Summary
Whether we call it “digital energy,” “digital oil field of the future,”
“real-time operations,” “intelligent fields,” “fields of the future,” or
“e-fields,” there is a clear incentive to use technology to maximize asset
operational value through increased production and improved efficiencies. The
application of visualization, modeling, optimization, and control technologies
is a critical component of this effort. This paper describes a study to
determine current industry practices and establish a benchmark in the
production-measurement and automation (PMA) area. Using a proven analytic
methodology designed specifically to survey and analyze technology use, 125
questions were grouped into 17 categories addressing personnel, process, and
technology aspects of PMA. The presented results are from 10 leading
independent oil- and gas-producing organizations.
Interviews were conducted to clarify the participants’ responses, and each
response was then reviewed and scored on the basis of pre-established criteria,
consulting experience, and previous assessment results. Participants’ scores
were compared to industry averages and the scores of the PMA leaders by use of
bar and radar charts. Questions included qualitative topics, such as the
participants’ automation-team organizational model, as well as quantitative
questions such as the number of engineers per well and the number of historian
database points.
This comparison of practices between peer-group members participating in the
benchmarking process uncovered many significant areas of opportunity for the
participants. The results were as expected in some categories and surprising in
others. In general, there is a low level of use of PMA, combined with a keen
interest in doing more than is being done currently. A few companies exhibited
high application of automation, with successful results, by leveraging
organizations that promote strategic adoption of technology.
This study provides guidance to oil- and gas-producing companies desiring to
increase their productivity through PMA projects or those desiring to increase
their return on existing PMA projects. The benchmarking methodology
described in this paper is part of a process that uses the results of
participants’ current application of technology along with an assessment of the
value of opportunities to determine the best path to take toward technology
implementation, including strategies and project roadmaps. Studies by
independent organizations such as Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA)
point out quantifiable benefits from the application of digital technology in
terms of the percentage of reserves-recovery increase, the percentage of
production increase, and the percentage reduction in operating costs (Cambridge
Energy Research Associates 2005). The effort presented focused specifically on
improvements enabled by better measurement, modeling, and control technologies.
This study also focuses on how the successful implementers of technology are
managing the implementation and post-implementation process to assure the
capture of the expected benefits.
© 2007. Society of Petroleum Engineers
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History
- Original manuscript received:
16 October 2006
- Meeting paper published:
24 September 2006
- Revised manuscript received:
7 November 2006
- Manuscript approved:
31 January 2007
- Version of record:
20 June 2007
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