Eni Corporate University Course

Flow Assurance

Flow Assurance: A Key Driver

C. Carniani

Cortemaggiore, February 7, 2005

 Summary

• Definiton of Flow Assurance

• The Economic Impact of Flow Assurance

• The Flow Assurance Action Plan.

• Production Chemistry and Flow Assurance.

• Review of present activities and R&D initiatives

• Conclusions
 What’s Flow Assurance ?

Flow Assurance is the ensemble of strategies necessary

for oil and gas production be continuous, safe and at the
highest return of investment

Flow Assurance deals with all aspects of engineering from

well completion to oil delivery

Therefore, it is part of Development and Production

Projects
 Economics of Flow Assurance

• Risk Analysis, Prevention and Remedial of Problems

• Reduction of:
– CAPEX at the development/design stage
– OPEX when production is in progress

• Flow Assurance is Critical for Deepwater Projects, but not

limited to them
 Economics of Flow Assurance cont’d

• CAPEX Example (Kitina, Congo)

– Standard Pipeline: 750,000 US$ per Mile

– Insulated Pipeline: 1,250,000 US$ per Mile

• OPEX Example

– Addition of Chemicals: 6 to 60 ¢ per barrel

Production Costs Estimated on the Basis of:

Dose Rate 100 to 500 ppm, Price 15 to 30 US$/gal

 Experiences from the Oil Industry

• Conoco’s Jolliet pipeline (Gulf of Mexico)

• Production 20,000 bopd
• Plugged twice for 19 days
• Costs: 10 MM USD deferred production
• 1 MM USD remediation

• Lasmo North Sea.

• Wax/hydrate blockage led to line replacement
• Costs: 10 MM USD deferred production
• 5 MM USD remediation
Experiences from the Oil Industry cont’d

• ELF Main Pass 30 sealine (Gulf of Mexico)

– Sealine 6”, 6 miles length, 1400 bopd
– Clean-out operation cost: 1.5 MM USD.
• Placid’s Green Canyon (independent producers)
– Abandoned in 1990 because of wax, hydrate and
sanding problems
– Project value: 400 MM USD
• Kitina Export Sealine:
– Stuck Pig because of 80 m3 of Wax Deposit
– 15 Days of Delayed Production at 30,000 bopd
 Production Chemistry Issues

• Fluid Properties can be a Source of Problems

• Examples:
– Asphaltenes
– Emulsions
– Hydrates
– Microbiological Issues (MIC, Reservoir Souring)
– Scale
– Wax
• In Deepwater Projects a Special Attention must be Paid to:
– Hydrates
– Wax
since both form easily at Low Temperature
 Asphaltenes
What does “asphaltene problem” mean?

20
18
Pieq [10-2 m3/d/kPa]

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
1000 10000 100000 1000000 10000000

Cumulative volume [m3]

 Asphaltenes
What does “asphaltene problem” mean?

Trecate Oil Center

Manual removal
of asphaltene from
the desalter
 Asphaltene Structure

Asphaltene Aggregate
 Asphaltene Stability

350
Stable As phalt
300
Uns table As phalt
250
Bubble Point Line
Pressure bar

200

150

100

50

0
0 50 100 150 200

Temperature °C
 Hydrate
What does “hydrate problem” mean?
Hydrate Problem Management
 Hydrate Structure

Gas + Water + High Pressure + Low Temperature = Hydrates

plus
tetradecahedron

512 pentagonal dodecahedron structure I

Hydrate Stability
 Hydrate Case Hystory
Falconara (Italy, Adriatic sea)
Falconara Sealine performance
Years 2001-2002
0.0080 20
Friction 19
0.0075
18
temperatura uscita SC2
0.0070 17
Media Mobile su 5 per. 16
0.0065 (Friction) 15

Temperatura C
Friction Factor

0.0060 14
13
0.0055 12
11
0.0050
10
0.0045 9
8
0.0040 7 Falconara Sealine performance with LDHI
0.0035
6 Years 2002-2003
0.0080 5 20.00
Friction
0.0030 4
0.0075 Temperatura in uscita SC2 18.00
01

02

02

02

02

02

02

02

02

02

02

02

02
Media Mobile su 5 per. (Friction)
2/

1/

1/

1/

1/

2/

2/

2/

2/

3/

3/

3/

3/
/1

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0
16.00
28

04

11

18

25

01

08

15

22

01

08

15

22
0.0070
Time day
14.00
Friction Factor

Temperatura C
0.0065
12.00
0.0060
10.00
0.0055
8.00

0.0050
6.00

0.0045 4.00

0.0040 2.00
02

03

03

03

03

03

03

03

03

03

03

03

03
2/

1/

1/

1/

2/
1/

2/

2/

2/

3/

3/

3/

3/
/1

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0

/0
28

04

11

18

25

01

08

15

22

01

08

15

22
Time day
 Unconventional Remedial Methods:
Some Examples

• Pigging
– Aggressive (Reinhart) Pigs
– Through Flowline Pigging (BP-Amoco Pompano Field)
• Wireline Cutting
• Coiled Tubing for Flowline Systems (from Deepstar)
• Thermal Methods: Petrobras’ SGN
• Special Chemical Treatments (Wax Inhibitors)

• All methods require work to be deployed on a particular field

 Wax
What does a wax problem mean?
Wax Structure
 Wax Control Package

ARCHITECTURE OF THE PROJECT

NUMERICAL
MODEL

LAB TESTS
FIELD MONITORING
 Scale
What does a scale problem mean?
 Scale Structure

• NaCl (Halite)

• CaCO3, SrCO3, BaCO3

• CaSO4, SrSO4, BaSO4

Ca(HCO3)2 ⇔ CaCO3 + H2O + CO2

Ba++ + SO4 -- ⇒ BaSO4