Workstations cut costs and boost productivity of reservoir simulations

Journal Article · Mon Nov 11 04:00:00 EST 1991 · Oil and Gas Journal; (United States)

OSTI ID:5723712

Smith, S ^[1]

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1. Oxy USA Inc., Tulsa, OK (US)

After decentralizing an exploration and production operation, a switch from mainframe computers to workstations decreased computing cost and increased capabilities for reservoir simulations. In 1989, spurred by a major reorganization and the need to reduce reservoir simulation costs, Oxy USA Inc. began evaluating new technical computing strategies. At that time, Oxy ran smaller simulations during the day on a dedicated IBM ES/3081 mainframe at the Tulsa headquarters. Larger runs were made overnight on a shared IBM ES/3090 mainframe in batch mode. A team with members from management information systems (MIS) and the reservoir management group's simulation staff analyzed the cost of the mainframe usage. Analysis showed that over $1 million was spent for mainframe services in 1988. But if the dedicated mainframe was removed, the available time on the shared mainframe during business hours would not be sufficient. The study reported on in this article confirmed that each engineer needed unrestricted computer access for simulation during the work day. For this reason, the most productive and cost-effective approach would be to remove the dedicated mainframe and run daytime reservoir simulations on workstations, using the central, shared mainframe as a data server in a networked environment.

• OSTI ID: 5723712
• Journal Information: Oil and Gas Journal; (United States), Journal Name: Oil and Gas Journal; (United States) Vol. 89:45; ISSN OIGJA; ISSN 0030-1388
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
03 NATURAL GAS
030200 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200 -- Mathematics & Computers
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COST
EXPLORATION
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NATURAL GAS FIELDS
OIL FIELDS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PRODUCTION
RESERVES
RESOURCES
SIMULATION