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Active Control of the
Oil Extraction proved
to be Cost Effective
The market for software to
secure a faster and more stable
oil fl ow from marginal fi elds for
further elaboration at the main
platform is growing. Together
with Semco Maritime — a fast
growing Esbjerg-based company
with more than 1,500
employees – ABB is in this area
active.
18 Offshore Center Danmark
Yearbook 2008
The use of advanced technology software to
regulate the oil and gas fl ow from the well
to the processing plant can help increase the
production by up to 10% on marginal fi elds
– and save energy during the extraction.
As an example, consider ABB Enhanced Operations
& Production who has for a number
of years developed solutions to optimize the
production in marginal fi elds. Thanks to
the advanced process control and regulation
technique it has become possible to optimize
the production and even activate wells that
previously have been abandoned due to the
diffi cult pressure conditions.
- On marginal fi elds it has often been proved
diffi cult to maintain a suffi cient fl ow, and
droplets can occur inside the pipeline. Unstable
pressure creates heavy demands on the
receptor plant at the main platform, whether
the oil comes from an unmanned platform,
a subsea solution or a FPSO, sales manager,
Bjarne Madsen, ABB A/S, informs.
Experience collected from a
number of Plants
The development people at ABB have elaborated
several software solutions which can be
connected to the existing plants of a platform
and avoid pressure and fl ow variations. The
software measures the continuous temperature
and pressure, and controls a regulation
valve at the end of a well or a pipeline in
order for the oil to be transported faster and
more fl uently to the processing plant.
MARGINAL
FIELDS
- The technique has been used on marginal
fi elds for the past 8-10 years, mainly in Norwegian
territory but also in the British sector
and the Middle East. We have completed
25-30 projects for large oil companies, such
as StatoilHydro, BP, Shell, Exxon and ConocoPhillips,
however not yet in the Danish
sector, Bjarne Madsen states.
Investment proved to be very
cost effective
ABB’s key products within the area are Active
Well Control (AWC) and Active Flow
Line Control (AFC). The price for an AFC
solution on a main platform is typically 2.5
million DKK, and besides installing and
tuning the software, the ABB expert team
monitors the software for about one year,
partly from the platform, partly via a remote
connection on shore. The fi nancial effect of
the investment refl ected by the increased,
faster and a more stabilized oil production is
often measured in months – in several cases
less than one month.
- Furthermore, an environmental consideration
is obviously gained when working actively
with a fl ow line control. Should a high
pressure or level in a processing plant occur
in a conventional technique plant, it closes
down automatically, and valuable production
time is lost. By using ABB’s technology
production breaks can be avoided and consequently
save energy in the oil and gas extraction
from the underground, Bjarne Madsen
informs, who operates from the ABB’s
offi ces in Esbjerg as well as in Odense.
On several seminars held for operators in the
Danish sector ABB has noted a quite good
interest for the new opportunities that offer
a documented increase of the oil production
of 2-10%; however, the breakthrough in the
Danish North Sea territory has yet to come.
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