EFFECTIVENESS OF FACILITY MANAGEMENT IN PETROLEUM INDUSTRY

Most of the oil platform piping system in Malaysia using carbon steel as the material. This selection of material, giving a remarkable impact as the chosen material is susceptible to certain conditions such as when the piping system dealt with high corrosive content such as hydrogen sulphide, H2S and the environment of the platform made the material is susceptible of multiple types of corrosions. Even though, insulation management can prolong the life span of the pipe, it is better if consideration of material selection taken into account for higher optimization. Main purpose for this research is about the critical factors that affecting the efficiency of the two selected major components which are material selection and insulation management of the piping system. This effectiveness of the major components shall reflect the scope facility management at topside facilities pipeline especially. With thorough questionnaire preparation of Likert Scale, all the data acquired will be analyses by The Average Index Formula for rating the factors provided. As for the result of this research, it is expected that the problem of pipeline facilities will be identified and discussed. This research also tend to be used as a recommendation for the possible application of the critical factors studied and effectively implement to control and minimized the undesired event. These possible critical factors can also happen in Malaysian oil and gas industry will be provided and used as consideration in their business guideline

Subsea fluid sampling to maximise production asset in offshore field development

The acquisition of representative subsea fluid sampling from offshore field development asset is crucial for the correct evaluation of oil reserves and for the design of subsea production facilities. Due to rising operational expenditures, operators and manufacturers have been working hard to provide systems to enable cost effective subsea fluid sampling solutions. To achieve this, any system has to collect sufficient sample volumes to ensure statistically valid characterisation of the sampled fluids. In executing the research project, various subsea sampling methods used in the offshore industry were examined and ranked using multi criteria decision making; a solution using a remote operated vehicle was selected as the preferred method, to compliment the subsea multiphase flowmeter capability, used to provide well diagnostics to measure individual phases – oil, gas, and water. A mechanistic (compositional fluid tracking) model is employed, using the fluid properties that are equivalent to the production flow stream being measured, to predict reliable reservoir fluid characteristics on the subsea production system. This is applicable even under conditions where significant variations in the reservoir fluid composition occur in transient production operations. The model also adds value in the decision to employ subsea processing in managing water breakthrough as the field matures. This can be achieved through efficient processing of the fluid with separation and boosting delivered to the topside facilities or for water re-injection to the reservoir. The combination of multiphase flowmeter, remote operated vehicle deployed fluid sampling and the mechanistic model provides a balanced approach to reservoir performance monitoring. Therefore, regular and systematic field tailored application of subsea fluid sampling should provide detailed understanding on formation fluid, a basis for accurate prediction of reservoir fluid characteristic, to maximize well production in offshore field development

A guide to the equipment, methods and procedures for the prevention of risks, emergency response and mitigation of the consequences of accidents: Part I

This report is the first part of a dilogy which aims to be a compendium for regulators without a specific background in risk and safety assessment. It describes the state-of-the-art of the safety-related equipment, methods, procedures and projects available nowadays for the prevention of risks, the emergency response and the mitigation of the consequences of accidents. While the present report addresses the above topics from a generic perspective, the second part, currently in preparation, focuses on the particular challenges of the Nordic Seas. The review is based on the retrieval and analysis of a large number of open source information, along with personal contacts with Authorities and HSE representatives of several major oil and gas operators. This helps the reader go into further details and better appreciate the latest technological advancements in offshore safety as a consequence of the lessons learnt from the Macondo Accident.JRC.C.3-Energy Security, Distribution and Market

Remote Operations Implementation: A Tool for Improved HSE Management

The current security challenges and hazards associated with oil and gas operations especially in the Nigerian Niger Delta calls for an innovative approach to managing the operations to reduce the exposure of staff to these hazards and risks without compromising the asset integrity and operations philosophy. Remote operation is defined as the remote monitoring and control of the field based production systems from an offsite location with the aim of optimizing the entire production process. It involves the continuous collation of operational data using smart instruments, the transmission of these data using a robust and secure communication link and the integration of these data to the company’s IT infrastructure comprised mainly of a data historian and production optimization tools. It provides the relevant personnel with information on the field performance and also provides an avenue for intervention while minimizing the exposure of the staff to the Health Safety and Environment (HSE) hazards associated with the fields. Remote operation has been shown to also reduce the Operational Expenses (OPEX) by reducing the number of field visits and the associated logistics and security costs and enhancing the field performance in terms of faster and more accurate interventions thereby enabling a better HS

Establishing cost-effective safety management for major oil and gas exploitation projects in the design phase

