How Estis Compression Became a Leader in Artificial Lift

Estis Compression is a family-owned company started in 2001 with the idea of hiring the best technicians, building innovative and reliable compression units, and focusing on customer satisfaction including a personal commitment from every employee to provide great customer service.

Over time, our performance in delivering our compression technologies has become – in the words of our customers – “the best in the business”.

Zeroing in on customer service from the beginning has allowed Estis to build a rigorous recruitment and hiring approach, giving us a passionate team of employees who are always seeking to implement better performance through new unit design, innovative technology, new processes, and updated training. Estis understands the needs of our customers, and we strive to always deliver compression units that are designed with three things firmly in mind: simplicity, ease of operator use, and elimination of typical failure points.

As a de facto market leader in mechanical availability, our commitment to excellence is setting a new standard for artificial lift performance.

Every Great Story Starts with a Courageous Idea

In April 2016, presenters piqued the curiosity of industry stakeholders at the ALRDC 39th Annual Gas Lift Workshop with an intriguing “what-if” scenario.

During their presentation, they highlighted high-pressure gas lift (HPGL) as the single most powerful tool for replacing ESPs or reducing/eliminating the need for gas lift valves. The challenge arose, however, in finding an available onshore compressor capable of providing discharge pressures above 1440 psi.

At the time, the ability to rent a high-pressure compressor was zero. The rental compressor industry simply did not believe there was a market for such a machine. Operators were forced to rely on failure-prone conventional gas lift and electric submersible pumps (ESPs). As a customer-centered company, Estis knew the value of listening to its clients. If the industry needed a better machine, Estis would build it.

And Estis was up to the task. Years of honing a culture of innovation supported by strong engineering practice, technical analysis and know-how meant Estis had the right team for the job. Backed by its customer-first approach, Estis worked to design practical units suitable for the field with a robust ability to operate trouble free.

Estis Shows What Real Leadership Looks Like

Estis went to work and quickly became a pioneer of HPGL, focused on creating an industry first in innovative engineering to provide production performance and cost savings to producers. The company launched an HPGL “booster” in 2017. Its “booster” compressor allowed operators to take advantage of deeper production tubing set depths, utilize end of tubing as a single injection point, and increase production volumes through the larger cross-sectional flow area of the annulus.

That year, a Permian operator determined the greatest use-case for the HPGL technology amongst their asset portfolio was in their Permian Basin fields where they contracted Estis to launch the new booster compressor capable of discharge pressures up to 5500 psi. 

In another case, using HPGL enabled a leading U.S. independent oil and natural gas operator to achieve an increase of about 120% of its initial production (IP) rates. Until then, this was unheard of in the industry. With conventional gas lift wells, the output was about 440,000 barrels on average in the first year (1,205 BOPD), but with HPGL, the output rose to about 600,000 barrels (1,643 BOPD). That’s an unprecedented 37% uplift in production in the first year alone. 

In addition, the oil and gas operator increased the net present value (NPV) of each horizontal well by a whopping six figures ($500,000).

The Estis “booster” compressor was trademarked as “The Wolf” amongst great industry acceptance and take-up at the Permian Basin International Oil Show in 2021, reinforcing the Estis Compression blueprint for providing the leadership necessary to take innovation and execute it to scale for industry.

Innovative Technology Responds to Changing Needs 

By five years of age, horizontal wells in the Permian Basin and Williston Basin’s Bakken Shale suffer average decline rates of about 17%.

These high late-stage decline rates threaten ultimate recovery estimates from reservoirs expected to produce economically for 30+ years.

Gas lift is the single most efficient, cost-productive tool to increase production volumes and extend well economic lifespans. No other process or application can match the increased NPV that gas lift offers. Combining gas lift technology with continuous uptime provides for optimal production and reduction of production costs. The cost of downtime is often not included in an overall cost analysis. This again is where Estis makes an impact - with its leading mechanical availability performance of greater than 98%. Combining that performance with an HPGL system that requires no expensive downhole jewelry lets operators avoid downhole mechanical failures that lead to high non-productive time (NPT).

Today, the use of HPGL is rapidly growing in US shale basins. With rising GORs in many horizontal wells leading to steep production declines, unconventional wells are ideal candidates for HPGL.

We Are What We Promise: Reliable. Innovative. Expert.

In 2021, Estis celebrated 20 years in business. Our culture of integrity and commitment has propelled us into a leading position in compressor mechanical availability.

Ongoing monitoring and relentless review of performance carried out by empowered employees has enabled Estis to maintain high customer satisfaction levels while continuing to innovate and implement solutions desired by industry. Estis continues to work towards emissions reduction with the goal of offering net-zero packages, an objective sought by both employees and industry. Long term significant investment commitment means Estis is in it for the long haul with a goal of continuous improvement fueled by innovation and expertise. 

Reliable, Expert, Innovative – Estis Compression is the key to increasing your recovery rates in an unprecedented time of global changes. Use the Evaluator to discover how Estis Compression can aid your operation.