Business Risk and CAPEX/OPEX Analysis: Impact on Natural Gas Fiscal Measurement Systems

Abstract

Volumes produced measurement is essential for royalties and governments participation calculating at crude oil and natural gas production fields concession contracts. This remuneration is a common model and for that, so rules and regulations are issued that must be followed by operators, with very clear procedures to be followed. However, these specifications allow a certain degree of choice among the available technological alternatives, and it is up to the operator to ensure that they meet the specifications. And here there is a difficult decision to be made: should the choice focus only on the cost of CAPEX and OPEX of the technological alternative? Metering stations operating cost (OPEX) and investment cost (CAPEX) varies depending on the measurement technology chosen. But the systems uncertainty also depends on this choice and consequently, directly affects the business risk. Thus, the objective of this work is to analyze these variables, which must be considered in the decision making, starting from a revamp feasibility study of the export gas measurement systems for two practically identical offshore platforms. In the first was considered orifice plate element and for second, the use of ultrasonic flow technology. It was possible to analyze the variation of the total cost of ownership (TCO) for three years operation and compare it with the variation of the involved risk, noting that there is a clear prevalence of the second in relation to the first. And therefore, this analysis must be considered in the decision of the projects of the measurement stations.