I caught an old episode of MASH the other night and couldn’t help but reflect that Production Engineer’s are really the triage specialists for oilfield operations. They often have hundreds of wells, producing from different reservoirs, with varied fluid & subsurface properties, different life stages and different recovery methods. It’s not uncommon that there are more wells with downtime (or production issues) than an engineer can deal with in one day. These situations call for a structured triage approach to make the best time-sensitive decisions. This can’t be done without timely access to reliable data coming from multiple integrated datasets… and the freedom to explore that data through unscripted analyses. That’s why we created VERDAZO, and we spoke about that in our last blog. There are four main benefits to having a structured triage approach:

1. Consistent communication and focus across the operations team.
2. Efficient use of resources -> ensures that resources are deployed where they are having the most impact.
3. Provides the foundation for Asset Reviews and reduces prep-time for Asset reviews (see how an operator saved >$175,000 a year) 
4. Becomes the backbone for Automated Notifications that can alert team members of issues based on specified criteria.

A Triage Approach to Production Operations

Triage is fundamentally a culling process that’s based on prioritization criteria (similar to “manage by exception”). Medical triage approaches vary, but a common example is the ABCDE approach that prioritizes based on Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability and Exposure. While I would expect that each production engineer has triage criteria in their head, it’s a process that’s worth discussing with your operations team. Having a common approach goes a long way to adding efficiency and consistency in communication across the entire team. Some additional considerations that can be incorporated in decision triage are:

-    Environmental impacts
-    Reactive (time sensitive) vs Proactive (optimization)
-    Recovery impacts (e.g., the longer a well is down in a waterflood, the more water it has to pump out to get back to its expected oil production rate)
-    Controllable vs Uncontrollable (e.g., consistent issues with non-operated assets → reassess operational responsibility)
-    Spatial location (tackling several wells in the same area could be an efficient use of resources)
-    Strategic objectives (e.g., equipment replacement, emissions reduction)

Environmental Health & Safety considerations are typically top priority (e.g., Is there a spill near a river? Are there health or safety risks to staff or the public?). After that, it usually falls to the production engineer’s discretion with support from field operations. But it is more complicated than just getting production back online, it constantly requires looking at things from three perspectives: Production Performance, Profitability and Performance to Plan

1. Production Performance → reduce downtime, maximize production and identify reoccurring patterns.
2. Profitability → optimize netback, minimize operating expenses & spot accounting issues.
3. Performance to Plan → ensure cash flow is there to support upcoming activities and avoid potential reserve write-downs (also a great way to catch wells that have production issues with limited downtime). Watch 6-Min Video Performance to Plan HERE

Each of these performance perspectives requires access to integrated data from multiple systems. With that in place, the most efficient and effective way to triage wells is using Diagnostic Workflows. It’s worth taking the time to get your data health in order and to create the necessary Diagnostic Measures that can be used to speed up the triage process. I’ll use a Production Performance example to demonstrate the three data elements that should drive every diagnostic workflow:

1. Diagnostic Measures are used to identify and rank problem wells (e.g. Lost Production = the estimated production volume, or value, that was missed due to downtime)
2. Contextual Measures provide supporting information that can contribute to ranking problem wells (e.g., Capability = the production rate, on a particular day, that I should expect from the well if it were producing 24 hours → you might address wells with higher capability first)
3. Category Attributes (for group by) can help you understand what is causing the issue and contribute to identifying patterns (e.g., Last Downtime Reason = explains the nature of the problem and identifies other wells that share the same problem).

Diagnostic Workflows

The common steps in every diagnostic workflow include:

• What are the biggest opportunities?
• Which opportunities have the greatest impact?

2. Inform & Assess

• What is the cause? 
• Can I do anything about this?
• Is this a recurring problem?

3. Investigate

3P Performance Matrix

Words of Wisdom

1. Build a compelling visual narrative: Use multiple charts to build an understanding and properly inform decisions. One chart is rarely enough. In this example I can see on the chart on the left that early production was well below forecast. The chart on the right shows a cumulative view that confirms that the well has recovered and is on track to be above forecast.

Source: Dishwashing Robots blog

2. Use your data differently for optimization insights: In this example, from a client, they time normalize the data to the last fluid level measurement and plot Pump Strokes per Minute vs Fluid Level. This provides guidance for operational actions, and capital spend options, to optimize production performance.

3. Be Creative: In this example, from a client, they look at the Payout (point of free cashflow) for individual wells in a development project by time normalizing the wells to first production and then looking at negative time to see when capital spending started and how long it took to get to first production. Individual wells reach free cashflow when they cross the zero line. The average of all the wells is shown with the black dashed line.

This next example shows the same information in elapsed time as above and shows how long the entire development program took to reach fee cash flow.

This last example shows Realized Oil Price (revenue/volume) for a collection of wells over time. It serves as a diagnostic tool by identifying cost centres that deviate from the trend, where low values suggest that not all the revenue was booked for a sales volume.

Conclusions

The bottom-line benefits of an integrated, structured Triage approach to operations are multi-faceted. Deploying resources in the most efficient way, with the greatest impact to production performance and profitability, becomes the backbone of sustained operational improvements. It is the backbone of day-to-day activities that ultimately align with Asset Reviews, saving prep-time and resources. It supports the use of automation (notifications and alerts) needed to achieve production growth without adding new resources.

1. Consistent communication and focus across the operations team.
2. Efficient use of resources -> ensures that resources are deployed where they are having the most impact.
3. Provides the foundation for Asset Reviews and reduces pre-time for Asset reviews (see how an operator saved >$175,000 a year) 

4)    Becomes the backbone for Automated Notifications that can alert team members when certain criteria are met.

About Bertrand Groulx

Bertrand Groulx is a well-respected oil and gas industry expert with almost 30 years of experience driving innovation and developing advanced solutions. He possesses deep knowledge and understanding of data analytics in the sector, which has allowed him to deliver unparalleled enhancements to Omnira Software's VERDAZO and MOSAIC software products. Bertrand's extensive accomplishments in the public and private sectors and his scientific publications and presentations on machine learning, visual analytics, and completion optimization have made him a thought leader. With a B.S. Honors in Geology and Geology and Geomorphology from the University of British Columbia, Bertrand focuses on enhancing Omnira Software's business intelligence and discovery analytics products in his current role, particularly the VERDAZO platform's growth and development. As a blog author, Bertrand shares his unique expertise and insights, offering valuable knowledge and guidance to industry professionals seeking to stay at the forefront of the constantly evolving oil and gas landscape.