ABSTRACT

The decline of reservoir pressure and the increase of water cut in mature oil fields often lead to a decrease in oil production, making wells uneconomical under natural flow conditions. Progressive Cavity Pump (PCP) is an artificial lift system commonly applied in such conditions due to its characteristics as a positive displacement pump. This study aims to evaluate the performance of the existing PCP in Well X of Field Z and to identify underload conditions using volumetric efficiency as the main indicator. The analysis was conducted using secondary data through Inflow Performance Relationship (IPR) analysis with the Vogel method, nodal analysis, and evaluation of PCP performance under operating frequency variations ranging from 30 Hz to 60 Hz. The results show that Well X is producing at approximately 90% of its maximum inflow capacity, indicating that reservoir inflow is the main limiting factor for production increase. Although increasing the operating frequency raises total fluid production, the volumetric efficiency decreases from 85.3% at 30 Hz to 56.1% at 60 Hz, indicating underload conditions caused by the imbalance between pump capacity and reservoir inflow capability. The study concludes that the underload condition of the PCP is not due to improper pump design but to limited reservoir inflow, and volumetric efficiency is an effective parameter for identifying underload in PCP operations.