Integrated well-path and surface-facility optimization for shallow-water oil and gas field developments

摘要

Following the discovery of an offshore oil or gas field, extensive facilities must be built to drill, produce and transport the hydrocarbon from the reservoir to a plant for processing. Selecting the site, number and size of these facilities is one of the most crucial decisions in developing the field - impacting not only the total investment, but also the ultimate recovery. Due to the complexity of the task, several numerical methods have been proposed to aid in the development of offshore fields. However, typical approaches consider surface facilities or well paths in isolation, or rely on highly idealized representations of both to plan the field development.