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Data Validation and Reconciliation - A Promising Technology for Upstream Applications

Professor Boris Kalitventzeff European Computer Aided Process Engineering (CAPE) working party. Founder and Chairman of Belsim s.a. View Supplier Profile

Originally printed in: Exploration & Production: The Oil & Gas Review - 2005

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Benefits

Generally speaking, up-to-date DVR technology:

A Practical Demonstration Application

DVR technology was successfully implemented in an upstream offshore production facility on the West African coast. It validates the performance of the water injection system online every day. An application provider has developed the model and commissioned the system on site. The validation system has been integrated with the production historian database (Oracle) to extract the measured data and is essentially used through an Excel interface. Production engineers use the system daily to:

• produce accurate and coherent production balances;
• detect and quantify bypasses;
• detect and quantify water leaks;
• detect drifting and erroneous sensors and correct them when necessary; and
• compare actual water injection rates to set points and take corrective actions.

The system has also been used to locate where additional counters should be placed to further improve the balance quality.

The overall project leads to numerous identified benefits:

• increased accuracy of data;
• detection of leaks of approximately 2,000 tons/day of injection water. Correcting the problem enabled the operator to bring production back to its nominal level;
• improved follow-up of each well (without validation the cause of a decrease of 1,000 barrels per day (bbl/day) compared with a total production of more than 100,000 bbl/day would have been hard to identify);
• optimisation of water injection for an improved distribution among the wells;
• diagnosis on equipment performance;
• setting priorities for instrumentation maintenance;
• enhancement of the measurement system by focused maintenance of the instrumentation;
• assistance on the locations for new sensors; and
• simplified daily work of the reporting crew.

Conclusion

Data validation and reconciliation technology is a mature technology. It can create value by providing enhanced data and upset detection, resulting in increased production and better management of the production systems.

Its implementation in upstream business is currently being examined by several major players in the area.

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