System and method for performing oilfield production operations

• US 9,175,547 B2
• Filed: 06/04/2008
• Issued: 11/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation (SLB)
• Original Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation (SLB)
• Inventors: Vaal, Randy J., Gutierrez, Fernando, Lucas-Clements, Daniel Colin Nesbitt, Stundner, Michael, Howell, Andrew John
• Primary Examiner(s): Miller, Alan S
• Application Number:
  US12/133,332
• Publication Number:
  US 20080306803A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,708 Days
• Field of Search: 705 711- 742, 702 9- 13
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: E21B 43/00 Methods or apparatus for obtaining oil, gas, water, soluble or meltable materials or a slurry of minerals from wells applicable only to water E03B
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of performing production operations of an oilfield having at least one process facility and at least one wellsite operatively connected thereto, each at least one wellsite having a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation for extracting fluid from an underground reservoir therein. The method steps include receiving a number of steps each from at least one of a number of collaborators, specifying an automated workflow including the number of steps and for generating a first well plan, obtaining first data associated with the production operations, applying the automated workflow to the first data to generate the first well plan, adjusting the production operations based on the first well plan, and modifying at least one of the number of steps based on input from at least one of the number of collaborators to generate an updated automated workflow.

Claims

1. A method of performing production operations of an oilfield having at least one process facility and at least one wellsite operatively connected thereto, each at least one wellsite having a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation for extracting fluid from an underground reservoir therein, the method comprising:

receiving, using a processor of a computer system, a plurality of steps from a plurality of collaborators, wherein at least one of the plurality of steps corresponds to analysis performed by an external component configured to provide standardized output using a common framework;

specifying, using the processor, an automated workflow comprising the plurality of steps from the plurality of collaborators and for generating a first well plan;

storing the automated workflow and an oilfield production operations problem associated with the automated workflow;

receiving, after storing the automated workflow, a set of criteria based on the oilfield production operations problem and specified by at least one of the plurality of collaborators;

retrieving the automated workflow based on the set of criteria specified by at least one of the plurality of collaborators, wherein the automated workflow is one of a plurality of stored automated workflows;

specifying an external data source associated with the production operations, wherein the external data source is specified based on input from at least one of the plurality of collaborators;

obtaining, using the processor, first data associated with the production operations from the external data source;

applying, using the processor, the automated workflow to the first data to generate the first well plan;

adjusting, using the processor, the production operations based on the first well plan;

modifying, using the processor, a first step of the plurality of steps based on input from at least one of the plurality of collaborators to generate an updated first step;

modifying, using the processor, a second step of the plurality of steps based on real-time economic data to generate an updated second step, the updated second step for performing an analysis that is dependent on the real-time economic data;

generating an updated automated workflow based on the updated first step and the updated second step;

applying, in response to second data comprising a change to the first data associated with the production operations, the updated automated workflow to the second data to generate a second well plan; and

adjusting the production operations based on the second well plan.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting the first well plan.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring the production operations to obtain production operations data; and

adjusting the automated workflow based on the production operations data.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selectively presenting each of a plurality of subsets of the first data to at least one of the plurality of collaborators.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first data is based on one selected from a group consisting of actual data, historical data, and forecasted data.

6. A system for performing production operations of an oilfield having at least one process facility and at least one wellsite operatively connected thereto, each at least one wellsite having a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation for extracting fluid from an underground reservoir therein, comprising:

a memory configured to store a first well plan and first data associated with the production operations;

a processor configured to execute;

a workflow manager, located within a field performance module, configured to;

receive a plurality of steps from a plurality of collaborators, wherein at least one of the plurality of steps corresponds to analysis performed by an external component configured to provide standardized output using a common framework;

specify an automated workflow comprising the plurality of steps from the plurality of collaborators and for generating the first well plan;

store the automated workflow and an oilfield production operations problem associated with the automated workflow;

receive, after storing the automated workflow, a set of criteria based on the oilfield production operations problem and specified by at least one of the plurality of collaborators;

retrieve the automated workflow based on the set of criteria specified by at least one of the plurality of collaborators, wherein the automated workflow is one of a plurality of stored automated workflows; and

specify an external data source associated with the production operations, wherein the external data source is specified based on input from at least one of the plurality of collaborators,

the field performance module configured to;

obtain the first data associated with the production operations from the external data source;

apply the automated workflow to the first data to generate the first well plan;

modify a step of the plurality of steps based on real-time economic data to generate an updated step, the updated step for performing an analysis that is dependent on the real-time economic data;

generate an updated automated workflow based on the updated step; and

apply, in response to second data comprising a change to the first data associated with the production operations, the updated automated workflow to the second data to generate a second well plan, and

a surface unit configured to;

update the production operations based on the first well plan; and

adjust the production operations based on the second well plan.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the field performance module is further configured to present the first well plan.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the workflow manager is further configured to:

modify at least one of the plurality of steps based on input from at least one of the plurality of collaborators to generate the updated automated workflow.

9. The system of claim 6, further comprising:

a surveillance module configured to monitor the production operations to obtain production operations data, wherein the workflow manager is further configured to adjust the automated workflow based on the production operations data.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the field performance module is further configured to selectively present each of a plurality of subsets of the first data to at least one of the plurality of collaborators.

11. The system of claim 6, wherein the first data is based on one selected from a group consisting of actual data, historical data, and forecasted data.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium, embodying instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps for performing production operations of an oilfield having at least one process facility and at least one wellsite operatively connected thereto, each at least one wellsite having a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation for extracting fluid from an underground reservoir therein, the instructions comprising functionality to:

receive a plurality of steps from a plurality of collaborators, wherein at least one of the plurality of steps corresponds to analysis performed by an external component configured to provide standardized output using a common framework;

specify an automated workflow comprising the plurality of steps from the plurality of collaborators and for generating a first well plan;

storing the automated workflow and an oilfield production operations problem associated with the automated workflow;

receiving, after storing the automated workflow, a set of criteria based on the oilfield production operations problem and specified by at least one of the plurality of collaborators;

retrieving the automated workflow based on the set of criteria specified by at least one of the plurality of collaborators, wherein the automated workflow is one of a plurality of stored automated workflows;

specify an external data source associated with the production operations, wherein the external data source is specified based on input from at least one of the plurality of collaborators;

obtain first data associated with the production operations;

apply the automated workflow to the first data to generate the first well plan, wherein the production operations are adjusted based on the first well plan;

modify a step of the plurality of steps based on real-time economic data to generate an updated step, the updated step for performing an analysis that is dependent on the real-time economic data;

generate an updated automated workflow based on the updated step;

apply, in response to second data comprising a change to the first data associated with the production operations, the updated automated workflow to the second data to generate a second well plan; and

adjust the production operations based on the second well plan.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, the instructions further comprising functionality to:

modify at least one of the plurality of steps based on input from at least one of the plurality of collaborators to generate the updated automated workflow.