Access Machine Case History:

OIL & GAS PRODUCTION

Customer Background:

Conoco is headquartered in Houston, Texas. It is an integrated international petroleum company and wholly owned subsidiary of DuPont. Conoco's exploration and production operations currently include exploration activity in 11 countries on six continents. Conoco produces more than 435.3 barrels of petroleum liquids and 1.3 billion cubic feet of gas each day, mainly from the United States, the North Sea, Dubai and Indonesia. In 1994, Conoco began producing crude oil in Russia. Recently, Conoco set a new company record for daily production from a single well in the Gulf of Mexico, producing 5,952 barrels of oil per day.

(Note: Company background information was obtained from the "A Quick Overview of Conoco" web page at www.conoco.com/about/about.html and from the "New Record Set in Gulf of Mexico" web page at www.conoco.com/pa/index.html#Gulf.)

Project Background:

In 1993, Conoco's Gulf of Mexico division decided to replace the aging DEC PDP/11 main frame SCADA systems. AccessPoint was chosen as the PC based software to handle the SCADA and reporting functions.

Customer Needs:

There were three major design principles that Conoco followed in the software/hardware selection process:

• Use of "off-the-shelf" hardware and software as much as possible to minimize expensive custom design and support.
• Use of portable, industry standard hardware and operating system to maximize system flexibility and reduce obsolescence.
• Modularize the system and SCADA functions to reduce obsolescence.

The Access Machine Solution:

With the AccessPoint system, operations personnel can view process information that is gathered by the communications master PLC. This allows them to make quick assessments on gaslift well performance and locate areas of production loss. The graphical interface in AccessPoint helps operations personnel visualize process flow and improves production monitoring. AccessPoint connectivity enables users to monitor and maintain production operations from the division office during hurricane evacuations. All of these advantages result in increased control and improved productivity. Conoco personnel are in constant communication with the production process even during inclement weather.

AccessPoint Software Specifics:

The AccessPoint SCADA network for Conoco has five UNIX based PC's running AccessPoint version 4.3.1.1. Each AccessPoint system has 5.3 tags and 16 connects with the alarm sound and print function. In addition, Conoco also has seven AccessPoint ViewOperators - four are in-office serving as hurricane consoles, the rest are offshore field consoles. These five PC's are located at the main quarters facilities offshore and at the gathering plant onshore. The PC reads the data files in the communications master PLC to save, trend and display the operational data gathered from remote terminal units on the production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

• Increased productivity - with ability to run and control the offshore equipment during hurricanes, production has less chance of being shut down during bad weather
• Improved quality assurance - graphical interface allows easy monitoring of production and locating trouble spots