Cyberhawk – Internal roof pontoon internal inspection conducted using drones from outside tank

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Problem Statement  

The internal inspection of roof pontoons can be challenging due to the requirement for personnel to work in a confined space for lengthy amounts of time.

Aims

A large global oil and gas company required a solution to inspect the internal roof pontoons and steel shell of a floating roof tank dedicated to the production of unrefined diesel at a refinery in the UK. Cyberhawk was selected to conduct the inspection using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Method

Cyberhawk’s two-man team examined the condition of 25 pontoons and the entire internal surface of the tank. The inside of the asset was fully inspected whilst the team remained in a safe position on the outside to fly the UAV.

With a lack of GPS signal and different entry points for each pontoon, full manual flying was required from experienced pilots. This also meant flying manually through the tank’s various compartments.

Impact

This type of inspection would usually involve personnel entering the tight roof pontoons of the tank – Cyberhawk’s solution meant that personnel were only required inside the tank for the minimum amount of time.

The traditional method of inspection would also have taken weeks to complete the workscope where as the UAV solution took just five days.

Cyberhawk successfully completed the workscope delivering a high quality inspection report with high resolution images which enabled the client to understand the tank’s condition. The pontoons were found to be in generally good condition throughout with no significant damage or defects. The client reported the project was carried out within budget and reported significant time savings.

Total hours saved

Five days vs weeks

Safety benefits

Minimum time inside for personnel

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Cyberhawk – $11m saving generated through drone flare inspection

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Problem Statement 

Flare inspection can incur significant costs and take months to complete. Aside from the cost of using scaffolding or rope access, a production shutdown is required while the inspection takes place.  These access techniques also mean extended periods of working at height.

Aims 

  • A supermajor in West Africa was looking use a new, more efficient method of inspection to examine a number of flares on five live assets.
  • As well as generating cost savings, the client was also looking for an inspection solution which was safer for personnel by reducing the requirement to work at height.

Method

  • A two man team from Cyberhawk were mobilised to the region to complete the inspections
  • Full close visual inspections (CVI) were carried out across all assets
  • Thanks to the use of UAVs, the inspections could take place without the need for a plant shutdown

Impact

By avoiding a plant shutdown, and inspecting the assets while they were live, the client saved more than $11million.

All five assets were also inspected in less than a week – the alternative methods would have taken months to complete and would also have required a complete shutdown of the facility.

The detailed inspection reports completed by Cyberhawk’s plant inspector and flare experts provided the facility with the info required to fully plan and prepare flare tip replacement and repair work during the next planned turnaround.

Total hours saved

5 days vs weeks

Total savings anticipated 

Over $11million

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Atkins – Methanol Injection Optimisation Using OLGA Simulation

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Problem Statement

OGUK Case Study – methanol optimisation

The use of methanol as a hydrate inhibitor in wells/pipelines is strictly controlled by Ineos for all users of the Forties Pipeline System due to the potential damage that can be caused to catalysts and effluent plant. If an operator causes the overall FPS methanol dosage to exceed the limit of 2m3 / day, it may be subject to a charge of up to £2m. This therefore leads operators to wait until a timeslot for methanol injection is allocated, causing delays in start-up and the subsequent losses for deferred production.

Aims 

Optimise methanol injection volumes required for start-up operations in subsea wells/pipelines to reduce operator contribution to overall FPS methanol injection thus facilitating the swifter approval of methanol waiver permits and reducing  deferred production.

Method

Traditional approaches use steady state analysis to calculate methanol injection volumes. Atkins developed a novel methodology combining OLGA transient simulations, inhibitor tracking and the latest equations of state to optimise the volume of methanol required during start-up operations. This provides a variable methanol injection rate which minimises the hydrate temperature margin along the pipeline.

Impact

The proposed methodology has been used to optimise methanol injection for one of the most challenging and strategically important HPHT gas-condensate subsea well and pipeline systems in the North Sea, resulting in:

  • A 30% reduction in the total methanol injection volume for a cold depressurised start-up when compared with the output of the standard steady state methodology.
  • 60 – 70% reductions in methanol volumes for warm depressurised start-ups (4-9 days after shutdown).
  • Confidence in the effectiveness of the methanol injected.
  • Maximising the length of time needed between tank refills.

