Real-Time Asset Management: From Vision to Engagement—An Operator's Experience

Digital oil field (DOF) in the upstream industry has gained momentum in the last few years and has transformed from being solely a vision to actual projects that have measurable value. The ultimate goal in DOF projects is an integrated approach toward decision making and control of asset management in relevant time. This paper describes the successful methodology adopted for implementing the i-field™ program (i-field is a trademark of Chevron Corporation) in Agbami-namely, identification, prioritization, and implementation of relevant workflows.The Agbami field, located in deepwater offshore Nigeria, is a subsea development that incorporates crestal gas and peripheral water injection. It is located in approximately 1500 m of water depth and consists of a 38-well development program to be implemented in three phases. The well completion incorporates intelligent well completions (IWCs)-downhole flowmeters, pressure and temperature gauges, and interval-control valves (ICVs). These downhole accessories are managed using electric and hydraulic controls/instrumentation, with subsurface, subsea, and topside data acquired and transmitted to a central data historian on the floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit in relevant time. The implementation of a robust architecture for a data-and informationmanagement system involving acquisition, processing, storage, and replication (from offshore to onshore) is conceived to be the foundation upon which asset-management workflows are implemented.The expected benefits from implementing the i-field program in Agbami include reduction in lost production opportunity (LPO) through proactive asset management, better long-term reservoir management through time-line management of injection-and production-rate balancing, increased efficiency and reliability through guided workflows, improved ultimate recovery, and better overall performance from standardization of base business work processes. The real value of implementing i-field initiatives in Agbami lies not only in the return on investment but also in providing a benchmark for capturing the value of other assets. Based on field experience, this paper discusses the approach toward value realization of the i-field system, including change-management strategy for end-user acceptance. Critical success factors and lessons learned during deployment are also presented.

Section: Chevron's I-field Programmentioning

confidence: 99%

Realizing Value From Implementing i-field™ in Agbami—A Deepwater Greenfield in an Offshore Nigeria Development

Sankaran

Olise

Meinert

et al. 2011

“…The production control room and reservoir simulation and visualization centers are linked up or combined for greater operating efficiency by integrating the work processes between production and reservoir engineers (Unneland and Hauser 2005). Episodic paradigm shifts are avoided by high-corporate-IQ organizations.…”

Section: Recommendations and Conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving the Energy Business From Smart to Genius by Building Corporate IQ

Weijermars

2011

Moving the energy business from smart asset developers to genius organizations by building corporate intelligence quotient (IQ) is advocated in this study. A company's overall effectiveness in creating primary business value from the available knowledge resources (internally and externally) can be expressed as a corporate IQ score in the framework defined here, using a new questionnaire comprising 140 questions. This questionnaire has now been applied to seven energy companies: five oil operators, one service company, and one natural-gas transmission-service operator. The sample groups are still small, but an interesting pattern emerges that confirms the general notion that internationally operating companies are best at developing organizational intelligence. Their higher corporate IQ is essential to enable them to operate effectively in a highly competitive market. The new data reported here may provide useful insight for national oil companies (NOCs) that wish to improve their organizational intelligence if required by an ambition to internationalize their operations. Companies that excel at organizational learning are better prepared to outperform their competitors. International oil companies (IOCs) also can strive to further the enhancement of their corporate IQ by use of the periodic assessments and interventions outlined in this study.

“…Much of the early work was dedicated to developing a vision and approach for IO at Chevron, but since the first business-unit project (Carthage in east Texas, launched in 2003), we have made significant progress in developing solutions and adding value (Unneland and Hauser 2005).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Future of Integrated Operations

Crompton

Gilman²

2011

The concept of integrated operations (IO) has matured significantly over the past 8 years since the landmark study by Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) in 2002. Many companies, including Chevron, now have established programs with demonstrated results delivered in multiple assets. With that track record, companies are now asking what is next and how can they build on this foundation for the future.Given what we have learned to date, how can we accelerate results and where can IO add the most value? What business and technology trends will emerge both to help and to hinder integrated workflow solutions over the next 5 to 10 years? This paper will address these questions by looking at the history of the Chevron i-field™ (i-field is a trademark of Chevron USA Incorporated in the US and in other countries) program to understand what has been accomplished, the promises realized, and the challenges uncovered in the journey. We will examine trends in the industry, to understand future opportunities and challenges more clearly.The paper will look at how different elements of IO can be deployed more effectively and how to address the challenges of delivering and sustaining the change within the current and future workforce. Delivering solutions is usually difficult, but sustaining and supporting them provide new levels of challenge. How do we ensure that IO becomes the way we work in the future instead of a passing technology fashion fad? Revisiting Expectations: History and Current State of Chevron's IO ProgramChevron's IO program (called i-field) is now in its eighth year. Much has been accomplished in that time. Chevron has begun to think differently about how to use digital technology and processes to change the way we operate key assets. We are starting to realize the potential of the way we can collaborate and use information to make better investment and operational decisions. Many major operators and service providers in the exploration and production (E&P) industry have made similar progress with their own programs (Reece et al. 2005;Murray et al. 2006;Henriquez et al. 2008;Reece et al. 2008).But, much more remains to be done before we achieve the ultimate goal of transformation. As we try to forecast the future, it would be prudent to first look back on early industry expectations, to see how well we have done.An early analysis of the potential of IO came from CERA in the form of a multiclient study on the Digital Oil Field of the Future (DOFF) (CERA 2002). They predicted DOFF challenges coming in the areas of technology development, demonstrating business case, workforce adoption, work-process redesign, data and application integration, and collaboration between service and E&P firms.In that early publication, CERA identified a number of ways in which DOFF could develop, with varying levels of impact to the industry. Three possible scenarios were put forward:1. Operating Efficiency: DOFF technology is used in an evolutionary manner to extend existing trends in lowering costs, increasing recovery, and ...