Operator Workflow

The Pumper's Day: A Lease Operator Daily Route That Misses Nothing

The lease operator, also called the pumper, is the person who keeps a group of wells producing. The job runs on a daily route: wells, tanks, saltwater and paperwork in one loop. Work the same route the same way every day, and nothing gets missed. Here is a routine built around the checks that keep wells producing.

Start of Shift: Plan the Route Before the Truck Moves

A good shift starts before the truck leaves the yard. Pull the route plan and list every location in order: batteries, wells, saltwater and disposal sites. Check what changed since yesterday: alarms not cleared, tanks close to full, wells down.

Then run a job safety analysis, or JSA, for the work ahead. A JSA breaks each task into steps and names the hazard at each step, so the crew agrees on controls before anyone touches iron. OSHA's well servicing guidance is built around spotting these hazards before the job starts.

Check the H2S situation before heading out. Hydrogen sulfide can show up at wellheads, tanks and separators. Know whether the lease is an H2S area, carry the right monitor, and treat every sour location as live until it reads clean.

The Battery Tour: Tanks First, Then Wells

Most pumpers start at the tank battery. The tanks tell you what the wells did overnight, since the oil and water from the day sit right there.

Gauge every tank and write the number down. The tank gauge is the fluid level read off the gauge line, and it tells you how much fluid moved. Thief the tanks with a graduated tape to check oil, water and emulsion, and pull a sample from the middle of the oil column.

Take a BS and water sample, short for basic sediment and water. The sample shows how much water and solids ride with the oil, and a rising number warns that something changed downhole. Tank readings feed the gauge sheet, and the gauge sheet feeds every production number downstream.

The Well Checks: Rod Pumps, ESPs, Gas Lift and the Wellhead

From the battery, work the wells one by one. Every artificial lift type has its own telltale signs, and the pumper's ear is still the cheapest sensor on the lease.

On a rod-pumped well, watch the pump jack cycle. Count strokes and listen for the rod string hitting fluid. Check the polish rod for wear, and compare the count with the last test. A pump that is pounding fluid is a problem in the making.

On an electric submersible pump, read the amp chart. Amps that climb, drop or swing are the first sign of gas, wear or a failing motor. On a gas-lift well, watch the injection and casing pressure. The lift gas is doing the work, so any pressure change changes production.

At every wellhead, look for leaks. Check the stuffing box and valve position, and make sure the flow line to the separator is open. A small leak or a closed valve costs a day of production before anyone notices.

Saltwater and Disposal Facilities

Produced water is part of the daily loop. The saltwater tanks fill as the wells produce, and the pumper moves the water to a disposal facility or hands it to a hauler.

Check the disposal well like a producing well: injection pressure, casing pressure, meter readings and any sign of a leak. Injection wells operate under permits, and the paperwork on a saltwater disposal well matters as much as the pump.

Know the water levels before the hauler shows up, so the truck loads a full tank instead of half one.

Tank Battery Hazards: Confined Spaces, Locked-Out Energy and the Top of the Tank

The tank battery is the most dangerous part of the route. The hazards are easy to walk past.

Many tanks and vessels are permit-required confined spaces under OSHA's confined space standard. Entry is controlled: the space is tested, a permit is written, and nobody climbs in without following it. The standard exists because atmospheric hazards inside a tank can knock a person out.

Before anyone services equipment that stores energy, that energy has to be controlled. OSHA's lockout/tagout standard requires equipment to be shut down and isolated from energy sources before servicing, so a pump cannot start on someone working on it.

Gauging from the top of the tank is routine, but routine does not mean safe. Reach the gauge hatch the way the job calls for it, stay out of the vapor stream, and never trust a tank that has been sitting. The OSHA/NIOSH guidance names these hazards so crews can plan around them.

The Paperwork: Gauge Sheets, the Daily Report and Run Tickets

Paperwork is not the boring part of the job. It is the job. The gauge sheet records tank levels, the daily report records well checks, the run ticket records every load that leaves the lease.

Fill the paperwork at the location, while the numbers are still fresh. A number written down at the tank is a fact. A number remembered at the end of the day is a guess.

Keep the alarms and downtime log current. When a well trips or an alarm sounds, note the time, the cause and the fix. The log shows whether a lease is producing or just running.

Log the daily report from the phone so the office sees the route the same day. Field service software like OpsFlo tracks field tickets, dispatch, approvals, timesheets and documents, so the pumper's numbers land in the office without a second pass.

End of Shift: Hand Off the Lease Clean

End the shift the way it started, with a plan. Close out the paperwork, note what is still open, and tell the next pumper what they are walking into. A tank close to full, a well acting up and a valve that needs watching are hand-off notes.

A clean hand-off keeps the next shift from re-learning the lease from scratch, and keeps small problems small.

How the Daily Report Feeds Production Reports and Tickets

The daily report does not disappear when the shift ends. Tank gauges become production volumes. Well checks become the record of uptime and downtime. Run tickets become the billing record for what moved.

Production reports are only as good as the daily numbers underneath them. When the pumper's numbers are accurate and on time, the office can bill, report and plan without guessing.

Sources and further reading

• OSHA 29 CFR 1910.146: Permit-required confined spaces
• OSHA 29 CFR 1910.147: Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout)
• OSHA/NIOSH: Oil and Gas Well Drilling and Servicing guidance (OSHA 3820)