Optimising costs, asset integrity and production while assuring sustainable standards of safety and reliability
Working in close partnership with a major operator in the North Sea, Choicce Associates and Wood Group delivered a subsea asset monitoring and integrity programme that identified required interventions, optimised vessel utilisation, improved safety and reliability standards, and significantly reduced costs and inefficiencies inherent in subsea and pipeline operations.]
The operator wanted to restructure its upstream pipeline and subsea operations ahead of establishing a North Sea key facility. Recognising that its subsea operations had room for improvement in terms of cost, reliability and production, it instituted a significant engineering and IT project to deliver the needed improvements.
Stage one began in April 2014, when the operator’s subsea leadership team began working in close partnership with Choicce Associates and Wood Group, suppliers of the “NEXUS Integrity Centre (IC)” all-of-facility integrity management system.
The first step was to develop a joined-up approach that would establish the intervention scope for October that year, and the framework for measuring success.
The key issues to be decided were:
• How best to minimise vessel time, and related costs, that were needed for an intervention on subsea assets
• How best to schedule the execution of interventions for optimal efficiency, safety and cost
• Which interventions were required immediately, how to identify these and optimise scheduling of future interventions
Underpinning the project was the need for robust decision-making processes, supported by accurate, timely and actionable data. Therefore the team created an inventory of all data streams, and looked at methods of accessing and interpreting that data to support decision-making.
The operator had already implemented NEXUS IC, and consequently had access to its various historical inspection and reliability data. The system contained an accurate asset register allowing engineers and planners to access its data repository and view every component in the context of its performance and maintenance records.
NEXUS IC gave the operator a single repository for all anomalies. That meant it was simple to assess when an inspection or intervention was necessary, or whether it required divers or ROVs.
Crucially, it allowed engineers to develop ‘worsening state’ models to identify when functionality would be threatened, enabling managers to make informed, evidence-based decisions.
In the first year, the team made significant time and cost savings by using the data and combining it with the intelligence of engineers and the decision-making power of executives. Analysis shows that campaign costs were reduced by 30 per cent year-on-year utilising this integrated approach.
Based on the current status of the project, the operator decided to adopt a one-in-three-year cycle rather than annual interventions. The intelligence from NEXUS IC enabled the operator to optimise high-cost activity, such as diving work, reducing the number of costly vessel days. Overall the project maintained a 100 per cent planned work completion rate without extending vessel times.
The operator also increased the equipment reliability by taking advantage of an extended work cycle. By using data within NEXUS IC to intelligently assess requirements, define actual needs, prepare the scope of work, and sequence it efficiently, the operator reduced unnecessary ‘touch points’ – and associated costs and risks. It did so while maintaining subsea equipment and pipeline availability at more than 97 per cent.
This project represents the transferral of an IT system into an engineering implementation solution. There is no doubt that an operator’s ability to use data effectively can have a positive impact on critical areas such as safety, reliability and cost. But in all value of data conversations, it is vital not to lose sight of an important truth: that data-driven decision-making is a matter of trust. If trust cannot be guaranteed, or is compromised, then any system depending on it loses all value.
For this reason, operators should deploy systems like NEXUS IC that offer continual reassurance as to the validity of their data. What’s more, operators must ensure everyone who interacts with that system understands their own role in maintaining that trust. If they can do that, then results such as these are more than achievable.
Paul Rijks, Choicce Associates and Mason Linden, Wood Group
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