Petroleum companies are starting to make greater focus in their portfolios of promising assets on complex projects with a high level of uncertainty with regard to oil reserves and geology. Successful delivery of such projects requires new approaches to be used. One of such approaches involves employment of modular technologies in field infrastructure development that enable effective performance in the face of geology- and production-related uncertainties. The article describes the basic principles of modular strategy that have been formulated and put to use by Gazprom Neft: modular supply of ready-to-use infrastructure elements; harmonization of modular solutions; scalability – customization of a technology based on the changing operating conditions as a result of increase in well production rate and variation of physical and chemical properties of the product; ‘mobility’; and transformation of business processes with the help of modular technologies. Gazprom Neft has traveled its own path in the field of modular solutions and used the lessons learned to formulate these basic principles. As of today, the Company has designed structural and process solutions for modular oil treatment plants and mobile systems to be used at the pilot stage. In 2018, the Company started trials of these solutions at its major projects alongside with transformation of the plant design, purchase and manufacture and field development (early oil) business processes with the help of modular solutions. Only concerted delivery of the above principles will secure: short-term launch of projects due to reduced time required to design and build facilities; optimization of capital expenditures (if expected production rate is not confirmed – disassembly of elements and modules and their shipment to a different project) and minimization of venture capital in the context of high geological uncertainty; extraction of early oil; increased NPV at marginal projects.
References
1. Ismagilov R.R., Present day trends in oil and gas engineering (In Russ.), Neft'. Gaz. Novatsii, 2017, no. 9, pp. 25–30.
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