Course Description

Rod Pumping Expert and Founder of Theta Oilfield Services

John G. Svinos

John G. Svinos is a recognized industry expert with 36 years of experience in rod pumping system optimization. As the founder of Theta Oilfield Services and later E8 LLC, he is the inventor of RODSTAR, XROD, XDIAG, XBAL, and other widely used rod pumping optimization software. John has also been teaching rod pumping optimization courses for over 34 years and has trained thousands of oil industry personnel in rod pumping optimization worldwide.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Introduction

  • 2

    Chapter 1 - Fundamental Principles

    • Chapter 1 - Part 1 - Fundamental principles and definitions, wave principles

    • Chapter 1 - Part 2 - More wave principles
  • 3

    Chapter 2 - Rod Pumping System and Surface Equipment

    • Chapter 2 - Part 1 - Rod pumping system components and surface equipment

    • Chapter 2 - Part 2 - Main pumping unit types

    • Mark II Pumping Unit Video

    • Chapter 2 - Part 3 - Aditional Pumping Unit Types: Low Profile, Rotaflex, etc.

    • Rotaflex Video

    • Rotaflex Animation

    • Chapter 2 - Part 4 - Hydraulic Pumping Units and Pumping Unit Data Needed for Computer Simulation.

    • Dynapump Video

    • Mark II Crank Rotation Direction Arrow on the Cranks

    • Chapter 2 - Part 5 - Belts and Sheaves, Stuffing Box, Back Pressure Valve, Rod and Tubing Rotators.

    • Rod Rotator Video

    • Tubing Rotator Video

    • Chapter 2 - Part 6 - How a Back Pressure Valve Works.

    • Flowline production on Upstroke vs Downstroke Video
  • 4

    Chapter 3 - Downhole Equipment

    • Chapter 3 - Part 1 - Downhole Equipment and How the Downhole Pump Works

    • Full Pump Animation

    • Chapter 3 - Part 2 - Downhole Pumps and Plungers

    • Chapter 3 - Part 3 - Plungers and Barrels, Sand Problems, and Pump Clearance.

    • Chapter 3 - Part 4 - Pumps for Sand and Gas.

    • Gas Interference Animation

    • Chapter 3 - Part 5 - Pumps and Accesories for Gas Interference.

    • HF Variable Slippage Pump (VSP) Animation

    • Gas Bailer Pump Animation

    • Chapter 3 - Part 6 - Gas Anchors

    • Chapter 3 - Part 7 - Production Tubing, Tubing Anchors, Poly-Lined tubing.

    • Chapter 3 - Part 8 - Paraffin and Asphaltene Deposition.

    • Chapter 3 - Part 9 - Pump Shop and Pump Repair.

    • Video of Pump Holddown Assemply

    • Video of Valve Vaccum Testing

    • Video of Puting Together the Downhole Pump

    • Video of Vaccum Testing the Repaired Pump

    • Video of Loading Finished Pump on Trailer to Trasport it to Well
  • 5

    Chapter 4 - The Rod String

    • Video of running sucker rods in a well

    • Chapter 4 - Rod String Part1 - API and Non API Sucker Rod Grades and Continous (Coiled) Rods.

    • Chapter 4 - Rod String Part2 - Fiberglass Sucker Rod Construction, and Advantages and Disadvantages of Fiberglass Rods.

    • Chapter 4 - Rod String Part3 - How to Calculating Steel Rod Loading.

    • Chapter 4 - Rod String Part4 - Fiberglass Rod Loading, Sinker Bars, Common Sucker Rod Failures, and Rod Makeup Torque.

    • Chapter 4 - Rod String Part5 - Photographs of Sucker Rod Failure Types.

    • Chapter 4 - Rod String Part6 - Aditional Photographs of Sucker Rod Failure Types.
  • 6

    Chapter 5 - Field Measurements

    • Chapter 5 - Field Measurements Part 1 - Recording Surface Dynamometer Cards.

    • Video of Conecting a Load Cell and a Wireless Dynamometer System on the Polished Rod to Measure a Dynamometer Card.

    • Chapter 5 - Field Measurements Part 2 - Evolution of Dynamometer Systems and What a Dyno Represents.

    • Chap5 - Field Measurements Part 3 - Valve Checks, Pump Slippage, and Counterbalance Effect Measurements.

    • Animation of Effect of Leaking Traveling Valve or Plunger on the Plunger's Movement During a TV Check Measurement.

    • Chapter 5 - Field Measurements Part 4 - Crank and Courterweight Data, Amp Plot, and Fluid Level Shots.

