Abstract
Efficiently managing the performance of sizeable onshore assets can be challenging, particularly in the absence of well-defined processes and technology to help organize people and data. This often leads to suboptimal processes, ineffective use of resources and time, and missed opportunities. Significant variations in producing reservoirs, artificial lift types, storage and processing facility capacity, data quality and availability, and even manpower can create varied operations and operational issues between areas (Farid et al. 2007). To help mitigate these challenges, an independent oil company and a service company collaborated on an integrated operations center (IOC) analytics dashboard called the operations management dashboard (OMD).
The independent oil company produces and operates in US onshore assets, which necessitates personnel working under complex operating conditions, using multiple applications, and processing data that are fragmented across these applications. The OMD integrated 17 different data sources from various areas, implemented multiple engineering logic calculations, and created intelligent real-time alarms to identify specific operational issues and facilitate asset management. This integration was performed on a single platform. The OMD leveraged solution capabilities range from displaying information from multiple real-time and historical data sources available across the field to streamlining business processes. This helps enhance field staff communications and support the company's management by exception philosophy, focusing on cases that deviate from the norm.
The OMD was deployed in one of the independent operator's onshore assets that included 1,000+ tank batteries, 7,000+ wells, and 20+ fields. The OMD automated processes helped reduce errors, resulting in less downtime and associated operational expenditure (OPEX). The OMD also standardized data analysis by allowing access to both historical and real-time data in a single workflow. Additional benefits were improved tank logistics resulting from tank level monitoring and timely and effective communication resulting from displayed work orders and comments between field and office personnel. Overall, the OMD facilitated access to consistent and in-context information, which was necessary for accurate and timely decision-making.
The dashboard's easy configuration, alerting functionality with the capability of defining meaningful and complex real-time alarms, and automated processes combined with easy-to-analyze visualizations proved valuable and resulted in enhanced decision-making. By defining alarms and automating processes, the OMD can help optimize injection gas rates during gas lift operations, identify mechanical lift issues, schedule field maintenance or inspections, and recognize production anomalies. The OMD can help quickly identify operational issues and production optimization opportunities. Additionally, it is expected to reduce downtime by 25% and decrease OPEX by 25%.
