While modelling technology is routinely used in oil and gas to control and optimise process facilities and downstream plants, the upstream sector has been slow to adopt model-based control systems, or the models are very coarse and mono-dimensional, reducing confidence in their predictive capability.
Further, the models are discipline specific, and the interdependence between the subsurface and the surface is poorly evaluated. This is particularly relevant to coal seam gas developments, where well productivity planning and management needs to be considered in the context of the complete production value chain, and the dependencies between the gathering system and the processing plants considered in optimising the contract nominations.
A key breakthrough technology will be a model-based control system that can assimilate all the available data, put the data into context, represent the full value chain, assess the relative impact of the components of the production train, and then assess the decision alternatives in the context of deliverability, processing cost, HSE and market opportunity in sufficient time to have an impact.
Advances in data acquisition, transmission and storage, coupled with advances in computational efficiency and software engineering, mean that integrated modelling systems are realisable today.Collaboration between technology providers has delivered software tools that offer a unified perspective across the subsurface, surface gathering systems and facility worlds.
The presentation will explore the technology capability, the application opportunity and organisational requirement to fully realise the potential of integrated asset models.