Tough Problems Solved

Global geopolitical forces are creating a highly volatile, rapidly fluctuating crude oil and gas market at the same time that competition for dwindling resources is driving the need for lower operating costs and increased efficiency. With many large-scale oil reservoirs extending over several hundred square miles, companies face a logistical challenge to monitor and maintain a multitude of wells that may be susceptible to problems such as sand production, which can clog pipes and result in losses as high as $15 million per well. Compounding the problem is the fact that oil wells often differ in type, equipment configuration and age, requiring different levels and types of monitoring and maintenance that can increase costs.

Since late 2003 researchers at IBM Research have been working with IBM Global Business Services and a IBM Global Business Services client to develop an intelligent oil field (IOF) surveillance system that helps companies to proactively manage their oil operations. Independent analysts at Cambridge Energy Research Associates predict that widespread adoption of technology such as IOF could result in $4 to $8 billion in annual operating savings for the oil and gas industry.

The IBM IOF system uses sensors to collect real-time data from each individual well in the field. Learning algorithms analyze the data and identify complex data patterns that can signal potential problems. With each field capable of producing more than a terabyte of data each day, including information on everything from pump performance and fluid composition to temperature and pressure change, the IBM IOF system is specifically designed for large-volume data access and analysis. Transmitting the data across unconnected, disparate architectures can slow interdepartmental communication. In the intelligent oil field concept, data remains at the source; meta-data is transmitted across the infrastructure and fused and analyzed with multiple data streams around the clock in near real time, helping companies to more accurately predict and prevent costly occurrences such as pump failure. Autonomic data analysis runs unaided, providing early warnings of many critical issues, such as sand breakthrough, fluid composition changes or gas and water breakthrough. Irregular patterns can be detected and transmitted to the appropriate person for investigation. Spatiotemporal archiving provides critical historical benchmarks for data analysis, while anomalous and failure pattern storage improves detection accuracy over time and helps create a learning machine that can manage massive quantities of constantly changing data on the fly.

As competition for oil supplies drives companies to explore and produce in harsh, remote and sometimes hostile locations, skilled personnel are becoming more scarce and expensive. IBM’s IOF technology helps in monitoring and controlling more oil field operations from a remote location, enabling companies to use fewer people on-site and on-platform, potentially lowering risks and costs. Adopting IOF technology can help companies to more productively and profitably manage fields worldwide from centralized, distant locations, such as Houston or London.

In addition, IOF's ability to "learn" from each problem resolution provides a means for transferring the knowledge from the most experienced oil field personnel to their more junior counterparts, pointing them in the right direction for investigation. The facilitation of knowledge transfer can help protect companies' intellectual capital as seasoned employees reach retirement age.

One large oil production company has analyzed the IBM IOF technology and is planning a live pilot on more than 30 oil wells. IBM is also in discussions with several other major oil firms over using IOF in their operations. The technology used in IOF could also be applied in the public health industry, where it could use data on over-the-counter drug sales to help predict regional flu outbreaks, or the automotive industry, where it could help analyze warranty claims to spot parts failure.

For more information on using IBM's intelligent oil field technology to help optimize oil and gas operations, contact IBM Research Services today.