Expert rig reactivation saves client £8m

Overview

Our client is a multinational oil and gas company with operations in over 90 countries. They have been a leading player in the North Sea for over 50 years.

We supported our client with the reactivation of their drilling package. They wanted to avoid issues they'd experienced with a previous reactivation, where considerable delays were attributed to the package not being ready. Our client was looking for support including a third-party review of paperwork and certification including an offshore survey to establish a baseline condition and state of maintenance for one of its platforms prior to reactivation.

As this package has not been run in many years, and the refurbishment phase meant the packages had a mix of old and new equipment items, an extensive programme of testing equipment was required, including systems integration testing and endurance testing. The condition of the connecting pipework and pressure vessels were not known as the maintenance system and third-party checks were switched off a number of years ago.

How we helped

We assisted our client in a two stage process:

Stage 1 was to conduct desktop Analysis at supplier and our client offices, to understand the current status of the drilling package, what work had been completed to date as part of the reactivation process and analyse a review of the maintenance system, certification and documentation. The findings from this analysis could then assist in preparing a Customised Inspection.

Stage 2 of the process was to conduct the customised inspection of their drilling package, on ascertains actual condition and state of readiness of the equipment to undertake both individual function testing and be included in a robust systems integration testing programme. Inspection included analysis of equipment condition and standards of maintenance, in accordance with applicable standards, the equipment manufacturer’s specifications and recommendations.

The analysis identified that the SAP maintenance system contained gaps in the active PM routines, which resulted in equipment not being correctly maintained. Duplication of maintenance activities was also seen where equipment was being maintained using both idle mode and operational mode PM routines at the same time. In many cases the status of the equipment could not be determined from the information contained in the maintenance records.

The impact

A set of recommended tasks were highlighted to address that all equipment and systems are in a fit state of repair and operational readiness to start with the P&A programme with low risk for downtime and cost.

Various trackers were developed to allow visibility of status of all recommendations, with each recommendation graded using the following;

• Critical – if the finding is not resolved then it could cause a high risk of causing injury, environmental impact, and major delay to project,
• Major – if the finding is not resolved, there is a high to medium risk of equipment failure, delay in project programme, and increased cost,
• Minor – these findings have little impact on the project and are only issued as something that could be considered,

Due to the number of issues found with drilling equipment maintenance and actual equipment and systems, the drilling contractor was instructed to develop a practical plan to place the drilling package back into an operational condition.

Benefits

• Based on the additional cost from the previous decommissioning project our client believes this has saved them the £8,000,000 from overrun and delay to the project.
• Effective planning of reactivation of the drilling package.
• A accurate timeframe for when the various packages can be decommissioned and removed from site.
• More accurate planning for the removal of the topside utilizing the newly designed ship.