Chapter 2.

Smart Fields

Abstract

A smart field is a system for controlling and management of oil and gas
operations in real time, providing the continuous optimization of the integrated
reservoir model and production management model to enhance oil and gas recovery
and to reduce capital operating costs. A smart field is an innovative technology
that allows us to transmit the information directly from the field to the advanced
collaboration centers in real time. This gives us the maximum measurement and
control to optimize the operation of all field facilities: wells, reservoirs,
pipelines and other surface facilities to receive the data to take decisions in
real time. The problem of the XXI century is the exploration and development of a
smart field in real time, the main advantages are: a rapid assessment of the
development scenarios and the production cases, the integration of the technology
cycles, the reduction of costs through the real-time operations, further enhancing
the performance of technological operations. By the year 2013 there are about 200
smart fields, including 13 in Russia; about 1000 smart wells in the world,
including 40 in Russia. During the 2002-2012 years there existed only the first
generation smart fields, but in by the end 2012 oil companies started building the
second generation of fields.

Key words: a smart field, the field of the future, the digital field, a smart
well, an intellectual well, an electronic field, a remote access, an integration,
an optimization, a model, a monitoring, an innovation, automation, an i-field, an
Аdvanced Collaboration Center, Сollaborative Workplace Environment, Аdvanced
Decision Environment, sensors, fiber optic systems, 3D visualization, the first
generation smart fields, the second generation smart fields, integrating
operations of the first and the second generations.

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 Main chapter topics

Definition and objectives of management processes exploration and development

of oil fields in real time. The concept of intelligent oil and gas fields. Goals
and Objectives of intelligent field. Definition of Intellectual field. Smart
Fields of the first and second generations - the characteristics, advantages and
disadvantages. The evolution of the first generation Smart Fields 2002-2012 yy. is
the creating history, the main tendencies and results. The main trends in the
development of the first generation of smart fields in the international oil and
gas companies (Shell's Smart Fields, electronic deposit (e-Field, BP), intelligent
field (i-field, Chevron), the future field (Field of the future, BP), a digital
oil field of the future (CERA), digital field (Marathon)). Optimization of
intelligent field and remote control in real time. The second generation of smart
oil and gas fields. The terminology of the various companies to identify i-field.
The main differences between smart fields of the first and second generations.
Necessary conditions for the existence of intelligent field and problems of the
implementation of smart (digital) fields. The concept of “the field of the
future”. Аdvanced Collaboration Centers.

Introduction

The main aim of the modern development of oil and gas companies is to increase
the value of assets of the company in real time based on the integration of all
its components into a whole one, that is the most characteristic feature of the
exploitation of hydrocarbons is computerization and a widespread use of the
information and communication technologies as well. This chapter gives the most
important information about smart fields, their definitions, objectives, history
of the creation, their classification and differences, working principles and
advantages being the company’s great asset.

One of the main objectives of the modern development is the creation of a

unified system of management of oil and gas companies and the decision-making in
real-time, the unification of collecting, preparing, processing and transmission
of the data on the basis of common standards, data formats and communication
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protocols, the development control and management of manufacturing operations and
industrial complexes, modeling of technological processes of production,
preparation, transportation, processing and marketing of the products in a state
close to real time (by the year 2010 - quarterly, 2020 - monthly, 2030 - weekly
and 2040 - daily mode). The most important goals of the modern development also
include the reduction of the low and average -professional engineering staff and
the transition to a fully automated hydrocarbon production technology, the
transfer of the information about the state of the oil and gas company at the
stock exchanges in real time, and the increase of the ultimate oil recovery up to
50% and gas recovery up to 90% in the producing fields.

These results can be achieved only by using of the new technology, innovations
and the integration of the processes; it is the maximum measurement and control to
optimize the operation of all the field facilities in real time.

2.1 Smart Fields

A smart oil and gas field is a system for controlling and management of oil and
gas operations in real time, providing the continuous optimization of the
integrated reservoir model and the production management model to enhance oil and
gas recovery and to reduce the operating and capital costs. This is the maximum of
measurements and control, allowing to optimize the performance of all the field
facilities such as wells, reservoirs, pipelines and other surface facilities, as
well as to get the data to form a field model. The smart fields are also known as
Digital fields, Fields of the future, Intellectual fields, Electronic fields,
Integrated operations, Smart operations, etc.

Since the beginning of exploration for the hydrocarbon fields in the early
1860s, more than 50,000 oil and gas fields have been discovered. Studies show that
more than 90% of these oil and gas fields are insignificant and their impact on
world oil production is minimal. The greatest effect on the world economy may have
the introduction of the smart technologies in large and giant oil and gas fields.
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In the year 2011 there were about 800 "smart wells" in the world, now there are
more than 1000 ones.

The «Deloittes» company, which advises oil and gas companies about the
implementation of electronic technologies in their operations, defines the Smart
Fields as follows: "This is nothing but the evolution and the integration of new
technologies of oil and gas drilling, as well as the exploration and the
production by electronic control combined with the standardized communication
technologies". According to «Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) » experts
the transition to the production technology in real time can reduce the
maintenance up to 7%. The widespread implementation of real-time recovery
processes could increase the global oil production to 18 million tonnes, or 125
million barrels by the year 2013.

