Surface development for gas fields

The amount of processing required in the field depends upon the composition of the gas and the temperature and pressure to which the gas will be exposed during transportation. The process engineer is trying to avoid liquid drop-out during transportation, since this may cause slugging, corrosion and possibly hydrate formation (refer to Section 10.1.3). For dry gases (refer to Section 5.2.2) the produced fluids are 

A comfortable margin is maintained between the flowing tubing head pressure (downstream of compression) and the minimum pressure required for export, since the penalties for not meeting contract quantities can be severe. The decision not to install a fourth stage of compression in the above example is dictated by economics. During the final part of the pressure decline above, the field production is of course also declining. 

Another method of maintaining production potential from the field is to drill more wells, and it is common for wells to be drilled in batches, just as the compression is added in stages, to reduce early expenditure. 

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