Every working environment that includes challenging remote wilderness locations, extreme temperatures, potentially threatening wildlife, and multiple contractors with varying degrees of safety systems and culture, requires a systematic, comprehensive safety approach. Lack of preplanning, misunderstanding risk management and poor communication are all sources of risk to safety on the project. Developing, implementing and communicating the HSE system in a mountain field program are essential to keeping people safe and alive. This paper will provide some insight into areas that provided significant challenges, as well as some possible solutions. In today’s industrial world, safe execution is an essential project driver. Safe execution is paramount to a project’s success, along with budget and time. Best-in-class companies have realized that to be successful, safety must be an integral part of their DNA and not an afterthought. Zero harm to people, assets and the environment is a core value at WorleyParsons. Our OneWay™ framework, which applies to every person regardless of location or role, consists of simple expectations that align our entire business on a path toward zero harm. OneWay™ is supported by a comprehensive set of processes, systems, policies and standards that describe in detail what needs to be done. A systematic integrated safety framework to the field would manage risk in a highly challenging environment and would contribute to an overall safe and productive mountain field investigation program. In this context, to achieve the goal of zero harm, a systematic, thorough approach is taken, that includes developing and implementing the following: • Project-specific field safety plan with the input from all participating disciplines • Quantifiable leading and lagging indicators • HSE performance targets • Comprehensive, relevant risk register • Effective contractor maturity analysis and mitigation plan • Safe behaviour observation program • Field level risk assessment program • Mentoring and coaching program. This paper will highlight some major safety risks to the projects, and provide potential solutions during mountain field investigation programs.

Every 20 years hydrocarbon storage tanks are taken out of service for API 653 mandated inspections and repairs. While the tanks are out of service other work is often completed. This paper chronicles the steps taken to ensure all the work is identified, budgeted for, scheduled, and completed in a timely and cost effective manner. This paper assumes the reader has a working knowledge of atmospheric hydrocarbon storage tanks.

A common perception is that detailed project execution planning (PEP) is not necessary for pipeline projects. In particular, project teams argue that it is not worth the time and effort for an owner to develop a detailed execution plan because the contractor will provide one before construction begins. In addition, project teams will also argue that developing a detailed, resource-loaded schedule is overkill for a pipeline project. This study was undertaken to test the importance of good PEP to pipeline project results.

While the pipeline industry is no stranger to complex and expensive projects, the unique characteristics of a truly large software development project require a special set of considerations. Many companies are finding themselves undertaking such a project in order to manage growth, achieve efficiencies, adjust to a new business driver, or simply to replace aging legacy systems. Without the proper attention to topics such as vendor selection, off-shore resourcing, the role of the internal IT shop, testing and training, these projects are almost sure to cost more, take longer and under deliver benefits compared to the original plan and justification.

The Compression Stations constructions were finished between 2009 and 2011 by PETROBRAS Engineering Department. TRANSPETRO had taken part in the whole design process, and is now responsible for the operation and maintenance of these stations, which were delivered with some items pending categorized as improvements. The principle objective of this study is to choose and adapt a method, based on portfolio management methodology, to undertake a portfolio of Natural-Gas Compression-Station projects with decision making supported by standardized criteria and developed scenarios, so that the needs of the company are satisfied with a good cost/benefit relationship. The Analytic Hierarchy Process was the method chosen for prioritization and selection of projects to be undertaken from the portfolio. The necessity to adapt this method to insert new projects throughout the year into the current portfolio was identified in order to attend the operational and maintenance demands.

Post-assessment of pipeline research project assesses the project implementation process and the subsequent effect of the project application. The former assesses the realization of the research goals, the quality of the project implementation, the conformity to the research plan, and the ability of the project manager, while the latter attaches more importance on the long-term application and achievement of the technology developed by the research project after it has been accepted by the administrative department for one year or more. Post-assessment of pipeline research project provides a reference for scientific and technological administrative department in decision-making to improve project quality and investment efficiency of research activities, upgrade the management level. PetroChina Pipeline Company (PPC) used two years to set up the index system, choose the weight factors and build the assessment modeling of the post-assessment method. After that, a large number of research projects had been assessed by project managers and management staff to test the post-assessment method in order to modify the assessment software. This paper will: • Demonstrate the characteristics of the post-assessment of pipeline research project • Describe the scope and content of the post-assessment • Illustrate the process of the post-assessment • Identify required index system and calculation modeling • Discuss advantages of post-assessment in enhancing pipeline research project management

