From data to dollars: bpx Energy jumpstarts its digital transformation
Posted: January 30, 2024
This year, at AVEVA World San Francisco, bpx Energy showed us that with the right approach, the right technology, and the right partners, your digital transformation journey can turn enhanced data management and visibility into real ROI—rapidly. Within four months, the field data team at bpx Energy, bp’s onshore mid and upstream operations, implemented and integrated AVEVA PI System across the organization. By the twelve-month mark, the team had already secured a number of victories and big financial benefits. In his AVEVA World presentation, John Burroughs, Field Data Team Lead at bpx Energy, led us through three of his team’s early victories with AVEVA™ PI System™.
Optimizing ESP production
Before AVEVA PI System, bpx Energy’s ESP (electrical submersible pump) performance was constrained by all the things the team couldn’t do: They couldn’t trend ESP performance beyond the 90 days of data allowed; they couldn’t aggregate ESP well data for troubleshooting; they couldn’t effectively compare well performance; and they couldn’t correlate downhole ESP data with surface data.
AVEVA PI System and AVEVA™ PI Vision™ changed all that. Suddenly, the team could quickly identify issues across entire well areas, monitor key parameters, visualize meter data, compare well performance, identify highest producing wells, and ultimately reduce well downtime. In short order, the team boosted ESP performance by half a percent. “When you look at all our ESP wells in aggregate, on an annualized basis, that’s a really significant ROI,” John Burroughs said.
Easier diagnostic and trending abilities help engineers at bpx Energy monitor and optimize well performance.
Enhancing compressor efficiency
Compressor efficiency used to be a thorny challenge for bpx Energy. Its compressors are owned and operated by third-party vendors, each with their own data systems and separate logins. That means, to compare production data with compressor data, bpx engineers had to navigate multiple systems, sources and screens, which limited their ability to identify, analyze and resolve issues efficiently.
Now, with AVEVA PI System, bpx Energy can ingest third-party data into its system and easily compare that against production data in AVEVA PI Vision displays. The new system allows the field data team to quickly troubleshoot compressor performance issues and effectively trend and filter parameters for better analysis. The team projects that just this feature alone will help boost their compressor efficiency rating by 2-5%.
AVEVA PI Vision displays help engineers monitor key parameters and quickly determine the cause of compressor outages.
Improving air-assisted flare performance
By injecting high-pressure air into a flare tip, air-assisted flaring improves combustion efficiency and reduces the emissions of unburned hydrocarbons and other pollutants. Now, with AVEVA PI System, bpx Energy can trend flare performance in aggregate to easily compare flares, identify poor performers and resolve issues rapidly. “This is a good example of how AVEVA PI Vision helps us with all three of our priorities,” Burroughs said, “reducing emissions, increasing production and reducing costs.”
The top chart displays the reduction of gas usage at a single flare site, and the chart below displays the reduction in gas usage at multiple sites.
What’s next?
bpx Energy has already come a long way in its digital transformation journey, but it’s just getting started. The team has plenty of AVEVA PI System projects on the docket, like optimizing maintenance practices with condition-based monitoring, and empowering its data science group with the historical data it needs to solve complex problems, or exploring new opportunities for plunger optimization, and more. “Like I said, it’s only been a year,” Burroughs told us. “We’re excited for what’s next.”
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