A relatively new method of optimizing the production of hydrocarbon wells is Nodal System Analysis (NSA) which integrates the multiple pressure differentials occurring in the transfer of hydrocarbon fluid from the reservoir to the surface. The objective of the research is to expand NSA and to investigate the design of a Expert System Production Organizer (ESPO) using a rule-based system. This ESPO well consist of a package of interactive software employing NSA technology. The programmed expert system will analyze the complexities of a production well in a single package and can be accessed by engineers with little or no knowledge of NSA. The ESPO will possess these features: (1) all flow correlations and models are internal, (2) frequently-used data is available in on-line databases accessed internally by software, (3) an economics package that compares selected production schemes, (4) perform statistical analysis on similar wells, (5) an inference engine for forward and backward chaining, (6) analyze the production systems and identify possible solutions, and (7) be user friendly.
