Agile Field Development Planning: An Integrated Systems Approach

Abstract

It can take months, perhaps a year or two, to get through Front End Loading (FEL) stages of the Capital Value Process (CVP) with the current industry approaches. As the industry strives to be more efficient and faster to market in this lower for longer world, we need a different and much faster, lower risk approach without eroding value. Capturing and maximising project value while planning for risks needs to be done earlier during FEL 1 and 2. This calls for a more collaborative multidisciplinary and agile approach. To meet this challenge, agile methods have been applied to early concept selection Field Development Planning (FDP) with a focus on integration of the domains to maximise project value and success. The approach is inspired by agile project management techniques and best practices that are currently used in the automotive, aerospace, construction, software development industries, lean start-ups and others. Domains concerned in these multidisciplinary case studies include sub-surface, drilling wells & completions, facilities, subsea, marine, process & flow assurance, piping & layout, cost estimation, commercial, economic and environmental/social. These domains collaboratively define concepts that meet requirements of a minimum viable product (MVP) and integrate these to a multi-dimensional, fully representative techno-economic model where different concepts can be created and instantly evaluated. This model applies a multi-dependent systems thinking approach that incorporates inputs from all of the domains. The objective is to maximise project value, accelerate the concept selection and build momentum leading into later FEL stages. Two case studies that are currently proceeding through the CVP stages thanks to the successful application of this approach are discussed: (1) Identification of the best concept to optimise the economic outcome of production from a complex group of 350 wells intersecting multiple reservoirs. The result of this example was an 18 month acceleration in FEL stages and 30% cost saving. The FDP and finance concept delivered sub $4.50 / MMBTU FOB. (2) Deciding whether the FEED should be oriented towards simultaneous or sequential production for the development of two marginal offshore satellite fields. The final concept showed excellent economic performance and further optimization with >30% IRR at $50/bbl.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90328 © 2018 AAPG Middle East Region GTW, Maximizing Asset Value: Integrating Geoscience with Reservoir Management & Facilities Optimization, Muscat, Oman, April 30 – May 1, 2018