The industry is undergoing a transformational change, driven by increases in exploration and development costs in the last decade, combined with falling oil prices in recent months. As a result, there is an increased interest in squeezing more from mature assets. The general message is that a 1% increase in recovery factor could result in two additional years of global oil and gas supply; however, industry experts know how difficult it is to increase recovery from mature fields. This paper presents a novel screening method that enables a large number of scenarios to be considered and facilitates convergence on potential solutions. By 2018, 70% of global oil production (more than 80 million B/D) is projected to come from mature fields (Fig. 1). Some major exploration and production (E&P) operators already have more than 70% of their portfolios in production decline. This global trend, combined with the pressure to reduce the cost per BOE resulting from declining oil prices, has pushed E&P operators to place a renewed emphasis on mature fields. This paper presents an integrated approach to revitalizing mature fields and addresses this new reality by focusing on three key areas: immediate impact solutions, reservoir optimization, and new pay. The first step in this process is a screening and ranking method for mature field revitalization choices, which enables feasible options to be identified at an early stage, thus avoiding wasted time and money pursuing unfeasible and/or uneconomic options. A common challenge for the operators of mature assets is filtering the vast array of issues and potential solutions. This unique screening method leverages a global reservoir analog screening database combined with technical and economic modeling techniques to help ensure that the optimum revitalization strategy for the reservoir is achieved. In many cases, the proposed solutions may be technically interesting, but very expensive or operationally not feasible. This paper explains how the proposed revitalization plans must be combined with a fully integrated end-to-end solution, from planning, design, and simulation to field implementation. Case studies are shared to demonstrate how this integrated approach, linking concept to implementation, can avoid expensive iterations and help to enable mature field production uplift.
Studies indicate that as much as 60% of the initial oil-in-place may remain after secondary recovery. At the same time, Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods are growing more cost effective, with 3% of current worldwide production now attributable to EOR. EOR projects, however, are strongly influenced by economics and long-run crude oil prices. In addition, EOR investment decisions are also heavily impacted by the timing of the switch from primary recovery to water flooding, and then later, the timing of the switch from water flooding to tertiary oil recovery. The question is what are the key approaches and decision parameters that drive the timing of these decisions? Do you design for EOR up front during concept development planning or do you wait and address EOR as a field matures? This paper will discuss the trade-offs between adopting two distinctly different approaches for making EOR switching decisions, designing EOR up front vs. implementation as the field matures. One approach embraces proactively designing for and executing EOR during the initial development of a field. The other approach bases switching decisions on the conditional indicators of the reservoir, coupled with a view toward the long-run oil price. This paper will also explore the key decision parameters that impact the choice of which EOR approach to pursue.
TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax +1-972-952-9435. AbstractMature fields are the backbone of global oil and gas production. In fact, 70% of worldwide oil production comes from mature fields. A great deal of knowledge about how to exploit mature fields has been gathered throughout the years. However, as more areas become mature, new situations and new challenges arise. Revitalizing these fields extends their productive life and offers significant opportunity to expand worldwide reserves. New technology is critical when trying to increase hydrocarbons extracted from a field beyond the original expectations.This paper highlights emerging techniques associated with five key aspects of revitalizing mature fields. These are: energizing the reservoir using water and polymer flooding on viscous oil fluids, enhancing reservoir deliverability through pinpoint hydraulic fracturing techniques, assuring optimal injectant placement using lasting, functional smart well completions, and improving the rod pumps by using linear lift systems.Also, while technology plays an indispensable role in revitalizing a mature field, cost control, risk management, and optimizing economics are equally important throughout the decision-making process. This paper describes the impact of each emerging mature field technique and discusses recent advancements in technology that enable a new, distinctive approach to increasing production and recovery during the mature stages of the life of a field.
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