bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Using Integrated Operations Centers
Authors: Landgren Kennth , Lhote Jean-Pierre , Vernus Jean-Claude 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
Oil and gas companies increasingly require environments that support real-time E&P business processes, where field information, applications, and experts can be linked with operational managers and decision makers so daily operational parameters can be viewed and decisions executed. Most companies believe that making decisions in real time while leveraging global resources and infrastructure will help to improve their field productivity while reducing costs.
Project team members are often collocated to ensure open communication and planning. However, since E&P activities often take place in remote and hostile parts of the world, global operations with dispersed personnel frequently require such operations support centers to be "virtualized." Reliable and secure information flow is central to ensuring success in the contemporary oil field.
A previous paper outlined the significant challenges of process, networking, security, hardware, and software infrastructure encountered in creating and supporting these integrated operations centers. Another paper reported on some of the progress in meeting these challenges, with particular focus on the actual applications that support oilfield operations.
This paper focuses on challenges and solutions encountered in actually using such integrated operations centers, with particular emphasis on people issues, including change management, training, and collaboration. Real examples from working centers are used to illustrate the issues and solutions.
Real-Time Evaluation of Pressure Transients: Advances in Reservoir Monitoring
Authors: Contreras C. , Bodwadkar S. , Kosmala A. 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
Reservoir engineers operating in mature fields across the world struggle to get necessary reservoir data to make their exploitation plans more realistic. Pressure transients are the most effective way to understand the dynamic behavior of the reservoir. Loss of production and cost of acquiring data versus the benefits has always been a classical management dilemma. With the advent of digital oilfield technology, the pressure and hence the deterioration in well deliverability can be continuously and cost effectively monitored. This paper illustrates how real-time data can be used to make decisions on when to invest in pressure transient tests, and when a test is run, how to minimize the downtime. The case studies presented here are for wells on electrical submersible pumps in various types of reservoirs across Latin America.
The paper briefly discusses the three pillars of digital oilfield; technology, processes and people and how they work together to achieve continuous reservoir and production optimization. Reservoir analysis for wells on electrical submersible pumps (ESP) is challenging due to the restrictions imposed by the downhole equipment. Our work presented here focuses on developing workflows and interpretation techniques for this unique environment.
Having sensors downhole provides operators with an opportunity to get pressure drawdown and buildup data when the ESP starts and stops. For the wells we monitor, 10% of these unscheduled events provided much coveted reservoir information without having to stop the production intentionally. For the scheduled pressure transient events, the data acquisition rates were actively changed to ensure sufficient high quality data. Also, the length of the test was decided in real time to make sure that the test was long enough to meet the objectives but not too long to increase the cost without additional benefits. Thus with real-time technology we were able to overcome the shortcomings of traditional well testing and address the concerns of both engineers and the management. Case studies are presented where production enhancement opportunities were uncovered as a result of scheduled and unscheduled events on wells producing with ESPs. The results show that more than 70% of wells can benefit from stimulation, potentially increasing production up to 300%. To make proactive decisions and act on the recommendations generated from these production enhancement opportunities is still a challenge that needs to be addressed.
For fields with large numbers of ESP wells, a time snap of reservoir properties could be periodically obtained to track changes in pressure, skin and permeability for real time optimization.
Creating a New Workflow for Integration of Business Processes between Well Engineering and Subsurface Data Management
Authors: Eade J. 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
The lack of a global, consistent and reliable system for well/wellbore identification has been a long-standing issue. Industry professionals believe the heart of the problem is the lack of consistent definitions and best practices.
A major oil company has devised a solution, based on creating unique well identifiers (UWIs), that helps establish internal consistencies and best practices across the company's operating units. The generation of UWIs leverages the company's standardized computing environment for its subsurface data, and extends the computing environment to encompass engineering workflows and, by facilitating ties to back-office systems, enables integration with business processes. The effort to define and devise a comprehensive solution was managed as an upstream business improvement initiative to address the following key issues, and as such, was widely accepted and supported within the company.
