An Optimal Method for Deepwater Oilfield Development System

Abstract

The development of petroleum production systems has become more and more sophisticated due to the complexity of deepwater oilfields. Selection of a field development option in early phase will significantly affect overall project economics, schedule and risk. Important factors that drive the selection of a deepwater field development and production system that including subsea production, floating platform, flowline and riser system and export system are identified in this paper. The screening starts with a fair number of potential alternatives. Invalid or obviously inferior combinations were eliminated and this yields a “long list”. Considering the factors reservoir, fluid characteristic, wells, regions and so on, a “short list” was resulted. Finally, it presents a model for decision-making that takes into account the main goals of a company, through the use of fuzzy mathematics. A case study results suggest that the best alternative is not always the one existing the best economic indicators.