Methods and systems for prediction of an optimal range for gas lift injection and optimal liquid production rate for oil wells

A method for enhancing oil production in an oil well, the method comprising:

• providing a controller in signal communication with a gas lift compressor and/or a gas lift control valve, the controller comprising at least one memory and at least one processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, the at least one memory storing a trained optimal gas lift injection range model, the trained optimal gas lift injection range model constructed using selected features as model inputs and trained using a training portion of a plurality of samples of synthetic data sets and corresponding target values, the selected features comprising raw features and engineered features determined based on well data, reservoir data, and historical production data related to the oil well, the synthetic data sets generated from the well data, reservoir data, and historical production data, the corresponding target values calculated based on nodal analysis of each sample of the plurality of samples of each synthetic dataset, the corresponding target values comprising a target minimum gas lift injection rate and a target maximum gas lift injection rate;
• determining, using the trained optimal gas lift injection range model, a predicted optimal range of gas lift injection values for the oil well, the predicted optimal range extending from a predicted minimum gas lift injection rate to a predicted maximum gas lift injection rate;
• and
• providing control signals to the gas lift compressor and/or the gas lift control valve so as to provide gas lift at the predicted minimum gas lift injection rate.

An oil production system comprising:

• a tubing disposed in a wellbore and fluidly coupling an interior of the wellbore to a wellhead;
• a gas lift compressor operable to receive and compress a gas from a gas source to produce a compressed gas;
• a gas lift control valve operable to receive the compressed gas produced by the gas lift compressor and direct the compressed gas into the wellbore on the outside of the tubing at a gas lift injection rate;
• and
• a controller in signal communication with the gas lift compressor and/or the gas lift control valve and communicatively connected to one or more data sources, the controller configured to receive well data, reservoir data, and historical production data from the one or more data sources, the controller comprising at least one memory and at least one processor configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, the at least one memory storing a trained optimal gas lift injection range model, the trained optimal gas lift injection range model constructed using selected features as model inputs and trained using a training portion of a plurality of samples of synthetic data sets and corresponding target values, the selected features comprising raw features and engineered features determined based on well data, reservoir data, and historical production data related to the oil well, the synthetic data sets generated from the well data, reservoir data, and historical production data, the corresponding target values calculated based on nodal analysis of each sample of the plurality of samples of each synthetic dataset, the corresponding target values comprising a target minimum gas lift injection rate and a target maximum gas lift injection rate;
• the controller further configured to determine, using the trained optimal gas lift injection range model, a predicted optimal range of gas lift injection values for the oil well, the predicted optimal range extending from a predicted minimum gas lift injection rate to a predicted maximum gas lift injection rate, and provide control signals to the gas lift compressor and/or the gas lift control valve to automatically modify the gas lift injection rate to be within the predicted optimal range of gas lift injection rate so as to facilitate an optimal liquid production rate of the produced fluids.