Business process integration Revision of individual operating unit UWI practices to avoid diluting the benefits of a standardized computing environment Re-evaluation of data vendors to improve inadequate well-data coverage and responsiveness. Avoidance of costly and inefficient data trades by developing a better understanding of the data already owned, before purchasing new data.
This presentation will describe the resulting workflow whereby data from the well engineering database flows to the subsurface corporate well database and from there onwards to project databases once drilling begins. A workflow example explains how geoscientists can receive updates of trajectory data on-demand, thereby eliminating data re-entry and ensuring data correlation between the well engineering database and the project database.
Effective Use of LEO Satellites for Well Data Collection
Authors: McCoy Robert 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellites are an effective method of collecting and controlling well data from electrical submersible pumping (ESP) systems and other instrumentation from a global perspective. Utilizing intelligent remote systems, the data is gathered from the well and then compressed for transmission over LEO provided IP data paths. The data paths are very bandwidth efficient for small data payloads. After transmission, this data is then decompressed in a server application (HCG) and made available to a SCADA server. Using the "push" data scenario for a "Report by Exception" is very successful with hundreds of installs. This creates a "plug and play" true LEO global system without modifications to the SCADA system, historians, or visualization applications.
Automated, "By Exception" Well Surveillance: A Key to Maximizing Oil Production
Authors: Schipperijn Peter , Thavarajah Raymond , Simonato Ana , Mehdizadeh Mohsen 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
The increased need to maximize production from mature assets has resulted in the transformation of the oilfield surveillance workflow. Hitherto, wells were reviewed sequentially throughout the field on a calendar basis. This was a time-consuming process with the potential of considerable time lag between problem occurrence and diagnosis. The new data-driven workflow requires a tool to support a "review by exception" process through the automated identification and prioritization of exception wells.
The primary benefit of incorporating the surveillance tool in an integrated workflow is to shorten decision time and improve the quality of the decision through an automated process. Other benefits include timelier proactive problem identification, better use of the practitioner's time (focus on analysis rather than identification), elimination of repetitive data gathering and reformatting tasks, consistency and repeatability of evaluation, and better knowledge management.
Developed in San Joaquin Valley under the i-field initiative which espouses business transformation to the digital oilfield of the future, the tool's main role is to classify and diagnose well performance. It accomplishes this by encoding customer-derived business rules in a multi-channel framework. Using a sequential, frame-based expert system as the classification engine provided a superior diagnostic capability while limiting the number of unique diagnoses to maintain to an acceptable level. It also provided complete transparency in the analysis unlike other AI methods such as an artificial neural network (ANN). A web-based UI provided the user extensive filtering, sorting, and drill down capability by which to quickly identify and diagnose problem wells.
Deployment of the tool with the new integrated workflow has led to a 30% increase in the number of wells and patterns reviewed. In addition several specific well work opportunities were identified and led to increased production, effectively bridging the gap from data bytes to barrels.
Anomaly-Driven Engineering Empowered by a Central Surveillance Center
Authors: Brutz J. M. 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
A central surveillance center, designed to conduct routine surveillance on reservoirs, wells, facilities, and subsea systems, has been developed. Surveillance engineers, control-room operators, and information technology analysts staff the center. Centralizing routine surveillance enables cross-asset sharing of top surveillance techniques, develops staff's surveillance competence, and allows asset-focused engineers to ensure project delivery.
The center's software toolkit enables event identification, surveillance execution, and systematic history documentation. An advanced alarm tool and a web-based workflow tool enable the routine surveillance conducted by the center's staff. The alarm tool allows staff to focus on events by exception, and the workflow tool ensures a consistent set of surveillance measures are conducted for each event. All events and analysis are stored in a searchable online database to facilitate analysis of future events.
Getting Data to Drilling and Completions Teams and Vice Versa
Authors: Sawaryn S. J. , Deady A. , Whiteley N. , Critchley C. , Brown L. , Gibson N. 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
The paper describes some simple, but effective steps in providing drilling and completions data and visualisation in support of enhanced collaboration whilst allowing for future growth. The solution is based on WITSML and is implemented in the Operator's Advanced Collaborative Environment (ACE) in Aberdeen.
