Direct electric heating: an environmentally friendly flow-assurance tool

2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 448
Author(s):  
Ingebjørg Lien

In subsea flowlines, water in the line can form an ice-like structure called a hydrate plug. Wax appearance in flowlines also is a common flow assurance issue. Hydrate and wax appearance can reduce or stop production for weeks. Preventing hydrate and wax in pipelines is a major concern for the oil and gas industry. Direct electric heating (DEH) is a modern and environmentally friendly flow-assurance tool that can reduce capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operating expenditures (OPEX) in field development, reduce the probability of pollution, and reduce handling of toxic disposals as a result of traditional chemical flow assurance methods. DEH is based on using the pipeline as part of the electrical circuit, generating losses in the steel pipe to keep the pipeline and its content above the critical temperatures. Use of DEHs also increases the efficiency at the process plant after planned or unplanned production stops. For marginal fields and fields with heavy or waxy oil, DEH is a flow-assurance method that can enable these fields to be developed profitably. DEH is now a mature technology used for 13–14 years on the Norwegian continental shelf and technology implemented and used in West Africa recently. How successful this technology has been can be summarised by the Tyrihans field where Statoil quoted that they—on this project alone—saved about $USD175 million by implementing DEH. Wärtsilä has been part of the DEH development in Norway since the 90s, and undertakes design and supply of the complete topside power package in addition to electric and optical protection specially developed for DEH systems.

Author(s):  
Casper Hadsbjerg ◽  
Kristian Krejbjerg

When the oil and gas industry explores subsea resources in remote areas and at high water depths, it is important to have advanced simulation tools available in order to assess the risks associated with these expensive projects. A major issue is whether hydrates will form when the hydrocarbons are transported to shore in subsea pipelines, since the formation of a hydrate plug might shut down a pipeline for an extended period of time, leading to severe losses. The industry practices a conservative approach to hydrate plug prevention, which is the addition of inhibitors to ensure that hydrates cannot form under pipeline pressure and temperature conditions. The addition of inhibitors to subsea pipelines is environmentally unfriendly and also a very costly procedure. Recent efforts has therefore focused on developing models for the hydrate formation rate (hydrate kinetics models), which can help determine how fast hydrates might form a plug in a pipeline, and whether the amount of inhibitor can be reduced without increasing the risk of hydrate plug formation. The main variables determining whether hydrate plugs form in a pipeline are: 1) the ratio of hydrocarbons to water, 2) the composition of the hydrocarbons, 3) the flowrates/flow regimes in the pipeline, 4) the amount of inhibitor in the system. Over the lifetime of a field, all 4 variables will change, and so will the challenge of hydrate plug prevention. This paper will examine the prevention of hydrate plugs in a pipeline, seen from a hydrate kinetics point of view. Different scenarios that can occur over the lifetime of a field will be investigated. Exemplified through a subsea field development, a pipeline simulator that considers hydrate formation in a pipeline is used to carry out a study to shed light on the most important issues to consider as conditions change. The information gained from this study can be used to cut down on inhibitor dosage, or possibly completely remove the need for inhibitor.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amina Danmadami ◽  
Ibiye Iyalla ◽  
Gbenga Oluyemi ◽  
Jesse Andrawus

Abstract Marginal field development has gained relevance in oil producing countries because of the huge potential economic benefits it offers. The Federal Government of Nigeria commenced a Marginal Fields program in 2001 as part of her policy to improve the nation’s strategic oil and gas reserves and promote indigenous participation in the upstream sector. Twenty years after the award of marginal fields to indigenous companies to develop, 50% have developed and in production, 13% have made some progress with their acquisition while 37% remain undeveloped. The poor performance of the marginal field operators is due to certain challenges which have impeded their progress. A review of challenges of developing marginal fields in the current industry climate was conducted on marginal fields in Nigeria to identify keys issues. These were identified as: funding, technical, and public policy. Considering the complex, competitive and dynamic environment in which these oil and gas companies operate, with competition from renewables, pressure to reduce carbon footprint, low oil price and investors expectation of a good return, companies must maintain tight financial plan, minimize emissions from their operations and focus on efficiency through innovation. The study identifies the need for a decision-making approach that takes into consideration multi criteria such as cost, regulation, quality, technology, security, stakeholders, safety and environment, as important criteria based on which to evaluate the selection of appropriate development option for marginal fields.


Author(s):  
Sorin Alexandru Gheorghiu ◽  
Cătălin Popescu

The present economic model is intended to provide an example of how to take into consideration risks and uncertainties in the case of a field that is developed with water injection. The risks and uncertainties are related, on one hand to field operations (drilling time, delays due to drilling problems, rig failures and materials supply, electric submersible pump [ESP] installations failures with the consequences of losing the well), and on the other hand, the second set of uncertainties are related to costs (operational expenditures-OPEX and capital expenditures-CAPEX, daily drilling rig costs), prices (oil, gas, separation, and water injection preparation), production profiles, and discount factor. All the calculations are probabilistic. The authors are intending to provide a comprehensive solution for assessing the business performance of an oil field development.


