Non-transferable travel tickets – 25% saving in annual travel budget

An operator in the oil and gas industry noticed that there were inefficiencies in their internal travel system. A short desktop exercise highlighted that the organisation was hugely inefficient when it came to booking flights – incurring costs for fight transfers, name changes and last minute cancellations.

The operator decided to trial booking non-refundable tickets instead. All employees must travel on the train, plane or car they had booked and could not be transferred.

This small change has resulted in a 25% cost saving in travel across the entire company. This also would have reduced the carbon footprint for the organisation overall.

A spokesperson for the company said, ‘it is amazing how one small change like this makes such a big difference. If a person needs to change their flight it is escalated all the way to the top for approval – so everyone here has changed their mindset to ask themselves if they really need to travel, and when. It’s a personal ownership of being more efficient. It makes sense.’

Are you familiar with your travel policy?

Safehouse – Safehouse Habitat applied to LPG Tanker

Problem Statement   

An LPG tanker was in need of urgent repairs to its hull in order to remain within the parameters of its license to operate. Due to the nature of the ship and its cargo, carrying out hot work to repair such damage would normally require the ship’s tanks to be purged of all traces of hydrocarbon gas and the work to be carried out in a dry dock. In addition, the work would have to be carried out in a very restricted space on the inside of the vessel.

Aims

Avoidance of the need to purge the ships tanks of all hydrocarbon gas, taking the ship off-course, saving the operator thousands in associated costs and delays.

Method

Safehouse’s Technical Director visited the vessel to identify where would be safe to assemble the habitats and carry out hot work. To ensure the repair work complied with maritime regulations, Safehouse reviewed its procedures and developed a work pack detailing the proposed solutions, including having a Safehouse team on standby to immediately mobilise the equipment. Our solution was to build two habitats; one on the exterior of the hull, and another between the hull and gas storage tank. This allowed for the segregation of the hot work activities from any potential hydrocarbon sources. The flexibility of the SAFEHOUSE habitat combined with the expertise of our technicians allowed us to overcome any obstacles and to be installed easily in restricted areas.

Impact

The Panama Canal authorities were initially very reluctant to allow hot work to go ahead within their waters on an LPG tanker that had not been confirmed gas-free. Safehouse liaised closely and contributed to the authorities HAZOP process to satisfy their concerns. When the project was completed on time and without incident, the ship operator and canal authorities were satisfied that their extremely high safety standards had been met.

Total Savings Anticipated

168 man and machine hours saved

£350,000 estimated.

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Repsol Sinopec – Remote Tank Inspection

Problem Statement   

Traditionally, when carrying out Class-required crude oil tank inspections on the FPSO, a minimum four-man team of Rope Access Technicians had to enter the confined space and work at height for lengthy periods of time. This methodology incurred significant risks including mechanical isolation; the set-up of rope rescue evacuation systems; and significant tank cleaning to prevent slips – which also took up valuable manpower resources.

Aims

Now, a Class-approved remote inspection technique by EM&I – a leading global organisation providing inspection and specialised repair and maintenance services to the oil and gas industry – is being used which involves deploying a pressurised camera with inbuilt lighting and remote pan and tilt control through deck access hatches and lowering it to the designated inspection depth. As well as the inspection being carried out a lot faster, there is also no need to make the tank safe for manned entry.

Method

The project was led by our Naval Architect on Bleo Holm, working with the full support from all other appropriate teams.

Appropriate risk assessments were carried out in advance of implementation.

Impact

A double safe win with the need to enter confined space and the need to work at height removed. 90% reduction in manhours. This represents a saving of £20,000 per tank. Sixteen tanks over five years equates to a potential saving of circa £320,000.The team are now looking at four other chemicals to identify if savings can be made. Learnings are being shared with other assets to allow them to investigate if they can realise savings by implementing the same steps where appropriate.

This inspection technique will continue to be used on Bleo Holm

Total Savings Anticipated

90%+ Reduction in man hours

£20,000 per tank and £320,000 over 5 years.

Click on the image above to download the case study.

Repsol Sinopec – Chemical Injection Management

Problem Statement   

The Claymore team, led by the OIM challenged several areas associated with chemical injection management including discrepancy in volumes, injection rates, and use of 500 gallon capacity tanks.

