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Emerson Process Management and its Roxar business unit are celebrating the 25-year anniversary of downhole monitoring solutions, generating reliable and real-time downhole temperature, pressure and flow information from some of the world’s most remote offshore fields. The first Roxar PDMS (Permanent Downhole Monitoring System) was installed on Statoil's Gullfaks A field in 1987 and, twenty-five years on, close to 1,400 Roxar downhole gauges have been installed worldwide. The instrumentation gives operators increased insight into their production operations, resulting in the addressing of threats to flow assurance and optimal reservoir performance.
In addition to Roxar PDMS and the Roxar downhole HS gauges, designed to operate in temperatures of up to 225°C, other downhole solutions include the Intelligent Downhole Network (IDN), which allows operators to install up to 32 instruments on a single cable; the Roxar Downhole Wireless PT Sensor System, which measures pressure behind the well casing in subsea wells; the recently launched Roxar Downhole Flow Sensor System, which, for the first time, generates multiphase flow measurements from downhole in the well; and Emerson’s production management software, Roxar Fieldwatch, which acts as a standard operator interface and analysis tool for all downhole instrumentation.
“It’s a real testament to the reliability and innovation of our solutions that we have led the way in downhole monitoring for so long – and at a time when more remote, deeper and more geologically complex offshore fields have only increased the operational challenges,” said Terje Baustad of Emerson Process Management. “In continuing to push the reservoir’s boundaries and through our latest innovations, we are bringing operators unrivalled insight and control over their production operations. We look forward to continuing to set the standards over the next 25 years.”
The Roxar brand’s leading position in downhole monitoring began in 1987 when Smedvig and Lasalle Pressure Data Services joined forces to form IPR AS, leading to the deployment of monitoring solutions on Statoil's Gullfaks A field. In 1990, Roxar (then known as Smedvig) became the sole owner of the PDMS business and in 2009, Roxar was acquired and became a business unit of Emerson Process Management.
Today, many of the downhole monitoring solutions deployed in the 1990’s are still providing reliable reservoir information. Statoil’s Gullfaks C production platform in the North Sea, for example, has been using the same Roxar downhole gauge, uninterrupted and without maintenance or replacement for 21 years. Many of the world’s leading operators have also deployed Roxar downhole monitoring solutions.
Terje Baustad concludes: “It is our local knowledge, extensive experience, development of ever more innovative solutions and the generation of crucial reservoir temperature and pressure information that has been particularly beneficial to Statoil and other operators.”
“Whether it be through production, injection, observation or multi-zone intelligent wells, Emerson is continuing to meet operator needs head-on, consistently delivering downhole information reliably and accurately and helping operators generate maximum returns from their fields.”
Other solutions which form part of Emerson’s downhole monitoring portfolio include the Roxar Downhole Network Controller Card (DHNC), which carry signals from the wellbore to the customer monitoring system; the Roxar DHNC canister, which enables the intelligent downhole network to be deployed subsea at depths of up to 10,000 feet; and a range of Surface Acquisition Units (SAUs) which allow the intelligent network to be deployed in some of the world’s harshest environments.
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