A Fully Autonomous Flare Control Through Well Management System

Abstract Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is dedicated to implementing sustainable practices through digitalization of oil and gas operation, with a current focus on reducing hydrocarbon emissions. Corporate goal is to minimize emissions from Gas lift (GL) wells, ensuring environmental responsibility while maintaining production efficiency. To achieve production targets while preventing unnecessary flaring, high (Gas Oil Ratio) GOR wells are closed or partially choked by Operation engineers manually but being vigilant hasn't proven to give optimum results. This paper details the successful implementation of autonomous flare control at a single station utilizing a well management system (WMS). Following the effective execution of the Flare Limit Control project within the WMS, a comprehensive change management strategy was deployed. Operations engineers were empowered to configure, update, and remove wells from the automated flare control scope within the WMS. Autonomous well control was achieved through continuous flare monitoring in the WMS. High Gas-Oil Ratio (GOR) wells were closed when the flare limit was exceeded, and the last closed wells were automatically reopened once the flare was reduced. Through meticulous analysis, significant improvements were noted in reducing hydrocarbon emissions, saving on deferment and huge time saving following the project's implementation. The total yearly benefit is estimated to be around 185,000 USD from increased wells' uptime and time saving from one station. An additional 0.08% cost saving is estimated from additional CAPEX to reduce CO2 emissions as per PDO corporate target. Following improvements have contributed to value estimation from automated flare control: 8% more uptime from wells which are part of flare control logic.4% engineers' time saving33% of flare reduction The Flare control HMI (Human Machine Interface) screen offers Operation engineers a user-friendly interface, equipped with essential and informative details. The interface empowers them to effectively control flare automatically, ensuring not only minimal emissions but also reducing deferment and time saving. The implementation of new technologies has supported in overcoming operational challenges and efficiently managing the flare. An autonomous and intelligent logic has been introduced for controlling flare in real-time taking a bold step in digital transformation journey of PDO.