The transmission of large amounts of data onshore, from the rig is a relatively easy task but ensuring that these data are accurate and usable in both industry and proprietary tools is more of a challenge. The services provided by the major service companies are still geared towards providing data through their proprietary data packages and tools and the support they provide has been honed to match this business model. This situation is changing because of operators’ needs for technical and commercial flexibility.
Since January 2008, seven rig teams have adopted a new data viewer provided by an independent supplier. The shift has been user driven, prompted by a desire for consistency and the availability of dedicated on-site support. The use of proprietary tools and the greater sharing of data between the drilling and completions and subsurface disciplines is also driving the change, challenging set methods of data capture, communication and visualisation. The data displays in open areas have proved to be particularly popular and effective.
Further work is needed to improve internal service levels out of normal working hours and achieve greater alignment with the service providers to leverage existing infrastructure, practices and expertise and avoid unwanted complexity and cost. Robustness will become increasingly important as more critical services are delivered from onshore. Greater standardisation will help. Contract interfaces, both with main service providers and sub-providers still represent a major challenge.
The paper describes the data viewer and its deployment, the progress and successes to date and the further improvements required. Overall, team's attitude towards their data is changing and the real issue is getting teams to their data.
E&P Operational Innovation With Real-Time Collaboration and Exception Management
Authors: Al-Hamad Mohammed A. , Vettical Celestine S. 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
The use of real-time collaboration and exception management solutions can help you optimally leverage the investments made on real-time operation centers (RTOCs) and data management systems, and maximize utilization of scattered experts and resources to handle more critical situations from anywhere and anytime. These solutions leveraging modern Web 2.0 technologies will help you optimize the overall exploration and drilling operations by reducing rig downtime, mitigating risk, improving asset utilization, maximizing reservoir contact and increasing economic production. This paper discusses the prerequisites, implementation considerations, lessons learned and benefits of real-time collaboration and alert management systems, and the opportunities such systems offer to bring operational innovation in the E&P community and to find effective ways to address the new age energy industry challenges.
A Workflow-Based Approach to Real-Time Production Optimization
Authors: Barbarino Sebastiano , Alvarez José , Lozada Miguel Angel , Diaz Felipe 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
This paper explores the results of one operator's successful implementation of a workflow-based solution to real-time production surveillance and optimization of a large offshore field. In particular, we will provide an overview of one of the more complex workflows addressed, real-time model-based gas lift optimization for the asset. Details of the workflow and total value proposition are examined, demonstrating the possibilities and ROI potential of new data integration and workflow technologies.
With a system characterized by large pressure fluctuations in the surface network, previous attempts to achieve model-based optimization using manual processes had struggled with the high frequency of updates needed to maintain the models in an "evergreen" state. Utilizing a combination of techniques such as surveillance-by-exception, automated model validation, and assisted model updates, the new approach allows the operator to re-optimize gas allocations to the field's more than 200 producing wells and 70 platforms, at a 12 hour frequency. This frequency of re-optimization is sufficient to maintain the system at a maximum stabilized production rate.
The solution is currently in operation, and has provided a sustained production improvement to the field. Operational data is made readily available to users to support decisions, while workflows derived from operator best practices guide users to ensure that analysis is structured, streamlined, and repeatable.
The work is significant as a successful implementation of a large-scale production optimization solution configured to established operator best practices. In an age when operators are faced with declining production rates, smaller discoveries, and a "graying" workforce, such solutions allow operators to do more with less and deliver maximum asset value.
WITSML Real-Time Inter-operability Testing
Authors: Pickering J. G. , Whiteley N. , Rochford J. , Sheil K. , Lowe J. 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
BP has developed an internal Recommended Practice for the deployment of a standard data architecture for real-time drilling and completions information. This architecture uses WITSML communications as much as possible although data aggregation on the drilling rig can still employ WITS, OPC or even a proprietary language. Most deployments in BP are built on the latest Version 1.3.1 of WITSML. Early deployments in Indonesia revealed some inter-operability problems which had to be resolved quickly to eliminate operational delays. This experience highlighted the value of pre-deployment testing and subsequent deployments have all been staged in an independent test facility hosted for BP by SAIC in Aberdeen.
