Promoting Real-Time Optimization of Hydrocarbon Producing Systems

Abstract

The term "Real-Time Optimization" (RTO) has rapidly found its way into common usage in the oil and gas industry, as it already has in many others. However, RTO in the oil and gas industry is usually used more as a slogan rather than describing a system or process that truly optimizes anything at all, let alone does so in real-time. In this paper, we describe what RTO means in the exploitation of hydrocarbons and what technologies are available now and are likely to be available in the future. We discuss how it is misunderstood and what real financial benefits await those who adopt it. Furthermore, we are working toward developing a method of classification to allow us to establish where a field operation lies on the RTO ladder, and to help plan a strategy to generate the benefits that moving up the RTO ladder can offer on specific fields and assets. The paper also describes a new SPE Technical Interest Group (TIG), explaining why it has been formed, and outlining its objectives and some planned deliverables. Real-time Optimization - Concepts and Definitions What is optimization? Intuitively most people agree on what we mean by "optimize." This comes down to understanding the dictionary definition; that is, to make the most of; to plan or carry out an economic activity with maximum efficiency; to find the best compromise among several often conflicting requirements, as in engineering design. Therefore, examples of what is usually meant by optimization in the oil and gas industry include:Maximizing hydrocarbon production or recovery,Finding the best solution in the region of physical and financial constraints to produce a decision,Maximizing net present value (NPV) through changes in capital expenditure (CAPEX) and/or operational expenses (OPEX). These elements, in turn, improve financial efficiency in portfolio management and risk analysis, andAdvanced real-time optimization: behavioral prediction and inference, pattern recognition to identify states of a group of wells, continuous adaptation and self-tuning ability. Although we may readily agree on these (and other) descriptions of what would be the outcome of optimization, agreeing what it actually means appears to be more complex. The reason for this is that the term optimization is usually used very loosely, whereas it needs to be defined rigorously and mathematically, while honoring the real-life physical system constraints that exist in the overall production process.

Real-time reservoir management: A multiscale adaptive optimization and control approach

“…In fact, the additional cost and infrastructure complexity that Bsmart^or Bintelligent^solutions usually impart should be offset by increased value. When properly selected and implemented, smart technologies have added value in many occasions ( [2] and references therein) and may be the only solution for well-identified candidates such as deep offshore and remote developments.…”

“…To test the identification procedure, identification algorithms were used to identify the relationships between inputs and outputs in the context of equations (1) and (2). The identification algorithm considers the last 30 days of history, and produces a model used to make predictions for the next 30 days.…”

“…Field operations hierarchy for equations (1) and(2). Additional actuation and measurements are suggested for each level for more general cases.…”

On-line Optimization-Based Simulators for Fractured and Non-fractured Reservoirs

“…It is up to the operator to decide the objective of the problem. Several different cost functions have been suggested and used in the literature [63,54,64]. One of the most common cost functions is in the form net income deliverable over a certain period of time where the profit associated with oil production is maximized.…”

Generalized Predictive Control applied to intelligent production of an oil well

“…References [2], [3] and [4] introduced multi-level, self-learning, reservoir management while [5] introduced a dual loop, optimization system. All these methods employ a reservoir-centric, slow loop and wellcentric, fast loop for long term, reservoir optimization and short term, well control respectively.…”