Technology Transfer Through Integrated Production Engineering Software

As the hand-held calculator revolutionized the capabilities of engineers 20 years ago, the desk-top computer is revolutionizing technology transfer in engineering practice today. For example, more than 10,000 independent oil/gas producers in the U.S., most of whom have difficulty gaining access to the most updated technology, rely on personal computers to keep up with the explosion of information and engineering process developments. In almost all petroleum companies, technical staffs are becoming small, and often, one or a few engineers serve as geologists and reservoir, drilling, and production engineers. Their needs demand software that is up to date, easy to understand and use, and able to run on small computers. This paper presents an integrated production software system, that can assist a production engineer with the design of an optimal well production system and can be used as training and technology transfer aids. Based on the new book Petroleum Production Systems, the software focuses on production engineering diagnosis and design tasks in reservoir inflow performance and well deliverability, skin identification and calculation, multiphase flow in pipes, well testing analysis, hydraulic fracturing design, acidizing design and artificial life design. The latest models and correlations describing these processes are incorporated in the package.