Role of Integrated Asset Modeling in Optimizing Na Kika Production
Authors: Arias Brian J. , Chitale Ashish , Bishop Simon Richard , Carroll Alvaro , Colbert Jason , Braaten Dennis A. , Al-Ameri Abdulkhaliq 
Published: February 2016

BP uses Integrated Asset Models (IAM) in many of its producing assets to improve its understanding of field performance, to predict fluid flow behavior, troubleshooting and optimizing both short and long term reservoir and well performance issues. BP's use of IAM technology is typically fit for purpose with model complexity dictated by factors such as asset size and complexity of the problem. The paper will describe how the modeling approach taken by assets with a large well count but low individual well production rates differs from the approach taken by assets with a few high rate wells. For example, BP's Onshore US business uses IAM for evaluating the needs for compression and/or facility optimization, while assets in deep water use models to help protect and optimize base production.

The paper will also discuss how IAM has been at the heart of BP's innovative optimization process, PTL™, typically resulting in 20 MBOED of incremental production delivered per year, through identifying and implementing optimization opportunities.

The Na Kika Asset has been at the forefront of using IAM tools within BP. Na Kika is a complex field development in the Gulf of Mexico comprised of five subsea fields, which commenced production in 2003. Na Kika has a subsea loop architecture originally designed and operated to have dedicated flowlines for each field. The use of IAM helped identify an opportunity to reconfigure the operation of one of the subsea loops.

The paper will explain how the IAM tools were used to quantify the production opportunity and the risks involved with the reconfiguration. This modification resulted in an incremental production gain of 5%. The regular use of IAM modeling and surveillance has helped Na Kika achieve an overall production gain of nearly 2 million barrels oil equivalent over the past two years.

Integrated Asset Modeling

Integrated Asset Modeling is a methodology to describe fluid flow through different parts of the production system such as, reservoir, wells, production facilities and pipelines. Generally two or more parts of the system are combined to make it an Integrated Model. An IAM model can be a cornerstone to effective field management, but building and maintaining a model has many challenges. Determining the right amount of detail needed to have an effective model is specific to each project, but a recommendation is to start with a simple approach and add detail as needed.

BP has been using IAM as a primary tool to help its staff improve their understanding of fluid flow behavior and gain insight into the current and future field performance. In BP IAM is used as a fit-for-purpose tool and complexity of the model depends mainly on the purpose of the model or study at hand. For example, in deep water Gulf of Mexico (DW GOM), standalone and detailed well models are used to study and design well completions for new wells, while in onshore US gas fields with large well counts, the modeling approach focuses on the interaction of wells with pipeline and facilities to de-bottleneck the entire system and also to evaluate and optimize compression needs.

The following section covers two such examples of modeling approaches taken to address different needs.

Gas Deliverability and Condensate Yield:

In a shallow water offshore field, an integrated model was utilized to optimize gas condensate deliverability. A new approach was required due to a complex production handling agreement where the optimization goal switches between meeting gas delivery targets and maximizing condensate production. This required integration of wells and facilities with a complex transient surface facility and a pipeline model. An innovative approach was adopted where black oil steady-state well models were coupled with transient and fully compositional facility and pipeline models through a spreadsheet based program with an economics and built-in non linear optimizer. The tool helped operations staff to understand the links between wells and facilities with the topsides.