Aims

The team observed a 10% discrepancy in volumes of the chemical ‘H2S scavenger’ shipped (500 gallons ordered, only 450 gallons recovered).

They questioned whether injection rates were still appropriate as they had remained constant for many years.

They queried the use of 500 gallon capacity tanks and whether 600 gallon tanks could be used so that we could ship fewer containers over a year.

Method

The team used ‘Lean’ techniques to identify and implement simple, low cost solutions:

They requested that the chemical vendor demonstrate accuracy of tank fills by way of fiscal metering.

Following an independent verification, the team also reduced the injection of the chemical from 85 ppm (parts per million) to 65ppm meaning a reduction in the number of tote tanks required.

Impact

  • Reduction of chemical injection rate delivers an annual saving of £120k, plus a reduction in number of tote tanks, which will ultimately lead to a reduction in the number of shipments needed.
  • Potential saving of >£1M if applied across all assets (where appropriate).
  • Contract performance management with the chemical vendor to provide assurance on delivery.
  • The importance of precision and accuracy has been reinforced to the team to apply in all future activities.

The team are now looking at four other chemicals to identify if savings can be made. Learnings are being shared with other assets to allow them to investigate if they can realise savings by implementing the same steps where appropriate.

Total Savings Anticipated

£ 120k to date

Potential of >£1M across all assets

Click on the image above to download the case study.

RINA – Reducing Maintenance Spend through Risk Based Inspection

Problem Statement 

Customer challenged to reduce plant OPEX without compromising safety and production efficiency. Currently spends $100k+ on critical system maintenance.

Aims

Implement Risk based inspection to reduce maintenance spend and ultimately reduce operating costs.

Method

Completed system assessment (materials, geometry, temp, flow, pressure etc).

Identified corrosion loops. Determined Probability and Consequence of Failure

Agreed risk classification with client

Updated recommended inspection frequency, location and technique

Impact

Reduced system maintenance cost by $46k annually

Validated engineering approach to industry standards to reduce risk (API 571/ 580)

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RINA – Asset Life Extension Through Reverification

Problem Statement  

OEM recommended that gas turbine was at end of life based on operational history and needed to be retired from service, compromising viability of offshore facility.

Aims

  • Perform independent assessment of compressor/ turbine condition and residual life.

Method

  • Reviewed operation and maintenance record
  • Completed detailed assessment of asset including metallography
  • Reversed engineered 2 blades
  • FEA modelled steady state and transient loads

Impact

  • Verified design life at full and reduce loads
  • Validated 6 years continued operation
  • £5M capex avoidance
  • Mitigated premature CoP

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RINA – Accelerating First Oil/ Reducing CAPEX Through re use of Mothballed Assets

Problem Statement  

IOC challenged to accelerate project first oil and reduce overall project CAPEX. Unclear if mothballed 500t platform deck and 300t jacket could be used instead of a new asset.

Aims

  • Allow the reuse of a mothballed asset to avoid costly procurement and increased schedule.

Method

  • Reviewed design, construction, fabrication and modification records .
  • Performed structural analysis and asset inspection.
  • Compared asset health against company spec. Created mitigation plan

Impact

  • Mothballed asset recommended fit for proposed use. Customer was able to purchase asset
  • Reduced cycle time to procure, install and commission jacket/ platform deck by 60%
  • Cost improvement estimated at 65% versus new structure
  • Environmental advantages gained from re-using existing infrastructure

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ECITB – Applying the Project Collaboration Toolkit Total E & P (UK), Wood plc.

Problem Statement  

How to improve efficiency and delivery performance on a major brownfield platform modification (i.e. a concentric gas lift flowline installation to the Alwyn platform) through adoption of a collaborative approach.

Aims

  • Completion within a challengingly short timeline set by rigless implementation.
  • Cost reduction by utilising available, existing materials and in-line equipment from previous (now redundant) flowline installations.
  • Utilisation of ‘fast track’ delivery methodology to support timeline target achievement.

