With an estimated $400 billion to be invested in the Middle East on upstream facilities, members of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) gathered in Dubai recently in a workshop entitled, "Unlocking Production Capacities and Maximizing Value of Production Facilities."
The event drew 23 Saudi Aramco professionals among the 80 in attendance, according to a press release on the company's website.
Southern Area Oil Operations and technology groups from Shell International joined SPE in hosting the workshop, co-chaired by Hani H Al-Khalifa, a process engineer in North Ghawar Producing.
On the first day, Abdullah N. Helal, manager of North Ghawar Producing shared some of the biggest challenges the industry will soon face. They include capping field costs, reliability of aging facilities, environmental regulations and development of expertise.
Al-Helal talked about some of the ways Saudi Aramco is approaching the challenges and called for "a collective discussion to come up with innovative ideas" to address those issues.
One session began with presentations by Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations on different views to tackle them. The group divided into four breakout sessions, each focusing on one challenge. The results of the discussions were shared in reports to the main group.
In an oil, water and gas systems session, five applications of new technologies and case studies were covered in presentations from representatives of Maersk Oil Qatar, Petroleum Development Oman, Zakum Development Co. and Kuwait Oil Co.
New applications of cutting edge technologies were discussed, such as inline separators to debottleneck existing facilities. The audience members exchanged their knowledge of ways to expand the processing capacity of existing facilities.
Surface and subsurface integration was brought to the discussion of production systems optimization. As many fields are maturing, operations become more and more complicated. Smart wells, maximum reservoir contact wells and real-time monitoring require closer integration between production facilities and subsurface operations.
One main recommendation was to form a Council for Technologies for six-member states of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is comprised of Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
The Council for Technologies will facilitate the exchange of experience of testing and applying new technologies among GCC oil/gas producing companies.
Efficient use of the latest technologies was deemed essential to being able to meet current and future challenges.
