of HGL compressor which is �85 MMscfd. Meanwhile, the requirement is higher than 85 MMscfd to achieve optimum injection rate. Several strategies have been put in place to achieve optimum oil production, for example: shut in wells with lower gas lift efficiency, acceleration of gas lift network pressure after shut down to achieve optimum well kick off pressure, sustainability of HGL compressor performance, and re-utilization of Handil Enhanced Oil Recovery (HEOR) as a gas lift compressor. The objective of this paper is to share the best practice of gas lift management in Handil field. This paper will be beneficial for gas lift network operation improvement especially for mature gas lift dependent oil field. The paper also will share management of new gas lift source (HEOR) to obtain 800 BOPD production gain while taking into account constraint such as capacity of oily water treatment.