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The TAIL IO Project Improves Operations
Operations
a report by
Arne Ulrik Bindingsbø
1
and Svein Vatland
2
1. StatoilHydro; 2. Process Automation Division, ABB Oil & Gas,
The Challenge supplier industries, whereby all partners contribute with both capital
Increasing complexity is a key feature of the oil and gas industry and intellectual investment.
today. Technically, there is a need to support fields in deeper waters,
harsher environments and geographically remote locations, as well The TAIL IO project begun in January 2006 is of this category. To
as fields that consist of heavier oils. All in all, the projects will be help to identify the methods, technologies and work processes
tougher. For StatoilHydro, a technology-driven company, necessary to integrate its operations, StatoilHydro created TAIL IO,
establishing strong relationships with suppliers is considered an an R&D consortium consisting of ABB, IBM, SKF and Aker Solutions.
important factor for success. This has helped StatoilHydro to develop For the TAIL IO project StatoilHydro provides testing facilities for
cutting-edge technology and overcome new barriers in its pilots and benefits from being the first mover. The consortium and
exploration and production portfolio. StatoilHydro are contributing equally to the project in terms of input
and resources. The Norwegian Research Council is also a major
Integrated operations (IO) has become an important enabler for the contributor to the funding of the project, which has a budget of
efficient and safe operation of facilities, and StatoilHydro aims to be approximately US$50 million and will run for 3.5 years. The project
the international IO leader by networking competencies globally. IO is jointly managed by StatoilHydro and ABB. As its name suggests,
is a response to the increased complexity and global outreach of the TAIL IO is initially aimed at improving operations at fields
oil and gas industry. By utilising realtime information in work approaching the tail end of their life spans – the stage of a project
processes where competencies and technologies are integrated at which the production rate is declining, facilities are ageing and
across disciplines and geography, the operator is able to strengthen operational costs are high.
health, safety and environment (HSE), increase production and
regularity, prolong tail production of mature fields and reduce costs. Although developed primarily for brown-field application, most of
Furthermore, the use of integrated operations makes better use of the solutions developed in TAIL IO will also be applicable for green-
human resources. StatoilHydro defines IO as collaboration across field installations. The R&D collaboration model is an IO initiative in
disciplines, companies and organisational and geographical its own right. It requires co-operation between different companies,
boundaries made possible by realtime data and new work processes cultures and functions (R&D and business units), as well as joint
to allow safer and better decisions to be reached more quickly. management and the use of a gate process for project control. Even
more importantly, the lessons learned from the partnership will
StatoilHydro’s research and development (R&D) efforts extend demonstrate how StatoilHydro and its leading suppliers create value
from fundamental research with academia through carefully by allowing their best R&D resources to collaborate in an
selected partners to joint industry projects. During the last few environment without any boundries. Collaborative research is about
years, StatoilHydro has also embarked on new technology common objectives, trust and working with meaningful targets.
co-operation concepts with carefully selected complementary
From the consortium’s point of view, the project is a unique
opportunity to obtain customer feedback at an early stage of the R&D
Arne Ulrik Bindingsbø is a Project Manager for
StatoilHydro overseeing the Integrated and Remote
process. This enables the consortium partners to focus on real customer
Operations research project. For the past five years,
needs. It also ensures that the technologies and methods developed are
he has been working with integrated operations
validated in pilot installations in an operational environment.
focusing on platform concepts for remote operations.
Previously, he worked for Norsk Hydro until its merger
with StatoilHydro in 2007. Mr Bindingsbø received an
With each R&D team composed of representatives from all five
MSc and a PhD from the Norwegian University of
Science and Technology.
partner companies, the project offers great potential for experiencing
and learning from different R&D cultures and for exchanging
knowledge and know-how. TAIL IO is an ideal opportunity for
Svein Vatland is a Senior Project Manager in ABB
Process Automation Division, Oil, Gas and
the consortium to develop the oil technologies of tomorrow
Petrochemicals. For the past three years, he has been
in co-operation with a leading end-user such as StatoilHydro, and to
managing the TAIL IO project in collaboration with
StatoilHydro. He has been with the ABB Group for
field-test new concepts and technologies before taking them to the
13 years and has had various project management global market.
positions within the utilities and oil, gas and
petrochemicals industries, focusing on automation
systems and applications development. Mr Vatland
The Programme
has an MSc in process automation and an MM.
TAIL IO is divided into seven technology areas with a high degree of
collaboration in each one.
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© TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2008
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