SMART FIELDS OF SALYM
Salym Petroleum Development (SPD) has equipped its well stock with Smart Field technology that allows real time remote monitoring and control of the produced oil and injected water.
From the very first day of operation of the Salym oilfields, SPD has placed high emphasis on regular monitoring for oil production and water injection, watercut and bottom hole pressure. This data provides important information to help improvement of well performance and reduce costs.
Until recently, measurements of flow rates and watercut were carried out on a daily basis on all well pads. In addition, fluid samples were taken on a weekly basis to identify watercut in laboratory conditions. Sensors, for continuous bottom-hole pressure and temperature tests, were installed in every production well. Key production and injection wells were also equipped with special high resolution downhole gauges which provide continuous record of high quality pressure data. All production data, including the information obtained during well development and work-over operations, were entered into the oil-field database. However, the situation has changed recently. Whereas before operators used to regularly visit well pads and managed to service 15-20 wells, nowadays the operator spends most of the time in the office, being responsible for 30-40 wells. This has become possible due to the implementation of “smart fields”. This Smart Field technology is part of a major project in SPD on well and reservoir management, focusing on the development of a comprehensive approach to field development. Smart Field technology allows real time data transfer from wells to the control unit. Consequentially, the number of operator visits to the well pads decline considerably, allowing the operators to respond faster to the performance of the well equipment. Thanks to this Smart Field technology, SPD is able to use the increasing scopes of its well stock more efficiently, cutback on operation costs, optimize water injection, boost production and increase flow rates. The result is a continuous improvement in planning and more cost effective oil production within the framework of the whole oilfield.
SPD launched a Well and Reservoir Management project in 2008, when two well pads in West Salym field were equipped with Smart Fields technology. The results of this cutting-edge Smart Field technology proved successful. Well data became accessible at Central Processing Facility (CPF) in real time, which considerably reduced works on manual data acquisition and data entry. Furthermore, due to the decrease in the number of unscheduled breakdowns of the well equipment, the run life period of electrical submersible pumps (ESP) increased as well as production volumes.
In 2009–2010, SPD implemented a full-scale project on Smart Field technology in entire well stock. This was a first in Russia, and indeed among Shell. SPD specialists have successfully equipped all injection and water supply wells in Salym fields with Smart Field technology for water production, injection and preparation – Fieldware Water Injection System. Any employee of the company that has access to the smart fields system has the opportunity to monitor and change the parameters and levels of injection and production from the water reservoirs, as well as supply and pressure parameters of electrical submersible pumps in real time.The system is accessible both from the Salym field itself and from the Moscow office. Similar Smart Field technology has been implemented in all production wells of the Salym group of oil fields. A network of smart technologies – Salym Fieldware Production Universe, Fieldware Well Test and Fieldware ESP – allow for remote monitoring and control of ESP operations and well tests assessment with the confirmation of the results and receiving of a signal on the fluctuation of parameters from the normal operation range in real time.
Integrated Production System Modeling software was launched in the Salym oilfields to improve oil production planning. Production wells, including water intake and water injection systems, have been equipped with this software.
The information system Andon Board has been developed and introduced within the framework of this project. This system helps to monitor in real time the fluctuations in the well performance using traffic light system. If the performance indicators of any well fall outside the adjusted range, the operator will immediately receive an automatic notification via email. This allows the operator to find a solution immediately, and improves the process of oil production and water injection.
The implementation of Smart Field technology allowed SPD to create an integrated production model, which represents a reliable foundation for further projects targeting oil production growth. This system allowed the whole well and reservoir cycle to be integrated in one loop. SPD specialists receive information in real time, process this information using well stock integrated control instruments, identify the corrections needed for each well via an automatic control system.
Optimization of oil production, enhanced oil recovery, reduction of operating costs – all these are the results of the introduction of Smart Fields technology systems in the Salym group of oilfields. Thanks to this, SPD has managed to improve production by 2–2.5% per year on average and reduced unscheduled downtime, and the average failure free performance period of the well equipment has increased. Chemical additives have also been reduced, as have the number of trips to the oilfield, which has not only reduced the costs, but also minimized the risks for the employees while travelling on infield roads. All this, in its turn, resulted in the improvement of the overall performance in the oilfield.To date, SPD is working on the next stage of implementation for further contro technologies. All production wells are being equipped with automatic echometers. The operators will be able to remotely monitor the level of liquid in the casing-formation annulus, and, if corrections required, change the parameters of the electrical submersible pumps with the help of the smart oilfields. The application of this equipment will further increase production and reduce costs.
