Maintain Flow Assurance & Production of ZPM Crude with Pressure Limitation of 16” MOL MMF-NGLJ
Keywords:
flow assurance, crude production, pressure limitation, capacity limitation, split flowAbstract
The 16” Main Oil Line (MOL) MMF-NGLJ pipeline was established in 1984, with the length of 53.54 km, and actively delivers crude oil from the ZULU, PAPA, and MIKE-MIKE (ZPM) area, with total production is 37,000 BFPD. Due to its integrity status, it is necessary to perform pressure limitation, leading to capacity reduction through the pipeline. Production optimization in the surface facility and flow assurance consideration are required to achieve the annual production target while prioritizing the safe pipeline operation.
Several methods have been carried out to achieve the objective:
• Maintain the flow rate through 16” MOL MMF-NGLJ to below 30,000 BFPD
• Reduce the impeller size of the MIKE-MIKE MOL pump due to production declining through 16” MOL MMF-NGLJ
• Routed the remaining ZPM production to 16” MOL MMF-LPRO, then commingled with production from LIMA-KLA and routed to 12” MOL LCOM-NGLB
• Perform chemical (wax asphaltene dissolver) batching to prevent the clogged pipeline due to the waxy nature of crude oil
With the minimum cost of surface facility optimization supported with flow assurance consideration and chemical (wax asphaltene dissolver) batching recommendation, the methods used have prevented leakage in pipeline 16” MOL MMF-NGLJ and achieved 100% of the annual production target.