The main objectives are the integration of technology and information cycles,
reducing of the operating costs by 5% and the capital costs by 10% due to the
operations in real time, further enhancing the performance of the technological
operations in order to achieve 50% recovery factor by the end of the period of the
development of oil fields and 80 - 90% gas recovery in gas fields. Shell, Saudi
Aramco, BP, Statoil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Total which are the leaders of the
world oil market are introducing the digital technology into the processes of
drilling and oil production for a long time.

The innovative technologies of the new generation have their names in each
company: Shell calls it “Smart Field”; Chevron – “Intelligent field or i-
field”; BP - "The field of the future”; Petoro – “Smart Operations”; in
Statoil it is “Integrated Operations”; Halliburton identified as "Real Time
Operations”; “Smart wells” - Schlumberger; “ eDrift” (OD); in CERA “ Digital
oil field of the future”; “Intelligent Field Optimization and Remote Management
/ INFORM” (Cap Gemini); ADCO has its own terminology as “Integrated Asset
Operation Model (IAOM)”, etc.

Despite the difference in their names, the new control technologies are
essentially similar and identical in their goals and the solved problems in real
time: faster processing of the increasing of information volume, modeling of

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multiple scenarios of production, maximization of the production and achieving
high rates of recovery of hydrocarbons, making the right decisions to optimize the
production. The concept of "Smart field" company Shell implies that all the wells
in the field, also including the injection wells, transmit the data of the
operation mode: the production rate or the amount of the injected liquid to be
processed within the model of the field in real time.

The concept of smart field includes: 4D seismic survey, the development of

software (Seismic data while drilling), smart wells, remote work, virtualization
technology (good example is the ChevronTexaco's Аdvanced Collaboration Center in
Houston, serving one field for 12 hours and another 12 hours more in real time),
forecasts models of the Earth's crust, the information and data node. The smart
fields are really important for savings and additional profits in hundreds of
millions of dollars for the international and national oil companies, thereby
reducing the costs of exploration; accelerating the start of production,
optimizing the production, improving the reservoir data, obtaining the most
efficient production and a long-term production.

There are several myths about a smart oil and gas field: the smart oil and gas
field is the processes or the automation of processes; it is IT, information
technology; the operators trust the models, which are built by a team of assets
management; the main capital-intensive projects are the development of new fields.

We should believe the general information about a smart field: at first, the
management of geological and field data is actually worse than we thought; the
power of the digital technologies is much broader than of those already in use;
the management abilities of the smart field is much more than just discharging the
staff; the digital technologies from the related industries are difficult to
implement in the fields of hydrocarbons and there exist many fairy tales about
smart field nowadays.

2.2 The first and the second generation Smart Fields

The smart Fields appeared at the beginning of the last decade, in the year
2002, for the purpose to monitor and control the devices on the wells. The first

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decade of Smart Fields in Shell was focused on the new technologies, improving the
business cases as widely as possible. The Smart Fields value assessment shows
great contribution of smart fields to the development; especially it is reflected
at bottomhole. The beginning of the second decade was focused on the
implementation of new technologies into life and their firm security. To
understand the key drivers and pitfalls in global implementation of technologies,
a ‘Sustain’ methodology was developed which provided insight in where these
successes and improvement areas are. Based on the results from the ‘Sustain’
assessments, the approach and focus of the roadmap ‘from technology to
commodity’ was adjusted to deliver robust and sustainable deployment and
continued value creation of Smart Fields technologies.

The Smart Field” involves the systematic application and integration of

control engineering in real time and IT concepts to oil and gas field management.
By combining the data gathering, integrated modeling and elements control in the
so-called “value loops”, the optimization opportunities are created at every
stage of the resource lifecycle. Different data sources may be combined to reduce
the uncertainties in field models.

The first smart field is Iron Duck field, located in the South China Sea, was
explored by Shell in the year 2002. Champion West is another example of one of the
first "smart" fields, located in Brunei, South China Sea, 90 km away from the
coast of Brunei. The occurrence depth of the reservoir varies from 2,000 up to
4,000 m. It was discovered as early as 1975, but it was brought into the
development because of the lack of the effective processes of hydrocarbon
extraction. The productive complex is represented by a complex alternation of thin
layers, which are localized in more than 100 lenses with different types of
hydrocarbons: oil, gas, oil and gas. Currently, via the fiber optic system the
sensors from the horizontal wells deliver the digital information about the
temperature, the pressure and other reservoir conditions to the main control
center located on the shore. The center carries out a constant monitoring of
production and the petroleum engineers can quickly make decisions to maximize the
oil recovery and to control the processes of displacing oil from the reservoir. An
effective concept of this type of the reservoir development was drilling

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technology of "snake" wells (the production rate reaches 2,000 m3 per day), which
meanders in the horizontal and vertical directions passing through dozens of small
hydrocarbon accumulations. Such "snake" wells allow opening up to four separate
lenticular oil fringes. In the field an uninhabited offshore platform and dozens
of "snake" wells with smart completions of up to 8 km along the wellbore and 4 km
of them along the course of trend.

