Plunger Lift, Gas Lift and GAPL Basics Course

Clint Mason

Plunger lift can be one of the most cost-effective production tools in the field—or one of the most dangerous when misapplied.Read more...

This course delivers a practical, real-world approach to plunger lift operations, focusing on how wells actually behave, not just how they are supposed to behave. Built on field experience, it teaches you how to recognize risk early, make informed operating decisions, and protect both production and people.

You’ll learn how to interpret pressure and flow behavior, distinguish liquid loading from hydrates, and respond confidently to changing well conditions—especially in horizontal wells where plunger lift behavior is often unpredictable.

Who Should Take This Course:
Field and lease operators
Production technologists and foremen
Production and operations engineers
Artificial lift specialists

What You’ll Gain:
Clear understanding of plunger lift unloading behavior
Ability to diagnose abnormal well performance
Safer decision-making during startups and unloads
Reduced equipment damage and unplanned downtime

Why This Course Works
This isn’t theory or vendor marketing—it’s field-driven instruction designed to help you avoid costly mistakes and operate plunger lift systems with confidence.

If plunger lift is part of your operation, this course gives you the insight to run it safer, smarter, and more reliably.

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Course contents

    Chapter 1 - Basic Plunger Operation

    01-00 - Introduction (6 min.)  Sample Lesson

    01-01 - Plunger basics - Liquid Loading Explained (15 min.)

    01-02 - Impact of Liquid Loading on Production (16 min.)

    01-03 - Bottom Hole Spring (14 min.)

    01-04 - Basic Plunger Design (28 min.)

    01-05 - Plunger Design - (continued) (8 min.) Quiz

    Chapter 2 - Lubricators

    02-01 - Lubricator Type and Design (17 min.)

    02-02 - Kinetic Energy and the Lubricator Deceleration Spring (11 min.)

    02-03 - Removing the Plunger and Safe Catcher Operation (12 min.)

    02-04 - Plunger Basics Controller and Sensor Basics (32 min.)

    02-05 - Picking the Right Plunger and Setting the Right Closed Time (23 min.)

    02-06 - Plunger Rise Speed, Setting the Open Time and Target Time (10 min.) Quiz

    Chapter 3 - Horizontal Well Applications

    03-01 - Fluid Movement in the Hz Section of the Well (9 min.)

    03-02 - End of Tubing Placement in a Vertical Well and Hz Wells (12 min.)

    03-03 - Packers with Plunger Lift Wells (8 min.)

    03-04 - Flow Challenges with Hz Wellbores (11 min.) Quiz

    Chapter 4 - System Selection

    04-01 - Plunger Lift System Types (10 min.)

    04-02 - GAPL/PAGL Application (Gas Assisted Plunger Lift) (24 min.)

    04-03 - Challenges of Producing Hz Wells with Other Systems (8 min.)

    04-04 - Basic Gas Lift Introduction (25 min.)

    04-05 - Hydrate Awareness (8 min.)

    04-06 - Advanced Optimization (13 min.) Quiz