In E&P, from asset managers to front end operations staff, there is a common problem - we are data rich, but information poor. In particular, timely well-by-well production surveillance and allocation often remains a problem. Gathering data, even real time data, from wells and facilities hasn't been an issue, but validating the data and relating this data to individual well production rates in a coherent, consistent and timely manner and then taking prompt action, is a challenge. Traditional routine well testing simply provides a series of snap-shots of a well's performance, which may or may not reflect the production during the intervening period. Errors are typically spread across the wells and reservoirs through a reconciliation process comparing estimated well productions and actual metered sales on a weekly or monthly basis. This paper describes the development and application of a new tool, FieldWare* PRODUCTION UNIVERSE * (PU), which estimates real time well production rates from simple field measurements and provides online reconciliation against bulk measurements and export meters. The novel aspect of the technique is that it uses dynamic, data-driven models to describe the production process, together with a new well test methodology for capturing the data to build the initial models. Well tests include a deliberate disturbance to the production to determine the dynamic characteristics of a well. The models do not require underlying physical or process models, predetermined multiphase flow correlations, compositional data or well/piping/equipment details. This has made the models quick to set-up and easy to maintain. FieldWare PRODUCTION UNIVERSE is now fully operational and used for well-by-well production surveillance and monitoring at many of Shell's production facilities worldwide, both onshore and offshore. The application of PU has helped increase production through improved monitoring, resolved hydrocarbon allocation problems through real time reconciliation, allowed an increase in time between well tests and reduced travel to field locations. The availability of real time production data is a key enabler for future smart optimization and intelligent diagnostics. PU is a foundation element for Shell's Smart Fields initiative. Introduction This paper is intended to introduce the Shell's PRODUCTION UNIVERSE project at a high level and share some of the experiences and findings of the first phase of the development. In particular, we wish to highlight the PU application as an example of the innovative synthesis of oil and gas operational and technical expertise and state of the art mathematical techniques. Historically the oil and gas production industry has relied on traditional methods for individual well production flow monitoring and surveillance. This provides periodic well test information using test separators or multiphase meters, sometimes supplemented with real time pressure and temperature data gathered from the well between tests. Since the test separators / multiphase meters are normally shared among a number of wells, the actual performance of a well is only measured periodically or on demand. Typically around 2% of the well monthly production is measured by well testing. Thus the surveillance of individual wells is a periodic discontinuous process. This is not optimal, as many well problems are not detected until a well is re-tested. Well test conditions may be very different from actual operating conditions. This conventional surveillance and monitoring methodology is premised on the concept that oil and gas production systems were largely steady state and these snap shots in time were adequate to manage the business. However in many fields, well performance and plant-operating conditions can change rapidly and there is value in closer and more regular well production surveillance. Furthermore when a field enters a period of rapid production decline, it requires a higher level of attention and higher frequency of data gathering. The inadequacy of the "snap shot" paradigm then becomes even more pronounced.
