Integrated Reservoir and Production Management: Solutions and Field Examples

Abstract

Integrated Reservoir and Production Management: Solutions and Field Examples Arild Bøe; Arild Bøe Roxar Production Management Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Jan-Erik Nordtvedt; Jan-Erik Nordtvedt Roxar Production Management Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Harald S. Schmidt Harald S. Schmidt Roxar Production Management Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Paper presented at the SPE European Petroleum Conference, Paris, France, October 2000. Paper Number: SPE-65151-MS https://doi.org/10.2118/65151-MS Published: October 24 2000 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Get Permissions Search Site Citation Bøe, Arild, Nordtvedt, Jan-Erik, and Harald S. Schmidt. "Integrated Reservoir and Production Management: Solutions and Field Examples." Paper presented at the SPE European Petroleum Conference, Paris, France, October 2000. doi: https://doi.org/10.2118/65151-MS Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAll ProceedingsSociety of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)SPE Europec featured at EAGE Conference and Exhibition Search Advanced Search AbstractReservoir and production monitoring and control devices are critical components for better reservoir management. These devices being important for understanding the state of the reservoir as well as for optimizing its exploitation, their availability and utilization has grown and is still growing. Also, the increasing use of topside/subsea metering systems provides important information on the production characteristics. All these devices can now be logged and controlled remotely in real time. As a consequence, it is now technically possible to manage the reservoir exploitation process fully automatically from a remote location. This paper outlines how logging of data, analysis of data, and control actions, can be implemented remotely and in real time for improving reservoir and production management. Also, we discuss three integrated reservoir and production management field case designs.IntroductionIn the production phase of reservoir exploitation, a large number of opportunities exist for getting best returns on the proven reserves. By implementing technologies leading to increased recovery, more hydrocarbons may be produced than initially estimated.. The NPV may be improved by, e.g., initiating strategies that boost daily production rates. Additional returns can also result from measures implemented to reduce the cost of exploitation.In the nineties, a series of new technologies emerged to improve recovery. Most notably, the advanced drilling techniques provided for opportunities to locate wells in regions of the reservoir traditionally left unswept. Some oil companies claim that in the beginning of the nineties, advanced drilling alone was contributing to about 70% of the improvement in oil recovery.Significant cost savings also resulted from a series of other emerging technologies. One such example is the development within permanent downhole gauges for monitoring of pressure and temperature in the well and/or reservoir. Initially, the numbers of such installations were few, as is typical when new technology is introduced into the market. As the reliability of the equipment improved, the oil companies realized that data from such equipment could compete - both with respect to quality as well as price - with traditional methods for obtaining such information. During the nineties, the number of installations of such systems grew significantly. This is illustrated through the number of gauge installations by Roxar per year from 1987 through 1999 - see Fig. 1 (other vendors can probably show similar figures).Another example of technology for cost reduction is the development within multiphase metering. As this technology evolved during the nineties, the oil companies increasingly regarded it as a cost-effective replacement of test separators. The meters offered multiphase rates and fluid fractions at a comparable quality to the test separators, and at a significantly lower cost. In fact, for onshore and offshore applications a 50% and 75% cost reduction may be expected, respectively, by implementing multiphase metering systems instead of test separators.1In addition to cost reduction, the multiphase metering systems offer a significant increase in functionality over the test separators. The continuous monitoring of all produced fluid flow rates can provide valuable insights into the multiphase flow regimes within the pipelines. In an onshore Middle East field study1, the metering system was able to detect the oil was slugging while water was not, indicating the water was flowing in the bottom of the pipeline. This highly corrosive environment and potentially dangerous situation was not discovered through the test separator utilized prior to the installation of the multiphase metering system. Keywords: schmidt spe 65151, remote location, jan-erik nordtvedt, real time system, nordtvedt, production monitoring, production control, flow metering, cost reduction, reservoir management Subjects: Well & Reservoir Surveillance and Monitoring, Information Management and Systems, Downhole and wellsite flow metering This content is only available via PDF. 2000. Society of Petroleum Engineers You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.