Champion West field was really successful and yielded up to 9 tons per day at
peak production; the project development of the field was equal to 50 years.

During 2007 – 2009 Statoil performed a series of steps to introduce the

integrated operations (IO). They included the introduction of the standardized
work processes, a common operating model in the Statoil-operated fields on the
Norwegian Continental Shelf. The IO manual based on seven IO success criteria was
worked out.

Since then a lot of large and small decisions, have been carried out under the
guidance of "smart fields", a modification of the existing fields and the new
projects (see Figure 2.1. Shell Smart Fields’ range of solutions).

In the year 2005 BP embarked on the implementation of two major projects. The
first was a creation of the new producing center in the Valhall field; the second
was the development of the new Skarv field. The implementation of the project of
the second generation fields started in the year 2012. These projects have enabled
the company to get a new experience in using the latest digital technology, as
well as to put into operation two smart fields of the second generation.

The difference between these generations of smart fields mainly consists in the
data transfer process and the volume of information (see Figure 2.2. Comparison of
data processing capabilities for 1 and 2 generations). The data transmission in
the first generation fields is carried on by the satellite transmission system,
whereas in the second ones – by the fiber-optic communications, the data
transmission rate increasing from 10 to 100 Mbit per second. For the second
generation smart wells the average length of arrays varies from 2000 to 4000 km,
while for the first generation fields the fiber system length was not more than
100 km.
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 With each generation the number of sensors increases, which in turn leads to an
increase in the data volume and a higher degree of integration of the processes:
the number of such sensors in the fields of the second generations is tens or even
hundreds of times larger than in the fields of the first generation (Table 2.1.
Comparison of techniques used for smart fields of 1 and 2 generations).

The level of automation increases, which leads to the possibility of unmanned

production and technical processes, especially in the offshore fields because of
the water depth and other climatic conditions. In its turn, non-productive costs
of preparatory processes reduce, as a rule; the associated water is injected into
the intermediate horizons in order to utilize it or to control reservoir pressure.
From the smart fields the consumers are dispatched ready products such as oil, gas
and condensate; as well the cost of their collection also decreases.

2.3 The history of creation and development trends of Smart Fields

The first smart fields were appeared in the year 2002, which were developed and
continue to be developed in accordance with the concept, which involves:

1. The priority of the safety of people, equipment, processes, and

environmental protection;

2. Reducing the loss of oil by the monitoring and the remote control of the
recovery processes of oil and gas;

3. Minimize expenses by management improvement, reducing the amount of

equipment and wells repairs;

4. Reducing the influence of the "human factor" - the automation of the main
processes.

The IBM Corporation, which employs about 1,000 people in the creation of new
technologies for the oil and gas industry, estimates the potential market for
smart fields in the $ 1 trillion by 2020, Bill Sevan, the director of research
strategies and production in the CERA (Cambridge Energy Research Associates) notes
that the digital oil field is not a conceptual scientific development but the
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actual reality of the oil and gas industry. The widespread implementation of
digital technologies in oil and gas fields is constrained by traditional caution
of the companies in relation to the experimental development.

Due to the ever increasing volumes of horizontal drilling, a very urgent

problem is to control in real time the direction of the borehole during the
drilling process. A complex transducers for the directional control of the
wellbore comprises the sensors for measuring the borehole inclination angle and
its azimuth. The measurement system is equipped with a standoff position sensor to
manage the process of horizontal drilling.

The Geoscience & Logging Complex is based on the digital integrated downhole
equipment from which the geophysical parameters can be transmitted wirelessly to
the surface processing and recording equipment when drilling in real time. Such
systems are known as LWD-systems. This system allows the faster adjustment of the
well path and the additional time is not wasted on the tying logging.

The management of a smart field in real time provides: an expert support during
the field development, reduction of the possibility of unforeseen problems, the
security of the operation and optimization of production, the reducing of the
equipment downtime, the ensuring of the uninterrupted field development, and the
increase of the duration of the maximum level of production.

A “smart well” works in the self-regulating mode, from the distance

constantly informing, how it behaves, whether it is a standard situation or not. A
real time well "removes" a large amount of information about the rock, fluids of
itself. All this information to the monitoring and control system that
automatically adjusts the operation of the well. In particular, the well will
reduce the rotating speed of the pump, if it warms up to more than one hundred and
ten degrees Celsius. The "smart wells" provide the optimum production conditions,
which lead to lower costs of the field development on average to 20%.

A smart field includes two control lines:

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 1. The operating line provides control over the effectiveness of management
processes in field operations (production, control and management modes and
condition of the equipment, support processes, etc.);

2. The simulating line provides a dynamic development management model under

varying external (context) and internal (content) conditions.

Ahead of schedule the Shell Company managed to put some fields on commercial
production with the so-called "smart" completions, implying the use of a complex
of special equipment with sensors and the data transmission system in real time.

The international and national oil companies are trying to improve the
management of the development of their reserves in order to maximize the
profitability to meet the increasing social and political needs of their
countries. In modern conditions, the oil and gas industry must improve not only
technological, but also production and information processes to meet the long-term
growth in demand for energy. The production of oil and gas must overcome not only
the spatial boundaries, but the time as well.

