Vedanta Oil & Gas has increased production at the 32-year-old Ravva offshore field by more than 1,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) following a surface optimisation project that reduced terminal inlet pressure.
The intervention has raised production by around 10 per cent and unlocked approximately 1.5 million barrels of incremental reserves, according to the company.
Located off the Andhra Pradesh coast, the Ravva field has been producing hydrocarbons for about three decades and has achieved oil recovery of more than 53 per cent. Declining reservoir pressure, however, has increasingly constrained production from the mature field.
Terminal Inlet Pressure Cut From 7 Bar To 3 Bar
Engineers used GAP and PROSPER software to model reservoir performance, well behaviour and the surface production network. The model was calibrated against production and pressure data and used to assess different operating scenarios.
The analysis identified terminal inlet pressure as a constraint on well performance. Based on the findings, Vedanta Oil & Gas reduced the pressure from 7 bar to 3 bar.
Reducing backpressure improved the ability of wells to flow as reservoir pressure declined, allowing additional hydrocarbons to be produced without a major redevelopment of the field.
The company said the intervention reduced projected costs by more than 95 per cent compared with conventional development alternatives and cut the delivery timeline by over 80 per cent.
The project focused on modifying the operating conditions of existing infrastructure rather than undertaking new drilling or large-scale facility development.