Thesis

End-to-end integrated activity planning and scheduling framework

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2020
Thesis identifier
  • T15832
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 201556038
Qualification Level
Qualification Name
Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • There is a strong business need to enhance the planning and scheduling performance in a Global Company (GC) within the Oil and Gas industry where a focus on executing critical business activities in an increasingly more complex environment; significant Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) projects, a high volume of new wells, declining brownfields, resource constraint, and ageing facilities with implied integrity issues and constant replacement of assets. An external benchmark conducted in 2014 through a 3rd party international consultant for 28 companies belonging to the GC, revealed that its upstream operations' performance was below aspired levels relating to metrics including operational safety, production deferment and operating cost. Plant shutdowns are becoming complicated due to ageing EOR facilities where a constant change in process conditions affects asset integrity. Appropriate planning and scheduling are necessary to reduce production losses resulting from inefficiencies and inadequate time for the preparation of work and procurement of resources, to bring back in service within the agreed window is a significant challenge for global oil and gas companies. This research investigated the challenges confronted by the GC in implementing effective planning and scheduling. There was no strong leadership to drive planning in the GC, the culture of proactive planning was missing, and the planning process was not consistent. Moreover, there was no clear organizational structure with defined roles and responsibility in some of the companies. There was subsequently a need for a clear framework to explain all elements required to ensure effective planning and scheduling in the GC. This research contributed to knowledge by developing an Integrated Activity Planning and Scheduling (IAPS) framework to address the GC challenges while being suitable to be used by any company in the oil and gas industry. The IAPS framework was implemented and tested in three companies belonging to the GC and demonstrated its effectiveness by delivering business outcome and standardized replication. For example, Company-A reduced the Non-Productive Time (NPT) of the marine fleet, which in turn reduced the standby charges by $480,000 over the 12 months and enabled the improvement of fleet utilization. Extrapolating these savings within other logistic fleets would enable Company-A to make considerable savings and achieve the cost optimization target. The results of the application of the framework have demonstrated that IAPS is a crucial enabler for managing the asset performance in a global oil and gas operating company. The IAPS framework led to enhance operational safety, reduced planned deferment, increased integration opportunities, and reduced costs which are key metrics to improve the GC competitiveness to run a profitable oil and gas business. The IAPS Framework is currently live and used in the GC, contributing to the economy.
Advisor / supervisor
  • Whitfield, Ian
Resource Type
Note
  • Previously held under moratorium from 13 January 2021 until 13 January 2026.
DOI
Date Created
  • 2020
Former identifier
  • 9912973391302996

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