Predictive Maintenance · Gas Lift
Gas-lift instability. Caught before production drops.
An unstable gas-lift well underperforms by 10-25% of potential because the lift gas is spent on cycling instead of continuous production (illustrative industry figures). Per-well ML detects casing pressure oscillation, valve loading drift, compressor fade, and liquid loading. The return runs on two lines: deferred production recovered, and compression fuel no longer burned on cycling.
Four gas-lift signatures.
Signature
Instability / slugging
ML detects
Casing pressure oscillation outside expected envelope
Root cause
Injection rate misaligned with formation, valve depth wrong
Action
Tune injection rate; verify valve depth schedule
Signature
Valve loading
ML detects
Injection-to-production ratio drift >20% over baseline
Root cause
Valve set point drifted, valve seat wear, scale on valve
Action
Pull valve at next scheduled workover; ML attributes to specific valve
Signature
Compressor pressure fade
ML detects
Compressor discharge pressure declining at constant rate
Root cause
Upstream compressor (gathering side) losing efficiency
Action
Cross-reference /predictive-maintenance/compressor signatures
Signature
Liquid loading
ML detects
Production drop with stable casing pressure
Root cause
Velocity below critical (gas not lifting liquid), pressure depletion
Action
Plunger consideration; or stronger gas-lift via deeper valve
Continue the cluster
Gas-lift is one equipment class. The platform covers them all.
Other equipment classes
Predictive maintenance
- Rod Pump PM→
Fillage, parted rod, fluid pound
- ESP failure prediction→
Bearings, motor temp, gas lock
- Gas Compressor PM→
Vibration, valve, oil temp
- All equipment signatures→
Capability deep-dive
- PM capability page→
Cross-equipment ML
- Artificial lift, priced and executed→
Gas lift ranked against rod pump and ESP work
- Decline Curve Software→
Baseline forecast
Gas-lift heavy basins
Where gas-lift dominates
Frequently asked
What gas-lift engineers ask.
What gas-lift failures does WorkSync detect?
Instability and slugging (casing pressure oscillation), valve loading (injection-to-production ratio drift beyond 20%), compressor pressure fade, and the liquid loading signature.
Why does instability cost so much?
Illustrative industry figures: an unstable gas-lift well underperforms by 10-25% of its potential because the lift gas is spent on cycling rather than continuous production. On a 500 BO/d well that is 50-125 BO/d of recoverable production sitting in the ground.
What is the lead time versus fixed SCADA thresholds?
Casing pressure oscillation resolves in real time. Modeled lead times for the slower signatures, which vary by signal density and history depth: valve loading drift 1-3 weeks, compressor pressure fade 1-4 weeks (that one overlaps with /predictive-maintenance/compressor).
What data does it need?
Casing pressure, tubing pressure, injection rate, production rate, and compressor discharge pressure. Standard gas-lift SCADA telemetry carries all five.
Does it tune the lift gas injection?
WorkSync flags the deviation and surfaces the optimal injection rate. The operator decides whether to action the change. Most tune manually after the signal, and integrating to lift-gas optimization controllers is a Phase 2 conversation.
What is the ROI math?
A gas-lift program returns on two lines: deferred production recovered when instability is corrected, and compression fuel no longer burned on cycling. Both are measured on your own wells during the 4-week pilot rather than assumed from a benchmark.
See gas-lift ML on your wells.
4-week pilot on the stack you already own. Pick one field. Day 14 we baseline your gas-lift program. Day 28 you decide, under the Impact Guarantee: we charge when your number moves.