In conventional practice, individual well oil, gas and water production is only measured on a weekly or monthly basis using shared well test facilities. Oil and gas production from a cluster of wells is hence difficult to manage, leading to late diagnosis of production problems and slow and conservative handling of production constraints. FieldWare Production Universe (FW PU) is a software application developed by Shell International Exploration & Production and Shell Global Solutions International that provides continuous real time estimates of well-by-well oil, water and gas production. FieldWare PU estimates are based on data driven models constructed and updated from production well tests and real time production data. This paper will discuss two extensions of FieldWare PU data driven techniques. The first extension is to apply the data driven models for production optimization. The second extension is the case where no shared test facility for well-by-well production testing is available, and wells can only be tracked by monitoring changes in commingled production flows. For the optimization functionality, the FieldWare PU data driven well models allow the prediction of the changes to overall and individual well production as a result of changes to individual well production chokes, lift-gas rates or other similar set-points. Well setpoints are then computed for optimizing oil and gas production subject to various well and overall production constraints. Data driven techniques for well characterization using commingled production data will be illustrated in three particular production estimation scenarios:individual well production with no shared well testing facility,production from multiple subsea wells sharing a single tie-back pipeline, andproduction from individual subsurface zones of a multi-zonal extended reach Smart Well. FieldWare Production Universe FieldWare Production Universe (FW PU) is a data driven modelling application developed by Shell to address fundamental gaps in the management and surveillance of oil and gas production operations. The development background and early operational experience of FW PU within the Shell Group are described in Poulisse et al. [1] and Cramer et al. [2]. Using data driven models, FW PU essentially provides a "virtual" three phase meter for each well. Earlier references to the potential use of virtual meters includes, for example, van der Geest [4], which is based on physical models. A brief reference to using data driven models for virtual metering, albeit using a less structured neural network approach, is given in Oberwinkler et al. [3]. A recent paper that touches on the potential for data driven modelling is [22] by Stone. Well three phase oil, water and gas production is conventionally measured via the periodic routing of the well to a shared test separator, the "production well testing" process. The duration of the test is normally 6 – 24 hours or longer; the test frequency can vary but is typically weekly, monthly or even less frequent. The usual result of a well test is a set of spot readings and totalized or averaged numbers such as oil production rate, watercut gas-oil-ratio and tubing head pressure. The production of a well is then assumed to be uniformly at the tested production rates between well tests, other then at various intervals when the well is designated to be "closed-in". Sub-normal production rates, unstable production or increases in gas or water production are typically not detected until the next well test. Historically, there have been a number of approaches using well physical models combined with real time wellhead pressures and temperatures to predict 3-phase flow in real time or near real time. In practice, well physical models were found to be difficult to set-up, calibrate and maintain in an operating environment.
Oil and gas production from a cluster of wells is conventionally relatively difficult to manage, at least partly due to field conditions, subsurface uncertainty and the multiphase nature of the well effluents. This can lead to late diagnosis of production problems, slow and conservative handling of production constraints and restricted understanding of subsurface potential. FieldWare Production Universe (FW PU) is a software application developed by Shell International Exploration & Production and Shell Global Solutions International that allows data driven well models to be constructed and updated from real time production data, and thereafter applied to track well-by-well production in real time. This paper updates on extensions of FW PU data driven techniques and also on the experience so far on the wide scale field implementation, roll out and support of the technology. The successful embedding of a real time technology that such as FieldWare PU, which allows a step changes in the level of surveillance of well-by-well production, and the realization of maximum value from its use is a non-trivial exercise. In an ideal implementation, the software application needs to match the dynamic physical production elements (reservoir inflow, well performance, production processing and testing facilities) and the capabilities of the production staff as well as their production management processes. Key elements of the FW PU roll out in field operations include evaluation of actual production surveillance challenges vis-à-vis the value of the tool to be introduced, hardware and software readiness checks, clear setting of goals and expectations, post implementation evaluations, training of users and super-users, adjustment of workflows, and embedding the use of the application into the relevant operational processes. This paper further discusses extensions of the data driven approach to a wide spectrum of applications, including real time operational optimization, the tracking of well productions in subsea and smart wells, and for specific types of production operations such as for beam pumped wells as well as wells which are intermittently operated. In particular the application of data driven techniques to beam pump pump-off controls, circumventing the need for load cells, is highlighted. Introduction FieldWare Production Universe (FW PU) is a data driven modelling application developed by Shell to address some fundamental gaps in the management and surveillance of oil and gas production operations. The development background and early operational experience of FW PU within the Shell Group are described in Poulisse et al. [1] and Cramer et al. [2]. Using data driven models derived from production well testing, FW PU essentially provides a "virtual" three phase meter for each well. The introduction of FW PU for well-by-well production surveillance is regarded to be of significant interest as it addresses a fundamental problem in conventional oil and gas production operations, that of tracking of three phase (oil, water and gas) production from individual oil and gas wells in a cluster of wells. This is as the oil, gas and water production of the wells are not conventionally measured in real time, and the well productions are normally commingled before separation and metering of the individual phases.
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