Disasters such as Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, in April 2010, continue to blight the oil and gas industry despite a significant amount of research effort carried out by academia, regulatory bodies, and oil and gas companies to understand how safety-related incidents, especially disasters, can be prevented. While these have contributed to the discussion around reducing risk, they often lack the systemic influences that determine the value drivers affecting decision-making, and the ability to achieve continuous and sustainable improvements in safety performance. Consequently, this research aims to provide a more holistic approach to understanding the nature of disasters in the oil and gas industry, and identifying how future disasters can be prevented by establishing "more cost-effective strategies. Quantitative research was carried out to determine the type and validity of the data used to construct trends in major accident safety performance, and qualitative research was carried out to assess the key factors that influence safety performance, and whether these are effectively applied. The conclusions of this research are that the industry has not demonstrated effective implementation of an Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OH&S-MSj. Historically safety performance shows wide annual variations where trends are difficult to define and extrapolate, making it difficult to provide any significant benefit for major accident prevention. There is no evidence to indicate that moving from a prescriptive, to a goal-setting regime, has improved safety performance, and reduced the prospect of future major accidents. Disaster investigation reports have shown that the role of the regulator has been ineffective. However, the adoption of a more comprehensive, and effective approach to inherently safer designs, and the way projects are managed, have the potential to make safety management more cost-effective and reduce the prospect of future disasters

Guidelines on Asset Management of Offshore Facilities for Monitoring, Sustainable Maintenance, and Safety Practices

Recent activities in the oil and gas industry have shown an increasing need for monitoring engagements, such as in shipping, logistics, exploration, drilling, or production. Hence, there is a need to have asset management of these offshore assets (or facilities). Much of the offshore infrastructure is currently approaching or past its operational life expectancy. The study presents an overview on asset management of offshore facilities towards monitoring, safe practices, maintenance, and sustainability. This study outlines the major considerations and the steps to take when evaluating asset life extensions for an aging offshore structure (or asset). The design and construction of offshore structures require some materials that are used to make the structural units, such as offshore platform rigs, ships, and boats. Maintaining existing assets in the field and developing new platforms that are capable of extracting future oil and gas resources are the two key issues facing the offshore sector. This paper also discusses fault diagnosis using sensors in the offshore facilities. The ocean environment is constantly corrosive, and the production activities demand extremely high levels of safety and reliability. Due to the limited space and remote location of most offshore operations, producing cost-effective, efficient, and long-lasting equipment necessitates a high level of competence. This paper presents the guidelines on asset monitoring, sustainable maintenance, and safety practices for offshore structures. In this study, the management of offshore structures were also presented with some discussions on fault monitoring using sensors. It also proposes sustainable asset management approaches as guidelines that are advised, with policy implications

Evaluating GREEN as a New Risk Reduction and Mitigation Strategy in the Petroleum Industry

PresentationThe Petroleum industry uses different risk mitigation strategies to mitigate potential failures within its facilities. Yet, these strategies could not prevent major accidents, on different scales, from occurring as they negatively impact the industry. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate Generated Risk Event Effect Neutralization (GREEN) as a new tool to select adequate risk mitigation strategy to prevent potential failures in petroleum industry. More than fifty major accidents in the industry underwent GREEN evaluation and compared with existing risk mitigation strategies used in to mitigate potential failures

Lessons from the North Sea: Should Safety Cases Come to America?

The catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last spring and summer has triggered an intense search for more effective regulatory methods that would prevent such disasters. The new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement is under pressure to adopt the British safety case system, which requires the preparation of a facility-specific safety plan that is typically several hundred pages long. This system is supposed to inculcate a “safety culture” within companies that operate offshore in the British portion of the North Sea, because it overcomes a “box-ticking” mentality and constitutes “bottom up” implementation of safety measures. Safety cases are strictly confidential; only company officials, regulators, and, in limited circumstances, worker representatives, are allowed to see the entire plan. This Article argues that the safety case approach should not come to America because this confidentiality, as well as the levels of risk tolerated by the British system, conflict with the both the spirit and the letter of American law. American regulators also lack the resources necessary to make a safety case regime minimally successful

Development of Platform Selection Tool for Offshore Decommissioning in Malaysia

Decommissioning of offshore structures is not a novel issue in the oil and gas industry. Malaysia is now dealing with ageing platforms that are waiting to be decommissioned. There are several alternatives of decommissioning such as “complete removal” and conversion to artificial reefs; “partial removal”, “remote reefing” and “topple in-situ”. Given quite a list of options, the decision to undertake the best option is challenging as the current method of comparative assessment of options using Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) did not fully cover the technical aspect from structural competency point of view. Besides, BPEO is only implemented at the end of platform‟s life. Therefore, the main goal is to develop a management decision making tool which is incorporated in the life cycle management of an oil field. A survey is conducted to solicit the verification of a group of „experts‟ on pre-identified decommissioning criteria. The criteria were ranked accordingly through calculation of Relative Importance Index (RII), and a conceptual system is developed to complement the existing asset management system. In summary, this study could benefit the knowledge of offshore decommissioning planning through prioritization of decommissioning criteria