提出者：

编者注：本文出现在新的 E&P 时事通讯中。请在此处订阅勘探与生产通讯 。 

在全球努力促进低碳未来和可持续能源结构的过程中，石油和天然气行业正在经历 ESG 报告和问责制重要性的转变。在投资界广泛需求的推动下，上游和中游运营商正在迅速寻找采用 ESG 思维方式并将相关业务指标纳入其增长计划的方法。通过从这个角度分析井口决策，生产商和服务公司可以实施人工举升技术，以实现即时和长期的可持续优势。

金融市场日益严格的审查激励该行业实施 ESG 报告实践和绩效指标。例如，基于绩效的可持续发展相关债券、贷款和 ESG 基金不断涌现。这些市场预计将继续增长，ESG 将继续对生产商获得资本产生更大的影响，从“可有可无”变为“必备先决条件”。

采用 ESG 要求，特别是那些旨在扭转和减轻环境影响的要求，也有助于维护石油和天然气作为能源转型关键组成部分的公众形象。希望随着越来越多的公司宣传他们支持 ESG 中的 E 的努力，消费者对石油和天然气作为可持续燃料的看法将会改善。

衡量环境影响

可持续发展会计准则委员会 (SASB) 发布了特定行业的会计准则，以帮助公司了解与其业务相关的主题。

正如该组织所定义的那样，“可持续发展会计反映了公司对产品和服务生产所产生的环境和社会影响的治理和管理，以及对创造长期价值所必需的环境和社会资本的治理和管理。” ”

从衡量环境影响的角度来看，SASB石油和天然气勘探与生产行业标准涵盖的一些主题包括温室气体（GHG）排放、空气质量、水管理和生物多样性。

为了符合行业标准，生产商应将可持续发展工作重点放在对这些指标影响最大的地方。因此，有效的环境管理超越了董事会的范围，推动最重要的可持续决策——而不是井口。 

人工举升的可持续性 

为了展示生产商如何开始在人工举升实践中应用可持续思维，让我们来研究一下与电动潜油泵 (ESP) 系统相关的一些环境效益。通过使用 ESP 技术，生产商可以为其运营实现至少三个可持续优势：

• 减少能源需求；
• 保护生态系统；和
• 回收和再利用。

减少能源需求

生产商计算与人工举升相关的电力成本是标准做法，但他们很少考虑节能如何转化为减少温室气体排放。根据 EPA 的数据，1 千瓦时的电力会产生约 1.6 磅的温室气体排放，因此运营商可以通过调节电力使用来最大限度地减少碳足迹。就 ESP 而言，降低系统能源需求的两个主要杠杆是电机和表面控制器。 

在井眼中，ESP 由管柱底部的电动机驱动，该电动机通常是感应电动机或永磁电动机 (PMM)。由于 PMM 在指定频率 (Hz) 下实现相同马力所需的能量更少，因此与感应电机相比，这些电机的效率可提高 10% 或更高。通过计算油井的运行时间和马力需求，PMM 节省的电力可以转化为可测量的温室气体排放量减少。

在地面上，ESP 电机由配电盘或变速驱动器 (VSD) 控制。虽然配电盘是定速控制器，但 VSD 提供多功能控制，可以根据系统的实际运行情况来减慢、加速和维护系统。最重要的是，VSD 可以节省能源，因为电机不需要满负载运行。通过调节电压、电流和功率，VSD 可以将电机的工作量或负载与其所需的能量相匹配。这使得系统更加高效，并且通过减少多余能源的浪费来节省运营商的资金。

使用 VSD 的其他节能优势包括能够软启动驱动器，从而减少系统供电所需的初始电流强度。所有这些因素都有助于降低对电网的需求，从而减少与发电相关的温室气体排放。运营商可以通过计算运行 VSD 与配电盘的电力成本差异并转换为温室气体排放当量来量化这一优势。通过将 PMM 的功率因数性能与高效 VSD 操作相结合，生产商可以大大降低每口井的电力需求和相关的温室气体排放。

保护生态系统

与其他形式的升降机相比，ESP 的表面占地面积最小，产生的噪音也很小。例如，由于地面需要压缩系统，安装和操作气举系统需要大量空间。

另一方面，ESP 只能通过井口和附近地面的控制器来区分，这意味着不存在可能对人类或野生动物造成危险的外部移动部件。ESP 所包含的地面设备运行安静，从而避免了可能扰乱附近社区和自然栖息地的噪音污染。