Production savings from swifter permit approvals

~ £3m / year

Avoidance of need for high-usage methanol waiver

~ £2m / start-up

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Chevron – Erskine Well Intervention campaign 2017

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Problem Statement

The normally unmanned Erskine platform has a max POB of just 12 people, which makes labour intensive well interventions a major undertaking.

There has been three years of unsuccessful attempts to remove scale and replace key down-hole equipment.

Needed to ensure that the 2017 campaign was a success.

Aims

  • A 55-day well services campaign on the Chevron-operated Erskine platform to be delivered safely, on time and on budget.
  • The campaign involved work on three wells, including the change-out of a wireline retrievable safety valve and two lower manual master valve stem seals and bonnets.

Method

  • New approach using tools trailed onshore, but new to the market and not used downhole before, including an expandable mill, allowing intervention crew to pass through narrow restriction at surface then out into the tubing where it was opened up.Completed downhole well-data logging, followed by the setting of plugs in the well-necessary barriers to allow the change-out of the lower manual master valve and the replacement of a Pascon valve, which is used to control pressure to the safety valve.Other work included replacement of storm choke valves, downhole safety valves controlled by pressure, and well-data logging.

Impact

The well services campaign is the culmination of years of work and involved
the dedication of the Erskine team, Chevron well services, Base Business
Operations Support and business partners Altus, Welltec, GE Vetco and
Halliburton.

The well services work required Erskine to be maned for 55 days, split into a
14 and 41-day campaign from April to June 2017. With limited facilities on
the platform and a max of 12 people on board, including 5 emergency
response team core crew, this only allowed for 7 other crew to carry out the
complicated and labour intensive work.

Specialised equipment meant deck space was limited to team work and
collaboration was key. Working with wireline companies chevron changed
how teams worked in order to carry out 24 hour working, saving over 20
days offshore occupation and production losses.

The work was carried out safely and successfully, eliminating three significant
well anomalies, allowing the wells to return to full integrity. Completing all
three work scopes incident free was a great achievement by the whole team.
The first work scope was challenging, with the alternatives for reinstating the
down hole safety valve would have resulted in either a costly coiled tubing
campaign or a completion workover, which would have cost missions of pounds
to restore the integrity of the well.

Total hours saved – 21.75 working days

Total savings anticipated – £4.7M

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Chevron – Erskine/Lomond Hub Strategy

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Problem Statement

Erskine is dependent on Lomond to provide the export route from the field.
Need to increase production efficiency and desire to extend the life of Erskine but no joined up approach to how this could be achieved and maintained.

Aims

  • Work collaboratively across both assets regardless of operatorship or Equity share.
  • Focus on what needs to change to improve the performance of both assets for the benefit of all.

Method

  • Reintroduction of a Chevron Ops Rep on Lomond as a fully integrated member of the Lomond OIM Leadership team, improving visibility and helping to mitigate key threats and vulnerabilities.
  • Joint Study work on alternative hosts, optimisations, RAM modelling etc.
  • Use of OPEX Group’s OPEX X-pas service for third party data analysis of key systems

Impact

Successful completion of the cleaning and inspection of the 30km pipeline between the two assets (first pig in the line since 2009). The team ran a total of 14 pigs, including an intelligent pig, which was essential for proving the long-term integrity of the pipeline.

These campaigns resulted in all five Erskine’s wells coming online for the first time in two years with production rate being the highest it had been over three-year span.The number of days online for Erskine platform has also steadily increased from 127 in 2014 to over 240 at the end of 2017.

Over the same period, the combined Lomond and Erskine production reached a record high since Lomond was converted to a single train operation, when it averaged 37,810 boe/d.

Proven that sharing knowledge and expertise leads to positive outcomes, tangible results and is contributing to maximising economic recovery from the UKCS.

Total hours saved – ongoing

Total savings anticipated – ongoing

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ECTIB: Applying the project collaboration toolkit – Shell UK, Wood & Stork Technical Services

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1. Problem Statement

How to use the ECITB Project Collaboration Toolkit in order to achieve optimal schedule and cost performance in the delivery of the Brent Bravo Topsides Decommissioning (Lift Preparation) Project through adoption of a collaborative strategy.

