Digital Transformation Evolution from Zero to AI/ML Smart Production Surveillance
Authors: Fuenmayor Roberto , Quevedo Hugo , Bonilla Christian , Yánez Jorge , Dávalos Santiago , Calvache Galo , Moya Johanna , Jácome Erick , Osma Iván , Correa Raquel , Sepúlveda Willem , Gallardo Juan Pablo , Florez Fabian , Didanloo Ali , Zolnikov Boris , Chicango Xavier , Ramos Geovanny , Guillén Wilson , Córdova Ximena , Bedón Ernesto , García Danilo , Muslera Manuel , Estevez Diego , Somale Jose , Pineda Alexander 
Published: October 2024

In a brown field with over 50 years of production it is critical to make adequate decisions in minimum time to optimize production, debottleneck operational issues and minimize costs and production losses. That is why, the Operator decided to start a digital journey to transform the operations philosophy and people mindset.

Back to 2013 this was a real challenge with plenty of inefficiencies due to manual data gathering, manual processes and long distances that the field personnel had to commute to perform the job. The digital transformation started gathering high frequency data with SCADA system, also detecting the operational data gaps at multiple frequencies such as daily, monthly, or sporadically. This helped to evolve as of today with multiple real time workflows to solve main value pillars of, such as: minimize costs, make data driven decisions, optimize production, processes, and people efficiency, minimizing carbon footprint.

The objective of the paper is to showcase the successful digital journey of a brown field where digital solutions are enhancing the recoverable volume, production, people, and process efficiency, minimizing losses, and maximizing the return of investment in a field located in the Amazon region.

The implementation consists in an integrated digital solution that was performed in two stages:

The first stage was the installation of high frequency sensors and transmitters at wells and facilities level (manifolds, tanks, etc.), wireless communication equipment, Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) installation to send data trough fiber optic and gateways. The second stage was to develop and automate critical workflows having a better decision making and a faster response time, by applying edge, cloud computing and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) to monitor wells and assets in an Integrated Asset Monitoring Center (MIA).

The digital journey implemented has shown remarkable results improving people efficiency in 93%, reducing the response time for actions in atypical events in the producer wells from days to minutes, optimizing production and waterflooding surveillance, reducing production losses significantly due to the saved oil from the alerted events, recognizing and taking actions in critical events of producer, injector a disposal wells, reducing the Electro Submergible Pump (ESP) failure index and improving the ESP run life as part of an integrated operational solution, reducing the carbon footprint and the related HSE and operational risks due to proper monitoring and actions of all the variables.

This successful showcase describes a detailed structure from planning to execution on how the digital transformation journey supported the field to optimize production and processes, minimizing cost, operational risks and improving personnel efficiency, reducing carbon footprint, and proving that the digital solutions revitalize a brown field and can be a game changer in the oil and gas industry and in the energy transition.