Integrating operations improves offshore efficiency and reduces costs at ConocoPhillips

/in , , , /by

ConocoPhillips, the world’s largest independent exploration and production company based on production and proved reserves, has significantly improved offshore efficiency and reduced operating costs by integrating its operations, changing work processes and building a cutting-edge onshore operations centre (OOC).

The new approach has helped to increase the number of activities executed offshore, reduce the number of changes to maintenance plans by 70 per cent and has tripled offshore ‘tool time’ (the number of hours per shift spent performing productive tasks).

Unplanned production trips have improved by almost one third, the backlog of work has been reversed and operating costs have fallen by 17 per cent.

In an aim to elevate operations performance across their North Sea assets, back in 2013 the company decided to change their operating model for the UK. The challenge was to integrate all their Central and Southern North Sea operations by the end of that year.

Setting clear goals to reduce risk and to improve efficiency in all operating areas including improved support given to offshore from onshore, the initiative involved significant change throughout the organisation.

Not only was it essential to change the office and equipment, it also necessitated a soft people skills change with the company’s SPIRIT (Safety, People, Integrity, Responsibility, Innovation and Teamwork) values firmly in mind. Behavioural changes included encouraging more collaboration, innovation and improved decision-making.

A dedicated cutting-edge Onshore Operations Centre (OOC) was also built, allowing the multi-disciplinary front-line support teams – condition monitoring, integrated planning, production delivery and health, safety and environment – to all be located in one place.

Since completion, the OOC has consistently delivered tangible results. Its ongoing operation, combined with a programme of continuous improvement, means it is growing in strength and it is successfully delivering improvements to the company’s UK operations.

Brage Sandstad, General Manager, Operated Assets, explains: “For ConocoPhillips, ‘integrated operations’ is a simple and creative solution that has enabled collaboration between our UK offshore and onshore functional teams to achieve results. By embracing this opportunity for change, we have safely reduced costs, whilst gaining a higher degree of assimilation and collaboration with our contractors and service providers. For us, it was simply good sense to integrate our people and improve our work processes facilitated by the use of new technology”.

 

Chevron Upstream Europe achieves smarter well operations

/in , , , /by

Chevron Upstream Europe (CUE) has improved the efficiency of its well operations and saved over £9 million in six months by defining distinct operations and performance teams and making more effective use of data.

Over the last few years, inefficient practices and a significant amount of non-productive time on the part of service providers have caused delays of several days to weeks in drilling and completions operations.

Launched in October 2014, the ‘Perfect Execution’ initiative aims to deliver well operations within the time and at the cost predicted. It has involved re-organising the drilling and completions group to ensure a consistent well planning structure.

For all future wells, the performance team carries out extensive historical benchmarking to identify where ‘performance gaps’ leading to non productive time have occurred in the past. Each service provider must also carry out root cause analysis on past issues and then work with CUE planning engineers to develop a well performance plan to resolve them. Progress through the plan is monitored in collaborative meetings and service providers are held accountable with the help of key performance indicators.

Improving how data is used has also been key. Simpler methods of analysing data and real time benchmarking of mudlogging data allows areas of lost time to be understood and captured more quickly in order to improve operational efficiency.

The efficiency drive is focused not only on CUE’s existing producing fields but also applies to new projects such as Alder, Rosebank and Captain as well as non-rig operations.

Andy Mayeux of CUE said: “To combat the drilling delays we were experiencing we have employed a consistent well planning process and made better use of data. The first three wells of 2015 have been completed early, we have accrued over £9 million of savings and service provider non-productive time has more than halved. Most importantly, by reducing well days, wells are being brought online sooner and additional wells can be added to the rig schedule, which ultimately helps increase production.”

To maintain the workforce’s engagement in the initiative both on and offshore, cross-functional well performance reviews are conducted within 30 days of drilling ending. Measures of success against the performance plan and overall well performance data is communicated daily on monitors as well as via posters reminding rig crews of the impact of their support to the delivery of the business plan.

