Re-engineering of offshore asset management model on the basis of integrated operations principles

CUSTOMER

One of the largest vertically integrated oil companies in Russia. The company focuses on geological studies, exploration, production, processing of hydrocarbons and supply of petroleum derivatives. The company operates in more than 30 countries.

The Project was initiated by Customer as part of its corporate Digital Transformation program that implies integration of field management business processes based on high-performance data gathering systems and state-of-the-art analytics.

DRIVERS

The concept of Integrated Operations Centre (IOC) as a new organisational unit at the level of Asset has become one of the outputs of corporate Digital Transformation program implementation. The scope of IOC functions includes a wide range of analytical tasks such as field operations, planning and scheduling, engineering support, and production optimisation.

OBJECTIVE

• Design of an optimal structure for the IOC in compliance with current tasks of the Asset as well as future challenges associated with commissioning of a new offshore field

SCOPE

• Analyse current Asset performance to identify potential for optimising distribution of responsibilities of Administrative Personnel, Engineering Service, and Production units

• Identify business processes that should be performed by the IOC in accordance with the framework established by the Corporate Template

• Draw up a list of personnel to perform the identified business processes

• Specify optimal structure of functions with confirmed feasibility of transferring them for execution to the IOC

• Specify frequency and labour intensity of execution of these functions to assess the number of engineering personnel required for the IOC

• Track down the distribution of responsibilities between the IOC, Administrative Personnel, and Production units

• Provide proposals for optimising the seating arrangement of the IOC personnel at the selected premises layout

• Provide recommendations on activities to be included in the roadmap for the IOC performance improvement

PROJECT DELIVERY

To analyse the structure of the IOC responsibility and identify potential for its optimisation; the Customer selected an Asset with the following features:

• Offshore asset that includes one Production unit, Central Dispatch Office (CDO), and a unit engaged in oilfield equipment maintenance

• The IOC was established on the basis of the CDO – the main point of accumulation of relevant competencies

• Initially the CDO was a part of the Production unit and performed control and dispatch functions

• Production optimisation tasks were also performed by the CDO

The Project delivery included 3 key stages:

For the purpose of gathering information for further analysis of the responsibility structure on Stage 1 there were meetings held with the personnel of Administrative Personnel, Engineering Service, Production units, and personalized questionnaires were distributed. In addition, regulatory documentation on all aspects of the IOC operations was requested and analysed.

The IOC establishment assumes centralisation of engineering and analytical functions performed in the short-term time horizon within the framework of existing business processes with a limited number of newly created processes, e.g. choke model management.

On the basis of data obtained the list of business processes to be in place at the level of IOC was specified at Stage 2.

Then the main directions were outlined and the positions that should be included in the target organisational structure of the IOC were determined.

All positions specified in the organisational structure were filled by redistributing engineering, and technical personnel with their functions between Production unit, oilfield equipment maintenance unit, and the IOC.

A description of functions with manpower input calculation was developed for the IOC personnel. In addition, requirements for education and work experience were elaborated for each position, and key performance indicators were defined.

A table representing the degree of participation of the IOC, departments and production units in the business processes execution – The RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed) matrix – was compiled to describe interaction of the IOC with Administrative and Production Personnel.

Stage 3 was aimed at analysing performance of the future organization unit. Various business analytics tools were applied to this task. Thus, an overview of IOC positions workload was formed on the basis of data from the RACI matrix and enabled by Power BI platform.

Furthermore, the RACI matrix provided an insight into the criticality of interaction within departments. Proposals were made to optimise personnel seating arrangements considering conditions of the IOC premises layout.

Then, current performance of the IOC was analysed, and recommendations were given to optimise and improve its efficiency considering existing prospects for the Asset development both in terms of organisational arrangements as well as the implementation of new, and the development of functionality of existing information systems.

PROJECT OUTPUT

The following deliverables were obtained upon the completion of the Project:

• A clear structure of responsibility for the performance of analytical and production functions was established between the administrative personnel, the IOC and the field office
• Unified and standardised processes were created on the basis of the IOC for solving analytical and optimisation issues and setting the stage for further continuous improvement
• Directions for further improvement of the unit's activities were determined