Time and cost of internal tank inspections lowered by Cyberhawk

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Cyberhawk Innovations has improved the safety, time and cost of inspecting cargo oil tanks on operational FPSOs using Remotely Operated Aerial Vehicles (ROAVs).

Maersk Oil, which owns and operates the Gryphon FPSO in the UKCS, traditionally inspected cargo tanks for integrity, damage assessment and class certification using rope access technicians who were suspended on ropes to inspect the tank structure, focusing on areas of high stress such as stiffeners, brackets, bracing, webs and stringers.

However, carrying out a visual inspection of the tank using Cyberhawk’s ROAV – Cyberhawk mobilised an experienced two-man ROAV team consisting of an ROAV pilot and inspection engineer – garnered many benefits.

Human risk factors presented by rope access such as working at height for sustained periods and in confined spaces were reduced. The inspection of the critical components of the tank was completed within a day, in comparison with rope access which would usually take between three and four days and significant cost savings were made. In turn, Maersk Oil could identify and more efficiently plan for any possible contact based inspections in both this and other tanks.

This inspection technique can now be applied to all large internal tanks, on vessels such as FPSOs, bulk carriers and tankers.

Malcolm Connolly, Cyberhawk’s technical director and founder, said: “We and Maersk Oil were keen to develop an effective ROAV inspection method for FPSO cargo oil tanks as well as other tanks and storage vessels. Not only have we removed one of the most significant risks associated with tank inspection, working at height, but we have also highlighted the significant cost and time savings achieved by ROAV inspection.”

Reliability improvement plans to improve BP’s plant efficiency

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BP expects plant efficiency on its UK assets to increase by over twelve percentage points this year as a result of reliability improvement plans put in place over the last three years.

While there must be periodic breaks in production for planned maintenance, the company’s production has suffered from unplanned shutdowns due to equipment failure on ageing topsides and subsea infrastructure as well as insufficient equipment redundancy. In 2013, BP took specific action to address these unplanned shut-downs through the development and implementation of reliability improvement plans. As a result of these plans, BP expects its plant efficiency to improve from 70 per cent in 2014 to over 82 per cent for 2015.

The plans are founded on an ‘n+1’ philosophy, meaning each asset has spare capacity and critical equipment in case of failure, allowing for fewer and shorter unplanned shut downs. A central reliability team has been established and is accountable for owning and updating the plans, which are reviewed by senior leadership on a monthly basis.

Brian Pridmore, BP reliability and maintenance manager, said: “The reliability improvement plans have enabled us to identify vulnerabilities and prioritise maintenance of topside and plant equipment to increase both reliability and plant availability. We are now seeing the benefits of these plans through real increases in plant reliability across our UK assets. Less frequent unplanned shutdowns and production deferrals are good news for our business and the sector as a whole.”

BP reduces costs by improving inventory management

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BP has worked hard over the last three years to improve its management of inventory to reduce lead times in getting critical spare parts offshore and reduce waste from the purchase and storage of excess materials.

Over the last five decades of operations in the North Sea, the company has built up a large amount of inventory, stored in many locations. This complexity and excess often resulted in long lead times to transport materials offshore and besides being costly, could have a negative impact on production when these materials were critical to the operation of the platform.

BP launched a project to improve its inventory management – identifying a number of improvements, including better materials cataloguing, disposal of surplus spare parts and a reduction in the number of storage locations being used. As a result, the company has created a more effective materials management process and reduced the costs of inventory management. The number of storage locations has more than halved from 120 to 48, greatly reducing storage costs. The number of inventory items has also halved from 158,000 to 75,000 and around $32 million has been generated by disposing of scrap and materials identified as surplus to the company’s needs.

BP is also participating in Oil & Gas UK’s workgroup focusing on the use of inventory. Through collaboration with other operators, materials are being shared, inventories are being slimmed down and required materials are being made available more quickly.

Arnie Mouat, BP Materials Management Delivery Manager, commented: “The need to address high costs and production efficiency issues in the UK Continental Shelf is clear. Our work to eliminate waste and excess is a good example not only of our relentless focus on making our processes more efficient and reducing operating costs but also of the benefits of collaboration across the industry.”

Please view BP logistics video here.

Chevron takes a new approach to organising its marine logistics

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Major operator, Chevron Upstream Europe (Chevron), is making optimum use of the platform supply vessels which support its installations in the North Sea by taking a new approach to organising its marine logistics which involves greater input from its employees and more effective integration across different departments.

A spokesperson explains: “Marine logistics, involving the delivery of plant, equipment and materials from suppliers to our offshore installations, are a sizeable proportion of lifting costs which are some of the costs associated with producing oil and gas from wells on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS)).  In 2014 Chevron launched an initiative to look at how the business could manage the costs of marine logistics more effectively.

“As part of Chevron Upstream Europe’s operations department, our marine logistics team is responsible for supporting the installations and key projects we manage on the UKCS, including the Alba, Captain and Erskine fields. Working together with the TEAM Marine Consortium, which we looked at ways to make better use of Platform Support Vessels (PSVs), share resources with neighbouring offshore installations and maximise every inch of each vessel’s deck space capacity.

“Chevron, as a member of the TEAM Consortium for the past 20 years, is well aware of the benefits of pooling resources such as platform support vessels. We therefore took this co-operative  working approach a step further to pinpoint opportunities  where we could improve  marine logistics efficiency.

Along with being integrated into Chevron’s operations department, the marine logistics team has been working with cross functional input from our operations planning, offshore workforce, , drilling & completions and facilities engineering groups plus various service providers  to raise awareness of the need for further efficiency across our assets.  We looked at areas where we could help reduce offshore standby times and unscheduled sailings as well as prevent cargoes from being ‘round-tripped’ which is when materials remain onboard taking up valuable deck space.

We have been using tools such as Lean Sigma to help our onshore and offshore teams assess potential opportunities for contributing to smarter ways to tackle both day-to -day and long-term strategic planning across the business. This approach is helping us to generate in our teams a sense of empowerment where they are encouraged to think creatively and constantly challenge themselves to find potential opportunities for efficiency improvement.

Together with raising awareness of the efficiency initiative across these teams, we also reviewed existing processes for tracking costs across the business and identified systems which have enabled us to avoid the rise in costs that can arise from sub-optimal planning or reactive work onshore, offshore and through supporting third parties and suppliers.

As a result of launching our efficiency initiative last year, we have been able to streamline work processes. We have also been able to reduce the cost per ton of cargo transported by platform support vessels and increased utilisation of deck space to 75-80 per cent of each vessel’s capacity

 

Integrating operations improves offshore efficiency and reduces costs at ConocoPhillips

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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

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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

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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 takes bold action to improve productivity of offshore field operations

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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.”

WorleyParsons and BG Group deliver industry first

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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.