Transforming Legacy Production Operations into Smart Asset Operations in Ecuador
Authors: Lopez Ruiz Yeniffer , Carrera Julia Marlene , Tagarot Gary Nelson , Gey Gian Marcio , Davalos Daniel , Segovia Ruben Dario , Campana Danny Rafael , Gonzalez Dario De Jesus , Azancot Annalyn Josefina , Briones Cesar , Pastrana Wilmar Andrés 
Published: October 2022

For more than 30 years, most of the fields in Ecuador have reached a high level of maturity that demands several operational and control challenges for multiple processes such as chemical injection, high gas volumes, water cut incremental among many other issues affecting the useful life of downhole equipment installed in the well or devices located on the surface. Furthermore, implementing digital solutions in a field also faces the challenge of allocating faster and agile solutions that add efficiency to production, but at the same time avoid or minimize deferred production for implementation. Fortunately, current digital technologies such as IoT and Edge Computing are combined with cloud applications, controllers and even software to connect and use unimagined solutions for the oil and gas industry. These controls make an easier, faster, and more reliable way guaranteeing the production integrity operations, while reducing carbon footprint and improving work-life balance.

Operations case studies in Ecuador will be discussed including not only production engineering analysis but also production operations in the field with a major focus on asset surveillance. Both activities require time-consuming tasks such as field trips and well-by-well analysis, showing the transformation in the way we operate leveraging the use of data, promoting remote operations, and automating the workflows used within the production engineering department.

The starting point of this implementation was the well surveillance workflow, carried out at the field level because there was no mature SCADA system. Thus, the Edge was implemented with capabilities based on Internet of Things (IoT) technology to connect the different elements of the production chain. Currently, more than 400 pieces of equipment have been connected to a unified platform, including electro-submersible pumping equipment (ESP), wells with Beam Pumping (BM), injector wells, injection pumps, high-pressure injection equipment, multiphase flow meters and others, which allow us to integrate data, perform real-time analysis and remotely control any equipment that is connected. The impact of this solution is the reduction of production losses by 9%, the reduction of field visits by 23%, the increase in the useful life of the equipment by 32% and the reduction of CO2 emissions by 22.6% in surveillance activities.

On the other hand, the integration between the intelligence at the edge and the corresponding instrumentation allowed the creation of two tailored solutions. The first, to automate the annular gas handling process, and the second, to automate and optimize the efficiency of the chemical treatment. The tangible benefits of these solutions are: 12 gas handling equipment operating in the field, resulting in a 12% increase in production compared to wells that do not have the solution, chemical injection accuracy increased up to 99% and corrosion/fouling failures reduced by 50%.

Using the benefits of IoT, different applications (more than 14) were implemented such as: flare monitoring and gas volume measurements, virtual flow meter, smart alarms, surveillance of portable multiphase flow meters (Vx Units), pumping equipment of high pressure (HPS) and monitoring and diagnosis of vibrations in rotating equipment