Abstract
Well surveillance is a mandatory requirement for reservoir characterization and production optimization that every asset must aim for. To guarantee constant monitoring of a single well, installing conventional multi-phases flow meters systems is necessary. As an alternative way, this paper presents a Virtual Metering System (VMS) developed to estimate flow rates in oil wells with high water cut operating with electric submersible pumps as artificial lift systems. The VMS starts from a mathematical model based on production variables, well data, and pump performance curves to estimate fluids flow rates and water cut using a Newton Raphson Multivariate Method. The VMS was implemented in 11 wells in Quifa Field, Colombia. The VMS is constantly feeding by data from the PI System. The VMS results show a deviation of less than 3% in calculating the fluid flow rate and less than 5% in estimating the water cut.
Highlights
The continuous monitoring of the production variables of a well, such as the fluid flow rates and the water cut, is of great importance for the reservoir's characterization and production optimization
In the operation of onshore heavy oil fields characterized by a low GOR and high water cuts, a common technique to measure fluid production is to take a sample at the wellhead and make a laboratory analysis
The Virtual Meter requires minimum information to operate, such as the tubing's internal diameter (ID), depths of the sensors, and other information contained in the mechanical state; pump operating curve, the power consumed by the motor and production data as fluid, system pressures and pump frequency
Summary
The continuous monitoring of the production variables of a well, such as the fluid flow rates and the water cut, is of great importance for the reservoir's characterization and production optimization These activities are the key to maximizing production, oil recovery, and reducing operating costs. In the operation of onshore heavy oil fields characterized by a low GOR and high water cuts, a common technique to measure fluid production is to take a sample at the wellhead and make a laboratory analysis. Virtual metering has emerged as an alternative to have input in real-time and is revolutionizing the way to manage the oil fields These virtual measurement systems allow obtaining/inferring each phase's flow rates from operational and process variables, which are always available in the information systems (SCADA, PI, etc.) of the fields. With a certain margin of uncertainty, the virtual meters allow a very close approximation to the actual conditions depending on the field's amount of historical data and the tuning process's effectiveness
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