Atkins – Process Rationalisation to Reduce Costs in Late Life

Problem Statement

Facilities in late life no longer require their nameplate production capacities.

Retaining the process as designed can lead to unnecessary operational expenditure costs. In September 2017 an operator requested we use our proprietary tool MeasCap to assess their facility’s capacity and identify options to reduce cost.

Aims

  • Undertake external review of facility rationalisation to identify the most efficient means of processing the fluids
  • Identify process modifications to reduce operational expenditure (OPEX) while minimising capital expenditure spend.
  • Options must consider impact on availability and production capacity, and demonstrate financial impact
  • Focus on short-term, high impact areas which achieve quick results

Method

  • We quickly reviewed current overall capacity versus demand using Atkins’ proprietary MeasCap software, to identify areas of over/under utilisation.
  • We systematically identified options to remove excess capacity on a system and platform level, and used MeasCap to debottleneck equipment.
  • The best individual options were then combined to determine any additional benefits e.g. utility efficiencies.
  • Each option was conceptually assessed to understand OPEX savings and ability to meet target production in terms of capacity & availability with CAPEX for debottlenecking modifications estimated.
  • These financial implications were combined to give NPV per option to enable comparison, and develop the optimum rationalisation timeline.
  • Results were presented to the client management team and documented in the study report.

Impact

Multiple attractive options identified to reduce OPEX, minimise CAPEX and result in a positive NPV* – some examples below:

Option Impact on production CAPEX (US $) OPEX Saving/yr (US $) NPV ($)
Decommission Platform A Separation Train Sufficient capacity, reduced availability 7M 7M 36M
Smaller oil export pumps Sufficient capacity 15M 9M 39M
Decommission Platform A Power Gen 3M 1M 3M
Combined option 1 Sufficient capacity, reduced availability 18M 17M 43M
Combined option 2 26M 21M 22M

*NPV takes into account CAPEX, OPEX, lost production, availability impacts and discount factor

  • Use of MeasCap and Atkins expertise allowed an effective study of minimal duration – 6 week study costing ~ £50k.

Potential OPEX savings 

$15M – $20M / year

Savings using MeasCap 

~ 3 weeks quicker

~ £25k less

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Aker Solutions – Kaizen: PPE

1. Problem Statement

Needless over-issue of PPE Kits (316 duplicated kits issued to technicians in 2016)

2. Aims

  • To reduce the spend on initial issue PPE whilst ensuring individuals still receive PPE needed for their work prior to deployment offshore.

3. Method

  • Kaizen event that included the PPE supplier
  • Map current process and draw out issues causing overspend on PPE
  • Analyse the root causes to all the issues and identify their solutions
  • Build a detailed to-be process
  • Carry out the actions needed to run the new way of working
  • Track the benefits

4. Impact

  • Over-issue of kits reduced
  • 93% in 2017
  • 100% in the last 6 months
  • Despite a spike in recruitment with the up-man for a major hook-up contract.
  • Quantity of returned kits reduced
  • Measures implemented at minimal cost that makes the suppliers work easier (i.e. less expensive).
  • Benefits tracked for a year after and spend per person is still below target
  • Regular meetings with supplier set-up to ensure standard kit continues to contain best for purpose PPE.
  • 43% Cost avoidance during a major hook-up contract up-man

% cost avoided

43%

(Jun – Nov17)

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Aker Solutions – Kaizen: Subsea Electronics Module Top Cover

1. Problem Statement

High rate of quality failures for Subsea Electronics Modules Top Covers coming from the manufacturer

Multiple inductions;

• Unnecessary training (hundreds of people going through up to 9 days each);

• Multiple journeys during recruitment process.

2. Aims

•To drastically improve the quality of Top Covers coming from the manufacturer

3. Method

  • Kaizen event that included the manufacturer.
  • Mapping  of the recruitment process & issues identified;
  • Root causes of 200 issues and solutions developed
  •  Root causes of all the Quality issues identified
  • Solutions to Quality root causes developed, tested and embedded
  •  Solutions to Process issues developed and embedded
  • Communications plan for rollout to all stakeholders
    (300 people).