2. Aims

  • Use Lessons Learned from Brent Delta Topsides Decommissioning (Lift Preparation) to deliver improvement in project performance.
  • Establish a collaborative project organisation, as guided by the ECITB Project Collaboration Toolkit, aimed at enhanced project delivery efficiency.
  • Evaluate and measure project performance change through utilisation of the PCT.

3. Method

  • Establish a collaborative project environment and set aside traditional culture and working approaches (PCT Phase 1).
  • Form an integrated client and contractor project team from ‘best person’ selections, irrespective of employing entity (PCT Phases 1 & 2)
  • Obtain senior management and project sponsor support for a collaborative project strategy and isolate the project from any corporate organisational bureaucracy.(PCT Phases 1 & 2)
  • Adopt ‘single team’ and ‘one source of truth’ axioms

4.Impact

  • Delivered within an 11 month schedule with improved safety and better quality (less rework).
  • Combination of collaborative strategy and application of lessons learned from Brent Delta experiences resulted in reduction of ‘like for like’ removal preparation costs vs Brent Delta of 70%
  • Through adoption of the ECITB Project Collaboration Toolkit, traditional client and contractor roles and adversarial behaviours were set aside and a collaborative, single team, environment was created which allowed open contribution and innovative thinking in order to support delivery and efficiency achievements.

Total schedule time saved: Project delivered in less than 1 year, compared to several years for Brent Delta

Total cost savings: Cost savings of 70% on ‘like for like’ basis vs Brent Delta

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ECTIB: Applying the project collaboration toolkit – Apache North Sea, Subsea 7 & Quad

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Apache North Sea, Subsea 7, Quad [Apache topsides team; PD&MS; QEDI; GEG]

1. Problem Statement

How to enhance delivery performance on the Callater Field Development Project to support project viability and business case in a low oil price environment.

2. Aims

  • Best in class safety and quality performance.
  • Project completion and ‘first oil’ within 24 months of field discovery.
  • Project cost performance at or below budget.

3. Method

  • Create a high performing, collaborative, project delivery team for efficient and effective project delivery.
  • Select known and trusted project delivery partners with predisposition to collaborative working.
  • Provide leadership, vision and boundaries of responsibility to allow project team members (the right people for the right role) to do what they do best.
  • Work with the ECITB Project Collaboration Toolkit retrospectively to evaluate and validate collaborative performance and to record outcomes and learnings from the collaborative experience for future benefit.

4.Impact

  • Fast project team ramp up with critical items of scope specified, ordered/ completed early.
  • Using partners with track record and known capability, formation of a lean, efficient project team that was focussed on delivery performance, with no role overlap and duplication.
  • Project delivered for a 10% reduction on approved cost budget.
  • A UKCS record for project schedule performance: 23 months only from field discovery to production.
  • Demonstration to the entire UK oil & gas sector of what can be achieved through effective project collaboration.

Total schedule time saved: Completed 5 weeks ahead of an aggressive schedule of 24 months to first oil

Total cost savings: 10% saving on approved project budget

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Atkins – Realising major savings through spares optimisation

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1.Problem statement

Ever increasingly, operators are facing the challenge of managing their existing assets during volatile market conditions such that unnecessary financial ‘wastage’ is minimised and opportunities for increased efficiencies, and ultimately operating revenues, are maximised without compromising safety. Related to this, a further key challenge demands proactively positioning the business such that future operations are optimised to sustain improved efficiencies and financial return at minimal OPEX / investment, again, without compromising safety.

2. Aims 

Particular focus is demanded on minimising unnecessary and wasteful expenditures.  Such unnecessary spend can arise from many sources, but especially from inefficient inventory management. This includes excessive/unnecessary spares purchase, storage, etc.,  which can lead to extreme storage costs and avoidable, large scale capital expenditures, often of the order of £M’s. To combat this Atkins has developed a successful managed service that can help clients improve their inventory management, and overcome challenges including:

  • Excessive data handling issues – inadequate infrastructure/resource to deal with ‘Big Data’.
  • Inadequate corporate systems/processes to interrogate inventory stock types and levels.
  • Lack of coordination/communication between relevant internal groups and divisions.

