The dependence between production from “mature” gas field and hydraulic resistance of gathering system

Abstract

The article deals with the further development of “mature” field with long period of
exploiting. More than 80 % of gas and gas condensate fields in are belong to this group.
The authors focus on the surface equipment exploitation and evaluate the impact of its
modes on the volumes of gas production in condition of reduced well head pressures.
Segmenting gathering system on the main level, for each of which the pressure gradient was
estimated as the sum of pressure loss caused by the hydraulic resistances of gas flow lines,
separation equipment, booster compressor station tie-in, brunch and trunk lines etc., the authors
prove that hydraulic losses are dynamic in forecasting period of gas field development, but not
constant, as it is accepted in the development projects.
The algorithm for predicting the distribution of the operating pressure at the wellhead are
presented in the article taking into account the actual hydraulic state of the gathering systems, which
results in the differences in gas production models for any specific field.
The effectiveness of application of the centralized gathering system pigging methods was estimated
as additional gas production in the amount of 400 million m3 to 2030 for fields located in the Poltava region.