Next* Magazine, Issue 5 - Chevron

Most Connected Companies—the only oil
which are saving several hundred million dollars in operating costs
Recently, intelligent wells and systems were installed to
automate and optimize the injection of gas and water into the
Agbami Field in Nigeria. And the company’s Tahiti deepwater
project in the Gulf of Mexico has incorporated digital oil field
fundamentals and systems.
“Tahiti achieved maximum oil production rates in a short
period of time, proving that incorporating i-field solutions
into projects can deliver huge incremental value through
increased production and reserves,” said Warner Williams,
vice president of Chevron‘s Gulf of Mexico operations.
Currently in the pipeline to further help future projects
is Real-Time Facilities Optimization (RTFO). This effort
focuses specifically on advanced process controls to enhance
efficiency in oil and gas fields while ensuring safety and protecting
the environment throughout a facility‘s lifetime. RTFO
leader Mike Barham believes that building upon this capability
will give Chevron “sustainable technical and economic
competitive advantage.”
“We‘ve set a course to fully harvest the potential of the
digital oil field,” said Hauser. “The global vision is to transform
how we operate, with real-time instrumentation delivering
real-time information, allowing real-time implementation
of decisions, with processes coordinated to provide
innovative solutions to meet the needs of our oil and
gas operations.”
Not surprisingly, Chevron‘s people are also being transformed,
learning new systems and embracing collaborative
behaviors. The company is recruiting the next generation
of employees. But as energy companies surge toward the
digital oil field future—and invest to deliver new energy
supplies—they know that training and recruiting can‘t fill
the whole need for human resources. They must find ways
to leverage brainpower and experience more broadly and
better integrate functions across the value chain.
Consider, for example, that Chevron’s major capital
projects are expected to double their global compression
capacity by 2015. To make sure that enough expertise is
available to cover the larger fleet, the MSC functions as a
real-time knowledge-delivery portal, beaming top troubleshooters
into hot spots without the time and expense of
travel. In effect, they’re cloning the company’s most
seasoned technologists through connectivity. ■
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