Over two-thirds of all mega projects result in failure, meaning they significantly exceed budget, miss schedule targets, or fail to achieve production close to design capacity. The reasons for project failure have been well documented over the past fifty years. Despite this large body of empirical evidence, many executive and project leadership teams continue to repeat the mistakes made on past projects. This can be partially attributed to project teams believing that their projects are somehow different from past projects and that others’ project mistakes are not relevant to their project. This paper is a literature review that considers the seven common root causes of project failure and how these root causes relate to the pipeline industry. No new primary data will be presented. The seven common root causes for project failure and their approximate impact on budget variance are: 1. Failure to complete front end loading = 60–85% 2. escalation = Up to 12% 3. Regulatory regimes = Up to 12% 4. Plant complexity = Up to 20% 5. New technology = Up to 20% 6. Solid feedstock = Up to 10% 7. Complex ownership = Up to 24% This paper will also review and discuss seven common project traits closely associated with project failure, although not direct root causes. These traits are: 1. Concurrent detailed design and construction = up to four times greater risk profile 2. Non-integrated project team = up to three times greater risk 3. Contractual risk misallocation = up to two and a half times greater risk 4. Fast-tracking projects = up to two times greater risk 5. Lack of internal capacity = up to two times greater risk 6. Oil and Gas industry = up to two times greater risk 7. Brownfield vs. greenfield site = no direct impact With these root causes and traits identified, several methods of risk and contingency analysis will be examined. An evaluation of each method’s ability to increase the success rate of capital projects will be discussed; ultimately, resulting in a recommendation on the optimal risk and contingency framework for improving project success rates. The paper will conclude with a summary of how Stantec’s risk and contingency framework is being implemented on pipeline projects.

This article considers that the most cost-effective way to transport products of fossil fuels, liquids or gases, is by a pipeline system which provides high operational reliability, lower power consumption and less environmental impact consequently. It becomes more and more necessary implementing new pipeline projects in Brazil. In the early seventies, discussions have started regarding the pressure for reduction of costs and pursuit of sustainable development, linked to the Triple Bottom Line, which uses economic, environmental and social dimensions. So far, the decisions in several sectors of the oil industry have been taken based on just one criteria, usually economical. This study proposes the establishment of a multicriteria analysis to be used in future pipeline deployments in Brazil, aiming to support the decision makers by supplying them quantifiable and unquantifiable criteria. For the development of this analysis, it will be used the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in which the various relevant criteria are represented through relative weigh. A project of a new pipeline will be used as a case study to demonstrate the application of the proposed model. The organizations can use the result of the analysis as an input to decision-making on future ductwork ventures in Brazil, especially in terms of environmental and social dimensions.

All capital projects have an element of risk and uncertainty. In today’s business environment this requires more than just simply adding 10 percent contingency to the cost estimate to cover off project unknowns. Before sanctioning a project for hundreds of millions of dollars, Board of Directors need to know what possible cost and schedule outcomes exist in order to safe-guard shareholders’ investments. Contingency assessments must be: • Risk-based • Project Specific • Repeatable • Defendable • Cost effective Six years ago, Enbridge grappled with these issues and realized it needed to adopt a new method of assessing both cost and schedule contingencies. After evaluating options, Enbridge set upon developing an in-house parametric modeling solution for its contingency assessment needs. This paper will: • Identify various options for assessing contingency • Review the Enbridge process • Demonstrate the value of a simplified risk register • Identify required data inputs • Illustrate calibration and accuracy of assessments • Discuss business advantages of parametric modelling

