Field Development Planning
Course Overview
The course is teaching the methodology and the petroleum engineering skills needed to plan the life cycle of gas and oil fields from the discovery, through the assessment phase, the project and development phases, the field operations period and the abandonment phase. It addresses topics as reserve and recovery estimation, reservoir depletion, production scheduling, number of wells and well placement, planning of production gathering and testing systems, designing well construction, well and production system performance, field processing facilities and export product control.
The course introduces the concept of Integrated Field Management, including performance and optimization of field production from the reservoir to the export point.
Course Objectives
- To provide a comprehensive overview of the steps required to achieve an optimal field development plan with accurate lifecycle cost estimates for oil and gas developments
- To gain an appreciation of the key project drivers
- To understand how various disciplines interact to maximise project value and mitigate financial and technical risk
- To understand all aspects of the field development planning beginning with discovery of an oil or gas field through to defining what is required for project sanction and execution
- To understand the data needed to develop or redevelop an oil or gas field, and the additional information that could be collected to improve value and reduce risk
- To understand the many options available to develop a field including methods of increasing oil and gas recovery from the reservoir, ways of increasing production rates, drilling, completion and facilities choices. Onshore & offshore developments will be covered, including subsea, platform & extended reach developments
- To consider Safety & Environmental issues
- To be able to estimate & track costs and recognise the importance of planning
- To understand the nomenclature and terminology used in the industry (i.e. what other disciplines are talking about)
- Real Field examples and TurningPoint technology will be used to enhance learning
Course Outline
Introduction and How to Prepare a Field Development Plan
- Life cycle of an oil and gas field
- Industry trends in oil and gas projects
- Hydrocarbon accumulations and their discovery
- Stage gate project processes
- The Field Development Planning Process
- Reserves and resources
- Key drivers
- Evaluating and mitigating risk & uncertainty
- Organisational structures
- Assurance and the use of analogues
The Resource – Collecting and Evaluating Data for a discovered oil/gas field
- Seismic techniques and how they can improve outcomes
- Determining the key rock properties – porosity, water saturation & contacts
- Estimating hydrocarbons in place
- Determining permeability
- Methods of estimating recoverable volumes including analogues, decline curves material balance and reservoir simulation
- The workflow for geologic modelling followed by simulation
- Do we need more information, are appraisal wells needed?
How to produce it – Evaluating the different development options
- Recovering oil and gas from the reservoir – including primary, secondary and tertiary recovery for oil, and compression and recycling for gas
- Methods of getting more oil & gas out of the reservoir including acidisation, hydraulic fracturing, horizontal and multilateral wells
- Differences associated with carbonate, sandstone and naturally fractured reservoirs
- Lifting oil (& water) to the surface by natural flow and artificial lift methods
- Issues to consider such as liquid loading, corrosion, scale and increased water production, and how these problems can be prevented or resolved
Facilities Options and Project Execution
- Onshore developments with vertical and deviated wells
- Flowlines and flow assurance issues
- Process facilities – oil, gas and water plant
- Well testing options
- Export and sales options for oil & gas
- Risks and opportunities associated with Brownfield sites
- Offshore developments – Platforms and deeper water options
- Subsea developments
- Cost estimation and uncertainties
- Project economics
- Safety & Environment – Identifying and minimising risk
- Class Case Studies

$250.00
$2500.00
$3200.00
- 6848 Views
- 8 Weeks Online
- 1-2 Weeks Classes
- Certified