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Petrofac News 1700X397
26 June 2017

Metering simplified: it’s as easy as SGC

Not everyone will have heard of, or understand the need for metering technology, but as the primary source of revenue determination in the industry, even the smallest inaccuracy can come at a high cost.

Our expert team of 30 metering specialists from SGC metering, which Petrofac acquired in 2010, design and manufacture metering computer systems which support a vital area of our industry’s operations.

Mark Donnelly, Senior Support Services Engineer, explains more about our metering capabilities…

“Think about our metering systems as a more complicated version of your electricity meter at home. Just like our energy providers need to measure what we consume to know what to charge us, oil and gas operators need to measure their product as it comes through an asset and leaves the field to go onshore. Not just to determine invoicing, but also production taxes and revenue sharing.”

It might sound simple, but it’s not! A single asset can gather the output from several producing fields and each field can have multiple partners (owners). When several operators have a share of the product coming through an asset, measuring volumes and determining who owns the resources is vital. That’s where SGC comes in.

Based near Glasgow in Scotland, SGC builds specialised metering systems to measure all the important metrics associated with hydrocarbon production: volume, temperature, pressure and composition to enable a variety of calculations.

Mark explains: “As well as oil and gas export, our clients need to meter the amount of gas used to fuel the platforms, and for environmental tax reasons, the amount of water pumped back into the sea and fuel sent to flare. On some assets, there can be as many as 50 measurement points. Our systems allow for various activities to be monitored across each of these points, all via one screen.”

SGC specialises in ‘virtual’ flow computers which use Windows-based software to collate the data into one PC. Unlike traditional standalone systems that comprise several boxes, these computers are ideal for complex offshore systems where panel space on the asset is limited.

The information collated by SGC’s systems is sent onshore and into what most operators refer to as their ‘hydrocarbon accounting system’. Data from each of their assets will be received here, allowing the operator to calculate exactly what was produced, used and exported.

Unlike many manufacturers, SGC doesn’t just sell and use its own equipment. “What’s important is that the systems we build meet the exact needs of our clients – there is no one size fits all solution”, explains Mark.

“Metering may not be simple but our team works to make life easier for our clients by sourcing and integrating the mechanics we need to create truly bespoke solutions that deliver the most accurate result.”

For more information about SGC and our metering systems, visit SGC Metering’s website  or contact sales@sgcmetering.com.