Abstract
This study proposes an effcient method to optimize the subsea feld layout with the aim of minimizing the subsea feld development cost, based on the two methods introduced in Part I and Part II for solving the well trajectory planning problem and the location-allocation problem, i.e., 3D Dubins Curve method and Binary Linear Programming (BLP) method, respectively. The most complex part in subsea feld layout optimization is essentially a location-allocation problem of drilling sites embedded with the well trajectory optimization. The full process of our method is clearly summarized in a fowchart. Abundant case studies with comparison to the existing results demonstrate the optimality and the fexibility of our method to solve practical subsea feld layout optimization problems. In the cases studies, we also reveal how different user-defned cost items affect the optimal feld layout. Details of implementing our method for a better performance is also discussed. This work is the third of a series of papers which systematically introduce an effcient method for subsea feld layout optimization to minimize the development cost.
NSTL