Poor awareness of internal standards/practices (if they exist) leading to inconsistent implementation of maintenance strategies, R&M guidelines, etc. and quality related issues.

3. Method

Atkins service has three key elements:

  • Reducing waste by cleansing inventory data of unsuitable spares (obsolete, mothballed, degraded, perished, wrongly classified, etc.).
  • Increasing safety and availability by stocking the correct spares in the required condition, to mitigate critical failure, with focus on local operating context.
  • Reducing capital and operational costs by minimising excess stock, while managing stock-out risk to an acceptable level.

4. Impact

Following implementation of Atkins process on an operator’s range of assets, comprising offshore facilities, onshore terminals, and pipelines, the analysis revealed numerous inventory management inefficiencies, offering potential for significant waste reduction and reliability improvements.

For example:

  • An initial 29% of operational spares book value not linked to equipment – directing an investigation by the operator.
  • Errors in migration of inventory data when upgrading between CMMS versions.
  • Duplicate purchase orders.
  • Accounting data inconsistencies.
  • Inventory data fields not fit for purpose.
  • Surplus project spares from vendor spare parts interchangeability lists (SPIL) offloaded to operation regardless of suitability.
  • Scope for common spares pooling, promoting further excess stock savings.
  • Recording issues in free-text material descriptions – operator without physical metrics to get competitive quotes and reliant on overpriced spares from vendor SPILs.
  • Generic ‘repair versus replace’ response guidance not fit for purpose eg decision support logic not sufficiently nuanced for combinations of store and materials ownership and leasing.

Total savings anticipated

The analysis ultimately revealed $179 million of recommended savings constituting $79 million of unsuitable spares and $100 million of excess stock  – of this $49 million has been confirmed to date by client’s ongoing review.

“We achieved all three waves of disposals that needed to be accomplished, thanks to Atkins’ work, with savings of $49 million against the target $45 million for 2017, plus an extra $40 million already released to Material Management for producing Disposal Forms.”

Client’s project sponsor, Aug 2017

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Atkins – Maximising your Plant Capability using MeasCap

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1. Problem Statement

In the oil and gas industry things don’t stand still. You may want to introduce new wells onto your facility, or rationalise your gas plant for declined production. Traditional capacity reviews work on one production profile case at a time, so become very time consuming and expensive when dealing with uncertainty and evaluating a number of options. Atkins’ MeasCap tool has been tailor-made to provide a more efficient approach to capacity assessment

2. Aims

For over 10 years, Atkins has been optimising our in-house software tool, MeasCap, to make facility capacity assessment:

  • Fast: automation allows hundreds of cases to be run/re-run in minutes
  • Extensive: multiple cases can be run simultaneously, allowing the full potential production envelope / field life to be assessed
  • Adaptable: easily incorporating late / future changes in data
  • Trustworthy: auditable, checkable, verifiable results
  • Results-focused: providing user with clear results and upgrade options

3. Method

Automated assessment of cases, which can be used to identify  capacity limitations, and then rerun to understand debottlenecking option effectiveness. The options are then assessed by our engineering team to understand constructability and cost implications, and option comparison. The flexibility offered by MeasCap allows late data to be incorporated, and the model can be re-used for future studies.

4. Impact

MeasCap has been used to help our clients assess a number of scenarios, including:

  • Third party tie-backs
  • Addition of new wells
  • Life of field studies
  • Low pressure operation options for maintaining export pressure
  • FPSO redeployment
  • Facility rationalization for late life
  • Terminal debottlenecking

The automation of cases makes the process far more efficient, and allows our  engineers to work with our clients to focus on assessing the “what if” questions. Clear results are presented which show the bottlenecks on the plant and feasible operating envelope, and display the range of opportunities available, with option payback vs investment cost.

Efficiency improvements

Automated capacity assessment gives double the results in half the time

Total savings anticipated

Typical study reduced from 12 to 6 weeks, saving > £30k

MeasCap has been used effectively on a broad range of offshore/onshore facilities, and was shortlisted for the IChemE Core Chemical Engineering Awards 2013

Submitted by Graham Filsell (Process Simulation Team Lead) 

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Atkins – Process Rationalisation to Reduce Costs in Late Life

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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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