Subsea field layout optimization (part III) --- the location-allocation problem of drilling sites

This study proposes an efficient method to optimize the subsea field layout with the aim of minimizing the subsea field 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 field 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 flowchart. Abundant case studies with comparison to the existing results demonstrate the optimality and the flexibility of our method to solve practical subsea field layout optimization problems. In the cases studies, we also reveal how different user-defined cost items affect the optimal field 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 efficient method for subsea field layout optimization to minimize the development cost. •The two methods introduced in Part I and Part II are systematically combined.•The “economic zone” concept is used to help reduce all clusters to useful clusters.•Abundant case studies show the optimality and the flexibility of our method.•The effect of user-defined cost on the optimal field layout is revealed.