Page 330 - Hydrocarbon Exploration and Production Second Edition

Production Operations and Maintenance 317

Metering of the production for fiscal (taxation), tariffing and re-allocation
purposes may take place as the product leaves the production platform, or as it
arrives at the delivery point such as the crude oil terminal. If the export pipeline is
used by other fields (including third-party users), it would be common practice
to meter the production as it leaves the platform.
Standardisation of equipment items is an area for potential cost savings, both
in terms of CAPEX and OPEX, and is a decision which should be taken in
consultation with the production operations department at the FDP stage.
Standardisation can be applied to equipment items ranging from drilling platforms
to valves. The benefits of standardisation are

reduced design and capital costs
reduced spares stock required and less inventory management
less operating procedures, hence better safety and lower OPEX
less training required.

The drawbacks of standardisation are

less equipment available to select from (less variations possible)
fewer vendors to select from.

Flaring and venting policies will often be driven by legislation which states
maximum allowable limits for these activities. Such existing regulations must be
established at the FDP stage, but it is good practice to anticipate future legislation
and to determine whether it is worth designing this into the initial facilities. Even
if constant flaring of excess gas is avoided by gas re-injection or export, a flare or
vent system will be required to relieve the process facilities in case of shutdown.
Flaring can be performed from a fixed flare boom or from a separate, more
remote platform. Venting is usually from a separate vent jacket. Venting is more
environmentally damaging than flaring, since methane is approximately 20 times
worse as a contributor to the greenhouse effect than carbon dioxide.
Waste disposal is an aspect of the production process which must be considered at
FDP stage. This should cover all effluent streams other than the useful product
including
waste to be discharged to the sea or land (drill cuttings, drilling mud, sewage,
food, empty drums/crates/packaging, used lubricants, used coolants and fire-
fighting fluids, drain discharges)
effluents discharged to the air (hydrocarbon gases, coolant vapours, noise and
light).

The treatment of these issues will be discussed jointly with the HSE departments
within the company and with the process and facilities engineers, and their
treatment should be designed in conjunction with an EIA. Some of the important
basic principles for waste management are to

eliminate the waste at source where possible (e.g. slim-hole drilling)
re-use materials wherever possible (e.g. recycling of drilling mud)