This article, written by Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper SPE 112078, "Improving Production by Use of Autonomous Systems," by Jorn Olmheim, Einar Landre, SPE, and Eileen A. Quale, SPE, StatoilHydro, prepared for the 2008 SPE Intelligent Energy Conference and Exhibition, Amsterdam, 25-27 February. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Several companies have reported a 2 to 5% increase in oil production, and in some cases up to 10%, by use of a closer collaboration between onshore-based production-optimization groups and offshore personnel. The concepts of variable and delegated autonomy from the domain of unmanned flight were applied in StatoilHydro's production process. Compared with traditional automation, the concepts of delegated and variable autonomy introduce negotiation between different subsystems and a more-adaptable human/machine interaction. Introduction The industry trend is toward increased instrumentation and the use of smart-well technology for new developments. This trend has increased information flow into the control room, presenting new challenges with respect to use of this information. Other industries have shown that increased information flow can contribute to information overload and lack of shared-situation awareness between key stakeholders. In the control room of a large installation with 100 wells and each well producing 15 different signals, 1,500 different signals must be processed at any given time. Humans are not able to process this flood of data rapidly and efficiently. An objective of integrated operations is better use of technical experts, independent of location. Therefore, shared-situation awareness between control-room operators and remote experts is a pre-requisite. Achieving the required level of situation awareness can be assisted by an increased level of computerized support that is able to analyze complex data streams and transform raw data input into events and derived recommendations for further analysis and action. Production Practices and Challenges Production planning is based on an agreed production target or profile, in accordance with the field's drainage and injection strategy, or on a delivery-contract obligation. The individual well's contribution at any given time will depend on the required production rate as well as other factors such as limitations on wellhead or downhole pressure, sand-production potential, equipment restraints, coning/cusping conditions, and velocity restrictions. Also, total production to a facility will be dictated by the available handling capacity for the different fluid phases and export requirements, as well as by necessary maintenance work. A facility's production profile generally will be characterized as "well-limited" (well potential is the limiting factor) or "process-limited" (the production facilities are the bottleneck).