Integrated operations

In the petroleum industry, Integrated operations (IO) refers to the integration of people, disciplines, organizations, work processes and information and communication technology to make smarter decisions. In short, IO is collaboration with focus on production. The most striking part of IO has been the use of always-on videoconference rooms between offshore platforms and land-based offices. This includes broadband connections for sharing of data and video-surveillance of the platform. This has made it possible to move some personnel onshore and use the existing human resources more efficiently. Instead of having e.g. an expert in geology on duty at every platform, the expert may be stationed on land and be available for consultation for several offshore platforms. It is also possible for a team at an office in a different time zone to be consulting the night-shift of the platform, so that no land-based workers need work at night. Splitting the team between land and sea demands new work processes, which together with ICT is the two main focus points for IO. Tools like videoconferencing and 3D-visualization also creates an opportunity for new, more cross-discipline cooperations. For instance, a shared 3D-visualization may be tailored to each member of the group, so that the geologist gets a visualization of the geological structures while the drilling engineer focuses on visualizing the well. Here, real-time measurements from the well are important but the downhole bandwidth has previously been very restricted. Improvements in bandwidth, better measurement devices, better aggregation and visualization of this information and improved models that simulate the rock formations and wellbore currently all feed on each other. An important task where all these improvements play together is real-time production optimization. In the process industry in general, the term is used to describe the increased cooperation, independent of location, between operators, maintenance personnel, electricians, production management as well as business management and suppliers to provide a more streamlined plant operation.