Production ExPRESS™ rapid production response solutions achieved an oil flow of more than 1,000 bbl/d for more than 50,000 bbl produced. Nearly 100,000 bbl of water was handled for proper environmental disposal.
Production ExPRESS™ rapid production response solutions achieved an oil flow of more than 1,000 bbl/d for more than 50,000 bbl produced. Nearly 100,000 bbl of water was handled for proper environmental disposal.
An operator in the Vaca Muerta Basin of Argentina was faced with an urgent requirement to test three wells during a short period of time. To achieve early cash flow, the project required production of hydrocarbons with the gas flared and liquids stored for transport to a production facility until the completion of a planned export pipeline. Accurate data was required to maximize economic production and recovery of reserves.
An operator in the Vaca Muerta Basin of Argentina was faced with an urgent requirement to test three wells during a short period of time. To achieve early cash flow, the project required production of hydrocarbons with the gas flared and liquids stored for transport to a production facility until the completion of a planned export pipeline. Accurate data was required to maximize economic production and recovery of reserves.
Normally, most operators would install an early production facility (EPF) to handle well effluent processing until the needed infrastructure could be built. To ensure faster deployment, however, the operator turned to SLB for its express EPF offering—a key part of the Production ExPRESS solutions portfolio. Express EPF is a fully mobile solution that lets operators start production faster than conventional EPFs—it is often trailer-mounted and can be deployed rapidly for early cash flow while a dedicated infrastructure is being built.
The designed solution enabled each well to be individually tested for 24 hours using the Diligens Spectra™ mobile multiphase production testing unit. After flowing through the multiphase meter, the produced fluids were processed by a three-phase separator. The operation was done continuously each day, switching from one well to another, using different choke sizes. The production chokes were already installed on the wellheads and controlled by the operator.
The express EPF setup enabled effective fluids management: gas was flared, while oil and water were stored for later transport, with the oil trucked to a nearby processing facility and the water sent for proper environmental disposal. Using multiphase technology enabled accurate measurement during the official well tests and the opportunity to verify the data by cross-checking with those measured in the separator. This flexible and modular solution achieved oil production of more than 1,000 bbl/d with a total of 52,205 bbl of oil produced. At the same time, nearly 100,000 bbl of water was separated and disposed of properly while more than 90 MMcf of gas was flared. Data collected from the three wells helped confirm the economic feasibility of building a pipeline while Production ExPRESS solutions kept the oil flowing without losing cash flow.
The express EPF setup enabled effective fluids management: gas was flared, while oil and water were stored for later transport, with the oil trucked to a nearby processing facility and the water sent for proper environmental disposal. Using multiphase technology enabled accurate measurement during the official well tests and the opportunity to verify the data by cross-checking with those measured in the separator. This flexible and modular solution achieved oil production of more than 1,000 bbl/d with a total of 52,205 bbl of oil produced. At the same time, nearly 100,000 bbl of water was separated and disposed of properly while more than 90 MMcf of gas was flared. Data collected from the three wells helped confirm the economic feasibility of building a pipeline while Production ExPRESS solutions kept the oil flowing without losing cash flow.
