Backpressure Minimization as Objective Function for Production Optimization in Absence of Wells Performance.

Abstract In the Oil & Gas sector, the production optimization is one of the most challenging problem, since it involves many operational variables linked by complex relationships. Moreover, during the asset life cycle those parameters could change. Conflicts and interactions between variables, constraints, and operational limitations could be solved holistically by an optimization tool based on an Evolutionary Algorithm. The algorithm searches for the optimum field configuration from the operational point of view, leading to the production maximization. Eni Production Department developed a tool based on this algorithm for management and optimization of surface asset hardly focused on field viewpoint. e-Rabbit (Risked Algorithm for Biogenetical Balance Integration Tool) provides integration for reservoir, well, network and process models. The present work has been developed to overcome a recurrent problem in the Oil & Gas business: the lack of data. There are many cases in which this situation occurs, for example in old fields where measurement tools and digitalization are not so widespread or in assets characterized by many wells and complex gathering systems, in which the detail on well performances could not be available. e-Rabbit, to perform its optimization, requires that information so, under those conditions, somehow, it is necessary to find another way to be able to optimize and manage the surface asset. A novel technique to optimize the whole production system has been introduced, whose objective function rely on backpressure minimization. To verify its effectiveness two case studies have been analyzed comparing the proposed optimal configuration with the output of the classical e-Rabbit - optimization.