    • Animation of how the Echometer system determines the fluid level in the wellbore.
  • 7

    Chapter 6 - Gearbox Torque Analysis

    • Chapter 6 - Part 1 - Basic Gearbox Function, How to Calculate Gearbox Torque, Torque Factors, How to Calculate the Maximum Counterbalance Moment from a CBE Measurement, and the Permisible Load Diagram.

    • Chapter 6 - Part 2 Torque Analysis. Permissible Load Diagram and How to Use it.
  • 8

    Chapter 7 - Pumping Unit Balancing

  • 9

    Chapter 8A - Rod Pump System Design

    • Chapter 8A - Introduction to Rod Pumping System Design.

    • Chapter 8A - How to calculate target production, API rod string design, N/No' vs Fo/SKr.

    • Chapter 8A - System Design Considerations, and RODSTAR Capabilities for Designing Group 1 or Group 2 Rod Pumipng Systems.

    • Chapter 8A - Designing Non-Vertical Rod Pumping Systems and How to Avoid Input Data Errors.

      FREE PREVIEW

    • Chapter 8A - How RODSTAR Generates Rod Guide Recommendations.

    • Chapter 8A - XROD Artificial Inteligence Design Software for Rod Pumping Systems.

    • Chapter 8A - Aditional XROD Features and the Importance of Good System Design.

    • Chapter 8A - How to run RODSTAR-V - Part 1 - Entering Data for a New Vertical System Design.

    • Chapter 8A - How to run RODSTAR-V - Part 2 - Entering Data for a New Vertical System Design, Program Output Report and Changing Data.

    • Chapter 8A - How to run RODSTAR-V - Part 3 - How to Improve the System Design Score.

    • Chapter 8A - How to run RODSTAR-D - Part1

    • Chapter 8A - How to run RODSTAR-D - Part2

    • Chapter 8A - The RODSTAR-D Output Report

    • Chapter 8A - Understanding the RODSTAR-D Output Report

    • Chapter 8A- How to use RODSTAR's Setup Function-Part 1

    • Chapter 8A - How to use RODSTAR's Setup Function - Part 2
  • 10

    Chapter 8B - Other Rod Pump System Design Calculations

    • Chapter 8B - Part1 - Polished Rod, Prime Mover Sheave and Belt Sizing and Maximum Pumping Speed.

    • Chapter 8B - Part2 - Maximum and Minimum Pumping Speeds, Polished Rod and Plunger Velocity Plots, and How to Calculate Belt Velocity.
  • 11

    Chapter 9A - Modern Diagnostic Analysis of Rod Pumping Systems

    • Chapter 9A - Part1 - Diagnostic Analysis Goals, Software for Diagnostic Analysis, Verified Downhole Dyno Card Shapes, and How to Calculate a Pump Intake Pressure and Effective Fluid Level from a Downhole Dynamometer Card.

    • Chapter 9A - Part 2 - Downhole Dyno Line Settings, The Secret to Downhole Dyno Card Shapes, and Explanation for Common Downhole Dyno Shapes

    • Full Pump Animation

    • Gas Interferece Animation

    • Fluid Pound Animation

    • Leaking Traveling Valve Animation

    • Leaking Standing Valve Animation

    • Full Pump with Unanchored Tubing Animation

    • Malfunctioning Tubing Anchor Animation

    • Chapter 9A - Part3. Tubing Leak Detection, and Downhole Dyno Card Shapes for Combinations of Problems.

    • Pump Hitting Down (Tagging) Animation

    • Bent or Sticking Pump Barrel Animation

    • Worn or Split Pump Barrel Animation
  • 12

    Chapter 9B - Diagnostic Analysis

    • Chapter 9B - Diagnostic Analysis of Group 2 Rod Pumping Systems.

    • Chapter 9B - Example Group 2 Diagnostic Analysis and System Design.

    • Chapter 9B - Theta's XDIAG Diagnostic Software.

    • How to Run XDIAG

    • The XDIAG Output Report

      FREE PREVIEW

    • How to Use XDIAG's Setup Options

    • XDIAG Phase Shift Error Corrections
  • 13

    Chapter 10 - The Seven Step Optimization Process

    • The Seven Step Optimization Process

    • SSO Example Case 1521 - Steps 1 & 2

    • SSO Example Case 1521 - Steps 3 & 4

    • SSO Example Case 1521 - Steps 5-7
  • 14

    Chapter 11 - Rod Pump Controllers

    • Chapter 11 - Rod Pump Controller Hardware

    • Chapter 11 - How RPCs detect fluid pound and how Variable Speed Drives Work

    • Chapter 11 - Lufkin Well Manager Main Features

    • Chapter 11 - RPC Data Errors
  • 15

    Rod Pumping System Automation