Optimizing Artificial Lift with Plantweb Advisor for DLO

Oil and Gas Artificial Lift System - UnconventionalAs more oil and gas producers consider artificial lift technologies to maximize well production, several are turning to Emerson’s PlantwebTm Advisor for Dynamic Lift Optimization (DLO) solution to optimize their lift gas flows and reduce well decline rates. This comprehensive modelling and optimization system helps streamline gas lift operations by providing field-wide optimization and management of all gas-lifted wells, automatically allocating available lift gas in real time to the most profitable wells.

Designed for closed-loop operation, the configurable Plantweb DLO solution can automatically operate at the most limiting set of constraints 100 percent of the time, responding quickly to process disturbances and equipment outages as they occur. The solution also offers a user-friendly, web-based graphical interface that allows for real-time viewing of well production and lift gas usage for faster decision-making and more efficient gas distribution during upset conditions.

When a major US oil company recognized the need for gas lift optimization for their offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, Emerson offered the Plantweb DLO software and services to provide a real-time, closed-loop optimization solution. As reported at Emerson Exchange in 2014, after just one year, the system yielded an average production increase of 8 percent and an ROI of 185 percent. The producer has also reported significant reductions in well decline rates, saving millions annually from the use of this technology. As a result, they are now implementing a pilot DLO on one of their fields in the Permian Basin that could eventually consider more than 200 wells in a single optimizer.

Emerson’s DLO solution has been implemented on more than five offshore platforms over the past decade, the biggest of which covered 115 wells. However, its most significant impact might be in onshore unconventional drilling operations, where producers can have anywhere from 200 to over 1000 wells to manage and balance lift gas flows within several pipeline and facility constraints.

Unconventional operations are a perfect fit for Emerson’s DLO solution because wells can often experience steep production declines and are subject to several interacting constraints (shared compression, pipelines, separators). This technology is currently being applied to an unconventional field that could ultimately have more than 1000 wells, making it one of the largest fields to be managed with a DLO system.

Learn more about Emerson’s Dynamic Lift Optimization solution. Click here.