Samarang Integrated Operations (IO) - Reusability and Repeatability Process for Scaling up to Multiple Assets Implementation
Authors: Azaman Dzulkarnain B , Shahari Shahrizal B , Majinun-Helmi Hendry , Sayung Colinus Lajim , Dato’ Wan Hassan Wan Mamat , Wong Lee Hin , Salim Muzahidin Muhamed , M Som Mohamad Kasim , Biniwale Shripad 
Published: March 2015

Samarang is an oil field located offshore Sabah, Malaysia. The field was developed in 1975 and comprises wellhead, production and gas compression platforms, as well as personnel living quarters. The majority of the platforms have fully pneumatic instrumentation / control and shutdown systems, with no provision for remote monitoring/control. The field is undergoing a major redevelopment project that consists of two phases: Phase 1: revisit two drilling platforms with the scope of drilling five new dual completion wells from SMDP-B and SMJT-F platforms.Phase 2: implement EOR phase, GASWAG (Gravity Assisted Simultaneous Water And Gas injection) in two of the three main reservoirs as well as waterflood in the third reservoir and reactivate existing wells.

As part of the redevelopment plan, Samarang was the first field selected for an end-to-end asset management Integrated Operations (IO) project. Its implementation deliver objective and focus at the whole of the asset operation optimization through increased level of monitoring and surveillance, diagnosis, optimization and operations transformation in a way that fits PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) current IO state as well as future expansion plans.

The IO program aims to help Samarang to address growth, organization and environmental challenges by integrating new transformational technologies with streamlined work processes, enabling: an effective working environmentstreamlined and automated work processesthe availability & accessibility of quality information across the organizationcollaboration of expertise across multiple locations, teams and domainsintelligent alarms and alerts for continuous asset awarenessan increased in hydrocarbon production and recovery.

Since commissioning of the project, we have reported the lesson learned and early benefits in various SPE conferences. A summary of reported benefits are as follows An innovative parallel design process was invented to improve the efficiency and integrity of the design processAn IO model was described and defined for framing, planning, design and execution of the projectHeightened monitoring and surveillance through installation and retrofitting of measurements and control devices, telemetry and telecommunication infrastructure, HMI (human-machine-interface) and surveillance systemIntroduction of “Functional Base with Asset Mindset” collaborative working environment across multiple locations, team and domainsTotal asset optimization hybrid of steady-state and transient-state flow simulation technologiesQuality and efficiency improvement in terms of decision making cycle from months to a dailyWork efficiency improvement by more than 80% of staff time savingConsistent value creation with production impact more than 10,000 bopd since Phase I commissioning

Being the first field selected for IO implementation means that best practices, lessons learned; processes and procedures, frameworks and operating philosophy garnered during this IO implementation will serve as invaluable references for IO implementation in other assets. This paper describes the reusability and repeatability of the Samarang IO process and its procedures, the inventorization of deliverables and how these could be leveraged and scaled up for application to other assets (or a larger scale implementation).