Field Development Decision Engine Workflows

NeqSim’s field-development layer now supports an end-to-end teaching and screening workflow for brownfield tiebacks, greenfield concepts, and multi-field portfolio decisions. The decision engine keeps early screening models tied to the same thermodynamic and process-simulation foundation used later in detailed studies.

This page explains how the new APIs fit together and where to find executable notebook examples that import workspace classes through devtools/neqsim_dev_setup.py.

Workflow Overview

Step	Decision question	Primary APIs	Outputs
1. Define concept basis	What reservoir, well, and infrastructure assumptions define the case?	FieldConcept, ReservoirInput, WellsInput, InfrastructureInput, GreenfieldConceptFactory	Comparable concept objects, production profiles, CAPEX assumptions, uncertainty ranges
2. Screen tieback routes	Which host and route are technically and economically feasible?	TiebackAnalyzer, HostFacility, TiebackRouteNetwork, MultiphaseFlowIntegrator	Host capacity status, route length, arrival pressure and temperature, hydrate margin, CAPEX, NPV
3. Check host capacity	Can the base host and satellite profiles pass through the host without holdback?	TieInCapacityPlanner, ProductionProfileSeries, HostTieInPoint, ProcessSystem.findBottleneck()	Accepted production, held-back production, process bottleneck, deferred value, debottleneck decision
4. Rank alternatives	Which concept is preferred when economics, CO2, risk, and strategic fit are weighted together?	DevelopmentOptionRanker, ConceptEvaluator, BatchConceptRunner	Weighted MCDA ranking, normalized criteria, best option, sensitivity-ready scores
5. Optimize portfolio	Which projects should be selected under budget and risk constraints?	PortfolioOptimizer, CashFlowEngine, NorwegianTaxModel, TaxModelRegistry	Selected and deferred projects, capital use by year, EMV, NPV, capital efficiency
6. Bridge to facilities	What process model and utility load follows from the concept?	ConceptToProcessLinker, FacilityBuilder, FacilityConfig	Generated ProcessSystem, power demand, heating duty, cooling duty, emissions estimate
7. Bridge to reservoir models	What data should be exported to ECLIPSE/E300 workflows?	ReservoirCouplingExporter	VFPPROD/VFPINJ tables, schedule keywords, group and well controls, forecast CSV
8. Publish results	How are book and report tables kept consistent?	FieldDevelopmentReportExporter	Markdown tables and figure-ready data for notebooks, reports, and book chapters

New Example Notebooks

Notebook	Focus	What it demonstrates
field_development_decision_engine.ipynb	Concept comparison, MCDA, portfolio optimization	GreenfieldConceptFactory, lifecycle emissions, FieldDevelopmentReportExporter, DevelopmentOptionRanker, PortfolioOptimizer
field_development_process_reservoir_coupling.ipynb	Tieback route networks, facility generation, reservoir exports	TiebackRouteNetwork, TiebackAnalyzer, NetworkSolver, ConceptToProcessLinker, ReservoirCouplingExporter
host_tie_in_capacity_and_holdback.ipynb	Host capacity, holdback, and debottlenecking	TieInCapacityPlanner, ProductionProfileSeries, HostTieInPoint, process-equipment capacity constraints

Both notebooks are local developer examples. They load Java classes from the workspace through the devtools setup cell so newly added field-development APIs can be exercised before a release package is published.

API Grouping

Concept Templates and Uncertainty

GreenfieldConceptFactory creates standardized development cases for subsea tieback, standalone FPSO, fixed platform, subsea-to-shore, onshore terminal, and phased brownfield expansion concepts. Each DevelopmentCaseTemplate carries:

Data carried by template	Purpose
FieldConcept	Source reservoir, wells, and infrastructure assumptions
FacilityConfig	Auto-generated block model used by screening estimates
CAPEX breakdown	Comparable installed-cost basis for economic screening
Production profile	Annual gas or oil production used by economics and emissions
DevelopmentCaseUncertainty	P10/P50/P90 resource, CAPEX, schedule, price, and production-factor ranges
LifecycleEmissionsProfile	Annual emissions, load factor, power source, and intensity data
CashFlowResult	NPV, IRR, and cash-flow metrics from the screening model

Use these templates when a notebook or book chapter needs repeatable assumptions rather than ad hoc local tables.

Tieback Routes and Host Screening

TiebackRouteNetwork adds route topology to the existing tieback screening flow. The network records main flowlines, shared corridors, branches, risers, and host hubs. TiebackAnalyzer accepts either a simple distance or a route network and stores both hydraulic screening results and route metadata on TiebackOption.

