Managing the surface facilities

The purpose of the surface facilities is to deliver saleable hydrocarbons from the wellhead to the customer, on time, to specification, in a safe and environmentally acceptable manner. The main functions of the surface facilities are 

The surface facilities used to perform these functions are discussed in Section 10.1, and are installed as a sequence or train of vessels, valves, pipes, tanks etc. This section 

During the design phase, facilities (the hardware items of equipment) are designed for operating conditions which are anticipated based upon the information gathered during field appraisal, and upon the outcome of studies such as the reservoir simulation. The design parameters will typically be based upon assessments of 

Below the minimum throughput an equipment item such as a gas compressor will not function. The process must therefore be managed in a way which keeps production above that of the minimum throughput item. 

The surface production system consists of a series of equipment items, such as that illustrated below, which shows the maximum oil handling capacity of the items. The maximum capacity of the system is determined by the component of the system with the smallest throughput capacity. 

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