Capitalizing on early successes in advanced well control and realtime monitoring, Total Exploration and Production has engaged in a major "digital-field" initiative. Combining both proven and leading-edge technologies, the field-monitoring template is providing a powerful tool for well and facilities performance monitoring and optimization. This paper presents the concept of the WPM module, and the early results of its pilot application whose implementation began in 2009 at the Girassol field located offshore Angola.

The WPM module constitutes an integrated real-time monitoring solution for subsea installations, from reservoir inflow to receiving facilities. Proposing advanced features (e.g., a common asset model, a business orchestrator, and a Web-based interface), the tool provides remote access to timely and quality field data, improves communication and collaboration between offshore and onshore, and provides support by specialists from exploration- and-production headquarters. Functional capabilities include data validation, virtual metering, wells and networks modeling, smart alarming, and production optimization. Specific workflows have also been defined to sustain continuous updating of the models to match observed field behavior.

This paper illustrates the benefits of the WPM solution in terms of improved production and enhanced well diagnosis. It also reviews the organizational challenges associated with such a project and discusses the key factors ensuring successful implementation and good support from on-site teams.

WPM brings forth a new approach for the intelligent surveillance of complex subsea-production systems. Well performance and production and reservoir teams have gained benefit from such a tool. Pertinent information is delivered to the right people in real time, enabling instant diagnosis and minimization of production shortfalls. In addition, the online simulator supports the continuous optimization of the field throughput by real-time integration of changing well behavior or production constraints.

Keywords:
real time system, Upstream Oil & Gas, France, july 2012, optimization, objective, database, application, monitoring, architecture
Subjects:
Downhole and wellsite flow metering, Drillstem/well testing, Formation Evaluation & Management, Information Management and Systems, Well & Reservoir Surveillance and Monitoring, Well performance, inflow performance
Copyright 2012, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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