The BP WITSML test laboratory has already staged drilling and completions data systems for BP businesses in Gulf of Mexico, UK North Sea and Oman prior to field deployments. In addition, the Business Units have also been keen for the laboratory to provide an operational support function post deployment. Testing has also been conducted in conjunction with main BP equipment suppliers to demonstrate compliance for future installations.
Various problems have been identified during testing which will be described in the paper. The value of identifying these problems in a laboratory environment, rather than potentially exposing drilling operations to delays during equipment commissioning, is very considerable. The testing has been conducted with a very positive commitment from our suppliers which has resulted in significant learnings for all parties.
BP, along with other major energy companies, sees WITSML as an important enabler for remote operations, collaboration environments and the deployment of new technologies to support its future drilling and completions operations. The WITSML laboratory testing has been a critical step in building confidence in the robustness of WITSML and demonstrating its performance capabilities.
Subsurface Support Centre: A Hub for Communication of Knowledge
Authors: Løwén S. , Nygård B. E. , Østensen S. , Lund T. 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
Based in Stavanger, Norway, StatoilHydro Subsurface Support Centre (SSC), provides support to the drilling and well operations in the company.
The SSC is a hub for communication of knowledge between professional networks and the operational assets. The team work closely on drilling and well operational issues together with the operational assets within the company and contributes to experience transfer across the organisation. This gives the SSC team a unique opportunity to evaluate experiences and share the knowledge obtained. Every day 40–50 drilling and well operations are ongoing and the SSC is involved both in the planning and operational phases of these operations.
The main goal is to work proactively, by being involved early in the planning phase of each operation, hence contributing to reducing incidents and non productive time by doing things right the first time.
Real-time and memory data from all ongoing drilling and well operations in the company are available for the SSC team and are used both for monitoring of critical operations as well as for statistical and operational analyses to improve long term quality of the operations.
The technical collaboration systems in the SSC are suitable to manage collaboration, independent of different office and installation locations in the company.
The SSC has become an integrated part of the new organisation. The SSC is well known within the company and is involved in several operational and pre-operational cases every day. Many of the established key factors regarding Integrated Operations (IO) such as working in collaboration rooms, multidisciplinary teams, independence of physical location and decisions based on real-time data are incorporated in the work processes being performed in the SSC.
The SSC has introduced new work processes in the organisation contributing to increased efficiency and availability of expertise within the company. The work processes ensure high quality multidisciplinary discussions which enhances the quality of the recommendations to the operational assets.
Both discipline expertise and operational assets within the company are spread over several locations in Norway and internationally. It is crucial to ensure involvement of the correct expertise at the right time to achieve safe and efficient operations.
The SSC is an important part of the total development of IO for drilling and well operations and has been recognized for its innovative work processes and for providing efficient service.
The SSC has been recognized as a valuable asset and has become an important supplier of knowledge within the company.
Integrated Business Processes in Production Operations
Authors: Lauzon Stéphane , Broadway Gene 
Published: April 2009

Abstract
The paper will present an approach to integrating business processes across different functional silos in a production operations environment on a real-time basis: planning, well performance, allocation and accounting, maintenance and reliability, safety and compliance, etc.
Different systems and applications that have been deployed around the production unit in the field largely remain isolated in their silos and from business processes. Existing integration is often brittle point-to-point integration that is difficult to maintain when systems or applications at either end change. While this type of integration has allowed for a certain increase in efficiencies through automation, the future is too look beyond data integration to business process integration, bringing tighter integration between production processes and business processes, not just systems and applications, closer to real-time. Application and key metric information can be presented to reflect the different roles in an organization, and can be rolled-up to an enterprise level, or drilled down to a production unit level. Common views and data aggregated from real-time systems and business systems, accessible to different functions, provides a collaborative environment to enable quicker and more profitable decision making.
In this paper we will present the underlying technical foundations that make the integration possible and explore the integrated work processes that are now enabled.