Method

  • Use of ECITB Project Collaboration Toolkit for guidance on how to establish an effective collaborative delivery strategy.
  • Effort and close attention to goal alignment.
  • Close interaction between project team and Total E & P UK operations and maintenance functional teams.
  • Appointment of a Collaboration Champion.
  • Establishment of a Project Behavioural Charter.
  • Daily project team meeting calls to identify and quickly resolve issues through rapid response.
  • Use of central mission control board in integrated, open plan, project team space.

Impact

  • The ECITB Project Collaboration Toolkit provided a framework to test and strengthen the already established and collaborative relationship between Total E & P UK and its modifications contractor, wood plc.
  • The project achieved closer communication, common understanding of the project goals, working every issue together (no matter how small) and a lean approach. This helped to deliver the basic and detailed engineering phase ahead of time, positioning the project for a successful implementation.
  • Due to changing priorities in the drilling and workover programmes, the implementation phase of the CGL flowline modification / project was delayed beyond the timescale of the ECITB case study programme. However the collaborative relationships, built on toolkit principles, continue on other flowline projects.

Total Savings Anticipated

Delivered ahead of schedule for basic and detailed engineering phase.

Engineering cost savings achieved and implementation set for further cost reductions.

Click on the image above to download the case study.

ECITB – Applying the Project Collaboration Toolkit EDF Energy (nuclear sector) to ECITB PCT (oil & gas) project management collaborative practice comparison

Problem Statement  

How do recommended oil and gas sector collaborative project practices, as set out in the ECITB Project Collaboration Toolkit, compare to practices in the highly regulated nuclear sector. What learning can be derived from the comparison for both sectors?

Aims

  • Derive beneficial learning through comparison of ECITB Project Collaboration Toolkit guidance to the existing project collaborative practices of EDF Energy, as representative of the nuclear industry sector.
  • Use learning from the comparison to inform amendment and revision of the ECITB Project Collaboration Toolkit to 2nd Edition.
  • Identify elements of the ECITB Project Collaboration Toolkit that might provide benefit if adopted by nuclear sector.

Method

  • Comparison of cross-sector practices was undertaken through high level review of the ECITB Project Collaboration Toolkit against EDF Energy project management processes relating to collaboration.
  • Detailed comparison findings were recorded in the Case Study that can be viewed on the ECITB project management collaboration website (see link below)

Impact

  • The ‘high level’ comparison of ECITB PCT guidance to nuclear (EDF Energy) project practices identified many similarities.
  • EDF Energy has a number of collaborative / relationship management approaches built into its project management practices.
  • The highly regulated environment and nuclear security protocols can inhibit some collaborative practices. On non-nuclear process, less complex nuclear sector projects there may be opportunity for enhanced performance through agile planning and simpler, reduced work processes, standards and specifications.
  • The comparison yielded enhanced mutual understanding between the oil & gas and nuclear sectors. ECITB will use detailed comparison outcomes as input to the Project Collaboration Toolkit – Edition 2

Click on the image above to download the case study.

Equinor – My Vantage

Problem Statement  

Identified need for Vantage POB to be developed to allow workforce access to key information, receive information and updates and provide a platform for on line check in

Aims

To develop existing Vantage POB to be accessible to the workforce for personal information, on line check in, communications

Method

Small team – Nexen, Shell, Total, COP, Equinor worked with Collabro (in collaboration with wider Vantage User Group) to develop and test system.

Testing took place with Operators, and Tier one contractors with feedback and changes implemented by Collabro/CGI

Step Change in Safety supported and allowed a platform for communication through Website.

Registration supported through individual companies as well as Collabro.

Full roll out expected Q4 2018.

Impact

Initial impact has allowed for personnel to check data such as personal details, training certification, and receive important information from mobile devices.

Full impact only when On line check in ‘live’ but potential is for all personnel using Vantage, globally, will be able to check in online, saving time at the heliport, but more importantly, being taken through security questions, and NOK information step by step, with the need to acknowledge that this is correct/understood.

Similar process can be applied offshore, and overall, this is a benefit to the travelling workforce, as well as potential reduced complexity for Logistics departments.

Total Savings Anticipated

Saving potential in time at heliport

Click on the image above to download the case study.