Accurate rock-excavation forecasting is one of the geotechnical risk factors that challenge successful management of cross-country pipeline projects. Rock excavation requirements commonly are estimated by pipeline construction personnel with local experience. Construction bid and contract documents typically call for excavation of “ditch” rock to be paid per lineal foot, whereas “area” or right-of-way grading (ROWG) rock is paid per cubic yard. Rock excavation forecasting tends to be used for economic feasibility more than for selecting contractors or preparing contracts. Recent pipeline projects in Pennsylvania and New Jersey used geotechnical estimates of rock excavation to update detailed cost and schedule projections after construction was underway because ROWG rock excavation exceeded the expected volume. Geotechnical estimates of rock excavation were based on a rapid desktop study followed by field observations and measurements. The desktop study used available digital data manipulated with geographic information management software (GIS). Topographic data (digital elevation models) at 10-m resolution and the pipeline centerline in 10-m-long segments were used to plot alignment elevation profile and ground slope, as well as to calculate slope aspect and apparent ground slope across the ROW perpendicular to centerline. The centerline was plotted in Google Earth Pro for a virtual geologic field reconnaissance to identify areas where rock was likely or unlikely to be encountered within ditch depth. Digital geology was used to assess bedrock type along the alignment and digital soil survey data were classified to identify soil units with shallow cemented zones or bedrock. These complementary data types were combined into an overall rock excavation index factor (0 = uncemented soil; 1 = cemented soil; 2 = weathered rock near ditch bottom; or 3 = nearby rock outcrop, weathered rock near top of ditch, or unweathered rock at any ditch depth). GIS polygons of “rock factors” were converted to a grid so that values could be extracted at points along the pipeline centerline. Ground-condition variability was considered subjectively for each rock factor by assigning length-based and area-based percentages where rock was considered likely to be encountered for both “average” and “maximum” rock conditions. Rock factor areas were used to select locations for 115 or 230-ft-(35 or 70-m-) long seismic refraction surveys. Seismic velocities > 4,000 to 4,500 ft/s (1,220 to 1,370 m/s) were considered blast rock in trench excavations. Locations where the 4,000-ft/s contour was shallower than ditch depth were used to refine subjective ground variability estimates. Additional construction records of actual blasting details are needed to further improve the rock excavation model. Unique aspects of geology may require model parameters to be modified for other settings.

The risks, associated with horizontal directional drilling (HDD) can have a significant impact on project schedule and cost. Contractors, engineers and owners are generally aware of the potential impact of this risk, but the awareness is largely qualitative in nature, and is thereby limiting for pointed decision making and the development of measured risk mitigation. Without quantitative information, industry stakeholders are without the means to evaluate risk strategies and identify appropriate risk mitigation measures in a manner that adequately develops and supports the business case for risk mitigation. As a result, the industry often has little choice other than to resort to accepting the risk and hoping for the best or transferring the risk using contractual methods. In order to move to a position of active assessment and mitigation, the industry needs quantitative information about the overall impact of risk as well as a comprehensive enumeration of risk events, the probability of occurrence and the impact of individual events. This paper looks at the general impact of risk as has occurred on 100 medium and large HDD projects. The general impact, in terms of schedule (and by extension, cost), serves to illuminate the need for structured risk mitigation. The paper also lists the risk events that have occurred on these 100 projects, as well as the frequency of occurrence, the average schedule impact and the Risk Index of each event type.

With the completion of the second line project of West-East Gas Transmission in 2011, the third line of West-East Gas Transmission will be started soon and the fourth line and the fifth line will be started in recent five years. China will form one of the largest natural gas pipeline network in the world. The gas supply mode will be changed from single gas source and single-pipeline supply to multi-source and multi-pipeline supply through regulation and coordination, which will impact on existing pricing mechanism and operation mode of Chinese natural gas industry violently. Depending on the development trend of natural gas pipeline network, the regionalization management mode of natural gas pipeline will be implemented gradually. Chinese natural gas industry also needs to develop a new-type market-oriented operation mode with clear interfaces between production, transportation, distribution and customers so as to facilitate the optimal allocation of resources. By the customized scientific research of CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation), combining with existing pricing mechanism of natural gas pipeline and economic characteristics of long-distance natural gas pipeline transportation in China, the paper studied the pricing mechanism problem of combined transportation of multi-source and mutli-pipeline gas supply in the regionalization management mechanism, presented the idea of pricing formulation method of two kinds of pipeline network transportation based on standard rates of pipeline transportation and service cost rules, formed pricing formulation system of natural gas pipeline transportation, introduced the design idea, structural construction, distribution method and key points of natural gas pipeline transportation in details, and demonstrated the methods by example calculation. The methods presented in the paper can meet the pricing requirements of natural gas pipeline network transportation, remedy the defect in existing price accounting mechanism, solve the problem that the income and expenses among different interest bodies are not balanced, and facilitate the rapid development of natural gas pipeline business.

