WELL PERFORMANCE IMPROVED BY COOLING GAS FLOW.

Initial production from the Coastal States' Mary Martin No. 3 well in McMullen County, Texas was 3. 5 MMcfd, 200 bbl condensate and 400 bbl water per day flowing with a wellhead pressure of 2800 psig. Because of the high volume of water produced, the temperature of the well stream was extremely high. Normal separation facilities could not be used efficiently since the sales gas temperature exceeded the acceptable pipeline limit. In order to continue to maintain maximum production efficiency, an outside means of cooling the gas was required. An idle skid-mounted distillation extraction plant (or refrigeration unit) equipped with a 25-ton compressor was put into service. After the unit was installed, production from the well was increased from 4. 0 MMcfd to 5. 5 MMcfd, 182 bwpd to 281 bwpd, and the bpm (bbl per million) condensate rate increased from 44 bpm to 50 bpm, thus paying for the unit three times.