Integrated production modelling of the Wheatstone-Iago fields: boon or bane?
G. Afuape A , M Regan A , R. May A , V. Roewer A , A. Chung A and N. Silpngarmlers AChevron Australia.
The APPEA Journal 52(2) 639-639 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ11053
Published: 2012
Abstract
Applying integrated production modelling (IPM) for decision making in the oil and gas industry has proliferated rapidly, evidenced by the amount of published information about successful applications of this approach. A reason for its popularity is to mitigate the risk of over(under)investment, which is driving asset teams toward jettisoning the practice of using fixed THP to account for backpressure effects or to use the limited surface network options available in most numerical reservoir simulators.
This extended abstract describes the modelling of an offshore gas development by coupling multiple full-field, numerical reservoir simulation models with a shared surface network model. Such an approach enabled subsurface elements of the production system to be linked directly to surface elements (subsea and platform) yielding a fully coupled IPM. Key development decisions were tested and justified in a technically rigorous and economically robust manner.
These decisions included the phasing of development wells, compression requirements and flow balancing in the pipeline system to maintain specified gas delivery rates. Experience from this approach has shown traditional reservoir engineering techniques can still yield the same outcome as an IPM with comparable accuracy—for some development decisions such as using a creaming curve and fixed THP to determine optimum well count; nevertheless, using simple methods to account for backpressure effects may not allow the same broad-based integration of design requirements needed at the design and engineering stage of large-scale projects.
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Gbenga Afuape has more than 14 years of industry experience starting at Schlumberger then working for numerous oil and gas operators as a reservoir engineer on assets in West Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. He joined Chevron in 2008 working on the North West Shelf oil asset and Malampaya-Camago gas fields before being transferred to the Wheatstone subsurface team in 2009. He earned a BSc (petroleum engineering) from Nigeria’s Premier University—the University of Ibadan—and an MSc (reservoir engineering) from UNSW in 2005. |
Myles Regan is a reservoir engineer in Chevron’s Wheatstone team, focusing on reservoir engineering activities leading to the start-up of the Wheatstone foundation project. He joined Chevron in 2011 after receiving a PhD (petroleum engineering) and BEng (petroleum engineering) (hons) from the University of Adelaide. |
Ronald May is a petroleum engineer on Chevron’s Wheatstone project. He joined Chevron with the Unocal merger in 2005. He has more than 25 years of experience, having worked in the US, Thailand, Indonesia, and Nigeria before starting in Perth in 2010. He has a BS (chemical engineering) from Ohio State University and an MS (petroleum engineering) from Stanford University. |
Vernon Roewer is a production engineer at Chevron, working on the Wheatstone project. Responsibilities include finalising detailed sandface completion design, as well as developing production-operation philosophies. Since joining Chevron in 2006, he has worked predominantly as a reservoir engineer within various major capital projects in Australia. He graduated from UWA in 2005 with a BEng (petroleum engineering) (hons). |
Anton Chung is a petrophysicist in Chevron Exploration team. He joined Chevron in 2008 after receiving his master’s degree (petroleum engineering) from Curtin University of Technology. Before his present assignment, he was a reservoir engineer in Wheatstone subsurface team mainly focusing on production forecasting and reservoir simulation. Prior to that, he was a production engineer at Chevron ETC PEWP (production engineering and productivity team) working on various projects from mature oil field to gas-field development for LNG project. |
Nuntawan (Lynn) Silpngarmlers has been the reservoir engineering team leader of Wheatstone project since 2009. She joined Chevron in 2002 after receiving a PhD (petroleum engineering) from the Pennsylvania State University, USA. She has more than 10 years of oil and gas experience in both academia and industry, including previous role as senior reservoir simulation consultant at Chevron Energy Technology Company. |
References
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