The oil and gas industry relies on an extensive network of equipment and machinery, often more than 15 years old. Neglecting the maintenance of these assets can lead to costly unplanned downtime.
On average, oil and gas companies experience 27 days of operational disruptions annually, resulting in a staggering US$38 million in lost revenue. Even brief shutdowns can result in millions of losses. To minimize these losses, routine inspection and maintenance routines with trained personnel are essential. Once a maintenance baseline has been achieved, further cost savings can be achieved using advanced routines based on dynamic risk-based planning and scheduling.
Preparation and planning are the key
The maintenance of upstream oil and gas assets is a complex task, magnified by several challenges, in particular:
- Logistical challenges due to remote operating environments: The oil and gas industry, particularly those operating in remote regions such as onshore operations in North Dakota and Pennsylvania in the United States and offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, face significant logistical challenges due to vast distances and harsh terrain. Proper planning ensures that critical materials and equipment are available on time to avoid delays and minimize downtime, and that personnel movements and transport routes are precisely coordinated in advance to optimize response times.
- Stringent safety regulations: The oil and gas industry operates under strict safety regulations. Proper maintenance planning ensures that critical permits and approvals are obtained in advance, streamlining the maintenance process. Permitting for basic lockout-tagout (LOTO) as well as regulatory well control permits are received and implemented at the correct time prevent schedule disruption and maximize operational efficiency.
- Contractor dependency: Due to the complexity of the industry, maintenance often requires the involvement of third-party contractors. Effective preparation and planning ensure that contractors are aware of the organization’s specific safety protocols and emergency response procedures. Efficient transfer of this knowledge through effective training is critical to prevent incidents.
Developing a plan to efficiently coordinate personnel and events across all drilling activities and then executing that plan takes experience and leadership.
Tools to boost maintenance productivity
Based on Renoir’s 30 years of experience, we have found that meticulous planning and preparation pave the way for productivity gains and operational excellence. Here are some of the industry-tested tools and approaches to optimize maintenance productivity that can be implemented by oil and gas companies:
Reliability-based maintenance planning
This is a data-driven approach designed to optimize equipment performance for safety, production, and cost efficiency. Before developing maintenance schedules, planners analyze historical data, equipment characteristics, and potential failure modes.
Using insights from this analysis, maintenance activities are (re)prioritized based on criticality and operational requirements. Optimal maintenance frequency and timing are determined to minimize critical failures and ensure equipment uptime is maximized.
Renoir has successfully implemented this proactive approach for many of our clients, helping these organizations to significantly reduce the risk of unexpected equipment breakdown and minimize maintenance expenditure, resulting in a win-win outcome for both safety and profitability.
Inventory planning and materials management
Proper inventory planning involves the systematic identification, procurement, and management of the necessary materials, spare parts, and equipment required for maintenance activities. By forecasting maintenance requirements based on the scheduling process and operational needs, inventory levels and reorder points can be optimized.
Work standards and scheduling
Efficient and effective maintenance requires a carefully planned maintenance schedule. An effective approach is to develop a standard operating procedure (SOP) and a detailed schedule. This should outline the specific tasks to be performed and the resources to carry them out.
Renoir’s approach to work standards and scheduling approach includes details such as dates and times for maintenance activities, allocation of personnel and equipment, and coordination with other departments or contractors as required. The schedule would also be communicated to all stakeholders to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that all planned activities can be completed on time or ahead of schedule.
Skills Flexibility Matrix
Developing a skills flexibility matrix enables quick assessment of the the skills and competencies required for different maintenance tasks and to categorize these skills according to levels of competence and specialization areas. This tool visually highlights gaps in workforce skills and enables the number of people required to complete the task to quickly be assessed.
This tool ensures the readiness and adaptability of the workforce to changing operational requirements. Skill gaps and redundancies can be identified and the required training to upskill the team can be organized.
Harmonizing the processes
Achieving consistent, day-to-day productivity from maintenance technicians depends on ensuring “the right people, at the right time, with the right materials and skills for the job”.
A continuous improvement framework based on local/site ownership insures long term sustainment for the above approach. This framework requires collaboration between multiple groups including maintenance planners and managers. Using a short interval control to monitor task completion, helps ensure that assigned tasks are completed and targets are met.
As part of this process, each maintenance cycle is regularly reviewed by the team to identify areas for improvement. Corrective action plans are then implemented based on the reviews, enabling the organization to work towards optimizing job standards, crewing requirements and achieving consistent technician productivity.
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