Many gas fields in Southeast Asia are characterized by relatively small, highly compartmentalized gas accumulations distributed across a wide geographic area. Companies operating in these fields typically manage hundreds of wells in addition to multibranched field networks. The operational complexity of these fields makes it difficult to optimize current production and estimate future production.
Engineers at PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) used MATLAB®and Optimization Toolbox™ to develop software that maximizes gas field production and generates accurate medium-term and long-term production forecasts while accounting for strict operational constraints.
“Neither manual calculations nor commercially available software applications provided a practical solution to the optimization challenge we faced,” says Peerapong Ekkawong, petroleum engineer at PTTEP. “Building our own solution in-house with MATLAB and Optimization Toolbox enabled us to increase production by thousands of barrels per day while saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in software costs.”