It is difficult to change the operating culture and its equilibrium in an oil field, especially when the price of oil and profits are high. This paper discusses the challenges faced while implementing a digital oilfield concept for production optimization at Joint Operations (JO) in Kuwait. The operations are in the onshore Partitioned Zone, an area between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. This operation is unique in that it is operated jointly under separate concessions from two countries, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and involves a private player working alongside a national oil company during day-to-day operations. The production is from fields bordering Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and is staffed and funded equally by Saudi Arabian Chevron Inc. (SAC) and the Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. (KGOC). Some of the Chevron employees that rotate every 3 to 5 years from this location are familiar with the concept of the digital oil field (DOF). JO has set up a control center in the field. Approximately 50% of the wells are ‘on SCADA,’ meaning that the data from these wells are monitored in real time. JO wanted to implement real-time optimization, which would provide the engineers a tool at their desktop to monitor and optimize their wells in real time. The foremost challenge was to get all employees to adapt to a DOF concept. Several strategies have been considered to gain greater acceptance and usage of the DOF, some of which have yielded short-term gains. There is an attempt to generate greater user interest by providing daily reports from the software to show wells that are down along with their alarms. These wells are not part of the differed oil production. This paper discusses such strategies in addition to creating a sense of urgency, a top-down management approach and individual one-on-one training sessions, among others.

Instrumentation on around 900 artificial-lift system (ALS) wells in the Wafra field allowed remote monitoring, control, and analysis for exceptional management. Having software capable of controlling wells, gathering real-time data, and integration with any database, created another level of effective surveillance. Using real-time optimization simulation software, helped in identifying opportunities, selecting candidates, tracking well behavior, reducing action response duration, reducing number of failures, and saving power cost. This manuscript focuses on the optimization implementation and results verification.The field development team is divided by reservoir type wherein each engineer is responsible for a set of wells. The wells are artificially lifted using different types of pumps including sucker rod pumps' (SRP), electrical submersible pumps (ESP) and progressive cavity pumps (PCP). The manual process of collecting data is progressively becoming replaced by high tech well instrumentation, which is connected to a private network cloud reaching engineer's desktops. This process has created a collaborative environment consisting of different teams such as asset management and operations engaged in production optimization utilizing the smart software modules. The changes to the well are tracked and diagnosed instantly.Deploying the digital oil field allowed engineers to instantly access well data which has improved the management process of identifying well issues based on pre-configured and intelligent alarms. It has created short-and long-term plans for production optimization taking into consideration the health and performance of wells and equipment installed in the field. The aim has been to reach and maintain the optimal rate for each well.Case studies conducted include:-Candidate wells for chemical injection based on measuring the difference in flow line pressure from temperature change -Unbalanced rod pump wells identified based on the comparison between the measured and calculated counter balance torque -Wells with gas interference were highlighted based on continuous dynacard collection -Wells with motor overload were diagnosed based on real-time data comparison between the nominal and actual output current -Production increase opportunities were identified based on the diagnostics report and analysis report created from the software optimization module Smart field optimization has been implemented for the first time in the instrumented artificially lifted wells in a partitioned neutral zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, whereby the data is being accessed from admin camp, which is an office area outside the field. It has enhanced the collaborative environment between the different teams working in a joint venture allowing engineers to be focused on solving well problems instead of data collection and validation procedures.

Progressive cavity pumps (PCP) were introduced in Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) fields for the first time in year 2012 whereby 100 wells were to be awarded for a period of 5 years. Over a 3 year period over 50 pump installations were carried out. Due to the growth of the project the operations strategy focused on implementation of certain tools to aid in analysis and optimization of the wells thus improving the run life. Pump Watcher system is a part of a lease contract that involves PCP rental developed by KOC. The contract warrants remote surveillance and control of the pump including but not limited to start/stop and speed change. Although the PCP rental began in the year 2012, real-time monitoring and control was accomplished only in 2014 as the infrastructure related to radio communication was not in place. There has been a paradigm shift in data availability and quality before and after the installation of pumps, variable speed drives (VSDs), and remote monitoring and survey. This manuscript focuses on the benefits achieved ever since downhole gauge data and related pump information was made available on a real-time basis. The manuscript focuses on the following with case studies and examples:• Improved run life • Wells working under recommended operational conditions • Preventative actions due to real-time data (RTD)