At TIBCO’s sold-out Energy Forum (#TIBCOEF15) in Houston on September 1-2, 2015, nearly 500 customers were present and shared their excitement and success stories about how TIBCO Spotfire drives data analytics-based decision-making in their organizations.
Let’s share some of the learnings from Spotfire customers on how they use Spotfire and its visual data analytics capabilities in oil and gas operations.
Real-Time Analytics Solution for Artificial Lift Surveillance
A major oil and gas company presented their real-time analytics solution for monitoring the health of electrical submersible pumps (ESPs) in operating wells. In wells that are producing hydrocarbons, quite often the fluid is produced using some artificial lift methods to assist the hydrocarbon extraction from the well. One of the most common methods is using ESPs that simply sit inside the well and pump the fluid. The run life of these pumps is affected by a variety of factors, such as ESP operating temperature, depositions, corrosion etc. Typically, human operators keep a watchful eye (ESP Surveillance) on parameters such as electrical parameters and downhole pressures to prevent failures, extend equipment life, and keep up with the planned production. More than 500 wells per ESP surveillance personnel meant that there was a high chance for misses, and an automated surveillance system and dashboard had to be developed for operational efficiency.
A surveillance system was designed to store the surveillance data (including data from the ESPs) in OSI-PI data historian. Models were developed using Spotfire through visual data analysis and leading indicators were identified. This knowledge and these indicators were used to present notifications and alerts using TIBCO Event Analytics. Users then investigate and initiate preemptive field actions. This surveillance system has already created a lot of value by reducing production losses and preventing equipment damage, and will be extended to include other types of artificial lift methods, as well.
Well Maintenance Operations
Another customer was presented with unique challenge of providing the field with a dashboard of economic thresholds that should be crossed before the field goes ahead with the decision to repair well failures. A solution built on TIBCO Spotfire was developed that allowed bringing in information from disparate data sources such as WellView, ProCount and Excel worksheets into a single environment for analysis and reporting of well failure rates. This tool is available to the users via an intranet where they can monitor well usage and make adjustments if usage lags compared to expectations.
Well Economics & Asset Evaluation
To measure the impact and financial performance of maintenance operations, customers showed how they are using Spotfire dashboards to track KPIs such as budget vs. actual comparisons in well operations.
In fact, companies use Spotfire for a variety of financial analytics and operations modeling. For example, R. Lacy. Inc. uses Spotfire to estimate oil reserves and resource plays. Based on the historical oil output data for existing wells, models such as Modified Arps can be fitted to accurately predict the estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) of the well. Accurate estimation of EUR is very important and is part of a reserves evaluation that forms the basis for many financial decisions that span from strategy to operations.
Register for the “Energy Forum Recap Webinar” to see what was presented.
Check out Part 1 of the Energy Forum Recap blog series here.
