From Reservoir to Export: One System
The parts of the production system, the reservoir drive mechanisms and why every part limits the others.
11 min
Activities: 0 of 2
A chain with many links
Production operations means getting oil and gas from the reservoir to the export point safely, reliably and at the best rate. The fluid passes through a chain: the reservoir rock, the near-wellbore area, the completion (perforations, tubing and downhole equipment), the wellhead and tree, the choke, the flowline and manifold, the separation and treatment facility, and finally export by pipeline or tanker.
Every link has a capacity. The production rate is set by the weakest link at that time. A production engineer who looks at one link alone often spends money in the wrong place.
Reservoir drive mechanisms
Who does what
- Production operators run wells and facilities day to day, take readings and respond to upsets.
- Production engineers analyse well performance, design lift and plan interventions.
- Reservoir engineers manage the reservoir: pressure, sweep, injection and forecasts.
- Well integrity engineers look after the barriers that keep fluids inside the well.
- Maintenance and chemistry teams keep equipment and chemical programmes working.
Match the symptom to the likely drive mechanism
- Fast pressure fall and rising gas-oil ratio
- Pressure well supported but water cut rising steadily
- Risk of gas being drawn down into oil wells
- Pressure held up by water pumped in from injectors
Twelve wells could produce more liquid, but the water treatment plant is full. Where is the constraint?