4. Impact

  • All quality issues at point of acceptance for Aker Solutions eliminated
  • (a 99% improvement reported between Dec 2016 and June 2017 and 100% improvement reported between March and June 2017)
  • Rework removed, lead time reduced, and need for test fit at point of receipt eliminated
  • (2 people, 1 hr for 10 top covers per month)

Quality Improvement

100%

Submitted by Darren Clyde, Senior Lean Coach, Aker Solutions

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Apollo and Oil & Gas Technology Centre partner on data

Problem Statement

Apollo were approached by a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) contractor who required an integrated and comprehensive integrity management software solution for oil and gas.

Aims

  • Deliver operational efficiencies through digitising the offshore/on-site workforce.
  • Deliver significantly improved and efficient data management and work flow onshore
  • Improve the operational efficiency and quality of recording data at worksites through application of mobile and wireless technologies.

Method

  • After a number of early successful projects involving the migration of integrity data from legacy and uncontrolled sources Apollo KnowHow™ was created.
  • Apollo KnowHow™ is a modern, scalable, cloud-based data management software solution.
  • It brings significant data management and data quality benefits to engineers and other parties, whilst looking to future developments.

Impact

Apollo KnowHow™ is a step towards digitising the offshore worker and with the addition of optional modular add-ons, KnowHow™ will enable the distribution of electronic work packs, digital harvesting of integrity data along with real time reporting of data to the desktop of senior management, integrity managers and engineers, etc.

The ability of KnowHow™ to present data effectively, involve teams as appropriate, mirror engineering processes, provide work flow, audit trails, link to other systems (visualisation tools, document management systems etc.) ensures rapid close out of anomalies before they become larger problems.

Importantly, the design and architecture of KnowHow™ allows it to manage many sources of data effectively e.g. fabric maintenance work flow, pressure systems, Ex equipment, instrument tubing, trending, risk management etc.

Uniquely KnowHow™ allows operators an instant view of the integrity of their whole asset in real time.

Total hours saved 20%

Total savings anticipated £100k -£500k per asset, per annum

Fraser Graham, Business Development Executive

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Aker Solutions – Kaizen: 5S at Aker Solutions Portlethen Facility

Problem Statement

Excess materials and inventory, HSE issues due to
inventory and the need to hire another property to be
able to service a major contract.

Aim 

To improve the efficiency of the work carried out at the
Aker Solutions Portlethen facility.

Method 

• Map current process and draw out issues preventing the
flow of work through the facility.
• Map future lay out.
• Clear out excess inventory.
• Set-up standardised work areas.
• Reset factory for major contract and for flow
• Install lean tools such as tool shadowing, visual
management and Kanban.

Impact

New process ensured:
• Reduction in motion waste (approx 73% for the most frequent
job type).
• 8.5 tonnes removed – electrical, paperwork, scrap metal.
• £11k retrieved from scrapped items.
• 230m2 space freed-up for potential production bays.
• Potential 70% increase in production with introduction of new
bays.
• Cost avoidance – removing need for additional facility for
Mariner workload: £406K for per year, starting 2017.

The new process resulted in:
• Safer environment with 8.5tonnes of waste removed from site.
• Installed management walk rounds and time to reset and
improve during working day so changes are sustained
• Aker Solutions Portlethen is a more desirable place to work (an
interviewee after a facility tour).
• During a scheduled tour of the facility a customer was
impressed with how “in control” the facility was of production
for their contract.

Total cost avoided: £406k per annum

Contact: Darren Clyde, Senior Lean Coach

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Aker Solutions – Kaizen: Offshore and Site Recruitment

Problem Statement 

4,066 days lost due to missed mobilisation dates, caused by:
• Multiple inductions;
• Unnecessary training (hundreds of people going through up to
nine days each);
• Multiple journeys during recruitment process.

