Samarang Integrated Operations (IO) – Dynamic Production Management - A Hybrid Approach from Steady State to Transient Modeling

Abstract

Abstract Samarang is a 35-year-old offshore oilfield in Malaysia, operated by PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB). Samarang Redevelopment Project was kicked-off in 2010. Integrated Operations (IO) was planned as an Asset Management Decision Support solution by implementing a real time production, reservoir and process surveillance system. Samarang field was the first field selected for end-to-end asset management IO project. The main objective of IO implementation is to focus at the whole asset operation rather than working in silos. The overall asset optimization is achieved through the levels of monitoring and surveillance, diagnosis, optimization and operations transformation. IO Implementation involves identification of various intelligent asset decision processes referred as workflows in various reservoir, production, and operation domains such as Flow Assurance, Well Performance, Artificial Lift, Production and Facility Planning and Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Optimization. Optimization in Samarang covers a wide spectrum of scenarios from Artificial Lift (Gas Lift, Electric Submersible Pump), separation process, reservoir sweep (Waterflood, GASWAG EOR scheme). The main business driver is to enhance production and improve reserve recovery in order to ramp up the production of Samarang field. Hybrid Steady-State and Transient-State Total Asset Optimization is designed for implementation through Steady-State model based simulation while the Transient-State model continuously predicts short term transient production effects, as a result asset team can better manage the short term production upset to ensure optimization target is achieved. The transient normally manifests as "Flow Assurance" events such as slugging and surges and these manifestations are to be predicted through transient-state modeling and hence, allow corrective action to be taken through Tri-Node Collaborative Working Environment (CWE). The hybrid modeling techniques treat the asset as a whole unit instead of isolated silos, simulating the complex interactions between reservoir, production networks and process facilities where decision taken on the production network will propagate the impact to reservoir performance and vice versa.