Oilfield-wide production optimization

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016153266-A1
Application number	US-201615014869-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 3, 2016
Priority date	Aug 22, 2014
Publication date	Jun 2, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and computer readable storage medium perform oilfield-wide optimization in a field with a plurality of wells, with each well including a well flow rate management mechanism controlled by an associated well controller. In a central controller, a network simulation model functioning as a proxy of the field is accessed to determine an optimal allocation solution for the field, and a well-specific control signal is generated for each of the plurality of wells based upon the determined optimal allocation solution. The well-specific control signal for each of the plurality of wells is communicated to cause the associated well controller to control a flow rate management parameter associated with the well flow rate management mechanism for the well.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of performing oilfield-wide production optimization in a field comprising a plurality of wells, with each well including a well flow rate management mechanism controlled by an associated well controller, the method comprising, in a central controller:
accessing a network simulation model as a proxy of the field to determine an optimal allocation solution for the field; generating a well-specific control signal for each of the plurality of wells based upon the determined optimal allocation solution; and communicating the well-specific control signal for each of the plurality of wells to cause the associated well controller to control a flow rate management parameter associated with the well flow rate management mechanism for the well.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein accessing the network simulation model includes iteratively converging to the optimal allocation solution.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein iteratively converging to the optimal allocation solution includes converging based upon a network solution determined from the network simulation model.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein iteratively converging to the optimal allocation solution includes converging based upon actual field data collected from at least one of the plurality of wells.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising running an oilfield-wide simulation to generate the network simulation model.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising generating a well-specific model for each of the plurality of wells.

7 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising generating a descriptive proxy model representing an oilfield-wide simulation, wherein generating the well-specific control signal for each of the plurality of wells includes generating the well-specific control signal using the descriptive proxy model representing the oilfield-wide simulation.

8 . The method of claim 6 , further comprising generating a descriptive proxy model for each of the plurality of wells from the well-specific model for each of the plurality of wells, wherein generating the well-specific control signal for each of the plurality of wells includes generating the well-specific control signal using the descriptive proxy model for each of the plurality of wells.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein running the oilfield-wide simulation and generating descriptive proxy model are performed externally to the central controller, the method further comprising communicating the network simulation model and each descriptive proxy model to the central controller.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the descriptive proxy model includes a set of performance curves, a set of performance surfaces, or an n-dimensional analytical representation.

11 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
collecting actual field data; and retuning at least one well-specific model in response to determining from the collected actual field data that the optimal allocation solution is out of tolerance.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the well flow rate management mechanism for at least one well comprises a gas lift mechanism, and wherein the flow rate management parameter for at least one well comprises a gas lift rate.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the well flow rate management mechanism for at least one well comprises a pump-based artificial lift mechanism, and wherein the flow rate management parameter for at least one well comprises an electrical power, a pump rate, or a power fluid flow rate.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the well flow rate management mechanism for at least one well comprises a flow restriction device, and wherein the flow rate management parameter for at least one well comprises an allowed flow rate or a position or setting of the flow restriction device.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the well flow rate management mechanism for at least one well comprises a chemical stimulation mechanism, and wherein the flow rate management parameter for at least one well comprises a quantity, flow rate, or concentration level of a chemical stimulant.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least two wells include different types of well flow rate management mechanisms, and wherein the flow rate management parameters for the at least two wells are of different types.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one well include multiple types of well flow rate management mechanisms, and wherein determining the optimal allocation solution for the field includes simultaneously determining multiple respective flow rate management parameters for the multiple types of well flow rate management mechanisms for the at least one well.

18 . A central controller for performing oilfield-wide production optimization in a field comprising a plurality of wells, with each well including a well flow rate management mechanism controlled by an associated well controller, the central controller comprising:
at least one processor; and program code configured upon execution by the at least one processor to access a network simulation model as a proxy of the field to determine an optimal allocation solution for the field, generate generating a well-specific control signal for each of the plurality of wells based upon the determined optimal allocation solution, and communicate the well-specific control signal for each of the plurality of wells to cause the associated well controller to control a flow rate management parameter associated with the well flow rate management mechanism for the well.

19 . The central controller of claim 18 , wherein the program code is configured to access the network simulation model by iteratively converging to the optimal allocation solution, and wherein the program code is configured to iteratively converge to the optimal allocation solution by converging based upon a network solution determined from the network simulation model or converging based upon actual field data collected from at least one of the plurality of wells.

20 . The central controller of claim 18 , wherein the network simulation model is generated from a field-wide simulation, wherein the program code is further configured to access a well-specific model for each of the plurality of wells, wherein the program code is further configured to access one or more descriptive proxy models representing an oilfield-wide simulation and/or a well from the plurality of wells, and wherein the program code is configured to generate the well-specific control signal for each of the plurality of wells using the one or more descriptive proxy models.

21 . The central controller of claim 18 , wherein the well flow rate management mechanism for at least one well comprises a gas lift mechanism, a pump-based artificial lift mechanism, a flow restriction device, or a chemical stimulation mechanism, and wherein the flow rate management parameter for at least one well comprises a gas lift rate, an electrical power, a pump rate, a power fluid flow rate, a position or setting of a flow restriction device, or a quantity, flow rate, or concentration level of a chemical stimulant.

22 . The central controller of claim 18 , wherein at least two wells include different types of well flow rate management mechanisms, and wherein the flow rate management parameters for the at least two wells are of different types.

23 . A computer readable storage medium having a set of computer-readable instruc

Assignees

• Schlumberger Technology Corp

Inventors

• Rashid Kashif
• Rossi David John

Classifications

• G05D7/0635

  by action on throttling means (G05D7/0688, G05D7/0694 take precedence) · CPC title

• F04B47/02

  the driving mechanisms being situated at ground level (F04B47/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• E21B43/122

  Gas lift · CPC title

• E21B43/121

  Lifting well fluids (monitoring of down-hole pump systems E21B47/008) · CPC title

• G05B17/02

  electric · CPC title