In the equipment section it was mentioned that over half the ESP failures world wide occur in the cable string. If there was a way to remove the cable from the well bore, the major cause for ESP failure would be eliminated. Coil tubing deployed ESPs achieve just that. The electrical cable is housed inside the coiled tubing and the ESP is lowered on the coiled tubing. In this case production occurs between the coiled tubing and liner.

Due to this configuration the standard installation of Pump on top, Motor on the bottom no longer needs to be followed. Most Coiled Tubing ESPs have the motor on the top and the pump on the bottom.

A major advantage of this configuration is that a workover rig is not required to pull and run – this is done with a coiled tubing unit. Also, the pulling and running time is significantly less with coiled tubing.

The major hurdle in using coiled tubing deployed ESPs is the weight of the coil/cable reel and often crane limitations offshore prevent this type of installation from being considered.