Integrity Assurance in Major Projects Warrantee Period

Abstract

Through this paper, the author intends to share the valuable experience and benefits of introducing the key element of Integrity Assurance - the initial inspection during the EPC warrantee period in a structured manner and ensure the risks are minimized into the commissioning and Operating stages for major critical project. ADNOC OFFSHORE is recognized for its pioneering and innovative approach. As one of the major Oil & Gas producers worldwide, the Company philosophy is to build a culture where critical Integrity Deliverables are embedded through customsied locally designed Code of Practice, known as "Integrity Assurance in Projects" that is monitored through a Value Assurance Process (VAP) stages. This enables robust control of Integrity Measures upfront and early identification of Integrity risks, with proactive mitigations based on experience from previous Projects. To further ensure the Integrity deliverables are strictly followed during the EPC; a well laid-out plan is rolled to the Project commissioning team by identifying and defining the non-intrusive NDT of piping system hot-spots as well as thorough internal inspection of typical medium risk high pressure equipment within the first 12 months of operations which fall under the EPC warrantee period. Being in the Project EPC phase, none of the items are classified under "High Risk" and are already eliminated through robust engineering. The inspection is scheduled considering minimal production impact. Following this initiative enables a structure that is directed towards the prevention of operating critical facilities and minimizes the liklihood of unknown HSE and business risks impacting the delivery of the project to the production phase. The equipment warrentee will be in force after the successful commissioning as per EPC contract agreement. One of the key Integrity deliverables is the implementation of Baseline Inspection. The baseline RBI Passport system has been broadly adopted across the Company operational sites and supports the safe continuous employment of assets to meet production targets. The high-risk items are already eliminated and mitigated during the EPC Engineering phase. Through baseline RBI study, the medium risk hotspots are identified for random cross-check during the EPC warrantee period with the obvious intention of ensuring the risk levels are well mitigated. If any deterioration or anomalies detected during the first inspection the same can be rectified through EPC warrantee; thereby saving the Company resources and cost. This innovative approach has been successfully implemented in all of the current on-going Full Field Development projects and has proven to be of great value by ensuring a high quality result whilst attracting significant cost savings. Some of the key successes realized through the roll out of the warrantee period inspection initiative include: Early interventions through selective assessment particularly the medium risk hot-spots. This is achieved by using NDT contract team and cross-checking of the actual site inspection atleast 6 months after commissioning to ascertain the process conditions and impact on the newly commissioned facility. The project realized advantages such as the timely realization of risk reduction. Early identification of these risks led to a significant cost saving in CAPEX / OPEX and enabled a smooth handover at the commissioning stage.Long term benefits have proven to aid the identification and prevention of failures, minimize the occurences of unplanned shutdowns, and optimization of the Preventive Maintenance & Inspection program. Any surprises related to non-compliances are addressed through the valid EPC contract. Realisation of these benefits and repetitive cost savings provides added confidence to stake-holders during the entire life-cycle of the facilities. ADNOC OFFSHORE is the first and only company within the ADNOC group to roll out such an initiative and encourage proactive direct involvement and integration of the Asset Integrity Division functions for a major full field development project. It is believed that this is also a unique approach for the MENA region by injection of decades of operational skill, knowledge and experience together with and lessons learned into the early project phases.