1. Field Development Optimization
Strategic development tool for rig fleet management, equipment logistics, facility placement for a shale gas and oil field development.
Commercial shale gas and oil production is a high cost and low margin business. The technology to economically produce from shale formations is very cost intensive and requires massive drilling campaigns. Further, environmental debates have become the number one topic in that domain. In order to develop projects in an organized manner, by keeping cost low and still be compliant with environmental rules, multidimensional optimization, scenario analysis and project control is required. The aim of this research project is to translate a subsurface model, upon completion of the exploration phase, into a surface operations model for environmental and economic planning.
Bild
Figure 2: Pad, Gathering Station and Field Production Profile for Equipment Design and Placement
Bild
All necessary features of a development life cycle, which are rigs, stimulation equipment, water facilities, production facilities, GIS integration, etc. are implemented into a single tool. Fig. 2 shows one scenario for gas flow rates of a single well pad of one gas gathering station and the entire field production over time. Such information can be used for equipment design and equipment placement decisions, pace of development planning and strategy evaluation. In the future, history matching will be an integral part of the optimization tool, as well as scheduling modules and logistical modeling elements.
Figure 1: Shale Gas/Oil Field Development Modeling.
A simplified stochastic approach with an 8-well-pad strategy and centralized gathering systems is shown.