Route metric	Why it matters
Screening length	Equivalent hydraulic path for pressure-drop and arrival-temperature screening
Installed length	CAPEX basis including branches, risers, and shared corridors
Shared corridor length	Identifies infrastructure that may support future tiebacks or phased development
Branch and riser counts	Captures extra complexity for reports and early risk discussion
Equivalent diameter and heat transfer	Feeds the route-aware hydraulic and thermal screening calculation

Host Tie-In Capacity and Holdback

TieInCapacityPlanner evaluates whether base-host and satellite production profiles fit through the selected host over time. It starts with host nameplate capacities on HostFacility, then optionally injects the accepted operating point into an attached ProcessSystem and reads equipment capacity utilization through findBottleneck().

Capacity output	Why it matters
Accepted satellite production	Production that can pass through the host in the period
Held-back satellite production	Volumes curtailed or deferred because host capacity is unavailable
Primary bottleneck	Capacity category or process equipment that controls the tie-in
Deferred value	Economic value of constrained production, discounted by planning period
Debottleneck decision	First-pass investment screen for increasing capacity or removing the bottleneck

Use CapacityAllocationPolicy.BASE_FIRST for normal brownfield host preservation, PRO_RATA for shared commercial allocation, and VALUE_WEIGHTED when high-value production should be prioritized. See Host Tie-In Capacity and Holdback Planning for the full Java example.

Decision Ranking

DevelopmentOptionRanker performs a weighted MCDA calculation. Criteria include NPV, IRR, payback, capital efficiency, breakeven price, technical complexity, technical risk, reservoir uncertainty, recovery factor, CO2 intensity, total emissions, environmental impact, strategic fit, infrastructure synergy, optionality, schedule flexibility, HSE risk, execution risk, commercial risk, and regulatory risk.

The ranker supports preset profiles named economic, environmental, risk, and balanced. For teaching workflows, the balanced profile is a good default because it prevents the decision from becoming a single-factor NPV ranking.

Portfolio Optimization

PortfolioOptimizer selects projects under total and annual budget constraints. Candidate projects carry CAPEX, NPV, project type, probability of success, start year, optional annual CAPEX profiles, and dependencies.

Strategy	Use case
GREEDY_NPV_RATIO	Quick capital-efficiency screening
GREEDY_ABSOLUTE_NPV	Maximize absolute value where budget pressure is limited
RISK_WEIGHTED	Favor high-value projects with higher probability of success
EMV_MAXIMIZATION	Exploration-heavy portfolios where chance of success drives expected value
BALANCED	Maintain diversity across development, tieback, IOR, exploration, and infrastructure projects

Process and Reservoir Coupling

ConceptToProcessLinker turns a FieldConcept into a screening or concept-level ProcessSystem. Always run the generated process before reading utility summaries because compressor and cooler duties are populated during process.run().

ReservoirCouplingExporter creates VFP and schedule artifacts for reservoir-simulator coupling. When configuring ranges, use at least two points for pressure, rate, water cut, and GOR ranges.

Report-Ready Tables

FieldDevelopmentReportExporter centralizes tables and figure-ready data for notebooks and book chapters. Use it when publishing comparisons so the same API generates:

Export method	Output
exportTemplateComparisonMarkdown	Concept template comparison table
exportTiebackOptionsMarkdown	Tieback option table from a TiebackReport
exportTornadoMarkdown	Sensitivity/tornado table
exportConceptKpisMarkdown	Batch concept KPI comparison
exportTemplateNpvFigureData	Rows for NPV bar charts

Validation Coverage

Capability	Regression tests
Tieback screening, host capacity, route networks	TiebackTest
Concept templates, lifecycle emissions, report exporter	FieldDevelopmentEngineTest
Norwegian tax, cash flow, sensitivity, production profiles	EconomicsTest, TaxModelTest, FieldDevelopmentNPVTest
Portfolio optimization	PortfolioOptimizerTest
Decision ranking	DevelopmentOptionRankerTest
Process linking, VFP export, gathering-network solver	FieldDevelopmentIntegrationUtilitiesTest

Practical Workflow for Book Chapters

1. Start from GreenfieldConceptFactory or a FieldConcept builder rather than notebook-local tables.
2. Use TiebackAnalyzer and TiebackRouteNetwork for brownfield options where host capacity and route complexity matter.
3. Use DevelopmentOptionRanker for transparent MCDA rather than hard-coded concept ordering.
4. Use PortfolioOptimizer when the chapter discusses capital rationing across multiple fields or phases.
5. Use ConceptToProcessLinker and NetworkSolver to connect screening decisions to process and network consequences.
6. Use ReservoirCouplingExporter when the scenario needs VFP or schedule exports for reservoir coupling.
7. Use FieldDevelopmentReportExporter for all report/book tables so examples remain consistent as the APIs evolve.