Excelling Asset Design: Performance and Operation Management Utilizing Reservoir-Production-Processing Facility Integrated Modeling Approach

Asset steady-state modeling is frequently done by separate teams of engineers working on asset subsystem, production, and processing facility design and asset operation management. Design criteria shared between the teams are based on a limited set of predefined discrete assumptions for each subsystem. Currently, the commonly used modeling approach fails to account for subsystem interdependencies and does not enable assessment of changing conditions across the asset life cycle. This gap often results in suboptimal facilities design for the asset and cost overruns and/or lost production. Overall asset management decision-making tools should be based on reinforcing the consistence of information used across the whole asset. Integrated modeling helps to make informed decisions by considering the combined effect of reservoir uncertainties, well placement, surface network, and process facility on overall asset design, production, and management. This paper describes how a full integrated asset model is built and used as an effective decision support tool to help optimize overall asset design and operational performance management. A full integrated model is built using typical industry-known commercial simulator packages for each subsystem and field conditions. It includes steady-state models for reservoirs, wells, production and injection networks, and processing facilities. A platform, which orchestrates data connectivity and integration while allowing subsystem applications to maintain their dependency in thermodynamic properties and equations of state solving, is used for transferring data and controlling variables within the subsystems. Data from a major capital project in the early stages of development were used to pilot test the technique and stress test the consistency of forecast production across the subsystems for whole asset impact due to a change in an individual subsystem such as reservoir uncertainties, well placement and scheduling, surface network operating conditions, and individual subsystem constraints." The integrated multifield network model provided realistic optimal operating conditions and long-term production forecasts of oil production, sales gas, and water injection requirements by incorporating the physics at appropriate levels to ensure higher accuracies than discrete models. Integrated asset modeling uses information consistently across the entire asset and includes subsystem interdependencies on overall asset steady-state operating conditions. Integrated modeling provides the opportunity for independent teams of facilities engineers, production engineers, and reservoir engineers to collaborate as a unified team while maintaining specific expert's needs and resources. The asset integrated model technique offers a novel and versatile capability of evaluating diverse operational scenarios to find optimal settings for short- and long-term asset production needs.