Aim

To improve the efficiency of the offshore and site
recruitment process.

Method

• Mapping of the recruitment process & issues identified;
• Root causes of 200 issues and solutions developed;
• Single, new recruitment process created;
• Supporting procedures created;
• Communications plan for roll out to all stakeholders
(300 people).

Impact

New process ensured:
• Removal of multiple inductions
• Removal of multiple medicals, if rehire or currently employed
• Combining medicals with inductions and training
• Removal of travel home, while awaiting Drugs & Alcohol (D&A)
test results (will be part of induction day, 2,3&4 combined)
• Removal of travel for D&A as a separate activity
• Removal of unnecessary training courses
• Removed unnecessary training (therefore travel)

The new process resulted in:
• 92.3% reduction in mobilisation days lost (219);
• Removal of unnecessary training (866 days);
• Value adding work 4306 days given back to the business.

Next steps
• Weekly KPI reporting to ensure improvements are sustained;
• Non-compliance addressed quickly.

Total time saved: 4306 days 

Contact: Darren Clyde, Senior Lean Coach

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Nexen deploys Predictive Analysis technology service

Problem Statement

It is widely acknowledged that a significant proportion of oil and gas production is lost each year through plant downtime and system-related issues.

Aims

  • Explore new technologies that make use of existing operational data sources to provide analytical insights which enable decisions and interventions to maximise production uptime, enhance business performance and mitigate risk.

Method

  • Nexen engaged Operational Excellence (OPEX) Group to apply a predictive analysis service on the Buzzard platform to detect warning signs and identify emergent system failures, prior to the event occurring.
  • The scope of work covered the full process gas compression system on board Buzzard, including process separators, coolers, exchangers, gas compressors, drivers, valves and system instrumentation.

Impact

The service has delivered significant value, including:

  • A reduction in critical system failures or downtime
  • Reduced maintenance costs and the high cost of unplanned equipment repairs
  • Identification of performance improvement opportunities
  • Highlighted rapidly escalating problems and longer term threats at a very early stage

Following the initial pilot in 2015, the service has been implemented on a longer-term basis on additional systems on Buzzard and other Nexen assets.

Total savings anticipated

$20 million production revenue safeguarded in 2016.

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Maersk Oil – Optimising the use of diesel generators

Problem statement

The Gryphon Alpha FPSO has five diesel generators and historically the operating philosophy has been to run two or three of these per day to power the thrusters. This is in addition to power provided by the two gas turbines. It was decided to explore ways to make this process more efficient.

Aim

Reduce the use of the diesel generators and seek out ways to power the thrusters more efficiently.

Method

Collaborated with the Barge Masters and Offshore Leadership team to explore the benefits of using the diesel generators less frequently.

A plan was put in place to power the thrusters using the gas turbines instead of using both the diesel generators and the gas turbines.

Impact

By using the gas turbines to solely provide power to the thrusters the FPSO has projected an annual cost saving of c.£1million:

  • Saving diesel fuel costs
  • Reducing service costs through extended service intervals based on lower running hours

Compared to 2016, 2017 has seen an average of 1.04 fewer diesel generators running since the implementation of the new operating philosophy.

On top of the cost savings, the practice has reduced noise and reduced the FPSO’s carbon footprint through fewer emissions.

Total savings anticipated: c£1m per year

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Maersk Oil – Improving gas compressor efficiency

Problem Statement

The Gryphon Alpha FPSO’s gas compressors have had a history of piston rod failures; these failures can result in a six day outage. It was identified that the failures were due to liquid carryover into the gas compressors. The challenge was to find an efficient way to improve liquid removal without substantial impact to production. Context: Increased production volumes on Gryphon meant that the existing suction scrubber (liquid removal system) wasn’t effectively removing liquids from the gas prior to reaching the gas compressor. A new, much larger scrubber was installed and this improved performance but liquids kept appearing. This resulted in piston rod failures which led to unplanned shutdowns and production loss.