IT enabled corporate projects have failure rates that approach 68% (Standish CHAOS 2009 Report). This paper will chronicle the steps needed to increase your chances of successfully implementing a corporate initiative. Examples will be provided based on the recent roll out of a revamped Management of Change (MOC) program that included simple processes and policies, appropriate training at the right time, and an IT tool that was well established prior to roll out.

The Petrobras Transporte SA Strategic Plan (SP) is an instrument that contains the strategic positioning of the company and aims at guiding the management and action plan in the achievement of the corporate goals. Apart from that, the SP explains the portfolio of investment projects by segment and business area. Every year since 2009, the Terminals and Pipelines Board of Directors have allocated the strategic objectives under their responsibility in order to ensure the alignment of the strategic planning with the operational activities of the company. For this end the strategic objectives are distributed between the Pipeline Executive Management and the Marine Terminals Executive Management. This division allows for the assignment of responsibilities in a structured way throughout the organization, this way setting up the Tactical Plan of the Business Units. To achieve the goals, the evolution of the Tactical Plan of the Pipelines Executive Management is monitored through regular meetings with the Regional Managements as well as through diversions, potential difficulties and corrective and preventive actions. Besides regular meetings, several instruments have been implemented for effective monitoring of the Tactical Plan, e.g. a web based platform for sharing information, video conferences, performance indicators and other tools that enable the management of the actions. This paper aims to describe best practices applied to the purposes and goals of the Pipeline Tactical Plan under the management of the Southern Pipelines Management, describing their Benefits to the company in a long-term horizon under conditions of uncertainty of the international energy market.

Despite vigilant efforts in project scheduling and planning by engineers and project managers, recent market research reported a marked decrease in project success rates. The market research tracked projects across a broad range of industries and concluded the primary failure causes to be a lack of sufficient detail in the project planning stage, poor or no risk analysis, scope creep and poor communication. This paper focuses on a strategy to minimize the first cause. Specifically, how to obtain sufficient schedule and resource estimates to better predict time allocation and expected costs with a focus on capital pipeline projects. To this end, a quantitative risk assessment (QRA) methodology is applied to project schedules allowing the uncertainty of key task durations and/or costs to be fully accounted for in the schedule. Projects managers will be able to quantify the uncertainty in their projects and support decision makers with a more accurate prediction of the likelihood of being on time and on budget. This paper introduces a systematic approach for both aleatory and epistemic uncertainty quantification. In addition, the expected benefits of adopting QRA for projects schedules are discussed through a hypothetical simple project schedule from the pipeline industry.

Economic contrast of crude oil transportation charge between pipeline and railway affects the pipe network and rail network planning of the area, and the relevant studies have not been seen in literature. On the basis of evaluation methods and parameter and other relevant provisions of construction projects regulated by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the paper conducted a comparative study on the transportation charge of crude oil by the pipeline and railway. The transportation charge by the pipeline was calculated based on the minimum attractive rate of return (MARR). The results show that transportation charge is 0.06∼0.14 CNY/ton·km and will decrease with the size of the diameter of the pipe and increase with the distance of the transportation. The study on railway transportation charge shows that the charge is 0.13∼0.25 CNY/ton·km, which will decrease with the distance but has no relation with the amount of crude oil. The thicker the diameter of pipe, the lower the charge is by the pipe, which is relevant to the loading rate. When the loading rate is 38–72%, the transportation charge by the two ways are almost the same.

