Comparative Economics Of Petroleum Production Optimization Techniques.

ABSTRACT

Hydrocarbon production in the petroleum industry is often constrained by reservoir heterogeneity, deliverability and capacity of surface facilities, also optimization technique in the petroleum industry requires execution of several iterative runs by comparing various solutions until an optimum or satisfactory solution is found. In this study a comparative economic analysis to aid the optimization of petroleum production was done. Two key variables, tubing sizes and choke sizes were considered, their sensitivity to production was also determined. A prudent approach to optimizing petroleum production is by statistical and sensitivity analysis, specifically, Nodal Analysis and @Risk software were used in this work. The nodal analysis procedure consists of selecting a division point or node in the well, the system at that point was analyzed differently to optimize performance in the most economical manner, an integral analysis of the entire production system was also considered. Using @Risk software (Monte Carlo simulation), risk analysis of the objective function was done. Monte Carlo simulation sampling is a traditional technique for using random or pseudo-random numbers to sample from a probability distribution. Substantial findings of this study shows that the tubing size of 1.90-inch had an optimal rate of production for deeper reservoir conditions used in this research using the Nodal analysis technique, also Monte Carlo simulation proves that the price of oil has the highest impact on profit for the probabilistic period of 5, 10, and 15 years followed by the rate of production while the cost of tubing has the least effect.