Pump Jacks Coming in Handy for Extraction of Oil

Pump jacks are considered as an essential mechanism of the oil industry. If one is thinking about the installation of pump jack, it is vital to come to terms with the working of these machines and why it is needed to be included in your operations. In this blog, you will get all the info about the pump jacks.

A pump jack is a device helping you with the process of extracting crude oil from a well of oil.

How does a pump jack work?

Pump jacks make an artificial lift for transporting of the crude oil to the surface. They have a long beam rising and falling in the oil well. A series of rods is attached at the beam’s end dipping in and out of the well with the movement of the beam. These rods are linked to a sucker rod pump also. As there is movement of these components, they act like a piston for increasing the pressure inside the well. This pressure transports the oil to the surface where all of it can be collected.

The beam’s movement is done with the help of a pulley system powered by an exterior source. Every so often, the installation of pump jacks happens in clusters. More than a few pump jacks are fitted in a row and coupled to a solitary source of power.

Is a pump jack the identical to oil derrick?

The answer to this is no. They both are operational on similar principles, and the terms are frequently used interchangeably, but these are dissimilar machines. Their valves and action are slightly different from each other. They also produce diverse rates of mining, with pump jacks characteristically pumping quicker than oil derricks. The former ones also regularly require additional power for operation.

When is pump jack installation essential?

If the pressure in the oil well is not enough to push the crude oil to the surface, a pump jack is fitted for accessing the oil. The artificial lift produced by the pump jack lets the well to be a prolific crude oil source. At times, a well might not require the installation of a pump jack upon the initial access, but as the time passes, there is a drop in the pressure. Once the pressure is inadequate, a pump jack is connected for creating the artificial lift which is the need of the hour for accessing the oil.

What is a characteristic pumping rate for a pump jack?

Pump jack systems typically pump around 20 times per minute. For large oil fields, it is a common phenomenon to connect a number of pump jacks to attain faster, efficient oil collection.

A pump jack refers to a device that is utilized in the oil and gas industry to extract crude oil from oil wells where there is not enough pressure to force the oil to the surface. This device creates an artificial lift, in the oil well, which enhances the pressure within a well to pull oil to the surface. This process, therefore, helps in increasing the production of oil from oilfields. Sometimes artificial lifting process is required from the very beginning, whereas it is most viable for mature oilfields, as the pressure in such wells decreases over time.

In recent years, the integration of computer technology into exploration and production (E&P) operations for monitoring and analyzing systems into pump systems has gained momentum. As conventional pump jack systems are dependent on manual operation and monitoring, their efficiency is limited to a significant extent and they are not able to extract the last drop of oil, which is the main objective of such systems. To overcome this limitation, pump jack manufacturers are focusing on integrating automated systems in these devices. Advanced pump jacks also allow for low downtime and swift resolution of asset repair issues.

Nowadays, pump jack providers such as Cook Pump Company, General Electric Company, LS Petrochem Equipment Corporation, JCPump LLC, Young's Welding Inc., Weatherford International Plc, and Halliburton Company are opting for geographical expansions and product launches to attract more customers. For instance, in September 2017, Halliburton Company collaborated with Microsoft to apply deep learning to reservoir modelling, simulation, and characterization, fuel the digitalization of E&P assets, create highly interactive applications, and build domain-specific visualization for mixed reality.

According to P&S Intelligence, North America adopted the highest volume of pump jacks in the recent past, and it is expected to retain its dominance in the foreseeable future as well. This can be primarily ascribed to the presence of a large number of mature oilfields, the existence of pump jack manufacturers, and the rapid aging of oilfields in the region. Additionally, the North American pump jack market is also expected to demonstrate the fastest growth in the coming years, due to the technological developments in artificial lifting equipment, including gas lifts and pump jacks, in the region.

Furthermore, Europe, Middle East and Africa (MEA), and Latin America (LATAM) also use a considerable quantity of pump jacks, due to the existence of mature oilfields and swift aging of mature oilfields in the regions. Among European nations, Russia is expected to utilize the highest number of pump jacks in the coming years, due to the technological advancements being made in this artificial lifting equipment and maturing oilfields in the country. Whereas in LATAM, Brazil will register the use of such equipment at the highest rate in the future, owing to the presence of an extensive number of oil reserves, the decline in the natural pressure of wells, and a surge in the average age of mature oilfields in the country.

Thus, the increasing number of mature oilfields and rising technological advancements in artificial lifting equipment will escalate the deployment of pump jack systems in oil wells, in the foreseeable future.

Because of the increased use of pump jacks in oil extraction, there is no stopping the evolution of the demand for the same in the years to come around the world.