What Are the Most Common Artificial Lift Mistakes in Oil Wells?

Artificial lift is used when a reservoir no longer has enough natural pressure to push fluids to the surface, and it can also boost flow from wells that still flow naturally. Whether the method is an electric submersible pump, gas lift, a rod pump or another system, the goal is the same: lift oil, water and gas efficiently, reliably and safely for as long as possible. In practice, many lift problems are not caused by bad equipment but by avoidable decisions in selection, design, operation and maintenance. This article walks through the most common of those mistakes and what production teams can do differently.

Why do artificial lift mistakes matter so much?

A lifted well depends on equipment working continuously in a harsh environment. When a downhole pump fails, the well usually stops producing until a workover rig or intervention crew can replace it. That means lost production, intervention effort, safety exposure and equipment replacement, all at once. Small design or operating errors compound over time: a pump running slightly outside its ideal range may keep working, but it wears faster, overheats more often and fails sooner.

The good news is that most of these failures follow recognisable patterns. Teams that understand those patterns can design better systems from the start and spot warning signs before a failure becomes a shutdown.

What are the most common artificial lift mistakes?

Choosing a lift method that does not fit the well

Each lift method has strengths and limits. Electric submersible pumps handle high fluid volumes well but are sensitive to free gas, sand and high temperatures. Gas lift tolerates solids and deviated wells but depends on a reliable supply of compressed gas. Rod pumps are simple and familiar but are limited by depth and volume. Selecting a method by habit, or simply because the field already uses it, rather than by matching it to reservoir pressure, expected rates, gas-oil ratio, well geometry, solids and available infrastructure, is one of the most expensive early mistakes. The Artificial Lift Methods Training Course focuses on exactly this: understanding the various methods and how to select one that maximises production and return on investment.

Designing with poor or outdated data

Pump sizing depends on inflow performance, fluid properties, water cut and gas content. If these inputs are guesses, or were measured years before the design, the pump may be oversized or undersized from day one. An oversized pump can draw the well down too far, pull in gas or sand and run in an unstable range; an undersized one leaves production behind. Good practice is to validate well test data, build an inflow performance relationship and use nodal systems analysis to check the whole system from reservoir to separator.

Ignoring gas, sand and solids

Free gas entering a centrifugal pump reduces its ability to generate head and can cause gas locking, where the pump stops moving fluid and overheats. Sand and other solids erode stages and bearings and can plug intakes. Scale, wax and asphaltenes add further restrictions. These conditions are often known, or at least predictable, before installation. Planning for them with gas separators or handlers, sand control, appropriate metallurgy and chemical treatment is far cheaper than repeated pulls.

Running equipment outside its operating window

Every pump has a recommended operating range. Running far to the left or right of it increases thrust wear, vibration and heat. With electric submersible pumps, poor motor cooling, frequent starts and stops, and electrical problems such as unbalanced supply or damaged cable add further stress. Variable speed drives help, but only if someone uses the data they provide to keep the pump in range as well conditions change.

Treating gas lift as set-and-forget

Gas lift wells are often over-injected or under-injected because injection rates are not reviewed as well performance changes. Unstable injection can cause heading and slugging, and valve problems can mean gas is injected at the wrong depth. Reliable gas supply also matters. High-pressure reciprocating compressors that feed gas lift systems need disciplined operation and maintenance; the Reciprocating Gas Compressor Operation & Maintenance for Lift Applications High-Pressure Workshop covers compressor internals, valve performance, lubrication, vibration diagnostics and reliability-centred maintenance for these applications.

Weak monitoring and slow troubleshooting

Many failures announce themselves in advance through rising motor temperature, changing current, falling intake pressure or abnormal vibration. If no one watches the trends, or if alarms are routinely ignored, those signals are wasted. Equally, when a failure does happen, pulling the equipment without a proper teardown and root cause analysis means the same mistake is likely to be repeated in the next installation.

How can production teams avoid these mistakes?

1. Screen lift methods systematically. Compare candidate methods against reservoir, fluid, well and facility constraints before committing.
2. Design on validated data. Confirm inflow performance and fluid properties, and use nodal analysis to test the design across expected conditions, not just today's.
3. Plan for gas and solids. Include separation, sand control, materials and chemical treatment in the original design.
4. Keep equipment in range. Use drives, set points and surveillance to adjust as the well declines.
5. Install and commission carefully. Handling, splicing, cable protection and start-up procedures all affect run life.
6. Monitor trends and act early. Define alarm limits, assign responsibility and review data routinely.
7. Learn from every failure. Carry out teardown inspections and root cause analysis, and feed the lessons into the next design.

Which mistakes are specific to electric submersible pumps?

Because electric submersible pumps are so widely used, they deserve a closer look. Typical problem areas include:

Problem area	Typical cause	Prevention
Gas interference	Free gas at the intake	Gas separators or handlers, correct setting depth, managed drawdown
Abrasive wear	Sand and solids production	Sand control, abrasion-resistant stages, controlled start-up
Motor overheating	Poor cooling flow or overload	Correct sizing, shrouds where needed, temperature monitoring
Electrical failure	Cable damage or unstable power supply	Careful installation, insulation checks, power quality management
Thrust and bearing wear	Operation far outside the recommended range	Variable speed control and regular performance review

For field operators, production engineers and technical personnel who work with these systems day to day, the Oil & Gas Artificial Lift (ESP) Training covers ESP principles, system components, operational techniques and troubleshooting, with the aim of improving performance, increasing production and reducing downtime. Engineers who need a deeper, longer treatment, including the major lift types and the use of nodal systems analysis to design, optimise and troubleshoot ESP systems, can look at the two-week Artificial Lift System (ESP) Training, aimed at production, reservoir and completion engineers, supervisors and engineering staff.

Who should be involved in getting artificial lift right?

Artificial lift sits between disciplines. Reservoir engineers understand inflow and decline, production engineers design and optimise the system, completion engineers handle the well architecture, and operators and maintenance staff keep equipment running. Mistakes often happen at the handovers between these groups, for example when a design assumption is never shared with the operators who run the pump. Building a shared understanding across the team, and agreeing who watches which data, is one of the most effective ways to extend run life.

Most lift failures are decided long before the pump stops: at selection, at design and in the daily decisions about how the well is run.

If your team wants to strengthen its skills in lift selection, ESP design and troubleshooting, or compressor reliability for gas lift, the courses linked above cover those areas. See the course page for upcoming dates and fees.