The BP FIELD OF THE FUTURE Programme: The Continuing Mission To Deliver Value

Abstract

BP's digital oilfield initiative, the Field of the Future Technology Flagship, has been developing and deploying distinctive operational capabilities since it's inception in 2005. This paper describes the growing track record of value delivery, achieved through pace and scale deployment. These capabilities, which continue to be developed, support a relentless drive for continuous improvement in our asset operations, aiming at delivery of significant production (100mboed BPnet) and reserve (1bnbbl) targets by 2017. We report significant progress toward meeting these targets and highlight new key lessons from our growing body of experience.The Field of the Future concept is now a routine part of how BP builds projects and operates fields across much of our portfolio. It impacts a significant and growing proportion of net production and routinely supports >80% of our top 100 wells. A range of monitoring, analytical, optimization and collaborative solutions are applied according to asset needs and value opportunities.The in-house solutions have delivered over a third of the production target so far -ahead of plan. When integrated with general bought-in solutions, base infrastructure and collaboration benefits, we are routinely adding more than 50mboed gross production per annum.The Paper presents examples of the variety of capability, technology and solution applications that have underpinned this continuing successful value delivery.Key to this success has been:• Establishing an effective, balanced approach to R&D, deployment and value realization;• Developing clear linkage to business needs and functional priorities as a basis for effectively engaging the customer.Areas of continuing challenge include:• Sustaining uptake and usage when faced with issues and barriers arising from technical, business and organizational diversity in the asset portfolio; • Competing or aligning with other business priorities and initiatives, especially in a cost challenged environment.Looking forward, the common challenge all operators face is firmly on making it an industry-wide reality, and to fully embed "intelligent energy" in all that we build and operate.

Integrated Operations: Value and Approach in the Oil Industry

“…Delivering the robust platform for optimization is the focus of a number of the FIELD OF THE FUTURE technology programmes (Stenhouse, 2008). Dickens, 2010, adds that the three-tier model developed at the inception of the formal programme has proved robust ( Figure 4). The core of the BP Program is aimed at the concept of improved decision support (better decisions faster) through application of real-time data capabilities in production and reservoir activities.…”

“…By monitoring the well production with a dedicated group of experts, in an Integrated Operations center, it was possible to manage the sand production, without compromising safety, resulting in increased production of gas and condensate, in a sustainable manner, by about 20%. Dickens (2010) reported important benefits of BP. In the subsurface and wells area, the impact of applying the well monitoring capabilities has been substantial and delivered a production impact of typically 1-2% of the original base production.…”

Continuous Improvement of Assets Through Existing and New Digital Oilfield Technology

“…BP was truly innovative in the infancy of the digital oilfield explosion (Reddick, et al, 2008), and was one of the first major oil companies to deploy proprietary solutions at scale across numerous assets (Dickens, et al, 2010). Today, many of these solutions have become commonplace, and they are expected in all of BPs new fields currently being designed and built by the global projects organization.…”