A number of owner-operators in the upstream oil & gas sector, particularly those with significant offshore production assets, are looking to multiphase flowmetering (MPFM) technology as the "holy grail," according to several recent reports by ARC Advisory Group. The technology is particularly attractive for offshore applications, where the ability to accurately measure multi-phase flow highly desirable.
While not all industry participants are convinced that today's multiphase/multi-component flowmetering solutions represent a practical and/or cost-effective solution due to measurement un-certainty, initial cost, and other concerns, the technology has been gaining traction since its introduction in the early 1990s. ARC says this is due to both technical maturity and efforts by independent third parties to validate accuracy. Energy companies such as Statoil, PDVSA, BP, and Petrobras are deploying multi-phase flowmeters on a broad scale for continuous measurement of individual components in co-mingled oil, gas, and water streams.
As part of ARC's ongoing coverage of the digital oilfield, it has been investigating both the technical and market issues surrounding multi-phase flowmeters. Most MPFM solutions today employ multiple sensor technologies to provide true physical multiphase flow measurements, with the most popular combination being differential pressure across Venturi and a gamma ray attenuation.
For details on how you can buy ARC's report on multiphase flowmetering, click here.