The actual problems in hydrocarbon production are: increasing of energy

consumption by 19 million tons / day by the year 2025 (source: Shell global Energy
Scenarios 2005), the development of deep, remote and complex fields (small
deposits; deposits with low permeability and porosity; heavy oil deposits,
carbonate deposits; the Arctic oil fields), the offshore field development and the
development of hydrocarbon resources by the ecologically environmentally
responsible way (resource saving water, metals, energy) technology of the
development of hydrocarbon reserves, the reduction of CO2 emissions and waste
production).

The field management is executed in real time at four main levels.

Level i1 - Instrumental: getting data in real time to improve the daily

management and installation of remote sensors on the underground and surface
equipment for data collection in real time.

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 Level i2 - information, it is an automatic verification of the data and their
analysis and the installation of the appropriate software for data management and
visualization, the transition from "data" to "information".

Level i3 - operational, which involves the integration and optimization of the

production processes, automated forecasting of emergency situations, the
integrated control of the processes taking place underground and on the surface.

Level i4 – Management, it consists of the transformation of operational

processes, innovative technologies, new production processes and virtual teams.

The most important business challenges today are the depletion of production in
the existing fields, tightening the environmental requirements; such operating
problems as reduction of staff to service the increasing wells stock, processing
the field data through the implementation of remote-controlled sensors, monitoring
and optimization of hydrocarbon production, the development of heavy reserves
(transfer of the resource base from the C2, C3, D1, D2 to C1, an increase of the
recovery factor, the development of deep, remote hydrocarbon deposits; abnormal
high pressure and temperature, heavy oil, CO2, sulfur, subsea production systems,
secure transport products to the shore (the control of hydrate plugs)); the
increased costs of reservoir pressure maintenance (RPM) in mature fields (the
increased costs of collection and preparation of products, lifting products, loss
of income from unplanned shut-ins of wells and accidents on field pipelines;
further drilling costs; EOR/IOR costs; well stimulation methods (the hydraulic
fracturing, the drilling of the side tracks and horizontal holes).

One of the main assets of smart oil and gas company is actually a vertically-
integrated hardware and software system that works in real time. The current state
of the development of oil and gas fields makes us possible to conclude that the
flow of the source of information should be directed to the solution of industrial
problems, application of primitive tools to process the field based on Excel; the
management of unstructured data is a serious problem; serious work is required to
on standardize the data; a functional approach rather than a system one prevails
in using the information. Despite the fact that the investments in automation are
growing, but very often it is difficult to find the information in the collected
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data and many digital tools and devices are not integrated into a single system,
the new capital-intensive projects involve collecting a huge number of commercial
information, but there is no integrated approach to the use of the collected
information.

2.4 Synergetic of Smart Fields

The specific feature of the oil and gas industry is huge investments, the slow
money turnover and great geological and economic risks. As regards the market
relations, not only the state, but also directly an oil company as such, the local
authorities and the consumer are interested in them. Their interests must be
obviously taken into account in shaping the goals in the oil and gas development,
and design solutions must be aimed at their fullest satisfaction. The turn of big
revolutionary changes has come the turn in the technology design as such the
integrated or synergistic technology study and modeling of hydrocarbon deposits
have replaced the coherent technology which existed for decades. The main aim is
to reduce the operating cycle by 50%. The use of the integrated modeling
technology is designed to reduce the design period 2-3 fold to decrease the
capital cost of the design decisions and the necessary number of specialists by an
order.

In recent years there has been an active implementation of computer technology

in the oil industry. It becomes possible to integrate the efforts of specialists
from different disciplines working simultaneously on the same problem. The need
for an integrated holistic approach to the study of such complex objects as oil
and gas reservoirs was proclaimed 15 years ago at the dawn of a system approach to
development.

Every engineer highly skilled in his/her own discipline, as a rule, is well

aware of the uncertainty of the data with which he/she has to work. Uncertainties
are often ignored when transferring data from one specialist to another. Each
recipient of the information wants to work only with the determined information. A
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team approach has another advantage that is such as the experts understand the
importance of the uncertainties in the related disciplines and pay attention to
their impact on the results of their own technical sections. The requirements
placed upon the smart fields are a common technological cycle, an iterative
multivariant, the integration of risk assessment and economy, the joint analysis
of the entire team of experts, simplicity and functionality, an integrated model
and a risk analysis.

Currently, the net present value, which is necessary to get from the
development of the field, directly depends on the completeness of the equipping of
the underground and surface machinery with sensors, monitoring equipment and
process control; the accuracy of the localization of hydrocarbon distribution in
the reservoir, the efficiency of these hydrocarbon recovery, models and algorithms
for the optimization of the scenarios of production, the work of the submersible
pumps and surface structures in the time scale of seconds to the whole time of the
field development. The philosophy of a smart field is based on the following
scheme:

"to measure – to simulate - to take a decision – to follow – to control."

