Page 326 - Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production Second Edition

Production Operations and Maintenance 313

Table 12.1 Operations and maintenance in the FDP
Production Product quality specification
Contractual agreements
Capacity and availability
Concurrent operations (e.g. drilling and production)
Monitoring and control
Testing and metering
Standardisation
Flaring and venting
Waste disposal
Utilities systems
Manning Manned/unmanned operations
Accommodation
Logistics Transport
Supplies of materials
Storage
Communications Requirements for operations
Evacuation routes in emergency
Cost control Measurement and control of OPEX

crude will be metered for fiscal purposes) should be clearly stated in the FDP. In gas
sales contracts, the quantity of gas sales is specified, and any shortfall often incurs
a severe penalty to the supplier. In this situation, it is imperative that the selected
mode of operation aims to guarantee that the contract is met.
Product quality is not limited to oil and gas quality; certain effluent streams will
also have to meet a legal specification. For example, in disposal of oil in water, the
legislation in many offshore areas demands less than 40 ppm (parts per million) of oil
in water for disposal into the sea, or in some cases zero discharge of oily water to
sea. In the UK, oil production platforms are allowed to flare gas up to a legal limit.
The capacity and availability of the equipment items in the process need to be
addressed by both the process engineers and the production operations group
during the design phase of the project. Sufficient capacity and availability (as defined
in Section 16.2, Chapter 16) must be provided to achieve the production targets and
to satisfy contracts. The process and facilities engineers will design the equipment
for a range of capacities (maximum throughputs), but the mode of operation and
maintenance, as well as the performance of the equipment will determine the
availability (the fraction of the time which the item operates). Consultation with
the production operators is essential to design the right mode of operation, and to
include previous experience when estimating availability.
Concurrent operations refers to performing the simultaneous activities of produc-
tion and drilling, or sometimes production, drilling and maintenance. In some
areas simultaneous production and drilling is abbreviated to SIPROD. Clearly, the
issues which drive the operator’s decision on whether to carry out SIPROD are
safety and cost. Shutting in production whilst drilling will reduce the consequences
of a drilling incident such as a blowout, but will incur a loss of revenue.