最后，连接到电网或连接到现有设施的 ESP 可以实现零排放，因为没有可能排放空气污染物的发动机或废气。当 ESP 与适当的气体回收方法结合使用时，操作员可以大大减少其环境足迹。

回收和再利用

为了在恶劣的井下环境中高效生产石油，与其他形式的举升机相比，ESP 具有持久的固体处理能力和耐磨性。例如，Valiant 的耐磨 ESP 配备具有独特几何形状的泵，可防止因积沙而加速磨损和破损。通过强化 ESP 结构，ARM 设计有助于最大限度地延长每个组件的使用寿命。当更多使用过的组件通过测试时，需要处置或回收的材料就会减少，从而减少与冶炼过程相关的温室气体总量。

根据世界钢铁协会的数据，“2018年生产每吨钢铁平均排放1.85吨二氧化碳。”

根据通过测试的设备数量，Valiant 计算出其可重复使用的 ESP 库存每年可减少约 7,000 吨碳排放。拥有自己的 ESP 设备的运营商可能会寻求量化其库存中可重复使用的百分比，并测量与更换设备相关的排放量。对于新应用，可恢复性和重复使用可能是调整和操作 ESP 系统时需要考虑的重要因素。

结论

这些只是生产商可以开始从 ESG 角度描述其运营特征的几个例子，但它们表明运营商可以通过持续关注可持续性来实现运营和环境优势。通过在整个价值链上合作，量化、报告并采取措施改进特定的 ESG 绩效指标，运营商和服务公司可以将自己定位为负责任的能源和环境管理者，确保未来获得资本并分享能源结构。 

关于作者：

Arcady Royzen 是 Valiant Artificial Lift Solutions 的全球客户服务经理。Royzen 的职业生涯建立在 40 年的工程和项目管理经验的基础上，在加入 Valiant 之前，他在石油和天然气行业投入了 20 年，与包括 Wood Group ESP 和 GE Oil and Gas 在内的著名人工举升公司合作。他的专业领域包括电机技术、VSD、测试和认证以及供应链管理。他还拥有多项潜水密封技术专利。 

参考：

参考可根据要求提供。如果有兴趣，请通过 ahurtado@hartenergy.com 联系 Ariana Hurtado。 

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Editor's note: This article appears in the new E&P newsletter. Subscribe to the E&P newsletter here. 

Amid global efforts promoting a lower-carbon future and a sustainable energy mix, the oil and gas industry is experiencing a shift around the importance of ESG reporting and accountability. Largely driven by widespread demand from the investment community, upstream and midstream operators are quickly finding ways to adopt an ESG mindset and incorporate relevant business metrics into their growth plans. By analyzing decisions at the wellhead from this perspective, producers and service companies can implement artificial lift technologies to achieve immediate and long-term sustainable advantages.

Increased scrutiny from financial markets has incentivized the industry to implement ESG reporting practices and performance metrics. For example, there has been a proliferation of performance-based sustainability-linked bonds, loans and ESG funds. These markets are expected to continue growing, and ESG will continue to have a greater impact on producers’ access to capital, going from a nice-to-have feature to a must-have prerequisite.

The adoption of ESG imperatives, particularly those aimed at reversing and mitigating environmental impacts, also support the public image of oil and gas as a critical part of the energy transition. Hopefully, with more companies communicating their efforts to support the E in ESG, consumer perceptions of oil and gas as sustainable fuels will improve.

Measuring environmental impact

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) has published industry-specific accounting standards to help companies navigate topics relevant to their business.

As the organization defines it, “Sustainability accounting reflects the governance and management of a company's environmental and social impacts arising from production of goods and services as well as its governance and management of the environmental and social capitals necessary to create long-term value.”

From the standpoint of measuring environmental impact, some of the topics covered in the SASB standards for the oil and gas E&P sector include greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, air quality, water management and biodiversity.

To align with the industry standards, producers should focus their sustainability efforts where they have the greatest impact on these metrics. Therefore, effective environmental stewardship goes beyond the boardroom to drive sustainable decision-making where it matters most—at the wellhead. 

Sustainability in artificial lift 

To demonstrate how producers can start applying a sustainable mindset in their artificial lift practices, let’s examine some of the environmental benefits associated with electric submersible pumping (ESP) systems. Producers can realize at least three sustainable advantages for their operations by using ESP technologies:

• Reducing energy requirements;
• Protecting ecosystems; and
• Recovery and reuse.

