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AOGCC goes with API metering rules
KRISTEN NELSON Petroleum News
The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission ruled July 16 that multiphase metering for well testing and production allocation purposes may be conducted under API standards, rather than under the guidelines the commission adopted in 2004.
The commission said its guidelines provided guidance for how operators could qualify multiphase metering systems for use in well testing and production allocation service in their fields. In its July 16 order the commission said it has approved four different multiphase metering systems for well testing and allocation purposes under the 2004 guidelines.
In September 2005, however, the American Petroleum Institute adopted a recommended practice for multiphase metering in well testing and allocation, and in January 2013, API adopted Manual of Petroleum Measure Standards Chapter 20.3 - Measurement of Multiphase Flow - applicable to well testing and production allocation, superseding its 2005 recommended practice.
No industry standard in 2004 The commission said it issued its multiphase metering guidelines in 2004 “at a time when there was no industry standard or recommended practice for multiphase metering.”
“Industry acceptance of and confidence in multiphase metering has increased substantially since that time to the extent that API has promulgated a standard for multiphase metering systems,” the commission said.
Multiphase metering is much more widely adopted for well testing and production allocation purposes than it was in 2004, the commission said, and noted: “Multiphase meters have been proven to provide adequate accuracy and reliability for well testing and allocation purposes.”
Traditional metering systems required operators to separate crude oil into oil, natural gas and water and measure each separately, while multiphase meters can measure the oil, natural gas and water without separation.
The commission said that from the date of the order, multiphase meters used for well testing and production allocation which the operator can demonstrate meet the requirements of API MPMS 20.3 and have no more than plus or minus 5 percent total system uncertainty under expected flow conditions are presumed to be compliant with the commission’s guidelines and do not require an application under those guidelines. Multiphase metering systems with do not comply with the API standards or the total system uncertainty requirement will continue to require approval under the commission’s guidelines.
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