1988 ◽  
Vol 6 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 317-322
Author(s):  
A.F. Grove

The characteristics of good energy company borrowers are strong management, integrity, diversification, flexibility, a sound financial basis and business acumen. Acceptable reasons for borrowing include requirements for working capital, plant expansion, modernisation, oil and gas field development and the manufacturing of oil tools and related products. Security for loans is based on the company's reserves, the duration of the debt and priority over other indebtedness. Most loans are evaluated on the grounds of general corporate credit, that is, the overall credit standing of the borrower.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 549-558
Author(s):  
Juwairiah Juwairiah ◽  
Didik Indarwanta ◽  
Frans Richard Kodong

The oil and gas sector is an important factor in sustainable development, so it is considered necessary to make serious changes in conducting economic analysis on the oil and gas business. Oil and gas industry activities consist of upstream activities, and downstream activities. Activities in these upstream and downstream operations have high risk, high costs and high technology, so the company continuously tries to reduce the importance of the adverse impact of these risks on the work environment and people. Thus, evaluating the factors that affect sustainable production in this sector becomes a necessity. In this research will be evaluated the economy of the oil and gas field using methods of economic indicators, among others; NPV, POT, ROR, where these factors are estimated in order to be able to estimate the prospects of the oil and gas field so that the decision that the field development project can be implemented or cannot be taken immediately. Implementation of oil and gas field economic evaluation in this study using Macro VBA Excel. From several methods of economic analysis obtained that the results of this study show high precision compared to other methods, in addition to the way of evaluation using the above economic indicators is very popular.


Georesursy ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 32-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anatoliy N. Dmitrievskiy ◽  
Nikolay A. Eremin ◽  
Dina S. Filippova ◽  
Elizaveta A. Safarova

Digital and technological modernization of the oil and gas industry through the use of innovative technologies and platform solutions, intelligent control systems, domestic “end-to-end” digital technologies will help strengthen Russia’s position in the global oil and gas market. One of the megascience projects being developed at the Institute of Oil and Gas Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences is the creation of a Geosphere Observatory. The Geosphere Observatory is focused on studying the influence of fundamental geological processes (crustal waveguides, fracture centers, etc.) in the mantle and crust of the Earth on the formation of hydrocarbon accumulations and management of field development in real time based on the introduction of advanced technologies in the field of ultra-deep drilling, fiber optics and laser physics, processing large volumes of geo-information (BigGeoData) and the theory of reconfigurable active-passive sensor networks (AntennaGrid).


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 683
Author(s):  
S. Yeaw ◽  
A. Storstenvik ◽  
R. Vesterkjaer

After years of development, qualification and engineering, subsea compression technology is now a proven solution to increase the recovery factor for offshore gas developments. The first subsea compression system was installed at the Åsgard field in the Norwegian Sea, which started up successfully on 17 September 2015. This represents an important milestone for the oil and gas industry because, apart from representing the successful development of new subsea processing technologies, subsea compression also proves itself a viable alternative field development option to oil and gas operators. This paper shares the experiences of Aker Solutions on the Åsgard subsea compression project, from the design and the project execution phases up to the operational phase, highlighting key learnings. In addition, the paper outlines the ongoing development activities to optimise the compression system delivered for Åsgard, with particular focus on unit size and weight optimisation without requiring any qualification activities of new technologies. This new-generation subsea compression system will extend the applicability of this technology to a much wider range of fields and offshore regions.


1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 537
Author(s):  
F.X. Jian

3D stochastic reservoir modelling is an emerging new technology for the oil and gas industry and is increasingly used by oil and gas companies as a tool to support major business decisions in field development planning, and the acquisition and management of petroleum assets. However, the potential benefit that 3D stochastic reservoir modelling can offer is still overlooked by many asset teams. Conventional methods are often still applied for field development planning and reserve estimation, where over-simplified geological models are used and reservoir uncertainties are substantially under-estimated. This is one reason why the oil and gas industry does not have a good track record in estimating reserves and field development planning.3D stochastic reservoir modelling methods that incorporate the structural-stratigraphic framework, facies and petrophyscial properties can ensure that the reservoir models fully describe reservoir heterogeneity. This in turn lays a sound foundation for field development planning. The 3D stochastic reservoir modelling methods also quantify and reduce uncertainties in various aspects of the reservoir. This allows a field development plan to be more robust yet flexible enough to take the advantage of upside reserve potential and to be economically sound if the downside case occurs. Based on quantification of uncertainties, optimal well positions and well paths can be designed to maximise oil and gas recovery.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.A. De Wolf ◽  
E. Bang ◽  
A. Bouwman ◽  
W. Braun ◽  
E. De Oliveira ◽  
...  

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