Scheduling of Crude Oil Flow from Offshore Platforms

Abstract

Currently one of the oil industry challenges is the optimization of logistic problem of bulk liquids transport from oil production units at sea (platforms offshore) to the processing units and storage (refineries). In this problem, several restrictions were considered from a fleet of ships: commuting product time from the platform to the refinery; capacity of oil storage in each platform; impossibility of mixing different types of oils in the same compartment vessel; limitation of the ship dock at the port only if the present depth and pier length longer than the draft and the length of the vessel, respectively; restriction to the maximum volume transported in each compartment and the total volume of the vessel. The mathematical model was formulated as a mixed integer linear programming problem (MILP) and intends to minimize transportation costs and ensure the oil flow from offshore platforms. To solve this problem CPLEX solver was used in GAMS software package (General Algebraic Modeling System). As a result of this model, scheduling was obtained determining the planning of routes that each ship must do to comply with the oil delivery, in an optimal way.