The first stage is the measurement. The following instrumentation aspects are
acceptable in the Аdvanced Collaboration Centers. The technology of "smart
fields" is based on the measurement of process parameters in the reservoir and on
the surface. In the existing fields, the measuring process parameters are at a low
level. The problem is the installed old technology equipment, on which it is
technically difficult to replace the old instrumentation by the new one. It is
important to measure the parameters of process conditions as accurately as
possible. Digital tools that can be applied in the smart fields are: the digital
pressure gauges, temperature and reservoir pressure monitoring devices,
temperature and flow; 4C - quaternary seismic sensors (one - for the longitudinal
and three - for transverse waves) to monitor the process of depletion of the
reservoirs. 4D seismic allows us to see what is going on under the ground, where
there are accumulations of oil, gas or water breaks. The sensor information must
be collected and integrated.

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 The second stage is simulation. To optimize the life of the field in the mode
of 24 hours a day there are required the innovative processes, tools and
technologies that will enable the team of experts to conduct a comparative
analysis of the possible development scenarios with and the implemented one on the
basis of its decisions in real time.

Shell Company uses the following scheme (software):

1) FieldWare Production Universe (PU). Its scope includes the engineering

supervision and the alarm signal system, optimization of the real-time well
systems and the virtual dimension. The economic benefit is obtained by optimizing
the production through a quicker detection and elimination of accidents in the
well. FW PU operates 2,000 wells producing a total of 2 million barrels a day.

2) Energy Components (EC) Hydrocarbon Allocation. EC is a software package,

that stores the production data and the borehole parameters and then automatically
processes the information. It quickly and easily generates the data, the status
and delay reports, which can be used as a source of data to manage the reservoir
and the distribution of hydrocarbons.

3) Plant Information Data Historian. The objective is to combine the streams of

information from the multiple sources into a single system. Simply speaking, it is
a data base

4) Data Acquisition and Control Architecture (DACA) Security. DACA is a

Shell’s defensive strategy, which consists of several layers of protection and
the barriers to external threats. This system allows us to adjust the flow of
information in and the controls from the field to the office. The program holds
enough controls and safety barriers to prevent the hackers in the fields and the
offshore areas. Unfortunately, the above software elements can’t be running in a
"smart" manner when used individually. These components should be incorporated in
the design of smart fields so that they collaborate and share the data from one
part of the system to another.

The reservoir management requires good quality data at the right time, modern
integrated models, innovative management processes that reduce the time from the

55
moment when the new data are obtained to making a decision and a team of qualified
professionals.

2.5 Smart Field optimization and remote control in real time

The new technology of smart oil fields allows oil companies to reduce the cost
of exploration and to produce more oil in old fields with a significant reduction
in the cost of the high-professional labor-power. The innovative technologies
require significant job changes not only for the top managers, but firstly for the
lower and middle level managers. It is very important that the new digital
technology of the development of hydrocarbon fields helps to understand better the
reservoir itself as the most changeable part of the process of extracting oil and
gas. A hydrocarbon fields is just the part of the assets which is least known to
the oil and gas company. The smart technology of hydrocarbon fields, which
operates the data in real time, will allow a better control of the production of
oil and gas in the long term period. In particular, the aerospace monitoring and
control of the development will rapidly expand its positions.

The problem of the XXI century is the development of smart fields in real time,
the main advantages of which are the rapid assessment of the development cases,
the integration of technology cycles, the reduction of costs through real-time
operations, the further enhancing of the technological operational performance.

The statement of the problem of the fuzzy system design includes the following
main stages: the identification of fuzzy goals of the reservoir management systems
and their classification, the building of a hierarchical design situation and its
representation as a fuzzy graph and Hasse diagram (diagram of maximal chains)
forming a plurality of original model situations of the OGFD, the structuring of
model design decisions (development cases), the definition of a host development
options in the space of the objectives and constraints; to select a recommended
OGFD case by constructing a graph of fuzzy inclusion and Hasse diagram of maximal
chains.

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 The design of oil field development is closely related to the progress in the
development of new methods and technologies for extraction of petroleum,
hydrocarbons, the application of mathematical models of fluid filtration and
reservoir behavior in general, the new information and communication technologies
in real time. The development and the modernization of the arsenal of means and
methods of the design of oil field development serve the objectives of improving
the system of reservoir development, monitoring and controlling processes of
recovery of hydrocarbons.

A conceptual diagram of the design must be built from the standpoint of the
multicriteriality of the reservoir design. Any oil & gas field development project
should deal with the issues of aggregation of heterogeneous data about the fields
(seismic surveys, logging, laboratory and field data), the geological base that is
the reservoir model for the task of designing should be founded and selected, the
production objects are separated; the multistage switching from the natural drives
to the active recovery methods is defined; the well placement system must be
selected; the technological and economic parameters of the project cases must be
calculated and the development of a rational case must be defined. The
accumulation of experience in the development of fields in different geological
conditions, the creation of new methods and stimulation technologies have
contributed to the improvement of the knowledge in the design, the detailed study
of specific design problems.

At different stages of the project cycle we may use different systems of

artificial intelligence such as expert systems (ES), the decision-making systems,
the computer-aided design (CAD), the automated design systems (ADS) and the data
base control system (DBCS) in real time. At the initial and final stages of the
cycle there exist wide opportunities to apply the expert systems (ES). At the
initial development stage it is explained by the lack of the initial information
in full measure, thus it is quite natural to rely on the expert knowledge of the
specialists.

