Innovative Gas Utilization Model and Risk Assessment Strategies for Marginal Oil and Gas Fields in Nigeria

Abstract

Marginal Field Operators (MFOs) in Nigeria are susceptible to multiple systemic problems and fundamental issues which have hampered successful development of the field activities into lucrative ventures.  These issues have caused undue delay and huge setback in operational activities, thereby leading to deferred revenue. In order to overcome these challenges, there is a need to explore an exceptionally efficient way that will place these operators in advantageous positions for consistent productivity and proficient service delivery, for overall economic growth and development. Hence, the aim of this study was to overcome some of the systemic problems in the oil and gas industry by creating an “Innovative Gas Utilization Model and Risk Assessment Strategies for Marginal Oil and Gas Fields in Nigeria”. This study developed the “Quicksearch” software package which uses a material balance principle to estimate the volumes of gas utilized, that is, the quantity used as fuel gas and quantity converted to liquid products with a simplified Excel-based tool. This resolved production operation challenges through timely reporting of gas utilization and flaring volumes to the regulators. In addition, the operationally safe and user friendly tool prevented frequent shutdown of operations connected to the maintenance of faulty gas transmitters, mostly those without by-pass process lines, and ensured huge savings from OPEX associated with gas meter calibration and maintenance. The paper also, presents evacuation strategy with a robust Risk Assessment Plan (RAP) which is driven by well-articulated Community Affairs, Safety, Health, Environment and Security (CASHES) Policies to ensure unconstrained crude oil production and evacuation. The invention of multiple crude oil movement tracking data sheets deployed in this research work made it possible to predict or forecast accurately, the exportable crude oil volumes that will eventually get to the final export terminal, which ultimately determines the revenue that gets to the operator, after the crude oil lifting process. This is a major improvement, in terms of crude oil shipment to the terminal, when compared with crude oil pipeline that is vulnerable to periodic attacks, in Nigeria.