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Formulations for automatic optimization of decommissioning timing in offshore oil and gas field development planning

Abstract

A mathematical programming formulation has been developed to optimize the drilling program, the production allocation, and the decommissioning time in early-stage field development planning. Various abandonment constraints are considered in the optimization model when searching for the best decommissioning time for the long-term field development strategy. The model is tested on a real field development planning consisting of two reservoirs produced with subsea wells to an offshore facility. The novelty of this work is the utilization of mathematical programming to formulate and solve early-stage field development planning considering the variable decommissioning time. The results show that considering a variable decommissioning time in early-stage field development planning yields improved economic margins. Further, it provides operators a decision-support tool with enhanced capabilities of forecasting the best decommissioning time, improving the forecasts for processing and production planning, expected revenue and lifetime of facilities, and anticipating and preparing for field abandonment in advance. The optimization model is capable of determining the drilling and production schedules, and the optimal decommissioning time that yielded the maximum net present value for the project.
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Category

Academic article

Language

English

Author(s)

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Industry / Sustainable Energy Technology
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Year

2022

Published in

Computers and Chemical Engineering

ISSN

0098-1354

Volume

165

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository