RINA – Reducing Maintenance Spend through Risk Based Inspection

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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

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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

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Equinor – My Vantage

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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

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Nexen – Gas Lift Optimisation Decision Analysis

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Problem Statement  

Buzzard platform has a large number of wells requiring gas lift and only a limited amount of spare gas plant capacity to provide it. The current gas lift optimiser relies on individual well watercut, gas lift and liquid rates that have a wide range of uncertainty, meaning good opportunity to optimise gas lift rates.

Aims

To develop a strategy to improve day-to-day gas lift optimisation by ensuring that the available lift gas is allocated to the wells that give the highest oil production uplift.

Method

A decision analysis methodology was adopted with inputs from Production, Reservoir and Process Engineering, Metering and Operations. The key gas lift optimisation decisions were identified from a wide range of inter-related issues, and these decisions were then linked into several different gas-lift optimisation strategies.

Each strategy was evaluated with respect to the cost associated with upgrading the well metering systems vs the incremental oil gain from optimising the gas lift allocation according to more reliable data. A strategy was adopted that gave the best expected economic return and a commitment to action agreed.

Impact

A probabilistic metering uncertainty analysis showed that a substantial number of barrels could be gained simply by allocating the lift gas according to more accurate well watercut & rate data (P50 case).

Metering uncertainty can be reduced by adopting a more rigorous approach to calibration and maintenance of the existing systems rather than wholesale replacement with new.

A cultural shift in attitude to gas lift optimisation was achieved by using a multi-disciplinary team and having regular reviews with key asset stakeholders.

Total Savings Anticipated

Additional Production

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Nexen – Installed Production System Capacity and Locked In Potential

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Problem Statement  

Understanding of the production and injection system capacities, constraints, impacting issues/projects and their inter-dependency across the whole system is essential for production system optimisation and asset management.

Aims

To develop a weekly Installed Production Capacity and Locked In Potential review and reporting process and make it visible to the whole organisation.

Method

The installed system capacities for both the production and water injection systems are reviewed by the production engineers in consultation with the subsurface and operations teams. The constraints across the key system chokes (reservoir, wells, plant and export) are mapped through a common interface in the intranet.

The current capacities, the issues impacting on them, the upcoming, planned projects that are likely to impact on these are updated weekly. The information is disseminated through the locked–in potential dashboard.

Impact 

This review process brings focus on issues impacting on the capacities, improved resource allocation and helped with the planning of activities accordingly.

It helped to communicate both the water injection and production systems and their vital interdependency.

All the players and stakeholders have the same consistent  information that they can use for day-to-day decision making.

This contributes to the top-quartile performance of the assets and achievement of the production efficiencies.

Total Savings Anticipated

Additional Production

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Nexen – WellFARM – Well Flow Assurance Risk Management

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Problem Statement  

A lack of awareness of evolving threats to well performance throughout the well life-cycle can lead increased downtime or impaired performance with consequential impact on host production efficiency.

Aims

To quantify the risk to well performance from individual flow assurance threats, and to oversee the application of mitigation strategies on a well-by-well basis (look forward / look back basis).

To provide confidence that adequate mitigation is in place at all times.

Method

A quarterly review of well stock using a HAZAN style check list, looks at the effectiveness of current flow assurance mitigation strategies against new threats. For example: scale, sand, corrosion, oxygen control, asphaltenes, H2S, mercaptans, wax and hydrate operating envelopes are checked against well operating performance in the review period. Deficiencies in inhibitor mitigation are highlighted against trends for the next reporting period and for life-of-field considerations. Where risks are not deemed to be ALARP, an action plan is devised and the residual risk is recorded in the Risk Register.

Impact 

WellFARM review of threats to individual wells, often flags potential problems that might otherwise have been missed in day-to-day operations optimisation.

This is especially true for assets that are emerging from plateau to mature phases of production, where the original design intent needs to be modified in the light of the experience gained during long term operations.

The approach supplements normal chemical management strategies by providing a cross-functional overview of current and expected performance.

The effect of the process is to maximise mean time to failure and to minimise the mean time to recovery.

The output from the meetings gives asset management visibility of the issues and confidence that business risks are ALARP.

Total Savings Anticipated

Optimisation Opportunity

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Nexen – Risk and Opportunity Management System

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Problem Statement  

Consistent and process driven management of the risks and opportunities through a regular control framework is an essential element of production system optimisation and asset management.

Aims

To develop the governance framework and a supporting tool for the processing and management of the risks and opportunities with better consistency and visibility.

Method

The workflow is updated using the decision framing techniques with all stakeholders and players. Regular opportunity and risk reviews were incorporated into the asset management and review process following a weekly structure and decision governance through 4-stage gates.

A tool with a register, overview radar and dashboards was developed to support and facilitate the process, enabling the recording, processing and governance of the identified risks and opportunities. The system was enabled to feed into the installed production capacity reporting and the locked-in potential dashboards for better visibility to all.

Impact 

The risks and opportunities are now updated regularly and governed with good controls providing visibility to the whole organisation.

The resource utilisation for improvement projects improved with better control, proper prioritisation and alignment with the company work plan and budgets.

All the information of the identified risks and opportunities and their maturity as well as their schedule are readily available to all stakeholders and users.

The impact and contribution of the processed or progressing mitigations/improvements became readily available and visible.

Total Savings Anticipated

>5% Time

Improved Production Efficiency

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