Search

Multiphase flow metering per well - Can it be justified?

Scheers, L. / Busaidi, K. / Harper, M. / Halvorsen, M. / Wideroe, T.

Each project in the oil and gas industry has its specific requirements for production measurements. These requirements are driven by the hardware costs and the value of information obtained by the measurements (this includes the uncertainty of the measurement). MPFM's can contribute significantly to cost savings if they are used as a replacement for conventional test separators. The need for MPFM on a per well basis very much comes from other than production facility layout considerations, here sub-surface or production optimisation considerations are more dominant. For the majority of onshore developments in the Shell Group it is felt that when MPFM prices fall in the order of 40 - 60 kUS Dollar the MPFM installations per individual well become feasible at a much larger scale (provided the performance is similar to what is offered today). In the search for these low-cost, relatively small and non-nucleonic MPFM's, that also have the potential to be used in a sub-sea or downhole environment, tests have been carried out on a the new MPFM that is manufactured by FlowSys in Norway. The FlowSys meter has been extensively tested in the described test programme. The test results revealed that, within the operating envelope of the meter, relative errors in the order of +- 10 % for liquid could be achieved. For watercut measurement a distinction between oil continuous and water continuous emulsions need to be made. For oil continuous emulsions the watercut measurement is within +- 5 % (absolute) while for the water continuous emulsions +- 10 % (absolute) is a more realistic number. The test programme has shawn that the FlowSys meter is robust in the way that no operational problems of any kind or failure of any parts have been experienced and that the meter is an attractive candidate in the low-cost MPFM market.