Page 37: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Mar/Apr 2017)

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PRODUCTION

First, is the digital era of arti? cial HSE risks, and disruptions to lift. The progression of arti? cial lift is operations. Moving forward, twofold: the advancement of equipment new technology in alterna- functionality running in parallel with tive deployment will further gathering and inter- advance arti? cial lift wells by preting data metrics simplifying preventive main- for well optimization. tenance and lifecycle manage-

Adding sensors and ment in changing reservoir measurements is the conditions. ? rst step to run-life Thirdly, managing the improvements; how- production lifecycle is criti- ever, analyzing and cal to overall well success. interpreting this data Operators change from one is critical for enhanced lift methodology to another well performance. This throughout the well’s life. It next generation of arti? - is bene? cial to make these cial lift closes the loop transitions as seamless as to achieve a holistic possible, ensuring timely approach to run-life. changes and choosing the best

Providers must con? g- technology for well optimiza-

WellPilot ONE, closed (left) and ure all aspects of digital tion. Companies utilizing the open (right). Images from Weatherford.

innovation including full suite of arti? cial lift will connectivity, data secu- bene? t directly from the industry mov- rity and transmission, ing toward a comprehensive approach install arti? cial lift systems through the you need to buy milk. The fridge in this automation, custom cal- to enrich well life. existing tubing is critical to minimizing case has Edge technology built into it. ibration, interpretation, costs. But, that requires smaller diam- Information from the fridge can ? ow up and response speed— Nathan Holland: In the current “lower eter equipment that ? ts inside the tubing into the cloud and an online retailer can all in real-time. The for longer” crude oil pricing environ- and can handle the production rates enable you to make a decision to buy the end game is to avoid ment, it is more important than ever that typically found in offshore wells. milk and have it delivered.

shutdowns and prevent operators get the most out of existing as- Baker Hughes Arti? cial Lift Systems In the oil? eld, those Edge devices are failures with automated sets where the cost of development has is continually communicating with at the well. The WellPilot ONE is known feedback control, which already been absorbed. operators to determine the most critical as an Edge device because it is at the leverages machine Arti? cial lift is an important part technology innovations to meet the fu- well site. And a lot of intelligence and learning, robust analyt- of improving recovery from existing ture production needs of the industry. analytics are taking place at the well ics, and engineering ? elds or accessing stranded reserves in TransCoil is a good example of site using sophisticated control tech- expertise to optimize satellite ? elds that can produce back to technology innovations geared toward niques on our Edge devices. The data well operations. existing production facilities. meeting these industry challenges. By and analytics from the well site would

Secondly, alternative Based on these market drivers, tech- eliminating the need for a rig, operators make their way into the cloud through deployment technology nology development is centered around can lower the cost of installing and re- Edge devices.

is a key area of develop- three primary areas of focus: alterna- trieving ESP systems. And, by eliminat- When operators run a SCADA system, ment for the industry tive deployment methods to drive down ing in-well wet electrical connections it gathers information from Edge de- and all service compa- intervention costs; smaller diameter sys- the system offers greater reliability vs. vices—which are simply known as con- nies are introducing tems that can be installed and retrieved other alternative deployment options. trollers or RTUs (remote terminal unit) some great innovations through the production tubing; and in today’s world—and that information in this area. ESPs are long-life systems. Steven Seale: Weatherford is working ? ows into your master data repository, often selected as an Recovery factors from offshore ? elds to harness the Internet of Things (IoT), your data historian, which is essentially optimal arti? cial lift are much lower than onshore ? elds or in our case the Industrial Internet in the cloud. method; however, con- and arti? cial lift methods used most of Things (IIoT) and speci? cally Edge This is important because in the ventional ESPs are run often in offshore ? elds are not the ideal Analytics. oil? eld space, the RTU or controller is on heavy jointed tub- solution to improve the recovery fac- If you look at IIoT – most of the at a well site and the central database ing, which frequently tor. ESP systems more effectively draw discussion is focused on cloud comput- system and IT infrastructure is, for the requires a rig or hoist for maintenance down the reservoir pressure to release ing. There’s a lot of terminology and most part, at the central headquarters.

and failures. These interventions defer additional hydrocarbons and improve hype around moving everything into For example, any alarms that we use production, increase costs, and delay reserve recovery, but the high cost of the cloud and applying analytics, but if today ? ow from the system at the well- operations. One example of alternative intervention to install and retrieve ESPs you look at large IT companies, they are site into the central headquarters where deployment technology is the ZEiTECS in offshore wells limits the use of this pushing the Edge. When we talk about you typically have a team of people

Shuttle rigless ESP replacement sys- technology. Therefore, a major initiative the Edge, we mean the edge of the net- monitoring the ? eld.

As we continue forward and more tem, which “shuttles” standard ESPs by the industry is to develop new tech- work, which is where the WellPilot ONE computing power is available in the mar- through tubing on wireline, coiled nology innovations designed to extend operates today.

ket with Edge devices like the WellPilot tubing, or sucker rods without a rig the life of the ESP and to reduce the cost To give a general example of how the

ONE, better decisions can be made closer or hoist. This technology minimizes of deployment by eliminating the need Edge differs from the cloud: there are to the well and the assets.

production deferment, operating costs, for a rig. In mature ? elds, being able to refrigerators now that can tell you when oedigital.com March 2017 | OE 39 037_OE0217_Prod1_Audrey.indd 39 2/21/17 7:14 PM