“Oil Spillage Environment Impact Reduction Based On Automated Leak Detection on Rod Pumping Wells in South of Oman”

Abstract

The environmental impact of oil spillage and additional costs associated in oil fields is an important matter, especially in large oil fields, where well sites monitoring and spills prevention are not easy tasks; therefore a new spillage management detection is an utmost required.Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has more than 1700 Beam lift wells operating in the South Oil Directorate. In the latest years the Stuffing Box (SB) leaks have become a serious issue in field operations, causing a severe environmental impact as well as a significant additional operational costs and unscheduled production deferment.In most of the cases the SB leaks are related to wellhead or Beam Pumping surface unit misalignment, which somehow affect the mechanical condition of Polished Rod (PR) limiting its run life. When the PR is not aligned with the axial bore of the SB a lateral force exerts upon the SB by the PR is producing severe wear and premature failure of its rubbers elements resulting in SB leaks. In many cases when the SB leak begins, the spillage get overflow on the location resulting in an environment damage and unnecessary deferment due to BP outage.Solution to the above problem lies in automation, which is also key success factor in every phase of oil production process. It allows production processes monitoring, as well as its optimization and controlling, aiming to reduce costs and maximizing the overall system efficiency. The tangible and intangible savings generated by these automation systems have exceeded customer/operator's expectations in all cases, where spills have been significantly reduced and early SB leaks have been successfully detected and corrective action there upon taken.This paper gathers the results of field investigations conducted to understand causes behind of SB's integrity loss, which might lead to severe fluid spillage on well locations. Furthermore, presents the new operational philosophy, which could reduce company exposure in terms of HSE risks and additional operational costs associated with management of oil spillage.