Petroleum Production Operations: an In-Depth Understanding of Oil and Gas Production Operations

Introduction

Petroleum Production Operations is a critical part of the upstream oil and gas sector. There is a significant and growing emphasis in the sector on selecting the optimum well design and equipment in order to maximise the efficiency of oil and gas recovery in a cost-effective manner. The essence of production engineering is to ensure oil and gas wells are flowing and continue to be economically viable by monitoring and evaluating the production and efficiency of the wells.

Petroleum Production Operations training course will cover fundamental concepts of the oil and gas production cycle. The course will begin with a revision of Reservoir Engineering fundamentals and how to predict production performance, focusing then on the effect of good completion in production and finally concentrating on the most common operations and well interventions.

Delegates attending the Petroleum Production Operations training course will develop the following competencies:

• Historical production practices as well as current technological advances to maximize oil and gas production and overall resource recovery.
• Apply a logical approach to learn safe, least cost, integrated analytical skills to successfully define and manage oil and gas operations.
• Applied skills to guide the participants with a framework to make careful, prudent, technical oil, and gas business decisions.

Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Become conversant with petroleum production operations
• Develop empathy for the challenges faced by the industry related to production operations
• Develop the vocabulary and understanding of roles necessary to facilitate discussions with other professionals on production operations

Training Methodology

This is an interactive course. There will be open question and answer sessions, regular group exercises and activities, videos, case studies, and presentations on best practice. Participants will have the opportunity to share with the facilitator and other participants on what works well and not so well for them, as well as work on issues from their own organizations. The online course is conducted online using MS-Teams/ClickMeeting.

Who Should Attend?

This training course is suitable for a wide range of professionals, but will be particularly beneficial for:

• Petroleum and Reservoir Engineers
• Drilling and Completion Engineers
• Production Operations and Facilities Staff
• Geologists
• Field Technicians
• Field Supervisors and Managers
• Service Company Engineers and Managers
• Engineers starting a work assignment in production engineering and operations
• Engineers seeking a well-rounded foundation in production engineering

Course Outline

Day 1: How Reservoir Properties Affect Production

• Overview of Production Engineering
• Geology and Production
• Rock Properties
• Fluid Properties
• Reservoir Driving Mechanisms
• Reserves
• Geological model

Day 2: Optimization of Well Production System by Nodal Analysis Technique

• Well testing methods
• Well deliverability nodal analysis (inflow/outflow)
• Tubing performance
• Flow-through chokes
• Modeling

Day 3: Completion Design

Upper Completion

• Casing string and suspension
• Cementing operations
• Tubing selection
• Wellheads and Xmas trees
• Safety valves
• Multilaterals

Lower Completion

• Introduction to sand control
• Gravel pack design
• Perforations design and applications

Day 4: Selection and Design of Artificial Lift

• ESPs
• Gas lift
• PCPs
• Beam pumps
• Hydraulic pumps
• Pumps / Compressors: centrifugal, positive displacement, rotary, reciprocating, ejectors

Day 5: Production Operations

Formation damage and methods of well stimulation

• Matrix acidizing
• Hydraulic fracturing
• Corrosion control
• Scale deposition, removal, and prevention
• Acid gas treatment: coatings, closed system, chemicals, solvents, conversion; stress cracking
• Well intervention: Wireline, hydraulic workover units, and coiled tubing

Surface facilities

• Properties of fluids at the surface
• Oil-water- gas – solids – contaminants
• Flowlines, piping, gathering systems; solids and liquid limits
• Storage tanks, gun barrels, pressure/vacuum relief, and flame arrestors
• Integrated surface production system; separation and treatment (multi-phase separators, management of produced and wastewaters, gas processing)
• Stabilizers
• Removal of foams, emulsions, paraffin, asphaltenes, hydrates, and salts
• Water management: SP packs, plate interceptors, gas floatation, coalescers, hydrocyclones and membranes