Oilfield Surveillance With Personal Computers
Authors: Moore J.B. 
Published: December 2007

Personal computers (PC's) and hand-held calculators were used in the development of an oilfield surveillance and data-gathering system, Producing wells, steam-injection wells, water plants, steam generators, Producing wells, steam-injection wells, water plants, steam generators, and well workovers are all monitored through the use of PC's. PC's provide an accurate and timely method of verifying and editing data and provide immediate retrieval of information vital to the daily operation of a thermal-recovery oil field.

Introduction

Oilfield surveillance has increased in importance as the oil industry increases efforts in EOR techniques. With this increased effort, the need for timely and accurate information to maintain a close surveillance of the oil field has also increased. This is especially true in thermal-recovery oil fields where large amounts of information are collected and analyzed. The need for improved surveillance has increased substantially over the past few years as oil companies strive to maintain and to increase the profitability of their fields. The need to collect and analyze data was recognized long ago. In past years, large main-frame computers were used to collect and to maintain the massive amounts of required information. The idea was to collect all the information in one central computer and to generate reports periodically for accounting, engineering, and operations periodically for accounting, engineering, and operations groups. Reporting requirements of accounting and engineering were generally satisfied with 1- to 2-week-old data; however, such data were often already obsolete for daily use in a rapidly responding thermal operation. Recently, a new school of thought in computer data processing has developed-distributed data processing processing has developed-distributed data processing (DDP). DDP depends on the use of networking devices or other communication techniques that allow several computers to share information and/or equipment with improved efficiency and accessibility. When taken to its extreme, DDP can be related to the use of PC's because PC's provide computing power at each work station. Until PC's provide computing power at each work station. Until recently, PC's could not realistically be included in the DDP concept because they were not equipped to handle large amounts of data or to support networks. Recent PC developments finally have made it possible to handle large amounts of data and to support networks. With this improved technology, we were able to develop PC programming to monitor our critical operational PC programming to monitor our critical operational functions and to pass the information on to a main-frame central computer. The accuracy of this information has improved because the data source, operations, now has an immediate functional use for reports generated on the basis of these data. The PC also maintains its own 2- to 3 months history that is immediately accessible to the field foreman. With this information, reports can be generated that are current within a few weeks, and special requests that can be handled more quickly and efficiently.

System Development

A PC data-gathering and surveillance system was developed by our Kernridge Div. for use in the South Belridge field, Kern County, CA. The South Belridge field contains more than 6,000 wells, most of which comprise a thermal-recovery operation. The objectives of the project were to provide up-to-date field data for surveillance project were to provide up-to-date field data for surveillance purposes, to develop a timely and accurate method of purposes, to develop a timely and accurate method of gathering field data, and to provide a method for transferring these data to a permanent mainframe data base. Development has progressed in two phases. Phase 1 began in March 1984, and Phase 2 began in Jan.

Five PC's and 65 hand-held calculators were used in Phase 1 PC's and 65 hand-held calculators were used in Phase 1 to develop three computer systems:the thermal system monitors steam-generator and scrubber performance and collects water-plant informationthe well surveillance system monitors production and steam-injection well performance; andthe pull ticket system monitors performance; and (3) the pull ticket system monitors workover costs and rig performance.

Phase 2 used improvements in hardware for both the PC's and the hand-held calculators. Programming was PC's and the hand-held calculators. Programming was updated to improve performance, and an additional system, product handling, was added that monitors gas-plant product handling, was added that monitors gas-plant liquid production and oil sales off the lease. Additional operations groups were given the pull ticket and well surveillance systems. All systems other than the pull ticket incorporate a new method of data collection: hand-held data entry.

Previous Method. Before the project was implemented, Previous Method. Before the project was implemented, data were gathered by hand. Each operator prepared a hand-written daily worksheet that was given to a foreman at the end of the day. The foreman verified the data by comparing them to previous information on file. This was a very time-consuming process, and in most cases, the foreman relied on the operator's memory to catch erroneous or questionable data. Once verified, the data were then filed and given to a clerk who enters the information into the central main-frame data base.

JPT

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