Integrating Production Process Through Automation, Rockyford Pilot Experience
Authors: Ngai C. 
Published: March 2010

To stay competitive, PanCanadian invested substantially in SCADA technology in natural gas production. To extend the technology in crude oil production, a full scale pilot project was implemented at the Rockyford and Cavalier property. The SCADA system was PC-based and relatively low cost compared with older systems. The objective of the pilot project was to evaluate the technical and business merits of the oil SCADA system.

Implementation of new technology, however, will have an impact on the organization and its people. Commitment of an organization and buy-in of its employees in its application is essential to its success. To fully utilize the potential of automation through SCADA application, a corporate operating vision should be formulated. The vision should identify the goals of automation. It should include a corporate operating philosophy and an automation strategy. The automation should clearly meet all operations needs. The real time data generated by the system should also provide opportunity for other users essential to the success of the business. In addition, the system requirements such as hardware and software standards, communications and storage standards, service and technical support, should be developed to ensure meeting the needs of future corporate requirements.

This paper describeds the pilot project, its implementation process, and the technical and organizational considerations required to achieve an integrated SCADA system.

Introduction

In the past few years, the Canadian oil and gas industry has gone through a lot of changes. With dwindling reserves and high costs of exploration, development and production, new or improved technology has become ever more essential to improve the netback to the industry. PanCanadian is open to innovative technology and has tested various innovations and technology to seek new solutions to old problems. The Gas Production Inquiry and Report System (GPIRS) was the first PanCanadian Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) initiative to automate gas production. The project included automation of hundreds of deep gas wells, shallow gas group meters, gas compressor stations and gas plants throughout Alberta. Experience gained from the gas automation project was then extended to oil automation. Oil automation is more complex than gas. It has more fluids to handle and generally requires more operators' attention.

The objectives of the Rockyford oil automation pilot project were to install a SCADA system in an oilfield and evaluate the technical and business merits of the system. The key goal was to provide an integrated system where real time data could be readily accessible for use by all stakeholders, thereby improving the operation's profitability.

Along with GPIRS, the oil pilot project provided PanCanadian an opportunity to evaluate state of the art technology in SCADA applications and electronic flow measuring devices. It also facilitated the development of a corporate automation vision and plan, and provided guidelines for future automation projects. It also established an operating philosophy and strategy for operations in an automated environment.