Austria Focused Optimization Event

I've been in Austria now for two weeks.  Beautiful country (I imagine it is nicer when the sun is shining).  Nice people.  

Center of Vienna

Center of Vienna

Oilfields?  Yes, there are, and they have quite a few wells.  The field I worked on has been on production since the 1950s and is very well run and well organized.  The equipment has been maintained in excellent condition.

A new sucker rod pumping unit

Land of wheat, wine and wells

I led a team of 12 engineers (Reservoir, Production, Process, Geological, Operations, and Maintenance) on a quest to find opportunities to increase value in the short/medium term.  I used a process similar to a Produce-the-Limit-type review, if you know what that is.  The event lasted 2 weeks and identified an 80% gain in oil production rates that will last for several years. Even though it means upgrading most of the field's production, injection and electrical systems, the project is still profitable.


It was in many ways a textbook example of optimization.  The reservoir in this case has a lot of potential.  The wells were limited by the chosen artificial lift technique and the surface systems were already at their maximum.  One discipline working alone, or a small team working on this as a normal course of their job would not have been able to create such a quantum step forward.  What is required for success in such an event is an agreed process, support from the leadership, challengers external to the asset, time spent preparing the team to have an open mind and accept challenge, 100% dedication to this event for two weeks by all the team members, a field visit as a reality check, a complete understanding of all of the system constraint levels, and someone who has 'been there before'  to lead them through all of this (me).  


In the end we performed a full well review, estimated all the upgrade costs, produced a 35 page summary and technical document, and (of course) a Powerpoint pack of 50 slides, including a notional 2.5 year, 6-phase project plan, and project economics.  Plus we had a look at embedding PSO in their daily business.


The company has agreed that this was a great success and many more such events are  being planned.