American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2023 - 5

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Q&A: How to Combat Complex Production
& Processing Challenges in US Land
For many US land operators, there's a constant struggle to balance time, resources,
and budget when it comes to finding the right solutions for optimizing well production.
SLB's Serdar Atmaca, Business Development Manager - Digital Ops Solutions,
and Chun Kwok, Solutions Delivery Lead - Production Engineering, explain
how Production & Process Engineering Consulting Services give independent US
operators a streamlined, cost-effective roadmap for reducing deferred production,
increasing well up-time, and optimizing facility designs.
What challenges are operators in
the Lower 48 facing when it comes to
optimizing production?
Serdar Atamaca (SA): US land operators are
running tight on resources, especially when it
comes to personnel. Employees are having to
juggle their time, often between multiple roles
and responsibilities, and any deviation from the
status quo means that they need to take their
focus away from other tasks-and that means
more of a squeeze.
Chun Kwok (CK): To take some of the stress
off their team, we're also seeing operators
purchasing a new software solution for, say,
well modeling, another application for surface
network modeling, a consulting team to tackle
operational challenges like emissions, and so
on. But the process of figuring out what solutions
you need, finding and vetting vendors, getting
a quote, going through the approval process,
and completing training? That can take months.
Multiply that by several applications or thirdparty
service contracts, and you can see what
operators are up against.
SA: Absolutely. That's the main challenge. If
you're not a supermajor, you simply don't have
the time or the resources to onboard a new
application. This alone can be the biggest
bottleneck in many projects.
What are SLB's Production & Process
Engineering Consulting Services?
SA: Our goal with the Production & Process
Engineering Consulting Services was to provide
all the tools that we know US land operators need
in a single package. We bundled together some
of the most impactful production workflows,
paired them with cutting-edge tech from SLB,
and added in support from our engineers who
have deep domain and application expertise.
CK: All the operator needs to do is upload their
data. Seriously, that's it. Our team handles all
the modeling and analysis, and we often use a
combination of all the software we have at
our disposal-like Olga dynamic multiphase flow
simulator, Pipesim steady-state multiphase flow
simulator, and Symmetry process simulation
software-to find the best, most accurate results.
That in-house expertise in the domain and the
application means we can deliver results faster
and more cost-effectively than if an operator or
external engineering company did it themselves.
SA: We're like a one-stop shop. Thanks to our
size and resources, we can do everything from
software deployment to solution deployment to
support to training.
What are some of the most valuable
workflows found in the Production & Process
Engineering Consulting Services?
CK: The two main categories of workflows we
offer are well modeling and surface network
modeling. Our well modeling workflows help
improve well performance, designing well
startup or shut-in and finding the right artificial
lift technique, the right method, the right tubing
size. At the surface network level, we added
workflows to optimize network design. For
instance, if we upsize the pipeline, we can
reduce the size of the pumps, compressor, and
equipment, but at the same time that largerdiameter
pipe also increases cost. We take
a holistic approach to find the right balance
between cost, emissions, safety,
and productivity.
SA: Some other workflows we offer involve
understanding and deferring thermal concerns
on the insulation of the pipelines. Which
insulation will mitigate flow assurance issues?
Or another hot topic today is emissions. How
can we better manage your entire facility to
have minimal or no emissions-and how does
that impact your operations across upstream,
midstream, and downstream?
What other additional benefits do
these services offer?
SA: Again, time is tight, so we made this
offering as straightforward as possible-and
that includes price. There are no surprises; we
list the pricing right on our ecommerce site so
operators know exactly what they're getting
into. Not only are our costs competitive, but
our expertise means we can deliver faster than
competitors. We operate on a day rate, so when
we deliver in a shorter time frame, we charge
less. Period.
CK: We've talked about access to our highcaliber
engineering team, but we also have
unlimited access to our own applications.
Most external companies have a set number
of licenses-another bottleneck. Plus, we
work under the same roof as our application
development teams, so we can ask specific,
detailed questions and get answers
immediately-and also provide input on
customer-requested features that can be added
into future releases.
Do you have to be a petrotechnical expert
to use these services?
CK: There's no real work needed on the
operator's side. All they have to do is upload
their data. We provide all the data requirements
in advance so that the operator knows exactly
what data we need from them before they even
contact us. US land operations move at a fast
pace, and we didn't want operators to waste
valuable time hunting down this information-
though they're certainly welcome to contact us if
they'd like hands-on support.
SA: And we mean that, too. Customers can
reach out directly to our team at any time,
without needing to go through a complicated
structure like the do with big EPC companies.
How does one begin using SLB's Production
& Process Engineering Consulting Services?
SA: It's easy. Once you register on commerce.
slb.com/prod, you just add your payment details
and upload the required data. That's it!
Visit commerce.slb.com/prod
to learn more.
http://commerce.slb.com/prod http://commerce.slb.com/prod http://commerce.slb.com/prod
American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2023

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