In early 2005, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) initiated a Total Pipeline Integrity Management System ( TPIMS ) implementation in order to carry out a major integrity assessment of its operating facilities, equipment, buried plant piping and pipeline network and to establish a continuing integrity management program. KOC Transit System is a complex infrastructure consisting of over three hundred pipelines, thousands of wellhead flow lines, and consumer and offshore lines for which there was a significant loss of data when the facilities were destroyed during a military invasion in 1990. An initial pipeline system assessment identified issues and actions regarding condition of the pipelines, corridors, requirements on in-line inspection (ILI), documentation, RISK assessment, status of international code compliance, and overall state of the system. Following recommendations from that initial assessment led to the development of a long term strategy; the execution of which required the implementation of a comprehensive integrity management program. This case study discusses the results obtained after five years of implementation of TPIMS at KOC. It will demonstrate some of the complex components involved in managing the integrity of the Transit System that have been made possible through the implementation of the system. The general concept and structure of TPIMS will be described, and how it deals with the complexity of the KOC pipeline system. The system made it possible to integrate and manage data from various sources, by conducting integrity assessment using ILI, Direct Assessment and hydrostatic testing, as well as structure a comprehensive RISK & Decision Support mechanism. This is one of the world’s first implementations of this magnitude which encompasses such a wide range of services and variables; all being managed in a single environment and utilized by a multitude of users in different areas at KOC. The biggest challenge in a project of this scope is data management. Examples will be shown of the integration structure to illustrate the benefits of using a single comprehensive and versatile platform to manage system requirements; ultimately providing system reliability and improving overall operational efficiency.

OSBRA is a 20 ″ multiproduct pipeline operated by TRANSPETRO that supplies Diesel oil, gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from REPLAN, the Brazilian major refinery, to five Tank Farms located along the country Midwestern region. In 2001, five years after OSBRA first commissioning, TRANSPETRO initiated several projects to improve the pipeline and Tank Farms operational performance on quality, measurement, safety and environmental care. A project portfolio management system was established in order to keep control of projects conducted along the 964 kilometers of pipeline, its Tank Farms and two unmanned pump stations. Learned lessons and good practices were adopted from typical project management cases on the pipeline industry, such as: tank drainage, effluents and fire protection systems; improvements on pipeline measurement and control systems; improvements on pipeline leak detection system; tank construction; short length pipelines construction; truck loading and unloading terminal facilities; jet fuel receiving, storage and delivering system; technology developing projects and so on. Some of these projects were conducted based on PETROBRAS traditional experience on project management, some were conducted according to the Independent Project Analysis Institute - IPA and the best recommended practices from the PMI’s PMBOK® Guide, and others were conducted considering a mix of both practices. During the project, the members of the project team and its stakeholders were geographically spread out through several sites. This paper presents how the OSBRA project portfolio has been managed by a reduced multi-disciplinary team, including safety and environmental professionals, in order to keep each project aligned to meet its essential operational and business objectives.

The speed of the changes that have occurred in the world have forced organizations to adapt themselves and offer new products to the consumers in increasingly shorter timeframes, or risk being overtaken by the competition. The cycle of project life is being reduced, making the management increasingly complex both for the projects and portfolios of projects. Included in this scenario are companies from the oil sector that act to develop management systems that manage to aggregate greater chances of success for its projects as well as the capacity to manage multiple projects simultaneously. The concept of success itself is controversial, because on the one hand it is one of the most researched topics, on the other there is still no consensus among those interested. It becomes necessary then to understand the concept of success for projects, and to establish ways of measuring it, and try to identify the critical factors of success and the critical factors of failure, so that organizations can manage their own projects adequately. Companies with extensive project portfolios confront greater challenges, because they have to develop efficient methodologies to manage and maintain their portfolios, in addition to having to develop competences to accompany the management of multiple projects, identifying possible corrective actions for the deviations identified in time. One efficient manner of pro-actively controlling extensive portfolios of projects being executed simultaneously at different geographical locations is the utilization of a tool via web that integrates all the management activities. This tool must have as a basic premise its utility for the work of the management team, and not only be a communication tool, since in this case it would call for an effort by the management team that adds no value to the project. This article has the objective of showing the results of research carried out to identify how Transpetro, the largest logistics company in South America, which operates a fleet of 55 ships with transport capacity of 2.9 million deadweight tons, 7,033 km of oil pipelines and 3,600 km of gas pipelines, 20 land-based terminals and 26 water-based terminals, controls its engineering projects, directing its efforts in an attempt to achieve greater chances of success so as to comply with its strategic planning.

Operators of large and complex pipeline systems face numerous risks and verification is a means to manage risk. Important factors to be considered when selecting a verification strategy are; legislative requirements and expectations, contracting philosophy, interface management, communication strategy, project technical challenges and quality assurance philosophy. To assist project managers in planning and communicating the verification strategy, a standardized three tiered verification scope is described.