Innovative Solutions to Increase Banyu Urip Production at Lower Cost

Abstract

Abstract The Banyu Urip field has been producing crude oil since 2009. The initial development used a temporary Early Production Facilities (EPF) with 20,000 BPD capacity. The EPF was retired in late 2015 followed by the start-up of the permanent Central Processing Facilities (CPF). The CPF is designed to handle 185,000 BPD of crude oil. Soon after the CPF start-up, efforts to increase production capacity beyond 200,000 BPD were initiated. This paper will share the Banyu Urip process to increase production capacity with minimal incremental investment. The Banyu Urip production optimization effort focused on two aspects – engineering studies to identify the limitations of the existing facilities (modelling as-built conditions from inlet facilities to the sales point at higher rates using a multi-disciplinary approach) and field tests to validate simulation results and identify required facility modifications. One of the key foundations for facility bottleneck identification was a field high rate test. The field test indicated that the facility was able to sustain higher rates, however it was constrained by warmer crude oil exceeding export temperature limits. This challenge was overcame by utilizing an existing facility, initially intended for crude desalting, instead being leveraged to deliver ambient temperature deaerated water and mixing with hot crude streams to provide sufficient cooling and reduce heat exchanger duty. Banyu Urip field continues to deliver a significant portion of Indonesia's oil production by maintaining a high level production efficiency. The field continues to see strong production from the oil wells and the plant has a proven capability to produce up to 220,000 BPD. The capability to increase production was achieved in less than a year after start-up and used a cost efficient approach from the beginning. The crude oil export temperature is managed by creatively leveraging existing facilities.