Reducing energy requirements

It is standard for producers to calculate the power costs associated with artificial lift, but it is less common that they consider how power savings translate to reducing GHG emissions. According to the EPA, 1 kWh of electricity generates approximately 1.6 lb of GHG emissions, so operators can minimize their carbon footprint by regulating power usage. In the case of ESPs, the two primary levers to reduce energy requirements for the system are the motor and the surface controller. 

In the wellbore, ESPs are driven by an electric motor at the bottom of the string, which is typically an induction motor or permanent-magnet motor (PMM). Because PMMs require less energy to achieve the same horsepower at a specified frequency (Hz), these motors can achieve efficiency that is 10% or greater compared to induction motors. By calculating the hours of runtime and horsepower requirement for the well, power savings with PMM can be converted into a measurable reduction in GHG emissions.

At the surface, the ESP motor is controlled by either a switchboard or a variable speed drive (VSD). While switchboards are fixed-speed controllers, VSDs provide versatile controls to slow down, speed up and maintain the system based on how it is actually performing. Most importantly, VSDs provide energy savings because the motor does not need to operate at full load. By regulating voltage, current and power, the VSD can match the amount of work or load on a motor to the amount of energy it needs. This makes the system more efficient and also saves the operator money by reducing excess energy from being wasted.

Other energy-saving benefits of using VSDs include the ability to soft-start the drive, which reduces the initial amperage required to power up the system. All of these factors help lower demand on the power grid, thus mitigating the GHG emissions associated with power generation. Operators may quantify this advantage by calculating the difference in electricity costs for running a VSD compared to that of a switchboard and converting to GHG emissions equivalent. By coupling the power-factor performance of PMMs with a highly efficient VSD operation, producers can greatly reduce their power demand and associated GHG emissions per well.

Protecting ecosystems

Compared to other forms of lift, ESPs have a minimal surface footprint and produce very little noise. For example, installing and operating a gas-lift system requires a large amount of space due to the need for a compression system at the surface.

ESPs, on the other hand, are only distinguishable by the wellhead and a nearby controller at the surface, which means there are no external moving parts that could be hazardous to people or wildlife. The surface equipment that ESPs do include operate quietly, thus avoiding noise pollution that can disrupt nearby communities and natural habitats.

Finally, ESPs that are connected to the power grid or tied into an existing facility produce zero emissions because there is no engine or exhaust that could emit air pollutants. When ESPs are used in conjunction with proper gas recovery methods, operators can drastically reduce their environmental footprint.

Recovery and reuse

To efficiently produce oil from harsh downhole environments, ESPs offer durable solids handling and abrasion-resistance compared to other forms of lift. For example, Valiant’s abrasion-resistant ESPs feature pumps with a unique geometry to prevent accelerated wear and breakage associated with sand accumulation. By reinforcing the ESP construction, ARM designs help maximize the useful life of each component. When more used components pass testing, fewer materials have to be disposed or recycled, which reduces the total GHGs associated with smelting processes.

According to the World Steel Association, “Every ton of steel produced in 2018 emitted on average 1.85 tons of carbon dioxide.”

Based on the amount of equipment that passes testing, Valiant calculates that its reusable ESP inventory reduces carbon emissions by approximately 7,000 metric tons each year. Operators that have their own ESP equipment may seek to quantify what percentage of their inventory is reusable and measure the emissions that would be associated with replacing it. For new applications, recoverability and reuse may be an important factor to consider when sizing and operating ESP systems.

Conclusion

These are just a few examples of ways that producers can begin to characterize their operations from an ESG perspective, but they demonstrate that operators can realize both operational and environmental advantages with a continued focus on sustainability. By partnering across the value chain to quantify, report and take steps to improve on specific ESG performance metrics, operators and service companies can position themselves as responsible stewards of energy and the environment, securing future access to capital and share in the energy mix. 

About the author:

Arcady Royzen is the global customer service manager with Valiant Artificial Lift Solutions. With a career built on 40 years of experience in engineering and project management, Royzen has dedicated 20 years to the oil and gas industry, working with prominent artificial lift companies including Wood Group ESP and GE Oil and Gas before joining Valiant. His areas of expertise include motor technologies, VSDs, testing and certification, and supply chain management. He also holds several patents for submersible seal technologies. 

References:

References are available upon request. Contact Ariana Hurtado at ahurtado@hartenergy.com if interested.