At the final stage of the development (conservation of wells and / or

liquidation of fields) mostly we have to rely on the knowledge of engineering and
technical personnel who have recently worked in well servicing. In drawing up the
57
technological scheme and design of the project the systems such as CAD, VIP, and
Eclipse are mainly used. The decision-making systems that do not require the large
scale amount of payment transactions, should be naturally applied at the
justification stage of the project situation, the establishment of a feasibility
study and at the final stages of development as well.

The integrated teams of scientists and experts include geologists,

geophysicists, petroleum engineers and environmentalists. Applying an integrated
approach to the design has led to the fact that the total investments in research
in the field of technology development and production decrease in 3 fold. Such
teams usually work on large-scale development projects, but they can solve complex
and specific problems. There are several approaches or areas of research such as
serial, parallel and integrated, used in the work on the project to develop oil
fields.

Graphical visualization has been widely accepted since the middle of 80s. The
3D visualization of seismic data, logging and development, allowed getting quickly
the horizontal and vertical slices of the reservoir by rotating, animation,
glossing over with smooth color transitions. Using this technique, the specialists
got the opportunity to analyze the 3D model oil reservoir from the top, bottom,
side and inside. The logging data, contour maps, seismic sections, and 3D color
core images can be sent in a few minutes from one data center to another.
Computers can simultaneously correlate over hundreds and thousands wells.

The synthesis of a variety of data with simultaneous visualization allows

analyzing the geological aspects of the development process both in the macro-and
micro-scale. The use of digital technologies will increase the efficiency of the
development that is the operating costs will be reduced by 5% and the capital
costs by 10%, the additionally recovered residual oil in the old fields and the
recovery factor up to 50% through the implementation of smart technologies.

2.6 The dynamics of the Аdvanced Collaboration Centers

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 One of the most important elements of a smart field is the centers of
communication and remote control. Аdvanced Collaboration Centers have different
names in different companies. For example, in Shell - CWE (Collaborative Workplace
Environment), BP - ACE (Advanced Collaboration Center), in Chevron - ADE (Advanced
Decision Environment), etc. Аdvanced Collaboration Centers represent the top
level of decision-making. The structure of these centers usually includes
situational (collaboration) rooms for co-operation and a room for the decision
making support (Figure 2.3. Аdvanced Collaboration Center).

The control center began operating in real time in the new corporate
headquarters of ChevronTexaco in Houston in January 2005. The Center includes the
visualization room where the technicians can monitor the data in real time, the
current ones through the fiber optic cable in the Gulf of Mexico. The sensors
transmit acoustic, temperature, and pressure information about the drilling
progress from the field.

A smart field can solve such problems as:

1) the transformation of the oil business in order to increase the production

and to reduce the costs through the optimization of numerous fields, the
integration of the system of hydrocarbon recovery, high level of automation of the
production operations; remote operations with a global collaboration, finding a
reasonable balance in decision-making between equipment and a man;

2) The improvement of manufacturing operations for major capital projects:

design and planning, in the integrated and optimized systems, minimization of the
cost of upgrading and improvement of the system design.

A smart field manages the assets of the company, that is controls the processes
at all stages, including drilling and well operations, optimization of production
systems, research of wells and the reservoir, operation and integrated management,
asset management, planning and scheduling, health, labor safety and environment,
contracts and procurement, transportation, marketing and sales.

The standard solution is available in the form of organization of smart fields

that forms the basis for the continuous monitoring and optimization of wells in

59
real-time data collection and optimization, production prediction based on
modeling (Van den Berg, 2007, Gerrard, 2010). It includes a continuous monitoring
and optimization of wells in real time and a virtual dimension, independently
associated with planning the production rates of hydrocarbons and complex modeling
of the production systems. All systems are integrated into a standard architecture
in the office and in the field of the process control.

The standard architecture for data collection and management (DACA) provides
the secured communication between the office and the field. There were defined the
standard workflows that guide the staff in the performance of the regular
manufacturing operations and the cooperation at the right moment, allowing the
team of the object to achieve the maximum.

Saudi Aramco has established a number of collaboration centers that are

economically and technically profitable and multidiscipline. These centers cover
the areas of exploration, geonavigation, real-time drilling, and field
development, as well as the production and smart-field management in real time.

The advances in interactive, high-performance technology solutions (hardware

and software) and easy to use in visual communication technologies presented
additional opportunities to extend the fields of application and the impact of the
collaboration centers including the virtual laboratories.

2.7 The prospect of development of Smart Fields

Collecting and managing data in real time is an important part of the concept
of a smart field. In December 2010 the ORACLE company launched the world's first
open database management system in real time.

Nowadays in oil and gas industry the technological revolution, comparable in

scale to the Cosmos exploration takes place. The key points of the scientific and
technological revolution are: the creation of fiber optic systems for the
collection and transmission of geological information in real time; 3D

60
visualization of process data and processes in real time, creating cosmic groups
for precise positioning of oil and gas facilities.

"A smart well – a smart field" model combines the simultaneous solution of the
problem with a fundamentally new approach to the management of the field
development. A smart well has three distinctive features.

