Apparatus, system and method for reducing gas to liquid ratios in submersible pump applications

A method for reducing a gas to liquid ratio (GLR) in a pumped fluid comprising:

• pumping a gas laden fluid to a surface of a subsurface formation using a downhole electric submersible pump (ESP) assembly comprising an ESP pump and an ESP motor;
• monitoring one of a load of the ESP motor, intake pressure of the ESP pump, temperature of the gas laden fluid, or a combination thereof to obtain ESP assembly condition data;
• determining whether a GLR of the gas laden fluid exceeds a predetermined allowable maximum based on the ESP assembly condition data;
• injecting liquid from an external source into the gas laden fluid;
• and
• varying a rate that the external liquid is injected based on the GLR so determined.

A pump gas to liquid ratio (GLR) management system comprising:

• an electric submersible pump (ESP) assembly downhole in a well comprising a gas laden fluid;
• a variable speed drive (VSD) system controllably coupled with the ESP assembly, the VSD system comprising ESP assembly operation data;
• a liquid injection pump comprising at least two modes of operation, wherein a particular mode of the at least two modes is settable by the VSD system;
• and
• the liquid injection pump fluidly coupling an external liquid supply and an annulus of the ESP assembly, wherein a rate the external liquid supply flows to the annulus is adjustable based on the particular mode of the liquid injection pump set by the VSD system.