Aim

Consider methods to improve liquid removal, preventing unplanned failures of the gas compression system caused by liquids and the subsequent production loss.

Method

The Compression Enhancement project was kicked-off in 2014 which saw a number of improvement projects take place.

In 2016, the issue with liquids arose again so after considering options it was determined that installing a cyclonic separator would improve the existing design with minimum impact to production and without requiring significant physical modifications.

The cyclonic separator bypassed the original scrubber and the link between the two scrubbers was closed off.

Now, as gas enters the system from the first stage separator it is processed through the larger suction scrubber as normal before passing along a pipe to the new cyclonic separator unit and then it travels to the gas compressor

Impact

Cyclonic separators may be rarely used in the North Sea but the equipment has gone a long way, in a short space of time, to optimise one of the Gryphon Alpha’s gas compressors.

Result: there have been no first stage piston rod failures on this compressor since the unit was installed. Another cyclonic separator has now been installed on a second parallel Gryphon compressor.

Each piston rod failure results in a six day outage for the compressor. Based on four year’s worth of breakdown data and subsequent production loss, c.£1.5million can be saved per year.

Other benefits to using a cyclonic separator unit.

The unit creates a vortex to remove liquid particles from the gas so it has no moving parts resulting in no additional maintenance.

Liquid removal happens closer to the compressor and this greatly reduces the chance of liquid entering the compression system.

The cyclonic separator was installed utilising existing instrumentation requiring no significant physical modifications.

Failures of a high pressure gas compression system increases the risk of a potential process safety incident. By installing the cyclonic separator we’ve taken measures to reduce this risk.

Total hours saved: Installation of cyclonic separator prevents a six day production outage.

Total savings anticipated: c.£1.5million projected savings a year. Based on four year’s breakdown data and subsequent production loss.

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Maersk Oil – A new approach to well interventions: Cost effective and quick way to unplug subsea sand screens

Problem Statement

The production from a subsea well went into severe decline and it was thought that the well’s sand screens needed to be urgently cleaned. The standard solution would have been to use a semi-submersible drilling rig with coiled tubing, but this is both expensive and slow. So, a new solution had to be explored and developed.

Aim

Find a cheaper and faster alternative to using a semi-submersible drilling rig to clean a subsea well’s sand screens and improve the well’s production.

Method

Formic acid was chosen to clean the screens.

To get the fluid down to the formation (a depth of 9,300 ft) it was decided to use a coil hose deployed from a light well intervention vessel (LWIV).

A LWIV is a smaller, more manoeuvrable mono-hulled ship. It’s often used for subsea well interventions but using wireline (electric cable) or slick line (thin wire).

Coil hose is very different from coiled tubing in that it can be rigged up using slick line equipment, still allowing pumping to take place.

10,000ft of coil hose with an outside diameter of 19mm needed to be deployed – the size of the hose meant that the pump rate would be low.

To tackle this, several new pieces of hardware had to be designed, manufactured and tested. Numerous programmes and safety reviews were also carried out.

Impact

The intervention was completed incident free and initially the well production rate doubled.

This successful result confirmed our hypothesis that the decline was due to screen plugging. This is useful learning for the future.

The intervention saw three world firsts:

  • The first time coil hose had been run from a light well intervention vessel;
  • The first time coil hose had been run into a subsea well; and
  • previously nobody had run coil hose deeper than 2,000 feet – we ran it to 9,300 feet.

Overall timing from concept creation to execution was just four months – a significant reduction compared to the alternative method of using a semi-submersible rig.

The success of this job has allowed us to look at other candidates for cost-effective well intervention to improve production.

Reduced project timeline: Total project timeline was 4 months, compared to 6-8 months needed for semi-sub intervention (inc. contract)

Total savings anticipated: Around 30% saving – compared to the alternative solution of using a semi-sub rig and coiled

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