Flow assurance has been a major problem in the development of a heavy oil field. It is not common thatthis issue has a multiplier effect from reservoir up to processing facilities, reducing productivity and in turn,increasing financial burden. Many of oil and gas operators in Indonesia have spent a lot of capital to dealwith managing complex reservoirs with severe flow assurance issues, namely high water cut, excessivelyviscous oil and its effect on fluid flow. Y Field has been produced for thirty years and currently produces 2800 BOPD with fluctuations in flowrate. This field is characterized by extreme oil viscosity, up to 4000 cP at surface condition, which leads tohigh backpressure while delivering fluid to pipeline system. This viscous oil creates unstable flow, causingunfavorable flow-pattern; slug flow to annular flow. As a result, the water and oil are not coherently arrivedat the same time at receiving facilities, leading to highly frequent occurrence of oil-water slug phenomenon.Chemical injection efforts do not show significant impact toward the production, therefore an alternativeapproach is generated to address the production problem.
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