Well Level Production Loss Management in a Digital Oilfield Environment

Research output: ThesisMaster's Thesis

Abstract

OMV Petrom, with an active well stock of more than 8,000 wells, frequently experiences unplanned oil & gas production losses on its producing wells for reasons such as electrical breaks, harsh weather conditions, equipment failure, etc. The results are unplanned production deferments, increased costs and health & safety exposure of personnel due to the necessity of manual interventions at well sites. OMV Petrom is currently running multiple pilot projects as part of its Digital Oilfield program, aimed at reducing production losses via remote well operations management. The first part of the thesis introduces the main concepts of a digital oilfield and presents industry research of applied DOF/IO approaches on production loss management via remote operations related to oil & gas wells. Production losses of OMV Petrom are summarized at production sector level and company level by loss category (e.g. electrical breaks, weak wells, surface works etc.). Following an understanding of each category, loss categories on well level that can be improved via a DOF environment are identified. The impact of main production loss categories, e.g. electrical breaks, is investigated and concluded, and dependencies with other categories such as failure rate of artificial lift equipment are correlated. For example, wells prone to sand production could be a production loss focus group with primary category “electrical breaks” and secondary “pump failure”. The reduction in production losses is estimated for selected categories by using a DOF approach and methods for implementation are presented. Ongoing production loss management ideas and initiatives in OMV Petrom, E&P, are captured and summarized in a portfolio map and compared against industry best practices. Best methods to be used are recommended. A proposal for the implementation of real-time monitoring via operational hub (control room) is presented, along with a set of recommendations for its deployment. To conclude, a set of KPIs (key performance indicators) to be monitored is defined, showing the value/benefit generated by implementing DOF methods for production loss management.

Details

Translated title of the contributionProduktionsverlust Management in einer Digitalen Ölfeld Umgebung
Original languageEnglish
QualificationDipl.-Ing.
Awarding Institution
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Philipp, Tippel, Supervisor (external), External person
  • Rostami Dehka, Mohammad, Co-Supervisor (external), External person
  • Hofstätter, Herbert, Co-Supervisor (internal)
  • Zamani, Abbas, Supervisor (internal)
Award date21 Oct 2016
Publication statusPublished - 2016