Process control for energy production enters deeper waters: A new SAM extends the reach of controllers for use in subsea applications

摘要

The oil industry's frontier lies in ultra-deep ocean zones that until recently were considered too treacherous for drilling. But a variety of highly specialized technologies - including innovative control and communications applications - enable oil companies to afford-ably extract crude from primordial rock 8 km (5 miles) below sea level. Using systems uniquely engineered to connect subsea assets and topside controls, major producers have tapped into remote mother lodes buried offshore Brazil and West Africa as well as in the Gulf of Mexico. Near the Texas coast, for example, a reservoir roughly equal to the size of Houston holds enough oil and natural gas to produce up to 130,000 b/d. That compares to approximately 6,000 b/d for the average well on Saudi Arabian sands. Advanced control and communications systems are equally essential to help maximize hydrocarbon recovery from brownfields, which remain major investments for offshore oil and gas companies. In fact, a major producer today may spend as much as 70% of its annual budget to keep oil flowing from mature subsea sites. Systems integrator CSE W-Industries has played a critical role in helping global oil companies expand into extreme underwater environments and extend the life of aging offshore wells. The company has an installed base of more than 60 master control stations (MCSs) - the brains that govern operations in subsea wells.