A delegation from St. Petersburg Mining University is participating in the second youth forum, "Oil Capital," which kicked off today in Khanty-Mansiysk. Prior to the event, students and faculty members of the university familiarized themselves with the operations of several regional enterprises.
The first stop was the Production Control Center of Gazpromneft-Khantos. According to its director, Igor Sashin, the center "has integrated all company-developed solutions for enhancing the efficiency of individual oil production processes into a single unified environment."
How does this work in practice? For instance, the "Digital Twin" system fully monitors the equipment involved in the mechanized lifting of fluids. Additionally, it selects the most optimal operating modes for each component and provides instructions for conducting geological and technological interventions at well sites.
The data is transmitted to another key system that automates the management of ongoing and capital repairs. In addition to detailed planning of work schedules and locations for crews, as well as monitoring their activities, this system enables automatic optimization of task prioritization based on real-time changes in the situation.
The information collected by various Gazpromneft-Khantos systems is consolidated in the Production Control Center. It can be visualized both at each specialist's workstation and on a large video wall. This facilitates prompt, well-informed decision-making that accounts for all nuances detected by the automated system.
«Oil must be economically efficient, and artificial intelligence is aimed at achieving this goal. It determines how a well operates and its prospects, identifies losses, and forecasts production. There is no longer a need to visit the site and take measurements manually. All the information is displayed on the monitors in the Control Center. Every four minutes, data is updated for all Gazpromneft-Khantos fields, but this year we aim to reduce this time to just one minute,» said Igor Sashin.
In addition to the Production Control Center, representatives of the Mining University also visited the core storage facility. Here, core samples extracted from drilling wells are collected and analyzed for porosity, gas permeability, residual water and oil saturation, carbonate content, and more. This allows scientists to determine which existing technologies are most promising for improving extraction efficiency at each specific well.
«Usually, gaining access to such a facility for core analysis is extremely difficult. However, in Khanty-Mansiysk, we were offered a collaboration: the scientific and analytical center is ready to provide students and graduate students of the Mining University with the opportunity to intern here and obtain all the necessary data for their master's theses or doctoral dissertations. This is a fantastic opportunity since the collection of core samples here is unparalleled, and the storage facility is equipped with unique technology. Among the equipment, for example, is one of only three devices in Russia capable of studying reservoirs from the Bazhenov Formation,» commented Shamil Islamov, a graduate student from the St. Petersburg university, on the outcomes of the "zero day" of the Second Youth Forum "Oil Capital."
It should be noted that within the forum's framework, university students and faculty members will present reports on the results of their scientific research aimed at increasing the profitability and safety of oil and gas enterprises. These include projects that reduce associated gas emissions—a byproduct of oil production—improve oil recovery rates, decrease well shutdown times, and many others. The "Oil Capital" forum will conclude on February 22.
