Abstract
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) intends to develop Lower Fars Heavy Oil field on the north of Kuwait that requires steam generation.
The Lower Fars Heavy Oil (LFHO) Development Project is targeted at a large heavy oil accumulation of approximately 7 to 15 billion barrels oil-in-place located in a desert area of some 1, 200 km2 in North Kuwait. The development of this heavy oil resource is important to Kuwait's production strategy.
The LFHO reservoir has been partitioned into Well-Blocks; Phase 1 of the LFHO Development Project consists of two such Well-Blocks, which are intended to achieve a target plateau of 60,000 BOPD over a ten-year period from start of operations. This rate will increase after ten years, with future phases ramping up production up to a final plateau of 270,000 BOPD.
Reservoir engineering work performed to date indicates that phase 1 areas can best be developed by two or three cycles of cyclic steam stimulation (CSS) followed by continuous steam flood (SF) with steam quality of 55% (wells) to 80% central processing facility (CPF). The steam will be generated by multiple Once-Trough Steam Generators (OTSG) located in a central processing facility (CPF).
The Once through steam generation (OTSG) will use for generating steam utilizing treated boiler feed water to improve recovery of hydrocarbon from a reservoir.
Integrity process for steam generation equipment considered on Project various stages e.g. equipment selection, design, fabrication, inspection and testing.
Integrity process also considered during operation process of OTSG units within a defined integrity operating window (IOW) to establish and maintain a controlled process environment which would enable boiler feed water to be converted into steam in a safe, environmentally responsible manner without upsets and planned shutdown.
