10 ways to increase production before Christmas

Each cost less than half a million

Exit rate. Exit rate. Exit rate.

Exit rate is one of the measurements of the growth of an oil company.

This post is brought to you by Proven Reserves Exploitation Ltd., one of our information sponsors. Check out the related infographic 10 ways to increase production before Christmas - infographic

Investment is starting to flow into the oil patch. Every employee is busy looking for opportunities.

However, like year-end tax planning, it's difficult to make a big difference in a short amount of time.

But here's 10 ways to make a quick difference to your exit rate. Each idea costs less than half a million.

1. Shoot fluid levels

Shooting fluid levels will quickly tell you where you can make more oil. If the fluid level in an oil well is more than 1 joint, you can likely speed up the pump.

This may seem obvious, but I'm surprised how many fields I look at where the fluid levels haven't been shot for years. There is no database of fluid levels for the wells. When I check with the operations staff, they didn't know it was important.

Cost: $0.5-$1k per well

2. Run dynamometers

Among other things, a dynamometer can tell you if a downhole pump is worn. A worn pump doesn't work efficiently produces less oil than the well capacity. I've seen wells where the pumps have been worn for three years that saw an instant productivity increase after a pump change.

Cost: $1-$2k per well

3. Speed up pumps

If your bottom hole pumps are in good shape and you've got fluid above the perfs, you might be able to speed up the pump stroke.

For example, increasing the pump speed from 4 strokes per minute to 5 adds 20% more production.

Cost: Free

4. Replace downhole pumps

Worn bottom hole pumps can reduce your production. If one of your oil wells hasn't had a pump change for more than a year, you might be able to make more oil by changing the pump.

Especially if an oil well has its pump stroke set "on-tap" the bottom hole pump is likely to be worn. Check it and change it.

Check the biggest wells first. If you can add 20% more production for the big wells your overall production will improve significantly.

Cost: $5-$15k per well

5. Well restarts

Look for wells that were suspended over the last few years. Can they be restarted?

You would be surprised how many wells have been suspended because the rods broke and no one thought there was money for a rod job.

I once found a well for a client that had been suspended for 4 years. Its previous production rate had been 150 bopd. We repaired the rods and put the well back on production. The one well made our client get a bonus for the year.

Cost: Free

6. Shut in the gassiest oil wells

If one well in your oil pool is very gassy, consider shutting it in. The rest of the oil wells may flow better.

You may find that all the gas that one gassy well was introducing into the gathering system was creating a high pressure drop and putting back pressure on the rest of the oil wells.

In addition to creating gathering system back pressure problems, producing a lot of gas from the pool is likely depleting the pressure in the pool prematurely. Shutting in the gassy well will save the reservoir pressure and help the others flow better. This will be a great long term affect from shutting in the gassy well.

Cost: Free

7. Drop the back-pressure

A well can only flow against the pressure on the well head. The higher the well head pressure, the lower the well flow.

Conduct a pressure audit along the gathering system. If there any big pressure drops, eliminate them. You'll increase productivity.

Cost: $0.5-$1k

8. Rent a compressor

This is one way to improve production especially on gas wells. If you can drop the back pressure on a well by installing a rental well head compressor, you can sometimes increase the production by 50%.

Since gas prices have been down for so long, there are many rental compressors available.

Conduct a back pressure test first to determine how much additional production you'll make.

Although this is a gas tip, it can also work for oil wells.

Cost: $15-$25k per month

9. Perf uphole zones in suspended wells

Can you perf uphole in any of the suspended wells?

Some of your suspended wells may not be restart candidates. But you might have an uphole gas zone. For the cost of a plug and a perforation, you might be able to add reserves and production quickly.

Cost: $30-$40k

10. MRL audit

This isn't a field tip -- it's a regulatory tip. If you have wells still choked by maximum rate limitation, you can likely get the restriction lifted with an application.

As of last week, good production practice applications are being approved in less than a month. If you hurry, you might get one approved before year end.

MRL Audit Cost: $10-$20k

We were successful in getting GPP for one operator even though his DIY application had failed the first time. At Proven, we know how to read between the lines. We know what the regulator needs to hear to grant an approval. And we have a money back guarantee. To see that application, click on the blue button below labelled "Get this application now".

And one more flow assurance tip for good measure -- Reperf

How can you tell if the perfs in your well are still open? Scale, wax, asphaltenes or even a poor original perforating job might be blocking the perfs.

If a well isn't performing as well as you think it ought, reperforate it. Maybe you'll get more production.

Cost: $10-$20k

We've given you 10 ways to increase production before Christmas -- and one bonus. If you're too busy to get these done, call Proven. We can help you get your production up before end of year.

Tags: Tight, Polymer, Flood, Heavy Oil

Granger Low   Updated 20 Nov 2025

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