Advanced Industrial Solutions makes steps towards reducing the cost of training offshore workers

/in , , /by

Submitted by Advanced Industrial Solutions (AIS)

Impact

Enabled training in one accessible, affordable location with onsite accommodation from just £29 per night

Description of Best Practice

North East company Advanced Industrial Solutions (AIS) recognised the need to reduce the cost of training for offshore workers in the North Sea early on –and has created a whole new approach to training, offering real cost savings which could have a significant impact on training budgets for the sector.

Over the past three years AIShas invested millions of pounds to create a state-of-the-art 150,000 square-foot offshore training village on North Tyneside. The world-class training on offer includes emergency response, sea survival and wind energy, as well as CompExelectrical, rigging & lifting and more than 120 other courses. The company has also developed an onsite hotel to provide affordable, high quality accommodation for delegates.

As a result, the centre allows people to get all the skills they need in one accessible, affordable location with onsite accommodation from just £29 per night. The company hopes this will eliminate the need for employers to manage bookings and bills for multiple courses, in addition to often costly hotels and travel.

Dave Bowyer, Director of Training for AIScommented: “Inevitably cost is becoming a key consideration for oil and gas companies. Employers looking to do things more efficiently and intelligently find having multi-skilled employees who can effectively complete numerous tasks can help.

We hope our training village will help saves employers significant time and money –so they can squeeze the maximum out of theirtraining budgets. This flagship village in North Tyneside is in addition to new locations in Aberdeen, Grimsby (Humberside) and Cleckheaton(West Yorkshire).”

TOTAL – action to improve productivity of offshore field operations

/in , , , /by

Submitted by TOTAL

Impact

Productivity improvement of 14 per cent.

Description of Best Practice

TOTAL, a major international operator committed to maximising oil and gas production from the UK continental shelf (UKCS) is taking bold action to improve the productivity of offshore field operations as part of its group-wide initiative to drive sustainable growth.

To achieve the business transformation required, the company is encouraging staff to commit to making a cultural change in the way they work, think and behave to help bring about improvements under three themes: safety, production and in managing costs better.

Improving the efficiency of offshore field operations, including maintenance activities, is one of the company’s eight key priority areas which include well construction, geosciences, contracts and procurement, projects, logistics, information services and overall corporate services. The company is using process improvement techniques such as ‘Lean’ to examine how its current practices in operations and maintenance activities could be improved to help control costs and improve efficiency.

“There are many processes to consider in each of the tasks associated with field operations and a fair amount of time is taken up with essential preparation activities such as tool box talks, site checks and work permit requirements. However, even in thisearly stage of the initiative we have seen the completion of planned tasks within the schedule improve by 14 per cent.

“We believe our new approach has succeeded in helping us grow an even stronger team ethos within field operations crews and that it is helping us to develop a shared responsibility for controlling costs which can only contribute towards a sustainable future for our company on the UKCS.”

TOTAL takes bold action to improve productivity of offshore field operations

/in , , /by

TOTAL, a major international operator committed to maximising oil and gas production from the UK continental shelf (UKCS) is taking bold action to improve the productivity of offshore field operations as part of its group-wide initiative to drive sustainable growth.

To achieve the business transformation required, the company is encouraging staff to commit to making a cultural change in the way they work, think and behave to help bring about improvements under three themes: safety, production and in managing costs better.

Improving the efficiency of offshore field operations, including maintenance activities, is  one of the company’s eight key priority areas which include well construction, geosciences, contracts and procurement, projects, logistics, information services and overall corporate services. The company is using process improvement techniques such as ‘Lean’  to examine how its current practices in operations and maintenance activities could be improved to help control costs and improve efficiency.

“Our commitment to changing our cultural approach is an important part of looking at how our field operations could become more efficient”, explains a spokesman, “For example, we are using ‘Lean’ tools to reassess how we schedule tasks and now encourage our offshore teams in different roles, including supervisors, technicians and operators, to develop a greater awareness of one another’s roles and requirements in each assignment which might include  activities including basic oil changes, electrical breaker maintenance, valve change outs and even gas turbine maintenance.