Firstly, a well completion system should include the downhole monitoring

capabilities with the function of transmitting the information to the surface in
real time without conducting the intrawell operations.

Secondly, a certain flow regulation system should be installed in a smart well,

which could be controlled from the surface. Finally, it should be ensured the
possibility of the analytical flow control using the information obtained at the
first stage. A built-in algorithm should set into motion the analytical system of
valves in one direction or another in order in reply to the approximation of the
production parameters to the threshold or to the passage of this threshold.

In future that at the distance from the coast we will be able to have the
minimal installation tools, many of them are usually remote, tested and. The
production process can be fully optimized through a single area or a group of
areas to cover the hydrocarbons to the remote-controlled wells, resulting in a
larger recovery. The single operating centers located in each basin to management
with well production and a plant through large areas, maximizing the amount of oil
and gas delivered to the market.

Relying on the experience already gained, the plans are being developed to
rapidly expand the deployment of the "field of the future" technologies and
processes in the existing onshore and offshore areas, and to increase the
intelligence in several major projects now in development.

Thanks to the improved technology and scientific progress in the oil and gas
research and the information fields we had come to the emergence of second
generation fields by the end of 2012.

The main differences between these smart fields are shown in the Appendix
(Table 2.2. Smart fields of 1, 2 and 3 generations - the conceptual differences,
61
Figure 2.4. Volumes of data of 3G smart fields over fiber optic cables, Figure
2.5. Dependence of the volume of data transmission of three generations smart
fields on the number of downhole sensors).

Assessing the impact of new technologies on the traditional methods of

development managing and making selective changes in the sequence of operations we
can significantly increase the return of the field. The balanced organization of
such changes is a very important part of the transformation of any field to the
smart one (Figure 2.6. Increase in the number of smart fields).

Conclusion

A smart field is a system of automatic controlling and management of oil and

gas operations in real time, providing continuous optimization of the integrated
reservoir and surface models, and production management model, it is a maximum of
measurement and control,, allowing to optimize the performance of all field
facilities such as wells, reservoirs, pipelines and other surface facilities as
well as to get the data to form the model. The innovative technologies of the new
generation have their own names in each company: Shell calls it “Smart Field”;
Chevron – “Intelligent field or i-field”; BP – “Field of the future”, etc. but
they all have the same principle.

The main objective of the modern development of oil and gas companies is to
increase the value of assets of the company in real time based on the integration
of all its components into a whole one. These objectives can be achieved by
diversification of the existing systems into the innovative, high-tech and high-
performance. The smart fields are being developed in accordance with the concept
which involves: the priority of the safety of people, equipment, processes, and
environmental protection; reducing the loss of oil; that is monitoring and remote
management of oil and gas recovery; reducing costs; that is a improving
transparency, reducing the amount of equipment and wells repairs; reducing the
influence of the "human factor"; that is the automation of the main processes. The

62
remote monitoring of working conditions, data analysis and interpretation in real
time, collaborative work environment for the employees, remote monitoring of wells
and production optimization - all of these technologies are already included in
the project of the field of the future, however, there still remain many problems,
which must be solved.

Nowadays oil and gas industry is exposed by the technological revolution,

comparable in scale to the development of the Cosmos. The key points of the oil
and gas technological revolution: the creation of fiber optic systems for the
collection and transmission of geological information in real time; 3D
visualization of process data and processes in real time, creating cosmic groups
for precise positioning of oil and gas facilities. It is obvious that there is an
increase in the volume of the data that leads to the emergence of a system for
effective preparation oil, gas and condensate, that is the number of smart fields
will only increase, and the concept of their creating and working will only be
improved.

Acknowledgements

The second chapter has benefited the lectures of Professor Nicholai A. Eremin
"Managing the development of smart fields", "Produсtion Technology" and
"Technology of the management in real time," delivered at the Gubkin Russian State
University of Oil and Gas in the yr. 2008-2013., The Kazakh-British Technical
University (KBTU) JSC in 2012-13 yy., The Moscow Institute of Physics and
Technology (MIPT, Russian State University) in 2011-13 yy., respectively, as well
as course papers students and undergraduates from the above-mentioned
universities: D. Skotnikova, M. Denisova, A. Kachalova, P. Shibanova, A. Evfremov,
R. Akhmadiev, Gun Chanmin, M. Gordeeva, A. Samayeva and others.

References:

