It would be no exaggeration to say that artificial lift has made a tremendous contribution to increased production in oil fields. More than 50% of oil wells use artificial lift techniques, such as pumps and injection methods, to boost production. It is estimated that the artificial lift equipment market amounts to almost $10 billion annually, enabling $800 billion of oil production per year. Despite these impressive results in the oil segment, artificial lift has gained relatively little traction in gas wells, both conventional and unconventional. This is largely because until now there have been no artificial lift tools that can directly induce energy into the gas to increase production and recoverability. While operators have been able to get positive results using wellhead compressors, experience has shown that these devices can accelerate liquid loading, especially in unconventional wells, due to higher critical lifting velocity and lower production fluid density within the wellbore. The result is decreasing productivity and premature abandonment.

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