Asset Management for Critical Upstream Processes

As oil is increasingly difficult to locate and recover, production must increase from all reservoirs, including from older fields. Simultaneously, facilities are taking steps to reduce costs or keep operating budgets flat.

Increased production requirements and cost reduction present oil producers with some major challenges. For example, oil producers must determine the best way to balance spare parts availability and control inventory costs. Additionally, adequately and accurately planning maintenance can be a challenge. This problem is exacerbated when useful equipment condition data is not available. If the information is available, the expertise to properly analyze and react is not, which can happen as more engineers retire and take decades of experience with them.

Asset management programs are designed to address these issues, while allowing facilities to allocate funds for a planned maintenance spend and remove the uncertainty from operating budgets. The visibility gained into the actual operating conditions in the plant or pipeline, combined with the expertise brought to bear through the program, result in efficiencies and maximized uptime.

In water injection and pipeline pump applications, asset management programs can help critical assets continue to help meet oil production demand. Water injection is widely employed to get the last available drop of oil out of older fields, while pipeline pumps ensure the oil is moving to market. If either asset were to experience downtime, it could carry massive financial implications.

Technology Enables Modern Asset Management Programs

Condition monitoring is not a new concept, but modern asset management programs go beyond collecting the data. These programs deliver a comprehensive view of an entire system, including analysis and diagnostics, enabling operators to do more with less while increasing visibility to previously unheard-of levels.