A Standard Solution for Upstream Oil and Gas Surveillance

Abstract

ExxonMobil is developing and implementing new systems and work processes that will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of well, reservoir, and facilities surveillance across their operated assets worldwide. For opportunities with a significant information technology component, often referred to as "digital oilfield" initiatives, ExxonMobil applies a broadly consistent, systematic approach to the identification of technologies or suites of related technologies which will add quantifiable value given our asset mix and organizational structure. To derive the greatest impact and efficiency, the new technologies are then implemented within established standard computing systems which allow scalable global solutions. Improved surveillance, whether it applies to well productivity, well integrity, reservoir performance, or surface facilities, has been identified as an area with a significant opportunity for volumes uplift and for improved work efficiency. ExxonMobil is developing a number of new surveillance tools, processes, and systems, some of which will utilize proprietary in-house technology with others developed jointly with vendors. This paper will focus on one such initiative, termed "Production Surveillance and Optimization" (PS&O). The PS&O initiative is a combination of enhanced IT capabilities and ExxonMobil-standard surveillance processes and best practices that will be employed worldwide starting in 2008. Key features of the PS&O tool are that it connects to disparate datastores such as corporate data repositories and data historians, allows automated alerting when production conditions deviate versus expectations, allows automation of follow-up diagnosis and analysis, and provides access to proprietary best practices relevant to the task at hand. Introduction Through its financial and operating performance, ExxonMobil has achieved value with its global functional organization. Increased upstream-wide standardization, integration, and automation will drive the next step-change in performance for the subsurface work environment. These capabilities will be applied to the associated work processes, tools and technology, and data and knowledge management practices as assets pass through the discovery, development, and production phases of their lifecycles. This will extend ExxonMobil's ability to realize both economies of scale and fit for purpose (scalable) subsurface solutions. 1

Integrated Operations another Tool for Achieving Operational Excellence in the Oil and Gas Sector

“…The theoretical contribution of the proposed framework was the adoption and utilization of IO factors to explain and moderated by management commitment. The practical contribution would be the enhancement in the health safety and the environmental performance, improved efficiency (cost and process) and improved assets reliability as seen in some of the intergated oil firms like Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell BP and Saudi Aramco [30,31,33].…”

Integrated Operations: Value and Approach in the Oil Industry

“…An assessment with engineers and technicians was held. This case was reported by Crawford (2008), where the survey results indicated that on average 44% of the time was presently spent gathering and accessing data and generating plots and reports. The efficiency gains were sufficient to justify the surveillance initiative and it was not necessary to include production volumes or reserves increases (effectiveness gains).…”

Drilling Centers Maturity Model Evaluation Based on Integrated Operation Key Elements: A Case Study from Brazil

“…Thorogood et al [19] described a case of integrated services in North Sea, where the optimization of the waste disposal represented 2 million dollars in savings. Crawford et al [20] described impressive results of an assessment in ExxonMobil production surveillance, pointing that around 44% of the work time was dedicated to generate reports and access data. Benefits on recovery increase (5 to 10%), production improvement (10%), cost reduction (20%) and risk mitigation were pointed by Henderson et al [8], considering the applications of IO technologies.…”