Holistic Approach to Prolong Giant Onshore Abu Dhabi Gas Field Production Plateau and Optimize CAPEX/OPEX Using an Integrated Asset Model as a Digital Twin

A giant gas field consisting of six stacked carbonate reservoirs of Lower Cretaceous age with gas caps and non-associated gas where the production follows a depletion scheme is discussed. The field has a production history of more than 30 years with more than 150 gas condensate wells flowing to a common surface network, which means production decline is inevitable. This study assesses various mitigation actions to extend the plateau or minimize the anticipated inevitable production decline, and optimize costs while adhering to a service level agreement (SLA) with the consumer gas plant. This paper illustrates how the use of an integrated asset model (IAM) as a digital twin of the actual asset can help provide a holistic approach for evaluating critical investment decisions. The proposed mitigation actions were mainly focused on surface facilities because gas fields are sensitive to backpressure; the mitigation actions were primarily geared toward reducing backpressure to remedy the anticipated production decline. Gas plant inlet/outlet pressure reduction proved to provide significant plateau extension. This finding was verified by means of field trials. Intermittent and weak producers responded positively to the implementation of wellhead compression during the IAM simulation; consequently, a pilot was implemented in the field to verify the simulation conclusion. IAM also proved that adding 20 new infill wells would help accelerate gas production, if necessary; but, it requires further economic justification before implementation. Simulating scenarios, such as the segregation of wells currently sharing flowlines, had a minor effect to overall field production. A previous reconfiguration of compressors within the compression stations proved beneficial in mitigating production decline and accelerating gas volume. However, because of operational risks and associated costs, future reconfigurations showed minimum impact. A significant portion of the study was focused on modeling the downtime of various components of the asset surface facilities as per the integrated shutdown plan (ISDP) and identifying alternative routes to minimize overall gas production disruption and to adhere to the SLA commitment. The focus on precisely simulating the operational side of the field was enabled by the use of IAM as a digital twin of the actual asset. In addition to the usual simulation benefits, such as the assessment of various sensitivities before implementing significant investments in real life, this holistic approach can help realize cost-saving opportunities and help ensure future adherence to the contracted gas rate.