63
1. Еремин Н.А. Управление разработкой
интеллектуальных месторождений: Учеб.
пособие для вузов: В 2 кн. – Кн. 1. М.: РГУ
нефти и газа имени И.М. Губкина, 2011. – 200 с.:
ил. ISBN 978-5-91961-019-9
2. Еремин Н.А., Еремин А.Н., Еремин А.Н.
Управление разработкой
интеллектуальных месторождений: Учеб.
пособие для вузов: В 2 кн. – Кн. 2. Учеб.
пособие для вузов: М.: РГУ нефти и газа
имени И.М. Губкина, 2012. – 210 с.: ил. ISBN 978-5-91961-
329-7.
3. Еремин Н.А. Современная разработка
месторождений нефти и газа. (Умная
скважина – Интеллектуальный промысел.
Виртуальная компания. M.: ООО
«НедраБизнесцентр», 2008 - - 244 pages. ISBN 978-58365-
0311-6
4. SPE 153271 Toward an automatic metadata management framework for smart oil
fields, 2013
5. Дмитриевский А.Н., Еремин Н.А. Решение
актуальных проблем разработки
месторождений нефти и газа. //Нефть. Газ.
Новации. №10, 2012, с.30-3
6. Judson Jacobs and Richard Ward, Digital oil field of the future, Cera, The
Wall Street Journal on February 7, 2006
7. Leslie HAINES, Don LYLE. The Digital Oil Field Today
8. SPE 150407 Shell, 2012
9. SPE 132149 Smart fields: How to generate more value from hydrocarbon
resources, 2012
10. SPE 150160 The Second Generation Of Digital Oilfields, 2012
11. SPE 162373 Real time data empowers the ADCO, 2012
12. SPE 128245 Business value from Intelligent field, 2010

64
13. SPE 141401 Smart E&P Collaboration centers: design, technology support and
lessons learned, 2011
14. SPE 150418 Integrated operations in Statoil – from ambition to action, 2012
15. SPE 163431 Remote operations center –an efficient and highly competent
environment to optimize operational performance and to reduce risk, 2013
16. Encyclopedia Britannica http://www.britannica.com.
17. SPE 108206-MS, Frans G. van den Berg, Shell Intl. E&P B.V., Smart Fields -
Optimising Existing Fields. Digital Energy Conference and Exhibition, 11-12
April 2007, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.

List of figures

1) Figure 2.1. Shell Smart Fields’ range of solutions

2) Figure 2.2. Comparison of data processing capabilities for 1 and 2
generations
3) Figure 2.3. Аdvanced Collaboration Center
4) Figure 2.4. Volumes of data of 3G smart fields over fiber optic
cables
5) Figure 2.5. Dependence of the volume of data transmission of three
generations smart fields on the number of downhole sensors
6) Figure 2.6. Increase in the number of smart fields

List of tables

1) Table 2.1. Comparison of techniques used for smart fields of 1 and 2

generations

2) Table 2.2. Smart fields of 1, 2 and 3 generations - the conceptual

differences

List of abbreviations

65
 BP – British Petroleum; CERA – Cambridge Energy Research Associates; HC –
hydrocarbons; ACC – Аdvanced Collaboration Center; CWE – Сollaborative Workplace
Environment; ADE – Аdvanced Decision Environment; RM – recovery methods; STR –
scientific technological revolution; RTM – Real Time Mode; ORF – oil recovery
factor; GRF – gas recovery factor; CRF – condensate recovery factor; SW –
software; GIS – geoinformation systems; AHFP – abnormally high formation pressure;
AHFT – abnormally high formation temperature; IOR/EOR – improved/enhanced oil
recovery methods; RPM – reservoir pressure maintenance; BHT – bottomhole
treatment; OGFD – oil & gas field development; PO – production object (facility);
DMS – decision making system; CAD – computer-aided design; DBCS – Data Base
Control System; DACA – Data Acquisition and Control Architecture; i-field –
intelligent field; e-field – electronic field; 1G fields – first generation
fields; 2G fields – second generation fields; ADCO – Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore
Oil Operation; IAOM – Integrated Asset Operation Model; EC – Energy Components;
FDIS – Field Data Integration system; PU – Production Universe

Questions from chapter 2.

1. What is a smart oil and gas field and its main differences from the
traditional fields?
2. What distinguishes a smart field of the second generation from the first
one?
3. What are the key features for managing the development of oil fields in real
time?
4. How did the evolution of the first generation of smart fields take place
from 2002 till 2012 years?

66
 Figures and Tables to chapter 2

Fig. 2.1. Shell Smart Fields’ range of solutions [17], where HSE - Health, Safety
and Environment.

Рис 2.1. Спектр решений умного месторождения Shell

[17]

Fig. 2.2. Comparison of data processing capabilities for 1 and 2 generations [5].

67
Рис. 2.2. Сравнение возможностей обработки данных 1
и 2 поколений [5].

Fig. 2.3. Advanced Collaboration Center (АСС).

Рис 2.3. Центр управления месторождением (ЦУМ)

Fig. 2.4. Volumes of data of 3G smart fields over fiber optic cables [5].

68
 Рис 2.4. Объемы передачи данных трех поколений
умных месторождений по оптоволоконным каналам
[5].

Fig. 2.5. Dependence of the volume of data transmission of three generations smart
fields on the number of downhole sensors [5].

Рис 2.5. Зависимость объема передачи данных

трех поколений умных месторождений от числа
скважинных источников [5].

69
 Figure 2.6. Increase in the number of smart fields [1].

Рис 2.6. Динамика роста числа умных

месторождений [1].

Table 2.1. Comparison of techniques used for smart fields of 1 and 2 generations

Таблица. 2.1. Сравнение технологий,

применяемых на умных месторождениях 1 и 2
поколений

70
Table 2.2. Smart fields of 1, 2 and 3 generations - the conceptual differences [5].

Таблица 2.2. Месторождения 1, 2 и 3 поколений –

концептуальные различия [5].

71