“On the North Alwyn platform, the team has introduced a visual scheduling process that helps technicians by improving visibility of the overall maintenance plan. This consists of new scheduling boards designed to give discipline teams a clearer 48-hour view of the planned work schedule, showing priorities and the impact of any interruption in equipment operation.

“The new process helps the teams identify additional work that can be carried out during equipment downtime giving them the opportunity to maximise productivity in other related activities. A simple Measurement and Root Causes chart tracks performance against planned work schedules and also highlights the reasons behind any delivery issues to improve performance still further. The plan is to apply these ‘Lean’  principles to other areas of the business.

“There are many processes to consider in each of the tasks associated with field operations and a fair amount of time is taken up with essential preparation activities such as tool box talks, site checks and work permit requirements. However, even in this early stage of the initiative we have seen the completion of planned tasks within the schedule improve by 14 per cent.

“We believe our new approach has succeeded in helping us grow an even stronger team ethos within field operations crews and that it is helping us to develop a shared responsibility for controlling costs which can only contribute towards a sustainable future for our company on the UKCS.”

BP – Teaming up with fellow operator to unlock UKCS resources

/in , , , /by

Submitted by BP

Impact

Shared exploration costs by cooperating on main wellbore and side-track locations, saving XYZ %

Description of Best Practice

BP has worked cooperatively with fellow operator, GDF SUEZ E&P UK Ltd (part of the ENGIE Group), to increase exploration activity and help maximise economic recovery from untapped oil and gas resources in a mature play in the Central North Sea. Using advanced seismic data enhancement techniques and careful analysis of preexisting well data, BP’s exploration team identified a prospect named ‘Vorlich’ in the central North Sea. The challenge was to see if they could drill and test this cost-effectively and expeditiously. In the UKCS, the days of simple quick finds are behind us. Finds are now in small and complex structures, which are challenging, requiring a large amount of time and forensic effort to properly understand. The high drilling costs in the basin can also quickly erode the value of smaller opportunities, making new discoveries increasingly rare.

Ronnie Parr, BP Geophysical Advisor, said: “We identified that drilling the main wellbore into the BP acreage was the optimum exploration location, but a side-track into GDF SUEZ E&P UK Ltd’s neighbouring licence block would allow us to confirm the scale of the resource and its extent, so BP and GDF SUEZ E&P UK Ltd jointly designed the well to test and appraise Vorlich across both blocks. GDF SUEZ E&P UK Ltd operated the well in 2014 in partnership with BP which allowed both companies to share exploration costs, resulting in a successful, potentially commercial, oil discovery”. “At a time when exploration in the UKCS is facing severe investment and cost pressures, we believe the Vorlich project has demonstrated that two UK operators can work together to apply their expertise, expedite a project efficiently and maximise recovery of the considerable remaining resource. We believe there is great potential for other operators on the UKCS to find new ways to work together to ensure that oil and gas is not left stranded and undeveloped.”

Other partners in Marconi / Vorlichare: DEA UK SNSLimited, Maersk Oil North Sea UK Limited and Total E&PUK Limited.

WorleyParsons and BG Group deliver industry first

/in , , , /by

In response to demand from customer BG Group to replace defective caissons more quickly, WorleyParsons introduced an industry first by developing a new technique for removing caissons, the pillars which underpin many North Sea platforms, a new method which not only allowed the job to be done in a third of the time but was also safer.

In April 2014, subsea defects on the Lomond platform’s C6 caisson were identified along with badly corroded internal dip pipes. Given that the caisson was located directly above a gas export line which it had the potential to damage if dropped, the risk of some part detaching during the removal process had to be mitigated.

WorleyParsons pumped expanding foam down the caisson, fully encapsulating corroded internal dip pipes. This removed the risk of them detaching during removal and falling onto a gas export line located below and allowed the top of the caisson to be cut away in larger sections than before, saving time and reducing cost.

