Case Study: Ecopetrol boosts production and reduces sand-related downtime with SLB's Left Helix PCP

Left Helix PCP Manages Sand to Enable 13% Drawdown Increase for Casabe Consortium

Ecopetrol’s Casabe Consortium in Colombia needed a way to improve uptime in wells with severe sand production, which was causing PCP intake plugging, frequent sand-flushing interventions, deferred production, and high operating costs. SLB recommended its Left Helix reverse-geometry progressing cavity pump (PCP) to help the wells produce high-solids fluids more reliably.

SLB installed Left Helix PCPs in two pilot wells, where the design’s reverse-geometry rotor and top-tag intake prevented sand buildup and eliminated sand-flushing interventions. The results included restored economic production to a well that had been shut in for nearly a year, removal of USD 380,000 in deferred oil value, a 13% increase in production from higher drawdown, and longer pump run life—more than tripled in one well and doubled in the other. The success led Casabe Consortium to deploy the technology in 12 additional wells.

Ecopetrol