This innovation improved efficiency by enabling the caisson to be removed in eight weeks, where more traditional methods would have taken 22. The process demonstrates the power of collaboration and holds promise for the future, as BG Group plans to use this technology for the removal of similar caissons on other North Sea assets.

Finding new, innovative ways of working is can help secure the future of our industry and will help to make the industry. BG Group’s Vice President, UK Operated Assets, Steve Cox, commented:

“As an industry, we need to work together to develop innovative methods and technologies. This solution has been an outstanding achievement and is testament to great team work and commitment from all companies involved and has the potential to be used for any other similar caissons in poor condition.”

View a video describing the project here.

Centrica – Unlocking the Portfolio: Hackathon

/in , , , /by

Submitted by Centrica

Impact

The Hackathon has been the catalyst for a culture change in how we do business. Centrica’s relationships with its supply chain partners are now closer and more collaborative, with regular, positive meetings with the likes of ADIL, Oceaneering, Ramboll and Cortez coming directly on the back of the event.

Through work with Ramboll, capital expenditure projections on the development of two gas fields was cut by nearly 50%, with the introduction of new equipment already in use outside the UKCS and the associated change in contracting strategy. This positive result stimulated further investigation into this equipment, and the investigation has now been widened to embrace the broader Centrica portfolio.

The Hackathon has also broken down barriers along the supply chain and created a wider spirit of collaboration with and between our contractors.  The culture shift has gone wider than just those involved in the Hackathon directly, however, and the positive results we have seen thanks to our improved relationships with these contractors has changed the way we do business with all of our supply chain partners.

Post-Hackathon, closer working with the companies such as Wood Group and Hydrawell has added value to our business and theirs.

The Hackathon has proved that by breaking down the barriers between operators and contracting companies and having honest conversations about what can be done better, projects and investment in the UK can be unlocked to the benefit of the supply chain, the wider industry and lead to a more sustainable, lower cost, efficient North Sea region.

Description of Best Practice

As 80% of Centrica’s annual spend is with our supply chain partners, we understand that working closely with these contracting companies is crucial to our success and the success of the basin.  At the Oil & Gas UK Share Fair 2014, we resolved to bring a more collaborative approach to our relationships with all our suppliers; the aim was to break the trend on steadily rising capital expenditure costs, whether that be with improved ways of working new technologies or standardising processes or equipment.

The Unlocking the Portfolio event was designed to find ways for the business and its partners to collaborate more closely on technology to make projects more competitive in the current low oil price climate. The event took place in March 2015 with around 70 new and existing contractors meeting us and each other to discuss projects stuck in the pipeline and the challenges we faced.  It was an opportunity for everyone to share knowledge, experience, and capabilities – as well as highlight areas where Centrica could improve its own processes and increase the viability of our projects.

During the day-long event, contractors were challenged to work together and find solutions for stalled projects.  Each session was facilitated by Centrica’s ‘Pioneering Practitioners’.  During each session ideas were generated, and these ideas and their cost savings potential were collated throughout the day, to give us a final estimate of the savings which could be made.  Hundreds of ideas were submitted across the day.  The business aims to develop these ideas in the months and years ahead to push ahead with projects, which are currently uneconomic.

Within our own organisation, several ideas have already been implemented on decommissioning projects as well as on a new project in Morecambe Bay – the use of a multi-skilled workforce on the North Morecambe Project which has provided efficiency without excessive strain on cost, as well as improving scheduling during a busy shutdown period.  The savings identified for individual projects range from 6% to more than 50%, and some of the ideas are applicable beyond the specific projects which were the focus of the Hackathon.

Since holding the Hackathon, we have shared our experiences with Oil & Gas UK, fellow operators and industry organisations.  Given the challenges everyone in the industry is facing, we also recognised that the learnings and ideas we collected during the day and in follow-up sessions would be beneficial to others. To that end, we have shared information with Oil & Gas UK and groups like the Small Pools Technology Development group.

Contact:  Ross Davidson, Centrica